Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
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Ever notice how
blood is thicker than water?
Most families
hang together rather than separately.
Family members
can do to each other what no one outside of the family could ever do and get
away with it.
Families are
linked together by blood.
Though some seem
to try, it's hard to get kicked out of the family.
While I may be
wrong, I think the only way to cut family ties is to cut family ties.
It's like our
Lord's family of faith.
The only way to
forfeit the relationship is to renounce it; which is why blasphemy against the
Spirit is the only unforgivable sin. When we deny God's Godness as Source,
Starter, Sovereign, and Savior, we distance ourselves from His graces.
Removing ourselves from the forgiveness offered to all by God is
unforgivable. We choose to exclude ourselves from God's inclusion.
The genealogy at
the beginning of 1 & 2 Chronicles like genealogies throughout the Bible and
most notably Matthew and Luke link everyone in history - His story - as having one
Source, Starter, Sovereign, and Savior.
We are all in the family by
divine design from Genesis.
All genealogies
go back to the garden and our first parents Adam and Eve.
We could call
ourselves the Adamsons - daughters and sons of Adam and Eve; yet recalling
Grandpa Kopp's warning not to miss the forest for the trees, the most important
common denominator linking all of us into one family with no respect for color,
class, or culture is God as our one Source, Starter, Sovereign, and Savior.
And while God's special relationship with
Israel cannot be denied - David prayed, "No other nation on the earth is
like Your people Israel. You redeemed us to be Your people...You made us
Your own people forever!" - the genealogies of Holy Scripture include everyone
as special to
Him without favoritism to color, class, or culture.
Indeed,
as you learn more about each name linked together by the genealogies to
God, it's like going to a wedding and being shocked to see the strange cast of
characters who are kin.
1 & 2 Chronicles
focuses on one of the most important dimensions of God's family of faith -
worship as the foundation of life.
Specifically,
worship is the glue or true blood bonding the family together.
Worship, as Dr.
Macleod declared repeatedly for seminarians, is the only indispensable activity
of the church; reminding us in the highest degree of who He is, who we are, and
what He has done for us and our salvation as Source, Starter, Sovereign, and
Savior.
He often
lectured, "God acts for
our salvation in Jesus and we respond
by worshipping Him."
Worship becomes a
pattern for life; transforming the words of worship into faithful actions in
the streets after leaving the sanctuary.
Worship is the obvious preoccupation of
people who get it/Him; or as I recall Luther commenting by contradiction on
those who don't get it/Him, "Who would believe our people should be so
unthankful towards the Gospel?"
Worship is,
primarily, praise and thanks for what He has already done as preface to what He
will do.
It's like the
fellow who asked the salty sage, "What must I do to be saved?"
Answer: "Too late! It's already been done for you in Jesus!"
This brings me to
an interesting discovery while scratching the surface of 1 & 2
Chronicles.
While the books
read so much like 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings in recording history - His story - I noticed
David's accomplishments are highlighted while the details of his dirty deeds
mentioned previously are dropped.
Hmm.
I may be wrong on
this but I'm convinced it has something to do with that being exactly what God
does for everybody as Source, Starter, Sovereign, and Savior.
It's a family
thing.
He knows our
sins; yet ultimately overlooks them because we're kin.
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...to be continued...
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Blessings and Love!
4 comments:
Tell me this Dr. Macloud's full name and perhaps a reference.
The reference, friend, is to Dr. Donald Macleod, long-time Professor of Homiletics and Liturgics at Princeton Theological Seminary, who was the doctoral advisor for my dissertation. He also edited the Princeton Bulletin and wrote seminal books like Here Is My Method, Word and Sacrament, and the classic Presbyterian Worship: Its Meaning and Method. Thanks for asking. You brought back some great memories.
Powerful message that is a gift of thoughts to ponder....Indeed, as you learn more about each name linked together by the genealogies to God, it's like going to a wedding and being shocked to see the strange cast of characters who are kin....this one gave me pause. Looking forward to the continuation.
Appreciated this reflection. Thank you.
I recall a professor likening Chronicles to the "grand opera" version of Kings. Not knowing anything about opera I don't know if this explains the absence of mentioning of David's sins, but I do like the metaphor of grand opera as singing the glorious history of God and God's people, in grand style.
Holy Advent Blessings,
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