I wrote yesterday about sharing with the folks at our church Sunday about the importance of work.

• You serve God by your work. Your work is a continuation of God’s work in the world.
• You serve people at your work: your clients and co-workers
• If you do #1 and #2 well, you can advance the Kingdom from your work.

Then I flipped the script and suggested that in addition to “taking our faith to work,” we ought to “bring work to our faith.” Our church is experiencing loss because our pastor is being treated for advanced cancer. I told the folks:

Coming here used to be routine. We come, Pastor Dave is here to challenge and encourage us, and, as only he can, love on us, and now he’s not here. Our faith requires a little more work these days. – Bob, in a sermon, September 3, 2023

I reminded us that life has always been tough and believing in Jesus doesn’t change that. Paul finished his letter to the Ephesians with these words:

God is strong, and he wants you strong…This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. (Ephesians 6.10 – 13, MSG)

I then suggested a few folks who brought work to their faith:

• The Apostle Paul: commitment

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.12 – 14, ESV, emphasis mine)

• Epaphroditus: service

I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. (Philippians 2.25 – 30, ESV)

• Epaphras: prayer

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. (Colossians 4.12, 13, ESV, emphasis mine)

You can listen to the sermon at mcpcusa.org. It’s the whole service: the sermon itself runs from about the 19-minute mark to the 41-minute mark.

Our pastor asked me to preach yesterday, and I opened the way I usually do on Labor Day, talking about the importance of work. I told them:

• You serve God by your work. Your work is a continuation of God’s work in the world.
• You serve people at your work: your clients and co-workers
• If you do #1 and #2 well, you can advance the Kingdom from your work.

Then I flipped the script. Stay tuned.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 2.1 – 3, ESV)

Six days you shall labor, and do all your work… (Exodus 20.9, ESV. Also Exodus 23.12, 31.15, 34.21, 35.2, Leviticus 23.3, Deuteronomy 5.13)

Yesterday we looked at The Navigators’ Prayer Hand, which reminds us of the basic elements to include in our praying. One of those elements was “Intercession.” Today, I’ll share with you a tool I just learned about that suggests how we might intercede.

My friend and former pastor John Ed Mathison is still going strong at age 85. Maybe part of the reason for that is his father, “Brother Si” Mathison preached into his 90s. Recently, John Ed shared his father’s teaching on prayer. I worked for John Ed for five years and heard his dad preach several times, but never this sermon.

John Ed writes:

[Brother Si] preached almost every Sunday until he was over 90 years old. He had one sermon that he preached hundreds of times. He called it the “5-Finger Prayer Plan.” It was his plan for praying.

He would hold up his hand and say…

1. The Thumb is closest to you, so prayer begins with members of your family, small groups, and close friends, etc.
2. The Pointing Finger. This is the one we use to point to people or to give directions. Pray for all people in places of leadership, politically, religiously, economically, etc. Pray for our leaders who are pointing out the way that we need to go. Pray for teachers and preachers who are pointing to the truths of life.
3. The Longest Finger. When you hold up your hand, the middle finger is the longest. Pray for people who can make the longest, lasting influence. Pray for the difference-makers you know.
4. The Ring Finger. We are told that this is our weakest finger. Pray for the poor, the weak, the handicapped, the homeless, etc. It also bears the wedding ring, so pray for your spouse.
5. The Pinkie Finger. This is the smallest finger. This is a time to pray for yourself. When we learn to pray for others before we pray for ourselves, it puts us in a better position to ask God to take our small gifts and turn them into big opportunities. Pray that you may decrease in order for Him to increase!

This was my Dad’s plan for praying. He used it every day. He preached about it everywhere. – The Five Finger Prayer Plan, John Ed Mathison, August 16, 2023

I recommend the short article in its entirety. John Ed closes with:

I commend [the Five-Finger Prayer Plan] to you. Look at your hand every day and be reminded of how to pray. This plan will help you concentrate, be specific, be inclusive, and learn about God’s plan and purpose for you.

The Apostle Paul was big on prayer:

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (1 Timothy 2.1, 2, NIV, emphasis mine)

Sometimes it’s good to go back to basics, yes? And as we move into September, as much a “new year” as January 1 in some ways, let’s resolve to be more consistent in our prayer life. I know I need to do that.

I have two “Prayer Hand” illustrations: one from The Navigators and another that I’ll share tomorrow.

Today: The Navigators Prayer Hand:

It’s pretty simple, encouraging us in five elements of prayer:

• Confession (1 John 1.9)
• Petition (prayer for ourselves) (1 Samuel 1.27)
• Intercession (prayer for others) (Ephesians 6.18, 19)
• Thanksgiving (Ephesians 5.20)
• Praise (Psalm 146.1, 2)

There is more detail here: The Navigators Prayer Hand. It’s free to download and share.

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11.1, NIV)

As move into Numbers, it starts with some of the same kind of difficult and tedious material we had in Exodus (we’ll get to some narrative soon). In the meantime, chapter six ends with a bright spot: the Aaronic blessing:

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

• The LORD bless you and keep you;
• the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
• the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6.22 – 27, ESV, bulleted for clarity)

When I read it, I said to myself, we probably ought to be blessing each other like this more than we do. I also thought, I’ll bet there’s a New Testament counterpart to this blessing. And, I was right. Right after I read it Christianity Today came out with an article linking the blessing with the way Paul opened his epistles. It opens:

In many parts of the world today, it is normal to begin by asking about the well-being of the recipient’s whole family; in the individualistic West, that is much less common. Our greetings communicate more than we realize.

One of the most striking examples of this in history, and certainly the most theologically significant, is in Paul’s epistles. In the first-century Greco-Roman world, letters opened in a standard format. You would give your name, then the name or names of whomever you were addressing, and then a one-word greeting: “Hilarion, to his sister Alis, many greetings.” Several letters in the New Testament follow this pattern exactly (Acts 15:23; 23:26; James 1:1).

But Paul (and subsequently Peter) developed a modified introduction. After identifying himself and the church he was addressing, he would offer “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” – Paul Put His Own Stamp on the Ancient Pattern of Opening and Closing Letters, Andrew Wilson, August 14, 2023

I checked: of 13 epistles (we don’t know who wrote Hebrews), 8 of them use those words exactly: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Three more have something very close, one leaves out Jesus, and his first epistle (we’re told), 1 Thessalonians, says only, “Grace to you and peace.” So all 13 say, “Grace and peace” in that order.

Mr Wilson makes the connection to the Aaronic blessing:

But there is another layer to the “Grace and peace” introduction. It looks very much like a deliberate reworking of Aaron’s blessing in Numbers 6:24–26. For over a thousand years, Israel’s priests had blessed the people by asking that God would “make his face shine” upon them, “be gracious” to them, “turn his face” toward them, and give them “peace.” By starting all his letters with grace and peace from God and the Lord Jesus, Paul appears to be condensing and Christianizing the Aaronic blessing. God still wants to “bless” and “keep” his people, but now the blessing includes Gentile believers, and it comes from God the Son as well as God the Father.

I’ll close with it:

• The LORD bless you and keep you;
• the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
• the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

The Lord…be gracious to you…and give you peace. (Numbers 6.25, 26)

Grace to you and peace.

(Romans 1.7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1.2, Galatians 1.3, Ephesians 1.2, Philippians 1.2, Colossians 1.2, 1 Thessalonians 1.2, 2 Thessalonians 1.2, 1 Timothy 1.2, 2 Timothy 1.2, Titus 1.4, Philemon 1.3)

My wife, June, is a huge fan both of sunsets and full moons. “Moon” was her first word, we’re told. We put Wednesday night’s Super (Blue) Moon on our calendar: for us, 8p. It was the largest full moon of the year, plus, occurring on August 30, it was the second full moon in August – a “blue moon.” Very special. We took our usual sunset walk around 7p, and set up for moon rise at 8p. Both events were spectacular!

Click HERE if you can’t see the pictures.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19.1, NIV)

Watch any group of pastors gather, listen in on their conversation, and you will most likely hear talk about numbers, particularly Sunday morning attendance. What’s the size of the auditorium (or sanctuary), how many weekend services, etc. Counting attendance is easy, along with the annual budget and size of the physical plant: bodies, buildings, budgets.

There’s not a lot of emphasis on counting things in the Bible, but as we finished John and transition back to the Pentateuch we find ourselves in…Numbers, so called because it opens with counting. Chapter 1 gives us 12 paragraphs that look exactly like this:

Now the sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, their numbered men of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500. (Numbers 1.20 – 21, LSB)

The only thing that changes in these paragraphs is the name of the tribe, and the number. Everything else is the same. Did you see what they counted?

“Every male from 20 years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war.” They counted warriors! Soon they would be going into the Promised Land (it turned out “soon” turned into 40 years, but that’s a story for another day), and in the Promised Land, they would have to fight.

We’re in a battle too:

Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. (Revelation 12.17, ESV)

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6.10 – 13, ESV)

Since we’re in a battle, wouldn’t make sense for us to count “warriors”? Those “able to go to war”? Trained disciples? As one pastor said,

We’re pretty good at counting those who come. I wish we could figure out how to count those who go.

If we could figure out how to count those who go, maybe we would structure our ministries for training and sending instead of just seeing how many we can gather on Sundays.

As I wrote yesterday, June and I were in Estes Park recently, and one of the highlights is always the wildlife.

Elk, ducks, turkeys, prairie dogs…and June saw a baby bear when I wasn’t with her. Not a good thing since she didn’t know where the bear’s mama was. (If you’re not seeing the pictures, click here to see them on the website.) We stayed VERY clear of the bull elk because, as I wrote a few years ago, elk ignore you until they don’t.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all. – Cecil Alexander, 1848

God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1.25, NLT)

[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible…—all things were created through him and for him. (Colossians 1.15, 16, ESV)

Yesterday I wrote a depressing piece about how more often than not a church service is more show than anything else. Today I’m pleased to report that it doesn’t have to be that way.

On Sunday, August 20, June and I attended the Sunday morning service at Hyde Chapel at the YMCA of the Rockies just outside Estes Park, Colorado. The theme of the service was “Lessons from Bible Point.” Bible Point is a small mountain on the grounds, where a young man who loved Jesus and loved the YMCA of the Rockies is buried. The Ewellogy’s September 7, 2022, 54th wedding anniversary blog includes a picture made there.

There’s a mailbox near the grave, and people have left all kinds of letters. The chaplain, Greg Bunton, gathers these letters and keeps them. He brought a few(!) for us to see, and they built the service around snippets of some of these letters.

So what made the service “not a show”? A service that June and I both were moved by? Here are some random observations:

• The service opened with the local Gideon telling stories about lives changed by people reading Bibles placed by the Gideons. Simple but inspiring.
• Then the volunteers who comprise the Chapel staff took turns reading from the letters left on Bible Point.
• They would read three or four letters on a topic:
  • Praise for Creation
  • Thanksgiving
  • Pain, sorrow and grief
  • Confession, forgiveness, healing and guidance
• Then we sang a hymn related to what the letters were about
  • Hymns. Remember those?
  • Hymns to which we all had the words and music from a … wait for it … hymnal!
  • Hymns accompanied by one person playing the piano. (June and I grew up playing piano for church services. We met over the piano at a Christian summer camp when we were 12.) It’s not just nostalgia for the old days. It’s that people gathered, and we all sang. There was no need for a praise band to rehearse hours for just the right sound either when we were growing up or at the Hyde Chapel service. I have written on this issue before.
  • Without trying, I noticed the words to the hymns. Remember when people actually wrote hymns with depth and meaning? (There are a few such hymns today. For example, “In Christ Alone,” often sung at Easter, composed in 2001, is a fantastic hymn. And there were plenty of bad hymns in the old days.) HOWEVER, song for song, I believe there was more substance in the older hymns. For example, here’s one we sang that Sunday:

• We shared Communion walking by the messy pile of letters, having been reminded that life is messy, but Jesus came into that mess, taking the mess upon himself on the cross.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2.24, ESV)

I’m not sure this blog captures the elegance, simplicity, and authenticity of the service. We hadn’t even planned on going…I think it was a God thing, and, as I say, I left more hopeful that Sunday morning doesn’t have to be a show. It can be a meaningful gathering.

It’s a famous quote by Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan, going way back to 1964:

The medium is the message. – Marshall McLuhan

Nowhere was the truth of this observation more evident than in a 27-second segment of a sermon by J.D. Greear of Summit Church in North Carolina. J.D. came to the church in 2001 when it had about 300 members. Now they are a multi-campus operation with over 10,000 folks in attendance weekly. It’s a powerful ministry. But even gifted and blessed pastors can say silly things such as what happened a couple of weeks ago.

 J.D. got onto his folks a little for “arriving late” and “leaving early.” (By the way, at every contemporary worship service I have attended anywhere in the country, a sizable number of folks come in late.) Anyway, J.D. went on to say, “You treat church like a religious show.” After which the camera pans back to show a man on a large stage in a large meeting room. The top two pictures are from the 27-second post. The bottom picture is from the church’s website.

Uh…looks like a show to me. David Platt is lead pastor of McLean Bible Church in Virginia. Another good guy leading an apparently effective ministry. David has written, and I’m sure he actively fights against, this description of most churches:

Church is a performance at a place with programs run by professionals. – David Platt

And it’s not just J.D. and his mega-church or other mega-churches. In most churches of any size, folks file in, listen to some music where some may or may not join in singing, then they listen to one person talk for 15 – 45 minutes or more, and file out. If the medium is the message, what’s the message? The message could be that church is a place where I come to watch someone else do ministry, not a place where I am equipped to do ministry in my sphere of influence.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,… (Ephesians 4.11 – 13, ESV, emphasis mine)