Sermons

Two years ago Dave and I made the decision to worship at the Army Chapel on post. It was a difficult decision on many levels, but overall it has been the right decision. We knew that we had a wonderful season of being under wonderful teaching at Intown, and now it was time to be part of a community where the teaching was different, and sometimes wacky (like when one Chaplain sang his sermon to the music of “Under the Boardwalk”) and sometimes heretical (like the sermon about Satan asking the Chaplain for his watch) and sometimes had nothing to do with the Bible at all (like the sermon on the women’s suffrage movement). But Dave and I felt called to this community and decided to remain regardless, and we have been blessed.

Every fifth Sunday of the month we have a special joint worship service at Chapel. Whenever there are five Sundays all Protestant congregations on post worship together. The worship is generally followed by a dinner of some sort. The different services take turns leading worship or organizing the food, and we gather for a good time.

The main Chaplain of the service we attend, whom we love, is United Methodist, and while he is a good preacher, he isn’t an expositor. We get to hear the gospel occasionally and when he nails it, he nails it, but overall the sermons tend to be more motivational, than scriptural.

I was excited for this Sunday because we had heard the Chaplain who was going to be preaching was Reformed, not Presbyterian, but Reformed in his theology. I was excited and looking forward to hearing him preach.

His text was the story of the Good Samaritan, and as he started preaching I thought…this dude can’t be reformed. His whole sermon was based on the “fact” that as believers, our main purpose here on earth is to serve. And yes, while I would agree that we are here to serve, I would disagree that that is our primary reason for being here. The first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism is “What is the chief end of man?” The answer is “To glorify God and enjoy him forever” (I Cor. 10.31, Rev. 4.11, Ps. 73.25-26). Last week for Hadleigh’s baptism we received the book “Big Truths for Little Kids” by Susan Hunt and Richie Hunt. Their answer to first question goes like this:
Q. Who made you?
A. God

Q. What else did God make?
A. God made all things.

Q. Why did God make you and all things?
A. For his own glory.

This Chaplain’s sermon reminded me of another sermon we had a while back by a different Chaplain, who claimed that the reason we are here on earth is because God needs us. I have been hard pressed to find a passage in scripture that backs up that claim. And so like so many other Sundays we left a little disappointed.

One of the things that I have LOVED about reformed theology is that it backs up what I see in scripture…that God isn’t up in heaven wringing his hands, wondering what to do next. He doesn’t ever say Oh Shoot, that wasn’t supposed to happen. Or, Oh no, he wasn’t suppose to die, or dang, if only she had said this so-and-so might have believed in me…etc. I hate having a pansy God who is reliant on me. I love having a God who does as he sees fit. I love having a God whose plans I can’t thwart. I love that from the beginning of time God had a plan to redeem the world through His son, Jesus Christ. And his plan of redemption included me. I love that.

So, yes, I do think that while I am here on this earth I need to serve others. As a believer I am called to do that, to love God and my neighbor as myself. But my chief end here on earth is not to serve, but to glorify God and enjoy him forever. I am here for God’s glory.

I know that Dave and I both look forward to a Sunday in the near future where we can sit at Intown in Atlanta and soak in the gospel. And we pray that wherever the Lord takes us next we will find a good church where we can hear that gospel message weekly.