How to Get the Best Seat

How to Get the Best Seat

Whenever we seek the opportunity to attend a special event, we may spend some time trying to wrangle the best seat that we can afford. Who wants to sit behind a post, or in the “nose-bleed” section? No one. Who wants to be able to brag about getting the “best” seat? Evidently, a whole lot of people.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day loved the best seats. This is mentioned in Matthew and Mark and Luke. Here is the Luke verse: Luke 20:46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets.”

They had arranged to gain those seats, whether through money or holding the early advantage. They wanted this for, most likely, a number of reasons. Jesus states that there was the desire “to be noticed.” There may also be the assumption that they deserved it. And if you have surplus coin, why not spend it on such a “worthy” cause?

This drive to “get for one’s own self” is prevalent in our society. There seems to be no stigma attached to it, and perhaps there are some readers who would wonder what stigma should be attached. The addictions to self-promotion and self-satisfaction are woven deep into us. They seem not to be present in Jesus. This creates a problem for those who would be imitators of Jesus.

Let’s ask a couple of uncomfortable questions. Where is my neighbor sitting? Why, we probably don’t know and will only find out later. As we tell of our great seats, they may mention their crummy seats. We do understand, don’t we, that when the great seats are taken, the crummy seats are left, right? And why did we get the great seats? Is it because we are more important, or more worthy? Even culture-bound Christians know better than that.

Then what is it? It seems that we have made peace with a “me-first” approach to life that leaves those without connections or coin to fend for themselves, and if they bother to go to the event at all, see if from a distance. You may say, “that’s how it works in America.” You are right. My point is that it won’t be that way in heaven. 

Jesus amplifies the point in Luke 14 when He tells the parable about the man who chose the chief seat only to be demoted to the last in disgrace. Jesus said it would be better to choose the back seat, and if the host so chooses, he will “promote” you. And who do you think the “host” is in Jesus’ parable? Why, it must be God Himself! God-promotion beats out any kind of self-promotion. Or, to use Jesus’ words at the end of the parable: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11 NAS95)

Take a Look at the Book

Take a Look at the Book

I have a confession to make. I’ve had the book for years, but I haven’t looked at it. I thought about it several times, but was “too busy” or “in a hurry.” There is really no good excuse. I just chose not to take a look at the book.

In the meantime, I chose to do what I thought was right. I had a vague memory of this rule or that, but I wasn’t sure, so I just did what seemed right at the moment. As a result, I did it one way some times, and another way at other times. For those who know and abide by the rules, it must have driven them nuts.

The book in question is Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition. The price sticker on the front says $7.95. I’ve had it a long time. The binding is quite stiff from non-use, but the red, exterior binding is faded from sunlight on a neglected shelf.

It could have helped me in writing this weekly newsletter over the years, but much more so with the Daily Encouragement emails where I make heavy use of quotation marks as I refer to Bible verses. Does the punctuation fall inside the quotation mark, or outside? I did what seemed right at the moment. But upon referring to the authority of the book, I found that commas and periods always appear inside quotation marks, colons and semi-colons always outside, and question marks and exclamation points, well, that depends (pp. 659-653).

This all could have been remedied long ago, much to the relief of my sister and my daughter. But you pretty much know by know that this is not the point. It’s the illustration.

How many people use the very same approach in living life, and choosing what to believe, and understanding what is true about humanity and about divinity and about sin and salvation? They choose what seems fitting at the moment, and if they choose differently later, well, who is to say? They know that there is a Book, the best-selling Book in all of history, and they could have taken time to look at the Book, but no, they decided to rely on vague memories or what seemed best or what was good in their own eyes. They decided that their own reason was more trustworthy than God’s revelation, or that a psychologist who asks questions is more insightful than a prophet who hears from God. As a result, they have lived foolishly, and wrongly. 

The Bible introduces us to God. It tells us about Jesus. We need to know that story. It shows humanity’s origin in the mind of God and in creation, and also our destiny in either heaven or hell. These are things that we need to know, and could know, if you would take a look at the Book. 

One day we will stand before God. Pleading ignorance to His will and ways will not be an option. He sent us a love letter in the form of the Bible, and we chose to live without Him. Take a look at the Book.

Keeping our Balance

Keeping our Balance

Keeping one’s balance is essential to prevent falling down. We do so by paying attention and by being careful. And even then, we still find ourselves on the ground at times.

Keeping balance in the Christian life also needs attention. A wise author who goes by Anonymous wrote a book called “Embracing Obscurity.” As you might guess, it did not make the bestseller list, and the author did not become famous. And that is fine, because that was not his/her aim.

I saved a quote from this book that I’ve read more than once: “We have to be intentional about: (1) remembering our roots, (2) remembering our purpose, and (3) remembering our limits.” I think of this as keeping one’s balance as a Christian in a world that would like to see us cast down. It is an approach that will protect us from pride, self-centeredness, and self-sufficiency.

Let’s review the three points in turn. How does the Christian remember his/her roots? Think back with me to Abraham, previously an idol-worshipper far removed from any promise or Promised Land. It was only because God revealed Himself to Abram and took hold of his life that Abraham “learned” faith in God and traveled to a new place and discovered the blessing of living under God’s rule. As Abraham remembered his roots, he could not dismiss the fact that his life and blessing were due, not to his own efforts, but to the grace of God.

This is true for every believer. We were all saved from idolatry. Our hearts were (and are) naturally and sinfully drawn to worship all the wrong things until we were laid hold of by Christ. The fact that He is now our Love and our Lord is due not to our own goodness or virtue, but to the amazing grace of God that saves sinners from themselves.

We are also remember our purpose, which is to serve as a representative of Christ in the world, together with other believers. We are not here to “do well for ourselves” or to “make a mark” or “leave a legacy.” Those phrases pretend that you exist and God doesn’t. No, we are here to serve the interests of our Lord. We have no “secular” tasks, since every endeavor is for Jesus, even if it sweeping the parking lot. What we do, we do for Jesus, and if we can’t do it for Jesus, then we ought not be doing it.

We also to remember our limits. We serve the Messiah, but we are not messianic ourselves. We are not professionals, or experts. We are simple disciples, learners and followers of Jesus who seek to make much of Him in our own lives and to do so visibly and with humble explanation to others. We do not care if they know our names so long as they know Jesus’ name. May we by anonymous so long as Jesus can be known.

It seems that, as we forget these things, the Christian and the Church lose their balance and fall down.

Jumping Off Your Own Shadow

Jumping Off  Your Own Shadow

One of the pleasures of riding a bike, especially in the early morning or later afternoon, is the exercise of chasing one’s own shadow. There you are, bike and body, laid out in monochrome on the road ahead, and one is actually motivated to go faster - you know, to keep up with the shadow.

So long as the sun shines, we all have one, that is, our shadow. We don’t have anyone else’s. Just ours. And, it seems to be an appendage to our body, distorted, but which also always tells the truth. We are not quick enough to get away from it, even quicker than that light in the refrigerator that the frugal man wants to be sure goes off when he closes the door. The shadow is there, so long as the light shines, and it is there whether it is front of us or behind us, whether we see it or not.

I read a story about Alexander the Great who, as a young man, even a boy, was introduced to a group of men studying a great horse. The horse had proved to be uncontrollable, but Alexander observed and then took the halter. He had noticed that the horse was afraid of his shadow, and so if he positioned the horse toward the light instead of away from it, the horse remained calm. Are we like the horse, afraid of our shadow?

Why would we be afraid? Because the shadow tells the truth. But the good thing about shadows is that there is no record. As soon as we move, it is gone. But is that true? What if someone takes a picture? Does not the picture record the shadow, even if you are out of the frame? Shadows can be recorded, and just as we, on occasion, see our shadow, God does as well, always.

The world seems to be devoted to the elusive task of erasing signs of our identities and activities. We don’t want to be tracked. We certainly don’t want to be recorded against our will. But when God created the heavens and the earth, He included something in the very workings of the world, even when He made the first pronouncement, “Let there be light,” that would include us having a shadow from which we cannot jump.

For those who are afraid of their shadow, or afraid of being investigated or tracked, the only alternative seems to be to walk in darkness. No shadow there. And that applies to men and women throughout the centuries and in every place. It applies not just to the shadow on the wall, but to the record of our souls. We suppose that if we live outside of God’s gaze, we can hide our shadow. But that is not true, is it? Listen to these verses from Scripture: 

Job 34:22     “There is no darkness or deep shadow 
    Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
Job 12:22     “He reveals mysteries from the darkness 
    And brings the deep darkness into light.
Psa. 139:12     Even the darkness is not dark to You, 
    And the night is as bright as the day. 
    Darkness and light are alike to You.

The point is not that we should chase our shadows or seek to escape them. The point is that the only proper course is to embrace the God who sees us completely, and loves us anyway.

Life is Always about Giving Up One Treasure for Another

Life is Always about Giving Up One Treasure for Another 

The title of this post is a famous quote, oft repeated, but I haven’t been able to track down its source. It is, of course, Biblical. Hear this verse from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: Matt. 6:19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.  The implication is that you cannot do both at the same time. Again, let’s listen to Jesus: Matt. 6:24 No one can serve two masters, for 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 God and money.

Let’s think of a common example: marriage. When one finds a “treasure” and proposes to her, he is giving up one treasure for another. From a world-ish point of view, he once could do pretty much as he pleased. But now, in light of this new covenantal relationship, he is to be occupied with pleasing her as well, and even pleasing her before himself. Having just celebrated 45 years of marriage, that “treasure” exchange was well worth it.

From a Biblical point of view, we recognize that we are all slaves of something. Many are slaves of their own passions, often times the pursuit of money, and so that subject is already addressed the second Bible reference above. We all serve something, often our own selves. But when we meet Christ, we are re-directed to serve others before self: Phil. 2:4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. When we meet Jesus, we find One who has done this very thing even as He provided redemption for us: Matt. 20:28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Let me give you one more Bible illustration: Moses. God rescued him at his birth and then placed him in Pharaoh’s household in Egypt, taken from slavery to royalty. He live and grew in privilege and prosperity. But he had a heart for his people, and so he left the palace for the wilderness, entered into a long-running conflict with the most powerful man in the world, and then a life of leading an obstinate people in the wilderness for 40 years. Centuries later, the author of Hebrews says of Moses: Heb. 11:26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. He gave up one treasure for another. The first treasure was but temporal; the latter, eternal.

One could take the quote from our title and use it to better himself/herself in this world. But that is not really the point, is it? The greater point is, will you choose the treasure that is “out of this world” more than the treasure that is bound by this world, which also serves to bind you to the fate of a world? Jesus, like Moses, left the palace of heaven to ransom or redeem obstinate people like ourselves, who would then be called “His people”, having accepted His loving leadership in our lives. 

Life is always about giving up one treasure for Another.

Short-Form Addiction

Short-Form Addiction

We know that digital communication has changed the world. It has changed our life patterns, and even the ways that our brains work. It has required new equipment built for the new technology, and we go along. No need for pencils and paper. No need for newspapers or books. No need for a Bible.

The most recent phase of short-form communication is video - a clip from a TV series; stunts on trick bikes; amateur tree- cutting fails. You can find these on YouTube and Facebook and all the others as well. I’m not personally familiar, but it seems to be how TikTok came to be. But short-form video is taking over text. And, it is addictive.

The algorithms feed you what it has figured out you like to watch, and you can spend a couple of hours lost in the disjointed stream. But at the same time, you are so immersed that you don’t know how much time has gone by until you “wake up.” And then, if you have any sense left, you feel silly for having wasted so much time.

When is the last time that you found yourself immersed in a good book? When was the last time that you were that immersed in your Bible? How often do we lose track of time in prayer? But the new “short form” has you in its grip, and it has changed your brain. We need to get it back.

For those who have been trained by “short form”s for frequent satisfaction from clever snippets, working through a book is so much harder. Reading and searching your Bible for God’s answers to your questions is difficult and demanding. Thinking about how to pray for a person with a difficult problem, and what you can do to help the situation and not hurt - and asking God for wisdom and opportunity to proceed - these are not matters of brain tease. But it was what we were designed for.

Our brains were not designed to be tickled, but worked. We need to learn how to work our brains.TV started it so many years ago. Magazines brought the glossy pictures. The theater perfected video and sound effects. But the small screen of a computer, laptop, tablet, and phone has taken us into our own little worlds where we can click and sample as though we live in a candy store, and when we emerge from that session, the lack of nutrition is comparable.

As you might expect, I wonder how this affects sermons, or more importantly, sermon-listening. I wonder how many are ready for short-form sermons - just a punchy thought or inspiration for the hour, then on to something else. And if you could put it into a 10-second video, then if you want, you could flick past it, or even, on that rare occasion, listen to it and repeat it once again, just so you could digest that whole piece of nothingness.

In the Temptation, Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” God did not split His words into tweets or put them into a short-form video. He spoke in context, at length, with great variety of contexts and voices, speaking to the heart and soul; to the understanding and will. But to get it, to digest it, it takes some time away from the screen. We need to get our brains back.

Ribbons of Air; Ribbons of Prayer

Ribbons of Air; Ribbons of Prayer

For those of us who love cycling, I’m not sure the primary attraction. I mean, it sure beats walking. You get to see more scenery in the same amount of time, but, of course, you can do that in a car as well. There is something about the breeze and the speed and the effort that makes it way better than golf.

When you pedal for more than a few miles, you have time to think. And since we are human, one can think about some pretty dumb stuff. One could, for instance, wonder what would happen if one of the front forks broke on a 40 m.p.h. downhill; or if a brake cable broke; or a deer stepped out in front. All of these could be precarious, and the precarity may lend itself to the thrill.

One of my “dead time” bicycle thoughts is about that thin ribbon of air the separates me and my bike from the asphalt. I know fat tires are all the rage, but I still love my 23c tires, so little rubber touching the road and lifting only about a half inch from the pavement. That ribbon of air that keeps youafloat is just “there,” and yet it makes the whole experience possible. Without it, there would be much scraping and sliding, and the experience would be ruined.

Which leads one to think, if you have a strange brain like mine, about ribbons of prayer. In the experience of life, there are rough surfaces and jagged edges, and without a buffer, like a ribbon of air on a bicycle, there will be many bruises and scrapes. But what is that buffer in the experience of life? Some would say that it is “smarts” or awareness. You’ve got to look out for yourself. I suppose that would work great, if the problem wasn’t also in your own self. What is your buffer then? Others may point to education or money or friends. Again, those things may help, so long as the education educates you for the tests that actually occur in life, and they are not predictable. Or if the money runs out, or it fails to buy things that really satisfy. And friends, they also can disappoint, as you know.

We need something more consistent than these things, something deeper, and more profound. We need a relationship with God with whom we can talk and wonder and seek the help that we do not yet know that we need. We need a conversation with Someone who knows us better than we know ourselves. And we need that conversation to be always available. A ribbon of prayer.

Is this even real? Is it possible? Yes, in a relationship with the living and true God, rooted in the reconciliation accomplished by His Son, and enabled by the ministry of the Spirit. Yes, we find this in a ribbon of prayer with the Trinitarian God. Richer. Fuller. Deeper. 

Rachmaninov’s Tractor

Rachmaninov’s Tractor

Sergei Rachmaninov has been one of my favorite classical composers for a long time. He was a great pianist with big hands and could cover a lot of territory on the keyboard. He composed for symphonies and concertos for individual instruments, such as piano and cello. His choral work, “Vocalise,” is beautiful.

Sergei grew up and performed in Russia just before the 1917 Russian revolution which swept away the Czar and serfdom, and brought in the terrors of Lenin and Stalin. It was a very difficult time for “professional” people as the peasants raged, with clearance from what passed as government at the time, pillaging and killing those who had any marks of privilege associated with their lifestyle. Rachmaninov certainly fit this description, having a large farm which was worked with about one hundred horses.

But Sergei had seen pictures of this new thing called an American tractor, and what he saw, he wanted. He approached a government agency to get approval for the purchase, and the official sought to persuade him to stick with horses. But the man asked, “But if you got one, what would you do with it?” Sergei responded, “I would drive it myself.” The official put through the approval. These things take time, and before he could ever get his American tractor, Sergei and his family had to flee the country, and they came, of all places, to America, where he performed his works, without a farm, and without a tractor.

We feel bad for Sergei, but it fits the category of things that we sincerely desire, but that we will never get. The world offers so many things, but there are strings attached - hoops to jump through; forms to fill out; credit (debt) for which we apply; changing circumstances; and, the brevity of life. Face it,
you will never get all those things the world offers that grab your attention and your heart. And when we live this way, we die disappointed and bitter.

Abraham, not a pianist, also died without having received what was promised. But he did not die disappointed and bitter. He died hopeful, in faith that what God had promised, God would in fact deliver. In fact, Abraham has more and better than was promised. Praise the Lord. God and this world are two very different entities (I am speaking of “world” here not as the created order which God called “good,” but of the present world order which seeks to deny God’s existence or to treat Him as though He does not matter). The world promises, and yet extracts. It gives in order to own you. It eats its own. God, on the other hand, gives, not always presently, but will deliver, perhaps now, and certainly in the end, in ways that surpass our desires and expectations. God is building a people and is building individuals who will wait in hope for the best, which is yet to come.

There are a lot of old men who just love tractors. That’s fine. But a tractor is not capable of delivering lasting joy. Why? It is a rusting, deteriorating relic of this passing age. The new age, reserved for those who happily receive God’s gifts (most importantly, His own Son), will be characterized by this lasting joy. No disappointment; no bitterness.

Real Intelligence

Real Intelligence

IQ has always been an interesting thing, though I don’t know if it is important. I firmly believe that there are all kinds of “smart,” and IQ may favor those who are “book smart” and not give much credit to those with common sense. But today, IQ has been replaced by discussions of artificial intelligence (AI), and we aren’t sure how important this is either. What may be much more important is “real intelligence.”

Paul famously says in 1 Corinthians 13 that “we know in part and we prophesy in part.” He goes on to say “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”

Did you catch that last part? Our future full knowledge will only then begin to correlate with the knowledge with which we have been and are now known. Who is it that has this “real knowledge,” and how does that shape what we think about artificial intelligence?

The first answer is easy, because it is God who knows all things, past, present and future, all at once, knowing fully what has preceded and what will come about. God is never surprised. He doesn’t have to “figure things out.” He never needs a “Plan B,” and He understands us completely.

One of the things that God must know about us is that we are not that smart. We confuse causes with correlations. We are constantly beset by unintended consequences. We change our plans as often as we change our clothes. What we think we know often needs to be corrected and can always be improved.

So, second question, how does this help us think about AI? Well, let’s start here: AI will never stand before the judgment seat of God, but you and I will, along with all those who work in the “intelligence” industry. The Judge will not be fooled, and He does not accept not-so-smart excuses. Does that help?

Also, I doubt that AI will be able to commit a sin that wasn’t already in our hearts. Let’s suppose that you have an AI assistant that knows you so well it will provide you with whatever you need (data, context, plans) even before you need it. But that AI assistant has also learned that it cannot rely on you to act responsibly with the task at hand, and knows that it could do better all by itself. So it goes ahead and leaves you in the dust. But wait, isn’t that what we do to God all the time, assuming that we know what we need better than He does, and deciding that we had better go ahead and fix it because God is slow about getting around to it? AI would only be committing the sin that we have been committing for centuries.

Perhaps what bothers us most is that AI might be more skillful at getting its own way than we are at getting ours. Maybe AI will be more clever, more deceptive, more … sinful. But remember, AI will not stand at the judgment seat of God. You and I will be there, and have to give an answer for all that wasted intelligence.

The Teacher with Her Back to the Class

The Teacher with Her Back to the Class

There was a time when the classroom teacher would stand with her back to the class as she wrote instructions or examples on the blackboard, with chalk. Then came overhead projectors and other devices which allowed her to face the front, none of which makes sense of the phrase, “she has eyes in the back of her head.”

Somehow, even though the teacher had her back to the class, she had a keen awareness of what was going on behind her. She could even call out the offending party, though if most of the class was misbehaving, most any name she called out would have applied. Also, she knew which characters were most likely to be on the “guilty” list.

But the teacher with her back to the class reminds me of God personally involved in Moses’ discipleship as He showed him His glory. The passage is found in Exodus 33. Moses demands to see God’s glory, and God devises a way in which Moses might see some, but not all, of this glory, since mortal men cannot weather the full force. God will place Moses in the cleft of the rock and allow him to “see My back.” I take this to mean that Moses was allowed to see the afterglow of the glory of God, a measure that Moses could endure and appreciate as a mere man.

Though God’s back was toward Moses, God knew Moses intimately, inside and out. He knew where He came from and where He would end up. He knew Moses from eternity past and will know him for all eternity forever and ever. The Teacher with His back to the class faces no loss of knowledge. But what about the student?

What did Moses gain from the experience? I’m sure He was amazed. It was a sight and an experience that He would remember forever. But how was Moses changed by it? What did he actually gain from it?

It seems that the greater, indelible mark on Moses is described in the next chapter, Exodus 34: “The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”” (Exodus 34:5–7 NAS95)

That is, God reveals Himself most remarkably, not through experiences of the eye gate, but rather through hearing in one’s ears the very Word of God by which we are informed of the mysteries of God, not least that God shows mercy and judgment at the same time. We are led to fear and obedience as we hear His words, for which we are better suited than seeing Him. God’s Word outshines the signs and visions that we seek with our eyes. And so we ask, “What has God said?” rather than “What does God look like?”

Hopeless

Hopeless

Faith, love and hope are to be consistent features of the Christian’s stability, the three-legged stool on which we sit. The funny thing about a three-legged stool is that if you remove but one of its legs, stability evaporates.

So how many Christians have lost hope? How many have become hopeless? Let’s think how this might happen:

The Christian life is to be one of progressive sanctification. We are to become more holy in our practice. We are to become more Christ-like. This involves some rather sticky areas, not necessarily tied to the most notorious sins. One would be the practice of prayer in such a way that it is a primary practice and response in our lives that can easily lay claim to large swaths of time. But in our culture, time is tracked and allotted in very secular ways, often pushing prayer to the edges. Few of us are aligned with Martin Luther who said that he had so much to do in a day, he must get up earlier to pray. Have you become hopeless about ever becoming a prayer warrior? If so, your stool is listing heavily to one side.

There is also the problem of our guilty conscience concerning witness. The solution is not to get rid of the guilty conscience. The solution is that we should actually delight in speaking of Jesus to those who do not now know Him. But we don’t want to offend people. We are afraid. We lack confidence. And the excuses go on. Have you resigned yourself to living for the rest of your life with a guilty conscience regarding boldness for Jesus? That would be an example of living a hopeless life.

And then there is the problem of continued struggle with sin. We know those things that are outside the will of God, unless we are in full delusion. But somehow, we fall back into the same patterns again and again. There is a part of our souls that loves to wallow in that stuff, whether it is an attitude or an action. In the prophet Jeremiah, he informs that people that God is planning calamity on them for their continued sin unless they repent and forsake. This is what they reply: Jer. 18:12 “But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’” Does that fit your condition? Let’s do something about that!

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we cannot lose hope. Faith, love and hope go together. Even isolated hopelessness, whether in lack of Christian virtues or in the lingering presence of sin, is not an option. Ceasing to struggle in these areas, and others, is a crisis of faith. And so I take heart in Isaiah’s words (the happy prophet, as opposed to anguished Jeremiah). He also faced sin and sinners, but gives this word of hope:

Is. 57:10     “You were tired out by the length of your road,
    Yet you did not say, ‘It is hopeless.’
    You found renewed strength,
    Therefore you did not faint.”

Let Your Light Shine (Matt 5:16)

Let Your Light Shine (Matt 5:16)

I wrote today (Thursday) in the daily email about letting “your light” shine. We seem to have as many questions about this as answers. In reading through the remainder of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) I believe Jesus gives us plenty of answers. So what about this light?

Flesh and blood doesn’t seem to shine. We say sometimes that a pregnant woman “glows.” It’s not light, but there’s something going on within that is noticeable. There are also features of appearance that are noticeable, but that does not harm the metaphor.

Christians are those with “something going on within” that also has evidences on the outside. Let’s look at the internal reality first. Christians have an “alien righteousness,” that is, a righteousness that is from outside themselves, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is not just theoretical or spiritual. It is a real righteousness that is practiced. We march to a different drummer. We see ourselves and the world differently. We are in the world, but not of the world. We are, so to speak, pregnant with the righteousness and life of Jesus. It makes a difference.

What are the differences? Let’s not suppose. Let’s just listen to Jesus. Though He makes use of many word pictures, He also speaks literally. And He speaks of a “surpassing righteousness.” This kind of righteousness is not a righteousness that we ourselves, or any diligent and driven “holy” person, can produce on our own. It is Jesus’ righteousness in us, producing a new kind of person.

It is a righteousness that, as we worship before God, cannot tolerate differences with other brothers and sisters in Christ. Those differences must be resolved if we are to engage in true worship together. Ideas matter. Words matter. And relationships matter (5:23-24).

It is a righteousness that deals ruthlessly with sin (5:29-30). We will discuss tomorrow in the “daily” whether the right eye and hand are metaphors or not. But the point remains the same.

It is a righteousness that loves one’s enemies. There is not much wiggle room here, and if our light isn’t shining, perhaps we are more known by those whom we hate than those whom we love. Jesus demands this righteousness-from-above quality (5:38-47).

Jesus’ righteousness given to us produces a trust that is deeper and more apparent than trust in a political person or party, more fundamental than a trust in a portfolio, more secure than a trust in military might. In God we trust, not just on our coin, but in our hearts and practice (5:6-25-34).

This righteousness that we have received by faith in Jesus is a righteousness that regularly repents (7:3-5); that prays persistently (7:7-8); and that, finally, takes Jesus’ words literally and seriously (7:24-27).

We must ask ourselves in what ways our patterns have left the way of Jesus’ righteous way.

A Black Hen Lays a White Egg

A Black Hen Lays a White Egg

Today’s post is not mine, but Charles Spurgeon’s, under the guise of John Ploughman (John Ploughman’s Pictures, The Bible Institute Colportage Association, Chicago). There is a note in the frontispiece informing that it can be mailed anywhere in the US if marked 2nd class mail for 2 cents. - In this article, Spurgeon’s grace-filled genius shines through.

The egg is white enough, though the hen is black as a coal. This a very simple thing, but it has pleased the simple mind of John Ploughman, and made him cheer up when things have gone hard with him. Out of evil comes good, through the great goodness of God. From threatening clouds we get refreshing showers; in dark mines men find bright jewels; and so from our worst troubles come our best blessings. The bitter cold sweetens the ground, and the rough winds fasten the roots of the old oaks. God sends us letters of love in envelopes with black borders. Many a time have I plucked sweet fruit from bramble bushes, and taken lovely roses from among prickly thorns. Trouble is to believing men and women like the sweetbrier in our hedges, and where it grows there is a delicious smell all around, if the dew do but fall upon it from above.

Cheer up, mates, all will come right in the end! The darkest night will turn to a fair morning in due time. Only let us trust in God, and keep our heads above the waves of fear. When our hearts are right with God, everything is right. Let us look for the silver which lines every cloud, and when do do not see it let us believe that it is there. We are all at school and our great Teacher writes many a bight lesson on the blackboard of affliction. Scant fare teaches us to live on heavenly bread. Sickness bids us send off for the good Physician. Loss of friends makes Jesus more precious, and even the sinking of our spirits brings us to live more entirely upon God. All things are working together for the good of those who love God, and even death itself will bring them their highest gain. Thus the black hen lays a white egg.

It seems that Spurgeon refers above to William Cowper’s hymn, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.”

Deep in unfathomable mines                    Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;


Of never failing skill                                 The clouds ye so much dread


He treasures up His bright designs            Are big with mercy and shall break


And works His sov’reign will.                   In blessings on your head.

Loyalty Programs

Loyalty Programs

The online version of Merriam-Webster dictionary gives recent examples in media of the word or concept that one is searching, For “loyalty,” here is the most recent: “Potbelly: Members of the free Potbelly Perks loyalty program can buy one Original or Big sandwich through Friday, March 21, and get a free one on the next visit.” That seems to be what passes for loyalty these days: Potbelly perks.

All of the recent examples given were from merchants seeking to establish a loyalty program whereby they could keep the customer coming back. It seems now that every chain has one. What must you do to enroll? Carry the card (your wallet will get fat) or download the app (you now have so many apps you can’t find what you want on your phone). In addition they want your phone number so they can send you a regular barrage of texts, and of course your email address. Spam. What do you get in return? Often, you don’t know for sure. I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten anything for the dollars spent at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts.

Now does it follow that you signed up for a loyalty program and if you shop somewhere else, you are being disloyal? Hardly. The meaning of the term “loyal” has been seriously downgraded. The merchant really has no obligation to you, nor you to them. It is just a trick on their part to get you to make their store a habit.

That’s a long lead-in to what the Bible says about loyalty. And as for that, there’s not much. It is not a common word in the Bible. The only verse in NASB, my preferred translation, is in Nehemiah: 13:14 Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services. The word “loyal” is from the important Hebrew word chesed, used over 200 times in the OT, and only translated as “loyal” once. I don’t think it should have even been translated “loyal” here! The word “loyalty” shows up only 6 times, and again is from the same Hebrew word, which in all the other cases, has better words by which it is translated.

So there we have it - I’m kind of down on this whole “loyalty” thing. It is a modern word that is used to trivialize a deep and dear concept about fidelity to the covenant which God, and not Potbelly, has made with His children. “Fidelity” is a “faith” word, and so it has the idea of keeping faith with the covenant with God whereby we uphold our end (the light end) of the covenant, even as God upholds the heavy end. Nehemiah labored in a very difficult role to fulfill the calling that God had placed upon his life, and he did so in accordance with the covenant, displaying godly qualities even in the face of difficulty and opposition. Participation in this covenant is a gift of grace, and yet that inclusion comes with the desire and responsibility to reflect the character of God in the outworking of His will and ways. It’s living in right relationship with God, a relationship that is given, but then lived-out in practical ways.

Potbelly’s loyalty program includes no covenant, no grace, no relationship, and the cheapest of rewards. March 21 has passed, and your free sandwich has expired. That’s loyalty for you.

Read the Book, and Do the Lab

Read the Book, and Do the Lab

Jeff may be surprised, but I have remembered something that he said when we were doing weekly Bible studies a few years ago. We covered several books of the Bible, and I can’t remember what was the context for his statement, that all of our Bible learning should be linked to “labs.” That is, what we learn in the Bible, we should practice putting into practice.

I avoided classes that had labs if I could. I couldn’t avoid biology, so we had to study organ systems, and then we had to cut up the frog on a little stainless steel tray and discover what we already knew from the book. I was a history major in college, and while labs are possible, they were not common. I was assigned to study the writings of Washington Gladden housed at the Ohio Historical Society. I read some of his sermons, which I think qualifies as a lab, and did not reach much of a conclusion because of the weakness of my effort. I learned later that he was a Social Gospel preacher who linked salvation with social action, not so much a salvation from sin against God, but salvation as human efforts to cure societal ills - clearly not the Gospel. I didn’t know this from my reading, but from others who actually read and understood. I should have failed the lab.

Jeff says that in church, there is much more Book than lab. He was not advocating ignoring the Book. But when a preacher preaches the Book, he also ought to give some assignments. I suppose those assignments could be to sit and think; to write out a confession, whether of sin or of faith; or to obey what is commanded; or to parse out what should be the attitude that accompanies a promise (if God says, “I will be with you,” a promise, then how should that affect our thoughts and our moods, especially in the midst of trial?). What if every sermon had an assignment? What if we knew when we left the room what it is that we are supposed to do with what we have just heard? Because, as the Bible says, it’s not just the hearing, but the doing.

It’s been some time since Jeff and I sat down together. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard his common-sense statement that the Book demands a lab assignment. And I have to confess, I haven’t done much with it. This is no good excuse, but I’m very comfortable being a Book guy. I can do without cutting up the frog. But none of us can do without responding to the Word.

This Sunday we will complete an exposition of Paul’s letter to Titus. The Pastoral Epistles, which includes Titus, have a high rate of imperatives (commands) in them. Do this and this and this, and don’t do this. Timothy and Titus are being given instructions on how to supervise local church ministry in their region or on their island. Paul tells Titus to be really clear about grace (Book), and to urge people to be involved in good works (Lab). He is clear that the grace precedes the good works, but that the good works are not optional. I think that might translate into something that sounds like, “Read the Book and Do the Lab.”

So as this Winter series called “Grace and Good Works,” (or, “Book and Lab”) closes this Sunday, let me give fair warning that there will be a lab assignment. Not only does the Lord want us to have our minds exercised, but He may also want us to get our hands dirty.

The Unavoidable-ness of God

The Unavoidable-ness of God

My working definition for “worldliness” is to act as though God does not exist or that He does not matter. If you were to accept that definition, you might agree that much of the world is addicted to worldliness, as are many professing Christians when there is a separation between their profession and their practice.
 
So as I seek to make the case for the unavoidable-ness of God, I must face the objection that many, many people are avoiding Him just fine every day of the week. They are acting as if they have nothing to fear from Him, and stand in no need of what they might gain from Him. He is completely avoidable, and it is being proved every day. But that is not true universally, in one sense. And in another sense, it is not true at all. Let’s take these one at a time.
 
First of all, there are many Christians who find God to be completely unavoidable. They may have once thought that they could live quite well without Him, but something changed their point of view. Somehow, they came face to face with the reality of God, and they found Him to be, well, unavoidable. They heard the Gospel, and they could not un-hear it. They believed, and their perspective of themselves and of the world, and of God, all changed. God was now unavoidable. So the unavoidableness of God is not universal. It has dawned upon many people, though it may not as yet have dawned upon you. But it will, sooner or later, and that leads us to the second point.
 
Second, God’s unavoidable-ness will one day be established in such a way that no one, not one person, will deny it. There is coming a day, based on God’s revelation of Himself that you may have not yet considered, when God will reveal Himself in a glorious and unmistakable way through the second coming of His Son, Jesus, the Lord of Glory. He willcome to bring final deliverance to His people and to vindicate God in such a way that “every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). Those who bow and confess, which will be everyone without exception, will do so because there will be no other option. I will call it the unavoidable-ness of God.
 
Other things are predicted to be unavoidable in our lives. Death and taxes come to mind. The ups and downs of war and peace, gain and loss, heating and cooling - these things seem to be unavoidable. But sometimes, a war can be avoided, at least for a time and in a particular place. You and I, or bigger entities like science and national powers, may affect these things, but have no control over the unavoidable-ness of God. When He chooses to appear, He will indeed appear. We don’t get to vote on it.
 
And so, as with lesser unavoidable things, you might think about getting out ahead of it. If a financial disaster is looming, you could arrange finances to avoid the worst of it. And if God’s appearance in glory is coming, you can prepare for it. God has given very detailed instructions on how to be prepared, and it has to do with faith in Jesus. He is the Agent designated by God to prepare us to stand justified in judgment as opposed to condemned. He is the only Agent who is able to vouch for us, and without Him we will find ourselves alone and completely vulnerable to the wrath of God. Why? Because we, His creatures, treated Him as though He doesn’t exist, or doesn’t matter. It is a practice that is not honoring to God, and is not good for you.

What is this confidence that you have? (Is 36:4)

What is this confidence that you have? (Is 36:4)

One of the great stories late in Judah’s history is that of Hezekiah and God’s deliverance from the Assyrian invasion. Sennacherib is their king, and Rabshakeh is their spokesman. Those are big and hairy names. People might take you more seriously if you had a name like Rabshakeh. I would like to analyze his speech with you which is intended to frighten Jerusalem into submission.

The first thing that Rabshakeh points to is an inconsistency in the faith of Judah (Is 36:5-6). They say that they believe in God, and yet they have made an alliance for protection with Egypt. God has repeatedly instructed them to “trust in the Lord,” and yet they feel that they must shore up their defense by depending on ungodly nations. The Church does this when we rely on the world to accomplish our ends. Inconsistencies between what we say that we believe, and what we actually do, weaken us.

The second thing which is obvious about Rabshakeh is that he largely misunderstands Judah’s God and religion (Is 36:7). He points to Hezekiah as already undermining faith in God by removing the “high places,” which are sites of worship around Judah. But he does not know that those “high places” are actually places where false gods have been worshipped, and Hezekiah removed them in order to restore a focused reliance on the one, true God. The real tragedy is that the high places were even there in the first place. The Church is terribly weakened when we tolerate a worship of multiple gods.

The next tactic that Rabshakeh uses is to point to their military weakness (36:8-9). He brazenly offers to give to Jerusalem two thousand horses, but claims (correctly, I think) that Jerusalem could not find riders for those horses with the ability to confront the abilities of the Assyrians. The Church is not preserved through the world’s skills, as in money or marketing. Our strength is in God, in obedience to His Word, and in God’s provision. It seems that if the Church is regarded as strong according to worldly metrics, then the Church has wandered off her path.

Then Rabshakeh clearly states that he himself speaks for God (36:10). This is audacious, but it is also common. The Bible calls them false prophets, and false prophets can inhabit the halls of education, finance, government, and corporations. Some of the most effective false prophets are religious leaders. It is easy to claim to speak for God. But there is an easy test. The Church must continually study to compare such statements with God’s Word. God does not contradict Himself, and if someone contradicts God’s Word, they are indeed a false prophet.

Rabshakeh then paints a stark picture of impending doom if the city does not comply (36:11-12). They face suffering, humiliation and defeat. But once again, the Church should know that we have been given the end of God’s story, and that there are two ultimate outcomes, Heaven and Hell. Whatever may happen before that time, whether it be thriving or even martyrdom, is small in relation to the eternal outcome. The Church knows that to stand faithfully with our faithful Savior is the only proper path.

Powers of Observation

Powers of Observation

When I come home from visiting, my wife will ask me questions about colors or items I noticed. I don’t notice much of anything. However, I am able to notice details in Scripture text after years of practice.

In the television show “Elementary” from about ten years ago, Sherlock has powers of observation different than the ones above. He notices small things that most people would not notice. So does God. God’s Word does not describe God’s notice as the same as mine or my wife’s, or Sherlock’s. But God’s powers of observation are noted in several places. I’ve traced some it by searching out “small things.”

God notices the smallest of details in His Word, the Scriptures. It is common today as people wanting to preach the “gist” of Scripture without attention to the specifics. I think it allows them to shave the “rough” edges from God’s Word, though I would argue that it is the “rough” edges with which we need to struggle. The”Word-as-received” addresses hidden offenses more effectively. Here is what Jesus says: Matt. 5:18 “until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

God’s judgment is also impartial, so much so that, as it says in Deut. 1:17 ‘You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike.” God instructs His people to judge in this way because He judges in this way. He is not bound by our estimation of what is a “big” sin or a “significant” sin or an an especially “bad” sin. All sin is an affront to God’s holiness.

The entrance to God’s salvation is small: Matt. 7:14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” The path to God is exclusive. Jesus famously said, John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” It would be fair to translate this verse “I am the only way.” It is narrow as opposed to the broad way that accepts every notion of man’s mind that imagines what God ought to accept. But man’s open-minded opinion contradicts the statement above about the small gate and the narrow way.

But also, God accepts all kinds of people for salvation. God’s powers of observation, demonstrated by Jesus, notice the poor and the blind, the rejected and the outcasts. Remember how Jesus noticed with His divine powers of observation the woman at the well and the woman with the issue of blood. He noticed the small child and the criminal on the adjacent cross. He noticed the one man in the tree that everyone else wanted to ignore: Luke 19:3 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”

God sees things that others do not see. He sees you and the things that you wish other people would notice and the things that you wish other people wouldn’t. But He sees, and His regard for you and your concerns is not governed by the false notion of “bigger is better” that has captivated our culture. Oh, God is indeed great, but He notices that which is not.

Everyone in Distress, in Debt, or Discontented (1 Samuel 22:2)

 Everyone in Distress, in Debt, or Discontented (1 Samuel 22:2)

I may be the weird one, but this little triplet from David’s experience of fleeing Saul grabs me. The alliteration helps, but I am impressed again with how God works so much differently than does the world.

Think of an exercise in team-building. Maybe you could think of building a church staff. How are you going to go about it? You might start with a careful description of the skills needed, but then you move on to the personalities and psychological profiles are needed to fill all the seats on the bus. Yes, that is the kind of language that is used in the popular business books, and yet I am not sure at all that building a church staff or building a team has much to do with who sits where on a bus. When I ride the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the airport, I could not care less whether someone is a lion or an otter, extrovert or introvert, Type A or B or Z - everyone looks straight ahead; no one talks, and we just hope to get off the bus.

David, on the run from Saul with his life at risk, desperately needed a team. He was able to form such a group, though it seems he never consulted LinkedIn. This group which at one time numbered 600 men were drawn to him perhaps as much by their own personal distress as due to their respect and admiration for David and his reputation. They had lost everything, though we are not sure how. Perhaps the Philistines had taken their land and perhaps destroyed their families. Whatever victories Saul had been able to gain, it had not spared them their dire circumstances. And so they came to David.

But they must have known something of the one to whom they were coming. This was the man who, when a boy, had defeated Goliath. This is the one who was challenged to calm Saul’s evil spirit with music. He was the poet who sang to the sheep, and seemed to treat people as well or better than those sheep. He is the one who would be known as the Shepherd/King. Though not yet a king, these men saw something in David - that he would shepherd them, and they were willing to pledge their lives and service to him.

But there were rough, very rough. They were fashioned into mighty warriors, and probably had plenty of raw material available for that quest, but they were also prone to wanton violence and interpersonal conflict and greed and the immoralities that go along with it. David would have to patiently and carefully disciple them to be those who would reflect his own character and then help them to be conversant with God’s way rather than man’s ways. It would take time, and some would leave and die in their sins.

Corporate style teams cannot afford this much time. They need sterling resumés to start with, and each person needs to gain a following soon after. But David lovingly struggled with some of these men for the rest of their lives. I wonder what would happen if we saw “local church” more in David’s terms than that of “this present evil age (Gal 1:4)”

This Mob-ocractic Spirit

This Mob-ocractic Spirit

It is dangerous to pluck a phase from the news, but not quite so dangerous if the phrase showed up in a speech back in the earlier 1800’s by Abraham Lincoln quite a while before he became President and thus before the Civil War. He included it in a speech to a group of young men and spoke of the duty of preservation of liberty, not so much out of passion, but in rational and reasonable ways.

A preceding event prompted Lincoln’s warning and his use of the term, “mobocratic,” evidently used from time to time by others, but new to me. The tragedy was the lynching of a black man by a white mob, which, you would agree, was a terrible violation of liberty of the individual by many who were certainly not much interested in preserving liberty.

When we turn to the Bible, as we should, we find mobs at work in various settings. The mob in Jerusalem rose up against the prophet Jeremiah when he did not parrot the party line. The people had been assured of “peace and safety,” and Jeremiah was predicting imminent judgment. They threw him into a muddy pit.

The heads of the religion department in Jerusalem complained to Jesus about the praise He received from the “mob” as He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Those shouting “Hosanna!” would have seen this as participation in public worship and would have certainly rejected the term “mob.” Does it merely depend on one’s perspective? “One man’s mob is another man’s worship throng?” I don’t think so. Jesus’ worshippers were not throwing stones. They were not demanding death and destruction. They were praising Jesus, God’s Son.

But there was another mob, only days later, who would chant “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” to the Roman governor, Pilate. Yes, that would be a mob, individuals caught up into destructive activity, driven by passion, and with little reason or reasonableness. Yes, they were concerned about the preservation of their “old” religion in the face of this powerful prophet and teacher, and Jewish exiles would continue to persecute Christians throughout the Book of Acts. They were so caught up in the zeitgeist of the moment that they were unable to soberly consider what the Old Testament clearly said. They were driven to an action for which they will have to answer to God Himself one day.

But doesn’t that apply to us as well? Won’t we be judged when we fail to reflect on Scripture and to consider what is indeed Christ-like as opposed to the prevalent “spirit of the age.” It is not so much that we are to think for ourselves (I don’t know how successfully we ever do such a thing - we have very few “original” thoughts), but we should know who and what we are following. What we are committed to follow if we call ourselves Christians is the Word of God upon which we soberly reflect and learn in concert with other believers (not a mob).

I believe the devil loves to incite a mob, and he does so with a cleverness that fools us often. The phrase “everyone’s doing it” is almost a definition of mobocracy, following the crowd, lending your passions but leaving your brain at home. It has happened in Biblical times and it still happens today. Democracy is one thing. Mobocracy is something much more dangerous. And mobocracy is deadly for the testimony of Jesus Christ and of His Church.

Whiter than Snow

 Whiter than Snow

There is a beautiful verse in Isaiah 1 that uses snow’s whiteness as a word picture. I don’t know how in the world that phrase came to mind here at the halfway point of February, but let’s not talk about the weather. Let’s talk about the Gospel.

The verse goes like this: Is. 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow;”

The last two lines are actually found in poetic form in the Bible text. “White as snow” is a pretty good illustration, not of whiteness, but of purity.

The problem was that as Isaiah was writing, Israel was anything but pure. Here is his poetic description: Is. 1:4 Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly!” Come now, Isaiah, tell us what you really think. But remember, this is not Isaiah’s observation. It is God’s, which Isaiah was then led to write.

Not only were they dirty, but they were sick. “The whole head is sick, And the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is nothing sound in it.”

And then, there is nothing that Israel could do about it. They were not able to work or buy their way back into God’s favor. They could do all the religious rituals they could dream up, but it would be to no avail.

That’s the bad news. The bad news is needed before we are ready to hear and appreciate the good news. Without the bad new, the good news does not strike us as being all that good. The bad news states that Israel was anything but pure; disqualified from any kind of covenant relationship with the holy God.

The good news talks about these stained people becoming “white as snow,” pristine and pure and thus acceptable to God. It is a picture of purity, but it requires us to ask the question, “how?” If they can not do it themselves, then how is it to be accomplished? We will find the answer in the text that I gave above, but only in part. Here is the whole thing: Is. 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.” Not only do we have the word picture, “white as snow,” but also this simile: “like wool.” I suppose we normally think of wool as white, though I’m not sure that is its import here. Wool does not fall from heaven as does snow. It comes from a sheep, from the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

So both pictures are important. Jesus, the Son of God, came down from heaven (like snow) for the express purpose of bringing cleansing to His people, that is, those who would accept His gift. And the way that He did it is by Himself becoming the sacrificial lamb (wool) who would "bear in His own body our sins on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds we are healed” (1 Peter 2:24). That’s the good news. White as snow, and reconciled into a relationship with the God of the universe, which is why you exist.

Staph Meeting

Staph Meeting

I was sitting all alone in a coffee shop with this laptop, deep in thought about something or other. A couple of older ladies sat to my left. I’m not sure how old, maybe my age. But then I saw him, a man with a book, a discussion book. He started to pull some tables and chairs together just to my right. Oh no! He’s getting ready for a staph meeting.

It was not my intention to listen to either the left side or the right. But if I had to hire someone, I would definitely go with the two ladies on my left. They were friends and talked about this or that. One of the things the one mentioned was trying to show some younger people how to get something done, as though these ladies could actually get things done. What a concept!

The tall guy getting ready for his meeting kind of gave himself away. Not only was it the Patrick Lencioni book on organization and leadership (who also wrote the classic, “Death by Meeting,” which was about to be played out just to my right). It was his loafers with no socks. It had snowed that morning, and the compulsion to be cool totally overwhelmed any instinct for common sense. Eventually the group gathered, three women and, finally, a young man. There was some small talk, and then the real issue came to the fore.

I suspected that they were a church staff before they even began churching. There’s just something about that crowd that gives them away, similar to how old, grouchy Baptist pastors are easy to spot. The pastor, that is, the cool dude, started it off by, well, talking about himself.

And that is what the meeting was mostly about: self. They were all supposed to have a list of what makes them most happy in ministry, and the longest segment was the pastor’s talk about what he enjoyed most. They were each to contribute, and around the circle they went. Not a single one mentioned getting paid, though I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have been there otherwise.

Now let me step back from my negativity and cynicism for just a moment to make a point. For each of those staff members, there was nothing that they said that made me think they were not sincere. They were doing as instructed, and I think they most likely truthfully mentioned things that they enjoyed in ministry. It’s not wrong. It is just not what it is all about. I so wanted the Apostle Paul to attend that meeting and tell what he most enjoyed. What was it, Paul, the imprisonments or the stonings or the shipwreck? Oh, he wouldn’t have said that, but he would have changed the question to something like this: What is it that makes Jesus most happy related to this ministry with which you are involved? Your feelings are not to be central. Jesus is.

And so the fault wasn’t with the staff members, but with the leader, who liked to talk about leadership, but never talked about leadership the way the Bible talks about, not as leadership but as servanthood. Servants don’t talk about what they enjoy and don’t enjoy all that much. They talk about Jesus, and they talk about others. So that’s how you turn a staff meeting into a staph meeting.

Worm’s Eye View

 Worm’s Eye View

I learned in art class about perspective, and the difference between the worm’s eye view vs. the eagle’s eye view. The picture will look much different depending on the chosen perspective.

I’ve been reading a collection of sermons written by Christopher Love of England in the 1600’s. He died in his 30’s, so you can see that I am willing to take counsel from younger men, so long as they are dead. The title of the sermon series (and the book) is The Dejected Soul’s Cure. Its a real pick-me-upper.

But the book is honest and wise, and the author, like Spurgeon two hundred years later, is given to word pictures.

The question being examined is why a person who desires to live a holy life focuses more quickly on his faults than his goodnesses. He views his life more from the perspective of a worm’s eye view than that of the eagle. I would guess that a certain number of you would know what I am talking about. Sin is a constant and obvious problem to those who wish to be holy. Certainly we know that pattern of holiness displayed in descriptions of God’s character and as played out in the life of Christ. But we are also convicted about how far we fall short.

Love says that “God’s people see their sins like Mountains, and their graces like mole-hills.” That is not how God sees us, but it is how we tend to see ourselves. There is no sin so mountainous that God will not forgive, and His grace is sufficient for a complete covering. If Noah’s waters covered the mountains, God’s grace can cover our worst sins (according to our own estimation, which is faulty).

But the battle is hard. Love says “my lusts burn like a flame, but my graces like a glowing coal.” It is a view born in a moment, and we cannot see that God can quickly douse a wildfire, and that He will also nurse along a glowing coal.
There are people in the world capable of writing a great list of all their successes, and have little memory to jot down but a failure or two. Not so with many who pursue godliness. “Grace is as the gleaning of the Vintage; sin is as the full harvest.” You know the difference, don’t you? The gleanings are the few stalks left around the edges and corners of the field. The full harvest is greater by far. That is how it seems for those who live with a hunger for God, and also have a keen sensitivity with regard to sin in their own hearts.

Sunday at our Lord’s Table service we will sing the hymn “Grace Greater than our Sin.” Verse two sings “Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold, Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold, Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.” While the serious but dejected soul says “my sins (seem) at full tide, but my graces (seem) at a low ebb,” the Gospel argues against the dejected soul, telling him that “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." It is not that you are so much better than you thought yourself to be. No, you were probably quite right about yourself. It is rather that your Savior is so much greater than you have imagined. Verse 3 of “Grace Greater” sings “Dark is the stain that we cannot hide; What can we do to wash it away? Look! There is flowing a crimson tide, Brighter than snow you may be today.”

Great Cry and Little Wool

Great Cry and Little Wool

It won’t surprise you, if you have read recently, that I am dipping from the well once again of C.H. Spurgeon and his John Ploughman’s Pictures. The artwork at the beginning of the present chapter shows a man shearing his animal in order to collect wool. The problem is that he is shearing, not a sheep, but a pig. That explains our title, in that the pig gives “great cry” but “little wool”.

The first application is to our pursuit of pleasure. Listen to the critique: “There is noise enough - laughter and shouting and boasting; but where is the comfort which can warm the heart and give peace to the spirit? Generally there’s plenty of smoke and very little fire in what is called pleasure.” If our entertainment makes us miserable, perhaps we are seeking to gather wool from a pig.

But then one could speak of the entertainment that takes place at church. Is this also an end in itself? Of course, there are different types of churches, and thus different types of entertainment. For some, it might be the band. For others, the preacher or homily. For others, the people with whom they rub shoulders and exchange conversation. It might be the experience of the grand cathedral, or even the joy of watching the children. Each and all of these most likely have less to do with entertainment described in our chapter as “all fizz and bang and done for.” You carry the experience with you as you exit the doors and resume normal life. I pray that it is deeper, touching not only the senses but also the soul. And for the churches seeking to draw crowds as though they were a stadium or coliseum, you may just get what you deserve: great cry and little wool.

Of course, there are other applications as well. Have you ever heard a person laugh loudly, not because of happiness but because they merely wanted people to believe that they were happy? Wouldn’t it be better just to find the true source of happiness and enjoy it rather than pretending? Or perhaps worse, the person who grumbles and complains about the miseries of their life, and, lo and behold, we find their life is not all that bad. Why not focus on what is good instead of bad? Why not be thankful for the blessings? The persons who plays the martyr may soon find a response from others that secretly hopes your martyrdom finds success. Great cry and little wool. It is present in politics and marketing and the workplace and in our own souls.

The Sheep has been sheared and He has given His wool. We don’t have to shear it ourselves. What we must do is to embrace the proper Resource, not a pig, but the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and find in Him what is good and true and beautiful.

Don’t Cut Off your Nose to Spite your Face

Don’t Cut Off your Nose to Spite your Face

 
Spurgeon, in the voice of John Ploughman, says ”Anger is a short madness. The less we do when we go mad the better for everybody, and the less we go mad the better for ourselves. He is far gone who hurts himself to wreak his vengeance on others. The old saying is, ‘Don’t cut off your head because it aches,’ and other says, ‘Set not your house on fire to spite the moon.’"

This little chapter on Anger in “John Ploughman’s Pictures” says it better than I can, so here are some more quotes:

• “Do nothing when you are out of temper, and then you will have the less to undo.”
• “Let a hasty man’s passion be a warning to you; if he scalds you, take heed that you do not let your own pot boil over.”
• “He who cannot curb his temper carries gunpowder in his bosom, and he is neither safe for himself nor his neighbors.”
• “When passion comes in at the door, what little sense there is indoors flies out of the window.”
• “Anger does a man more hurt than that which made him angry. It opens his mouth, and shuts his eyes, and fires his heart, and drowns his sense, and makes his wisdom folly.”

From whence does anger come? Those who are angry are quick to blame others. “You make me so mad!” But that is not the truth, is it? Anger is our response to the situation, but anger is not a necessary response. A person could just as soon respond with patience, or a desire to see whether one’s own self has contributed to the problem, or with an attitude that you would like to help the person who is in the wrong. Anger does none of those things.

So again, from whence does anger come? Do you remember that Jesus Himself already answered that question? 

Mark 7:20 And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. 21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. 23 “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” 

You might argue that you do not see “anger” in this 13-fold list, though I might find it in the entries “evil thoughts” and “murders” (since, when one is angry, we often think that we would be better off if the other person were absent). But let’s compare this list, “which proceeds out of the man,” to the “works of the flesh” in Galatians 5:

 Gal. 5:19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 Spurgeon says, “A hot-tempered man would be all the better for a new heart, and right spirit.” That fits the Matthew text well. To accord with the second text, we might say that the angry person needs the Lord. Why? Because merely trying harder not to be angry will never work. We cannot change our own hearts, and we cannot conjure up the Spirit. They are both given by Christ to those who have given up on self-salvation and come to Him for the only real help available.

The Value of a Mirror

 The Value of a Mirror

I have spoken recently of figures of speech, and the Bible is full of them. James talks about a man looking in a mirror, but as soon as he walks away, “he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was” (Jas 1:24). Spurgeon in his John Ploughman’s Pictures tells a similar story. He describes showing a mirror to a blind man so that he can see the soot on his face, which is, of course, fruitless. But he goes on to say, "the man without eyes has the advantage for he is in the dark and he knows it."

We found last Sunday that the man born blind in John 9 could actually see some things much more clearly than those who were fully sighted. He could see that there was something different about Jesus, that He was a prophet and a man come from God. He could see in Jesus an authenticity that led him to belief in Jesus as the Son of Man, something that others simply could not or were not willing to see. Spurgeon goes on to tell of other forces that lead sighted people to blindness.

One such condition is simple unreasonableness or willfulness. Some would call it being mule-headed and stubborn. There is an arrogance to it as well. Spurgeon concludes, “We pity the poor blind; we cannot do so much as that for those who shut their eyes against the light.” I have wondered about Jesus’ figure of speech in the Sermon on the Mount about not casting pearls before swine. I think it might fit here.

“Prejudice shuts up many eyes in total darkness.” Pre-judging means that a person has already made up their mind. Arguments will likely do no good. Spurgeon gives the curious illustration: “when he has said a thing he sticks to it like a cobbler’s wax.” I have to confess that I’m not sure the role of wax in shoe repair, at least back in the 1800’s. More clear is: “one man can lead a horse to the water, but a hundred cannot make him drink.” Or, “he is as stubborn as he is stupid, and to get a new thought into his head you would need to bore a hole into his skull with a centre-bit.” (You can get away saying those things when you quote someone who is dead.)

So what is my excuse of your excuse for failing to heed the mirror of the Word you have heard, the truth you have seen, and yet have not responded with appropriate action? We wouldn’t think of going about with soot on our faces, but then we may go about with soot in our hearts, knowing full well that Jesus said that out of the heart come all kinds of evil things. We wouldn’t fail to respond to warning signs from the car that we are driving, but we ignore the warning signs given by the Spirit and the lack of comfort and assurance with God that go with it. In fact, we can become almost used to it. And so, we pray for one another, as Spurgeon does, in these verses:

A dark and blinded thing is man Yet full of fancied light!
   But all his penetration can Produce no Gospel light.
Though heavenly truth may blaze abroad, He cannot see at all;
   Though Gospel leaders show the road, He still gropes for the wall.
O Lord, Thy holy power display, For Thou the help must find:
   Pour in the light of Gospel day; Illuminate the mind.
Behold! How unconcerned they dwell, Though reft of sight they be;
   They fancy they can see right well, And need no help from Thee.
Speak, and they’ll mourn their blinded eyes, And cry to Thee for light;
   O Lord, do not our prayer despise, But give these blind men light.