| Beloved, On Monday Tessa and I did a deep clean of our unfinished basement, preparing a corner to be my study during the soil remediation of the church’s property. In God’s kindness, the standup desk I ordered arrived on Monday afternoon and was put together with little difficulty. So by the time Tuesday rolled around, I had everything ready to go. It has surprised me how smoothly the transition has gone, and how much I have enjoyed working from home. In fact, we all have enjoyed it. We’ll see if we still feel that way at the five-week marker! But for now it has been sweet and productive. On top of that, God has been teaching me some valuable lessons through it. I thought I would share three of them with you. 1. God can teach me without my library. It was painful shutting the door to my church study on Sunday and saying goodbye to all my books. While I grabbed a few I knew I would need in the coming weeks, there was a lamentable sum of wisdom and knowledge left behind. I had originally planned to preach on 1 Peter 1 for Easter and had grabbed commentaries in preparation for it. But by Tuesday of this week I was convinced that Romans 6 was the text God was leading me to proclaim. There was just one problem: I didn’t have a single commentary on Romans with me! It has been a wonderful reminder of the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit, the sweet benefit of wrestling with the word of God for myself, and the calling that I have as a servant of the Word (not books about the Word). Don’t get me wrong, it is important for a pastor to have a good library and to read widely. Commentaries are a great blessing from God (for the Spirit’s work of illumination didn’t begin with me). But in this unique time, I’m being brought back to the fundamental reality that what matters most is that I am studying and meditating upon the Bible in prayerful dependence upon the Spirit, expecting Him to grant light for the benefit of His people. 2. God can meet me while surrounded by cinderblocks. My study at church is nothing fancy, but it is aesthetically pleasing (at least to a guy like me). Now, however, I’ve traded the earthy-toned drywall for the grey dullness of cinderblock. I’ve exchanged carpet for concrete. But it hasn’t really mattered. I’m reminded of Maya Angelou who was famous for doing her best work in cheap hotel rooms. She would sprawl out on the bed with her Bible, a yellow legal pad, and a bottle of sherry, and she would work her wonders. Angelou made such a practice of this that she actually had large callouses on her elbows! What’s the point? Environment isn’t everything. How true that is in light of the new covenant riches that are ours in Christ, being able to experience the presence of God in every place. I’ve tasted the sweetness of God in this cold, dark, grey corner of the basement. Truly any place can become a foretaste of heaven on earth when God is there! 3. God can increase my joy through occasional family “interruptions.” I put interruptions in quotation marks because I am in agreement with C.S. Lewis that properly speaking there are no interruptions. He wrote, “The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life–the life God is sending one day by day.” Yesterday morning while Tessa was on a walk, I was just getting into a focused time of sermonizing when Vos opened the basement door in distress. He had built a church that morning with a communion table (featuring styrofoam for bread and water for wine) and a pulpit (consisting of a flipped over laundry basket). Canon and Owen had joined him for his church service as he preached on Daniel chapter 88 (that’s not a typo). But Canon and Owen were not the best churchmen, singing when they weren’t supposed to and taking communion in the middle of the sermon. It led to one angry little preacher, and it resulted in me needing to stop my preacher preparation to bring the peace (all while trying not to crack up!). You can call that an interruption, and in one sense it was. But it was life in the Thompson home, and it served to increase my joy. What occurred to me after the fact was that had I been working at church, I would have missed it. Tessa has been great about giving me the quiet I need to do the work God has called me to, but my days have been brightened by the occasional and inevitable “interruptions.” As we prepare to transition to worshiping in another building this Sunday, let’s be on the lookout for lessons God might be seeking to teach us through it. Truly, our God works all things for good, and I am confident He is going to use this time at Chattanooga Christian School to continue His good purposes in Cornerstone! I’ll be sending out an email soon with a map and other information regarding Sunday worship. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out to me or your district elder. He is risen! Pastor Nick |
