A (Churchly) New Year’s Resolution

We made it through 2023! Some of us barely. I came across an article this week, Blessing the Blasted New Year, that I’d commend to you, but also inspired me as I’m reflecting on what 2024 might look like for El Camino Presbyterian Church. Proverbs 16:9 says, “A person’s heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps.”  The ancient Hebraic sages assumed people would make plans. It’s in our hearts to plan ahead, craft a budget, design the trip, make a resolution. That’s true institutionally too. Jesus speaks of architects and kings counting the cost of a structure or battle before you begin. So what’s the plan? What might our church make a resolution to in 2024? 

Pastor and author, Eugene Peterson, once described the Christian life as “a long obedience in the same direction.” I love that. We live in the age of the hack, the shortcut, the immediate. But Christ calls us to a lifelong growing-learning relationship as we journey all the way to Emmanuel’s Land, the Celestial City of Zion. What does this journey look like for a community of faith, a church? 

In the last few years, no one has shaped my understanding Christian mission in our post-Christian world as much as Dutch missiologist Stefan Paas. In his book, Pilgrims & Priests (2019) he explores how Christianity might flourish in a secular climate like ours. He writes: “Personal spirituality, your family, a few intimate friends, the faith community, a modest mission - that is what it takes.” Friends, I’m drawn to that vision of spiritual health. A faith that’s deep and missional; intimate and hospitable; familial and communal. I hope you are too. 

Let me suggest 3 ways we can pursue it in 2024. I’ll do it with the picture of three tables. 

The First Table

How does Jesus connect with you?[1] If He’s the Crucified and Risen King of the World, answering that question is fundamental to your spiritual health. Both Jesus and the early church give us the blueprint. In Christ’s parting command at the ascension, the King emphasizes the word and the sacraments:

“Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is the great mission of the church; it’s our mission together. And what does Jesus say? “I Am with you always to the end of the age.” Now of course Jesus is always with us personally as His sheep. But here He’s saying that you can bank on His Presence when the church is listening to His voice in word and sacrament; when the church gathers together.[2] 

In the early days of the church, you see the same pattern. Think of Acts 2:41-42. 

“So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.”

What are the earliest Christians doing? The very ordinary and outward work of being instructed in the faith, relationships, “the breaking of bread” (which is the language of the Lord’s Table), and prayer. 

What’s the bottom line? It’s this: our primary work, the central hub from which Christ will be with and grow our church is the regular, ordinary gathering of God’s people on the Lord’s Day to proclaim His excellencies, to sing His fame, to confess our sins, to receive forgiveness, to welcome each other with a hug, to confess the faith, to listen to and be formed by the Holy Scriptures, to celebrate in broken bread and bittersweet wine. This is where Christ has promised to be; to meet with us; to meet with you. Let’s be resolute in meeting Jesus at this Table. 

The Second Table

Any great idea I’ve ever had has never been my own. That’s true of the second table. In C.S. Lewis’ marvelous sermon, “the Weight of Glory,” he said: “Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor he is holy in almost the same way, for in him Christ vere latitat - the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself - is truly hidden.” Let that sink in. Lewis is saying the primary way you experience Christ and His Glory is in the “Blessed Sacrament” at the Lord’s Table in gathered worship. But next to that? It’s your neighbor.[3] That’s the vision behind the second table: the table of friends. 

You have seen the statistics or felt it personally: ours is a lonely age. We’re crowded by rushed schedules, distracted by the glimmer of screens, divided by culture and politics. We were designed for friendship. But we often feel alone. We’re designed by a relational God, Father, Son, and Spirit to be known and loved. We’re rescued and reconciled with the Holy Trinity and with a family and body, the church. In my tradition, the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition, learning is highly valued. The Scriptures and the history of the church are replete with deep thinking about God, the world, the person of Christ, the mystery of redemption. May we drink deeply! But our neighbor is the holiest object presented to our senses. So let me suggest that one of the best (and most difficult) things you can do in 2024 is to commit to being a friend. A friend is someone who knows you and loves you. This spirit should characterize our households and families. It must also extend beyond to the “household of faith.” As Christ meets you in your neighbor, I’m convinced you will be deeply changed. Please don’t over-spiritualize it either - whenever you are with your neighbor, on a coffee date, at the playground, lifting weights, listening to a concert, playing pickleball, these are gifts of God’s grace to you. Enjoy them. Savor them. Be changed by them.  

The Third Table

The Road is American novelist Cormac McCarthy’s love story about a father and son. The book tells the tale of a pilgrimage to the sea through a post-apocalyptic wasteland of horror, hunger, and ash. It’s not a book for the faint of heart. But at several points in the novel, the father relays to his son the necessity of “carrying the fire.” The fire is essentially hope and goodness. The fire is the enduring spirit; the persistence to keep going against all the odds. The fire is the will to live nobly in a savage world. Carry the fire. 

As Christians, we carry the fire. Jesus calls us the “light of the world” (Matthew 5). We shine God’s truth into the darkness and hold out the warmth of God’s love to a cold world. Just like in McCarthy’s tale, carrying the fire is a communal endeavor. This is why our church has partnered with the Daily Prayer Project. Throughout the year, we will provide you with daily guides, morning and evening liturgies, for you and those close to you to meet with Jesus in Scripture, prayer, and song. For our family, this often happens around the kitchen table. Hence, the “third table.” This is the way our church is carrying the fire.[4] It is hard, often toilsome work (especially if you are just starting out or in a season with young kids). Commit to it. Persevere in it. The LORD will bless it. 

Along with these daily liturgies, we can carry the fire in our souls through song. In 2023, we learned 12 ancient and modern hymns to help the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. In 2024, we’ve got 12 more. Some of these are chosen because they align well with the Christian calendar (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost) and others just because they’re incredible. The point is that the Christian faith is meant to be believed, confessed, shared, but also sung. The first thing Israel does after the Red Sea? They sing. It’s a song that continues on even into the new creation (see Revelation 15). 

In 2024, let’s commit ourselves, as God enables and allows, to these three tables: the King’s Table and gathered worship; the table of friendship and our neighbor; and the table of daily communion with Jesus. It’s the same direction we’ve been going. But remember: it’s a long obedience. 

[1] The Westminster Larger Catechism (WLC 154) asks it this way: “What are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of his mediation? Answer: The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to his church the benefits of his mediation, are all his ordinances; especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for their salvation.”

[2]The Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 25.3) says Jesus has given the ordinances of God for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world; and does by his own presence and Spirit, according to his promise, make them effectual.

[3]The Westminster Confession of Faith (chapter 26) says that Christians are united to Jesus and one another and so have communion “in each other’s gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.”

[4]The Westminster Directory of Public Worship says, “In addition to public worship, it is the duty of each person in secret, and of every family in private, to worship God. Secret worship is most plainly enjoined by our Lord. In this duty everyone, apart, should spend some time in prayer, reading the Scriptures, holy meditation, and serious self-examination. The many advantages arising from a conscientious performance of these duties are best known to those who are found in the faithful discharge of them. Family worship, which should be observed by every family, consists in prayer, reading the Scriptures, and singing praises; or in some briefer form of outspoken recognition of God.”