This morning I struggled a little with which text to choose. The lectionary is fairly long and I was drawn to a very commonly quoted verse. One many have taught on. There is little to add: the principle is that we count ourselves as dead to the world and in here to be witnesses, to use our lives as a sacrifice. The rest of the passage is an explanation of this.
Then I thought that repetition of old truth remains important. We are indeed builded into the wall of this new church, this new Jerusalem, but most of us are not the window, we are walls, columns, crypts: stones unseen but structural. And we choose not where we are no more that a sheep chooses which alter it becomes an oblation on.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God– what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
We need to recall that this life is not our own. The most recent controversy relates to Christian colleges that have decided to bring in standards: chastity or marriage: confessions of faith, and the effete are screaming this is not the reformation. Their reformation is about anything but being humble, putting others first, and being a sacrifice.
This seems to be worse among the female academic theologians, who forget one thing: their job is fungible, and there are many men who can replace them.
“I had a conversation with [Montreat College president] Paul Maurer last summer, in which he explained their reasons for not wanting to be a part of our association,” said Jeffrey E. Arnold, executive director of the APCU. “He expressed the feeling that being associated with APCU, which is in covenant relationship with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), would not be compatible with the college’s mission.”
Most recently, the college’s Board of Trustees took additional steps to define the school’s mission by finalizing a “Community Life Covenant” designed for trustees and employees at its January 2017 meeting. The covenant is one of several documents included in a new handbook that the college’s faculty and staff are now required to sign.
Citing the infallibility of scripture, the covenant asks college employees to affirm “chastity among the unmarried and the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman.” It also requires that the school’s faculty and staff concur with a statement in opposition to abortion.
Since the covenant was introduced, several faculty members have resigned.
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Huff said that her friend, Maggie Ray, a biology professor at the college and a member of the Black Mountain Presbyterian Church—who had long felt supported by the college—was among those faculty members who recently resigned.
“Maggie made a statement that her decision to resign wasn’t about particular parts of the covenant, but her deep commitment to academic and theological freedom to discern God’s will—she stated that in the Reformed tradition, the hierarchy doesn’t interpret the scriptures for you,” said Huff. “When the college cites the infallibility of scripture, as the students have pointed out, if that’s the case, what about divorced faculty members? When you say that every word in the Bible is directly from God, then you get into some really strange things. One of the guidelines for the PC(USA) for Bible study is that all interpretation is fallible, which I think is very important.”
Huff finds it interesting that a statement issued by Montreat College said that self-righteousness and legalism understood as the imposition of extra Biblical standards of godliness by one person or group upon another is something they’re against. “But that’s exactly what they’re doing,” she said.
What women should consider instead is something that no man can do. Becoming a parent makes your life about others. It is the lodestone of our civilization. The future will be that of our children and grandchildren, and those who choose to not have children, including the current PM of England and Chancellor of Germany, are a civilizational and genetic dead end. For many women, their role has to be mother, and that is one no man can take.
In the ongoing war against Christian civilisation, it is the mothers who matter most. The sterile secularists don’t fear Christian intellectuals or Christian pastors, they regard the former as petty annoyances and there’s little need to worry about one weekly hour of Christian teaching on Sundays overcoming 40 hours of secular reprogramming from Monday to Friday. But they fear our mothers who can create children faster than they can manage to indoctrinate them. And they are downright terrified of our homeschooling mothers who rob them of their primary means of creating a new generation of secular barbarians.
Every time a woman says “I do,” every time a wife turns to her husband and says “let’s have another baby,” every time a mother hugs her child and says “how would you like me to be your teacher?” she is striking a powerful blow in defense of her faith, her family, her church and God. We should celebrate these bold decisions – these audacious acts – as victories, not just for the family and the faith, but for civilization and mankind.
It is not enough to thank our mothers. We owe them a debt that cannot be repaid. But we can, and we must, love them, honor them, support them and sustain them as they faithfully continue to wage their mother’s war.
We are in a war. We may all die in it: we will all, unless Christ comes, die. Satan and his useful idiots rage, for they know that they will lose. Yes, the last enemy is death, and it will be defeated. But right now, we have to live as if at war, knowing that we may be the casualties.
And this indeed is our spiritual worship.