The 17th-century Puritan who discovered love

© 2018 Christy K Robinson

"I do prize him above Kingdoms: I desire him more than Life."

If you’re been a Christian for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed the dramatic testimonies that are occasionally made in church: the Lord came into a person’s life and gave them physical healing, or strength to overcome an addiction, or willpower to overcome a particular sin. Or maybe they were trapped in gangs or crime, or a rebellious time of life until someone stepped in and introduced them to Jesus.

But what about the person who didn’t rebel, didn’t take illicit drugs or alcohol, didn’t dabble with the devil? What about the person who accepted Christ early and did all the “right” things? What if your testimony is nothing to make people say “Amen” to, or bring a tear to their eyes when you’ve contrasted your old life to your new life?

Richard Baxter, a Puritan minister in England, lived roughly
the same time span as Roger Clapp. According to Wikipedia,
"His views on justification and sanctification
are somewhat controversial within the Calvinist tradition
because his teachings seem, to some, to undermine
salvation by faith, in that he emphasizes the
necessity of repentance and faithfulness."

And what about the people—and they are many—who are trying and failing to be perfect, and agonizing that they won’t be saved for eternal life? They seem to live in Romans chapter 7, where they are sinful and a slave to the wicked flesh, but haven’t turned the page to Romans 8, which begins with, “But now, therefore, there is no condemnation…”

In most of my research into 17th-century Puritanism, which was more zealous in New England than old England, I read of people who were so distraught at not being admitted to church membership with the Elect (people predestined to salvation who showed their salvation by performing good works), that they took their own lives, or tried to kill their children. Not being recognized as a church member meant that they were not recognized as one of the Elect who would be saved. One man in Weymouth jumped from an upper-floor bedroom window into the snow and stumbled several miles in the deep cold, kneeling down to pray several times. They found his body the next day.

There was a ray of warm sunlight for a few years in the 1630s, when Rev. John Cotton, the teacher of Boston First Church, preached a “Covenant of Grace,” which offered some relief and comfort to the afflicted souls, in contrast with the other Puritan ministers in the colony. He seemed to allow parishioners to relax a little in agonizing over their sin, by preaching salvation by faith in Jesus—but in thanks for that forgiveness, they proved their love for God by scrupulously keeping the biblical Commandments and laws of the colony and reporting those who did not, thus setting up even more pressure to conform.

One of my favorite research finds was a man whose journal I ran across while in search of local “color” for writing my novels. I like finding peoples’ opinions about their culture or faith, and it’s even better if they’re name-droppers for people I know are associated with Mary Dyer or Anne Hutchinson, the subjects on whom I’ve written. And then if I’m related to them—it’s a trifecta of ice cream, cherry, and caramel sauce.

Captain Roger Clapp, 1609-1690, was my uncle, 13 generations back, but as it turns out on another line, he’s the also father-in-law of my eighth great-grandfather (I descend from a second wife who was not a Clapp). However, he did write of Dyer and Hutchinson without naming names, so I’ve kept a copy of his memoir in my files.

One of the things that attracts me to this old Puritan was that the first chapter of his book was full of gratitude, which I’m actively cultivating in my life as a resolution from a few years back. I heartily endorse learning gratitude as a daily practice.

Good old Roger wrote of the succession of miracles God wrought in bringing him to Massachusetts, even though they’d suffered and nearly starved their first year. He exemplified the bromide, “If life hands you lemons, make lemonade.”

  “It was God that did draw me by his Providence out of my Father's Family, and weaned me from it by degrees; It was God put it into my Heart to incline to Live abroad; and it was God that made my Father willing. God by his Providence brought me near [Rev.] Mr. Warham, and inclined my Heart to his Ministry: God by his Providence moved the Heart of my [employer] Master Mossiour to ask me whether I would go to New-England: It was God by his Providence that made me willing to leave my dear Father, and dear Brethren and Sisters, my dear Friends and Country: It was God that made my Father willing on the first Motion I made in Person, to let me go: It was God that sent Mr. Maverick that pious Minister to me, who was unknown to him, to seek me out that I might come hither. So God brought me out of Plymouth [England] the 20th of March in the Year 1629-30, and landed me in Health at Nantasket on the 30th of May, 1630, I being then about the Age of Twenty one Years. Blessed be God that brought me Here!”  

But the memorable paragraphs for me were a few pages later, when he wrote of meeting with churches in the Dorchester area from 1630 on, where its members lived in mortal fear of an eternity in hell. He said they lived in terror for their lost condition. But Roger heard Rev. John Cotton in Boston, when Cotton arrived in 1634, and gained hope that the prophecies of Revelations showed God’s people winning in the end, and that a small stream of godly sorrow (at their sins) was better than a flood of great horror. Still, the bottom line was that few would be saved, and most would be lost.

And then the light truly broke through for Roger: that if Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and Roger was a sinner, then why couldn’t he be saved? "Why not me?" And instead of trying to obey the harsh laws out of fear of hell, he could hardly wait for an eternity with his beloved Savior Jesus. He wrote: “If my Heart do not deceive me, I do prize him above Kingdoms: I desire him more than Life, and to be made more and more like him in Holiness and Righteousness all the Days of my Life.”

Here is a glimpse of Roger Clapp’s testimony (<--click) in his Memoir:

After God had brought me into this Country, He was pleased to give me Room in the Hearts of his Servants; so that I was admitted into the Church Fellowship at our first beginning in Dorchester, in the Year 1630. Jesus Christ being clearly Preached, and the way of coming to him by Believing was plainly shown forth: yet because many in their Relations spake of their great Terrors and deep Sense of their lost Condition, and I could not so find as others did, the Time when God wrought the Work of Conversion in my Soul, nor in many respects the Manner thereof; it caused in me much Sadness of Heart, and Doubtings how it was with me, Whether the Work of Grace were ever savingly wrought in my Heart or no? How to cast off all Hope, to say, and verily to Believe that there was no Work of Grace wrought by God in my Heart, this I could not do: yet how to be in some measure assured thereof was my great Concern: But hearing Mr. Cotton Preach out of the Revelations, that Christ's Church did come out of great Tribulation, he had such a Passage as this in his Sermon, "That a small running Stream, was much better than a great Land Flood of Water, tho' "the Flood maketh the greatest Noise: So, saith he, A "little constant Stream of godly Sorrow, is better than great Horrour: God spake to me by it, it was no little Support unto me. And God helped me to hang on that Text (and thro' his Grace I will continue so to do).

This is a faithful saying that is worthy of all Acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the World to save Sinners. God has made me sensible that I am a Sinner, and Jesus Christ came to save Sinners, and why not me, tho' a very-sinful man: Thro' the Grace of God I desire to rest alone upon Jesus Christ for Salvation.

In my saddest Troubles for want of a clear Evidence of my good Estate, I did on a Time Examine myself upon my Bed in the Night, concerning my spiritual Estate; putting my self upon this Trial, How my Heart stood affected to Sin. The Question to my Soul was this (pitching upon that Sin which I did confess my natural Corruption most inclined me to):
The Question, I say, which by God's help, I put to my very Heart and Soul was, Whether if God would assure me that I should be saved, although I should commit such a Sin, my Heart were willing to commit it or no. And my very Heart and Soul answered. No, I would not Sin against God, though I should not be damned for sinning, because God has forbidden it.

At that Time my conscience did witness to me that my State [of salvation] was good: And God's holy Spirit did witness (I do believe) together with my Spirit that I was a Child of God; and did fill my Heart and Soul with such a full Assurance that Christ was mine, that it did so transport me as to make me cry out upon my Bed with a loud Voice, He is come, He is come. And God did melt my Heart at that time so that I could, and did mourn and shed more Tears for Sin, than at other Times; Yea the Love of God, that he should Elect me, and save such a worthless one as I was, did break my very Heart. I say again, When I had most Assurance of God's Love, I could mourn most for my Sins.

The Scripture saith, He that Believeth shall be saved: I hope God has not only wrought Historical Faith in me, but also true Justifying Faith; Faith to receive Jesus Christ to be my King, Priest and Prophet: If my Heart do not deceive me, I do prize him above Kingdoms: I desire him more than Life, and to be made more and more like him in Holiness and Righteousness all the Days of my Life.

Oh the Riches of his free Grace to put any holy Desires in my Heart! I leave this with you, that you may plead God's free Promises, which are, That He will circumcise our Hearts and the Hearts of our Seed.

God's Covenant is unto the Faithful and to their Seed. Pray earnestly that God will be pleased to circumcise your Hearts, and cause you to walk in his Ways; so shall you be serviceable to him here, and be everlastingly Happy in the World to come.

*****

Clapp headstone from Find a Grave.

 Roger Clapp spent an honorable life, and lived to see several generations of descendants. He was buried in the Kings Chapel Burying Ground at Tremont and School Streets in the heart of Boston, near the people he respected: Gov. John Winthrop, Rev. John Cotton, and Rev. John Wilson. But his own words tell me that Roger is “everlastingly happy in the world to come,” full of assurance that Christ is his, and he is Christ’s.

If you are a person who agonizes over confessing the sin you can’t remember, for fear of not being saved, take comfort from the revelation of Roger Clapp, that though you’re a sinner, you are loved by God—loved so much that Jesus died for you, that you would not be condemned, but would have everlasting life.

John 3:16-17: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

For MORE on Capt. Roger Clapp, see my other blog, http://marybarrettdyer.blogspot.com/2018/01/life-sketch-of-capt-roger-clapp.html 


 

 

*****

Christy K Robinson is author of these books:

We Shall Be Changed (2010)

Mary Dyer Illuminated Vol. 1 (2013)  

Mary Dyer: For Such a Time as This Vol. 2 (2014)

The Dyers of London, Boston, & Newport Vol. 3 (2014)  

Effigy Hunter (2015)  

Anne Marbury Hutchinson: American Founding Mother (2018)

And of these sites:  

Discovering Love  (inspiration and service)

Rooting for Ancestors  (history and genealogy)

William and Mary Barrett Dyer (17th century culture and history of England and New England)

Editornado [ed•i•tohr•NAY•doh] (Words. Communications. Book reviews. Cartoons.)

What it took me 5 decades to learn

© 2015 Christy K Robinson

I've always been thankful. When I receive a gift, I say "thank you" to the giver, or write a thank-you note before I use the item or spend the money. It's just good manners, as I was taught from infancy. I guess I thought that was enough: acknowledging the gift and telling the giver I liked it and they were very kind to give it. Not any more.

Gratitude is something deeper, I believe. The word comes from the Latin "gratus" or "gratia." We often use the word "grace" in faith settings, and it's usually defined as undeserved favor, or even as extreme as showing mercy to a known enemy. Gratitude is the condition of being thankful for a gift.

If the money or thing was earned, there's no grace about it--it's payment. But gratitude acknowledges that the giver owned something of value and relinquished it forever to the recipient with no expectation of repayment or reciprocation.

There's also a providential time element to consider. When I've been down to the wire on figuring how to get by in a financial situation (had to replace the tires on my car as they crumbled in the Arizona climate, website renewal came up, the air conditioning bill was $225, and my teaching income was next to nothing), I received gifts in the snail mail. Sometimes they come in the form of a freelance job (that I work for), sometimes as a gift card marked "With love from Jesus," sometimes as a "just because" gift, and sometimes a random stranger decides he likes the research articles on my history blog. But there's no accident that they came at exactly the right time. The givers may or may not recognize the whisper of God in their minds. But I do. That's another difference between feeling thankful and being grateful. I know the source of the generosity.

Something I've learned, again and again, but perhaps in a deeper way recently, is that gratitude is a lifeline out of despair. It doesn't make a lot of sense to be grateful for adverse circumstances, but I've found that being grateful that I'm beloved of God, and that I have the respect and love of friends, lifts me up from the pit where the Adversary flung me.

Rather than a rational explanation, the miraculous answer is that when I set my eyes on God, instead of my miserable circumstances, he has the opportunity to remind me from whence my blessings flow--and then sets them in motion. It's not that I deserve the blessing by my actions, but that he loves me and is liberal with his gifts.

Dr. Wayne Dyer, educator and philosopher, passed away in late 2015. His daughter Serena Dyer Pisoni wrote of a sensation of her father's presence in her car when she was feeling burdened by stress, and the lesson she took from it:

"I don't have to wait for ... the stress and the turmoil to go away in order to feel peace. In fact, it's just the opposite. I have to feel peace inside in order to get ... the turmoil to go away. I cannot control what's going on outside of me. But I can control how I react to it. I can choose peace at any time despite what is happening around me."

As mentioned in the video "Just Be Held," if my eyes are on the storm, I'm not seeing the one who's saying "Peace, be still."

So being thankful, nay, being grateful right down to my core, is what I hope to be, and hold in my heart in increasing measure, in the new year ahead.

Ayn Mousa, Jordan--the Spring of Moses

Several years ago, Candace, Audrey, and I, amateur archaeologists, took a weekend off from excavating near Amman, Jordan, and visited the ancient city of Petra, where building facades and interiors are carved from the red sandstone of a dry, desert canyon. Boys pointed to their donkeys and asked, “Taxi, Madame?” Audrey and Candace hiked to the top, while I walked downhill in the morning, saving the uphill return journey, in the July afternoon heat, for a camel-taxi. (Hey, I wasn't born and raised in the hot Arizona desert for nuthin!)

Near Petra, we saw the tan, barren, rolling hills where Moses and the Israelite multitude spent 40 years camping, grazing their flocks, collecting manna, living, and dying. From an air-conditioned car we saw the black goat-hair Bedouin tents, and laundry drying on rope lines, as they’ve done for thousands of years.

Crowne Plaza Resort pool at Wadi Mousa, Petra, Jordan.

 After being on our dig for only a few weeks, we were thrilled to have hot showers, toilets, delicious meals, and bug-free beds in our hotel, the Crowne Plaza. There was such luxury after a few weeks of dirt and squalor that we felt like rednecks who had just fallen off the turnip truck. After 10 pm, we slipped out to the pool for a night swim—and what bliss!

Just beginning our return journey to Amman, we found a sign that read “Ayn Mousa, the Spring of Moses.” For several thousand years, predating Muslim times, this has been thought to be the place where Moses struck the rock for water, though God had told him to speak to it. Water gushed from the rock nevertheless, and the Israelites were saved yet again by God’s grace. (see story in Numbers 20:7-12.)

Ayn Mousa is a block building with a paved floor. It backs up to the base of a cliff, a boulder juts from the floor, and a stream of cool, fresh water pours from the base. (We drank some—it was sweet.) That water supplies the town around Petra, including our hotel and its pool. When we asked our supervising archaeologists if this was truly the Spring of Moses, they said probably not, but—who knew?—it could be the place.

I hope it is the same place, with its miraculous water flowing steadily for 3,200 years. I like the idea that at the hotel pool we were swimming in God’s grace, being cooled, refreshed, and exhilarated after our exertions.

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you…have refreshed the hearts of the saints. Philemon 1:7 NIV

The desires of your heart

A Christian man (a church elder and Bible teacher) joked that when he died, he wanted to “come back” (be reincarnated) as my pampered cat. Sadly, he passed away at the age of 85, but happily, he accepted the gift of eternal life in his Lord.

Several ironies have captured media attention recently. A big-budget film called The Bucket List (the things you want to do before kicking the bucket – dying) was released in 2008; author and professor Dr. Randy Pausch, famed for his Carnegie-Mellon University “Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” succumbed to cancer; and Dave Freeman, co-author of 100 Things to Do Before You Die, actually died in an accident in his home, not on the horns of a Pamplona bull. (Dave Freeman CNN obituary)

Some people make lists of things they’ve dreamed of doing before they die: riding an elephant, running with the bulls, bungee-jumping in New Zealand, climbing Kilimanjaro, swimming in an Icelandic thermal lake, riding every roller coaster in America, or touring the Holy Land.

Others measure their lives in monuments such as walking their daughter down the wedding aisle, meeting a financial goal, patenting an invention, earning a scholastic degree, expressing music, dance, or visual art, or winning a prestigious award. Someone once said, “My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am.”

What’s on your “bucket list”? Have you made one? Making goals and keeping track of your progress in reaching them is actually a predictor of success. Just wishing and visualizing, but not acting strategically, won’t get your items checked off or that sense of satisfaction or reward when you reach accomplishment.

Your objectives, at least the priorities, will almost certainly change through the years of your life. The list you made 10 years ago will not be the same as the one you’ll make five years from now. But a list is the first step in your plan to reach the desires of your heart.

My bucket list includes:
1 Learn to speak French
2 Have my book published
3 Live and work a year in a foreign country
4 Play Chopin’s Fantaisie Impromptu at tempo
5 Learn to play drums and other percussion instruments
6 Discover every last ancestor on my family tree
7 Improve overall health by balanced living
8 Reach the bottom of the ever-growing to-be-read book stack

They’ll take application of tuition, budgeting, persistence, research, patience, and some risk-taking. They’ll take some phone calls, some first steps, some networking, some sacrifice. Probably a large sacrifice!

As Christians, we know that it’s not our goodness, performance, or ability to keep God’s laws that will make the difference at the judgment. It’s not even God’s grace plus our best efforts.

“This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life.’” Romans 1:17 NLT.

Faith in what? Faith in God’s ability – and desire – to fully love, fully forgive, and save eternally. Even our faith doesn’t come from internal fortitude. Faith itself is also the gift of God, as you’ll see in the verse below.

So what is the point of life-list-making in a Christian’s life, if it doesn’t get us to heaven? Glad you asked that! The apostle Peter made an all-purpose bucket list for use in this world:

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:3-8 NIV.

Notice that Peter’s bucket list is about BEING, not DOING, and that he said “make every effort… in increasing measure… effective… productive.” Sounds like a strategic plan to me!

Maybe we need more than one bucket list. There are lists for temporal accomplishments, the relationships we form along the way, and the eternal list (the one we can take with us, the treasure laid up in Jesus’ care).

What would you put on your list before Jesus comes? How about:
1 Positive and sunny
2 Sweet and humble
3 Ready with a soft answer
4 Encouraging and ever-thankful
5 Affectionate and compassionate
6 Patient and understanding
7 Forgiving and merciful
8 Seeking grace with every step
9 Honorable and upright
10 Discerning but not judgmental

This last list, not really a bucket list, but maybe a kingdom list, will have eternal consequences, but not only for the list-maker. Everyone on the planet will be blessed in some measure. You can’t really check items off this list, but they are worthy of pursuit!

The kingdom list of Peter’s, or the one you develop, will be about a state of being, which is what the psalmist is talking about: “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” Psalm 37:4-6 NIV.

It’s not about God providing a nice home, a great job, healing from disease, or a spouse if you pray hard enough or show enough faith. This verse is about the desires of your heart for commitment, trust, justice, and righteousness. These desires are about WHOSE you are, not WHAT you do. They are echoes of God’s desires for us.

So sharpen that pencil and apply it to paper. Make your bucket list, make your kingdom list, and maybe even a list that bridges both. Make a plan to accomplish your items. Live with purpose and forward direction. Don’t think so much about kicking the bucket, as “livin’ the life” with gusto. Do it Sans plus attendre, "without further waiting."

Sing With the Lord!

As a child in Christian school, I loved to sing the canon based on Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” Most people think it a cheerful song and a cheerful sentiment.

The Message Bible translates Philippians 4:4-5 as: “Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them.”

Here, the Greek word for rejoice is not the word for exultation (agalliao). This rejoice is chairete, meaning joy, delight, gladness, gift, and grace. Our modern words, charity and charisma (gifts and gifted), stem from the root charis. The passage in Philippians is really about being gifted and giving. Give joyfully in the Lord always. Again, give! Paul says that by general prayer and specific petition, and with thanksgiving, we should present our requests to God, Who gives us everything, even transcendent, unimaginable peace. God gives us the ability, in Christ Jesus, to be true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable.

In verse 10, Paul echaren (rejoices for their gift of love and fellowship) greatly in the Lord, because his converts love him in such a tangible way. He’s learned to be as satisfied as a calf in deep pasture, whatever the circumstances or situation, because he’s resting in God’s strength to accomplish everything. He thanks the Philippians for their generosity (their donations—not charis) in supporting the gospel ministry.

With a Greek Bible and excellent reference books, it’s fascinating to trace the word charis through Philippians, where Paul uses it so often. It gives us a colorful way of seeing God’s Word anew.

Today, as you will inevitably be singing that pretty round, think about all the ways you can give joy to the Lord, in gratitude and love for all He has graced you with, and given to you. And listen carefully for the ways He antiphonally responds with the second part of the round, “Rejoice! Rejoice! And again I say rejoice!”