A Table of Abundance

This morning we’ve considered how Paul employs the metaphor of an overflowing cup to describe the thanksgiving that should characterize our lives as Christians. This image of abundance and excess is a common description of the covenantal blessings of God. For instance God told the Israelites that if they would honor him in the tithe, their vats would overflow with new wine (Prov. 3:9). In particular, he promised a coming age when the mountains would drip with sweet wine and all this hills shall flow with it (Amos 9:13-14). That age has arrived with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh to establish the mountain of the Lord’s house in the earth, which is the Church. And in this mountain, which is the Church, the Lord says that he has prepared an abundant feast for all peoples, a feast of wine and fatness (Is. 25:6). This feast is a sign of God’s blessing and favor and a picture of the abundant life that he desires to communicate to his people. Even so as you participate in this Eucharistic feast, God desires to fill you with the abundance of his grace in Jesus Christ. And as you receive the abundance of God’s grace at this Table, he desires that abundance to spill out into the rest of your lives in the form of gratitude. He wants to make you a thankful people, a Eucharistic people. A people marked and defined by grace and gratitude. This characteristic is largely absent from our culture. As Americans we are by and large a spoiled and ungrateful people. You are called to be different. You are called to be a grateful people who live out of the abundance of God’s grace. A people who are always able to give thanks for the blessings bestowed upon you in Jesus Christ. This Table forms you to be such a people. So come to this table of grace and gratitude!

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14th Sunday after Pentecost: Colossians 2:1-7

Last week we considered the nature and purpose of Paul’s ministry in Christ: his suffering to proclaim the mystery of the gospel and laboring to present every Christian mature in Christ. This week we begin to see how that purpose takes shape in Colossae as Paul agonizes over the maturity of the Colossians that they would come to a settled and active faith in Christ. This intense concern of Paul is of course one which every godly pastor shares, but it is also one that every godly parents shares for their children. And I would encourage those of you with children to be thinking along those lines as we proceed.

Paul begins chapter two by stating his desire that they “know” the conflict he has for all the churches that do not know him personally. Paul’s “conflict” for them is his mission to present the Gentiles as an offering to God made acceptable by the Spirit. This mission required him, as it does all ministers of the gospel, to labor, literally here to agonize in the contest of the faith. So Paul pictures the mission of the church (and elsewhere the Christian life) as a competition, an athletic contest in which strives towards a goal.

So for what goal did Paul labor? Verse two provides us with an answer and in providing this answer, sets before us another description of maturity. And there are three elements to this description that are each related to the other. Paul says he labors that their hearts may encouraged, or better strengthened. The word translated “encouraged” is the word used to refer to the Holy Spirit, as our Helper/Comforter in the Gospel of John. You know from you own experience of His presence with you that this word conveys a sense of empowerment. And this empowerment, this strengthening, comes to the “heart,” the seat of the mind, will, and emotions, the center of your being.

In what way will you receive empowerment that will affect your thinking, your desires, and your feelings? Well, Paul says this happens as the church is “knit together in love.” What we have here is another reference to the Church as a “body.” Paul will use this same term “knit” down in verse 19 to describe how our union with Christ the “head” results in our being knit together by joints and ligaments unto growth that is from God. Paul is saying that our mutual interdependence, the ways that our lives are intertwined, interconnected, can serve to empower and encourage us to mature in Christ. But it is only as our life together is animated by sacrificial love that we will receive this encouragement of heart. As one of the commentators put it, it is only as the love of God Himself penetrates your heart and wells up within your heart that the church can be sustained. For there are so many things for us to divide over, to take offense to, to grumble about, but love covers a multitude of sins, it suffers long and is not provoked. So beloved, you must endeavor to love one another, practically, tangibly, in your thoughts, words, and deeds. Life together is hard. We all get on each other’s nerves and do stupid things that upset one another. Sometimes your personalities simply conflict with one another. But you are part of one body and the Spirit is at work among you, forming you, knitting you together by your words and deeds of love.

And as you are knit together in this way you not only receive strength and encouragement of heart, but Paul says you attain “to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ.” And thus you see again how our conduct, the way we live in community together, affects our understanding. Here, Paul piles up adjectives to describe the understanding that he wants the church to attain as a result of their shared life. This understanding is said to be “rich” and “full”. And the term translated “full assurance” is a term describing a settled conviction. Paul has already prayed that God would fill them with spiritual understanding, that is a Holy Spirit wrought insight into God’s saving plans. Now he is wanting them to grasp further the riches, or value, of this insight and to become settled in this understanding. And note how the church is integral to reaching this settled conviction concerning God’s plan to redeem the world. The very existence of the church in Colossae, and their participation therein, bore witness God’s salvation in Christ. And the existence of our small parish here in Greer, SC likewise bears witness to the gospel of God’s saving grace. And as you experience God’s grace here and have come to understanding of the salvation that is ours in Christ and as you look around and see God doing that in other people, you should be coming to a settled conviction as to the truth of the gospel, what he refers to here again as the mystery of God.

This mystery, Paul says, is Christ. The grammar there is a little awkward, but the sense of it is that Christ is the mystery of God. And Paul goes on to describe Christ as the one “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Christ, having been revealed in the flesh in his incarnation and now sitting at the Father’s right hand is said to possess these treasures of wisdom and knowledge. We saw last week that wisdom and knowledge are the possession of kings, the necessary prerequisites to exercise their rule in the wise ordering God’s creation. They were what Adam was supposed to receive from God in obedience to his Word, but which he seized in the tree in violation of God’s Word. And Christ as the Second Adam, the Kings of kings, is said to possess these treasures in all their fullness. This means that you, as those who have been made priests and kings unto God, must look to Christ for the knowledge (to discern between right and wrong) and wisdom (to apply this knowledge to the varied circumstances of life) that you need in the wise reordering of God’s creation.

So if you husbands want the knowledge and wisdom to rule your house well, you must seek that knowledge and wisdom “in Christ.” Wives if you are in need of the wisdom and knowledge to love your husbands and children and labor in your homes for the advancement of the kingdom, you must seek that k/w “in Christ.” If you’re single, and you need wisdom and knowledge to figure out the Lord’s plans for you, seek that in Christ. And for you younger folks as you are actively studying the world and trying figure out your place in it, the wisdom and knowledge you most desperately need are found in Christ alone. But you see this is where we get tripped up. That wisdom and knowledge are found in a person, particularly in the person of Christ. For us knowledge is information, it is something to be manipulated and consumed. And we’re so accustomed to the consumption and accumulation of knowledge that we are liable to miss this. Knowledge in Scripture is rooted in a relationship with the subject. Adam knew Eve, his wife and she conceived. And in the same way this k/w only comes in relationship to the one in whom they are hidden. This defines our posture and attitude in receiving these treasures. Proverbs 1:7 instructs us that the fear of the LORD is beginning of knowledge because He alone gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Christ Himself is the Word from His mouth and has become for us wisdom from God.

Paul urges us all to recognize that the kingly treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ alone and are bestowed in a relationship of union and communion with Him. And thus he says we must all learn the lesson of Adam. Recall how Adam was deceived by the persuasive words of the Serpent into believing that the knowledge he needed could be gained in violation of God Word. Well in the same way Paul says he’s told them all this “lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.” They were inundated by a culture that told them true wisdom and knowledge were found anywhere, but in Christ. The false teachers told them it was found in the Law (for they stumbled over the cross) and the pagans would have told them it was found in the gods of the empire (for they regarded the cross as foolish). Likewise in our culture we hear a cacophony of voices urges us to find wisdom and knowledge apart from Christ, whether in the sciences or technology, or in more blatantly unbiblical practices. But by the encouragement and strength of heart and assured understanding that you have received as a result of your life together, you must stand firm against whatever would deceive you. The note of urgency to Paul’s writing arises from his absent from them, but he assures them of his presence in the Spirit (v.5) and says he rejoices to see their good order and the steadfastness of their faith. So it seems that the Colossians are were fairing well thus far. Their community life was well-ordered and their faith in Christ was firm. But how were they, and how are we, to stand against those who try to deceive us as to the source of wisdom and knowledge? How were they, and how are we, to attain maturity in Christ?

Well, in verses 6-7, Paul transitions from his statement of purpose to begin expounding on growth to maturity in Christ. These verses really sum up the teaching of the rest of chapter 2, 3, and the beginning of chapter 4. Paul tells us that the way to maturity and thus be safeguarded from deception, is in the same you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so you are to walk in Him. And each name or title here ascribed to Jesus is important. They have received the long promised Christ, or Messiah, who has redeemed his people from their sins. They have received the incarnate Son, Jesus, the image of invisible God, who not only created all things, but has reconciled all things to himself. And they have received the Lord, the one exalted to the right hand of the Father and who possesses all wisdom and knowledge as the King of kings and Lord of lords. But what does Paul mean when refers to their “receiving” this Jesus. In our context “receiving” Jesus as one’s Savior may mean praying the “Sinner’s prayer,” walking the aisle, throwing a pine cone in the fire, raising one’s hand, or any other number of variations. But in the NT the word “received” has a pretty technical meaning growing out the Judaism of the 1st century referring to the idea of a body of teaching/tradition being transmitted from person, or generation, to another. Thus in 1 Cor. 15 Paul says that he is delivering the gospel that he himself received and then he proceeds to detail the content of this gospel he received. Here in v.6 “Christ Jesus the Lord” is shorthand for the creedal confession that they would have made at baptism, which Paul will refer to in a few verses. This reception of Christ Jesus the Lord, then, was a formal and binding covenant entered into by faith alone, in renunciation of the world, and in utter dependence upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. And it focused upon their confession of his Lordship. In submitting to baptism they were swearing allegiance to Christ alone. And with this same sense of solemn obligation, Paul commands them walk in Christ. This is the same verb we considered in 1:10 when Paul prayed that they would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. Here he commands them to walk, that is, live the whole of their lives in union with Christ with the same faith and obligation that characterized their conversion and baptism. Thus, Paul is telling us that growth to maturity has it’s beginning, progress, and it end, “in Christ.” All that you have and need is found in him.

He drives the point home, as he did in chapter 1, by explaining this “walk” with four participles that provide us with different metaphors for understanding growth to maturity. Each of these first two participles is said to take place “in Him.” First, growth to maturity is likened to a tree firmly rooted. In contrast to the other participles that are all in the present tense, this one is in the perfect tense and thus refers to a settled foundation or root system, established at a point of time in the past. Growth to maturity is rooted and sustained by an established connection to the soil of Jesus Christ, to his death and resurrection in particular. Second, growth is likened to a solidly built house. Thus we learn that whatever growth takes place only takes place as we remain connected to the foundation, to the root system. Abide in me, and I in thee, for apart from me you can do nothing. Third, growth is likened to the confirmation of a legal document. Our growth to maturity involves a certain confirmation in the faith that we have been taught. And fourth, growth is likened to an overflowing jug of wine. As you grow to maturity in Christ, thanksgiving to God for his grace, should well up within your hearts and spill out into your lives. This is a prominent theme throughout Colossians and helps us to see that thanksgiving is as one has said, “the main characteristic of God’s people, ‘a sign that they are indeed living in the new age.’”

So then we’ve considered how Paul agonizes over the maturity of the Colossians because he longs for them to come to a settled and deepening faith and understanding that they might stand firm in the faith. You’ve seen that there are a few things that are integral to this process. You must give yourselves to the communion of the saints, demonstrating your love for another, and thus being knit together, formed as one body. You must recognize that all the riches of w/k that you need to fulfill your calling as priests and kings unto God is found in Jesus Christ. And the way to access these riches is found in a relationship with Him, rooted in worship and obedience. You must endeavor to live your life in Christ with the same resolute faith and repentance that marked your reception of Christ as Lord. The sure sign that you are doing the above is that your lives should be overflowing with thanksgiving to God for the riches of his grace.

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Trials and Maturity

In heeding the call to worship this day many of you have gathered here in the midst of great difficulties and trials. Whether difficult pregnancies, long hours at work, the prospect of moving, the need to find employment, or financial difficulties; your lives are marked by various sorts of trials that are testing your faith in God. And in the midst of such difficulties you have gathered here, in the communion of the saints, to renew, and have your covenant renewed, with the Triune God, as we draw near to His throne of grace. And I exhort to enter into this service of covenant renewal with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength. For here in the presence of God you can obtain mercy and find grace to help in your time of need. This mercy and grace, however, typically do not remove the difficulties that we experience, but rather transform us so that we may bear up under the weight of our trials in a way that pleases God. The Lord intends to mature you through these trials as the he works patience in you. Thus James says that you are to count it all joy when you experience various trials. Whether or not you can count such trials a joy, however, will depend upon your faith in God. For James says that the one who doubts should not expect to receive anything from God. I encourage you to enter his presence by faith, believing that he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Humble yourself before him and he will lift you up. Cry out to him in your distress and he will hear you. Hearken unto his voice and he will instruct you. Come unto his table and he will feed and strengthen you by his grace. And he does all this to send you back out into all the trials and difficulties of life to manifest the righteousness, peace, and joy of his kingdom in the earth. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

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Christ in You

Calvin is often quoted as saying that if Christ remains outside of us, His person and work can be of no benefit to us. Our redemption is something that is accomplished outside us in the death and resurrection of Christ. The righteousness that we receive in justification is a righteousness, in Paul’s words, “not our own.” But so long as Christ and his benefits remain outside of us we are left are untouched by them, unchanged by them. This morning, though, we’ve learned that the mystery of the gospel is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” That Christ comes to dwell within those who embrace the proclamation of His death and resurrection. And this indwelling is perpetual, on-going. Yet, here at His Table, in the eating and drinking of bread and wine, he likewise dwells in us. As you eat and drink by faith in Christ, you receive Christ in you. Christ told his disciples that his body was true food and his blood true drink. And that the one who eats and drinks his body and blood would abide in him and he in them. In this way the Lord’s Table proclaims and enacts the mystery of the Gospel. And it also becomes a primary means, along with the Word, of attaining the maturity for which Paul labored and strived. For as we feed upon Christ by faith we find that our faith is renewed and strengthened and Christ and his benefits are confirmed to us. We are reassured of his saving interest in us as the Father remembers his body broken for us and his blood shed for us. And through this process Calvin says, “Christ in a manner grows in us and we in Him.” That is because as Christ dwells in us, he transforms us and remakes us after his image. So come to the Table and find both the mystery and maturity of the gospel!

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Practicing Reconciliation

Last week we learned that we’ve been reconciled to God by the atoning death of Christ in our place. In reconciling us to Himself, God overcame that which alienated us from Him, namely sin. And though God has done this definitively in the cross, sin continues have this affect upon our relationship with God and others. As we sin and fail to deal with that sin properly, we experience a sense of alienation from God and others. As a result our relationship with God and our neighbor is disturbed. The way to rectify these relationships with Him is by repentance: confessing our sins to God and one another and endeavoring to walk in new obedience. And of course the liturgy affords us this opportunity every Lord’s Day as we corporately and individually confess our sins, receive His pardoning grace, and are sent out to walk in new obedience. But this weekly pattern needs to be followed and worked out the rest of the week as you sin against God and one another. The practice of corporate confession is intended to form us as humble people who take sin seriously; a people always ready to confess our sins to God and one another. This practice should also form you to be a people always ready to extend forgiveness to others when you are wronged. For as Jesus said, “If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Thus you must be people that are ready to be reconciled to one another; people who are ready to seek out your brother or your sister when you’ve wronged, or been wronged by them. Paul tells us that we must endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. So if you’ve wronged a brother or sister here, confess your sins now and seek them out to be reconciled to them. Otherwise how can you pass the peace, if conflict characterizes your relationships?

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A Table of Peace

In our text from last week Paul described one element of reconciliation as “making peace.” For reconciliation presupposes that God’s wrath has been satisfied and taken away. And thus the way is cleared for peaceful relations to be restored. And nothing proclaims the restoration of peace better than a meal. That is why a meal always concluded the cycle of sacrifices under the old covenant. The meal was itself a proclamation of what had taken place. Even so the bread and the wine spread before you now are a proclamation of the reconciliation that God has brought about for you in the death of Jesus Christ. He has established peace with you. His wrath abides upon you no longer. How do you know that he is at peace with you? He invites you to the feast! He invites to feast upon the very instrument of your reconciliation. It’s interesting that Paul mentions both the body and the blood in Colossians 1:20, 22. Some have seen this as setting a Eucharistic context for the passage and in particular for presentation of Colossians “in God’s sight.” That may be a bit of stretch, but there is no doubt that the celebration of this sacrament does involve an appearance before God’s face. An appearance and a meal that anticipate the Day when we will indeed be presented before him, holy, blameless, and above reproach. And this meal is also a means of ensuring that we might the condition set out in v. 23. What better way to abide upon the foundation and within the structure of the household of the faith than to keep the feast that spreads before us the very essence of our faith: the person and work of Jesus Christ? What better way to not be moved from the hope of the gospel than to keep the feast that proclaims the very essence of our hope: the Lord Jesus Christ Himself until he comes? Beloved, come to the feast and enjoy the peace of the Lord!

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12th Sunday after Pentecost: Colossians 1:21-23

INTRODUCTION
Two weeks ago we considered how joyfully giving of thanks to God was one aspect of walking in a manner worthy of the Lord. Paul then goes on to give three reasons why we should joyfully give thanks to God. The Christian is to give thanks to God for the New Exodus that he has accomplished for us in Christ. (12-14) And last week we learned that we are to give thanks to God for the universal supremacy of Christ in creation and recreation. (15-20) This week we learn that we are to give thanks to God because: The reconciliation of all things in Christ is applied to us to make us holy, provided we remain in the faith. IOW what we see in 21-23 is the application of last week’s text to the lives of the Colossians.
I. The need for their reconciliation. (21)
Last week I noted that reconciliation presupposes alienation, the rupture of a relationship. And it is this alienation that is now brought to foreground. Paul does this in order to throw the spotlight on the wonder of God’s grace in salvation. As many have pointed out, you don’t really grasp the nature of grace apart from understanding the nature of sin.
A. Their former state.
1. An emphatic statement of the plight of the Colossian apart from Christ.
2. If we were to bring out the force of the grammar: “they were once
continually and persistently out of harmony with God.”
3. The term speaks of estrangement and separation from God.
4. And this was the plight of all of us Gentiles (see Eph. 2:12ff).
Paul then proceeds to describe what this alienation looks like.
B. Their former attitude.
1. The term translated “mind” has a meaning similar to “heart” in the OT.
2. It refers to the seat of the mind, will, and emotions.
3. Thus the reference here is to their whole attitude and desires.
4. This whole complex was “hostile” to God.
5. As the seed of the Serpent they manifested that enmity towards God
resulting from the Fall.
C. Their former actions.
1. Their hostile attitude and desires were expressed in their wicked works.
2. And this is the way it is with all sin, it begins in the mind/heart and
works its way out to the actions of the hands and the feet.
3. This is why it is so important to guard your minds and hearts.
a. Men.
b. Young adults.
4. Its one of the reasons we believe so strongly in Christian education b/c the attitudes and desires of the mind and heart determines the course of one’s life.
5. The types of works that fall under this description are listed in 3:5-9.
What/who they once were is then contrasted with God’s action in Christ in their behalf and who that makes them.
II. The instrument of their reconciliation. (22a)
A. The action: reconciliation.
1. Though they were alienated and estranged from God, something occurred to change all that.
2. Last week I defined reconciliation as the bringing together of two partier formerly estranged.
3. This bringing together of God and man had “now” occurred for the Colossians.
4. And note that in order for this bringing together of God and man to take place, the cause of the estrangement must be dealt with: sin.
B. The instrument.
1. And it is the problem of sin that is dealt with “in the body of His flesh through death.”
2. Whereas in verse twenty the ground of reconciliation is stated to be “the blood of His cross,” here it is “the body of His flesh.”
3. But of course the reference is to the same event: the death of Christ.
4. It was the death of Christ for our sins, his becoming sin for us, embodying the curse for us, that restores us to God.
III. The purpose of their reconciliation. (22b-23)
A. Their future presentation. (22b)
This bringing together of God and man has a future orientation.
“To present you…in His sight” is a reference to the Last Day.
Rom. 14:10 is a good parallel, “stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”
So how shall we appear before him? Here Paul fuses sacrificial and legal imagery to make the point.
1. Holy and blameless.
a. These terms were used to describe the unblemished animals set apart for God as sacrifices.
b. The verb trans “present” is used of the presentation of sacrifices in Lev. 16:7.
c. And of course Paul uses it in Rom. 12:1 to refer to the presentation of our lives as living sacrifices to God.
d. So here the idea is that by the reconciling work of Christ, based upon his atoning death for us, we become consecrated as holy and without moral defect before him.
e. That is God’s purpose in establishing peace with you.
3. Above reproach.
a. This is a legal term referring to our public conduct.
b. The one who was blameless, or above reproach, was one against
whom no charge could be brought.
c. 1 Cor. 1:8 employs this same term in the same end times context, “who will confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
d. This text also helps us grasp how these things could be: it is through the ongoing work of the Risen Christ in you by the Spirit.
e. So putting all together we can say:
i. This purpose in rooted in eternity past.
ii. Is definitively accomplished in the Cross.
iii. Is carried out in the present by the Spirit.
iv. And will be fulfilled at the day of Christ.
This future fulfillment is conditioned upon their response to the grace of God in the present.
B. Their present obligation. (23)
This obligation is set forth in the form of a positive and then a negative condition.
1. Positively: Remain in the Faith.
a. The term trans. “continue” is based on the term to “dwell, or abide” and sets the stage for two architectural terms “grounded” and “steadfast.”
b. Grounded is a term referring to the foundation and steadfast is the term referring to the structure.
c. The building itself is “the faith” a reference to the Christian faith focused upon the person/work of Christ.
d. Paul’s saying if you want to appear before God on the Last Day, holy and without blemish and free from acusation, then you better abide in the apostolic faith of Jesus Christ.
e. How do you do that? You remain active in the church of Jesus Christ, devoted to the reading and preaching of the word, to sacraments of Jesus Christ, and to set and spontaneous times of prayer and devotion to Christ.
f. You must give yourselves to these disciplines of grace.
g. For if the faith is merely something that you have a passing interest in, that’s not going to cut it!
2. Negatively: Don’t be moved away from the hope of the gospel.
a. The word trans. “moved” is a word meaning “to shift” or “remove” and is used in the OT a couple times to describe an army being put to flight.
b. They are not to allow themselves to abandon lit. the hope that is the content of the gospel.
c. And we’ve seen the hope of the gospel is a reference to Jesus Christ Himself and the inheritance He has won for His people: the NHNE.
i. And again he reminds them that this gospel is not something spoken in a dark corner but is a universal message declared in all creation under heaven and concerns the whole creation.
ii. He always emphasizes this truth re: hope b/c it is hard to maintain faith in what is not seen.
iii. Everything in our culture leads us to put value on the present, but Paul:
d. So then if you want to appear holy and blameless and without accusation in the Day of Christ, you must not allow your mind and heart to be moved away from faith in blessed Hope and appearing of Jesus Christ.
e. In the words of Peter you must fix your minds upon the grace that is to be brought to you when Christ is revealed at the last day.
CONCLUSION/APPLICATION
So then we’ve seen how the reconciliation of all things in Christ extends and is applied to us, to those who have heard and believed the gospel of Christ. And that this reconciliation is effective, it does not leave you unchanged. It transforms you from someone alienated and estranged from God, to someone who is brought near to him to serve him as his priests. It transforms you from someone whose mind and heart were in opposition to him, to someone who is becoming and will be without moral defect. It transforms you from someone who actions with wicked, to someone whose actions will render you free from accusation on the last day. And yet it only does this as you diligently persevere in the Christian faith, as you give yourselves to this faith as the very substance of your life. And as you guard your heart and mind from being moved away from a fixed belief in the coming of Jesus Christ to bring in the NHNE. This faith that you are called to embody and live out is a message that concerns not only you, but all creation and ultimately will bring about a new creation filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. AMEN!

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God's Righteousness and Ours

There is striking parallel between Psalms 111 and 112. In Psalm 111 the LORD is praised for his wonderful works, which declare his graciousness and compassion. The psalmist concludes, “his righteousness endures forever.” Psalm 112 begins with the same call to praise the LORD, but this time the ground is the gracious and compassionate works of the righteous man. And the psalmist likewise concludes, “his righteousness endures forever.” The righteousness of the people of God is to endure just as the righteousness of God Himself endures. We learn from this that the way God works establishes the pattern of our own working. Just as the grace, compassion, and righteousness of God is seen in his giving of the gifts of food and land (Psalm 111), even so the grace, compassion, and righteousness of his people is to be demonstrated in their gracious and prudent lending and distribution of gifts (112). Just as God the Father has lavished his gifts upon you, even so you are to freely give the gifts of your time, resources, and talents to those in need. And just as the Father’s gifts are, at times, ungratefully received and/or taken for granted, your gifts and sacrifices will at times go unnoticed. The clearest example of this for many of you is in parenting. Your calling as parents is to freely give yourselves and all that you have for your children. And often this is a thankless task. Often your sacrifices of time and energy simply go unnoticed and are taken for granted. In times like these you must remember the calling to image your Father in heaven, who persists in the giving of his good gifts even when they are taken for granted. In times like these you must not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season you will reap the harvest if you do not lose heart.

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