Not a Master or an Expert

“Master of Divinity.” A few months ago I heard someone comment on the massive overstatement in that graduate degree’s title. Similarly, I recently saw a seminary advertise its Doctor of Ministry program with a slogan something like “Becoming an Expert.” I told my bride I needed to return my degree if that was the intended outcome of the program.

The men in our congregation have a monthly fellowship. We met last night, and one of our guys had us read Psalm 19:7-9. I’ve taught this passage so many times over the years; it’s my go-to passage when I’m introducing the idea of biblical parallelism to people. I know this passage. Still, two things were pointed out to me that I’d never noticed before. First, there is the six-fold repetition “of the LORD.” Can you believe I never really noticed that? I was simultaneously excited to see it and a little sheepish that I’d never noticed it! Second, a brother pointed out the creation elements in 19:1-6, and the further creation aspect in our “soul” (19:7), “the heart” (19:8), and “the eyes” (19:8). Not only is God Personal Creator of the heavens, but of us as individuals, and His glory shows in it all. Wow.

Second, my bride pulled together two verses that I’d always separated in my mind (foolishly): “…in Him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:17b,18a). Wow, again. I can’t hold “all things…together,” including “the church.” I needed to hear that. Seriously. I needed it to the core of my being. My bride was used (once again) by the Holy Spirit, through the Word, to provide a much-needed balm for my soul.

Regardless our years of experience, and in spite of the pieces of paper matted in frames on our walls, we need each other desperately in the Church, especially in the area of the ministry of the Word. My dissertation, in partial fulfillment of that latest piece of paper, emphasized the “prophethood of all believers” and the role all believers must have in the Spirit-empowered, Christ-centered ministry of the Word. Yesterday the Holy Spirit convicted me anew that the dissertation wasn’t just a hoop to jump through to graduate; it is the great need of the Church in this day. It is the great need of this pastor, who is far from being a “Master” or an “expert” in anything.

We need each other.

Got home after sunset following our men's meeting.
Enjoyed the message of God's glory the sky was preaching
while I let my dogs run a little.

Reading Pluto with Piper

“A sad spectacle. If they be inhabited, what a scope for misery and folly. If they be not inhabited, what a waste of space.”

- Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

While Carl Sagan (1934-1996) paraphrased Carlyle, it is in the movie Contact (Warner Brothers, 1997), based on Sagan’s book, where the quote is most popularly known: “...I guess I’d say if it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space.”

I think of this whenever something significant happens in our exploration and examination of the universe. This week NASA’s New Horizons probe flew by Pluto, giving us a beautifully clear view of this outlying member of our solar system’s neighborhood. Billions of miles away, Pluto and its five moons have long just been a fuzzy dot on the best of our telescopes. To see so clearly something so exceedingly remote is astounding and exciting to me. I am mindful, though, of the fact that Pluto’s massive orbit and distance from us is a pinprick in size compared the vastness of the rest of the created order.

So, is it a waste of space? Only if we’re the reference point.

John Piper helpfully puts Pluto (and all else above us) in a biblical context that I think is appropriate to quote this week. Several years ago, I led a group of men to read through Piper’s Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ (Crossway, 2004) at a downtown coffee shop. This is what he has to say concerning this remarkable universe (including little Pluto and his moons):

“The created universe is all about glory. The deepest longing of the human heart and the deepest meaning of heaven and earth are summed up in this: the glory of God. The universe was made to show it, and we were made to see it and savor it. Nothing less will do. Which is why the world is as disordered and as dysfunctional as it is. We have exchanged the glory of God for other things (Romans 1:23). ‘The heavens declare the glory of God’ (Psalm 19:1). That is why the universe exists. It’s all about glory” (pg. 13).

Piper goes on to give an example of the vastness of the universe as seen through the Hubble telescope. But let’s consider what the little New Horizons probe has allowed us to do. We see details on a globe smaller than our own moon which is over three billion miles away. It takes light from the sun 5.3 hours to get to Pluto at 187,000 miles per second; it only takes light 8 minutes to get to the Earth from the sun. And we now know that Pluto is merely one of perhaps hundreds of similar worlds that make up the Kuiper Belt (the rural backwoods of our solar system). I got to run part of the Cactus to Cloud 50K last May (I say “part” because I had to drop out at mile 19.5). At mile 10, the race went by the National Solar Observatory near Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Starting at the observatory, there were signs on the road showing the scale of the distance of the planets from the sun. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars were fairly close to the observatory. Pluto was a long way out. But that little dwarf planet (still a planet in New Mexico according to House Joint Memorial 54 of the 48^th Legislature in March, 2007), which is invisible to the naked eye here on Earth, has now been clearly seen! It’s amazing!

Back to Piper: “Sometimes people stumble over this vastness in relation to the apparent insignificance of man. It does seem to make us infinitesimally small. But the meaning of this magnitude is not mainly about us. It’s about God. ‘The heavens declare the glory of God,’ says the Scripture. The reason for ‘wasting’ so much space on a universe to house a speck of humanity is to make a point about our Maker, not us. ‘Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created [the stars...and Pluto]? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of our might, and because he is strong in power not one of them is missing’ (Isaiah 40:26). The deepest longing of the human soul is to know and enjoy the glory of God. We were made for this...to see it, to savor it, and to show it – that is why we exist. The untracked, unimaginable stretches of the created universe are a parable about the inexhaustible ‘riches of his glory’ (Romans 9:23). The physical eye is meant to say to the spiritual eye, ‘Not this, but the Maker of this, is the Desire of your soul’...the ache in every human heart is an ache for this. But we suppress it and do not see fit to have God in our knowledge (Romans 1:28). Therefore the entire creation has fallen into disorder...we were made to know and treasure the glory of God above all things; and when we trade that treasure for images, everything is disordered...the healing of our soul begins by restoring the glory of God to its flaming, all-attracting place at the center. We are all starved for the glory of God, not self. No one goes to the Grand Canyon to increase self-esteem. Why do we go? Because there is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self. Indeed, what could be more ludicrous in a vast and glorious universe like this than a human being, on the speck called earth, standing in front of a mirror trying to find significance in his own self-image? It is a great sadness that this is the gospel of the modern world. But it is not the Christian Gospel...the Christian Gospel is about ‘the glory of Christ,’ not about me. And when it is – in some measure – about me, it is not about my being made much of by God, but about God mercifully enabling me to enjoy making much of him forever. What was the most loving thing Jesus could do for us? What was the endpoint, the highest good, of the Gospel? Redemption? Forgiveness? Justification? Reconciliation? Sanctification? Adoption? Are not all of these great wonders simply means to something greater? Something final? Something that Jesus asked his Father to give us? ‘Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me’ (John 17:24)” (pgs. 13-16).

Seeing Pluto, Charon, Hydra, Nix, Styx, and Kerberos is just another step in the unending riches of the universe. We’ve discovered 484 planetary systems in other solar systems exponentially further away than distant Pluto. We’ll most likely never see them with the detail the pics of Pluto will have in the upcoming days, weeks, and months. This universe will continue to astound us as long as we keep looking up. Mis-read it, and it is Carlyle’s “sad spectacle” because it refuses to make much of us. May we read this story rightly that the heavens are telling, for “the heavens are telling of the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). It is the glory of the Trinity, the one true God Who is eternally three Persons.

“In the beginning God [the Father] created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said [the Son Who is the creating Word, John 1:1-3; cf. Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-3], ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day...then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth’; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:1-5,14-18).

We are then meant, with the minds uniquely created for us, to consider the reality to which this universe points. “For God, Who said [in Genesis 1:3], ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One Who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves” (2 Corinthians 4:6,7). This is the message of Pluto: we see we are smaller than we thought, and the Creator-God Who made this tiny, far-flung world in all its beautiful detail is even greater in glory than we could previously imagine. This same God is not merely concerned with making cosmic artwork. He has stooped down to us in His Son to save us from our self-centered foolishness and rebellion against Him. This is Good News, and it is truly glorious.

Did you hear Piper? “...there is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self.” Marvel at what He has done, then look to the greater glory of His Son Jesus for your salvation, and find the wholeness you’ve been seeking all your life.

Magnificent Theft

I have the opportunity to preach this Sunday at a mission church with which our home church has some connection, so our family made the 8-hour trip a few days early to spend time together. While in this area, we checked off a destination that’s been on our list for over ten years: the Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado. It’s truly awe-inspiring, and well worth the long wait to see it (I got to summit the second-largest dune in the park – 650 feet tall...amazing and literally breath-taking!).

While waiting in the Visitor’s Center for a summer storm to pass, I saw this sign out on the overlook and ran outside between lightning flashes to get a pic of it:

The sand dunes exist and are remarkably stable through a confluence of geography and weather...just incredible. But “coincidence”? With the addition of the adjective “magnificent,” what we have here is a worship statement exulting in chaos or chance. It is a sad theft. Unsurprising, but sad. Glory has been stolen from the Son of God: “God...in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, through Whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:1-3).

I say “unsurprising” because, of course, this is exactly what the Scriptures say humanity does: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures” (Romans 1:18-23). This sign at the overlook is a nice, clean, modest example of the willful suppression of “the truth in unrighteousness,” a sign of the present and abiding wrath of God against all who, in seeing an astounding display of “His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature,” steal His glory and give it away to randomness.

When truth-suppressors give themselves to “all his thoughts are, ‘there is no God’” (Psalm 10:4), they set themselves up as the highest intelligent, willful organizing agents in the universe. There is no higher intelligence, so all balancing acts in Creation (like the Great Sand Dunes National Park) are the products of happy chance. We can climb, play, “wow,” but miss the whole point. In the video in the Visitor’s Center, there was more than one clip showing someone sitting high atop a sandy ridge looking meditatively off into the distance. In fact, we saw several people doing just that in person. So close...brought to the edge of the contemplation of truth, but for the most part missing it. Admiring the great signpost, but missing where the arrow is pointing.

This is why we must preach the Gospel. General, or natural, revelation is powerful and helpful, but it does not save the truth-suppressing human soul.

“The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God so much that man is left without any excuse, they are not sufficient to provide that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary for salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal Himself, and to declare His will to His church; and afterward, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church, protecting it against the corruption of the flesh and the malice of Satan and the world, it pleased the Lord to commit His revealed Truth wholly to writing. Therefore the Holy Scriptures are most necessary” (1689 Baptist Confession, 1.1).

This is why Paul, in his last will and testament to Timothy, as he passes the baton to the next generation of the Church, adjures him: “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 3:14-4:5).

We must continue in the Word. We must teach, reprove, correct, train, and work out of the Word. We must preach the Word.

And, when standing before and exploring an unbelievably beautiful signpost to His absolutely wonderful “invisible attributes...eternal power and divine nature,” we must praise Him with great praise for His magnificent glory.

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created” (Revelation 4:11).