October 3, 2024
Mark your calendars for the last Sunday evening in October! First Presbyterian Church is hosting a Joint Presbytery Reformation Day Worship Service at 6:00 p.m. on October 27. The Rev. Jonathan Landry Cruse, a pastor in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Kalamazoo, MI, will be preaching God's word to us. We will not be holding our evening service that night, but encourage everyone to gather in Jackson with the saints from around the area. It's always a joy and privilege to sing praise together to God for the liberty of pure worship, the gift of the Scriptures, and the grace of the gospel - three primary things He gave us through the Reformation. Make plans to join us with your family - there will be a nursery and a special program for children ages 4-3rd grade.
----------
In my sermon last Sunday, I read two poems that reflect two diametrically opposed worldview, one arrogant, rebellious, depressing, atheistic and humanistic, and man-centered, and the other humble, submissive, joyful, theistic, and Christ-centered. I want you to be able to read these poems for yourself, side-by-side.
First, "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley (1849-1903):
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
Next, "My Captain," by Dorothy Day (1897-1980):
Out of the night that dazzles me,
Bright as the sun from pole to pole,
I thank the God I know to be
For Christ the conqueror of my soul.
Since His the sway of circumstance,
I would not wince nor cry aloud.
Under that rule which men call chance
My head with joy is humbly bowed.
Beyond this place of sin and tears
That life with Him! And His the aid,
Despite the menace of the years,
Keeps, and shall keep me, unafraid.
I have no fear, though strait the gate,
He cleared from punishment the scroll.
Christ is the Master of my fate,
Christ is the Captain of my soul.
Meditate on these words as you prepare your hearts to come to the Lord's Table this coming Sabbath Day. Jesus has given Himself for us, taking the punishment that we deserved upon Himself, and redeeming us from every lawless deed to be a people for His own possession (Titus 2:11-14). Therefore by His grace our hearts can view every circumstance with joy and quiet trust and submission. Henley wanted to be "invictus" - i.e., unconquered, undefeated - by his own human strength and willpower. Day's words understand that because Christ has conquered our sinful souls, and because He has defeated death by dying, Christians are truly the unconquerable souls. May God give us grace to humble ourselves day by day under His mighty hand of grace in Jesus!