To a group of pastors in London, Tim Keller explained the inner workings of an old Coke machine in his Manhattan apartment building. After inserting the proper coinage, Keller explained, you must pound the side of the machine with your fist. After a couple of smacks the coins can be heard trickling down into the heart of the machine. A Coke falls into the bottom tray. Without beating the side of the machine, the coins don’t settle and the Coke will not fall.
Keller takes this metaphor into the pulpit. While preaching, he thinks of his audience as an assembly of Coke machines. His audience needs a little pound on the side of the head to get the truth of the gospel to sink into the heart and to produce spiritual fruit. He laughs when he says this, but the point is true.
Luther knew this centuries ago. He wrote,
“Here I must take counsel of the gospel. I must hearken to the gospel, which teacheth me, not what I ought to do, (for that is the proper office of the law), but what Jesus Christ the Son of God hath done for me: to wit, that He suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The gospel willeth me to receive this, and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consisteth. Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.” *
I am thankful to God that I am surrounded by pastors, friends, and a wife who are skilled at swinging the gospel hammer. I’m always in need of it.
So who swings the gospel hammer in your life?
———
* Martin Luther, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (Smith, English & Co. 1860), p. 206.
Photo © RedMorris
Tony Reinke 
So who swings the gospel hammer in your life?
LOL
There is a sermon title if I’ve ever heard one!
Hi Tony,
Appreciate this post! As ministers of the gospel we need to keep people thinking and living biblically!
PS thanks for your site. I’m an Anglican minister in the Sydney Diocese of Australia (although in a small country church 3 hours from Sydney – it’s a big region!). I appreciate your reviews and info on new books, as well as posts like the one above. Keeps me informed and spurred on to fight the good fight in Jesus’ name!
Brilliant post Tony, God has graciously allowed me to work with a group of Christ saturated guys from a short time after my conversion to Christ – they have been instrumental in pounding my head with the Gospel hammer.
So who swings the gospel hammer in your life?
Same as you brother Tony. Perhaps mine have different names. Pat Abendroth, Chris Peterson, Erik Raymond etc.. and my lovely bride.
Thanks for the kind comments everyone. Much appreciated. … Barry you have a toolbox of hammers pounding the cross in your life. You are a blessed man (or really hard headed). Tony
Some of us, following Fr. Andrew Greeley, call it “the cosmic baseball bat”.
Does anybody know where this quote can be found in a translation of Luthers Galations by Philip Watson. Page number would be great.
Thanks!
[…] some work of our own. This is why the gospel of justification by faith must, as Luther asserted, continually be beaten into our heads. We are prone to shelve it, assume it, and ultimately forget it, sliding into self-justification. […]