The Friday Five (2.20.26)
A Few Things for My Friends
Hey!
Every week, I share five things to encourage and equip in daily life with God.
This week:
Children of God
Footnotes Matter
A Lenten Poem
What Greater Mercy
Facing Death
I hope these serve you.
MK
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1. Children of God
Last weekend, I preached on 1 John 3. There’s a lot in this chapter, and I had a great time studying it. You can listen below:
2. Footnotes Matter
I’m a fan of citing your work, especially to works where you were challenged or encouraged in your thinking. When it comes to doctrinal statements and things like catechisms, the footnotes are gold.
Catechisms help boil down Christian doctrine so that you can apply the Scriptures to life. The questions distill topics for clarity of thought and ease of instruction. The footnotes in their answers are the things we build our lives upon: the supporting truth of the Scriptures. I’m teaching in the coming week on Luke 17, and came across the second question of the Heidelberg Catechism in reference to the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, the latter being the one who ask for (and received!) mercy. I smiled when I saw all the references in the answers to the first two questions below. More of that please.
Question 1
What is thy only comfort in life and death?
That I with body and soul, both in life and death,a am not my own,b but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ;c who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins,d and delivered me from all the power of the devil;e and so preserves mef that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head;g yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation,h and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life,i and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.j
Question 2
How many things are necessary for thee to know, that thou, enjoying this comfort, mayest live and die happily?
Three;a the first, how great my sins and miseries are;b the second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries;c the third, how I shall express my gratitude to God for such deliverance.d
a a Rom. 14:7, 8.
b b 1 Cor. 6:19.
c c 1 Cor. 3:23; Tit. 2:14.
d d 1 Pet. 1:18, 19; 1 John 1:7; 1 John 2:2, 12.
e e Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8; John 8:34–36.
f f John 6:39; John 10:28; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:5.
g g Matt. 10:29–31; Luke 21:18.
h h Rom. 8:28.
i i 2 Cor. 1:20–22; 2 Cor. 5:5; Eph. 1:13, 14; Rom. 8:16.
j j Rom. 8:14; 1 John 3:3.
a a Matt. 11:28–30; Luke 24:46–48; 1 Cor. 6:11; Tit. 3:3–7.
b b John 9:41; John 15:22.
c c John 17:3; Acts 4:12; Acts 10:43.
d d Eph. 5:8–11; 1 Pet. 2:9, 10; Rom. 6:1, 2, 12, 13.
Historic Creeds and Confessions, electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Lexham Press, 1997).
3. A Lenten Poem
I’m guessing it’s been a minute since you read Christian poetry from the 1630’s. This week, I’m sharing a poem from George Herbert entitled, Lent.
You can read a breakdown of the stanzas here. As always, poetry takes time. It gives it’s treasures to those who are willing to sit with it a while. Take your time.
Lent.
Welcome dear feast of Lent: who loves not thee,
He loves not Temperance, or Authority,
But is compos’d of passion.The Scriptures bid us fast; the Church says, now:
Give to thy Mother, what thou wouldst allow
To ev’ry Corporation.The humble soul compos’d of love and fear
Begins at home, and layes the burden there,
When doctrines disagree.He says, in things which use hath justly got,
I am a scandall to the Church, and not
The Church is so to me.True Christians should be glad of an occasion
To use their temperance, seeking no evasion,
When good is seasonable;Unlesse Authority, which should increase
The obligation in us, make it less,
And Power it self disable.Besides the cleanness of sweet abstinence,
Quick thoughts and motions at a small expense,
A face not fearing light:Whereas in fulnesse there are sluttish1 fumes,
Sour exhalations, and dishonest rheumes2
Revenging the delight.Then those same pendant profits, which the spring
And Easter intimate, enlarge the thing,
And goodness of the deed.Neither ought other mens abuse of Lent
Spoil the good use; lest by that argument
We forfeit all our Creed.It’s true, we cannot reach Christ’s fortieth day;
Yet to go part of that religious way,
Is better than to rest:We cannot reach our Savior’s purity;
Yet are bid, Be holy ev’n as he.
In both let ‘s do our best.Who goeth in the way which Christ hath gone,
Is much more sure to meet with him, than one
That travelleth by-ways:Perhaps my God, though he be far before,
May turn, and take me by the hand, and more
May strengthen my decays.Yet Lord instruct us to improve our fast
By starving sin and taking such repast
As may our faults control:That ev’ry man may revel at his door,
Not in his parlor; banqueting the poor,
And among those his soul.
4. What Greater Mercy
This week during our Ash Wednesday service, I shared the following quote from St. Augustine. I’m sharing it here so you can sit with it, too, and reflect on the mercy of Christ extended to you.
“What greater mercy, though, could there be toward the miserable, than that which pulled the creator down from heaven, and clothed the founder of the earth in an earthly body; which made the one who abides equal in eternity to the Father, equal to us in mortality, imposing the form of a servant on the Lord of the world; so that bread itself would be hungry, fullness be thirsty, strength become weak, health would be wounded, life would die?
And all this to feed our hunger, water our drought, comfort our infirmity, extinguish our iniquity, kindle our charity. What greater mercy, than for the creator to be created, the master to serve, the redeemer to be sold, the one who exalts to be humbled, the one who raises up to be slain?
We, in the matter of giving alms, are instructed to give bread to the hungry; he, in order to give himself to us in our hunger, first surrendered himself for us to his enemies’ anger. We are instructed to welcome the stranger; he, for our sakes, came to his own place, and his own people did not welcome him.”
St. Augustine, Sermon 207: On The Beginning of Lent
5. Facing Death
Ben Sasse is facing terminal cancer, and speaks in this interview about how he’s handling the end of life.
Part of facing our limits is reminding ourselves that we will die, and then living with the end in mind. Many of us avoid any thought of this until it’s thrust upon us in our own lives or those we love.
Ben is giving a gift to those who will listen: what it looks like to face death with a sure and certain hope.
Thanks for Reading
If someone forwarded this to you, I write two kinds of emails: one on select Tuesdays about life with God and the other every Friday, where I share things I’ve found during the week. If you want to subscribe but can’t afford it, email me, and I’ll take care of it—no questions asked.
I pastor, teach, and lead at The Village Church, serving as an Elder and the Executive Director of Discipleship. In my spare time (ha!), I’m working on a Ph.D. in Church History, studying Jonathan Edwards and character formation. Also, I’ve written A Short Guide to Spiritual Disciplines: How to Become a Healthy Christian.
Thank you for reading and supporting my work as I seek to shepherd with compassion and wisdom, equipping people to embody God’s truth for all of life.
Talk soon,
Mason
sluttish. Unclean; dirty; grimy; untidy. (Oxford English Dictionary)
rheumes. watery matter from eyes, nose, ears, etc.; said to cause disease. (Oxford English Dictionary)
I keep meaning to listen to this Ben Sasse conversation