Sermon for August 17th, 2014

Psalm 133

1How very good and pleasant it is
   when kindred live together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
   running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
   running down over the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
   which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
   life forevermore.

Is There Oil In Your Beard

If you've ever seen a picture of John Calvin, one of the founding fathers of Presbyterianism, you know that he was a man with a beard. And what a beard it was! Not a big, bushy, sloppy beard like you see on Duck Dynasty or ZZ Top, but a long, crisp, well tailored beard that began wide at the top and narrowed down to a sharp point somewhere in the middle of his chest. The same is true of John Knox, another founder of Presbyterianism. In fact, there's a famous wall in Geneva, Switzerland called the "Reformation Wall." Along this wall are featured giant statues of the four great reformers: John Calvin, John Knox, Theodore Beza, and William Farel...and their great, reformed beards are featured as well.

By contrast, Martin Luther (founder of Lutheranism) and John Wesley (founder of the Methodists) were rather bald in the chin.

The great 19th century reformed theologian Charles Spurgeon had this to say about the matter: "Growing a beard is a habit most natural, scriptural, manly, and beneficial." But to settle the issue completely, Jesus had a beard. And so does Chuck Norris.

Given this tremendous weight of influence, I tried hard to grow one for this Sunday's sermon. I tried. This is about as good and as thick as it gets for me...any longer and it will be a scraggly, patchy mess. I may have to go back to seminary for additional reformed beard-training.