Scripture: Selected Scriptures
Date: January 1, 2012
Speaker: Sean Higgins
There is no audio available for this sermon.
The making of New Year’s resolutions can be a complete waste of time. Some goals are cheap or petty, while goals that are worthwhile may be ruined by selfish motives. It seems like many don’t follow through on their commitments much past the first few weeks of January, if they make it that far.
Nevertheless, I’m a fan of making reasonable resolutions.
Again, while the making and breaking of New Year’s Resolutions can be the epitome of vanity and meaninglessness, and even though most resolutions are typically temporal and banal, I think there is something constructive for Christians in considering the progress of their faith and then making commitments to recognize specific ways they can honor Christ’s lordship over all areas of their lives.
Spiritual transformation and progress is essential—not optional—for Christ-followers. It is not only beneficial to consider our failures, weaknesses, and sins and address them, it is needful! It is needful not only on a yearly basis, but on a weekly basis, a daily basis, and even sometimes on a moment-by-moment basis. As disciples, there must be a recognized progress in godly character.
Peter urged all of his readers, because God already gave them everything pertaining to life and godliness:
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8)
Paul said about himself:
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. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. (Philippians 3:12-15)
Then he urges the believers: “join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us” (verse 17).
One of the clearest and most compelling passages about progress is 1 Timothy 4:15-16. Though Timothy was a leader, others were to see his life as an example (1 Timothy 4:12).
Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:15-16)
We may not like the expense, but most of us have come to terms that our automobiles need regular check ups. There may not be a glaring problem, say, our car only has three wheels. But the frequent examinations help. For whatever reason, we’re more comfortable with car care than soul care. We should “keep a close watch” on our hearts.
So I connect resolution-making with that 30,000 foot course evaluation, viewing a new year as another opportunity to consider personal growth in Christlikeness. The new year is one possible time for this kind of examination, and certainly not the only time. Likewise, 30,000 foot reviews should be spaced out, watching for broad patterns and pitfalls. Hopefully we don’t need mechanics to tune up our cars every day.
Even Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living for man.” This is more so for believers since we are called to examine our lives, our fruit, and our affections. We ought to do so daily in our meditation, weekly in our corporate worship, and I think it is also beneficial for many to make a bird’s eye assessment here at the end of the year.
Christians ought to be growing in Christlikeness. We should be more like Christ today than January 1, 2011. And so, am I? Are you? If yes, we’ve got reason to celebrate in His grace to us and we ought to do so. But if not, and even if we simply have not arrived yet, we’ve got reason to consider what He would have us do, in light of our responsibility, to be further conformed into the image of His Son.
We all have (and communicate clearly) a worldview. It’s not an if, it’s a which one? I’m borrowing the model from Doug Wilson for the worldview wheel, with the four spokes and axle of grace. Dave introduced this worldview wheel on a Sunday morning at the beginning of October (listen to Propositional Hypocrisy from 10/9). My hope is to take the illustration out for another spin as a way to think about our lives.
Wheels roll, that’s what they were made to do. Our worldview wheels are meant to make revolutions, to go around. We should examine if a spoke (or four) are weak. If we find one in need of repair, let’s make a plan to fix it. We may even want to call our plans resolutions, hence a resolutionary worldview wheel for the new year.
Dads, we have additional responsibility to be thinking about our family’s worldview, not only our own. We are leading them, like it or not.
Catechesis means instruction, and more specifically, it includes the answers to key questions. Catechesis includes our beliefs, our statements, the words we use to frame our understanding of Bible truth. Catechesis isn’t limited to certain locations, but it’s easy to associate this learning with classrooms, with books and lectures and teachers.
This is probably the spoke we’re most familiar with. Our new year plans often focus on Bible reading, Scripture memorization, and other (good) reading. We get our answers from God’s Word so we should read it. We don’t understand everything in God’s Word so we read (or listen to) other men who explain it. That’s all good. For all my truth-tube tipping, my problem isn’t with the truth part, it’s with keeping the truth in a tube.
For what it’s worth, there is no command in the Bible for believers to read the Bible on a daily basis. It’s actually a much higher standard (see Psalm 1:1-3, Colossians 3:16; 1 Peter 2:2). If and when we make a commitment to fix the catechesis spoke, we should make sure we remember the goal.
If we associate catechesis with classrooms, we might look for lifestyle in the hallways. This spoke isn’t what we know, but how we live and show what we know. Lifestyle may not have the same rigorous limits that propositions do, but they communicate what we think about the world, what we think about God nonetheless.
When it comes to a Christian’s lifestyle, he ought to consider his health. Yes, that’s true, but not if our diet causes us to bite off the heads of those around us. Dumb, fat, and happy is much better than being mad about being dumb and fat. Of course, being smart, skinny, and proud about isn’t better.
For example, at our house we’ve worked toward more happy dinners, including sabbath dinners that prepare us for Lord’s Day Worship. Anyone could follow the Trinity Church Twitter, find out the title and Scripture for the sermon, and then read the passage on Saturday night at dinner. We like to sing (the doxology) on Saturdays, too.
How can we know if we’re living a spiritual life? Perhaps we could know by church attendance, though a “good” hypocrite makes it to church. According to Galatians 5:22, kindness, joy, love mark a spiritual person. Eat a salad or steak with joy. Cook dinner, or don’t, with love for your family. Exercise, or don’t, with self-control. A lifestyle that pleases God is full of earthly work done in the Spirit.
Narrative is another word for story. Story is not catechesis with more words, though we do learn a lot from stories.
Consider what character you are. It’s not always a super fun exercise. Imagine that your life is displayed on a big screen for a room full of people. Are you always the one who never speaks boldly about Christ? Are you the one who can’t seem to figure out how to get the earbuds out of your ears? Are you always the tortured soul whom no one else can understand? Are you the dad who gets angry that his kids are angry?
In The Pilgrim’s Progress, Interpreter introduced Christian to two characters, Passion and Patience. Passion was irritated that he wasn’t getting what he wanted when he wanted it. Passion was temporarily pacified, but Patience waited for something better. Which child do we see most in ourselves? Are we whining for the now things, the visible things, the this-worldly things? Or are we happy to wait by faith for the unseen things, the lasting things, and the infinitely joyful things?
For sake of the new year, how about reading good fiction to your kids (or even just for yourself). Talk through the message in movies (if you have to watch movies).
Read the Old Testament. Read the Gospels. Read a good book on Calvinism, the eternal love story.
This spoke reveals our worldview without words, through consistent behaviors and/or obvious signs that don’t include explanation. For many of us, our Bible reading check-boxes and dusty treadmills are the most symbolic things in our lives.
Why do we wear what we wear to church? To work? Our clothes don’t save us, but they do say something about what we believe.
What does the placement of our living room furniture communicate? If another civilization found a picture of it 1000 years from now, would they assume that the flatscreen idol ruled the house with a remote control scepter?
Other symbols (that can be full of meaning, or abused) include things such as advent candles, Christmas trees, gifts, bedtime procedures, etc.
In all of this, we need God’s grace. No spoke can make us a Christian. However, all of it should be considered by Christians. The four spokes cover our answers, actions, and affections. We are passing on a worldview to our kids, grandkids, neighbors. What kind of wheel are we rolling down the road in front of them? Which spoke is our preferred spoke for poking them in the eye? Catechesis is our typical tool, but the other spokes can pierce, too. For example, Christ is Lord over all things. It’s a big world that He lords, so He provides lots of places and ways to spin our worldview wheels for His honor.