Summer is here. The days are longer, but the shorts are shorter. I’d like to offer a few biblical principles about modesty. In this feminist age, addressing feminine modesty is akin to saying “Hitler wasn’t all that bad.” So, wish me luck.

To begin with, modesty in apparel isn’t a matter of square footage (or lack thereof). Modesty begins as a matter of the presence or absence of God’s glory. In Eden, Adam and Eve didn’t required clothing because God’s presence endowed them with garments of borrowed light. Sin precipitated the need for clothing to cover the shame of glory-less nakedness. So, clothing spins a tale. It always has and always will. From Eden on clothing said, at bare minimum, God has withdrawn His glorious presence from mankind due to Adam’s sin. However, in eternity, clothing will tell another story, for the white robes of the saints will speak of our righteousness in Christ.

The question, then, for Christians is, “What story do my clothes tell?” Clothing can suggest a wide range of things: one’s occupation or gender, sexual invitation, lazy indifference, attentiveness, disrespect, vanity, and so on. Wearing a clown costume is lawful, but wearing it to a funeral would be insulting. It’s a bit surprising, then, to hear that godliness requires you to think about what others think when you get dressed. The WLC teaches as much: “The duties required in the seventh commandment are, chastity in body, mind, affections, words, and behavior; and the preservation of it in ourselves and others; watchfulness over the eyes and all the senses; temperance, keeping of chaste company, modesty in apparel […].”

This commandment obliges each of us to actively love our neighbor by modesty of apparel. Furthermore, we’re particularly required to keep our eyes watchful so as not to indulge sensual lusts. So then, a Christian’s garments should tell a story of Gospel hope, not of carnal despair.

We have become an immodest culture. Our jokes are crass. Our entertainment feeds our basest desires. Our clothing is precariously perched and this belies how insecure our culture is. God’s glory has departed, and we are left with shame of face. We reach for the fig leaves of our own devising, when the Father call us to be clothed in the righteous robes of Christ, which cover us and fill us with true holiness. May we go to God for forgiveness for the ways in which we have dressed, spoken, thought and acted without modesty. And may He grant us a contentment in His promise to clothe us in the white robes of Christ, and strength to guard both our own and our neighbor’s chastity. If you humble yourself before God, He promises to restore you to the robes of glory-light of Eden 2.0. You are not left in the shame of sin’s nakedness, but are clothed with the promise of the Gospel.

Ben Zornes – June 9, 2024

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Your life will end. Every thing that you have done or have left undone will be left behind and your very soul will leave your body. The body that has carried you. The body that you know so well. Your body of twelve years or eighty years. Perhaps a prime body of eighteen. The body that is full of scars and muscles. The body that is bone tired or fit and fast. The body that is pregnant. The body that has seen the sun rise and fall so many times. That body will decay. Your teeth will fall out and clatter on the floor and you will be standing there mouth agape. At the same time you will notice the skin sag and you’ll not be such hot stuff anymore. Maybe not. Maybe you’ll be strutting your stuff when the lights go dim. Who will see your impressive body then? Your workouts and toning will be for naught. Forget about showering or bathing because the soaps and bodywash are no match for the death stench. Forget about changing the sheets on your bed. You won’t need those where you are going. Forget all the comforts you know. The coffee, the beer, the wine and cheese have all gone to waste. Landfill material. You. Will. Die.

But how will you die?

Will you follow in the footsteps of so many who have gone before you? Will you be as the chaff driven away by the wind? Will your life end in a flash like a North Dakota grass fire? After your life has been crawling along so slowly did you expect an abrupt end? You came into the world naked and you will leave just the same. We really are all equal at the end of the day because we all end up horizontal.

Your life will end.

There is another way. This way involves another death though and surprisingly it comes before the life slips away from your earthly home. Are you scared of death? Don’t be. For this first death is actually the second birth. “How can we be born again?” is actually a fair question but I don’t go in much for fair questions and that is because the answer is not fair. The answer to this first death and second birth is the wind. The wind blows where it will. You will not see it, you will not understand where it comes from. But you will hear it. And then you will be destroyed. You will die. This will be a death by water. I already told you not to fear death. Why? Because this first death brings about a glorious resurrection. After you come sputtering out of the water and gasping for air, your lungs will be filled with the sweetest oxygen that you have ever experienced. You will get more enjoyment out of your body than you ever thought possible. You will be on fire and your smoke will rise to the heavens and it will be a pleasing smell. You will not be the only one though. No. This earth will be filled with 8 billion plus little fires. All of them shining. All of them sending smoke to heaven. Yes, all of you will die. But how will you die?

Joshua Dockter – June 9, 2024

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The summer season is upon us and for many of you that means your well-worn routines are interrupted or changed. The kids are no longer in school, and if you homeschool, you are most likely taking a break from your curriculum. Warmer weather means more time spent outdoors in fellowship with others. You also have more opportunities for recreation, family vacations, and hosting out-of-town guests. All of these are good gifts from God for you to enjoy, but you should be aware of the ways in which they can disrupt your habits of Bible reading, prayer, or even church attendance. 

Summer is not a time to kick back and relax spiritually. There are no spiritual vacations in the Christian life. As the Apostle Peter wrote, we must always be sober-minded and watchful, because our adversary Satan never ceases from prowling like a lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). Now being watchful does not simply mean avoiding temptation and killing sin—the putting off of your old self. It also means further cultivating in your life and your home good spiritual disciplines and habits—the putting on of your new self (Eph. 4:22–24). 

One foundational way to remain watchful and alert is to read the Word. We happen to be starting our summer Bible Reading Plan through the New Testament tomorrow, and this is a great opportunity to jump into daily Bible reading with others at a pace of 4 chapters a day. If that’s too much for you or if checking off boxes does the exact opposite of motivating you, then I encourage you to pick one or two books of the Bible to read and reread this summer, daily at your own pace. 

Regardless of your method, the exhortation is to start or continue to be in the Word consistently. Be vigilant. Be watchful. Take care of your soul and those entrusted to you. And enjoy God’s goodness to you and your families. 

Shawn Paterson – June 2, 2024

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Gen 1:2 “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” When we read this verse our modern minds are quick to picture an impersonal ethereal fog, the Spirit, floating over a dark and confused blob of water and rock. But what is really happening here is an amazing act of personal love. Interestingly enough Calvin translates this verse as “the Spirit cherished the waters.” In Deuteronomy 32 the same word is used to describe God as an eagle that broods, hovers, cherishes her young children. This is the Spirit of God actively loving this chaotic void. This is God displaying his character right from the start. In other words, when God sees something that’s out of order He doesn’t scoff and look away. No, he rushes in, and with love in His heart, He cleans up the mess. And He doesn’t begrudgingly put things in order, He does it with love. He did it with the earth we stand on, He did it when he re-created your heart, and He continues to do it everyday as we cry out to Him. Not only do we benefit from this work but we also have the privilege of reflecting God as we live day to day. When you as a father, walk into a messy house at the end of the day with a tired wife and crying babies, instead of being frustrated, it is an opportunity to brood upon your world with love as you put things in order. When you as a mother, are woken up for the third time in the night to wrestle a diaper onto an infant, it is an opportunity to love your child with the same love that was shown to you. As we all look around at the cultural confusion that surrounds us; sodomy, political chaos, bodily mutilation & envy; it is an opportunity to eagerly participate in the dance of creation as our God and Saviour makes all things new.

Jeremiah Jasso – June 2, 2024

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“Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, And before honor is humility.”

Proverbs 18:12

The entire book of Proverbs is a book written to give instruction, to impart wisdom.  The first nine chapters are written with a strong personal connection between the teacher and the student…my son, listen to your father’s instruction.  And, as you go through these chapters, the son is reminded time and again to listen and follow the instructions.  

But can we hear without listening?  Yes, we know how easy it is to nod our heads without any intention of heeding the advice.  That is, putting the advice into practice.  But, what is it that causes this break in communication or readiness to ignore what we are being advised?  

At the most basic level, we could say that we think we are right in whatever path we are pursuing and the advice we are being given is wrong.  Would you agree that we could describe this as being ‘self-right’?  If you do, you would have to agree that in this case you could be described as self-righteous!  

It doesn’t sound as good when we call it by this name.  But, if we are honest, we always act on the basis of thinking that what we are doing at the moment is the right thing to do.  The only problem is who is defining what is right at that moment.  In the case of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying  together in the temple in Luke 18, we hear in their prayers that the Pharisee is confident that he has done everything right.  The tax collector, on the other hand, is beating his chest honestly about the fact that much of what he has been doing may have been right in his own eyes at the moment, but these things were clearly wrong in the sight of God — and he is coming clean with them.  

The commendation from Jesus for the tax collector is that he was humble before the Lord.  And, this humility is the link between wisdom offered and wisdom received.  If we have a humble spirit, we are looking for the right definer of truth outside ourselves.  We are not self-righteous but God-righteous.  Without this heart attitude all the wisdom in the world is useless.  

Finally, we can be reminded that humility is commanded (necessary) to be applied toward God’s representatives:  parents, elders, leaders.  This is not to say that God’s representatives can’t be in error, but our going in attitude must be respectful in our judgement with a heart of thankfulness for them that will guard us against self presumption.

This reminds of our our need to confess our sins, so let’s prepare our hearts by singing.

Matt Meyer – June 2, 2024

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