Question 88: What are the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption?
Answer: The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption, are his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.(1)
(1) Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:42,
46-47.
Question 11: What
are God's works of providence?
Answer: God's works of providence are, his most holy,(1) wise,(2) and powerful preserving(3) and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.(4)
Answer: God's works of providence are, his most holy,(1) wise,(2) and powerful preserving(3) and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.(4)
(1) Ps. 145:17.
(2) Ps. 104:24; Isa. 28:29.
(3) Heb. 1:3.
(4) Ps. 103:19; Matt. 10:29-31.
(2) Ps. 104:24; Isa. 28:29.
(3) Heb. 1:3.
(4) Ps. 103:19; Matt. 10:29-31.
—from the Westminster Shorter
Catechism 1647
The Bible teaches that God extends His saving
grace to us through ordinary means: the Word, sacraments and prayer.
God is sovereign and also uses ordinary means to extend “common
grace” to all as He governs the world. (See What
Is Common Grace? by Timothy Keller for a better
understanding of “common grace”).
Martin Luther and John Calvin emphasized this
concept of God working through ordinary means in their own writings.
Dr. Michael Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic
Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California and host
of the White Horse Inn podcast, quotes both these men in his book
Calvin on the Christian Life. In the twelfth chapter titled
Vocation: Where Good Works Go, he states of Luther,
When we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Luther says,
God answers it “not directly as when he gave manna to the
Israelites, but through the work of farmers and bakers.” They are
God's “masks.” He writes, “God who pours out his generosity on
the just and the unjust, believers and unbelievers alike, hides
himself in the ordinary social functions and stations of life, even
the most humble. God himself is milking the cows through the vocation
of the milkmaid.”
John
Calvin states of vocation, “From this will arise also a singular
consolation, that no task will be so sordid and base, provided you
obey your calling in it, that it will not shine and be reckoned very
precious in God's sight.”
This concept is something that I have always known, but lately it has
been appearing and reappearing in several different areas of my life.
Our pastor has been preaching through the book of Ephesians. In
several of his sermons, he reminds us that God works through ordinary
means. This past June, a podcast I listen to titled “The White
Horse Inn” hosted by Dr. Michael Horton featured a talk Dr. Horton
gave at the Gospel Coalition Conference titled “Ordinary
Grace.” Ordinary means of grace has also come
up in my ladies Bible study and in my own personal Bible reading. As
I have been meditating on the things I have heard, read and
experienced in everyday life, the more amazing this truth has become
to me.
I am reminded of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, specifically The
Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and
The Return of the King. Though it is never outright
stated in his books, there is a theme throughout, especially in The
Hobbit, of evil being conquered not by great heroes or amazing
acts of magic, but by the everyday acts of ordinary creatures (in
this case a hobbit). Peter Jackson, the director of both the Lord of
the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy, recognizes this theme and
draws the attention of the audience to it by adding these lines to
the dialogue for Gandalf in the first of the Hobbit movies: An
Unexpected Journey. Gandalf is answering Lady Galadrial's
question, “Why the halfling?” Why did he choose Bilbo Baggins to
come on this epic journey? He responds,
“I don't know. Saruman believes it is only great power that can
hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I've found it
is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the
darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins?
Perhaps it is because I am afraid... and he gives me courage.” "Why
the halfling?" Clip
The
first time I saw this scene, I was brought to tears. Since this idea
of ordinary accomplishing the extraordinary has become more apparent
to me over the past few months, this scene means so much more to me
now.
Lately, I have been trying to live everyday in the awareness of God
working through ordinary means. Through this process, God has
revealed misconceptions I have held and pointed out His grace in my
own life in these past few months. Allow me to elaborate.
For years, I felt that if I was not in a certain profession with an
important title, visibly changing the world, that I was wasting my
life. As a teenager, I planned to be a pastor's wife or a missionary
because I believed that I was not a good Christian girl if I did not
become one of those two. Then when the boy I was dating (who is now
my husband) told me that he did not feel that God was calling him to
be a pastor, I had to reassess the situation. I decided to be a
Christian school teacher instead.
What I am not saying is that wanting to be a pastor's wife or a
Christian school teacher is wrong. What I believe is wrong is the mindset
that “if I am not a pastor, pastor's wife, teacher, or missionary
then I am not a good Christian and therefore not contributing to
God's kingdom—not really.” Horton says it well in his book
Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World,
To be clear, it’s not as if all of the values being promoted today
by calls to be “radical” or invitations to change the world are
wrong-headed or unbiblical. Taking a summer to build wells in Africa
is, for some, a genuine calling. But so is fixing a neighbor’s
plumbing, feeding one’s family, and sharing in the burdens and joys
of a local church. What we are called to do every day, right where
God has placed us, is rich and rewarding.
This
means that today, as I cleaned my house and folded my laundry, my
life had meaning. By God's grace, I have come to realize that most of
the time God works in ordinary ways through ordinary people.
This past March, I gave birth to our daughter. When I found out I
was pregnant, I fully expected to have a normal delivery. I was going
to carry my baby all the way to 40 weeks, but God had a bigger plan.
Our baby girl was born at 26 weeks. We were told she would have an
85% chance of survival. I recognize that these are actually very good
odds—better than 50 or 60 percent, but what my mind focused on was
the 15% chance she had of dying. When she was born she weighed 1 lb.
8 oz. Her lungs, eyes, and skin (among other things) were not fully
developed. After being in the NICU for 181 days, almost 6 months, our
sweet girl was finally ready to come home. Once a baby so tiny we
could see her ribs through her skin, now an over 12 pound bundle of
happiness!
Our daughter is our tiny miracle! And yet her progress and growth is
the result of everyday people and actions: doctors, nurses, medicine,
(noisy) medical equipment, beds that provide heat and humidity,
surgeons, topical ointments, therapists, special bottles, breathing
treatments, tape—lots of tape! The list is compiled of regular,
ordinary people and tools. But to me, to my husband and our families,
those ordinary means are indeed extraordinary! They have saved our
baby girl's life and are helping her to thrive!
Indeed, God has worked a miracle in our lives. This was not, however,
an “overnight” or instant miracle like the ones we read about in
the New Testament of the Bible. Could God have done that? Does He do
that? I absolutely believe He does! But in our situation, and I argue
in most situations, He chose to heal our baby through ordinary
means. We praise God for each person who showed up to their
“ordinary” job each and everyday that contributed to our
daughter's healing. Some of those people we have never met and will
never meet: the person who helped assemble the monitor that alarmed
if she stopped breathing; the person who packaged the syringes that
the nurses used for so many things—medication, milk, vitamins,
etc.; the people who developed the computer systems that kept
everything running at the hospital. I could continue for quite some
time as I think about all the many different aspects that went into
her healing process. These were all products of people with ordinary
jobs who were faithful to their work every single day.
When a person puts their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, God places
Christ's righteousness on them. This is referred to as justification.
Justification happens immediately. But God also sanctifies His
children. The process of sanctification, making us like Christ, is
just that—a process. It takes time. As a child of God, I am
declared righteous, but I am not perfect. God is making me more godly
as time passes. My church's ladies Bible study group has been reading
through the book Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We
Tolerate by Jerry Bridges. In the seventh chapter titled
Ungodliness, Bridges states, “Our goal in the pursuit of
godliness should be to grow more in our conscious awareness that
every moment of our lives is lived in the presence of God, that we
are responsible to Him and dependent on Him. This goal would include
a growing desire to please Him and glorify Him in the most ordinary
activities of life.” Oh how different my perspective on life would
be if I sought God in every aspect of my seemingly insignificant
actions!
The feeling that our everyday, mundane activities are futile is a lie
that can hinder and even paralyze us. But we, as Luther states, are
the “masks of God.” God is working through the mothers doing
laundry that seems to never end. He is working through the store
employee stocking shelves day after day. He is working through
doctors, CEO's, lawyers, police officers, teachers, construction
workers, farmers, coffee shop baristas, factory workers, retail
associates, etc.—from the highly esteemed to the most humble
vocations.
We may not be reaching thousands of people at a time as the Apostle
Peter did on the day of Pentecost. Our audience may consist of only a
few, comprised of our children or our co-workers. We are preaching a
message through our actions to those around us, maybe influencing
only one or two, but we are difference makers nevertheless.
It is not me nor the deeds I do that are extraordinary. God is the
extraordinary One. He has given each of us gifts, not to make us look
good and cause others to be amazed. God has gifted us to bless
each other. We need each other! We need each others' gifts. God's
grace is spreading over all the earth in ordinary ways, through
ordinary people.
“...God
showers his extraordinary gifts through ordinary means
of grace, loves us through ordinary fellow image bearers, and
sends us out into the world to love and serve others in ordinary
callings.”
–
Michael Horton, Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless
World.
Resources:
Calvin
on the Christian Life by Dr. Michael Horton
Ordinary:
Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World by
Dr. Michael Horton
White
Horse Inn Podcast "Ordinary
Grace"
The
Hobbit; The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring; The Lord
of the Rings: The Two Towers; The Lord of the Rings; The Return of
the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
The
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey directed by Peter Jackson "Why
the halfling?" clip
Respectable
Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate by Jerry Bridges
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