Eyez Open

This Righteousness

2011-08-24T16:08:00.003-05:00

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3:22-24).

I will look at the above verse piece-by-piece:

This righteousness

The preceding few verses tell us the righteousness that Paul is talking about. "No one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law... but now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known..." While this righteousness is not based on observing the law, it's worth noting that it is righteousness. It fulfills the law (v. 31 & Matthew 5:18), and it is not compatible with a life of sin (Romans 6:1-2).

from God

This is a righteousness that is not based on the Mosaic law, but rather a righteousness authored by God.

comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe

The origin is Christ and His work on the cross, but it is obtained in our lives through faith, and based on belief. John stated of his writing of the Gospel, "...these [miracles of Christ] are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31).

There is no difference, for all have sinned

We are all - Jews and Gentiles alike - in the same situation when it comes to our relationship with God. Just as we are all are not able to be justified through the law ("no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law..."), so we are are all able to believe, and therefore obtain righteousness through Jesus Christ. The illness of sin is universal, but God has made the cure universal as well.

and fall short of the glory of God

This may give a different perspective on the situation of universal sin: We were made to be able to tolerate God's glory. In the Garden of Eden, after God created man and woman, "God saw all that he made, and it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). It was sin that caused Adam and Eve to feel shame and hide from God and He "was walking in the garden in the cool of the day" (Genesis 3:8). Since then, the glory of God dwelt in a tent, shown in Moses' face, and came down on Solomon's temple (Exodus 40:35, 34:33, 2 Chronicles 7:1). But all of these were fraught with curtains, veils, and walls - God had to be separated from people.

But now, a new righteousness is revealed - a righteousness that allows us sinful humans to live, once again, in the presence of the glory of God!

and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus

Justified is derived from the word justify, which means "to prove or show to be just, right, or reasonable... to judge, regard, or treat as righteous and worthy of salvation." This is clearly an act of grace - "disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency." This grace is through redemption that is through Christ.

To outline:

1. Christ came,

2. Which brought redemption to us (meaning, we were redeemed, or bought),

3. This justifies us freely,

4. Which brings a new righteousness,

5. Which allows us to be in God's glory.

Inscribed

2011-07-23T09:55:00.002-05:00

When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God (Exodus 31:18).

The next section in NIV Bibles is titled The Golden Calf. This is a case-study of the human problem: We know that we ought to do such and such, but we don't. It's not particularly the Ten Commandments that were written on the tablets of stone, thought it may well have been; the point was that it was the Covenant - the binding agreement between God and man. Man said "I'll do this," and in the next paragraph is already failing to live up to it.

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3).

By contrast, Paul talks about something new - a message that is not written on stone, but rather written on our very core. This is not just a line to toe, this is a change in our core. Paul goes on to talk about this as a new covenant, and one that brings life rather than death (v. 6). Also he says that it is not fading, as the glory shining from Moses face was (Exodus 34:29), but rather persistant. It is not something that is veiled (Exodus 34:33), or like the curtain between God and man in the Tabernacle (Hebrews 9:3). No, that veil is removed (2 Corinthians 3:13&16), and that curtain is torn (Mark 15:38), and now we ourselves enter the Holy of Holies with boldness (Hebrews 10:19-20). Not only that, we also proclaim it to others, reflecting God's glory - his new covenant inscribed on our hearts!

The Parable of the Sower

2011-07-10T14:43:00.003-05:00

Matthew 13 and Luke 8 record the Parable of the Sower, about a farmer who scatters seed on the path, on rocky places, on thorny ground, and finally on good soil. The seed on the path is eaten by birds, the seed on the rocks fails to form deep roots and dies the sun, the seed among thorns is choked, and the seed on good soil bears a crop of many-fold what was planted. Jesus goes on to explain the meaning of each symbol - that the birds represent Satan stealing the word, that the rocky ground is lack of depth resulting in falling away, and the thorns are distractions and cares of life.

The symbolism is interesting and has become well known to many Christians. However, there are a couple of need things that are perhaps not so easy to notice.

Context

In Matthew, the parable is framed by passages calling for repentance and obedience (Sign of Jonah discourse, and the Mothers and Brothers teaching) preceding and teaching on the Kingdom (parable of the Weeds, Mustard Seed, and Yeast) following. You could say, then, that the who section is on obedience and what it means to be in the kingdom, which can include repentance and being part of Christ's family. The parables on the Kingdom are particularly about it being viral in nature - about the way that the Kingdom would start small and spread through society like a "good infection," as C.S. Lewis once said (yeast is essentially exactly that - a good infection of dough).

In Luke, the Parable of the Sower is preceded by a teaching on John the Baptist and forgiveness (the anointing by a sinful woman) and followed by a parable on being a witness (Lamp on a Stand) and a teaching on obedience (Mother and Brothers). The discourse on John the Baptist is partly about John's role as forerunner of Christ, but it is also about the Kingdom - pointing out that they went out into the desert to see a prophet, not an appeasing or attractive personality. It also includes the "first shall be last" truth of the Kingdom. The teaching surrounding the anointing by a sinful woman is essentially about those who enter the Kingdom - those who love much because they are forgiven much. Looked t one way, it is again talking about repentance - those who know the magnitude of their sin are those who are forgiven, and also those that truly love God.

The Seed

Luke calls the Seed "the Word of God;" however, Matthew is more specific: "the message about the Kingdom." It is immediately preceded in Matthew by Jesus answering a question about why He speaks in parables:

The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him" (Matthew 13:11-12).

He then goes on to quote from Isaiah, "You will be ever hearing but never understanding..."

The Problem

The devil is the first problem - the one who snatches the word that was sown. In Matthew, this is explained as occurring among those who hear the message but don't understand it (v. 19).

Shallowness is the next problem - people who hear and are joyful, but then don't stand up under trial. While not explicitly stated, the idea clearly seems to be that they are shallow in knowledge - they understand a little but don't have depth. They are spiritual babies, lacking maturity (1 Cor 3:1). They end up spiritually dying.

Distractions are the third problem - and look carefully at the distractions: "worries of this life and deceitfulness of wealth" (v. 22). And what is the result? Lack of fruit. These are those who do not follow Paul's directive:

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (1 Tim 6:17).

Solution

The good soil demonstrates what the solution is. Matthew describes this kind of person as "the man who hears the word and understands it... he produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown" (v. 23). Luke describes good-soil people as "those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." Being soil for God's word - the message of the Kingdom - to grow in is not a passive position. It's our role to understand, to retain, and to persevere in good work. Of course, we don't do this on our own - we have the seed of the message of the Kingdom - the Gospel!

Godless Men

2011-05-07T21:27:00.010-05:00

The book of Jude describes "godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord" (v. 4). Here are some descriptors that Jude lists, with some comments on what it means for us.

v. 5: They don't believe. Like those who were delivered from Egypt but turned against Moses, or like the angels themselves who were cast out of heaven. The warning of those who had a high status and fell is clear, but it is also compared to Sodom and Gomorrah who are the default example of pure corruption in the Bible, and the violent judgment that followed.

v. 8: Dreamers. They evidently were thick on experience and thin on true doctrine.

v. 8: Polluting their bodies. This probably refers to their sexual immorality - they were corrupted in their very selves.

v. 8: Reject authority and slandering celestial beings. A little harder to understand. Evidently the heresy insulted angels in some way. A modern equivalent is probably not applicable for most people; however, it does give one pause on the light way in which we treat and talk about angels and demons.

v. 10: Speak abusively about what they don't understand, and what they don't understand destroys them. This reminds me of C.S. Lewis' view that there are two "tracks" of evil - evil that is brilliant, almost angelic in intelligence, and then evil that is dull and almost animal-like. This passages seems to speak to the latter - these are unreasoning, instinct-driving people. They blindly follow their appetite (perhaps sexual, entertainment, etc.) and are destroyed by it.

v. 12: Blemishes at love feasts. This probably refers to the breaking of bread with brothers in Christ - ie., Communion (see 2 Peter 2:13).

v. 12: Shepherds who feed only themselves. Unlike the Good Shepherd - who laid down His life for us, His sheep - these shepherds don't care for the sheep. These are worse even than the hired hands that Jesus describes: They simply neglected the sheep, these shepherds indulge themselves.

v. 12: Clouds without rain. As the rain comes down and waters the earth and makes it bloom and produce seed, God's word doesn't return void (Isaiah 55:10). But these men are clouds without rain, and there is no fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8).

v. 12: Autumn trees, twice dead. These are trees with no harvest - like Jesus' teaching on branches that do not remain in the vine, produce no fruit, and are pruned and burned (John 15 1-2). These are men who do not have Christ as the core and source of their lives, so they produce no works based on Christ, and consequently they will face judgment (John 15:7).

v. 13: Wild waves; wandering stars. Godless men hang over an abyss of darkness. The turn up only their own shame. Their foot will slide in due time - the day of disaster is near and rushes upon them (Deuteronomy 32:35).

v. 16: Grumblers and faultfinders. They do not think the best of others and hope the best, rather they make lists of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13).

v. 16: Boasters and flatterers. Flattery is a cloke for covetousness (1 Thessalonians 2:5). And as for boasting: Let us boast in nothing but Christ, and Him crucified! (Galatians 6:14).

v. 19: Mere instinct; no Spirit. We do not follow men, nor are we merely human! (1 Corinthians 3:4).

How we know we're in Him

2011-04-24T22:03:00.007-05:00

"Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave to us" (1 John 3:24).

Repeat this prayer

I remember hearing several times some variation on this phrase: "Repeat this prayer after me: 'Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. Forgive me. I accept you into my heart.' Now you can know without a doubt that you are a child of God and will go to heaven." This formula makes sense in a lot of ways. It's very full of God's grace and forgiveness, involving no effort on our part but saying some words. It also echoes Paul's words: "Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses" (1 Tim 6:12). Paul even indicates that Jesus made "the good confession" before Pontius Pilate (v. 13). The prayer formula also seems to reflect the famous passage in Romans:

"...if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved" (Rom 10:9-10).

Just a prayer?

But step back a moment. Look at the verses preceding and following the passage in Timothy:

But you, man of God, flee from all this [love of money], and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith... In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ... (1 Tim 6:11-13).

Consider also that the passage in Romans is speaking primary about the Jews - those who were full of legalism and trying to achieve their own righteousness.

For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes (Rom 10:2-4).

Is it taking the passage out of context to take this passage and use it to say that no action or change in life is necessary on our part - only reciting a prayer?

Back to 1 John 3, the verses preceding the verse listed above:

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him. And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us (v. 21-22).

Surely not works!
It makes sense that believing in Jesus is required in order to not be condemned, have confidence before God, and receive what we ask of Him. It also makes sense that loving others is important - John says later in this book that he who does not love his visible brother, cannot love the invisible God (4:20). But where does "do what pleases Him" fit in to being right with God and receiving answers to prayers? Surely we don't work for justification! And, besides, isn't the heart deceitfully wicked? How can we believe it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

Hold, though!
Look at 3 John 11: "Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God." Or 2 John 9:" Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God..." Or 1 John 3:14-15:

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers... Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

One could say, "I know that hate isn't compatible with being with God and that I should love people. But surely my status with God isn't measured in actions I do!" But consider verse 16: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us."

This is how we know what love is
The issue perhaps is not whether we're working our way to heaven, but rather whether we are loving our brother and whether we know what love means. Can we love without actions? Well, could God have loved us without sending His Son to die for us?

So what does this mean to us? What actions can we take that will teach us what love is?

Here is the passage above continued:

And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth (v. 17).

But what about our hearts? If our hearts condemn us but we are actively loving our brothers, which is right? Are we right with God or not?

This [practicing love with actions and in truth] is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything (v. 19-20).

Active love wins
It is through active love, then, that we know that our love is sincere. Love that is stagnant may or may not be love (probably not). If, then, we have love that is overflowing to other people, combined with belief in God's Son, Jesus Christ, we can know with confidence that we are in Him, and He in us. We can know that we obey His commands and do what please Him. And, being in Him, we know we can ask and receive (see also John 15:1-4).

The God of the Stomach

2011-02-20T21:28:00.006-06:00

Following is, perhaps, one of the clearest references to worldviews in the Bible, and it speaks of two diametrically opposed worldviews:

Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame (Philippians 3:17-19).

Two Patterns

These are two patterns of living; two ways of framing life. One is the cross of Christ; the other is the god of the stomach. What does god of the stomach mean? First Corinthians lends some insight. In a passage there, Paul quotes a heresy that said, "Everything is permissible for me... Food for the stomach and the stomach for food..." (6:12-13). Paul's reply was (paraphrased): "God will destroy your stomach and its food!" His meaning, as described in the verses that follow that statement, is clear: We can't be bought by Christ, living united with Him, and at the same time be slaves slave to sin - a slave to our own appetite.

Citizens of Heaven

Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from their, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body (Philippians 3:19-21).

When Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate, He said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). Yet, when Pontius Pilate said, "You are a king, then!" Jesus replied, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me" (v. 37). Our citizenship is of the kingdom of heaven, yet we are very much in this world. We are not here to be influenced by the world, though; we are here to influence the world. We are not here to follow our appetites, we are here to proclaim truth.

This Hungry World

Watching television is like watching a parade of tasty meat, dangled before someone with a hungry stomach. See that beautiful car? You want it, don't you! See this new cleaning device? This will make your life easier and more enjoyable, and you want that, right? See this person's body? You like looking at it - we know you do. Tune it next time to keep looking at it.

What do we say to this? We will not be mastered by anything! Our citizenship is not of this world - we are waiting for all things to be made new, us and our desires included. Like Christ, we are here to proclaim truth, and that's what this world is truly hungry for.

By Grace, By Faith

2011-02-09T12:51:00.003-06:00

Galatians is one of the books of the Bible strongest on grace and salvation by faith ("I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" Galatians 2:21), while James speaks more of the importance of works in salvation ("You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone" James 2:24).

Galatians 5 continues the theme of grace and faith, speaking particularly against following rituals, such as circumcision:

Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all... You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace (v. 2-3).

But then, just a few verses later, we find:

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery... I warn you... that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (v. 19-21).

A few verses earlier, Paul compares the law vs. faith conflict to a race: "Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?" (v. 7).

What happened to grace and faith? Why did Paul point out specific sins and warn that these are not compatible with salvation? Why does he compare following grace to running a race, and call it obedience to the truth? The answer is in the transition between:

For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope... The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (v. 5-6).

Faith, then, include eagerly waiting for and hoping for righteousness. This righteousness is not a law - a list of rules, which are often made by people and promote boasting. Rather this is freedom - freedom from slavery to sin. This is living by the Spirit rather than by the flesh. Living by the Spirit brings righteousness: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (v. 22).

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit (v. 24-25).

Another Judgment, Another Noah

2011-01-30T18:21:00.005-06:00

The First Judgment

This is the state of the earth prior to the Flood:

The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain. (Gen 6:5-6).

But then look down a few verses! There's a wonderful gleam of hope! "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD" (v. 8). He was "a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God" (v. 9). And when commanded to build a giant boat, his simple action was: "Noah did everything just as God commanded him" (v. 22).

What is the result of God finding this one righteous man? Redemption of the entire world, a re-start on mankind's commission in the earth, and a covenant by God: "Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth" (ch. 9).

The Second Judgment

Romans 3 states the current state of mankind as this:

We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their mouths are open graves; their tongues practice deceit... There is no fear of God before their eyes." (v. 9-18)

Once again God's wrath and judgment are pending (v. 5 & 19), and once again mankind is not measuring up. And the new standard of righteousness appears even more demanding than the first: "... no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin" (v. 20).

But once again there is a but!

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (v. 21-22).

The Sweet Smell of Righteousness

After the flood, Noah built an altar and sacrificed clean animals on it.

The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in His heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. Never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done" (Gen 8:21).

Second Corinthians states that those redeemed by God are in His triumphal parade and that God "through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him" (v. 14). To those who are perishing, we are a foul odor - "the smell of death." But to God "we are the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing" (v. 15). This is "the fragrance of life" - the word of God - by which men are saved.

Once again there is a "sweet aroma" that saves from destruction. But this time it's not a sacrifice of an animal to God that brings that aroma; this time it's people. This time it's the redeemed, walking in victory with God.

An Unknown God

2011-01-04T10:50:00.003-06:00

In Acts 17, Paul and Barnabas are in Athens and come across an altar with the inscription, "To an Unknown God." Paul used this as a starting point to present the Gospel: "Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you" (v. 23).

Many people, I think, have to an Unknown God written in them somewhere. Some people were raised in religions where God is not knowable. Many religions hold that God is too separate from us to know personally, or that He is too abstract or nebulous. Some say that God only speaks certain languages, meaning that if you don't know "the holy language" you cannot speak to God.

Other people are not religious: God is who grandma knew, or who the pastor knows, but not someone that I can know. Or God is someone who "I should be pleasing by doing good, or bringing my kids to church, but I'm just too busy"? Maybe God is just "the tickling idea behind the amazing design that I see in the universe, that I see in my study of mathematics and chemistry."

Some people are "Christians" but are much the same as non-religious people. "I sing songs about God but I don't know what it means to have God in my life with me, influencing what I do and say." God is an abstraction, a subject of songs, a reason to get together and enjoy entertaining music - not someone who is present at work, or in choices and life. He's still, an Unknown God.

But what did Paul preach? He started at the basics: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven an earth..." (v. 24). He then established that God does not live in temples or idols - ie., in material things. Rather, He calls on us to repent, to stand in awe of the resurrection and judgment day, and know that the Judge will be Him who was resurrected.

This is not an abstraction, or something that can be pushed off to another day, or something who one can be content to let grandma know and not oneself. This is immediate, vital, and personal. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Worthy of Eternal Life

2011-01-04T10:19:00.004-06:00

In Acts 13:46, Paul and Barnabas are answering those among the Jews who were rejecting their presentation of the Gospel: "Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles."

It's a curious statement; after all, isn't it part of Christian doctrine that none of us are worthy?

We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one..." Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. (Romans 3:9-20)

So what did Paul mean when he made the accusation, "You do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life..." Perhaps he meant something like this: By not believing, you refuse to allow yourself to be made worthy of eternal life. My proposal in saying this is that we do have the ability to choose to believe in God, even if we lack the ability and will to fully obey God.

Some disagree with this, saying that to even be able to believe is a good thing and, "nothing good lives in me, in my sinful nature" (Romans 7:18). However, earlier in Acts 13, Paul says,

Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the foregiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses. Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you: "Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am about to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you. (v. 38-41)

This was essentially a prediction of what happened: Some of the Jews refused to believe what they were told and instead chose to be scoffers. But what did the Gentiles present do? "They were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed" (v. 48). Of course, it is not our belief that secures eternal life; rather, it is through Jesus that everyone who believes is justified (v. 38-39).

While the phrase all who were appointed suggests that, even in our freedom to choose or reject Christ, there is a pre-planning, or at least pre-knowing, by God. But this doesn't erase the message. The choice is ours: What will we do? Will we believe what we are told and enter the promise of eternal life, or scoff and perish?

The Parable of the Un-shrewd Rich Man

2010-12-02T08:40:00.005-06:00

The parable of the Shrewd Manager and the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus are placed almost side-by-side in Luke 16. There is a warning in their combination.

The Shrewd Manager
This parable is confusing at the outset - it's about a manager who exploits his employer's resources to secure friends for himself after his manager fires him. He ends it with a commendation of the manager:

I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much... And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own. (Luke 16:9-12).

I take this parable to mean this: Like the manager, we have resources (whatever money and things we call mine) given us by God that we manage for God here on earth. God wants us to exploit what we have in this world to gain friends for the next. The manager being fired equals our death. We should blow our resources (which are really God's) so that we'll have friends to welcome us into heaven.

The Rich Man and Lazarus
This parable is well known and apparently straight forward. Its main focus is the discussion between Abraham and the rich man, in which Abraham warns that if the rich man's relatives were not warned by Moses (ie., the Law), then the won't be warned by someone rising from the dead (ie., Christ's resurrection). However, there is a clear warning also in the poor beggar carried by angles to sit by Abraham's side while the rich man burns in fire. Abraham says to him, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony" (v. 25).

But what did the rich man do wrong? It does lot list him as being guilty of any heinous crime that would be deserving of burning in fire; it only says, "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day" (v. 19).

The Shrewd Rich Man
The parables fit together rather well. The rich man has resources at the outset, dies, and ends up in hell. What, then, do we see about how he used his resources (which, of course, were actually God's resources that he only managed) while on earth?

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died... (v. 19-22)

The rich man's crime was that he did not exploit his resources to gain friends in heaven; he exploited his resources for his own pleasure while Lazarus starved to death at his gate. Think of how the story would have been different had he used his resources differently: Lazarus would be his friend for eternity, and would have welcomed him into heaven!

The warning is clear: We have been given resources to manage for God, resources that we call our own. We can commit crimes against God not only in what we do, but in what we do not do (see the parable of the Sheep and the Goats). If we exploit the resources we manage for our own pleasure, we are doomed. If we exploit the resources we manage for others, we will have friends to welcome us into heaven.

Who is the beggar at my gate?

He's Crazy

2010-11-06T09:59:00.002-05:00

Jesus and His Crowd

Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed... For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch Him. Whenever the evil spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, "You are the Son of God..." Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that He and His disciples were not even able to eat. When His family heard about this, they went to take charge of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind." (Mark 3:7-21).

Jesus was being followed around by a bunch of sick and demon possessed people, who were literally mobbing Him to just touch Him. Understandably, His family decided that Jesus Himself must have lost His mind and they showed up to take control of Him.

This isn't the only time that Jesus is questioned, particularly about those He spent time with:

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with Him and His disciples, for there were many who followed Him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw Him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked His disciples: "Why does He eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" (Mark 2:15-16).

Here, Jesus is criticized for His friends - He socialized and (by eating with them) showed that He accepted the degenerate outcasts (tax collectors) and various other people viewed as sinners. They were, of course, sinners, as we all are sinners; but these were obvious sinners; despicable people like the prostitute that cleaned His feet with her tears (Luke 7:36-39).

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17).

Another time, Jesus was rejected by the very people who knew Him as a child in Nazareth. He had just read to them from the book of Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the ear of the Lord's favor. (Luke 4:18-19)

Then He paralleled His ministry with that of Elijah and Elisha, and pointed out how they helped non-Israelites. Immediately after He said this, "All the people in the synagogue were furious... They got up, drove Him out of the town, and took Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him off the cliff." (Luke 4:28-29) They were not angry because He said that He was fulfilling the Messianic role - in fact, they "were amazed at the gracious words that came from His lips" when He said "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." No, that didn't offend them. Instead, they were angry because He suggested that that grace was going to reach beyond them - to the despised Gentiles.

The Point

What is the common theme here? The common theme is this: Jesus reached reached out to the lowly, sick, demon-possessed, and those perceived as most sinful, and because of this He was despised by the normal people and the religious people of society. Crazy people crowded to touch Him, He didn't shun them, and so He was grouped with them - even His own family called Him crazy.

What's wild is that they didn't even know the half of how far Jesus had stepped down:

[Jesus Christ], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8)

And Us?

When His family came to reclaim Him as "out of His mind," Jesus said, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"

Then He looked at those seated in a circle around Him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." (Mark 3:33-35)

And what is God's will? Well, the passage in Philippians (quoted a few paragraphs above) starts like this:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing... (Philippians 2:5-7)

He's Crazy

The message is clear: Jesus was derided and called crazy because He associated with the low, sick, and sinful. We are to follow in His steps and have His attitude - that of stepping down from our status and taking up a lower status. In what way are we too sane? What would make people say, "He must have gone crazy"?

Crucified

2010-11-04T10:28:00.004-05:00

After Jesus was resurrected, the two Marys came to the tomb and were created by an angel. The angel said, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said" (Matthew 28:5-6).

It's interesting that the angel identifies Jesus as the One "who was crucified." Doubtles this is partly meant to contrast to His now being resurrected: "I know you're looking for the One who died, now He's risen." But the statement also points out an amazing fact: Even though Jesus is eternal and is the Life and Creator of all things, He will also always be the One Who was Crucified.

We see this title of Christ the Crucified in other places in the Bible:

Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified... (1 Corinthians 1:22-23)

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2)

...Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. (Galatians 3:1)

What is fascinating to me is that, not only will Christ forever carry the title Crucified, but so will we who follow Him!

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20).

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)

We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? (Romans 6:2-3)

In dying to sin and the world, we have something in common with Christ. We did not, of course, give ourselves to death to save someone else, as Christ did. But, in a way, we fulfilled His work by dying with Him to our sin. It is through the cross that we are able to do this, and it is also a picking up of our own cross to follow Him. And by dying with Christ, we will always be, like Him, Those who were Crucified.

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14)

Lift Up Your Face

2010-10-24T17:46:00.005-05:00

The group Third Day recently released a song called Lift Up Your Face. Here are some of the lyrics from it.

You have fallen so far now,
You don't even know how, you are going to survive.
But just above the horizon,
A new light is shining, breaking through the darkest night.
Love is calling and it's calling out your name -

Lift up your face,
Lift up your face.
Salvation is calling,
Salvation is calling your name. (Third Day, Lift Up Your Face)

It's a powerful song and very encouraging, because it's a reminder of our ultimate hope - that one day we will lift up our face and see Jesus, the Light of the World.

Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of Glory may come in.

Who is this King of Glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.

Life up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of Glory may come in. (Psalm 24:7-9)

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God... "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. (Acts 7:55-57)

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?

My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)

My righteousness draws near speedily,
my salvation is on the way,
and my arm will bring justice to the nations.
The islands will look to me
and wait in hope for my arm.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment
and its inhabitants die like flies.

But my salvation will last forever,
my righteousness will never fail. (Isaiah 51:5-6)

O LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
"God will not deliver him."

But You are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. (Psalm 3:1-3)

There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21:25-28)

Wonderful, Merciful Savior

2010-10-04T08:37:00.006-05:00

I heard this song on Sunday and was reminded of how beautiful it is, and how potent the lyrics. Here are some verses that come to mind from its lyrics:

Wonderful, merciful Savior
Precious Redeemer and friend

"I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. I myself will see Him with my own eyes - I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" (Job 19:25-27).

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I hav called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:13-15).

Who would have thought that a lamb could
Rescue the souls of men
Oh, You rescue the souls of men

"The fire and the wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lam for the burnt offering, my son." (Genesis 22:7-8).

"...John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).

"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne..." (Revelation 5:6).

Counselor, Comforter, Keeper
Spirit we long to embrace

"... when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, He shall testify of me..." (John 15:26).

You offer hope when our hearts have
Hopelessly lost the way
Oh, we hopelessly lost the way

"He Himself bore our sins in HIs body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and overseer of your souls." (1 Peter 2:23-24).

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade - kept in heaven for you..." (1 Peter 1:3-4).

You are the one that we praise
You are the one we adore
You give the healing and grace
Our hearts always hunger for
Oh, our hearts always hunger for

"...He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

Almighty, infinite Father
Faithfully loving Your own

"My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:27-28).

Here in our weakness You find us
Falling before Your throne
Oh, we're falling before Your throne

"...He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor 12:9-10).

"The twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and worship Him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 'You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being'" (Rev 4:10-11).

No Fun

2010-09-29T15:21:00.003-05:00

Maslow

Maslow's Hierachy of Needs is a common theory of psychology. It is a pyramid with five levels, the base being physiological (breathing, food, water, sleep), then safety (security, employment, family, morality), love (friendship, family, intimacy), esteem (confidence, achievement), and finally self-actualization (being all that once is capable of becoming). There is a lot of truth to this model: For example, someone who is struggling with obtaining food and water is not going to focus on large achievements. It also reflects much of our human struggle - we try to climb that pyramid to the pinnacle, to self-actualization were we are performing to the highest degree possible, where we are fulfilled.

What Peter Says

Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. (1 Peter 2:18).

This passage is hard to swallow. How could Peter recommend that anyone submit to a slave-master? Clearly he didn't approve of slavery (he calls it "unjust suffering" the masters "harsh"), so what does he mean? He explains:

For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God... if you suffer for doing good and endure it, this is commendable before God. (v. 19-20).

He then uses Christ as an example ("When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate..."). Looking back toward the beginning of the chapter gives more context:

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us. (v. 12)

Where's the Fun?

Where is happiness in this? It's not there. Where is self-actualization in this? It's not there - or at least not in the normal way. This is the teaching: Often, the best way you can glorify God is by suffering unjustly. So suffer unjustly. A hard teaching, isn't it?

Satisfaction

The motto of the Desiring God Bible study series is this: "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." This is a worthwhile statement and has grounds in many passages. For example, Jesus did not tell us "Sell your possessions and give to the needy just because you should," instead He said:

See your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys (Luke 12:33).

In a way, then, self-actualization is something that we will achieve, but not in the way the world sees it. Self-actualization in this world is in maximizing one's potential and thriving in something. The image is a successful business man, a brilliant researcher, a professional athlete - those are succeed, are independent, and who happily ride the wave of their achievements. Self-actualization in Christ's Kingdom that "something better" and the "city" that Christ has prepared for us (Hebrews 11:16 & 40). In this life we may glorify Him through wrongful suffering, but "when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be..."

What Matters

2010-09-07T09:47:00.003-05:00

Phil 1-2: Paul says over and over in these chapters something to the effect of, "No matter what happens, what matters is that Christ be glorified."

The important thing is that Christ is preached... To live is Christ and to die is gain... Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ... Even if I am being poured out, I am glad... Honor men like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ.

And how is Christ glorified in us? Part of the answer is, I think, in verses 9-11, "This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight..." And the result of this thoughtful, or intelligent, love is this: "... that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God."

It's worth noting that this is not a solo effort. First, love is outwardly directed - it requires someone to love. Second, love that is insightful and intelligent seems to indicate that it is even more outwardly directed - a love that studies how best to act. And third, this love is supported by Paul's prayers. The implication is that we need each other's prayers to be able to love like this.

In summary: through the prayers of others, God gives us the love that allows us to study how we can best love others. This, combined with preaching the gospel, is what Paul considered so important; what mattered to him more than life.

Romans 12

2010-08-23T10:48:00.004-05:00

Romans 12 discusses love and, in the process, transitions to overcoming evil with good. Following are verses 9-21 with some thoughts or connected verses in italics.

Love must be sincere

The following point seems to be connected to this. Sincerity goes further than a simple preference or academic approval.

Hate what is evil, cling to what is good

One cannot really cling to good without hating evil.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love

Honor one another above yourselves

This can be seen in the relationship of the Trinity - "...the Father is greater than I" (John 14:28).

Never be lacking zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord

"Fight the good fight of the faith" (1 Tim 6:12). This fervor is not from within us - "For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body" (2 Cor 4:11).

Be joyful in hope

This also is of God - "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Rom 15:13).

Patient in affliction

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed... We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us (2 Cor 4:7-8).

Faithful in prayer

Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21:36).

With this [God's judgment] in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith (2 Thes 1:11).

Share with God's people who are in need

"They [the Apostles] agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do" (Gal 2:9-10).

Practice hospitality

Something often neglected these days, it seems - often on the excuse of safety.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:60).

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Empathize. "Jesus wept" (John 11:35).

Live in harmony with one another

Jesus prayed, "I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one... May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (John 17:21-22).

Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited

James has strong words for showing preference to other believers based on how much money they have: "If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes... have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts" (2:3).

Do not repay evil for evil.

Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

It may help to remember that our kingdom is not of this world any more than Christ's kingdom was (John 18:36).

Do not take revenge... but leave room for God's wrath.

On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feel him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink..."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Repaying evil with evil may result in victory over the offending person, but not victory over evil. Repaying evil with good is victory of evil. Christ was the ultimate example of this and opened up the way for us to live in victory over evil in our own lives:

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed (1 Peter 2:23-24).

Stages of Evil

2010-08-10T18:33:00.003-05:00

The Stages

Romans 1 sets up the state of evil in mankind - "those who suppress the truth by their wickedness" (v. 18). A series of stages is setup. They are as follows:

1. God's eternal power and divine nature is seen clearly from what has been made, "so that men are without excuse" (v. 20).

2. Although men knew God, they didn't (a) glorify him as God, or (b) give thanks to Him (v. 21).

As a result of this:

- Their thinking became darkened, futile, and foolish, even though they thought themselves wise.

- They created images - exchanging the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal things (v. 21-22).

3. As a result of the above:

- God gave them over to sinful desires - all of the examples being sexual sins (v. 24-27).

4. Next, they did not think it worthwhile to retain knowledge of God (ie., they willfully forgot what they knew about God). As a result:

- They became filled with wickedness, evil, greed, depravity, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, disobedience to parenst.

- They became senseless, faithless, heartless, and ruthless.

- They still knew that those who do these things deserve death (ie., knew they are evil), but continued to do them and approve of those who do them (v. 28-32).

The Solution

The solution to this situation is stated before this section:

I am not ashamed of the gospel (ie., good news), because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes... For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last..." (v. 16-17).

Two points about the gospel: (a) It results in righteousness and (b) it is righteousness from God, through faith, not from us.

Two points about faith: (a) faith is sufficient ("from first to last") and (b) this faith is not groundless. At the very least, any human can anchor faith in God's invisible qualities that are clearly seen - His eternal power and divine nature.

Sent Out

2010-07-25T09:21:00.003-05:00

Matthew 10 records Jesus sending out the twelve apostles. His instructions to them are interesting and I will outline them here with some thoughts on each.

1. Those with compassion must pray.

- In Matthew 9:36, it says:

When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

Note that the prayer here is for what God already wants: The Lord of the harvest will, of course, want the harvest to be gathered. One of our parts is to ask Him to do what He already intends.

2. Those who pray may well be sent.

The very next sentence, after the command to pray, reads:

"He called his twelve disciples and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease... These twelve Jesus sent out..." (v. 1 & 5).

3. A primitive organization.

Jesus did not send out a million workers, or even a thousand. He sent out twelve disciples - twelve guys from various walks of life and various educational backgrounds - tax collectors to fishermen.

4. A specific audience.

At this point, the Gospel was still for the Jews (it would later, through Paul, be sent to the Gentiles), so Jesus tells the disciples to stick to Jewish villages. This is some indication that God will send certain people to certain people groups.

5. The kingdom is the message.

Jesus told His disciples to preach simply this: "The kingdom of heaven is near" (v. 7). It's full of hope, but also somewhat full of mystery. It implies a higher king, a separate citizenship, and a unique people.

6. God's power is crucial.

"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons" (v. 8).

7. Freely give, freely take.

When it comes to pouring out God's grace: "Freely you have received, freely give" (v. 8). At the same time, we are not to think ourselves above accepting help - in fact, help is expected:

"Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave... If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. (v. 11-14).

8. Just the disciple, nothing else.

"Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep."

Translation: Don't take a wallet - no cash, no credit, no checks, no debit. Don't take a sleeping bag; don't wear shoes and certainly don't drive a car. You're helpless, but you're worth being helped, and God will provide the help.

9. Sheep among wolves.

"Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over... flog you... arrest you" (v. 17-19). Yet, just as sheep seem incapable of worrying, despite their vulnerability, we should also not worry: "Do not worry about what to say or how to say it... it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (v. 19-20).

One does not always have to stay under threat or persecution. In fact, it is one way that the gospel is dispersed: "When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes" (v. 23).

10. Like the master.

If Christ was persecuted and insulted, we can expect the same treatment (v. 24-25).

11. No fear.

"So do not be afraid of them... Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul" (v. 26).

10.

Year of the Lord's Favor

2010-07-02T23:58:00.003-05:00

The Year of Favor Demonstrated

In Luke 4, Jesus stands up in his home synagogue and quotes from Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor (v. 18-19).

What does this "year of the Lord's favor" look like? Probably like the two chapters following it:

4:24-27: Jesus points out God's mercy to Gentiles, not just the Jews (God's favor to all mankind).

4:31-41: Jesus casts out demons and heals the sick (releasing the oppressed, freeing prisoners, and healing the blind).

4:43-44: Jesus "must preach" to many towns, not just a few (God's favor to all).

5:1-11: Jesus chooses nobodies (fishermen) to be his catchers of men (good news to the poor).

5:12-15: Jesus is willing to heal - and to touch - an "unclean" leper (healing the sick and God's favor to all).

5:16-26: Jesus heals and forgives sin (freeing and release and healing of the sick).

5:27-31: Jesus calls a "sinner" and social-outcast tax-collector to be a disciple (release for oppressed and preaching to the socially and spiritually poor).

5:33-39: Announcing a whole new way of doing things - new wine, for new wineskins (the year of favor is a new year).

6:1-11: Jesus does good and shows mercy, even when it violates human traditions of what is proper and "religious" (healing and releasing the oppressed).

6:12-16: Jesus calls a mixed-bag of fisherman, a religious radical, an outcast tax-collector, and a traitor to be his close disciples (preaching to the socially and spiritually poor).

6:17-26: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God... But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort..." (Preaching to the poor).

The World Inverted

This is the Kingdom of God. This is God's Year of Jubilee, when the Kingdom of this World is turned up-side down in an extravagant display of grace and mercy. The poor inherit the kingdom, the ceremonially unclean are touched by the Perfectly Clean, and the sinners repent while the "righteous" plot to murder the Perfectly Righteous.

Is the Kingdom of God still the inverse of the Kingdom of this World?

Rich Man, Blind Man, and Fishers of Men

2010-06-25T22:13:00.000-05:00

Mark Chapter 10 speaks of three very different people and what they wanted of Christ.

The Rich Man

The rich young man wanted to know what he had to do "to inherit eternal life" (10:17). When Jesus told him, he did not follow Jesus, "because he had great wealth" (Mark 10:22). In terms of the seed, he heard the word, "but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things came in and choked the word, making it unfruitful" (Mark 4:19). He did not follow Christ.

The Fishers of Men

Two of Jesus' disciples were already following Christ, but they wanted more. Jesus said, "What do you want me to do for you?" (10:36) and they essentially answered, "We want glory - we want to be second only to you." This was refused them. They were following Christ, and continued to follow Him, but Jesus had other plans for them - a taste of the cup He was about to drink and the baptism He was about to go through: "The Son of Man will be betrayed... They will condemn him to death... mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him" (v. 33-34).

The Blind Man

A blind beggar was sitting next to the road. He called out to Jesus as Messiah, "Son of David!" (v. 48). He did not ask for position or glory but simply, "Have mercy." Jesus said once more, "What do you want me to do for you?" His reply was only, "I want to see" (v. 51). Jesus healed him and he followed Jesus. He had no earthly cares, no stashes of money or safety nets - his one great desire had been rooted in need, in something he could not do but Christ could do for him. Christ healed him, now he saw, and now he saw Jesus. He followed him. He was the seed that fell on good soil, heard the word, accepted it, and produced a crop (4:20).

Poured Out

2010-06-19T01:17:00.002-05:00

Coins, Perfume and Blood

In Matthew 26, Judas Iscariot goes to the priests and says, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" They counted out thirty silver coins to him.

In the passage immediately before this, a woman came with an expensive jar of perfume, broke it, and poured the perfume on Jesus. One of the disciples - identified in John 12 as Judas Iscariot - said, "Why this waste? This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor." Jesus replied, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me..." He connects it with His own death: "...she did it to prepare me for burial."

Amazing contrast, isn't it - from Judas to the woman? He offered the life of His friend and master and asked "What are you willing to give me?" The woman extravagantly wasted her own possessions on someone she probably barely knew.

A few paragraphs later, it is the Last Supper. Jesus takes the cup and offers it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins..."

A Drink Offering

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, saying to them, "shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life..." Then he makes an abrupt turn from the purely joyful to say, "But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you" (2:17).

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul says something similiar. He gives his charge to Timothy - "preach the word... do the work of an evangelist..." and then adds, "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (4:6-7).

Why was Paul willing to pour himself out "like a drink offering"? Perhaps the woman's actions are fulfilled in his: She poured out perfume in unknown anticipation of Jesus' burial; Paul poured out his life for Christ to be "united with Him in His death" (Romans 6:4-5). Why did Paul do this? Perhaps, like the woman who extravagantly wasted the perfume, he wasted his life for Christ just to do something beautiful for Him.

Our Family

2010-06-09T10:00:00.002-05:00

The passage

This is one of the more confusing passages that Jesus ever said:

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn... a man against his father, a daughter against her mother... Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me..." (Matthew 10:34-37).

What it's not

First, it's worth looking at the passages before and after it. The context of the chapter is being persecuted for going out and preaching. In other words, this is about being a believing sheep in the wolf-pack of an unbelieving family (see verse 16). This is not about hating one's family to win points with God. That would be hollow sacrifice like in 9:15.

Jesus' family

Just before the "not peace but a sword" section starts, Christ says:

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven" (v. 32-33).

And the peace/sword passage does not end with "anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;" it continues:

...and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, band whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me." (v. 38-40).

Those who Jesus acknowledges, and those who receive God, are those who acknowledge Christ before men and receive those who belong to Him.

Following is another passage in Matthew that speaks directly of this:

Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. (12:48).

But I think there is something more here too. In the last chapter of Matthew (as reviewed in the post Mercy, Not Sacrifice), Jesus twice calls ceremonially unclean people "my daughter" or "my child" and touches them, making Himself ceremonially unclean.

Jesus' family are those who receive Him, no matter who they are. He does not seek out the wealthy, pious, wise, or even the socially acceptable. In fact, He seeks out the opposite: the sick (or even dead), harassed, helpless, and socially untouchable. He seeks them, touches them, heals them, and calls them family.

Our family

So who is our family? Our family - that is, the people we are really close to - may well not be our normal family, particularly in the context of widespread persecution given in Matthew.

But who is our family? The same as Christ - the sick, harassed, helpless, and socially untouchable. You know what's neat? Our family is Christ's family: "He who receives you receives me" (Matthew 10:40).

But there is a price to being family with such people. Touching and healing them is like Christ touching and healing us: it cost Christ His life. It may cost us the same:

...anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (v. 38-39)

Mercy, Not Sacrifice

2010-06-08T23:40:00.003-05:00

Mercy vs. sacrifice

The Pharisees questioned Matthew on why Jesus ate with tax collectors and "sinners." Jesus replied for Matthew:

It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. (9:12-13)

What does it look like to practice mercy instead of sacrifice? The rest of chapter 9 seems to demonstrate it for us. Jesus makes no pretense of having his disciples fast (v. 15). He is not into fronts; the disciples will fast when the disciples really need to - when they're desperate and alone - and not before.

Jesus then heals a woman with a chronic bleed, who would be considered by society at that time to be chronically unclean. Not only does He allow her to touch Him (and therefore make Him ceremonially unclean), but He also calls her "daughter" (v. 22).

Jesus then goes to the house of a synagogue ruler to heal his daughter. The girl is dead when He arrives, but He takes her by the hand (which also resulted in ceremonial uncleanness) and tells her to get up from death (v. 25). And the term He calls her by, recorded in Luke 8:53, is "my child."

Jesus then heals a blind man, casts out a demon, and goes "...through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness" (v. 35). Why was He so keen on doing this? "When he saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (v. 36).

Summary

Jesus did not make His disciples fast, even though the other religious and pious expected it. Why? Because it wasn't for real. It was "sacrifice" for show - a ritual without a soul.

What did Jesus do instead? He touched an unclean woman, healed her, and called her His daughter. He touched a dead girl, raised her back to life, and called her daughter. He healed and preached the good news, because He had compassion on them as wandering, helpless, and harassed people.

And then our part

At the end of the chapter, when Jesus is looking out over the crowds that He cares so much for, He turns to His disciples and says, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field" (v. 37-38). In the next chapter, He sends the disciples out as an answer to their own prayer.

And what did they to do? What are we to do? What else but have mercy - find the unclean and harassed, and dare to touch them, heal them and call them family?

Him Who Gives Rest and Quenches Thirst

2010-06-07T12:12:00.001-05:00

Without rest, and thirsty

In Exodus 33, shortly before Moses makes the request to see God's glory, Moses notes that God has not yet given him a helper in dealing with the people and makes a curious request: "If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so that I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people" (v. 13).

God replies, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" (v. 14).

What is this rest? From what I have heard in sermons and Bible commentary, it was a much large idea than our usual idea of rest. When we think of rest, we think of lying on the couch and doing nothing, or maybe reading a book or watching TV. This idea of rest was national well-being - living in the promised land, secure and prosperous.

In Exodus 17, the children of Israel ask Moses, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?" (v. 3). Moses reports this to God and is told to strike and water would come out. The place was called Massah and Meribah, meaning testing and quarreling. The last verse of the section says that they tested God by questioning His presence, "Is the LORD among us or not."

In Psalm 95, David looks back to the rebellion of the people against God and Moses and writes:

Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden yoru hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the desert,
where your fathers tested and tried me,
though they had seen what I did.

For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways."

So I declared on oath in anger,
"They shall never enter my rest" (v. 7-11).

The connection between rest and following God's path is clearly set out by Jeremiah: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it...' Therefore hear, O nations... I am bringing disaster on this people, and the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law" (6:16-19).

The connection between satisfying thirst and following God's ways is clearly stated in Isaiah: "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed... The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame."

Fulfillment in Christ

In first Corinthians 10, Paul says that the Israelites were baptized in the cloud and the sea, ate spiritual food and drank spiritual drink. He explains this by saying, "... for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ" (v. 4). So, then, the Israelites were not alone when they cried out in thirst, God has already prepared a rock to be struck to provide for their thirst.

The parallel to Christ is found in Christ's own words: In John 4, Jesus says to the Samaritan woman a the well, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (v. 13). In John 7, Jesus stands at a Jewish feast and shouts, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" (v. 37-38). This stream of living water is then explained as, "The Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive" (v. 39).

Rest is also offered by Christ. In Matthew 11, Christ praises God for the understanding and repentance of "little children" and they calls, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (v. 28-30).

Review

Again, why did the Israelites rebel in the desert? Because they were thirsty and they did not believe that God was among them. Was He? Yes, in the rock, which was Christ. What else went with this? They went astray; they did not follow God's ways. What was the result of their lack of faith? They were denied entry into God's rest.

And what does this mean for us now? If we say or act like God is not with us, we deny Christ, the rock broken to give us the water of life. And if we deny Christ, we will never know rest. Just as the Israelites had no faith in God to provide water in the desert, so we may have no faith to find salvation from sin. This is in word but also in action - wandering away from godly living.

What lies ahead for God's people

Hebrews 3 and 4 quote Psalms 95 in showing the importance of holding onto salvation without corruption:

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first... For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not combine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest..." (3:12-4:3).

John writes in Revelation about a vast multitude of those who came out of the great tribulation:

They are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger, never again will they thirst... For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water" (Rev 7:15-17).

There's lies before us the fulfillment of the promised land rest and the living water. Christ is willing to give us the living water that leads to eternal life, and eternal life is in heaven - in eternal, total rest. There will be no more hunger, no more thirst, no more struggle, and no more deprivation. Let us make every effort to enter that rest so that, in the seeking of it, we stand ever more firm in obedience toward God (Hebrews 4:11).

God of Thunder

2010-05-27T02:27:00.002-05:00

1 Samuel 12:17: Then Samuel called upon the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.

Job 36:29: Who can understand how He spreads out the clouds, how He thunders from his pavilion?

Revelation 19:6: Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns."

Ah, hear the thunder roll! How it crackles along the roof's edge and booms against the windows! Ah, yes, but here inside we're safe! Here inside these walls we're untouchable! Here we're gods!

Chest compressions make a wheezing sound and the valve on the ambu-bag clicks and buzzes. The safety sheath on an IV catheter snaps closed and the rapid infuser gurgles and hums.

People talk. An EMT rattles a report, a nurse calls out a dose of epi. A doctor asks for suction and the overhead speaker beeps. "X-ray, room 32. X-ray, room 32."

In here we raise the dead. In here we pump a man's blood, shock a woman's heart, breath the breath of life into a child's lungs. The children in the waiting room were orphans fifteen minutes ago, but we will resurrect their father. The husband in the chapel was a widower when the ambulance reached our doors, but we will bring his wife back from the grave. That couple grieving and holding that limp hand had lost their child, but we will put body and soul back together and make them parents once more.

The monitor does not beep when the heart stops; there is only silence. The rapid infuser is turned off, the ambu-bag disconnected, and the compressions stopped. And then there is silence. Silence forevermore in that room. Silence except a rumble that throbs against the wall and presses against the doors. Silence but for a snapping crackle of of electricity and a flash of light that bursts through the pane-glass doors.

1 John 4

2010-05-18T14:07:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite passages from the Bible is 1 Corinthians 13. Following is a sentence-by-sentence look at 1 John 4:7-21, another passage about love.

7a. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
- Source of love: Love is from God.
- Reason for loving each other: Because love comes from God.

7b. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
- Evaluating Christians: Those born of God love.

8. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
- Evaluating of non-Christians: Those who do not know God do not love.

9. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
- Showing us love: God sent his son that we might live through him.
- Showing us how to love: This may also be taken as an example of loving for us to follow.

10. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
- Our little bit of love: We love God little. He is, after all, very much worthy of our love.
- His definition of love: He loved us much. We are not, after all, worthy of His love. That's what makes it such incredible love.

11. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
- Reasonable love: We should love each other because God so much loved us.

12. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
- Visible versions of God: People cannot see God, but they can see God and His love in us when we love others.
- An amazing responsibility: While the sacrifice for sin was completed when Jesus said, "It is finished" (John 19:30), His love has yet to be completed in this world - it goes on through us.

13. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
- Evaluation of our life in God: Our life in Him is evidenced in having His Spirit. It's the second-breathing of God's life, with the first being in Eden (Gen 2:7).

14. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
- Testimony: The witness to Jesus coming to save the world is also key to knowing our position with God.

15. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
- Confession: Recognizing Jesus' relation to God is key to ours.
- Not stand-alone: I believe that this, like the testing of spirits in verse 2 of this chapter, is not stand-alone. Testing the spirits is also done through weather or not they line up with the teaching of the apostles (see verse 6). This verse, likewise, should be read with the one just prior to it. Believing in Jesus must be connected to the testimony of the apostles, including His coming to save us from sin through His death.

16a. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
- Trusting: To know someone and rely on them is to trust them. This is the living-it-out part of our relationship with God.

16b. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
- A restatement of verse 7: God loves us and those who love know God.
- An amazing position with God: The same language is used here of us as is used of Jesus in verse 15 - God in Him, and He in God.

17. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.
- A restatement of verses 12: God's love is made complete through out loving others.
- In His image: As a sort of fulfillment of Genesis 1:27, we are in His image when we love each other. There can be no better position before Him at judgment than to be like His Son.

18a. There is no fear in Love.
- A fearful void: Love eliminates the possibility of fear. See verse 16 related to trust.

18b. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.
- Ruling-out punishment: Trust in God removes the possibility of hell. Note verse 17 related to judgment.

18c. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
- Be perfect, therefore: Jesus commands in Matthew 5: 43-48 that we should be perfect. One cannot be perfect in love and fear. Interestingly, Jesus commanded perfection just after saying, "Love your enemy" (verse 44).

19. We love because he first loved us.
- Restatement of verse 11: We love because He loved us first.
- In His steps: His love is what makes us capable of loving, gives us a reason to love, and provides an example of how to love.

20. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen.
- Evaluation of our love for God: It must be accompanied by love for others. When you love someone, you by default love the people that they love. The same must be so here.
- Lies in abstractions: It is easier to love someone we cannot see, particularly if that someone is God. God is, of course, worthy of being loved, which makes it easier to love Him. Also, however, an abstraction may be loosened from reality so that we love our idea of God rather than God Himself. Loving people is too real for that.

21. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
- The new law: In John 13:34, Jesus laid down a new command - to love each other as He loved us.
- His disciples: Jesus said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (verse 35). It's interesting that the verses immediately following this are Peter claiming that he will lay down his life for Christ, which is what Christ does for Peter and Peter fails to do for Christ. Peter was eventually martyred for Christ. No doubt much of the difference was the coming of the Spirit. But perhaps part of the difference in the interim was practice at loving God by loving other people.

Being Audacious

2010-05-07T18:22:00.002-05:00

The book of Philemon has several examples of Paul being audacious toward Philemon, and toward Onesimus. We'll go backward through the book:

First, Paul says, "Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers." For this may have had some basis - perhaps they had written hoping to see him. However, he was clearly not hesitant to ask for hospitality.

Second, he says that if Onesimus owes them anything, "Charge it to me" and goes on to say that they owe him their very selves. This is bold in Paul's part - since this was in writing, Onesimus and Philemon probably could have exploited this at Paul's expense.

Third, Paul says, "If you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me." Clearly he not only depends on Onesimus living up to his view of him, but also trusts that Philemon has a good view of Paul. If the former was lacking, Paul's reputation would have suffered. If the latter was lacking, Onesimus would go back into slavery.

Fourth, he expects that Onesimus will be accepted as a brother and not as a slave, and even suggests that this was God's will in separating him from Philemon. Considering that he was writing to a slave-owner, the notion that he could, just by asking, expect Philemon to turn his slave into a freeman was quite bold. It also says a lot about Paul's view of slavery. Paul puts the whole weight of his influence behind this plea by calling Onesimus "my son." For Philemon to re-enslave Onesimus would be tantamount to enslaving Paul's own offspring.

Finally, and most astounding, Paul was sending Onesimus back to his former owner, presumably after he had run away. He clearly considered keeping him with him, "so that he could take your place in helping me," but he doesn't. He asks Onesimus to take the risk of being enslaved again. Why? Evidently for this simple reason: So that Philemon would be able to freely let him go and regard him as a brother instead of a slave.

Notes from April 2009

2010-05-04T23:56:00.004-05:00

Isaiah 58 is, I think, one of my favorite passages in the Bible. It talks of fasting in false humility and lip-praise of God while exploiting, quarreling and fighting. "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice... To set the oppressed free... To share your food?"

And then the breaking of God's dawn: "if you do away with oppression, with malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry, then your light will rise in the darkness..." Wow! What an massive thing it is to save people from injustice and hunger!

Isaiah 59: "we walk in deep shadow... Our offenses are many in your sight... We acknowledge our iniquities... The Redeemer will come to those who repent of their sins." Luke 7, about the sinful woman: "Her many sins are forgiven - for she loved much." This is, "Grace that will pardon and cleanse within."

Isaiah 61-63 has many parallels to Revelation. It starts with "the Lord has anointed me to preach good news..." which Jesus quoted. But it ends with "...and the day of vengeance of our God." God wears robes crimson with blood of vengeance (Is63, Rev19), and that vengeance equals redemption. The plea for Jerusalem (Isa62) is answered in the New Jerusalem (Rev21). New robes of righteousness (Isa61, Rev7) and new names (Isa 62, Rev2) are also bestowed.

Jeremiah 6-7: God tells Israel that no token (like the temple) can turn evil into good. "I did not just give them commands about sacrifices... Obey me, and I will be your God..." "Ask for the ancient way... Where good is, and walk in it." We have lost much good in the past; shall we turn back the clock?

Jeremiah 9-10: "let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me... Who exercises kindness AND justice and righteousness." God cannot be isolated to only kindness - He is not a tame lion. We can best respond: "It is not for man to direct his steps, correct me, LORD..."

Jeremiah 11-13; sobering words of judgment: "the Lord Almighty who planted you has decreed disaster for you". Leaders are not a refuge: "many shepherds will ruin my vineyard." Turning to God is all that matters: "Give glory to the Lord before He brings the darkness... How long will you be unclean?"

And then the hope of the New Covenant! "We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin!"

Jeremiah 17 says, "the heart is deceitful and desperately sick." God declares "I search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man ACCORDING TO HIS WAYS." Jeremiah puts some weight in "the utterance of lips," but realizes "those who turn away on earth... Forsake the fountain of living water."

Jeremiah 18- God specifically spells out the weight He puts in human decision, "if that nation I warned repents... I will relent... If a nation (that I said I would build up) does evil... I will reconsider." Later, Israel is punished "because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words."

Luke 9: "take nothing for the journey... If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross... No one who puts his hand to the plow ad looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God," and yet, "you give them something to eat." Thank God that His power follows where He sends us!

Luke 10: The Good Samaritan is always taught as "those who are your neighbor may be people that society doesn't like." But really the message was about "who do I love?" and the answer: "love whoever needs your love." The Samaritan is the one who loved the needy Jew, and he did so simply because it was needed.

Psalm 23

2010-04-26T23:03:00.004-05:00

Psalm 23 is very familiar. Here I will review it again to see what I may have missed.

Before:
Psalm 22 precedes it. This Psalm is familiar for its parallels to the crucifixion of Christ - "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me... I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint... They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." At verse 22, however, it takes an about-face and begins praising God: "I will declare your name to my brothers... You who fear the LORD, praise him!... all who go down to the dust will kneel before him - those who cannot keep themselves alive." It ends in triumph: "Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn - for he has done it." It is like the last words of Jesus on the cross; after all His suffering He bowed His head and said, "It is finished." After all the seeming defeat - victory!

After:
Psalm 24 begins, "The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it..." It has the question-answer, "Who may ascend the hill of the LORD... He who has clean hands a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false." It ends with praise to God, picturing Him as a king entering his kingdom: "Life up your heads, O you gates... that the King of glory may come in."

Psalm 23:
It seems that Psalm 23 has three statements of goodness, spaced by one set of "he" and one set of "you" statements. This will be more clear if I diagram it:

1) The LORD is my shepherd...
a. He makes
b. He restores
c. He guides
2) Even though I walk through the valley...
a. Your rod and staff comfort
b. You prepare
c. You anoint
3) Surely goodness and love...

It is clear at the outset that this is a very personal poem. It is as though it takes the defeat-victory from the previous passage and redemption of the righteous of the following passage and applies them personally. He is not just the God who saves people, and He is not just a king; He is "my shepherd." And, it is not even third person (He) it is first-person (You).

I will now expand the outline:

1) The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

The image of God as a shepherd has been talked of and pictured often. Many things come to mind, including how stupid sheep are, how caring shepherds are, and how shepherds take risks to care for their animals.

One thing that comes to my mind too is the long-term nature of it. As I understand, the shepherd disappears into the wilderness for days or weeks at a time, doing nothing but seeking green pasture for his flock. He comes back unshaven, with an injury or two, and darkly suntanned. Then he turns around and heads back into the wilderness all alone; just the shepherd and the sheep.

a. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters.

If God is going to make us do something, I sure am glad this is it! He provides, he feeds, he quenches thirst, he refreshes, and he gives us rest.

b. He restores my soul.

He heals what is broken deep inside of us. He redeems our supernatural spirit so that we can live and not die.

c. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

The specifications of the following Psalm (clean hands, pure heart, no idolatry, no false swearing) are not rules for us to keep alone, God leads us in them. And it is not for us or our glory, it is for Him and His glory.

2) Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

An amazing picture! No matter how horrible and despairing my situation, "I will fear no evil." No matter how hopeless, there is nothing hopeless. No matter how bad, evil does not crush us.

a. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Symbols of a shepherd, but also, I think, instruments of coercion and discipline. "He disciplines us for our good..." (Heb 12:10).

b. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

Sustenance and the familiarity of home, in the presence of the enemy. It is a victory that mocks the enemy's powerlessness. Imagine a war in which one side sets up dinner and eats a meal right there on the field! This is true "no fear".

c. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Anointing has strong connotations of being set aside as special or holy; honored guests, prophets, kings and priests were anointed. "My cup overflows" following the anointing, as though the bestowed honor is so superfluous that it spills over. There is more than enough for us. And, perhaps the implication is, there is enough for us to share with others.

3) Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Goodness and loves that does not end. It implies heaven, does it not? And there is no more talk of wandering now - of fields, or valleys, or the presence of the enemy. Now there is "the house of the LORD" where we dwell "forever." Home at last, for ever and always.

Holy Spirit

2010-04-13T14:06:00.004-05:00

Following are some verses on the Holy Spirit. I have included those that contribute significantly to understanding the Holy Spirit (ie., I did not include most of the "speaking by the Holy Spirit..."), and removed some redundancy. This is only a partial list as it does not include the undoubtedly more frequent mentions of "Spirit" or "Spirit of God."

After each passage, I have added notes on what it teaches about the Holy Spirit, or what the Holy Spirit is shown doing.

Psalm 51:11
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
- Can be grieved.

Isaiah 63:10
Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.
- Can be grieved.

Matthew 3:11
"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
- Through Christ.
- Associated with baptism.
- Associated with fire.

Matthew 12:32
Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
- Can be grieved.

Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
- One of the Trinity
- Associated with baptism

Mark 13:11
Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
- Guidance.

Luke 1:35
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
- Major power in history.

Luke 2:26
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
- Prophecy.

Luke 3:21-23
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
- One of the Trinity.
- Associated with baptism.

Luke 11:13
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
- Promised.

John 14:26
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
- Promised.
- Guidance.
- Source of scripture.

John 16:8-14
When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. 12"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
- Conviction.
- Guidance.
- Prophecy.
- Brings glory to God.

John 20:21-23
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
- Promised.
- Associated with sending.
- Power.

Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
- Power.
- Boldness to witness.

Acts 21:1-4
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
- Associated with fire.
- Tongues.

Acts 2:37-39 37
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 38Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."
- Associated with baptism.
- Promised.

Acts 4:31
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
- Boldness to witness.

Acts 5:3-5
Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." 5When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
- Can be grieved.
- Fear.
- One of the Trinity.

Acts 5:32
We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
- Obedience required.

Acts 7:51-52
"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One.
- Do not resist.

Acts 8:15-16
When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
- Associated with baptism.

Acts 10:44-47
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.Then Peter said, 47"Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."
- Associated with baptism.
- Tongues.
- Brings glory to God.

Acts 13:2-32
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
- Guidance.
- Associated with sending.

Acts 13:52
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
- Joy.

Acts 16:6
Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
- Guidance.

Acts 19:6
When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
- Tongues.
- Prophecy.

Romans 5:5
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
- Hope.
- Love.

Romans 14:16-18
Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
- Joy.
- Obedience required.

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Hope.
- Joy.
- Peace.

Romans 15:15-17
I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
- Sanctification.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 18
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
- Obedience required.
- Bodies are temple.

Ephesians 1:13-14
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.
- Promised.
- Guarantee of what is to come.

Ephesians 4:29-31
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
- Can be grieved.
- Obedience required.

1 Thessalonians 1:6
You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
- Joy.

2 Timothy 1:13-14
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
- Guidance.

Titus 3:4-7
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
- Sanctification.
- Through Christ.
- Guarantee of things to come.

Hebrews 2:3-4
This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
- Testifies to truth.

2 Peter 1:21
For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
- Prophecy.
- Source of scripture.

Jude 1:17-20
But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." 19These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.
- Source of supernatural in us.
- Source of prayer.

Majesty

2010-04-07T21:56:00.002-05:00

What are we when we come to nothing? What are we when I no longer have everything that a world is built on - knowledge, money, wit, friends, power? What happens when the whole world, universe and time are stretched out before us, and we reach out to subdue it, only to find our arms too short, our resources depleted, our wills too weak, and our minds too dull?

Here I am humbled by your Majesty
Covered by your grace so free
Here I am, knowing I'm a sinful man
Covered by the blood of the Lamb (Delirious, Majesty, 2003).

It isn't about us; it's about Him. As long as we are reaching out to claim the world for ourselves, we will be too mortal; as long as it is our glory that we seek, we will eventually fail. But if we can see that it is He who is to be glorified, then it is all for His majesty. And His majesty will not fail.

Where does that leave us? What place is there for us - us weak, broken rebels?

Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine
Since you laid down your life
The greatest sacrifice

Majesty, Majesty
Your grace has found me just as I am
Empty handed, but alive in your hands (Delirious, Majesty, 2003).

Wife of Noble Character

2010-04-03T23:58:00.000-05:00

Following is a theme-analysis spreadsheet of Proverbs 31. It doesn't provide information not otherwise available, but it's an interesting summary.


Verse		Rare	Worthy	Profitable	Work-organizational	Work-hands	Other
10	Rare	1
11	Worthy of confidence, profitable to family		1	1
12	Profitable to family, loyal			1			1
13	Industrious with hands					1
14	Entrepreneurial (industrious through organization)				1
15	Industrious with hands, profitable to family			1		1
16	Entrepreneurial				1
17	Industrious with hands, strong					1
18	Entrepreneurial				1
19	Industrious with hands					1
20	Gives to poor						1
21	Profitable to family			1
22	Queen-like		1
23	Upholds family honor						1
24	Industrious with hands					1
25	Queen-like		1
26	Teaches wisdom						1
27	Industrious with hands, profitable to family			1		1
28	Praised by family		1


29	Rare	1
30	Fears the LORD						1
31	Worthy of reward, praised by all	1	1				1

	Total	3	5	5	3	6	6

Winter's Night

2010-03-15T19:56:00.003-05:00

I see the heaven and the earth. The earth is cool, tonight, cool and solid and deep. The heaven arches overhead in shades and bands of deep blue and orange. The wind of God breaths softly through the trees.

I see light, the glow the setting sun; the day's last kiss of warmth. It is beautiful; it is perfect.

A cloud slowly reaches across the sky, its golden edge turning pale gray against the darkening sky. The ground is moist, rich and black in the twilight. The first blades of spring grass glint their sheen and seem to sigh, settling in to wait for morning.

It is good; it is all very good.

I see the a glow in the eastern horizon; the steel-blue glow of the rising moon. Venus emerges through her cloudy curtains. She peaks down on the earth, then shyly slips behind the horizon.

A bird calls out the last few notes of song from among the black depths of the trees. A squirrel hurries to his nest, chattering all the while. I, like them, am finished with my day and, like the world, it is now my time to rest. I turn to walk back inside, out of the chill night air and into the comfort of home. But I stop and turn back once more, out on the silent majesty of this winter's night.

It is good; it is all very good.

Genesis 1:1-26

Philippians 2:1-11

2010-03-07T11:37:00.005-06:00

Philippians 2:1-11 analysis:

Verse 1-2 is an if-then statement:

If:

You have encouragement form being united with Christ
You have comfort from his love
You have fellowship with the spirit
You have any tenderness and compassion

Then:

Be like-minded
Have the same love
Be one in spirit and purpose

Verses 3-4 expand on what it means to be like united and to love each other:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit
Be humble; consider others better than yourself
Look out for not just your own interests, but also the interests of others

This sounds rather detached, idealistic, and impossibly exacting. To drive home that he is serious about this, and to give us something to hold on to, Paul appeals to the ultimate example: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." This section is setup in a series that mirrors human history - Creation, Fall, Restoration. However, the difference here is that there is no Fall, but rather a purposeful stepping-down; a willful condescension (taken in its old meaning - "to descend to the level of one considered inferior").

Origin:

In very nature God

Willful descent:

Did not consider equality with God something to be grasped
Made himself nothing
Took the nature of a servant
Was found in human likeness
Was in appearance as a man
Humbled himself
Become obedient to death, even death on a cross!

Restoration:

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
Gave him the name that is above every name
(So that every knee should bow and every tongue confess him Lord)
All this, to the glory of God the Father

Other Passages on the Same Theme:

This idea of willfully stepping down - condescending - in order to help others is by no means exclusive to this passage. Paul speaks elsewhere of all his high and perfect upbringing, his rights as an apostle, his rights as a minister of the gospel and then rejects of all this in order to "become all things to all men... I do this all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings" (1 Cor 9). "Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ... for whose sake I have lost all things" (Phil. 3:7-8).

There is the command in Romans: "Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited" (12:16).

Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it" (Matt 16:24-25).

And Jesus also gave the illustration of banquet seating: "Take the lowest place... For everyone who humbles himself with be exalted" (Luke 14:10-11). And he gave the illustration of inviting people to banquets: "Do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors... invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed" (v. 12-14).

Implication:

It's easy to get wrapped up in the Philippians 2 beautiful poem-like passage and think, "Wow, well, that's something," categorize it with the mysteries of Revelation, and flip the page. But go back to the beginning: "Your attitude should be the same as..." This is what we're supposed to be like.

And so the real-life question is there: What is my origin and in what way am I to willfully step down out of it in order to "look not only to my own interests"? What is my status, and how am I to give it up?

The Sabbath

2010-03-07T10:49:00.002-06:00

In John 5, Jesus heals a crippled man. When he was confronted by the religious leaders about healing on the Sabbath, he answered, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working" (v. 17).

But in Genesis 2:3, it says, "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all his work of creating that he had done."

So why is it that Jesus said that God is still working? Here are a couple of other passages that provide clues:

Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"
He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." (Matt 12:10-12).

Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."
The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" (Luke 13:14-16).

This is what I think these verses indicate: God rested from creation on the seventh day, and He set it down in law for the Israelites to rest also - particularly that they should rest from work. In other words, they should rest from creating. But when God sees one of His creation corrupted with crippling disease, or a withered hand, or an evil spirit, does He say, "I'm sorry, I'm resting today." No, it means war. If the Jewish leaders saw fit to pull a sheep out of a pit (ie. restore something that belonged to them that had fallen into danger), how much more should God see fit to restore one of His children that has fallen captive or been wounded? God does not rest while evil is at work.

Isaiah 29

2010-01-26T02:48:00.004-06:00

Isaiah 29 begins with a pronouncement of woe against David's city. Their wrongdoing was hypocrisy:

These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.

Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish" (v. 13-14).

God goes on to accuse them of evil actions, "Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their works in darkness..." and subversion, "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'He did not make me'?" (v. 15-16). He calls them ruthless, mockers, those who "have an eye for evil," and false witnesses (cf. v. 20-21). In the next chapter, he accuses them relying on the military strength of Egypt and quotes them as saying to the prophets, "Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!" (30:10-11).

Here is God's reply:

In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

Once more the humble will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel...

When they see among them their children,
the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel (29:18-19).

Hundreds of years later, Paul looks at the revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and quotes Isaiah 29:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate..." But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong" (v. 18-19, 27).

My brother and I once watched a TV program about the "historical Jesus" in which Jesus was portrayed as nothing more than a first century motivational speaker - the healings were just placebo and the casting out of demons was psychological. The program narrator kept talking about Jesus consolidating his power base and carefully building up his own popularity. My brother and I laughed out right at this notion. What was the power base of this "historical Jesus"? A handful of deluded fisherman, a hated tax collector, a former prostitute, a radical zealot or two, and a crowd of unhealed lame, diseased, and psychotic people? These were nobodies! These were the unintelligent, uninfluential, and uneffluent. Any assets that a few of them might have once possessed were trashed completely when they "left everything and followed Jesus" (Luke 5:11&28).

What did they have that made them so powerful and so indefatigable? Jesus, of course. It was surely not only about literal children that Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these" (Luke 18:16). And Jesus was certainly speaking of His disciples when He said, "I praise you, Father... because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure" (Luke 10:21).

But what does this mean to us? Perhaps one clue is to look back at what attributes were being criticized in Isaiah 29: hypocrisy, claiming autonomy from God, mocking, being ruthless, depriving people of justice, and relying on personal or national strength rather than God. And then two more, more subtle and more disturbing, attributes in Isaiah 30: asking to be spiritually deluded ("tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions") and not facing up to God's holiness ("Do not confront us with the Holy One of Israel").

The Man with a Hoe

2010-01-20T07:50:00.002-06:00

A poem inspired by this painting says:

"Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans
Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
The emptiness of ages in his face,
And on his back, the burden of the world.
Who made him dead to rapture and despair,
A thing that grieves not and that never hopes,
Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox?...

Is this the Thing the Lord God made and gave
To have dominion over sea and land;
To trace the stars and search the heavens for power;
To feel the passion of Eternity?

O masters, lords and rulers in all lands,
How will the future reckon with this man?...
How will it be with kingdoms and with kings -
With those who shaped him to the thing he is -
When this dumb Terror shall rise to judge the world,
After the silence of the centuries?" (Edwin Markham, The Man with a Hoe)

Isaiah 10 parallels the theme of this poem:

"Woe to those who make unjust laws,
To those who issue oppressive decrees,
To deprive the poor of their rights
And withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
Making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.

What will you do on the day of reckoning,
When disaster comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your riches?" (Isaiah 10:1-3)

The next chapter shows the hope that is present, that can save, "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit" (v.1). This prophecy about Christ sees, in Him, "righteousness... faithfulness..." and images of the Prince of Peace - "They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain..." (v. 5 & 9). What is the core of this peace and righteousness brought to mankind? "...The earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea" (v. 9). We now have "...the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).

Callings and Stories

2010-01-18T08:18:00.002-06:00

Luke 5 and 6 record the calling of the disciples, divided among three sections labeled - in my study Bible - "The calling of the first disciples," "The calling of Levi," and "The twelve apostles." Sprinkled amongst and following these are stories that appear, at first glance, to be unrelated - "The man with leprosy," "Jesus heals a paralytic," "Jesus questioned about fasting," "Lord of the Sabbath," and, finally, "Blessings and woes." Note that, while these are real events, they are presented as stories - much like you or I would tell a story - in neatly packaged form, and evidently timed specifically (such as in groups with related themes). It is not only the main point that may, then, be gathered, but the over-all group point, or the point evidenced by the way the are grouped.

The Calling of Peter

I realized today that if you look at these stories as expansions on the calling preceeding them, an interesting pattern emerges. For example, the calling of Peter: Jesus gets into Peter's boat and preaches from it, then tells Peter to put out into deep water and let the fishing net down. Peter complies and comes up with a huge catch of fish (after being unsuccessful all night). He then falls at Jesus' knees and pleads, "Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man" (5:8). This demonstration of Jesus' power evidently was so forceful to Peter that it resulted in the realization of his own relation toward God; most critically, his own impurity and sinfulness in relation to God. But Jesus, far from saying (as He would be justified in saying), "You're right, we must be separated - you are a thousand miles from matching my holiness," instead answers, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men" (v. 10). Rather than removing Himself from Peter, He says that He will work through Peter to call more men!

The first story that follows this is "The man with leprosy." In this story, a man with a bad skin disease falls on the ground before Jesus (like Peter) and admits that he is unclean (like Peter). He says, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean" (v. 12). Jesus replies, "I am willing. Be clean!" The man was immediately healed and Jesus tells him to go to the priest so that his cleansing could be a testimony to them.

The second story is "Jesus heals the paralytic." In this story, Jesus is healing lots of people in a house. Some men try to carry a paralytic to Him for healing, but they can't get through the crowd, so they did a hole in the roof and lower the paralytic through. The first thing Jesus says is, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." This stuns and offends the teachers and Pharisees because only God can forgive sins. But to prove that He has the power to forgive sins, Jesus then heals the man also. If, then, Jesus can forgive and make whole the paralytic, He can do the same thing for Peter, right? And if He can forgive and heal Peter, He can do the same for those whom Peter will "catch"! It's a wonderful ripple-effect - hope and healing pouring into the world through Christ and then person-to-person as "fishers of men".

The Calling of Levi

The next calling is the calling of Levi. In this calling, Jesus says to Levi, "Follow me," and Levi does. Later, Levi holds a banquet for Jesus and other friends. The Pharisees and teachers of the law are again offended, this time because Jesus is hanging out with the scoundrel tax collectors. Jesus replies, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (v. 31-32).

Two stories/discussions follow, one about Jesus' disciples feasting and one about them picking grain on the Sabbath and Jesus healing on the Sabbath. Jesus' reply is, in paraphrase (1) "this is something new, old ways of doing things won't apply" and (2) "it is better to do good than follow rules." Rather than following rules and customs about isolating Himself from sinners, Christ came to break the sin and heal the sinners. Old rules were irrelevant; something new had come.

The Calling of the Twelve Apostles

The final calling is the formal setting-aside of the twelve apostles. Jesus prays and then calls them and designates them. After this is the famous Beatitudes section, "Blessed are you who are poor; for yours is the kingdom of God.... Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man" (v. 20 & 22). One can hardly help but think of Jesus' reply to one man who wanted to follow Him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Matthew 8:20). Or Jesus sending out His disciples, "Take nothing for the journey - no staff, no bag, no bread... If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet..." (Luke 9:3-5). Or Jesus' prediction to His disciples, "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me" (Matthew 24:9).

His disciples were to be the first of the fishers of men, the first of God's new way of acting in the human race, and the first to receive both His special blessings and the special woes that they accompanied. This is carefully set out in Luke through the calling of the first "witnesses," or apostles, and reinforced through examples from Jesus' other teachings and healings. This is, after all, crucial - the introduction of the Kingdom of God's new modus operandi.

Why do we...? Part 2

2010-01-12T09:12:00.005-06:00

Have you noticed what a good guy the Rich Young Man of Matthew 19 and Mark 10 was? He did not murder, did not commit adultery, did not steal or defraud, and did not give false testimony. More incredibly, he claims to have honored his father and mother and loved his neighbor as himself, all of this since he was a youth, and Jesus evidently agrees!

What would the modern evangelical church say that he was missing? Relationship, of course; they would say he's missing a relationship with Christ. That would be a correct answer - in both accounts, Jesus says, "Come follow me."

But, notice that there is a prerequisite: "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." My NIV Zondervan Study Bible notes that, in Jesus list of laws, He omits coveting. The young man may have had a problem with coveting. Yet he loved others as himself, right? And he honored his parents and didn't do any major sins - he was probably a better guy that most of us! What was this coveting like, then, or this will to gain wealth, and what was its aim?

"The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Tim 6:10).

We may read this with a view toward some Scrooge-like character who stacks coins all day long - a miser. But it is worth noting that very few people love money purely for its own sake. Rather, we love money for the comfort, entertainments, and security that it buys us. (Actually, even Scrooge began loving money for the buffer that it provided against being poor.) So, then, it may do us well to look at the Rich Young Man as motivated the same way: He probably just wanted to have some good food and some tasty drinks. But it takes little riches to obtain those, and he was quite rich. Most likely he wanted a good thick buffer between himself and being needy, don't you think? He had a sizable savings account and a solid 401K. He was safe, and his comfortable and independent retirement was sure.

"Go, sell everything you have..." (Mark 10:23).

Why do we...?

2010-01-11T03:07:00.003-06:00

Christ says, in Matthew 6:19, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." Why do we still store up treasure on earth?

Matthew 6:25, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear." Why do we still create a huge buffer between ourselves and being poor?

Mark 8:35, "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." Why do we so vigorously protect our health, career, and worldly way of life?

Matthew 19:29, "Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." Why do we cling to the things of this world instead of seeking treasure in the next?

Speech and Ambition

2010-01-10T01:56:00.002-06:00

Speech

James does not mince words; it is his book that contains the statements "Even demons believe that..." and "You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter"! His discourse on speech - or, "the tongue" - is the same.

He states that the tongue is a small thing that can change one's whole life. In making this point, he compares the tongue to the rudder on a ship and the bit in the mouth of a horse but the analogy he makes the most use of is a spark that begins a fire.

"The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell" (James 3:6).

One might say, "But surely the tongue has many good uses too - we use it to instruct, to say 'I love you,' and even to sing at church." James accounts for this too:

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.... My brothers, this cannot be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?" (v. 9-11).

Note that it is far easier to corrupt fresh water with salty than it is to clear salty water with pure. One does not clean one's mouth by sprinkling a few Christian words and songs in with corrupt and demeaning talk.

Controlling one's tongue is often a matter of controlling one's motives; the tongue is, after all, a tool by which we act on our thoughts and plans.

"They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression.

Their mouth lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth" (Psalm 73:8-9).

"You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit" (Psalm 50:19).

Learning when to be silent is part of controlling one's tongue:

"Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies" (Psalm 34:13).

"I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence" (Psalm 37:30).

"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise" (Proverbs 10:19).

Instead, we are to follow this lead:

"My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long..." (Psalm 71:24).

"Truthful lips endure forever..." (Proverbs 12:19).

"The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life..." (Proverbs 15:4).

Ambition

The discourse on ambition that follows is linked in at least one way: selfish ambition and envy often are boastful, and the tongue "makes great boasts" (v. 5).

In this section, two "kinds of wisdom" are contrasted, but really it is two ways of acting, or two paths. The first is the path of "wisdom and understanding". The second is the path of "envy and selfish ambition" (v. 13-14). In our modern word, these two paths are usually not viewed as divergent; in fact, they are often viewed as parallel: Wisdom (that is, keen smarts) and understanding (as in, education) are assets that may be exploited in the interest of selfish ambition and satiating one's envy of other people. However, the Bible depicts godly wisdom - the wisdom that starts with the fear of God (Proverbs 1:7) - and an understanding of God and other people as leading us toward the opposite extreme - selflessness and charity. The path of godly wisdom and understanding will cause us to lead a "good life" through "deeds done in humility" (v. 13).

"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere" (v. 17).

Here we see a summary of several topics covered in the book of James - mercy (cf. 2:12-13, & 16), good deeds (cf. 1:22, 2:18 & 26), submission (cf. 4:7). and impartiality (cf. 2:8-9). His book is a framing of wisdom and understanding, and an exhortation to forsake the opposite - envy and selfish ambition.

Dying to live

2009-12-07T18:30:00.007-06:00

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.... Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. Matthew 16:21-25

We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. Romans 6:2-5

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.... Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:16-18 & 24

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:1-5

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 1 Peter 2:25

With each urge to die to ourselves and die to sin, there is a corresponding promise of life: If we lose our life for Christ, we will find it; if we are baptized into death, we will be united with Christ in resurrection; we will inherit the kingdom of God; we will appear with Him in glory; we will be healed and led by the Great Shepherd. We die to death and emptiness and gain everything. In exchange for peace, we lose only our pride.

And we are not alone in following this path. Christ did not sin, yet He died to sin - our sin. He has already taken the cross - and our infirmities and sorrows - and led, we need only take our crosses and follow.

Preparing the way

2009-12-06T22:45:00.004-06:00

Catholic Mass this morning had two readings, one from Luke and one from Philippians.

Luke 3:2-6: the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
"A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
And all mankind will see God's salvation.' "

The meaning of that passage is, of course, straight-forward: John was warning the people that Jesus was coming. As the priest pointed out in his homily, it was partly a matter of communication - clearing out the junk that makes it so that we cannot hear God. The warning is no less strong; in the next statement John says, "You brood of vipers! ...Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."

It is easy to look at this in retrospect only and connect it only with Jesus' later condemnation of the Pharisees. But then, after Christ already left the world, Paul makes a related statement in Philippians.

Phili 1:3-10: I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

He is again calling for preparation for Christ's coming and he is again calling for good works, but this time it is looking forward to Christ's Second Coming. The implication? This is a continuing call. Paul is saying to us as much as to the Philippians, "may God complete His good works through you, cause you to love more and more, and discern what is best to do. And may you be pure and blameless on the day of Christ's return."

So what should we do now? I think it is this: We should intentionally and frequently revamp our lives. Here is what I mean:

John calls for repentance and repaving of lives in preparation for Christ and Paul calls for knowledge, depth of insight, and discernment in knowing what is best to do in preparation for Christ. And it should be remembered that they are not addressing only sinners. John called out to everyone - the religious and non-religious alike - and Paul was actually addressing primarily Christians. So the question is this: Setting aside the basics of salvation, what am I doing now that I should change? What am I doing okay that I should be doing perfectly? What am I doing the usual way that I should be doing God's way? What works of the world need to be tossed out and replaced by the works of the kingdom?

And tomorrow it is still the same question: Ok, now what needs to be changed? Now what twisty, worldly-mindset roads need to be plowed under, leveled, and repaved?

This could shake everything. This should shake everything.

Ilond Troth

2009-11-29T09:57:00.005-06:00

This passage stood out to me from Francis Shaffer's book How Shall We Then Live? He is speaking here of the corruption that necessarily comes with pragmatic ideologies, such as communism.

"Communists have also used external oppression: Think of Hungary and Czechoslavakia. I'll never forget the day - November 4, 1956 - when Hungary was taken over. Listening in Switzerland to my shortwave radio, I heard the students repeatedly pleading in the English language for help, hoping the outside world would listen. I have a newspaper picture of one of the girls arrested in Hungary. It is a portrait of a lovely Hungarian girl on trial. Her name is Ilond Troth. She was hanged in July 1957."

In Genesis 4, the story of the first murder is related - the murder of Abel by his brother Cain.

"Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Where is your brother Abel?'

"'I don't know,' he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?'

The LORD said, 'What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.'"

In Job 16, Job is crying out against his sufferings, even accusing God of being unjust is allowing so much hardship to an innocent man. He does, however, believe in one final appeal to God's justice:

"O earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry never be laid to rest!"

There is an ultimate appeal; there is an ultimate justice. Those, such as Ilond Troth, who have been murdered will one day be vindicated. Their blood calls out to God, and He hears.

Implications of Eternity

2009-11-23T08:04:00.002-06:00

I heard a allegory on the radio yesterday, it goes something like this:

Imagine if a kid was given a balloon and told, "This is the last balloon you will ever have." That kid would hardly have any fun with the balloon, right? He'd be so busy protecting the balloon and keeping it from exploding that he wouldn't want to run around the house with it.

Imagine, on the other hand, that he was told, "This is certain not the last balloon you'll have. In a few years, or months, or days, you'll be given another one - and that one will never pop." He'd have more fun with the present balloon, right? In fact, the present balloon would be treated as almost insignificant; what does it matter compared to the one that will be given later?

And so it is with this life compared to eternity. What happens here is inconsequential except as it relates to then. Why worry about tomorrow, when the Kingdom will outlast a million tomorrows (Matthew 6:25-34)? Why worry about health when there is a resurrection pending (2 Corinthians 5:1-10)?

Competition

2009-11-13T10:37:00.002-06:00

I am reviewing a book titled The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism written at the beginning of the 1900s by Max Weber. I have not gotten far yet; however, I have already come across some interesting statements. Weber makes the case that the Protestant (Puritan, in particular) notion of God being involved in and interested in our daily lives led to the development of the Protestant work ethic and religious valuation of certain principles that paved the way for the rise of capitalism.

Although believers could never know with certainty their salvation status, they could logically conclude, in the light of God's desire for an earthly kingdom of abundance to serve His glory, that the actual production of great wealth by an individual for a community was a sign that God favored that individual.... Puritans viewed riches an an unintended consequence of their major quest, namely, to acquire the certainty of salvation" (Weber, 2002, introduction, p. xxxvii).

He goes on to say that this Protestant work ethic gave religious significance to work, wealth, profit, and competition (Weber, introduction, p. x1). This, combined with certain characteristics such as hard work and honesty, created the "suitable soul for capitalism, the soul of the specialist in a vocation'" (Weber, introduction, p. xliii).

Nancy Pearcey, in her book Total truth, concurs, though from a negative viewpoint. She also notes a shift of perception of 'manly virtue' from communal duty to 'passions' - personal self-interest and ambition (2005, p. 332). She states that "The emerging world of industrial capitalism fostered a new definition of virtue. The capitalist world seemed to require each man to function as an individual in competition with other individuals" (p. 332). Curiously, she places the Puritans as promoting the opposite side -

"The Puritans had viewed the 'passions' as a threat to social order, requiring control and self-restraint for the public good. But by the end of the nineteenth century, male 'passions' and self-interest had come to viewed in a positive light - as the source of equality and economic prosperity" (p. 332).

She notes that the very word competitive originated at this time; a quick search of the etymology of the word shows that this is true.

C.S. Lewis, in his book Screwtape letters, has a senior demon providing guidance to a junior tempter demon. In the following passage, Screwtape is actually talking about sexual temptation, but it is of relevance to the topic at hand:

The whole philosophy of Hell rests on recognition of the axiom that one thing is not another thing, and, specifically, that one self is not another self. My good is my good and your good is yours. What one gains, another loses.... 'To be' means 'to be in competition'" (Lewis, 1996, p. 94).

A search of the entire Bible reveals only two occurances of the word "compete" or derivatives of it.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.... I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air" (1 Cor 9:24-26).

What is Paul talking about here? Clearly not competition for the purpose of gaining things of this world. If you look back a few verses you will find this:

"What then is my reward? Just this: than in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.... I have become all things to all men so that by all means possible I might save some. I do this for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share in its blessings" (1 Cor. 9:18-23).

The second occurrence is this:

No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs - he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules" (2 Tim. 2:4-5).

Again, Paul is talking about sharing the Gospel. See the verses following it:

This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory" (2 Tim 2:8-10).

According to Weber and Pearcey, then, Protestantism has come to promote a new set of ethics in which competition for the sake of self-interest is considered a virtue. According to C.S. Lewis, self-interested competition, in which one seeks to consume the will and freedom of weaker selves to feed our own, is a signature trait of hell. According to St. Paul the competitive drive of athletes should be a model for how we should spend ourselves in sharing the gospel.

Money, Treasure, and Wealth

2009-11-06T01:58:00.006-06:00

Matthew 6:24
"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Matthew 21:12
Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.

Matthew 26:8-10
"Why this waste?" they asked. "This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor."

Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.

Mark 6:8
These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.

Mark 12:44
They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

Mark 14:10-12
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money.

Luke 3:14
Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely—be content with your pay."

Luke 16:13-14
"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.

Acts 4:33-34
There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

Acts 8:20
Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!

Acts 16:19
When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.

1 Timothy 3:2-4
Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money

1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

2 Timothy 3:2
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy...

Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

James 4:13-14
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

1 Peter 5:2
Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve...

Matthew 27:4-5
"I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."
"What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

Matthew 2:11
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Matthew 6:19
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Mark 10:21-22
Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Luke 12:33
Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

Hebrews 11:26
He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

1 Timothy 6:17-19
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Matthew 19:23
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Luke 1:53
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

Luke 6:24
"But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

Luke 8:14
The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.

Luke 12:13-16
Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Luke 12:19-21
And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '

"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Luke 14:12-14
Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Luke 16:22-23
"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In hell,where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

2 Corinthians 6:3-10
We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way... poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

2 Corinthians 8:2
Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

2 Corinthians 9:10-11
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion...

Philippians 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 6:9
People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.

James 1:10-11
But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

James 2:5-6
Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?

James 5:1-3
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.

Revelation 3:16-18
You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Revelation 18:14-17
"They will say, 'The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.' The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn and cry out... In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!'"

Luke 16:9
I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Luke 19:8-10
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

This Strange Story

2009-11-01T23:30:00.004-06:00

I am currently reading (or rather, finally finishing) The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton, first published in 1925. One of Chesterton's strongest points is the strangeness of the Gospel. He made essentially C. S. Lewis' famous "trilemma" (Jesus must have been either crazy, a liar, or the Son of God) but before his time, and not so succinctly:

It were better to rend our robes with a great cry against blasphemy, like Caiaphas in the judgment, or to lay hold of the man as a maniac possessed of devils like the kinsmend and the crowd, rather than to stand stupidly debating fine shades of pantheism in the presence of so catastrophic a claim - 'Before Abraham was born, I am'" (p.198).

But his point goes further than that. He sets up the swath of history from paganism to demonism leading up to Jesus' appearing. He paints the picture of Rome as the awesome pinnacle of human achievement; awesome yet hollow because, in the process, an underlying disbelief in the supernatural had developed. The Greek and pagan philosophies, mythologies and dieties had all been pooled together, all readily accepted and the Emperor diefied along with them. And the result? Atheism. It was apparent to all that there was no real truth in it. Society had reached its ultimate level of achievement and then lost "...the sense that there is a meaning and a direction in the world it sees" (p. 162). It was as if the builders of the Tower of Babel had built above the clouds, only to find that heaven was not there.

And then, in the only monotheistic culture on earth - the Jewish nation - there appeared a carpenter who cast out demons, healed the sick, made extreme statements about how to live, and, most preposterously of all, claimed to be God. Not just a God; the only God. This man was the turning point of history; yet, says Chesterton, so were His followers. For they were not willing to sideline Christ's teachings in order to fit Him into the world; they were not willing to acknowledge Christ as anything other than the God.

If the Christians had accepted, they and the whole world would have certainly, in a grotesque but exact metaphor, gone to pot. They would all have been boiled down to one lukewarm liquid in that great pot of cosmopolitan corruption in which all the other myths and mysteries were already melting. It was an awful and an appalling escape... the whole world very nearly died of broadmindedness and the brotherhood of all religions (p. 178).

And here we stand, 2000 years later, and the world looks much the same. We are at the highest point ever achieved by the human race - the highest point, that is, in technological development and knowledge of the physical world (we should not be so vain as to think that we know any more than the ancients about how to live). And our knowledge has led to great concepts purported as new - concepts such as the equality of all religions, the subjectivity of belief, and the ethnic confines of religious claims. What then do we have in total? If this is where all this knowledge has led us, we have only lost. If we have discovered the astounding intricacy of the world and the wonder of its farthest reaches only to have all meaning sucked out of it, we have died inside. If we can look back billions of years through space yet have ruled out heaven, we have exchanged our only future hope for an empty vision of the past.

But that is, of course, counting out one thing - this story, this strange, true story.

Worldview and Apocalypse

2009-10-14T03:42:00.006-05:00

I have been asked to create a presentation on Christian worldview. Between now and March, I need to come up with what that presentation will be. In this post, I will review it and some of my thoughts on the topic.

A definition may be useful.

Here is a brief definition: "A comprehensive view of the world and human life " (Princeton.edu).

A more complete and theologically relevant definition is this:

Worldview The term “worldview” comes from the German word Weltanschauung, which means “look at the world.” In today’s usage “worldview” refers to the overall perspective from which a person or group sees, understands and interprets the world. This includes conscious and unconscious presuppositions and beliefs concerning a wide variety of topics such as the existence of God, who we are as human beings, our purpose in life, our duties and roles in society, and life after death. A worldview, therefore, can be defined as any philosophy, ideology, religion, or movement that provides an all-encompassing approach to understanding reality (TheologicalStudies.org).

My background in going into this subject is not extensive. The only text I have read that specifically speaks of Christian worldview is Nancy Pearcey's book Total Truth: liberating Christianity from its cultural captivity. The book is somewhat voluminous in that it covers everything from the history of the United States to criticism of evolutionary theory to feminism in the family and somewhat ponderous in that it makes each main point at least a dozen times (and its main point several hundred times, or so it seems).

The main point of the book is this: A two-tiered system has developed that splits our lives, minds, households, society, and beliefs into a lower level of concrete facts and an under level of beliefs and values. The two main problems with this are (1) the division causes tension and duplicity in our lives and society and (2) the upper level is becoming increasingly sidelined as irrelevant or relevant only in an individual, subjective way.

Other interesting ideas are introduced, such as analyzing each worldview according to its perception of Creation, Fall, and Redemption (see pages 44-45, and 83-87 of the book). Using this outline, one can analyze most any ideology. For example, the ideology of the Declaration of Independence may be broken into these concepts: The Creation was the establishment of all people as equal before God, the Fall was the subjecting of a people to unfair and unrepresentative treatment by an empire, and the Redemption lay in independence and self-government. Marxism would break down into Creation being the original state of natural community life of native peoples, the Fall being the creation of colonialism in which capitalistic nations exploited other nations for personal benefit, and Redemption being the creation of the communist society in which money is obsolete and everyone works for the common good. In Christianity these, of course, correspond with the Creation of the world by God, the Fall of the world caused by man's sin, and the Redemption of the world through Christ.

All of this is certainly interesting. However, given that I have only one presentation to work with, what should I focus on? What thing about worldview is most needful? Perhaps one way to determine this is to decide: What is ultimately the greatest threat? An alternative would be to ask: What is the most relevant threat?

I just re-read C.S. Lewis' book The Abolition of Man. In the book (or rather, three lectures - which is all that constitutes this thin paperback), Lewis portrays certainly the most terrible result of erroneous worldview that I have read. The premise is the same as Pearcey - the denigration of values into subjective, personal emotions. However, Lewis then proceeds to take this to its extreme and combine it with the increasing power and technology available to mankind. The end he predicts is the "abolition of man," the subjecting of mankind to the creation of a new conscience that serves the will of the "conditioners," with the conditioners having no basis for action except raw animal instinct. It's a society of "men without chests" - men who have appetite (a stomach) and intelligence (a head), but no concrete sense of value (chests) that keeps these both in check. And these men - who are really something more like smart animals, having intelligence and cravings and nothing more - have not only themselves to destroy, they are the programmers of the values of the rest of mankind.

Is this relevant?

A Caveat

2009-07-08T04:34:00.003-05:00

When considering the closeness of God to humans and His interest in our personal lives, it is important to remember this: God is not like us.

Paul, in presenting God to the polytheistic Athenians, spoke of Him this way:

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. (Acts 17:24-25).

We are dependent on God, completely dependent - we were even created by Him. We cannot create beings like ourselves, nor beings in our own likeness. God, on the other hand, created us independently, with no need for our or for any other being's input. We are completely dependent, while He is completely independent.

It is important to remember this when we look at images of God in the Bible. True, in the story of the Prodigal, God is pictured as running to embrace us (Luke 15). And true, the writer of Hebrews speaks of "a joyful assembly of the firstborn" and of Jesus as "the mediator of a new covenant" (ch. 12). But Jesus also told the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25). And the writer of Hebrews also said, in that same chapter:

See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven.

Revelation speaks of the church as the "bride of Christ" and says, "They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (ch. 21). But it also says that "earth and sky fled from his presence" and, rather than walking along holding hands with Christ, the elders in heaven "fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne" (ch. 19-20).

He is not at all like us; He is of a wholly other order.

The Experience

2009-07-06T02:56:00.004-05:00

Paul Washer, in his two sermons on the Song of Solomon, emphasizes the importance of experiencing Christ. He asks this (note that this is somewhat paraphrased):

Do you remember when you were a young Christian, when you depended on God, wanted to do nothing but study the Bible and pray? Do you remember? If you don't, I pity you; you don't have a basis for believing that you're a Christian.

He uses chapter 5 of Song of Solomon in his sermon. The scripture goes like this: The groom comes to the garden and the bride is tired and doesn't want to get up to greet him. The groom leaves and then the bride gets beat up by guards while trying to find him in the streets. Washer's premise is this: We start out being enamored of God, then we get tired and used to the Christian life and the world beats us up.

I have, to this point, not had much use for the Song of Solomon, and I am still skeptical of it. But I find this illustration fascinating because it is true to life. Allow me to explain...

I am reading a book called Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey, and it is certainly a worthwhile book. She has a dim view of the evangelical establishment, and for many good reasons. However, in writing off experientialism and promoting intellectualism, she is liable to miss something huge. The Bible shows a God who irrationally loves humans. He put up with the Israelites in the desert, he let corrupt kings kill His prophets, and finally He let them kill His son. Why? Because He loves us.

If we reply with pure intellectualism, we do not do God justice, in fact, we do not really reply at all. If I put myself at peril to save someone and they replied by acknowledging, "Yes, you did in fact save me, and I know how you did it," it would be more like a slap in the face than anything else. It would, of course, be worse in the case of a wife and husband, "Yes, I recognize that we are married, and I see that it will save on our taxes."

By contrast, the Song of Solomon illustration says that God does love us - like a husband love his wife - and we should love God. But we are liable to lose that love, to get tired and whiny. To say, "Oh, goodness, I prayed already and did all that stuff, now I just want to go do something else for a while." As Washer says, "We want to have rest by watching the TV or something, and we forget that we can only rest when we are with Christ."

Thankfully, in this premise, there is a happy ending. The bride does find the groom - she finds him walking in their garden (chapter 6). Interesting to think, isn't it, that all of history could be thought of as one big expansion on this plot? Adam and Evil fled from the garden separated from God because of their sin. Now, through the intercession of Christ, we are headed back to Eden and will someday walk with God again there. And in the meantime we reenact it again and again in our Christian lives: We get used to it, we drift, and then God lets us see that we're on our own - we hear the echoing emptiness of our lives and we start looking for God again. And we find Him, and walk with Him in the cool of evening.

v. stand: be standing, be upright

2009-06-24T23:54:00.004-05:00

All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. Matthew 10:22

He called a little child and had him stand among them. Matthew 18:2

Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone." Mark 3:3

"You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them." Mark 13:9

By standing firm you will gain life. Luke 21:19

When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Luke 21:28

Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man." Luke 21:36

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. John 8:9

But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. John 8:16

'The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.' Acts 4:26

"Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life." Acts 5:20

...they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. Acts 6:10

Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed ¹⁰and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" Acts 14:9

"I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead." Acts 23:6

"Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you." Acts 26:16

...we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. Romans 5:1

They were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. Romans 11:20

Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. Romans 14:4

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 1 Corinthians 10:12

...when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 1 Corinthians 15:1

...stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Ephesians 6:13

You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. James 5:8

I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. 1 Peter 5:12

They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! ¹⁷For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" Revelation 6:17

...there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. Revelation 7:9

...I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Revelation 20:12

When we shepherd our own souls

2009-06-23T23:39:00.003-05:00

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. (James 4:13-17)

For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2:25)

I intend to link these two passages to make a point about failure to defer to God in planning our lives. The second passage is immediately preceded by a reference to Christ bearing our sin on the cross; however, the passage in general is about living humbly and as a servant of God. I therefore think that a legitimate connection can be made between them.

It is often difficult to know what God wants us to do. We pray and ask God to tell us. But if He doesn't say anything, we still have to make a decision, and we do. I don't think there is anything wrong with this.

The problem is when we make a decision without deferring to God. I think this is often accompanied by making the decision as a jab at God: "God didn't tell me specifically what to do, so I'm just going to toss out the baby with the bathwater and do something completely outside of where God was leading me."

If we do this, we are not sheep who are are a little unclear on the right path and are struggling along as best as able; rather, we are frustrated with the shepherd and are setting up to shepherd ourselves. We begin to build our own castles in the air and stock them as we see fit, all the while purposefully leaving God out of the picture.

But if we turn, He is gracious to take us back. Then we will be once more under the guidance of the "Shepherd and Overseer of our souls." And He will lead us by quiet waters (Psalm 23).

Of whom the world is not worthy

2009-06-20T12:10:00.002-05:00

I have another thought on Hebrews 11 and the phrase "...the world was not worthy of them" (v. 38). I have posted previously about this verse -

http://eyezopen.blogspot.com/2006/09/world-was-not-worthy-of-them.html

Here is another way of looking at this passage. Look back over chapter 11 and also into 10. What is the theme? The overarching theme by far is faith. The sequence is as follows:

10:1-17: We have been forgiven and made holy through the sacrifice of Jesus.

10:19-25: Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we now have confidence before God. So now we must draw near to God and "hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."

10:26-31: We must not continue to walk in sin, for it is as dreadful to fall into the hands of a gracious God as it is wonderful to fall into the hands of a gracious God.

10:32-39: Think back to when you were fervent in living in Christ - when you were happy to sacrifice for eachother. Don't throw that away; do not shrink back.

11: Look back further - to all those great people of faith. They considered suffering with God's people better than living in sin even for a short time. They were weak and mortal, but their weakness was turned to strength. The world was not worthy of them.

What is is that made the world unworthy of them? They were not great in and of themselves. Their greatness was this: They were saved by faith in Christ and strengthened by Him. The only thing here that may be creditable to them is just this: They persevered.

It is only God who rocks the world; but the cool thing is that He rocks the world through us. But do we believe it? Have we the guts to believe in God's ability to strengthen us?

Commentary on Love, part 3

2009-06-12T23:51:00.002-05:00

1 Corinthians 13:8: Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

The NIV begins a new paragraph here. The first phrase, "Love never fails," may have been meant to instead follow directly on, "...always perseveres." However, I think that the paragraph break is correct. "Love never fails," taken in the sense of "I'll always love you," would have meant little more than "Love perseveres." However, when you take it together with the rest of this paragraph, it is much different. Instead of being personal, it becomes universal. I will explain more fully:

Up until this point, Paul has been talking about attributes of love and the all-importance of having love behind what we do: "Love is patient, love is kind... If I give all I possess but have not love, I gain nothing." Here, though, Paul is going to make the case that love, unlike other critically important concepts of religion, transcends this life completely.

"But where there are prophecies... tongues... knowledge, it will pass away." Two gifts of the Spirit and one God-given ability of humans - all three will end with life. What is the use of giving a word from God, or giving a warning about the future, when time is over and we can walk with God? What is the use of tongues, whether speaking in human languages or "tongues of angels," when we will be able to fly with angels? True, we will doubtless use languages in heaven; but evidently we won't be using Rosetta Stone and flash cards to overcome the language barriers. And as for knowledge: Who needs to study when they can speak with God like a friend?

9-12: For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

"We know... we prophesy in part... talked like a child... reasoned like a child... poor reflection as in a mirror." Our tongues, prophesy and knowledge are like those of a child. Certainly, children know something, and often it is amazing how much they can comprehend. But they know only a fraction of what an adult knows, and they know in an entirely different way. Their thinking is unclear and the scope is small; to go beyond the familiar is confusing and overwhelming. The same is true of us adults in comparison to what we will be in the next world.

"When perfection comes... when I became a man... put childish ways behind me... see face to face." Heaven will be completely different. It will be as though we have been semi-comatose - seeing and knowing, but only through a fog and barely comprehending. When the veil is lifted, we will finally really see and finally really know.

"...know even as I am fully known." The idea of knowing like we are known by God is staggering. No doubt it is an overstatement; I don't think we will ever be omniscient. However, we will evidently be able to tap into it somehow. Seeing Christ, being with God, and being made over-again will make us more than we can ever be now. Knowledge without the dimness of a limited mind, perhaps. I don't know what it means, but it sounds wonderful.

13: And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

We hear much about faith and hope as ideals, and they are. As he drew near to the end of his life, Paul declared triumphantly, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim.4:7). He exhorts Timothy to "keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience" (Tim. 3:9). Faith is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Heb. 11:1). Faith is absolutely vital; without it, we cannot know God.

Paul says of hope, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 15:13). Without the hope of the resurrection, "we are to be pitied more than all men" (1 Cor. 15:19).

One can think of faith as looking upward to God and the supernatural, and hope as looking forward to eternity with Him. Both are indispensable in this present world; but once we are in the next world, neither will be needed any more. Once we are supernatural and walking in the fulfillment of our hopes, we will need neither faith nor hope. In the opening of eternity, faith and hope will fade; but love will remain - more mighty than ever.

Commentary on Love, part 2

2009-06-07T19:26:00.004-05:00

1 Corinthians 13:6: Loves does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

Love is on the side of honesty and rightness, not evil. This may seem obvious, but there are consequences well worth noting. This means that love does not lie in order to forward its ends, nor does it do other evil. It is has integrity; it is full-person character, not one interest stretched to the extremity until it becomes a dictator. Love is not sly and it is not two-faced, nor is it glad when other people are.

One more interesting point here: Love does not enjoy other people suffering so that it can have pity on them. This may seem like an obscure point, but I think it occurs more often than we like to acknowledge. There is a fulfillment in giving our pity to a starving kid, or on a distraught friend, or a sick relative. But it may turn into a hope for suffering so that pity can be bestowed. This is not love.

7: It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

"Always protects" brings up several images - the protection of a child by his mother; the protection of a lady by a knight; the protection of a nation by a soldier. Strength, selflessness, and dedication are required.

"Always trusts" is hard when trust has not yet been earned, and harder yet when trust has been broken. There are times when trusting can only do harm and no good. Yet, at the least, love always wants to trust. It is the default of love.

One interesting point is that love can rarely be bidirectional if there is no trust. I may deposit actions of love (such as showing pity, or giving a gift) on someone that I do not trust; but I do not give them the opportunity to pay me back in a worthwhile manner unless I trust them. Unless I trust them, I will make every effort to avoid depending on them.

"Always hopes" functions in two ways: (1) Love is generally optimistic. For example, a person who has fallen in love generally hopes with shining eyes for the optimal outcome. A love-struck person rarely talks about death and broken relationships. (2) More crucially, love hopes for the best for the object of its love. I do not recall the book, but somewhere C. S. Lewis once said that love can be defined as "truly wishing the best for someone." Not merely wishing that they be happy, but wishing that they be good, pure, joyful, and entirely alive. And, of course, not merely wishing, but wishing as the motivation for acting.

"Always perseveres" is perhaps the hardest of the attributes. Not only does love protect, but it continues to protect. Not only does love trust, but it continues to trust. Not only does love hope, but it continues to hope. There may well be a feeling of "gulp!" at these words, much as when Jesus said not to be willing to forgive seven times but rather seventy-seven times (Matt 18:22). Loving someone, according to all of the attributes listed so far, may be possible for one inspired afternoon; but to keep on doing it? To love even when one is hungry and annoyed? To love when someone hurts you? To love when it's against your own interest?

It doesn't say, "Love gives it a good shot." It says, "Love perseveres."

Commentary on Love, part 1

2009-05-30T07:37:00.004-05:00

I have long considered 1 Corinthians 13 to be, perhaps, the most incredible passage in the Bible. Below is the first part of a running commentary on it.

Previous chapter:
Paul has been talking about spiritual gifts. He just finished saying that everyone has different gifts (eg. teaching, miracles, etc.). He says, "But eagerly desire the greater gifts," (12:30) by which he means "gifts that build up the church" (14:14). Then he states, "And now I will show you the most excellent way" (12:30). There's an attention grabber!

1 Cor. 13:1-2: If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

Paul says that if he has the gift of tongues (which he considers a lesser gift - see chapter 14) and does not have love, he is only a noise.

2: If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

If he has the gift of prophecy, which can edify the church, or even has faith, the great foundation of Christianity (see Heb 11, Rom. 1:17), but does not have love, he "is nothing." Strong statement, isn't that? Surely he would be productive; surely many people would be saved through his ministry, right? And yet he would be nothing

3: If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Even if he died a martyrs death but does it for a reason other than love, he would "gain nothing." There would be no martyrs crown, and no "better resurrection" (see James 1:12, Rev. 2:10, Heb. 11:35).

4: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

And here the list of attributes begins. A loving person is patient, "bearing provocation, annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, pain, etc., with fortitude and calm and without complaint, anger or the like" (Dictionary.com).

They are simply kind. Stating this removes the possibility of a cold and auster individual who "wishes the best for all." It also removes the possibility of a harsh and calculating love. The idea of a cold love may seem strange, but C.S. Lewis portrays it well - and makes it readily identifiable as underlying many people's love - in his books The Great Divorce and Till We Have Faces.

A loving person does not begrudge other people their belongings or success. A loving person does not speak of themselves overmuch. They do not have a high opinion of themselves and put others down.

5: It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

It is courteous (similiar to being kind). It is not self-seeking. This attribute is huge when taken in full. It can mean (a) not acting on pride; meaning, not oppressing other people to build oneself up. Taking it further to (b) "doing to others as you would have them do to you," (Matt 7:12) it means taking actions that benefit another as much as taking actions to benefit oneself. Put another way, it means "being impartial between oneself and others." Does this mean buying a car for someone else as readily as for oneself? Does this mean funding another person's health as readily as funding one's own health?

"Is not easily angered" goes with patient. The qualifier, though, is important. There are things worth being angry about. In fact, as a preacher at Pulpit Rock Church in Colorado Springs said once, "I get angry because I love." However, as God is "slow to anger," so should we be (Exo. 34:6, Ecc. 7:9).

"Keeps no record of wrongs" is related to pride and self-seeking, but focuses particularly on personal grievance. It may be possible for someone to say, "Oh, I helped them and loved them, but they hurt me so badly that I can never forget it. I will do them good, but I will always remember what they did." This clause does not allow the bearing of grudges, even those not acted on. God forgets, and so should we (Isa. 43:25).

Strong Churches

2009-05-15T08:12:00.003-05:00

In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas return to several of the churches that they planted, with the object of strengthening them and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. They told them, "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" (v. 22).

Paul writes a similar message in Philippians 1:

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel. Then... I will know that you stand firm in one spirit... without being frightened.... For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him (v. 27-29).

A strong church, to Paul and Barnabas, did not mean a church with a good family program, a strong tithing rate, or high volunteerism. Rather it meant going through hardships and suffering for Christ.

Great Expectations

2009-05-11T20:41:00.002-05:00

I am currently reading Great Expectations for the second time. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, it is the tale of a boy named Pip who is sponsored by a benefactor to become a gentleman. Throughout the entire story, Pip is in love with a girl named Estella who was raised purposefully to break men's hearts.

As I had grown accustomed to my expectations, I had insensibly begun to notice their effect upon myself and those around me. Their influence on my own character I disguised from my recognition as much as possible, but I knew very well that it was not all good. I lived in a state of chronic uneasiness respecting my behavior to Joe. My conscience was not by any means comfortable about Biddy. When I woke up in the night,—like Camilla,—I used to think, with a weariness on my spirits, that I should have been happier and better if I had never seen Miss Havisham's face, and had risen to manhood content to be partners with Joe in the honest old forge. Many a time of an evening, when I sat alone looking at the fire, I thought, after all there was no fire like the forge fire and the kitchen fire at home. (Great Expectations, Charles Dickens).

Pip's expectations of being sponsored into becoming a rich gentleman are attractive to him, not for the sake of the money or status alone, but primarily for love of Estella. He says repeatedly that he realized the error in it, and knew her to be cold and purposefully manipulative. Yet he follows in Miss Havisham's eerie command, "I tell you what real love is.... It is... trust and belief against yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole heart and soul to the smiter.... If she tears your heart to pieces... love her, love her, love her!"

And so Pip loves her. Not only to his pain, but also to the detriment of his character. He has no integrity between his conscience and behavior. He is uneasy and regretful. Life is no longer simple and work is no longer straight-forward. A corruption permeates his soul; and yet he loves her.

Beneficial Belief

2009-05-03T09:03:00.003-05:00

It is common to cite the benefits of faith in everyday life as a reason to believe. Dave Ramsey uses his Financial Freedom classes as an entry point to the faith, studies tout religion as good for health and life extending, and countless alter calls have this tagline as their center: "God has a wonderful plan for your life." But is this legitimate? It is biblical to use selfish motives to draw people to the faith.

In John 6, the crowds following Jesus were enamored of Him because He had just multiplied bread to feed them. They requested, "Sir, from now on, gives us this bread."

Jesus did not multiply bread again. Rather He stated:

I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty... My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.... If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever (John 6: 35-40).

The crowds were offended at this, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

Jesus replied, "Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!... "The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life."

Many refused to accept it and turned away from Jesus.

What was it that they were offended at? They wanted a benefit, and Jesus would not give it on demand. Worse, Jesus proceeded to teach what was uncomfortable; even offensive. God refused to be manipulated and He refused to meet expectations.

Palestine: a child's solution

2009-04-21T22:06:00.004-05:00

Me: I have a riddle for you. Let's say that both of your little sisters think that the kitchen belongs to them. Kristen has put Stephanie on the couch and won't let her leave it.

Child: Hmm... I would take both of them and send them to their rooms and make them stay there.

Me: Well, neither one of them wants to leave the kitchen, though. They both think it's theirs.

Child: Arg! This is tough! I know: I would sneak through the cabinets and, like, dig a tunnel under the floor to the couch. And then I would go and whisper to Stephanie so that she'll know I'm there. And I would sneak through the cabinets again and take away all the food and hide it upstairs so that Kristen and Stephanie wouldn't have any.

Me: But Stephanie opens the window and starts sneaking food into the house from people outside.

Child: I would ask the people to please not bring any more food.

Me: Ok, but now Kristen and Stephanie are both hungry and that makes them more mad; so they start throwing pillows at eachother.

Child: Oh no! Uh... I don't know what to do - I can't figure out this riddle!

Me: Well, there have to be other ways to fix it, right? Like maybe you could divide the kitchen between them.

Child: No! It's Mommy's kitchen!

Me: Oh, that's true. But let's say that you don't have to worry about that and the main thing is to fix the problem between Kristen and Stephanie.

Child: Ok, I wouldn't sneak through the cabinets anymore. Instead I would just walk in there and talk to both of them and say, "Kristen and Stephanie, you know that you like being together. You should just share the kitchen."

Speaking truth to power

2009-04-15T22:18:00.003-05:00

Reform your ways and your actions and obey the LORD your God. Then the LORD will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you. As for me, I am in your hands... rest assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city... for in truth the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words... (Jeremiah 26:14-15).

In the 1950's, a Quaker organization called American Friends Service Committee prepared a report that called for pacifists to speak truth to power regarding alternatives to the use of force. They noted that people assume that force must be used because they do not know that there is an alternative. While this is an interesting point, I am not here going to delve into pacifism issues (I did some of that in an earlier post).

The point here that I would like to touch on is the idea of speaking truth to power. I have heard this cited elsewhere as perhaps the most important prerequisite to an open and democratic country: having people who will speak the truth to those in power, no matter what. Without those who stand and fall by the truth, there will only be back-scratching and corruption. However, such people are also very difficult to come by. Who wants to get in trouble or even die because they decided to be the one person that raised an objection?

Jeremiah was such a person. He spoke truth to power no matter what. And it was very unpopular truth: He told the people that they must either beg forgiveness of God and change their ways or else submit to invasion by a foreign country.

There is a significant difference between these examples that must be highlighted: Jeremiah spoke God's direct word, whereas the Quakers were pushing a concept based on general Biblical or moral principles. A true claim to speak for God is much more dramatic, obedience to it more imperative, and rejection (especially to the point of killing the prophet) equatable to rebellion against God.

It is not likely that we will ever find ourselves in the same situation as Jeremiah did. But each of us knows some truth, and we are familiar with truth being violated or ignored. We must speak truth to power in whatever means we have at our disposal. We must live and die by truth. We may live rough lives (Jeremiah certainly did!). But at least at the end of it all, we will be able to say to God that, to the best of our abilities, we always spoke truth to power.

A God far away

2009-04-14T20:37:00.002-05:00

"Am I only a God nearby,"
declares the LORD,
"and not a God far away?

Can anyone hide in secret places
so that I cannot see him?"
declares the LORD

"Do I note fill heaven and earth?"
declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:23-24)

It is important to remember that God is personal, but He is not just personal - He is also transcendent. Jesus ate with the disciples, but He also stood on the Mount of Transfiguration. God sees our struggles and He feels our pain; but He also sees our sin, and He sees the injustices of our society and of our world. We must not try to bring God down to our level; He will certainly not oblige.