August 4, 2023
Summer is over and the school year has arrived! Summers definitely seem to fly by more quickly than they used to - not sure if that's because they are in fact shorter, or if one's perception of time changes as you age. All I know is, buckle up, kiddos, because back to school week is going to be a doozy, since you're still staying up too late to get the last dregs of summer before it's gone.
It's going to be a joy to see all the 9th-10th grade activity at the new Christ Covenant Upper School building this fall. It's an amazing space, and I hope you'll come check it out as you have opportunity. So much prayer and labor has gone into getting things ready for this moment, and it's going to be a lot of fun watching all the effort finally come to fruition. I'll be over there a couple days a week teaching Biblical Greek to a handful of students, and I'm really excited about this privilege. CCS is one of our largest ministries, so even if you don't have children there please keep it in your prayers.
Continue to pray for all the last minute details that need to be attended to by administrators and teachers and support staff at every level of CCS. And pray for all the new students and families who will be making their way onto campus for the first time next week. God is at work, and as we seek to pursue transformation by truth and grace together for the glory of Christ, CCS is a huge part of that mission.
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Thanks for your prayers for our vacation. It was a restful time in some ways, but in others not so much. It was definitely nice to leave 100 degree temps for 80 degree temps in the mountains (at least on a couple days), and I enjoyed getting to do some woodcarving again (if you or anyone you know want to join a monthly woodcarving group, let me know!). I also got to play pickleball for the first time! I might be looking to learn from some of you avid pickleballers soon...
It was fun to be with my brothers and their wives and children for a week. As I mentioned before we left, we grew up coming to this camp as children, so it was fun to watch our children get to enjoy some of the same things we experienced when we were their age. It brought back a lot of good memories of time with my family as a child and youth.
Speaking of my family, please pray for my father - he has had increasing dementia for a little while now, and this week things took a turn for the worse. My brother had to take him to the hospital in Hot Springs, AR, and he is currently in a psychological ward getting a formal evaluation and new medicines. This has been difficult on several levels, as many of you know firsthand. Pray for wisdom and unity among my brothers and me as we address the near and long term future, and for us to have grace to honor and love my dad through these circumstances.
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I was recently asked why we wear black robes in our morning worship services. You may have wondered this yourself at some point. There are a variety of answers to this question.
First, just as judges and doctors and police officers wear distinctive clothing to help people recognize their calling and role in society, so the plain, black academic robe in the pulpit helps to emphasize the primary calling and office of the pastor as teacher and preacher of the word of God. Ironically, though on first glance it may appear to make us less accessible, it actually makes us more accessible to the people of God as pastors, for the people of God are visibly reminded each Lord’s Day that this man has been set apart to the ministry by calling and preparation to shepherd and feed them the word of God. When we get up in the pulpit, we are there by the authority of God and His church, speaking God's word and not our own.
Second, the simple robe draws your attention away from the minister himself (what kind of outfit he is wearing, whether his clothes match, if he's a stylish or hip or casual dresser, etc.) and to the worship of the living God. We will wear something, and a robe helps to keeps us from being a distraction to the main reason we have gathered.
Finally, the robe affirms and contributes to the seriousness, dignity, and reverence to the worship service. No one thinks it strange if a minister wears a robe at a wedding, just as we don't think it strange if a judge wears a robe in the courtroom – is not Lord’s Day worship, our gathering into the throneroom of the Holy One of Israel, a much more glorious and serious event? We do not believe a robe is essential – indeed, we do not wear it in the evening service (in part because of the more intimate family worship feel of evening worship) and we are always to be reverent in worship first and foremost because of Whom we worship – but since our society is so casual and flippant in its approach to God, a pastor’s robe is a helpful reminder that worship is serious business.
There are other reasons we might give, but hopefully these give you a little insight into why we continue this historic practice of the Protestant church.