Weekends or Lord’s Days?

It is almost as predictable as the rude annoyance of the alarm clock.  Every Monday, most of us return to our workplace and are asked by our co-workers, “So, did you have a good weekend?”  The presumption behind the question is often that the weekend was a time of self-devoted leisure for us, at least in large part.  Given my responsibilities in multiple jobs, paid and otherwise, I’ve often replied, “Weekend? What’s a weekend?”  Beyond that personal frustration though, there is an increased sense that Christians in the West have allowed our society to dictate our conceptions of how we think about and allocate our time.

According to the OED[i], the term weekend was first noted in 1638, but didn’t come into more common use until the latter 19^th century.  So this is one phrase we can’t blame on the Internet or Gen X.  It took 20^th century advertising though to elevate the weekend to near Nirvana status in American society.   If we are to believe the hype, the five day work week is akin to being stuck in the Matrix or in one of Dante’s many circles of hell, whereas the weekend is a two-day taste of heaven (assuming you have purchased all the correct products which will guarantee your happiness).  I’m not going to even touch on the sinful covetousness involved in this dance, though hopefully it is obvious.

At the risk of raining on your weekend parade, I will point out that this whole idea of a ‘weekend’ is unbiblical in multiple ways.  The place to start in any Christian conception of time is the Lord’s Day, or Christian Sabbath.  The Reformed view of scripture holds that the Sabbath was a creation mandate given to all mankind, not just Israel.  Further, the Sabbath was not merely a command which passed away with the coming of Christ any more than the rest of the Law.  The Sabbath is a moral command, not ceremonial (though most assume it is the latter).  The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was the pivot point at which we celebrate the new creation in Christ by keeping the Sabbath now on the first day of the week instead of the last day.

I realize that many Christians dispute that the Lord’s Day retains any force of command.  Those Christians likely resist God’s other moral commands which Christ Himself reinforced.  But scripture clearly shows us that this one day in seven belongs to the Lord.  It is a day set aside for rest, yes, but also supremely for worshipping the triune God of the Bible.  If we are resisting the idea of giving one day to worship and rest, we are resisting God’s will and the remainder of what I will say here will make no difference.  God is not asking us for some pharisaical obedience – He wants the day to be one in which we delight in Him (Isaiah 58:13).

Once a believer can grasp the joyful significance of the Sabbath and its blessings which come from submission, worship, rest, and renewal, then we can turn to look at the other days of the week.  As we do so, we first ought to jettison the “5 (grudgingly) for them, 2 for me” way of looking at our week.  A Christian view of a week ought to be more like “1 for worship for the Lord, 6 for work for the Lord, myself, and others”.  In other words, we must approach each day as one which is entrusted to us from God so that we may glorify Him (see also Matthew 25:14-30). 

I cannot do justice to the Christian concept of work in this space.  Thankfully others have written ably on the topic (cf. Dorothy Sayer’s essay, “Why work?” or more recently Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavor).  I would assert that most of us have a very inadequate understanding of what ‘work’ ought to mean for a Christian, and also what godly rest means for believers as well.  The secular notion of leisure is almost wholly self-absorbed, even when done in the company of others.  It is promoted as respectable hedonism (ok, sometimes not so respectable). 

We Christians need to sit down long enough (shabat?), put aside the laptop and smart phone, turn off the TV and any other source of distraction, and examine ourselves and our usage of time.  Are we using our time as if it belongs to us instead of to the Lord?  Are we really working as unto the Lord in all areas of life?  I’m not saying that leisure is evil – but have we made an idol of leisure in our lives?  Go ahead, start spinning the rationalizations for why your leisure endeavors are all acceptable.  Are they sounding hollow?  Are we willing to pray, “Lord, show me if any of my work or leisure pursuits are not honoring to you, and then give me grace to change how I live accordingly”? 

Until we view every day as belonging to the Lord, we are not living with a biblical Christian conception of time.  All days as the Lord’s days, though one particularly given to worship and rest.  This is not punishment from God – that’s what Satan would have us think.  Submitting all our days to our Lord to direct is the only way in which we can live them not in drudgery but in delight.  And our ultimate rest will be not in worldly leisure or in one day a week.  Our rest will come as we rest in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.              

---

[i] Oxford English Dictionary.

The ‘Inactive Roll’ and Biblical shepherding and discipline in the ARP Church

                 The revised Form of Government coming for a vote at the 2013 General Synod of the ARP Church proposes eliminating the ‘inactive roll’ which has been a part of our church government for some time (though not forever).  This was not an accident or oversight.  As the committee discussed the various types of rolls in the life of the church, the consensus was that there is neither Biblical basis nor warrant for an ‘inactive’ roll in any denomination.

                A memorial has been sent from Virginia Presbytery to restore the inactive roll to the FOG. This memorial begins by stating:

       Whereas, the proposed Form of Government chapter on church membership makes no provision for faithful members who have moved away or who, for various reasons, are not in regular attendance at worship,

        Therefore, Virginia Presbytery memorializes Synod to retain the categories of ‘Active, Inactive, Non-communicant and Associate member’ in our new Form of Government along with the prescribed guidelines for dealing with Inactive members.

                The first part of the assertion that the new FOG “makes no provision for faithful members who have moved away” is false.  The new FOG 4.17 states:

       Those who have previously been active in the life of the congregation but are prevented from activity by infirmity, or who are temporarily away in academic study, military service, or for other valid reasons, shall be maintained on the roll.

                This language is basically identical to the current FOG.  If you are going to present a Memorial, at least be accurate with the facts of the issue.  I am assuming what the movers of the motion had in mind though was what I call the ‘church cemetery’ rationale.   First Somewhere ARP Church has a cemetery, and the rules for being buried there are that one must be a church member.  Thus an ‘inactive roll’ is needed to forever park a person on the church roll even though they moved from Virginia to California fifty years ago, but wish to be buried with the rest of their family.  I am all for family togetherness, but issues with your cemetery policies should not drive how our FOG is structured, but rather the structure of our FOG should in turn shape your local policies.  Find another way to write your cemetery rules instead of using the FOG as the means to an unbiblical end. Another problem with this is that the *current* inactive roll only allows someone to remain on it for 3 years, and then they must be removed; such churches are already in violation of the FOG.

                To be quite clear, the new FOG retains the Associate Member status as an option, though frankly I can find no biblical warrant for that either.  Yet this status is meant to be a temporary option, for example with visiting college students, military members stationed somewhere short term, or perhaps someone whose employer has temporarily moved them to another place. It is also optional – a local congregation need not have an associate roll.  It is meant to foster at least some local accountability to a church session while the person is away from their home church.  It is meant as a short term status.

                Let us get to the heart of the issue of church membership though.  Church membership and church discipline are inextricably linked in Scripture.   In Matthew 18:15-17 we have the most detailed description of the process of church discipline:

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (ESV)

                First, note that the parties involved are assumed at the start to be brothers or sisters.  While this passage alone is not sufficient to argue for the idea of some form of church membership as we now practice it, it certainly assumes a clear delineation between those who are in the church and those who are not.  If a person who is unrepentant in their sin through this process, they are ‘put out of communion’ – excommunicated. 

                Second, there is an assumption that all the parties are a part of a local body of believers, or how else would each be aware of the sinful practices of the one coming under discipline?  One member in a local congregation has sinned against another in a specific way which requires reconciliation.  If the offending believer persists in their sin, then it is to be taken as if they were not even believers – such is the gravity of sin in the midst of the church.  These unrepentant sinners are to be treated as unbelievers and removed.  Paul likens such sin as leaven which corrupts the whole body (1 Cor. 5:6-7).  He goes on to say, “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?  God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you.’” (1 Cor. 5:12-13)  This is a local process from start to finish.

                A third observation from the Matthew 18 passage is an absence of anything resembling the membership purgatory of an inactive roll.  The person who has sinned is to either be urged to immediate repentance, or else pursued by the active shepherding of the church until they either repent or are excommunicated. Flagrant sin which affects others is not to be tolerated in the church (1 Cor. 5:1-2; Gal. 6:1; 2 Cor. 13:1-3).  All through scripture there is a clear expectation of observable growth in holiness in every believer within the context of the local body of believers.

                Some might object, “Well, we keep up with the person who moved away through their family or by e-mail” or some other means.   We find no example outside of the apostles of anyone exercising any sort of long-distance shepherding of God’s flock, and the apostolic age has long ceased.  Peter himself urged the faithful to active shepherding by the elders:

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:1-3)

                Is it that those who wish to retain an inactive roll have forgotten or perhaps have never fully grasped the nature of what a church roll represents as it relates to the elders of the church?  Another term for the ‘active’ roll is the ‘communicant roll’, which is to say all those who are members are able to partake fully in the sacraments of the church, particularly the Lord’s Supper.  To be admitted to the sacrament one should not be living in unrepentant patterns of sin with no consequence.  One step that a session should take if a member resists church discipline is suspension from the Lord’s Supper.   Yes, that is a severe step, but it is meant to help the stubborn sinner realize the danger in which they are placing themselves if they fail to take their sin seriously and seek reconciliation with God and man.

                If a member in good standing moves away, exhort them to find another church to which they can transfer as soon as possible, even if the options are not ideal. If they fail to do so within a year, remove them from your roll, as they can no longer be shepherded by your session. Neither can you provide a letter of transfer with full integrity, since you cannot effectively observe their walk with Christ from afar after the passage of that much time.

I could write much more about church discipline, but let me simply exhort those who want an inactive roll: man up and do the job of elders instead of casting people off into three years of neglect during which you may be placing their souls in eternal jeopardy.  Are we really okay with ignoring someone who fails to be active in worship or is living in other sinful ways for three years?  What sort of shepherds are we?  If they have committed serious enough sin against their brethren in the church, they ought to come under the prompt discipline of the session until they repent or are excommunicated. 

The concept of an inactive roll violates the clear intent of Biblical church discipline and shepherding.  Even our definition of an active member is disgracefully lenient.  A member of the Rotary Club has higher attendance requirements placed on him or her than in an ARP church!  We are called to a far higher and holy participation in Christ through His Church, and our membership rolls, shepherding and discipline ought to reflect this.

Rev. Ken McMullen

               

Observations on observations of the unchurched

This week Thom Rainer, who has written numerous books, most on ‘church growth’ such as, Surprising insights from the unchurched and proven ways to reach them, wrote about comments non-Christians often make about Christians (see here). Before I offer some critique, let me be clear that his main point is that non-Christians want to talk to believers about their faith, which is a good reminder, especially to many of us who are like the bubble-boy [obscure cultural reference help] and never venture outside our Christian contacts except for superficial interactions. So in that respect his observations are helpful. There are however some unanswered assumptions in the ‘comments’ he records which he left unchallenged, but which I think need to be addressed, either for ourselves as believers or in our conversations with unbelievers who raise the same or similar objections. I will address these one at a time.

 “1. Christians are against more things than they are for. ‘It just seems to me that Christians are mad at the world and mad at each other. They are so negative that they seem unhappy. I have no desire to be like them and stay upset all the time.’” To a degree this is a valid concern. Too many Christians are angry a lot for wrong reasons, most likely because we are continuing to justify ourselves by works instead of resting in the joyous grace of Christ. Sometimes though the anger is valid if we are upset with sin. The fact that unbelievers are not angry is due to the fact that they are in happy complicity with the sin of the world, or they get angry at the wrong things. And let’s be honest, there are a lot of cranky pagans out there, so spare us the myth of the happy natives who are ruined by Christian missionaries.

“2. I would like to develop a friendship with a Christian. ‘I'm really interested in what they believe and how they carry out their beliefs. I wish I could find a Christian that would be willing to spend some time with me.’” This is a point well taken, and a reminder not to wall ourselves off from unbelievers. Yet we need to be clear we are not presenting to them one choice which is equally valid among other choices they can make. We ought to be gracious and yet clear that Jesus demands repentance and submission to His Lordship.

 “3. I would like to learn about the Bible from a Christian. ‘The Bible really fascinates me, but I don't want to go to a stuffy and legalistic church to learn about it. I would be nice if a Christian invited me to study the Bible in his home or at a place like Starbucks.’” There is nothing wrong with inviting unbelievers to our home or Starbucks for Bible study (unless Starbucks really irritates you like it does me). Yes, some churches are stuffy or legalistic, but I suspect most unbelievers who would voice this objection are really saying, “I want to study the Bible, but I don’t want you to insist that it demands any response from me. I want to be selective in what I take away from it.” What they mean by legalism is in fact the moral demands of the law which ought to still guide believers after we are saved – ie, sanctification.

“4. I don't see much difference in the way Christians live compared to others. ‘I really can't tell what a Christian believes because he doesn't seem much different than other people I know. The only exception would be Mormons. They really seem to take their beliefs seriously.’” Too many of us are guilty as charged. Yet I would rather live an open example where unbelievers come to understand that when I commit one of my multitudinous sins, I am forgiven by Christ. I also want to avoid a life in which there is no noticeable growth in grace and holiness, and I want to avoid a stale works righteousness like the Mormons live.

“5. I wish I could learn to be a better husband, wife, dad, mom, etc., from a Christian. ‘My wife is threatening to divorce me, and I think she means it this time. My neighbor is a Christian, and he seems to have it together. I am swallowing my pride and asking him to help me.’” Again, let them see not a façade of false-righteousness, but relationships in which the forgiveness of Christ is what holds things together. An unbeliever coming to us for such reasons needs to understand that until their relationship with God has been reconciled through Christ, no other relationships will truly flourish.

“6. Some Christians try to act like they have no problems. ‘Harriett works in my department. She is one of those Christians who seem to have a mask on. I would respect her more if she didn't put on such an act. I know better.’” I’m sure there are believers like that out there, but I honestly don’t run into them that much. If anything we whine too much in front of others about our problems without also commenting on how the Lord has blessed us in the midst of struggles. Reading the Psalms regularly will cure this!

“7. I wish a Christian would take me to his or her church. ‘I really would like to visit a church, but I'm not particularly comfortable going by myself. What is weird is that I am 32-years old, and I've never had a Christian invite me to church in my entire life.’” If Christians are guilty of keeping to our own circles, so are unbelievers. Yet we ought to be ashamed that we don’t invite more unbelievers to church…and to our homes…and into our lives. Ultimately, we need to be inviting them to Christ, and if God works grace in their hearts, they will come to church as well.

A Christian’s Reflection on the Anniversary of 9/11/2001

What is an appropriate way for a Christian to reflect upon the attacks of September 11, 2001, now that we are ten years hence? There are many remembrances taking place which are largely empty gestures of sentimentality devoid of real meaning, designed not to offend more than anything. Such is our upside-down, twisted world apart from Christ. But how should we who are followers of Christ respond, for truly it is a time in our nation that calls for thoughtful reflection.

Ten years? Has it truly been that long? Those under 18 are largely unaware that their normal is abnormal. Adults who stood around in frozen horror as we watched on TV what initially seemed an accident and then quickly and clearly manifested itself as terrorism happening in America – we who grumble about taking our shoes off or worse at the airport, but who for the most part have suffered very little directly – we now find ourselves living in a scaled back version of what Israelis and even Europeans have been living for years. Our false sense of security evaporated that day like the fog burning off to leave us under the searing heat of the sun. For Christians, have we learned to place our security in Christ and Him alone, and not in circumstance or American insularity? I’d like to think we have, but I suspect that is untrue for most.

Much is being spoken about the victims of that horrific day – and the stories are often heartrending. Young children snuffed out before their promise could blossom. Parents cut off forever from their surviving kids. The rescuers who ended up with cancer and other awful illnesses after breathing in the dust of death at Ground Zero. But I ask this, especially given the inclination of the press to beatify the dead in a secular roll of honor: are the victims of 9/11 saints? First, let us as Christians be clear that the only true definition of a saint is one who has placed his or her faith in Jesus Christ and thus found salvation for their sins. That is, all who truly believe in Him are saints; there are no superheroes in the Church that we elevate as the Roman Catholics mistakenly do.

What we can say with certainty about the victims is that they were in death what they were in life. If they were Christians when September 11, 2001 dawned, they were with the Lord in glory the moment they died their awful deaths. If they began that day as unbelievers still evading the Lord who loved them, loving instead their sin, then in their deaths they went from one horror to a far more unspeakable and eternal horror of hell itself. Dying in a terrorist attack does not atone for the sins of the wicked. Only faith in the atoning work of Christ on the cross can do that, period. We must not under any circumstance pray for the dead – their fate has long been sealed. We can pray for survivors and their families that they would find their hope and solace in Christ if they have not already.

What then of Muslims? Have we not all found ourselves having a strong sense of anger well up within us when we see a Muslim in public? These people whom we once only saw on the news or in big cities now work in stores in our small towns and shop in our malls like the rest of us. American Christians will have to come to terms with how to relate to them, as they cannot be looked at as some distant, foreign problem. As Christians it is right for us to want justice – not revenge, but justice – for those who caused the deaths of Americans and others on 9/11. And many of those people have died in the subsequent war on terror. But Christians must be careful not to hate Muslims any more than we hate any other unbelievers. We hate the lies and darkness that keep them from seeing the truth of the gospel. We hate any actions of theirs that harm others. Yet we must seek to win them for Christ like anyone else, and that means loving our enemies, which never comes easily. Islam is not the religion of peace, Christianity is when lived as Scripture teaches.

In sum, I would urge us who follow Christ not to glorify those who ought not be glorified, and not to hate those who ought to be loved. We need not live in fear but in the confidence of Christ. We are assured of His providential care over us and all things for it is rooted in His omnipotence. We trust in His love for His children, whether we live to be ninety-nine and die in our sleep, or whether we die of cancer, a car accident, or a terror attack at a younger age. Let us reflect more on Christ on this day of remembrance, and pray for our nation and those from other nations to find their peace in Christ. He is the resurrection and the life, and that is no idle and meaningless thing to remember.


Rev. Kenneth McMullen

Book review: New Life in the Wasteland by Dr. Douglas Kelly

New Life in the Wasteland: 2 Corinthians on the cost of Christian ministry
by Dr. Douglas Kelly (Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2003.)

Reviewed by Rev. Kenneth McMullen, June 2011

This small book by Doug Kelly was published in 2003, but has not received nearly the attention that it deserves, perhaps due to the smaller publisher. This is one book on pastoral ministry though that every pastor ought to have, much along the lines of William Still’s The Work of the Pastor (Rev. Still was an influence on Dr. Kelly and is one of three men mentioned in the dedication).

The chapters of the book were originally thirteen lectures from 2 Corinthians given all across Scotland to pastors, and meant to encourage and instruct them for ministry. Most of the book of 2 Corinthians is covered, though not all (chapters 6, 7, 9, and 11 are skipped). While most chapters of the book deal with half or all of a chapter, chapter 11 of the book deals only with 2 Cor. 8:9, which indeed a pastor could meditate on for a lifetime and still not fully mine all of its implications for ministry.

Do not read this thinking it will be a commentary, for that was not its design, but neither think it to be along the lines of the trendy fluff-books on ministry that clutter so many Christian bookstores. Dr. Kelly’s scholarship is combined with his years of ministry experience in a way that students will recognize from his classroom immediately, for it truly is the distillation of a pastor-scholar’s heart.

On just the second page, the reader’s attention is grabbed when he says, “Often when the church seems buried and things seem most discouraging, God is working profoundly beneath the surface; I do not doubt that is happening in our culture in more respects than we may know today. …we need to consider the duties and possibilities of Christian ministry in what so many people call the ‘post-Christian culture.’” (10) He goes on to concisely but ably define the challenges of ministry in current Western culture.

Dr. Kelly does not minimize the cost of the calling of ministry, for the scriptures certainly do not do so. In fact, he points to several benefits of suffering for Christ, such as “suffering with and for Christ has a way of killing our self-centered thinking and leaving room for us to trust God who raises the dead.” (29). He goes on to deal with a pastor’s responsibility, integrity, and proper handling of the Word, as well as how to handle criticism.

If you are a pastor, you absolutely need this book on your shelves. This is one that demands more than one reading as well, and I do not often say that about books. It would certainly be beneficial to the elders of the church as well, but it’s main audience is currently serving pastors. Pastoral ministry books that are truly rooted in Scripture and sound theology are rare. This is gold that has been refined, and you will be blessed and encouraged by it.

The Stakes are High

Our church currently worships in a funeral home chapel on the Lord’s Day since we are awaiting the building of our own new facilities. Yes, it seems odd to many people, but on the other hand, it has brought some interesting reminders that are jarring. The first Sunday we met there a couple years ago was also the first Sunday of the month, and thus time for us to celebrate the Lord’s Supper in worship. The table we use for the sacrament was set up right in front of the pulpit – right where the casket normally sits during a funeral service. I knew everyone in the congregation, already feeling disconcerted with being there the first time, also recognized this situation. So rather than ignore the elephant in the room, I purposely mentioned the joyous contrast of Christ’s sacrifice which brings life to those heading otherwise for eternal death. It was a powerful moment for me if for no one else.

This past Lord’s Day was also interesting – October 31, both Halloween on the secular calendar and Reformation Sunday for the church. It also happened that I had come in my series on Galatians to chapter 3:10-14, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith’…(ESV).” To discuss our deliverance from the curse of sin on a day in which the world almost revels in evil was a tremendous privilege. The other aspect of the day though was probably unknown to most of those there. Two people were in closed off rooms of the funeral home waiting their funeral service. One was a teenage girl who had overdosed on drugs. Another was a man in his early 20s who had committed suicide. When I heard about those two sad individuals, it was like a sucker punch to the stomach. It’s not just that our own daughters are of the same age range as they were. Death coming to the young is always a tragedy, but when it is avoidable as both of these were, it is even more horrible.

We in the church often become more and more insulated and removed from the wickedness of the world over time. Part of this is a natural result of our sanctification, as we grow to develop more ties to our brethren and spend time with them. But as I thought of those two individuals, the words from Matthew 9 came to mind, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’(ESV)” Have we lost sight of how desperate the situation is for the lost in our world? Are we so insulated in our habits and associations that we’ve removed ourselves from the mess and chaos of sin? Please understand, I ask these questions first of myself; I have no pious delusions of doing any better in this than any of my brethren, and probably count myself as doing worse than most. When we read of these things in a sanitized news report, it is comfortably distant. When the results of sin’s assault on humanity lie on the other side of the wall from where you worship, it’s a little harder to ignore. May the Lord remind us of what is at stake as we go through the week, for when death closes the door on sinners without Christ, it is closed forever.

Does God abandon us?

Psalm 74:2 - "Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt."

This is a psalm of a heartfelt cry from a child of God in exile, of the distress of a people who had witnessed the destruction of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, gloriously constructed by Solomon, and now destroyed, felled like a common tree by the godless enemies of Israel. How could there be any hope, and confidence left for the Jews? Most were now in a far away captivity with only a prophetic promise of return, but not in their lifetime.

So it is no surprise that they feared God had forgotten them - "why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?" (v.1) The psalmist then pleads, "Remember your congregation..." - remember us! remember that we belong to you! He continues, "...which you have purchased of old." Is there any doubt that God has always been the Great Initiator in our salvation? We have not purchased ourselves, nor have we merited His purchase of us, for it was a transaction that occurred "of old," long ago in eternity past. Anything, anyone who is purchased is a passive, helpless member in the transaction.

Asaph, the psalmist, says this is the congregation "which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage." Some like to argue a salvation based on some sort of foreknowledge, with the implication being that God looks into the future and somehow sees some who merit salvation more than others. But why then would the congregation need to be redeemed? It is the slave which needs redemption, a purchasing out of bondage, particularly here the bondage of sin. It is this redemption that makes us God's tribe, His covenant people, adopted for eternity.

The final plea of this verse is that God would "Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt." Jerusalem, and especially the Temple, were special, not for their own sake, but because God chose to be particularly present there. We are reminded that God sought out Israel. He sought out Abraham in a foreign land and called him as His child. Ever since Adam brought sin into the garden of Eden, God has been seeking out sinners. Many in history and today object to the doctrine of predestination, imagining it to be some cold, calculated contrivance. But what is it other than a just but gracious Father seeking out those whom He would deliver from sin and darkness? He is the God of immanence, the God who wants to dwell with a redeemed congregation which He Himself has not only purchased, but also has become the purchase price in Jesus Christ, the seeking God incarnate.

God never forgets His children, though our sinful waywardness perhaps strains that fellowship at times. Our Father may then send chastisements into our lives to remind us of His love and break our love of sinning. Make no mistake though, if we find ourselves in the midst of such chastising, that our God will not cast aside His redeemed, those He purchased of old, for He is the One who has sought us, and we are the inheritors of eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Guarantee, forever.