The Heart of Henry

            One of my ministry heroes once said, “The only thing I don’t like about Matthew Henry is that I didn’t start reading him sooner.” It is a fitting testament to the wide appeal and accessibility of Henry’s massive commentary on the Bible that my own set was given to me by a layman in my home church. I treasure it.

            If you’ve read Henry, then you know that he is thorough and wonderfully practical, which is probably the secret to the popularity and perseverance of his work almost 300 years after his death.

            Though not technically one of the Puritans, Henry is certainly just downstream of them. With that being said, what I love about Henry is a joyfulness that is sometimes missing in other Puritan writings. The old word for this is “winsomeness”. There is a “joy in the Lord” that seeps out from Henry’s pen.

            That winsomeness did not come from an easy life, however. I’ve been reading a biography of Henry and was surprised to learn that his first wife died early in their marriage, while giving birth to their first child. That child later died as well. Henry remarried and a second child was born. Sadly, this child also died.

            In his diary, Henry wrote, “The Lord is righteous, he takes and gives, gives and takes again; I desire to submit, but, O Lord, shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.”

            The Sunday after the baby’s funeral, Henry preached on Romans 5:14: “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.” Acknowledging that within that same year, two of his children, and two other members of his family had passed away, he could still say, “The Lord is gracious.”

            Without saying much about the softness of our generation, I do recognize that my own joyfulness is often fairly easily robbed from me. I’ve buried no loved ones, save a few elderly grandparents. Yet, an encounter with a grouchy church member can cast a shadow over the first few days of a week, if I let it. What I want, however, is a joyfulness and a deep-down grasp of the goodness of God, so that even when life is lousy, I recognize that the God is still gracious.

            Nehemiah 8:10 says, ‘…the joy of the Lord is your strength.” May it be so! Thanks again, Matthew Henry.

His,

Terry           

My Own Maxims

            Several years ago my dad visited the home of the noted Civil War general, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, in Lexington, VA. While there he bought a little book entitled “Stonewall Jackson’s Book of Maxims”. Eventually he gave it to me with a note of encouragement to read the book thoroughly.

Jackson carried a small journal with a collection of wise and practical sayings that he tried to incorporate into his life. For instance, one of his maxims was this: “Disregard public opinion when it interferes with your duty.”[1] The principles behind his maxims were not original to him, but in many cases, his wording of the principle was.

            I like the idea of expressing your values and principles in your own words. So, here are a few of my own maxims. By the way, my maxims inevitably are related to ministry, as that is my life. I suppose I should call them “Ministry Maxims”, but I suspect John Maxwell has written a book by that title, or at least has it copyrighted. Either way, here are a few of them.

Maxim 1: Do more than is required when the more will help someone else.  

This is not merely about exceeding expectations; it is about serving in a way that makes the service of others smoother and easier. In Matthew 5:41, Jesus said, “And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him [two].”

The enemy of this maxim is the anti-maxim, “That’s not my job.”

Maxim 2: Don’t demand appreciation down here if you’re expecting rewards up there.

All of us feel under or completely unappreciated at times. We like it when someone pats us on the back, and we want to feel that folks value what we do for them…and for the Lord, of course.

Did you hear that? What we do for the Lord. That is really the key to it all. If I begin to demand (even subconsciously) that folks recognize and appreciate what I am doing in ministry, I have forgotten why I do what I do in the first place, and I am dangerously close to losing my eternal reward for what I do in ministry.

Matthew 6:1-4 speaks of “almsgiving”, which could refer to any type of religious service. There Jesus warned us of doing ministry to be seen by men; that is, for their approval and applause. If you do it for those things, Jesus said that those things (the applause of men) are the only reward you’ll get.

So, nobody has to say, “Thank you.” If they do, great, but if they don’t it is more valuable to me to hear His, “Well done,” than anybody else’s “atta boy”.

Last one.

Maxim 3: Pray to react carefully and purpose to speak respectfully.

The reason for this maxim is that blow-ups are damaging and bullies are despised. People are going to irritate me. Folks are going to say and do things, or fail to do things that are going to aggravate me. My prayer is that the Spirit of God will check my temper, at least long enough to keep me from losing it completely.

And at the same time, when I do react, I want to speak to everyone with the same measure of respect I expect from them. Even when they could probably use a nice “posterior” chewing, and I am in a position to give one, it is more conducive (not to mention more Christ-like) for me to collect myself and speak with grace.

Two Proverbs help me here. Proverbs 12:26 says, “A fools wrath is presently known…” , and Proverbs 15:1 says, “A soft answer turneth away wrath…”

Well, there are three of what I hope are principles guiding my conduct. Of course, all of these are subject to one overarching truth – the gospel. The gospel points to a Savior who dealt perfectly with all men at all times, and then died in the place of all those who deal imperfectly with each other and unjustly toward Him. He is the Master, and His gospel is the chief maxim.

His,

Terry

           

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[1] Roberston, James I., Stonewall Jackson’s Book of Maxims, (Cumberland House, Nashville, TN, 2002), p. 63