The Myth of Sacred Politics & Casual Church

Transcript

Good morning. If you have your Bibles with you, you can turn with me to Ecclesiastes 4, beginning at verse 13. If you don’t have a Bible, there’s a Bible in front of you under the seat. You’re welcome to use that this morning. You can find our portion of Scripture at page 4 or 520. I’ll read our text, we’ll pray, and then we’ll begin. Ecclesiastes 4, verse 13. Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice. For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king’s place. There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him.

Surely this is also vanity and a striving after wind. Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near, to listen, is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools. For they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few. For a dream comes with much busyness and a fool’s voice with many words. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it. For he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake.

Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity. But God is the one you must fear. If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter. For the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. But this is gain for a land in every way, a king committed to cultivated fields. Family, this is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray. Father, we need your help. And so we pray that you would give us the help of the Holy Spirit so that we could understand what your word means for us this morning. So speak, Lord. Open our ears and our hearts to receive from you, we pray in Christ’s name.

Politics Are Not Sacred

Amen. Well, this morning we find ourselves in a portion of Scripture that at first glance might seem to pull us in two different directions. We’re going to cover a large portion of text from chapter 4, verse 13, all the way to chapter 5, 9. To unpack two topics that we often prefer to keep separate. These topics are politics and the church. Now, we could have easily divided this into two separate sermons. In fact, that’s what most preachers tend to do. But given the cultural moment we find ourselves in, especially here in the Pacific Northwest, a region that’s not only crazy politically driven, but is often antagonistic towards the church. These two topics, I think, are better preached together. Because when preached as one sermon, they help us to better understand what I believe the Kohelet, or the preacher, in Ecclesiastes is getting at. And that is the myth of sacred politics and casual church.

Now, let me just briefly explain why I wanted to tackle these two topics together. First of all, politics in our modern culture has undergone a complete transformation. What was once considered the most secular part of our lives has kind of taken on this religious zeal. I think politics has become the fastest growing religion, complete with its own set of morals, its own kind of political priests, it has its own dogma, and it even has a kind of hope for salvation. Now, why has this shift occurred? I think because people have placed their ultimate identity, their deepest loyalties, and their hopes for a utopian, heavenly-like future in their political affiliation or ideology. Because politics has become so important to people, it’s become extremely polarized. And I think it’s reached a point of religious extremism. So politics today has become very religious. Over a century ago, theologian Abraham Kuyper observed that all strongly held views, in essence, are religious.

If our ultimate loyalty isn’t rooted in traditional religion, it manifests through more secular religions, like nationalism, socialism, or liberalism. Now, Kuyper said this over a hundred years ago. It’s almost as if Kuyper was peering into the future of Portland’s political landscape. And what’s interesting is that while politics has become more sacred and religious, the church, on the other hand, has become less sacred and less religious. Step into any modern evangelical church, and you’ll find sanctuaries that look more like music venues, preaching that sounds more like TED Talks, church services that often feel like performances which tend to cater to our consumeristic tendencies. And even more concerning is the increasingly casual and non-committed nature among brothers and sisters who gather together to worship God and serve one another. And so this morning, we’ll explore how politics, when elevated to the level of religion, is heavile, and so too is church heavil when it’s downgraded to nothing more than casual or an irreverent event

that we may or may not want to participate in. And so I’ve broken up our text this morning into two sections. As Greg mentioned this morning, politics are not sacred, and church is not casual. And again, I’ve adjusted the structure of this text to be a bit helpful for us and to help us understand the Qohelet’s train of thought. So we’re going to ping around the text a bit. So let’s begin with politics are not sacred. To help us with this context in this first section, just look with me briefly at chapter 4, verses 1 through 3. And we looked at this a couple weeks ago, but I think it’s helpful for us to just revisit it to set some context. The teacher says,

Again, I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun

— Ecclesiastes 4

(ESV)

. And behold, the tears of the oppressed. And they had no one to comfort them.

On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. So here the Qohelet rightly understands that oppression has permeated our world, even where there are political powers and structures established to deal with it. He observes that those in power who can bring about political change don’t really do anything to alleviate the oppression of the people. I think the text gives us twofold reasons. First, those in power don’t really care about people. Or at least they don’t care enough to comfort the people, particularly those who are oppressed. And in some cases, some of those powerful people are intentionally using their power to oppress people.

This is what the text says. On the side of their oppressors there was power. Secondly, the supposed power that political leaders possess isn’t really powerful enough to do anything meaningful or significant about the oppression of our world. So the Qohelet’s conclusion is rather grim. Since there is no one to comfort the oppressed, and since the power dynamics don’t bring about any meaningful or lasting change, it’s better that the oppressed were not even born. So the Qohelet’s view is one of hopelessness and despair because political power isn’t sufficient or isn’t in the position to deal with the evils of our world. And the reason the oppression continues, the Qohelet will go on to explain, is because of political corruption. So now turn with me to chapter 5, verse 8 and 9. The Qohelet says, If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness,

do not be amazed at the matter. For the higher official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. But this is gain for a land in every way, a king committed to cultivated fields. So here the Qohelet explains that the reason those in power don’t do anything about the oppression or the injustice in our world is because political leaders are always under someone else more powerful. Whether those be other politicians, or lobbyists, or special interest groups, there’s always someone more powerful than them who seem to be calling the shots. And listen, even when you get to the very top of the power pyramid, the one at the top is almost always using his or her power, not for the people, but for their own personal purposes. The text tells us that power at the top is gain for the land in every way,

which simply means that these powerful people leverage their power for money, or for regions, or for dominance, or for their own personal whatever. In other words, powerful politicians are beholden to politicians more powerful than themselves, who care nothing about pleasing anyone except for those who are more powerful than they are. And for those who are without power, well, there’s nothing we can really do about it. Ecclesiastes 8.4 says,

Those at the bottom of the power pyramid don’t have the luxury of holding those in political power accountable, or at least completely accountable. But family, it’s important to know this is not how government is supposed to be. Government is supposed to act with justice. The powerful ones were delegated that power by God to help uphold justice and to cause people underneath them to flourish. Proverbs 29.4 says, By justice, a king builds up the land, but he who exacts gifts tears it down. In other words, those who use power for personal gain, tear down the society in which they’re supposed to govern with justice. And family, this happens all the time. And we know this. This is why the text tells us, don’t be surprised when this happens. And we shouldn’t. Because kings and political leaders, in the end, are sinners. And this is ultimately why we can’t place our trust in political powers to rescue us from this evil world.

Because they themselves are part of the evil that exists in this world. We need to be rescued from this world. Family, we need someone who is all-powerful, who sits outside of the system of sin to come into our broken world and rescue us. So, Psalm 27 says, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. This puts things into perspective. Family, politicians can’t fix this world. Policies can’t fix this world. Democrats and Republicans or independents or whatever party you choose can’t fix our broken world. Only Jesus can do that. And as I’ve been scrolling through my social feeds this last week and a half, it’s become completely evident this world is ravaged by sin. Such evil atrocities are taking place in our world right now. And what it seems, at least when you’re scrolling through social media,

is that no amount of political discourse or human reason or appeals to morality by powerful people can fix it. It’s only getting worse. We need something more than what politicians have to offer. We need a mighty God and a sinless Savior. And listen, I want to be clear here. Just because politicians and governments are corrupt doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t submit to the governing authorities that God has placed over us. We are to obey the government, those in power, unless they tell us to disobey God. Because God sits far above any human power pyramid. So we obey the government when we can. We vote for laws that are just and righteous. We aim to address the oppression that we see in our world. We pray for our politicians and for our government, for those who are in power. But we cannot treat the government as our functional Savior to fix our broken world.

Because friends, that would be idolatry. They are not powerful enough to save us. They’re just not. So it does us no good to put all of our hope and all of our trust in our political party. And the truth of the matter is that every single earthly politician, because of sin, is foolish and fleeting. Politicians and their short-lived power that they possess are vanity. And we see that in chapters 4 verses 13 through 16 in this short little parable. Better was a man, better was a poor and wise youth, than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice. For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king’s place. There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led.

Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and is striving after wind. Now, this parable seems a bit confusing. Honestly, it is confusing. Let me just try to break it down as simply as I can by placing this parable in a more modern context, okay? Imagine a political leader at two different stages of his life. In his youth, he was poor but wise. But as an older man, he became rich but foolish. This politician rose from poverty to prominence. The text even hints at the fact that he might have come from prison. The idea is that in his youth, he was of the people and for the people. He knew their struggles firsthand because he lived them. In other words, he was a grassroots person who became a grassroots politician. His deep connection to the people made him an excellent listener.

And this was the catalyst for his sudden rise in politics. People loved this about him. But then something changed. After years in the political arena, he became a career politician. He became rich. And as a result, he lost sight of the very people he was once so connected to. He stopped taking their advice, stopped listening to the people altogether, and so he lost touch with the reality of the needs of the people. The very thing that made him wise in the beginning, he forfeited and became foolish in the process. And then what happens next? Well, it’s what always happens. A younger, wiser politician who comes from poverty, who’s more in tune with the people, rises to take his place until he becomes foolish. And another takes his place. And this cycle continues. One rising star gets replaced by another rising star, and then another. And so the Kohelet in this parable is making the point that

pinning all of our hopes and dreams for a better world on one politician or party is heavile. It’s fleeting. Because those politicians, along with their wisdom and their policies, are here one moment and gone the next. And they’re eventually forgotten when the next person takes their place. So, family, if this is the case with politics, if it can’t ultimately solve the problem of evil in our world, if the powers that be are subject to corruption because of sin, and if their policies are fleeting, then why do we as Christians pursue politics with such religious zeal? Why do we cling so tightly and loyally to our political parties and politicians when they can’t fix our fractured world? Family, this is huge right now in the church. There’s all kinds of Christians who think that the way forward, the way to make our world better, is through preaching politics.

The Church Is Not Casual

But if Jesus is the only way to fix or transform our world, we should be preaching the gospel, not politics. The world needs a leader and a king who is without sin, who can deal with our sin. The world needs a king whose righteousness and justice is the foundation of his throne. We need an eternal king to come in and rescue and renovate our broken world. And this is precisely what Christ has done. Through his life, death, and resurrection, Christ, the sinless one, has come and conquered sin, Satan, and death, the very things that have plagued humanity and broken our world. And because Christ has done this for us, he is the one we should place all our hope and trust in, not our political policies. He is the one who deserves all of our religious zeal and affection. And this is what should happen when God’s people gather together in worship.

We should be giving him all of our religious zeal and all of our religious affection. But sadly, this rarely happens in our world today. Which brings us to the next point. The church is not casual. Look with me to the beginning of chapter 5, verse 1. The teacher says, guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Just as the Kohelet warned us about the dangers of giving our loyalty to politics, he also guides us on how we should approach our time together in the house of God. What’s implied here is that there’s a right way and a wrong way to approach church. He tells us first to guard our steps, meaning we should be mindful of what we’re doing when we step into this place and what we’re thinking about. The first thing I want you to notice here is this phrase,

guard your steps when. Okay? This when implies that going to church isn’t optional for the Christian. It might sound like it, but when you really translate this word, it carries with it a sense of urgency and obligation. So it can be better translated, when we go because we must go. Guard your steps. Now, I get it. The church is far from perfect. For some, there’s a whole lot of baggage from our past church experiences. The church is filled with foolishness and pretentiousness and all sorts of problems. And the reason why is because the church is filled with sinners like you and like me. To be clear, the church’s imperfections don’t give you the right to opt out of being a part of it. If you’re a Christian, you must be a member of a church and faithfully committed to it. Now listen, if there’s abuse

or if there are unhealthy things going on with the leadership, the leadership fails to be faithful to the people, then you should leave that church. Okay? But you must find another healthy church to be a part of. Okay? Because it’s part of God’s design for you and for others. So we must be a part of a church, and the Kohelet is telling us that when we gather with our brothers and sisters, there is a particular posture we must have, and that posture is one of reverence. The very end of verse 7 says, but God is the one we must fear. And that word fear means to revere or to respectfully love. So when we gather together in worship, we must have this respectful love for God. Okay? Now let me just clarify something. This is not a warning about entering a building as if the building itself is sacred.

What he’s really saying here is that we should be mindful when we gather together as God’s people to worship. So the emphasis isn’t necessarily on the building we gather in, but rather with what we do as a gathered people in whatever building we find ourselves in. So this building could catch on fire and we could lose it, and we would still have a commitment to gather together in worship, in a park, in a junior high gym, wherever. So guarding your steps is another way of saying approach our worship with a sense of reverence, sobriety, and intentionality. And the Kohelet gives us three primary ways to guard our steps, and that is to hear what we say, watch what we say, and do what we say. I try to make this as simple as possible. So first, hear what we say. The second half of verse 1 tells us,

to draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice to fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. So this, in its simplest form, tells us why we gather. To listen. To hear God’s word spoken to His people. And just to be clear, this isn’t just about the preaching. It’s about the scriptures being read. We heard that in the call to worship. The songs we sing that declare the truths about God. The creeds, the confession, the pardon, the prayers, all of it. We should have open and undistracted ears to take in all of it. So while preaching isn’t the only thing we should listen to, the preaching is central to everything we hear. Family, have you ever noticed that our whole worship service is meticulously structured? It doesn’t just happen by accident. Though the Spirit sometimes moves in ways we don’t anticipate,

but we try to curate the worship service. Every facet orbits around the text that’s being preached. From the songs that we sing, to the creeds that we recite, the confession and pardon, everything centers around the text that’s being preached. And we do this because we want you to hear God’s word in a way that is comprehensive and connected. We know it’s difficult when you come into this place to hear and to listen. We’re so distracted. The weight of our challenging week or even a challenging morning affects us. Maybe you’ve had a very hard week with work or with school kids. Maybe the stress of your job is just looming over you and the stress of the news cycle is completely weighing you down and distracting you. Maybe your kids were acting crazy on the way to church this morning. Okay? Perhaps you had an argument with your spouse

about being late to church or where you were going to find parking. That’s a pretty.. You know, I understand it’s hard to park around here. So the last thing on your mind is, oh, I’m just supposed to come and listen. But family, listening should be the first thing on your mind. You need to hear about the grace of God and the forgiveness of God through His gospel, which meets us in all of our failures, in all of our challenges, and all of our suffering. We know it’s difficult. And this is precisely why we give you time before the service begins to prepare yourself, to engage your heart and your mind and to pray with the other saints for God to help rid you from your distractions and to open up your ears to hear what God has to say to you. This is one of the reasons why it’s so important for you

to show up on Sundays on time. I know that’s hard. But that’s why you’ve got to be here on time so that you can take the necessary time with the rest of God’s people, in solidarity with God’s people, to prepare your hearts to listen. What the Kohelet is getting at is this. Listening to God is better than your sacrifice of time to be here. Which means if you just show up with no intention of listening, it’s pointless. It’s what the Kohelet calls the sacrifice of fools. In other words, showing up, but just going through the motions in worship to get it over with really has no benefit for you. So while you might be present, you’re not really present.

Listen, I know, and I want to be careful here, but I know there are moms and dads in the service that have to navigate what I think is likely the most challenging thing to do in this life. That is to listen to God’s word in the worship service while at the same time trying to keep your kids from getting all crazy in the worship service. This is super hard to do. For those of you who are wrestling with that, I just want to say, I understand. I understand. But I also want you to know you’re doing an amazing job. You’re doing wonderful. And though you might not feel it, you and your family, you’re not a big distraction. You’re not. We all understand this. As I was thinking and listening, you know, thinking about listening in worship, I started to imagine what our worship services were like,

and I started to think, one of the most important things we need to do is listen to the children. Let’s just stop for a second. Now they’re going to be all quiet. Yes. It’s important for us to hear the voices of the children. You want to know why? Because it reminds us of how God is blessing this church. Listen, there’s not many places in Portland where families with children can gather together. The church, filled with all kinds of kids, is a witness to a watching world. There’s no other framework for this in our world right now. So it’s better to hear a little crying and a couple shrills than hear no children at all. Okay? And parents, even though I say this, I know you’re still like, okay, whatever. Right? You feel the pressure. You need to know it’s just a season. It’s just a season.

It might be a 10-year season, but it’s just a season. It won’t always be that way. Thank you for not giving up, and thank you for not giving in to the lie that tells you it’s better to just stay home than to be a distraction to the rest of the church. Listen, you need to be here to hear, and they need to be here to hear. And we should be mature enough to wrestle through it. If you have a hard time listening and focused, look at all these two empty rows right here. Okay? Just come sit closer. Okay? So for the rest of you, let me ask you this morning. Are you here out of some religious obligation? Or are you here to hear the voice of God? Family, listening is fundamental to your faith. Romans 10.17 says, so faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Watch What We Say

So if you struggle with that, ask God to help you hear, because you need to hear it more than anything else. It’s more powerful and more effective than anything you’ll find in your news feeds or your social feeds or in your schools or wherever. Okay? We need to hear. But the Kohelet doesn’t stop at what we should hear. He’s also concerned with what we say. Verse 2 and 3. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few. For a dream comes with much busyness, and a fool’s voice with many words. Family, we are a words-based people. Everything we do is connected to the words that we speak. And what’s fascinating is that our words give us this unique portal into the depths of our hearts.

Even if we try to mask it with religious language, remember, the Lord reads our hearts, and nothing is hidden from Him. So the Kohelet gives us this warning about the words we use when we’re in the house of worship. And so think about this in terms of the content of your prayer. Are your prayers sincere? When you pray for others, what is the content of your prayer? Are you just repeating religious phrases that aren’t in any way connected to what you’re actually thinking or feeling? Or are your words an honest expression of your heart? You know, you can have a seemingly robust and theologically precise prayer life, but if your words are far from your heart, then it won’t mean anything. It won’t be effective. So the Kohelet advises us to let your words be few, which means longer prayers aren’t always more effective prayers.

Amen? I remember in my mid-20s, hanging out with these theologically sharp, really, really wise men, and I’m thankful for these men. We’d gather together, and we would read our Bibles, and we would pray. And some of these men, they were so sharp, they would pray with such theological precision. I’d be like, I’d be like, dang, that’s a good prayer. You know? It was like a particular order, and not just an order, but a nice little polish on all their prayers, right? And of course, I was just like this street hip-hop kid. I didn’t pray like that, you know? I couldn’t pray like them. I wasn’t articulate enough. I wasn’t smart enough to pray that way. And I remember in this season feeling very insecure about my prayer life. And the reason why I felt this way is because one of these guys, whom I looked up to very much,

at some point he told me, God won’t hear your prayers unless you pray them a certain way. And so in my insecurity, I started to mimic their prayers, kind of parroting how they prayed. And you know what happened? My prayer life tanked, completely fell apart, because I was no longer praying from my heart. Though I might have been praying rightly, according to them, or technically, it was not honest, because it was far from my heart. So I decided to go back to how I used to pray, when my prayers were more simple, less polished, more honest, short, sweet, and to the point. I stopped, you know, trying to pray these long, elaborate, logistically complex prayers. I just started praying from my heart. This is how my prayer life grew. Okay? So you can pray these long, elaborate, complex prayers if you pray that way, and if you actually talk that way.

But if you don’t talk that way, don’t pray that way. It makes no sense. So family, you don’t have to have these long prayers. There is great wisdom in letting your words be few when speaking to God. The fewer words we use, the more honest and to the point our prayers will be. The Kohelet is saying that short and sincere prayers is better for us, because the more we speak, the more opportunities for foolishness creep in. At least it is for me. Hey, he’s got me pegged here. Right? The more we pray, the more it causes us to be more concerned with how our prayers are heard by other people rather than how they’re heard by God. And again, the words of the Kohelet and the words of Jesus are completely compatible. You notice this happens every single Sunday? Matthew 6, verse 5 through 8,

Jesus explains, and when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward, which is the delight of other people hearing their prayers. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. So family, my encouragement to you is that when you pray for one another, know that the length of your prayers or the symmetry of your prayers

or the polish of your prayers doesn’t dictate their effectiveness. So feel free to pray freely. Feel free to pray these short but honest prayers, because those might be way more effective. Okay? The Kohelet’s warning is not just with our prayers, but it’s also with the preaching. So for those of us who teach and preach, we must also be careful with our words. One of the reasons why we preach expositionally, which just means line by line through the text, is so that you can follow what’s being preached in the text. Expositional preaching forces the preacher to be careful with their words. It helps us to carefully preach what’s in context. So it’s easy to preach a topical sermon by kind of cherry picking certain verses that fit your predetermined topic, but that doesn’t necessarily help others if what’s being preached is in context. Okay? So while expositional preaching

isn’t the only way to preach, it’s a careful and effective way to ensure that those who are listening can track and trust what’s being preached. Okay? The psalmist tells us in Psalm 1914, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. This verse wonderfully stitches together the words we say with what’s happening in our hearts. Family, when we gather together for worship, God is in our midst. How much more should the words of our mouths be pleasing to him than when we are gathering together to worship him? James, the half-brother of Jesus, perfectly captures these two ideas of listening and speaking in this short but punchy verse everyone should memorize. Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak. Be quick to hear, slow to speak. Okay? But it’s more than just

Do What We Say

listening and speaking. The Kohelet gives us a third warning, and this pertains to the promises we make with our words. Let’s look at verses 4 through 7. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay it. Let not your mouth lead you into sin. Do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase, and words grow many, there is vanity. But God is the one you must fear. So the Kohelet’s critique here is all about promises being made to God, and specifically the promises that are in the form of a vow.

Now vows in the Old Testament were voluntary commitments that people made to God in hopes that God would answer their prayers. So take for example Jacob. He vowed that if God would protect him and provide for him, he would make Yahweh his God and give a tenth of all he had. Or take for example Hannah in 1 Samuel. She prayed that if God would bless her with a child, she would dedicate that child to the Lord, and that’s exactly what she did. Okay? And this is what the Kohelet is pretty much driving at. So in our context, this really means don’t be quick to make a promise to God if you don’t intend to keep it. And just to clarify, this isn’t directed to what most nominal Christians tend to do when they’re in a bad situation. Like, Lord, if you just get me out of this situation,

I promise I’ll start going to church. I’ll become religious. Or, Lord, if you give me this promotion, then I’ll start giving money to the church. Or to the poor. That’s not the point here. What this is really about at its most basic form is just a call to faithfulness. It’s a call to faithfulness. Do what you say you’re going to do, especially when it pertains to God when directed towards the people of God who worship together. Okay? I think for us, this is most practically fleshed out through our membership covenant. Here at Trinity Church, like a lot of churches, we have a membership covenant. Some call it a membership commitment. Some call it a contract. Some call it an agreement. But really, it’s a covenant, which is essentially a faithful promise to God that we will be committed to one another. And the contract, or the covenant,

determines what are those things that we’re going to be faithful to. And the point here is that if you make a commitment to God that this is your church and that you will be faithfully committed to it, be faithful to God with your promise you made to Him concerning the church that you’re a part of. And do you remember, just in case you’ve forgotten the promise that you’ve made to God and to others as members of this church, let me just remind you of your membership covenant. It says this, As a follower of Jesus Christ, and having been baptized in obedience to Him, I by the grace of God covenant to, promise to, vow to, be faithful to, consistently attend the scheduled meetings of the congregation, intentionally exercise my gifts on behalf of the congregation, affectionately care for the people of the congregation, generously give

to the ministries of the congregation, humbly submit to the pastoral leadership of the congregation, faithfully display Christ’s likeness as a representative of the congregation, supportively exercise and receive gospel discipline for the purity of the congregation, and enthusiastically participate in the evangelistic efforts of the congregation. This is what every member has promised to God to be faithful to the church. Okay, family, we should be striving to be a people who are faithful in keeping our promise to God and to each other in this membership covenant. Now, I’ve been a part of this congregation for over 13 years, my wife and I. 13 years we’ve been a part of Trinity Church. And I have seen some members treat their membership covenant as nothing more than a casual document or religious rhetoric, which in the end proved to be empty words spoken way too hastily. And of course,

when things got tough, they just quietly left, some loudly left, as if they were never really committed to the church to begin with. Family, God’s people should not be quick with their words, especially when it comes to the promises we make to God and each other. We should be wise with our words, especially with how we use them to pray and encourage one another, or how we should listen with our words, the words that are being declared to us, especially in our worship service. And family, I just want you to know that I think Trinity Church does this so well. Unless you sit there and think, oh man, I’m not doing this well enough. I actually think we do this really well. Sean DeMars, who you guys know preached here a couple times in a few months, he said something really sweet, and I want to share with you

what he said to me. He said, man, I love preaching at Trinity. He says, because I could tell that there’s a seriousness to how they listen to God’s word. I could just tell. I could hear them speaking, encouraging words to one another, and I could see their faithfulness to one another. And I must admit, to have a pastor who’s all the way in Alabama kind of peer in on our church and have this observation, this filled my heart with joy and thankfulness for what God is doing and producing in us and through us. You’ve made being a pastor at this church such a joy and a privilege because you approach your worship and your commitment to one another with such reverence and joy. But with that being said, I can’t know each and every individual heart, so I would fail to be a good pastor

if I didn’t ask this question. Have you in any way been approaching our worship service in a cold or casual manner? Have you found yourself lately disengaged, not listening, not hearing what God would have to say to you through His Word, even if it’s preached in a way that’s maybe not your particular style or steeze? Are your prayers coming from a place of insincerity? Have you been praying not so much for God to hear you, but for other people to hear your prayers? Have you not been faithful to your membership covenant in any particular way? Family, if this is you, listen, there’s good news. There’s good news. The mercy of God meets us when we gather together in worship. This is why we have a confession and pardon. It’s not just because we want to talk about sin. No, we want to deal with our sin,

confess our sin, and then receive the good news of the pardon that liberates us from the tyranny of our own shame. There’s good news to be had. It allows us to confront and confess our sins together with everyone else who is also struggling in this area, and then receive the pardon with everyone else so that we can together corporately rejoice. This is why we put the gospel of Jesus Christ before your ears at every single point in our liturgy. So if our hearts had inadvertently trusted in our political policy or our politicians or our mayor or the governor to somehow fix what’s broken in our neighborhood and in our cities and in our world, we can realign and remember that only Jesus can bring what is necessary to fix this broken world. This gives us an opportunity when the gospel shines brightly in our service

to confront it together, confess it together, and receive mercy and forgiveness. And so family, my encouragement to us is that we’re doing a good job in this area. I’m so thankful for the ways in which you approach your worship at Trinity Church, the way you care and love for one another. My encouragement is that God might keep us a people who approach God this way, full of reverence, full of joy, full of religious affection to the King of kings and to the Lord of lords because He alone is worthy of it. No one else should take that from Him. We gather together. That should be the chief expression. That should be our resolute posture to give to our God what He deserves. Amen. Let’s pray. Father, You deserve everything we have, all of our affection, all of our worship. Keep us from placing any of those things

in the wrong places because none of these other places are worthy of it. Keep tethering this congregation together and keep us having a proper reverence for You. We pray these things in Christ’s name. Amen.