How many times have you misjudged someone, thinking they were weak, incapable, or a push-over? Then, unexpectedly, they act out of unforeseen strength to save the day and make a mockery of your precipitous assessment.   King George VI of England was such a man.   Encumbered with a speech impediment, a man of great natural reserve and deference, he was considered by English society to be a royal embarrassment.  He had none of the eloquence, confidence or charm of his elder brother and heir to the throne, Edward VIII.  

But for all of the appearance of strength, Edward had none.  His great love was not a love of duty or country, but a love of self.   His sordid affair with Wallis Simpson led him to abdicate the throne on the eve of Great Britain’s entry into World War II.    In his stead, the timid and unpromising, George VI ascended to the throne.   George hardly looked the part of King.  But for all his apparent weakness and inability, he had a strength none guessed.  His love of country and of duty and his strength of conviction guided Britain through its “finest hour.”  The remarkable story of George’s reign is told in the 2010 movie, “The King’s Speech.”

Outward appearances never define a king.  Samuel learned this when he went to the house of Jesse to anoint a successor to King Saul.   Saul had possessed a kingly bearing.  A head taller than every other man in Israel, Saul had looked like a King.  So Samuel looked for such a man among Jesse’s sons.  But the Lord warned Samuel,

“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him.  For the Lord sees not as a man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

Samuel’s search led him to David, the smallest and least promising of Jesse’s sons, but the one who was a man after God’s own heart. (Acts 13:22)  Outward appearances never define a King.  

John’s account of the crucifixion, like the Synoptics, is remarkable.  It gives scarcely any details about the crucifixion itself, focusing instead on the reactions of the people.  Jesus was met with pity, mockery, bitter anger, rejection, and pure hatred.  With every recourse to cunning and psychology, Pilate, from a mixture of fear and awe, sought to free Jesus.  Unwilling to exercise the prerogatives he claimed to have, he abdicated his role as judge and tried to coerce the people to accepting Jesus’ release.  But for all Pilate’s cunning, Satan’s is greater. 

The people once sought Jesus to make him their king.  But when Pilate declares Jesus their King, they prefer murderers and tyrants.  John writes, “They cried again, ‘not this man but Barrabas!’”  And “The chief priests answered him, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’”   The more insistent Pilate declares Jesus King, the more vehemently the people reject him.

Jesus hardly looks like a King.  Scourged and beaten so severely that he was unrecognizable.  As Isaiah prophesied, “As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.”  To the eye he appears to be a victim, not a victor.  All who beheld him beat their breasts at the sight and “esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”

The people rage, the rulers smirk, and Satan gloats. Yet, what appeared Satan’s hour of supreme triumph was, in truth, the moment of his complete and utter defeat. For surely it was our grief, our sorrow, our sin that he bore. Pilate’s actions were all wrong, but his words were spot on. “Behold Your King!”

Those who witnessed the trial and crucifixion were looking at the cross and the Christ all wrong.   They did not understand what was unfolding before them.  They saw a victim suffering injustice, rather than a King bearing justice.  What is your response to the cross? And to the Christ? Does he evoke pity, mockery, or despair?  Or you do see Jesus, “crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Including you!

Join us this Lord’s Day as we examine John 19:1-37 and consider King Jesus, powerfully declared, shockingly enthroned and utterly victorious.  We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube. 

Clothes make the man!  Admittedly a shallow mantra.  And utterly inadequate for any evaluation of another’s strength, intellect, potential, or value.  Yet every young boy knows that he feels taller, stronger, more courageous when he puts on his grandpa’s old Navy jacket or straps on his replica broadsword and ventures forth to save kingdoms and slay dragons.  And who does not feel more confident when dressed up in Sunday best?  Who among us is not struck with a sense of gravity and respect when a young man appears in uniform rather than civies?

King Theoden of Tolkien’s Rohan was under the spell of despair.  His unfaithful counselor Grima, Wormtongue counseled inaction, hesitation, and isolation as prudence in every conflict.  And Theoden becomes less and less of a King and less and less of a man.  When Gandalf comes to call Theoden to action, he declares.

It is not so dark here, nor does age lie so heavily on your shoulders as some who have you think.  Perhaps your fingers would remember their old strength better if they grasped a sword hilt.

The Two Towers, J. R. R. Tolkien

A leader, a king is called to be a man of action.  He is no mere figurehead.   Modern kings do little to inspire the courage and hope of their people.  They often become mere symbols.  Their biographies often little more than the national soap opera.  Donning the dress of businessmen or men of leisure, they no longer join the cast boyhood’s heroic play. 

If a child today pretends to be a king, he must reach back to a time when kings led with gracious, selfless, heroic power.  Such kings of old were not made by their regalia, rather their garb and gear appeared glorious because of their kingly bearing and deeds.  Because they were men of love and valor.  We now say ‘clothes make the man.’  But it may be more accurate to say, ‘the man makes the clothes.’

Such was the kingship of Jesus.  The prophet Isaiah foretold that, “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2)   And during the public trial and execution of Jesus, despite “his appearance [being] so marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind,” Pilate repeatedly declares him to be a King.  And thus, even the mockery of the wicked often declares the truth of God and the glory of Christ.

Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Our catechism rightly asks and answers.

26. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
Christ executes the office of a king, in subduing us to Himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all His and our enemies.

Westminster Shorter Catechism

Nowhere is Jesus’ kingship displayed more powerfully than in the Gospel accounts of his arrest, trial, crucifixion and resurrection.  As he faces an unjust arrest, trial, and execution, he is not a failed revolutionary swept up in the unstoppable tide of Roman tyranny and religious jealousy.  But Jesus is in complete control of everything that unfolds. Here is the King going to war, saving his people, ruling and defending them, and restraining and conquering all His and our enemies.  He takes the initiative, engages his enemies, and destroys the dominion of the devil. 

Earlier he had told the disciples.

For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.

John 10:17-18

What, to the casual observer, might look like the unraveling of a lost cause is, in fact, the King going to war. Laying down his life to take it up again in victory. And destroy the works of the devil. Delivering captives from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of the Father’s beloved Son.

Join us as we examine John 18:1-32 and consider King Jesus going to war to subdue us to himself, to rule and defend us, and to restrain and conquer all His and our enemies. We meet each Lord’s Day on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship. Get directions here or contact us for more info. Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube. 

Sanitation workers and pastors! Those were the heroes of my formative years. On Tuesdays I would sit on the curbside and await the rumbling truck. I could think of no better life than to ride, hanging on to the back of a truck, wind in your hair, the eclectic fragrance of everyone’s last week wafting freely. The orange jumps suits were just a bonus.

And Sundays, my other heroes would appear. First there was “Preacher Paul” Henderson. A large man with a large laugh and a large heart. He stayed up all night with my father on the night I was born. Even then I was a complex and complicated child with a challenging presentation for my 40-year-old mother’s first birth experience.

But the pastor during most of my childhood was Dr. Prue Kelley. He was a friend of children to be sure and had that rare combination of eloquent preacher and ubiquitous pastor. Curious as it sounds, he had an excellent gospel series of sermons using Charlie Brown and Lucy as illustrations. I still remember the small figurines perched on the edge of the pulpit. Dr. Kelley pastored for over 40 years and navigated significant pastoral challenges in both inner city and suburban churches.

Upon his retirement Dr. Kelley wrote about his experiences, The View from the Pastor’s Study. I remember one account of a deacon who came into Dr. Kelley’s office on a Monday morning and glibly declared that preachers had the easiest job in the world. “You only work one day a week, and only half of that day,” he chortled. Oh, that it were that simple!

Martin Bucer, in his book, Concerning the True Care of Souls noted Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 12, “I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many.” Bucer goes on to comment that the grief, trials and sin of the congregation are a weight that humbles and wearies the under-shepherd charged with its care. Like the Lord who “has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows,” pastors and elders do the same. A work the congregation rarely sees or knows.

Pastoral care is weight-bearing work. Sometimes this involves physical demands. Often it makes emotional demands. And always it creates spiritual demands on the pastor and elders. For they indeed “grieve with those who grieve.” The Old Testament priest felt the weight of the people’s sin. His duties were consumed with them. Day in and day out he handled gallons of blood and tons of sacrificial beasts. He saw, more than anyone else, the perpetual and deadly effects of sin. And the cost to bear it. Then at the end of the day, he still had his own sin to deal with.

The weight-bearing work of the priest and in our age, pastors and elder, is well described by the author of Hebrews.

For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God.

Hebrews 5:1-4

At first glance Leviticus 6-7 seems a superfluous repetition of the five sacrifices given to cover sin, guilt, atonement, restoration, and peace. Yet a more careful look reveals that while Leviticus 1-5 focus on the understanding and requirements of the worshipper, chapters 6-7 examine the sacrifices from the perspective of the priest and pastor. And thus, provide a brief primer on pastoral care. A duty that flows in two directions. First the care of the pastor for the people. And second the care for the pastor by the people.

Join us as we examine Leviticus 6:8-7:38 as we consider these two dimensions of pastoral care. We meet each Lord’s Day on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship. Get directions here or contact us for more info. Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube. 

Mustard, Coffee, Blood.  No matter where I am, this pernicious triumvirate seeks and finds me.  I try.  I really try to avoid them.  Copious napkins, the best of allegedly spill-proof mug-tech, and fastidious caution around anything sharp.  Yet, inevitably, they appear in some conspicuous spot on a favorite, and usually new, shirt.  Oh, the shame of it.  Stains make us self-conscious. And bring permanent ruin to what formerly brought joy. 

Our grandmothers had sovereign remedies.  Baking soda and Dow Scrubbing Bubbles were touted to take out any stain.  Now we have high-tech oxi-products which promise to “make stains invisible.”   Yet those tough stains often remain, oxidized, set in, made indelible by time and heat.  And what was briefly a favorite shirt is now consigned to yard work or the resale shop. 

Stain removal is hard.  Some stains are stubborn.  Others resist the fuller’s craft.  And some stains are beyond the reach of our grandmother’s sovereign remedies or modern treatments.  Guilt is a stain that sets in quickly and binds tightly to the fabric of our heart, mind, and soul.  It cannot be washed away or covered up.  Though perhaps unseen by others, it never feels that way.  The much-heralded urge to confess reminds us that as David once said, “my sin is ever before me.”

We try all sorts of sovereign remedies.  We ignore it.  We distract ourselves from it.  We try to numb it.  We work to make up for it.  We bargain with it.  And try to buy it off.  We try to excuse it.  We seek others who tell us not to feel guilty.   And yet there it is, the stain that resists the fuller’s craft.  Hymnwriter, Horatius Bonar expressed it well.

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load

Guilt is metastatic.  It poisons every area of our being.  It is a crushing load.  We are desperate to unburden. But there seems to be no way to remove guilt’s stain.  To be made clean again.  We feel the weight of Paul’s plaintive cry, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”  Is there no way forward?  No way to wash out sin’s guilty stain?

Tucked neatly in the rules and regulations of the last of Israel’s five sacrifices, the Lord graciously appoints the sovereign remedy for the stain of guilt.  In Leviticus 5 we learn of the guilt offering, sometimes called the reparation offering.   While at first glance it appears indistinguishable from the sin/purification offering that precedes it, there are important distinctions.   And in this reparation offering the Lord gives his people a gracious remedy for sin’s shame and sets before them the path to move forward from crippling guilt. 

The guilt offering, like all the other sacrifices, teaches us about the nature of sin.  And what is required for sin’s curse to be lifted.   This offering, like the others, also points us to the One whose sacrifice gives efficacy to the blood of every ram offered for Israel’s guilt.  In Isaiah 53 we encounter a reference to this sacrifice.   The prophet writes.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Isaiah 53:10

In the subsequent verse of Horatius Bonar’s hymn quoted above, the author answers the tension his first verse creates.

Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of the dark unrest, and set my spirit free.

Has the indelible stain of guilt created dark unrest for you?  Is your sin ever before you?  Has no work of your hands been able to remove guilt’s stain?  You need to know there is hope.   There is a sovereign remedy.  Paul’s plaintive cry is followed by gracious praise.  “But thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ…  For there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Join us as we examine Leviticus 5:14-6:7 and consider the guilt offering, what it teaches us about our sin and how it provides a way to put guilt behind us and move forward.  We meet each Lord’s Day on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship. Get directions here or contact us for more info. Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube. 

“Confession is good for the soul.”  But not for our brand.  Confession is hard on our pride. And our reputation.  Confession literally means “to agree.”  And when it comes to sin, the Bible points out that confession is agreeing with God about our sin.  Our preference, however, is for God to agree with us about our sin.  That it was not so bad.  That it turned out ok.  That we had good intentions.  That we did not mean to.   That we did not know it was sin.  And the coup de grace, that we had a good excuse.  Sin always has a reason.  But never an excuse. 

Reasons and excuses are not the same.  Reasons accept guilt or responsibility.  Excuses demands to be excused from both.  If, as Calvin noted, our hearts are ‘idol factories’ then our minds are ‘excuse-mills.’  And the perennial top ten excuses are:

• I forgot.
• I was busy.
• It’s not my job.
• I intended to….
• I didn’t mean to.
• I didn’t know how to.
• You didn’t tell me to ….
• I tried and it didn’t work.
• They didn’t do their part so I couldn’t do mine.
• I was waiting.

To which we could add any number of embellishments.  All of which shift blame from what I failed do onto what someone else caused me to do.  The dog ate my homework.  You did not give me enough time.  You did not explain your expectations well.  Or train me properly.  You don’t do it, so why should I?  Your expectations were unrealistic.  On and on it goes.  Our minds are never more imaginative than when excusing sin.  

But ignorance is no excuse. This is foundational to every legal code.  Guilt is not reduced by good intentions or bad intelligence.  Posted in the Roman Forum was the brocard, ignorantia juris non excusat or “ignorance of the law excuses not.” Lawbreaking is lawbreaking.   Guilt is guilt. And ignorance never excuses sin.

Before Romulus and Remus were nursed by a wolf, Israel received instruction from the Lord about how to handle the guilt and responsibility of unintentional sin.   Atonement, not excuse, was to be offered.   Confession, not concession, was required.  God never overlooks sin. Or leaves it unpunished.  He cannot and will not simply dismiss it.  Blood is required.  A life is required. For there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. 

No excuses for sin.  But God is gracious. He gives us a path to confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation.  Leviticus 4 outlines a series of sacrifices identified as ‘the sin offering.’  These sacrifices are designed to provide atonement.  They point us to Jesus’ once-for-all, sacrifice of himself for sin. But they also reveal that “some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.”

And they emphasize that no excuses are accepted for sin.  Its guilt and responsibility must always be atoned.  Confession, repentance, and faith, not excuses, are required.  Satan is subtle and he is ever ready to suggest an excuse. And encourage us seek God’s agreement with us about our sin.  No wonder the Psalmist cries out.

Who can discern his errors?
    Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
    let them not have dominion over me!

Psalm 19:12-13

Do you pray like this? Praying that God will make you more aware, more cautious, more averse to sin?  Praying for more understanding and obedience?  Praying for the work of God’s free grace in sanctification?  Or are you sheltering under excuses? Claiming that ‘ignorance is bliss?’  

Join us as we examine Leviticus 4 and consider what God has to say about unintentional sin and the danger of making excuses. We meet each Lord’s Day on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship. Get directions here or contact us for more info. Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube.