God at Work
One of the readings for the class I'm taking this semester is an article by Gene Veith on calling, or vocation. In it he mentions Martin Luther's concept of everyone having a vocation from God and that we are His masks as He does His work through us. God provides us with food, our daily bread, but it doesn't just appear miraculously on the kitchen table. God works through the farmer, the miller, the baker and others to provide that bread for us.
The podcast I posted about yesterday echoes the same theme. Shaun and Matt talk about how it is God who calls out men for ministry and sends them (see Acts 13 where Barnabas and Paul are set apart and sent out). The reason we ought to use the ordinary means that God has given us is because ultimately it is Him who does the work, through us. We need to get out of the way (i.e., quit trying to use our own methods and ideas, and also taking the credit) and let God use His own tools through us.
I think the same idea is behind the three principles from RUM's campus ministry seminar. And not just behind the principles or foundational but, to borrow again from Luther, "in, with and under" those principles.
The first principle is that the Bible is God's Word, given through men by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That couldn't be much more clear. God is at work giving His Word - He initiates and makes it happen. "All Scripture is breathed out by God..." (II Timothy 3:16, ESV, here and following) and "...men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (II Peter 1:21) both establish the principle. God doesn't just give His Word, He makes it effective, useful. The Timothy passage speaks to how profitable the Word is, but my favorite passage is from Isaiah 55:10-11. Here God tells us that just as water falls from heaven and brings forth the earth's bounty, "so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." So in the first principle God is at work. We need to let Him work through His Word.
The second principle is that justification is God reconciling sinners to Himself in Christ. Again the statement of the principle affirms that it is God who is working. He's the one doing the reconciling, not us. The Westminster Shorter Catechism (#33) answers the question "What is justification?" with, "Justification is an act of God's free grace..." Justification is God's act, not ours: "...he [God] made him [Christ] to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (II Corinthians 5:21). God is abundantly at work also in the second principle.
The third principle is that sanctification is God conforming sinners to the image of Christ by the work of His Spirit. Once again the principle itself clearly states that it is God who is at work in re-creating disobedient sinners into obedient servants. We are God's workmanship, His carefully crafted work, "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). It is God's work that forms us into who He wants us to be, re-making us in Christ so that we are eager to do the things God has already set aside and prepared for us to do. Sanctification also is "the work of God's free grace..." (WSC #35). God is the worker in the third principle as well.
God initiates - He sends His Word as a profitable, fruitful gift. God calls out and separates men and women for Himself - He justifies sinners, reconciling them to Himself. God sends and equips them to do His work - He sanctifies sinners into the image of Christ, who lived only to do His Father's will.
One might ask: if God's doing all this work, why should I do anything? Why not just sit back and take it easy? Because just like with the farmer, miller, baker and others through whom God providentially provides our daily bread, so also in the work of the kingdom God uses the likes of us to accomplish His work.
The principles only make sense if it is ultimately God doing the work. We have a part to share in that work, but it is ultimately His.
A new church plant, a college campus ministry, an established church, a mission work, whatever field we labor in, we do well to remember that it is God's work, not ours. Sometimes I think we try too hard, we get too clever, we want to see results and feel we had some success in our work. As I wrote earlier, it is better to be conscientious than clever. Who is cleverer than God? He gave us the means, and He promised that they would be effective. It is a measure of faith to simply plug away at the tasks God has called us to do, and trust that He will work through them.
The podcast I posted about yesterday echoes the same theme. Shaun and Matt talk about how it is God who calls out men for ministry and sends them (see Acts 13 where Barnabas and Paul are set apart and sent out). The reason we ought to use the ordinary means that God has given us is because ultimately it is Him who does the work, through us. We need to get out of the way (i.e., quit trying to use our own methods and ideas, and also taking the credit) and let God use His own tools through us.
I think the same idea is behind the three principles from RUM's campus ministry seminar. And not just behind the principles or foundational but, to borrow again from Luther, "in, with and under" those principles.
The first principle is that the Bible is God's Word, given through men by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That couldn't be much more clear. God is at work giving His Word - He initiates and makes it happen. "All Scripture is breathed out by God..." (II Timothy 3:16, ESV, here and following) and "...men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (II Peter 1:21) both establish the principle. God doesn't just give His Word, He makes it effective, useful. The Timothy passage speaks to how profitable the Word is, but my favorite passage is from Isaiah 55:10-11. Here God tells us that just as water falls from heaven and brings forth the earth's bounty, "so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." So in the first principle God is at work. We need to let Him work through His Word.
The second principle is that justification is God reconciling sinners to Himself in Christ. Again the statement of the principle affirms that it is God who is working. He's the one doing the reconciling, not us. The Westminster Shorter Catechism (#33) answers the question "What is justification?" with, "Justification is an act of God's free grace..." Justification is God's act, not ours: "...he [God] made him [Christ] to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (II Corinthians 5:21). God is abundantly at work also in the second principle.
The third principle is that sanctification is God conforming sinners to the image of Christ by the work of His Spirit. Once again the principle itself clearly states that it is God who is at work in re-creating disobedient sinners into obedient servants. We are God's workmanship, His carefully crafted work, "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). It is God's work that forms us into who He wants us to be, re-making us in Christ so that we are eager to do the things God has already set aside and prepared for us to do. Sanctification also is "the work of God's free grace..." (WSC #35). God is the worker in the third principle as well.
God initiates - He sends His Word as a profitable, fruitful gift. God calls out and separates men and women for Himself - He justifies sinners, reconciling them to Himself. God sends and equips them to do His work - He sanctifies sinners into the image of Christ, who lived only to do His Father's will.
One might ask: if God's doing all this work, why should I do anything? Why not just sit back and take it easy? Because just like with the farmer, miller, baker and others through whom God providentially provides our daily bread, so also in the work of the kingdom God uses the likes of us to accomplish His work.
The principles only make sense if it is ultimately God doing the work. We have a part to share in that work, but it is ultimately His.
A new church plant, a college campus ministry, an established church, a mission work, whatever field we labor in, we do well to remember that it is God's work, not ours. Sometimes I think we try too hard, we get too clever, we want to see results and feel we had some success in our work. As I wrote earlier, it is better to be conscientious than clever. Who is cleverer than God? He gave us the means, and He promised that they would be effective. It is a measure of faith to simply plug away at the tasks God has called us to do, and trust that He will work through them.
Labels: Calling, Church Planting, Ordinary Means, RUF
