A Homily on Hospitality
“Seek to show hospitality” (Rom 12:13)

Congregation of Jesus Christ:

Seek to show hospitality. Among the apostles’ many exhortations in Romans 12 none may be more powerful for the life of the Christian and the Christian’s local church. You see, it is one thing for Paul to say love one another with brotherly affection (Rom 12:10) but quite another to say seek to show hospitality. The former is an attitude while the latter is an action; one is a creed and the other is a deed. Hospitality is love in action. It is Paul’s way of saying what James says: I will show you my faith by my works (James 2:18). I said there may be no more powerful imperative in Romans 12 because hospitality shows love. It breaks down walls. It opens the way of fellowship. It says to its recipient: “You are welcome here; I am privileged to have you in my home, at my table.” It does this because the New Testament word translated hospitality is philoxenia—the love of strangers. Let me exhort you, then, Oceanside URC, to seek to show hospitality as a powerful expression of your love for Christ, his people, and those whom he calls us to love although they may not love us (Rom 12:14–21).

As a Christian
Paul commands us, in the first place, to show hospitality as Christians. This is one of the ways we show ourselves thankful to God and lay down our lives as living sacrifices in response to the sacrifice of Christ (Rom 12:1–2). God has shown you hospitality by granting you entrance into his Father’s house and lavish kingdom, now you do likewise. What is so interesting about this verb, seek (dioko), is that it is used elsewhere for running after something and even persecuting someone. For example, in Philippians 3:14 Paul says, “I press on toward the goal for the prize.” It has the idea of running after something or striving for a goal. In Romans Paul uses it figuratively to speak of our being zealous for hospitality. Hospitality takes effort; it takes work; it may even inconvenience you! We are to be hospitable as Christians with two groups: those who are saved and those who are strangers. With those who are saved Peter exhorts us as the Body of Christ: “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Pet 4:9). With those who are strangers Hebrews exhorts us: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb 13:2).

As a Congregation
Paul’s command can also be extended to our life as a congregation. What a wonderful way to show the love of Jesus Christ! How can we all be hospitable on the Lord’s Day? When you see new people, welcome them by introducing yourself and genuinely seek to get to know them better. Offer them refreshments; hand them a bulletin; let them know where the child-care is if they have little children; and direct them to our literature rack/table. After you hear the minister say, “Greet each other in Christ’s name,” make sure you greet visitors in your area. No one should leave OURC without having been welcomed and feeling the warmth of Christian love. How can it be any other way for us who have been so overwhelmed by the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord? Amen!

A LIFE IN WATER

As I mentioned in the introduction, we want to think of the Reformed Christian life in three ways, first of which is a life in water. The great protestor and reformer, Martin Luther, spoke of the Christian life in his Large Catechism, saying, “A Christian life is then nothing else than an ongoing daily Baptism, once begun and always continuing.”¹ Baptism begins our life in Christ and his Church as well as is the continuing metaphor of it. Luther also described baptism as the greatest jewel with which to adorn our bodies and souls, as well as our daily garment to be worn.² The Christian life, then, is a life begun and continued in the waters of Christian baptism.

Beginning with Baptism
This brings us to a problem, though. One may very well question the validity of such an approach to the Christian life, seeking to think in terms of the Christians’ conversion or faith as the legitimate opening to the Christian life. Recently, on the web version of Christianity Today, Erik Thoennes, associate professor of theology at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, sought to answer the following readers’ question: “How can I know I’m a Christian if I can't remember when I first responded to the gospel?” His answer was to distinguish the Revivalist from the Reformed answer. The former emphasizes the need for personal appropriation of the gospel by faith, although it leads to an overly individualistic view of salvation, while the latter steers clear of individualism and focuses on churchly reception by baptism and confirmation, yet it falls into the trap of not emphasizing the need for personal salvation. His answer, then, was this:

For those who question their salvation, the best evidence is not the memory of having raised a hand or prayed a prayer. Nor is it having been baptized or christened. The true test of the authentic work of God in one’s life is growth in Christ-like character, increased love for God and other people, and the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–25; James 2:18).³

Not only does Professor Thoennes misunderstand Reformed theology and practice, his answer does nothing to answer the sincere question of the frightened believer. In seeming to lead us between subjectivism and objectivism, he ends up giving a subjective, introspective answer: look to your fruits! But that is precisely the problem. Not only cannot this dear saint not remember when he/she embraced Christ, how is he/she going to do that looking to fruits?

Thankfully our Reformed tradition does give us help. In dealing with the struggle of assurance, the Canons of Dort say we are to look to Christ’s promises first and only then to the Spirit’s fruits in our lives (5.10 cf. 5:14). And when believing the promise of the gospel is the problem, God has added visible seals in the sacraments, which are meant to lead us back to the promise of Christ.

In terms of our study on the Christian life, this applies because using baptism as an organizing image and event for the whole of the Christian life, especially its beginning, we have something to grasp that is tangible and can be related to our lives. After all, we can try as hard as we would like to remember the moment we were converted, but how are you ever sure? Instead, we see font before the people of God every Lord’s Day and its waters used on many occasions.

Far from leading us to an overly ritualistic religion without the necessity of being born again and appropriating Christ for ourselves, our Reformed tradition impresses this upon us in our liturgy for Public Profession of Faith: Form Number 1. There the one who stands before the church to profess faith in Christ is asked (while those who have professed faith are confronted once again): “Second: Do you openly accept God’s covenant promise, which has been signified and sealed unto you in your baptism”?⁴

¹ Luther’s Large Catechism: A Contemporary Translation with Study Questions, trans. and ed. F. Samuel Janzow (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1978), 107.
² Luther’s Large Catechism, 104, 109.
³ Cited at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/december/29.56.html (Accessed December 26, 2007).
⁴ Psalter Hymnal, 132.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE REFORMED?

Let me offer an apology from the outset for the part of the subtitle of this study that says, “The Reformed Christian Life.” The question will obviously be raised, “Why not just say, ‘The Christian Life,’ or, ‘The Biblical Life’”? I might presumptively say that those are merely synonyms, but I know that will not satisfy. The reason is that while all professing Christians presumably live a Christian life, or at least claim to do so, it is also true that every tradition within the pale of Christianity, from high church to low church, from ancient to modern, have their own way of thinking, living, and worshipping.

Therefore, if we were Anglicans/Episcopalians, we might use Lou Tarsitano’s book, An Outline of An Anglican Life. If we were Lutherans we might read Timothy Lull’s, On Being Lutheran: Reflections on Church, Theology, and Faith. If we were Presbyterians, we might profit from Sean Michael Lucas’, On Being Presbyterian: Our Beliefs, Practices, And Stories. If we were Methodists, William Willimon’s Why I Am a United Methodist, would be our book.

The subtitle, “An Introduction to the Reformed Christian Life,” is apropos because that is what we are. We have a particular theology as embodied and expressed in our creeds, catechism, confession, and canons and that theology is made alive in our liturgical forms and way of life. What, then, does it mean to be Reformed? In a word, it means that we are confessional—we have confessions of faith that we heartily confess as a people. We are confessional because our identity is embodied in the aforementioned creeds and confessions, and we are confessing because that embodied faith is expressed in our way of worship and way of living.

Too often we communicate to the world that being Reformed means merely that we believe in the sovereignty of God. For example, R. B. Kuiper once wrote that, “The basic principle of Calvinism, of course, is the sovereignty of God” (As To Being Reformed, 88 cf. 95, 221–22). We have also been guilty of boiling down our entire identity to the so-called “doctrines of grace,” or, even most simplistically, to the doctrine of election, which Kuiper called the “hallmark of Calvinism” (As To Being Reformed, 95). Our identity is so much more, though, as expressed in the adjective that we are confessional.

In this post, we want to examine, briefly, that we are confessional as a movement, as minister, and finally, as members.

As a Movement
First, to be Reformed means to be confessional as a movement. This goes without saying, of course, since to be anything means you believe something that others do not. It bears repeating, though, that as a movement, the Reformed churches are defined by the creeds, catechism, confession, and canons.

Our Creeds are those we have inherited from the ancient Church: the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian creeds. These creeds are our profession to God, and thus, they have a vertical dimension: “I believe” (Apostles’) . . . “We believe” (Nicene) . . . “We worship” (Athanasian).

Our Catechism, that is, the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), is defines our education curriculum for the church—both the youth in terms of catechesis and the entire congregation in terms of preaching. Thus, the Catechism has an internal dimension.

Our _Confession_—the Belgic Confession (1561)—defines who we are and is our witness to the world. Therefore, it has an outward dimension.

Our Canons from the great Synod of Dort (1618–19) are what regulate (from the ancient Greek work, kanon, or, ruler) our understanding of the grace of God and our response to various errors within our ranks as well as without. For this reason, they have both an internal and external dimension.

In all aspects of who we are and what we do, then, we are a confessional movement. It is important to note that the church has always been a confessional people. From the Old Testament (Deut 6:4, 26) to the New Testament (Matt 16; 1 Cor 15; 1 Tim 3:16) to the ancient church (creeds) and to the Reformation (Three Forms of Unity), confessing the Faith and writing it out has been a vital part of the life of the church.

As Ministers
The second aspect of being confessionally Reformed is that this defines us as ministers. Not only is this true of our ministers, using this term in its proper sense of those ordained to the public ministry, but also of those who are ministers of the church because the serve her (elders and deacons). The historic Form of Subscription of the Reformed churches that was standardized at the Synod of Dort says,

We, the undersigned, Ministers of the Gospel, Elders and Deacons…do hereby, sincerely and in good conscience before the Lord, declare by this our subscription that we heartily believe and are persuaded that all the articles and points of doctrine contained in the Confession and Catechism of the Reformed Churches, together with the explanation of some points of the aforesaid doctrine made by the National Synod of Dordrecht, 1618–’19, do fully agree with the Word of God.
We promise therefore diligently to teach and faithfully to defend the aforesaid doctrine, without either directly or indirectly contradicting the same by our public preaching, teaching, or writing.
We declare, moreover, that we not only reject all errors that militate against this doctrine and particularly those which were condemned by the above mentioned Synod, but that we are disposed to refute and contradict these and to exert ourselves in keeping the Church free from such errors. And if hereafter any difficulties or different sentiments respecting the aforesaid doctrines should arise in our minds, we promise that we will neither publicly nor privately propose or defend the same, either by preaching, teaching, or writing, until we have first revealed such sentiments to the Consistory, Classis, or Synod, that the same may there be examined, being ready always cheerfully to submit to the judgment of the Consistory, Classis, or Synod, under the penalty, in case of refusal, of being by that very fact suspended from our office.
And further, if at any time the Consistory, Classis, or Synod, upon sufficient grounds of suspicion and to preserve the uniformity and purity of doctrine, may deem it proper to require of us a further explanation of our sentiments respecting any particular article of the Confession of Faith, the Catechism, or the explanation of the National Synod, we do hereby promise to be always willing and ready to comply with such requisition, under the penalty above mentioned, reserving for ourselves, however, the right of appeal in case we should believe ourselves aggrieved by the sentence of the Consistory or the Classis; and until a decision is made upon such an appeal, we will acquiesce in the determination and judgment already passed (Psalter Hymnal, 117).

The four paragraphs of the Form of Subscription express the confessional nature of the officers of the church in four ways. First, they “sincerely and in good conscience before the Lord” declare a hearty belief and persuasion “that all the articles and points of doctrine contained” in the Three Forms of Unity “do fully agree with the Word of God.” We subscribe our confessions because (Latin, quia) we believe they are biblical, not in so far as (Latin, quatenus) we believe they are biblical.

Second, this means, positively, that we will be diligent “to teach” and faithful “to defend” this doctrine in preaching, teaching, and writing.

Third, this means, negatively, that we “reject all errors that militate against this doctrine.” More than this, we say that “we are disposed to refute and contradict these and to exert ourselves in keeping the Church free from such errors.”

Fourth, because we are united with other officers and churches as a group of Reformed churches, we will not publicly or privately espouse any different ideas about these doctrines. Further, because we are in covenant with others, anyone else is free to ask of us “further explanation of our sentiments respecting any particular article” if there is any substantive suspicion we are deviant.

As Members
Finally, we are confessional churches because our members are confessional. The Reformed membership vows in Public Profession of Faith: Form Number 1, calls a prospective communicant members to express his/her confessional allegiance, asking in the first vow,

Do you heartily believe the doctrine contained in the Old and the New Testament, and in the articles of the Christian faith, and taught in this Christian church, to be the true and complete doctrine of salvation, and to you promise by the grace of God steadfastly to continue in this profession? (Psalter Hymnal, 132)

Soon thereafter, in the fourth vow, the one professing faith is asked, “Do you promise to submit to the government of the church and also, if you should become delinquent either in doctrine or in life, to submit to its admonition and discipline?” The question is always raised, “Which doctrinal or ethical things can a person be discipline for”? The answer is those things expressed in our creeds, catechism, confession, and canons.

Further, this is expressed again when professing members present their children for baptism. At that joyful occasion they are asked,

Second: Do you acknowledge the doctrine which is contained in the Old and the New Testament, and in the articles of the Christian faith, and which is taught here in this Christian church, to be the true and complete doctrine of salvation? (Psalter Hymnal, 124–25)

The minister then asks a follow-up question, meant to impress that this is not merely an intellectual assent. It is “not out of custom or superstition” that we baptize our children. The third vow of the parents at the baptism of their child asks,

Third: Do you promise and intend to instruct these children, as soon as they are able to understand, in the aforesaid doctrine, and cause them to be instructed therein, to the utmost of your power? (Psalter Hymnal, 125)

Through our whole Christian life, then, we express that we are a confessional people. In closing, let me make one final note on the important of this for the vitality of the churches. Our insistence upon being “confessional,” especially with relation to our members, is not intended to close the door on sincere Christians or make the bar of membership so high that know one can reach it. Instead, it is intended to impress upon us all that we all are full members of Christ’s Church and have access to all its privileges. In those churches that do not insist on a confessional membership, one sad, unintended result is clericalism. This means “the church” is really its leaders who are higher up theologically. Confessional membership, then, says to all, both clergy and laity, that they are all members of the body.

INTRODUCTION

With this post I hope to make available a little series of adult catechism classes that I did last year. You can read the outlines and listen to some of the audio here.

This series asks the question, “What does it mean to be a Reformed Christian?” Note that well. It does not ask, “What does a Reformed Christian believe.” The difference is that the latter is a question of principle, while the former is a question of practice. Put another way, the former is a matter of our entire existence, as the verb "to be" signifies, while the latter is a matter of one part of that existence, namely, our beliefs. What I assume, then, are the principles and beliefs of Reformed theology as expressed and defined in the Reformed confessions (E.g., Three Forms of Unity/Westminster Standards) while offering an approach to how those doctrines should and must affect how the Reformed believer thinks and acts before God (coram Deo) and before humanity (coram homnibus).

In essence, to be a Christian in the Reformed expression of the Christian Faith is summed up in the poetic words of David: “I am yours; save me” (Ps. 119:94). What David said one thousand years before the coming of our Lord, the Reformation Heidelberg Catechism echoed in its first question and answer:

What is thy only comfort in life and death?
That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ, who with his precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and redeemed me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must work together for my salvation. Wherefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me heartily willing and ready henceforth to live unto him.

As a Reformed believer I humbly, yet confidently, assert that “I,” with all that I am (“body and soul”) and with my whole existence (“life and death”), belong to Jesus Christ—the Savior who has satisfied the justice of God due my sins, delivered me from the possession of the devil, and preserves me unto eternity. By his work of redemption as Lord of the covenant he says to me, “You are mine,” and in response I can say as the covenant servant, invited into covenant partnership, “I am yours.” Being Christ’s, then, means that I am made by him willing and ready to offer myself unto him as a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

The purpose of this series on what it means to be Reformed is threefold:

• first, to know who we are in Christ as his possession;
• second, to know what it means to be a Reformed believer;
• third, to know how to live this identity out before the face of God and the world.

We will accomplish this with a very basic outline, for ease of memorization. After opening with a discussion of what it means to be Reformed in the next post, we will alliterate the rest of our subject with three “W’s”: the Reformed life is a life in water, in worship, and in the world.