Cowper on Paul on Preaching (16)
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22.37-40
He ’stablishes the strong, restores the weak,
Reclaims the wanderer, binds the broken heart,
And arm’d himself in panoply complete
Of heavenly temper, furnishes with arms
Bright as his own, and trains, by every rule
Of holy discipline, to glorious war
The sacramental host of God’s elect:
Are all such teachers?—would to Heaven all were!
– William Cowper, The Task (1785)
The aim or goal of all our instruction must be love. Love is the distinguishing mark of the follower of Jesus Christ. Love is the one virtue that will always characterize true believers (1 Cor. 13). Love is the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets (Matt. 22.37-40). Without love our best efforts in the name of the Lord will be little more than clanging cymbals or noisy gongs. The supreme measure of the effectiveness of our preaching is the extent to which the people who hear us grow in love for God and for their neighbors.
The aim of all our preaching must be love for God and our neighbors.
The Lord Jesus provides the supreme example of such love, and Paul urged his readers to have the same mind in themselves as they saw in the Lord (Phil. 2.1-11). We love like Jesus when we set aside our own claims, rights, privileges, and priorities and humble ourselves in serving others.
Ministers must be able to “see through to the ground” with respect to their hearers. They will preach with an understanding of the various relationships, roles, and responsibilities the people take up each week; and they will endeavor, through their preaching, to guide them along the paths of love. Shepherds will give their flock a vision of the life of love, rooted and grounded in the vision of Christ exalted. They will instruct them in the peculiar disciplines of love, just as Jesus showed His disciples what love requires (Jn. 13.1-15). They will exhort and urge them to love one another and their neighbors, as Paul consistently urged his readers to set aside their disagreements and disputes and work out their salvation in love to God and one another.
Preaching that stops short of specific instruction in the ways of love falls short of the primary aim of all preaching.
Resources for being and making disciples
Pastor to Pastor Podcast: In this week’s conversation with Pastor Jesse Slusher, we consider the work of shepherding God’s flock. Click the bar at the top of this week’s Pastor to Pastor to listen.
Other columns of interest: This week: In our ReVision column we begin part 2 of the series, “Everyday Christianity”—getting ready for afflictions. Our Read Moore podcast is from Patrick: A Devotional History. Our Crosfigell teaching letter is studying the spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. And in our daily Scriptorium column we are working through Matthew 26. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
The Ailbe Bookstore: The people of God can, by their prayers, contribute powerfully to the growth and ministry of the local church. Our book, Pray for Your Church, offers 35 brief prayers in 7 topics to help readers seek the Lord for their church. Order your free PDF download by going to The Ailbe Bookstore (click here). If you’d like more of William Cowper’s views on preaching, order An Essay on Preaching from our Bookstore.
Resources for Shepherds: How does your church compare with the churches of the New Testament and the first two centuries? Our ReThinking Church assessment tool can give you a quick overview and point you to resources that can help as you lead your church according to the pattern revealed in the New Testament.
From the Celtic Revival
Spiritual Poetry of the Celtic Revival
May Christ be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ to my right, Christ to my left,
Christ where I lie down, Christ where I sit, Christ where I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in the eye of every eye which looks on me,
Christ in the ear of every ear which hears me. – Anonymous, “Patrick’s Breastplate,” Irish, 8th century (excerpt)
The unbelieving philosophers of ancient Greece could not escape the sense that they were surrounded and sustained by God. Their philosophers insisted on it, and Paul quoted those philosophers to his audience on Mars Hill.
That doesn’t mean those philosophers knew God; Paul said they worshiped ignorantly. But they could not help sensing Him in the world, since they were made in His image, had the works of His Law written on their hearts, and lived in a world where God is everywhere present and making Himself known (Rom. 1.18-21; 2.14, 15). They sensed that they lived and had their being in Him.
The ancient lorica or “breastplate” prayer, mistakenly ascribed to Patrick (although certainly reflective of his outlook), captures that sense of continuous awareness of the Lord. Singing or reciting such poems as they went about their daily work would help Celtic Christians to make the fact of Jesus’ Presence real in their experience.
You can read this installment in our series on Celtic spiritual poetry by clicking here.
Subscribe to Crosfigell and join us for this entire series on spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. Scroll to the bottom of the home page, www.ailbe.org.
Resources from the Celtic Revival: Columbanus
The Celtic Revival (ca. 430-800) was a significant moment in the history of the Christian movement. Learn more about it by downloading a free PDF of The Celtic Revival: A Brief Introduction.
T. M. Moore
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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
