Psalm 19 Sermon PART 4C — The Slow Disciplines

reformed preaching, spoken word, austere minimalist sacred ambience

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The catalog of Paul has been opened to us.
We have seen what love actually is.
Now we must consider 
what this means for the actual practice 
of the Christian life.

[SECTION THIRTEEN — The Slow Disciplines]
[Cello note sustained, slightly warmer]
[Preacher — pastoral, careful]

The modern church 
has often failed its members 
on this point.

It has taught them 
that the Christian life 
is the continuous experience 
of warm religious feeling.
And when those feelings inevitably fade — 
as all feelings fade — 
the believer concludes 
that something is wrong with their faith.
They seek out new religious experiences.
They move from church to church 
looking for the feelings 
they once had.
They give up the slow disciplines of love 
because those disciplines are dry 
when the feelings are absent.

But the slow disciplines are love itself.
The patience that does not retaliate.
The kindness that continues to act 
when feeling has gone cold.
The refusal to keep account of wrongs 
that builds up over years 
into the deep peaceableness 
of a soul 
that has been formed in Christ.

These disciplines 
do not require warm feelings.
They are not produced by warm feelings.
They are the substance of love itself,
the substance that the Holy Spirit forms in us 
across decades of patient practice,
the substance 
that finally appears 
when the feelings have long since become 
something we no longer expect 
or require.

This is what Psalm nineteen 
prepares us for.
Let the words of my mouth 
and the meditation of my heart 
be acceptable in thy sight.

The acceptable words 
are not the words of warm religious feeling.
They are the words of patience, 
of kindness, 
of truthfulness, 
of refusal to bear false witness against the neighbor.
The acceptable meditation 
is not the inward sensation of religious intimacy.
It is the meditation 
that produces in us 
the disciplines of love 
that Paul has described.

[SECTION FOURTEEN — The Final Word]
[Cello note held warm]
[Distant small church bell once, very softly]
[Preacher — quiet, benedictory close]

So let us pray Psalm nineteen 
as those who have understood 
what love actually is.

The heavens declare the glory of God 
in Christ.
The law of the Lord is perfect 
in Christ.
The cleansing from secret faults 
comes from Christ.
The acceptance of our words and meditation 
is granted in Christ.
And the love that flows from this acceptance 
is not a feeling we must produce 
but a discipline 
the Holy Spirit produces in us 
across the long years of Christian formation.

There is no humanist version of this psalm 
that can preach what David actually wrote.
There is no feeling-based version of love 
that can fulfill what Christ commanded.
There is only the love 
that Paul described, 
which is the love that Christ enacted, 
which is the love 
that the Spirit produces 
in those who have been redeemed 
by the goel 
whose blood was shed 
that we might become 
a people 
who actually love.

May the Holy Spirit 
who has caused this psalm to be written 
also cause it to do its proper work in us — 
emptying us of every confidence 
in our own resources, 
emptying us of every confusion 
between feeling and love, 
filling us with confidence 
in the redemption that has been provided 
without our contribution,
and producing in us 
the slow disciplines of love 
that mark the genuine work of grace 
in the soul of the redeemed.

In the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

[end]

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[intro] [Twentieth-Century Continental Reformed Sermon] [Basel cathedral or prison acoustic] [Single sustained low cello note] [Faint stone-and-wood ambient] [Preacher — continuing, applying the teaching pastorally] The catalog of Paul has been opened to us. We have seen what love actually is. Now we must consider what this means for the actual practice of the Christian life. [SECTION THIRTEEN — The Slow Disciplines] [Cello note sustained, slightly warmer] [Preacher — pastoral, careful] The modern church has often failed its members on this point. It has taught them that the Christian life is the continuous experience of warm religious feeling. And when those feelings inevitably fade — as all feelings fade — the believer concludes that something is wrong with their faith. They seek out new religious experiences. They move from church to church looking for the feelings they once had. They give up the slow disciplines of love because those disciplines are dry when the feelings are absent. But the slow disciplines are love itself. The patience that does not retaliate. The kindness that continues to act when feeling has gone cold. The refusal to keep account of wrongs that builds up over years into the deep peaceableness of a soul that has been formed in Christ. These disciplines do not require warm feelings. They are not produced by warm feelings. They are the substance of love itself, the substance that the Holy Spirit forms in us across decades of patient practice, the substance that finally appears when the feelings have long since become something we no longer expect or require. This is what Psalm nineteen prepares us for. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. The acceptable words are not the words of warm religious feeling. They are the words of patience, of kindness, of truthfulness, of refusal to bear false witness against the neighbor. The acceptable meditation is not the inward sensation of religious intimacy. It is the meditation that produces in us the disciplines of love that Paul has described. [SECTION FOURTEEN — The Final Word] [Cello note held warm] [Distant small church bell once, very softly] [Preacher — quiet, benedictory close] So let us pray Psalm nineteen as those who have understood what love actually is. The heavens declare the glory of God in Christ. The law of the Lord is perfect in Christ. The cleansing from secret faults comes from Christ. The acceptance of our words and meditation is granted in Christ. And the love that flows from this acceptance is not a feeling we must produce but a discipline the Holy Spirit produces in us across the long years of Christian formation. There is no humanist version of this psalm that can preach what David actually wrote. There is no feeling-based version of love that can fulfill what Christ commanded. There is only the love that Paul described, which is the love that Christ enacted, which is the love that the Spirit produces in those who have been redeemed by the goel whose blood was shed that we might become a people who actually love. May the Holy Spirit who has caused this psalm to be written also cause it to do its proper work in us — emptying us of every confidence in our own resources, emptying us of every confusion between feeling and love, filling us with confidence in the redemption that has been provided without our contribution, and producing in us the slow disciplines of love that mark the genuine work of grace in the soul of the redeemed. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. [end]

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