Post Tenebras Lux

Sorry to be slow with the updates. Since Aberdeen, we’ve been on a blitzkrieg as we’ve trained from northern Scotland through London and Paris to Geneva. I’ll return to pictures and reflections from London and Paris in a later post.

Yesterday we had opportunity to visit St. Pierre’s Cathedral which was Calvin’s home church. It was a delight to walk the surrounding streets, climb the towers, and sit in the sanctuary. After reading and translating many of Calvin’s sermons, it was gratifying to sit in the space where those words were spoken originally. We also visited La Madeleine and will see St. Gervais later today—the other two churches where Calvin regularly preached. Unfortunately, we could not gain access to the auditorium where he regularly lectured and where Knox ministered to the English speaking exiles for several years before returning to Scotland. Nonetheless, cool to see the site.

Knowing the political and theological turmoil of Calvin’s life and times, it is helpful to reflect on the outpouring of God’s grace that flowed from Geneva through the adversities, uncertainties, and troubles (there was loads of upheaveal at home and abroad for Calvin the pastor). However, light shone after the darkness. And, light shone despite the darkness.

It is healthy and helpful in our own cultural moment—economic instability, political contention, cultural change—to remember the peril the church has endured in the past and the gracious deliverances of God in and from those troubles. It is healthy because it orients us to God and his faithfulness, remembering God’s reliability and commitment to the church through the ages.