8 April 2012

Psalm148, 149, 150; Exod. 12:1-14; John 1:1-18

While the Israelites have a meal of roast lamb the Spirit of God will pass through the land of Egypt and kill the first born of every family and also of the livestock of Egypt and on all the gods of Egypt the Lord executed judgment.  This was not only a physical judgment it was also a spiritual one on the gods, the fight is never with flesh and blood alone.  The Israelites were also instructed to eat in haste, prepared for flight.  They were to have a short window to get out of Egypt and they needed to be prepared to go as quickly as possible.  This feast, however, would be repeated forever as they entered the land and settled there and then there would be time to linger, to remember this night.  This was the first feast to be commanded of them, it would be the centerpiece of their calendar, the day the Lord delivered them out of Egypt and out of bondage.  Freedom!

The fallen nature of mankind is clear in that Jesus came to His own and not only did they not receive Him, they put Him to death.  The ones who had the Word killed the Word, they chose their own interpretation for God’s interpretation.  This opened the door to become children of God to all who believe in Him.  The Passover for all has occurred and in the resurrection of Jesus we know of God’s love for His Son and through that love, to those who believe in Him.  Is “belief” enough or is there the need to act on that belief?  The Israelites had to be obedient to the command of God regarding the Passover meal in order to receive the blessing.  If they didn’t follow God’s instructions to the letter they would be judged.  Does that mean it is works salvation?  No, it means that we are called to obedience, we are called to a life of faith, following the commandments of God.  If I told you that there was going to be a tornado today that would destroy your house at 3 PM and you should be elsewhere would it be your faith or your actions that saved you?  We take action based on our faith.  Faith comes first but action based on faith matters as well.  Today is a day for believing in the resurrection to life eternal, let it also be a day for acting like you’ll live forever.

Hail thee, festival day!
Blessed day to be hallowed forever;
Day when our Lord was raised,
Breaking the kingdom of death.

Do we really want community?

Everyone says they want community and don't want isolation and loneliness but do we really? 

Hardly anyone would say that isolation and loneliness were things they crave.  I might want a bit of isolation but the reality is that we weren't made for complete isolation.  I read this article last week and wasn't surprised how difficult silence is for us.  Back in the 4th century there were people who decided that they couldn't handle God and people all at the same time so they took to the desert to hide from the world to get close to God.  That is certainly a strange response to the incarnation, God choosing to get close to people by becoming one of us and, in John's words, dwelling among us. 

People and community are difficult.  It is harder to live out faith in community in many ways.  People drive us crazy and can make life far more difficult than it needs to be.  No one knows that any better than God.  Before He created people everything was literally perfect and then we messed up His perfection.  Rather than giving up on people though we see God again and again trying to have community with us.  He promised a people they would be a great nation, they would have their own land, the best land they could imagine, if they would agree to certain not onerous terms and conditions which Jesus says amount to loving Him and loving your neighbor.  Is there anyone that thinks those two things wouldn't make for a better society?  They couldn't do it though, no matter how much He did for them or how much He pleaded with them to turn back. 

Then, He came and lived among us doing miraculous works of healing, raising the dead, forgiving sins, etc.  Our response was to crucify Him.  The crazy thing is that He knew in advance it would hurt and it would be terrible but He chose it anyway and in doing so He chose to expand the circle of those who He wanted in His community to include the whole world who would then also be able to make His life miserable but He did it because He loves the world. 

All it takes to get into God's circle, in fact become His children, is to believe in His Son and that His sacrifice was sufficient to reconcile us to Him.  That transaction doesn't make us perfect though, in fact it means that God will experience more pain because we will continue to disobey Him, fail to love Him and fail to love one another, but He chooses to continue to expand His community with those who will disappoint Him. 

When we choose community rather than isolation, we expose ourselves to the same thing.  The other side of the coin is that we expose others to us, the kind of people who disappoint others, love imperfectly, and even betray people who love us. 

Tent of Meeting

Do you have a tent of meeting like Moses did?  Exodus 33 tells us that he had a tent to which he would go and meet with the Lord.  The people knew when he was going out there and they would all stand at their own tent doors and watch until he entered the tent of meeting.  In that place Moses was alone with God and the people knew it.  They knew that they could trust him because they knew that his leadership came from having spent time with God and hearing from him. 

I am craving a tent of meeting and I think I need to let people know when I'll be there and what God is saying to me in that tent.  I need more time alone with God.  I spend time hiking and praying but the reality is that I also talk on the phone when I hike, I allow that time to be interrupted.  It is often rich and God speaks to me there but not as rich as it ought to be, certainly not as rich as God wants it be. 

I have a kneeling bench in my house that is supposed to be my tent of meeting.  Have you ever bought exercise equipment like a treadmill. stationary bike, bowflex or some other multi-purpose device?  Did you or do you use it much or does it collect dust or do you hang clothes on it?  The kneeling bench collects dust and good intentions primarily but it's time to start using it and develop some spiritual muscle.  Where is your tent of meeting?

Evangelism, Simplified

Sometimes we make missions and evangelism too hard.  We think of it as something that requires us to go somewhere we ordinarily wouldn't go to do something we ordinarily wouldn't do.  I think for most people it is much simpler than that, it is a matter of thinking about all of life, every relationship, whether intimate or casual, in an evangelistic way. 

If you have a job, family, kids whose activities bring you into contact with others, hobbies you share with others, gym membership where you meet other people in any way, if you go to the grocery store, eat in the same restaurants regularly, anything you do that brings you into contact with other human beings who are created in the image of God, you have an opportunity to share the Gospel in some way. 

The old saying is that we should talk to God about our friends and then talk to our friends about God.  That is good advice and a good place to start your evangelism.  If, as I do, you believe in the sovereignty of God and you believe that it is the movement of the Holy Spirit operating in someone's life that brings them to saving knowledge of Jesus is there a better way to start evangelizing than praying that God will move in that person's life?  The most important thing we can do for others is to pray for them, asking the Lord to manifest Himself to them, and then asking Him to grant you the grace to be whatever part in that process that He deems fit.

The other really important thing we can do is to be distinctively Christian wherever we are.  That requires thought and it requires a knowledge of Scripture and of Jesus.  Being immersed in the Word, both written and in Christ, is key to effective evangelism.  If we allow the Word to dwell richly in us and we abide in Him then we are more likely to live Christian lives.  It also helps to have tight relationships with other Christians who love you and whom you trust who can hold you accountable and speak into your life when they see something in your attitudes or actions that is problematic. 

Are you already praying, already in the Word, already in accountability relationships?  If so you are on the right road to be evangelistic.  Now you just have to begin doing all those things, prayer, study and relationships purposefully for the kingdom.  Simple, isn't it?

A lesson in prayer from The Godfather

The movie, The Godfather, opens with a funeral director making a plea for help to the Godfather, Don Corleone.  It seems this man's daughter has been raped and at the wedding of Don Corleone's daughter this man is appealing to the Don for "justice" for his daughter.  Clearly he wants the man or men who did this to be killed and the Don rightly points out that this man is asking for more than justice, his daughter is still alive.  Odd to be getting ethical lessons from a mafia boss but he is right, the man seeks not justice but vengeance.

What got my attention when I watched a portion of the movie for probably the tenth time, was the Don's response to the request: " We've known each other many years, but this is the first time you came to me for counsel,for help. I can't remember the last time that you invited me to your house for a cup of coffee, even though my wife is godmother to your only child. But let's be frank here: you never wanted my friendship. And uh, you were afraid to be in my debt."

How often God could say that to me.  For many years I considered myself a Christian because I believed that Jesus had died for my sins but my prayer life looked like this, when I had some trouble in my life I went to the God-Father and asked Him to deal with the trouble for me.  He wanted relationship and I wanted protection and one who would come against my enemies, those who had wronged me.  I still don't invite Him for coffee as often as I should and I don't think of Him as friend often enough.

He has already something greater us than we could have imagined, forgiving our sins, making us not only friends but His children.  We can know that truth, however, and still not be His friends and children because we are afraid to be in His debt.  We take for granted that He can do things for us so we keep Him close enough to ensure availability but no closer.  That attitude is described in the letter to the church at Laodicea in Revelation 3, it is being lukewarm and God doesn't like lukewarm or tepid.  We are made for real relationship with Him, friendship.  Why do we settle for acquaintanceship? 


 

Transformation

What I am slowly realizing is that my thinking needs to change at a very basic level.  In that last post about re-racking weights I began with the idea of creating or transforming a culture and ended with the realization that what most needed to be transformed was me.  My attitude towards people was in dire need of change, it was far worse than the behavioral modification I wanted to impose on those who didn't re-rack their weights.

Jesus had a lot to say to the Pharisees about their attitudes towards people.  He called them white-washed sepulchres, fine looking on the outside but filled with dead men's bones.  He said that murder was more than the physical act of killing people, it involves hating them and speaking evil of them. 

It took about three years for Him to get my attention that the real problem was in me not in others.  I don't need a strategy for dealing with the problem of getting people to re-rack their weights, I need a strategy for dealing with the nasty mess that is in me. 

Paul told the Roman church, " Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."  Conforming to the world begins at the level of the mind.  I have to learn to think differently about everything if I am to have the mind of Christ.  


The Beatitudes (Matthew 5.1-12) set up Jesus' statement,  “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet."  The teachings in those first twelve verses tell us what salt is and the virtues He extols there are not worldly virtues at all, they are completely counter-cultural.  They do, however, take reality seriously.  They tell us that we aren't to accept the way things are, we are to mourn that fact, to be as heart broken over that reality as God is and to pursue the way things ought to be.  


It all begins, however, with pursuing the way things ought to be in my own life.  Until I am ready to see the way things are in my life the way God sees them and to mourn over that, I am not ready to pursue change.  Sometimes it takes a long time for me to see the real need for change because I am a Pharisee.

Pet Peeves and the Glory of God

At the gym I go to there are signs everywhere telling people they need to re-rack their weights. All that means is that if you're using equipment that requires free weights, the big round ones, and you have loaded those onto the bar or the machine, you are expected to remove them to their proper places after you're done with them.  No one does it though or if they do they just put them wherever it is most convenient for them.  It drives me crazy.  It used to make me mad but it happens so much that now I just expect it. 


Between sets of my workout, while I am cooling down from the strain I have exerted I re-rack weights where I know no one is working out.  Even the things that are re-racked I re-rack to make sure they're right, all the same weight hanging on the same peg, not some mixed-up groupings.  I re-arrange the dumbbell rack to put things in their proper order. 

For a couple of years I griped about it, to anyone who would listen and to myself, partially in the hopes that there would be like a movement of people who would care and we would change the culture through our mutual disgust for the people who didn't re-rack their weights but it didn't happen. 

I had really strong feelings about people who didn't re-rack their weights.  I wouldn't talk to those people but I would talk about them.  They were lesser people who shouldn't be allowed to work out on equipment that required weights, they should be allowed only to use machines that have stacks of weights where you use the little pins to set the amount you want to lift.  There is no responsibility in using those but there is a responsibility that attaches to using the equipment I use.

The funny thing is, I am a really messy guy.  My wife gave up years ago trying to get me not to be such a mess.  She has worked it out that if I will put things away everywhere else in the house she will allow me to have a really messy desk so we have an arrangement.  So I don't have any OCD, everything needs to be organized kind of thing in my life.  There is no other aspect of my life that is organized or where I feel the need to organize things but at the gym it is an obsession for me. 


Lately I just decided it was just life and I would just re-rack things without thinking about it or talking about it to anyone.  It didn't seem to matter anyway to many people so it wasn't like I was attracting like-minded people to my cause and it was probably true that I was driving people away by talking about it.  Now I just make it part of my workout to do it and I really don't give it any real thought.

Today it occurred to me that I could do it with a purpose, I could do it because I want to be obedient to Jesus' command to love my neighbor like myself. 

My real motivation from the start wasn't because I think everybody ought to play by the rules, I am definitely not that kind of a guy.  Early on when I started working out I saw women struggling to take 45-lb plates of weight off machines they wanted to use because some inconsiderate jerk didn't take the time to remove them and I always volunteered to do it for the women.  I always wondered if they thought I was probably the inconsiderate jerk and just felt guilty because I saw them struggling so I made sure they knew it pissed me off someone had done that.  So my purpose was to help the women and to talk about the inconsiderate jerks with someone who would surely, given their inconvenience, share my indignation.

Today it occurred to me that I had gotten over the anger thing and that I really was just re-racking weights.  I began to wonder if it was possible to re-purpose my effort and decided that I want to do it to love my neighbor, I want it to be right for them, to make their time in the gym more simple and enjoyable, less frustrating.  I know it sounds trite but I think it will change my attitude and I can do it with a smile on my face because it gets me thinking about all those people who are now my neighbor.

Now I have to work on how I feel about my fellow Christians who don't re-rack their weights because they obviously don't love their neighbor as much as I do.  Sin never ends does it.