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Many in the church are considering how the church should respond to the change in the civil status of homosexual marriage.  Such "marriages" used to be illegal.  Now they are permitted in Massachusetts.  This change is not a good thing.  The church ought to have some prophetic voice; ought to be able to rebuke the magistrate and instruct him in what God requires.  The great commission tells us to teach the nations to obey all that Christ has commanded.

Some say the church ought to be vocal and active.  Others have said that homosexual marriage is clearly a judgment of God, and that the church should "own the curse."  That is, we should acknowledge our own covenant unfaithfulness and repent, and not try to beg off God's just chastisement of our nation.  Credenda Agenda has an article to that effect here.  

I'd like to make a related point:  even if the church had a strong sense that a rebuke to the magistrate was in order, the church in the U.S. has no standing to make such a rebuke.  Our churches are endlessly divided, and therefore have essentially no voice.  Let's not even discuss the fact that many denominations are so muddled in their own thinking and practice that they allow or seriously discuss the ordination of practicing homosexuals.  Let's take a leap and imagine that all church groups everywhere in the land were of one mind: homosexual marriage is sinful and contrary to the law of God.  Who will tell the magistrate?  As it is, hundreds, maybe thousands of denominations will have their conventions this summer and pass resolutions of many kinds.  My own church, the Presbyterian Church in America, for example, passed a Statement on Marriage and Sexuality.  The magistrate yawns.  How can the church have any significant standing before the magistrate as long as the magistrate can just ask, "well, assuming I wanted to listen, -- and I'm not sure why I should -- which church should I listen to?"  

But imagine that the churches were one.  That differences were accommodated, but did not cause division.  That the churches in America had something like one voice that spoke clearly on matters of society and civil law.  And that a rebuke to the magistrate really meant something.  

This must not be discounted as an idealistic impossibility.  After all, the nuns and the Baptists have found a way to stand in the same pro-life demonstrations.  There is already some sign that they worship the same Jesus.  But until we repent of our sectarian pride and find a way to be one holy and apostolic church, all of our denominational resolutions and statements will have as much influence on the magistrate as the fan in the end zone seats has on the quarterback when he shouts instructions down to the field.

Hebrews 10:1 "For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near."

I'm scheduled to preach Hebrews 10 on July 11th.  (Nice thing about being an Associate: you have plenty of time to savor your occasional sermon text.)  There are a couple of surprising word choices.  Can you supply the word that fills both these blanks?

I suspect the natural impulse is to put in something like "saved" since our default evangelical impulse is to read everything through the lens of justification by faith.  But the word is actually "sanctified". This chapter is not about getting saved, it is about who may draw near for worship.  The message of the old covenant was all about limits and restrictions and temporary access.  Only the specially consecrated priests, who carefully maintained their holy standing, had anything like continual access. The point of Christ's sacrifice is that now we are all made holy (sanctified) so now we all count as saints, and all have unrestricted permission to draw near.  I want to do some word study on "sanctified" and also "made perfect."  This chapter does not seem to be talking about "sanctification" in the more common systematic sense of ongoing "more and more" conformity to the character of Christ.

Seabiscuit.  Fun enough Rocky Balboa type story, except this story has four Rocky's -- and that's not counting the Rocky depression-era U.S.A. itself.  If ever there were a work that illustrates what happens when you completely discard all regard for the classical unities of time, place, and action, this is it.  The story covers many many years, many places, and several dramatic strands.  It opens with a Model T factory in 1910 and ends in 1938, it moves between California, Mexico, and New York; it tells the jockey story, the owner story, the trainer story, the horse story, and the story of a down and out nation.  The unities tell us that it would have been improved by choosing one strand, one place, and one time. 

Lost in Translation.  I'm a Bill Murray fan.  We re-watched What About Bob, and still love it dearly.  The best thing about Lost in Translation is the way Murray's character looks at the incomprehensible face of Tokyo with weariness and something that begins to approach melancholy amusement.  And it was sweet enough how the two characters found one another and were able to help each other through some lonely and difficult days, but the story was stacked against the possibility of any satisfactory ending.  I don't get the feeling that either character made any real progress where it counts.  About all they end up with is "well, we'll always have Tokyo."

(I would love to watch this with a Japanese national:  Is this westerner's view of Japan reasonable at any level?)

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Hey, I don't just watch movies.  I also spent all day Saturday painting the upstairs bathroom.

Watched the director's cut of Das Boot, which is the submarine movie to beat all submarine movies.  Made in 1981 and updated, primarily with better sound effects in 1997(?) when it was remixed for the director's cut DVD, it has no digital special effects.  The exterior shots of the sub were done with an 11-foot model.  Most of the movie happens inside the sub, and was shot in meticulously constructed studio sets.  

Why anyone would want to serve in a submarine, especially in the era of very cramped, limited ships, is completely beyond me.  The movie has all the obligatory scenes of submarine warfare: depth charges, groaning hulls, popping rivets, and high-pressure leaks.  The only scene it (thankfully) doesn't have is the flooding compartment that must be sealed even though there are still guys on the other side.  

By making the movie about a German U-boat, and by making it WW2, and by telling us in the opening credits that 30,000 German submariners never returned, it removes all patriotic feeling and all assurance of a happy ending.  As a result it is less about the war, and more about the men on the ship.  The men clearly owe their lives to their captain, who is a wise old man about 30 years old.  He has no use for the Nazi spirit, but is kind to the propaganda Lieutenant (pronounced "LOY-tn-ahnt") assigned to chronicle their mission.  

Watch it in German with English subtitles.

My favorite Bible quiz.  Supply the missing word in each of the blanks below.  Hint: it is the same word in every blank, although in some cases it's a verb form (like "grow" or "growing") and in other cases it's a noun form (like "growth").

• "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not ______the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. "
• "And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who _______ ." 
• "...but for those who are self-seeking and do not _________ the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury." 
• 'But they have not all _________  the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" '
• "For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to __________  —by word and deed, "
• "You were running well. Who hindered you from ________ the truth? "
• "... and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not _______  the gospel of our Lord Jesus. "
• "For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not ____________  the gospel of God?"

Answer is here ...

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From Peggy Noonan's OpinionJournal.com piece on the Reagan week:

One of the things not sufficiently remarked upon the past week: The music, from California to Washington and back to California again, was old music, old American music, and it was beautiful. We have abandoned so much of the core of American music. And then a state funeral comes and the death of a president, and suddenly we are allowed to hear the old songs. "Going Home," the hymn they played for FDR as they took him from Warm Springs, Ga., to Washington. All the stanzas of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"--"In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea." "The Navy Hymn," also known as "Eternal Father Strong to Save." "Abide With Me." "Ave Maria"--a great song of the Catholic Church, and yet they don't play it unless it's a special person's wedding or a special person's funeral.

This music is part of our patrimony, every bit as much as the trees and mountains. Our children, in our civic life, have for a generation been denied these songs. The moral and artistic equivalent of river polluters have decided we need to hear--I don't know, what songs do they play now in school, at events? "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head"?

We need a new environmental movement--a musical conservation movement aimed at saving and preserving the old songs. The rivers and mountains and plains are so beautiful and need saving. But what have you lost if you lose the sound of your ancestors' souls singing? Even more, I think..

"Things unseen" is a major theme in Hebrews.  I am seeing more and more that the concern of the apostle is to convince those who are wavering not to return to Judaism, which attracts them because it gives them stuff they can see.  Priests, sacrifices, city ... all these tangible elements that made Judaism seem attractive were "missing" in the church.  So part of the apostle's argument is that if you are tempted to "go back" then go back all the way: the real faith of the Bible is always proved by acting on things that cannot be seen and looking forward to the new thing God is doing.  The argument comes to its climax in the faith chapter (11), which lists all those heroes who acted without being able to see the object of their hope.  Our faith in Christ, whose priestly ministry in the heavenlies we cannot see, is therefore true Biblical faith, unlike the "faith" of those who would apostatize for the sake of the visible trappings of the forms that were passing away.

We are still tempted to go for what we can see.  One modern equivalent is the desire to return to the good old days.  In our memories, we can "see" the way the church used to be, we can "see" how the confessions were held and used, we can "see" how the old hymns were superior to the thin contemporary stuff that has replaced them, so, like the church in Hebrews, we are tempted to go back. Likewise, we are tempted to "stay put."  We try to perpetuate the status quo because it is comfortable, familiar, and safe.  We can see it.  But we can't see what change brings, so we shrink back.

But holding back or going back is never the mark of faith.  Now it is certainly clear that discarding all historical forms in the service of the god of relevance is sheer Darwinian arrogance.  But it also clear that nailing the church to one point in history manifests a lack of faith.  The Eastern churches want to stop the clock at the 7th ecumenical council; many reformed want to stop the clock at the Westminster Assembly in 1647; many church members want to return to the church of their childhood.

Hebrews says that if you can see it and if you want to go back to it, that's not faith.  

Trip to Cinci went well.  Very proud of Sam.   Also very glad to be done with Cincinnati.  I'm sure there are nice parts of town somewhere, but most of what we saw was urban crumble.  Though the UC campus proper is well kept.  

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We missed most of the Reagan stuff on TV.  We did see some C-SPAN reruns Thursday night in Somerset.  One of the most striking images was the riderless horse that followed the casket in the funeral procession.  Reagan was a great president, and most days I doubt that we will see his like again.

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We read some Harry Potter #5 in the car.  As much as I enjoy the books, I don't think these stories will endure like the Tolkein stories will.  Not that JKR has been trying to write timeless tales -- I get the idea that her target is not that lofty -- but the stories are weak insofar as they depend on the characters being much stupider than the reader.  Why can't Harry keep his mouth shut?  Why do the three friends have to quarrel so regularly?  Why does Harry refuse to go to Dumbledore?  Answer: because if the characters start acting sensibly, then the questions are answered, the problems are solved, and there's no way to string out the story another 500 pages. 

Leaving town tomorrow for Cincinnati to see son Sam graduate with MM from College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati.  Sam went through UNL on a Regents Scholarship in Engineering, but his first love is trumpet, and his idea is to see what he can do with it.  He has auditioned and been accepted by the Army Band, so he has some Basic Training ahead, and then 3 or 4 years with the Army.  He sees this as a good opportunity that will give him the chance to keep working and improving and, he hopes, be ready for a major orchestra somewhere down the line.

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Harry Potter 3 was a disappointment, although I sympathize with the challenge of telling that much story within the constraints of a movie.  But the result flattened the story: no dimension or complexity to Snape.  No wise one-on-one with Dumbledore.  Where was McGonagall?  Emma Thompson's Trelawny didn't strike the right note at all (I always wanted them to cast Shelly Duvall).  Peter Pettigrew was likewise a miss.  But the good things: Black's Wanted poster, the Hippogriff, the marauder's map, Aunt Marge effect.  But where was the scene when Lupin tells Harry who was Mooney, Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail?  There was nothing with Prongs, which, excuse me, was the point of the book, wasn't it?

Thirty years ago today Jana and I were married at Park Place Church of God in Anderson, Indiana.  Certainly the greatest gift in my life.  
An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels. 

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If Barlow can talk about skateboarding, then I can talk about tennis.  I am 4-5 in the Ace Bandage Tennis League.  My motto: "What I lack in control, I make up for by overhitting."  Last night I played a kid from the Lincoln Christian School tennis team. He was 6-1 going in to the match.  He jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set, and I was figuring on another embarrassment, but I ran 5 games in a row to tie it at 5-5.  He ultimately won 7-5, 7-6 (it was getting dark), but I claim something like a moral victory: I played toe to toe with a decent high school player.  The one advantage a geezer has over a kid who can run is guile.  Kids who play kids tend to see one kind of game, played the way the coaches teach them to play.  And that is as it should be.  Learn to play right, with solid tactics.  But the kid tends not to encounter a lot of unconventional tennis.  Everyone he plays is also trying to play solid tennis.  Last night I didn't do much weird stuff, but I did start holding serve when I started standing wide, over by the alley, to serve to the ad court.  I stand wide, I put a lot of topspin on the serve, I serve short into the box, as close to the alley line as I can, and the ball kicks up towards the next court.  That extreme crosscourt angle takes the returner very wide; he lunges to make the return, so his shot is not real strong, and that lets me come in and hit it anywhere on the deuce side for a winner.  Or, if the kid is running like mad to cover the deuce side, I can hit it behind him.  It is a one-trick strategy, and it only works when I'm placing that serve well, and there are good counter-strategies.  But my opponent didn't come up with an answer last night.  And until he figures it out, that's what I'll keep giving him.  

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Wayne thinks its cool to put an airphoto of his house on Carrifex.  Well, beat this, Larson:

In color.  1-foot resolution.  That's our house, near the intersection of 26th and Franklin in Lincoln.  Our TNTatlas software (www.microimages.com) outlines the property with a box.  

Psalm 20 is a song for a day of trouble.  Some nice connections: "May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you" in v. 1 is a close echo of Genesis 35:3, where Jacob says he will go to Bethel to "make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my trouble."  I wonder if David had his devotions in Genesis 35 on the day he prepared this Psalm for his pending campaign against his enemies.  Then on the day that he went out, he began with sacrifices in the sanctuary accompanied by this Psalm.  The LXX chose the word "thlipsis" for "trouble" here, which makes plenty of room for pondering things like "in the world you will have 'trouble', but take heart, I have overcome the world."  

It's also instructive that the order is first: sacrifice, after: face the enemy.  Even King Saul knew he had to sacrifice before battle.  That's the order for Jesus, too: first present the blood of his sacrifice at the heavenly mercy seat, and then conquer the world with the gospel.  And it emphasizes the priority for the church: first do the sacramental worship of the covenant, then go out and overcome strongholds.  And of course that speaks against our political impulse to march, petition, vote, and hold posters at the abortion clinic.  If you do that, what do you do more than others?  All these things the Gentiles do.  Our warfare has to be of a different order; we have to take it to a place where the enemies of the Gospel have no answer.

Attended the community playhouse production of I Hate Hamlet last evening.  Jana and I serve as ushers, so we don't have to pony up $25/per.  LCP is a good community theater.  Some of their work is very strong, and some of the performers are quite gifted.  I Hate Hamlet is an amusing piece, but it is not written at much more than a sitcom level.  Reluctant young TV actor agrees to play Hamlet in the park, and honestly doubts that he has what it takes.  His apartment happens to be where John Barrymore once lived, and the ghost returns to guide him along.  The striking thing about the play is that on occasion they run lines from one or another of Shakespeare's plays, and it's like all of a sudden your head is above water and you can breathe.  Makes me think of a project I worked on several years ago, The Tragick Historie of King Saul.  I had just finished playing a part in Taming of the Shrew at the playhouse and my mind was full of iambic pentameter.  I thought the Saul story was perfect Elizabethan material: ghost, witch, battles, madness ... and so I gave it a shot.  We actually performed "Scenes from ..." in 1997.  The work is, of course, unfinished, and I wonder if I could find it.  Surely the files are somewhere, although that was a couple of computers ago.  

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