“But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. . . . But these are . . . those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” (Mark 4:8, 20)
Nothing beats rich, loamy dirt, horse-manured, compost-fed, and broken-up two feet deep. Well-watered and well-drained, warmed by the sun and comforted by a blanket of mulch to hold moisture down and weeds at bay, such soil is a seed-bed for wonderful things. Wonderful fruit-bearing things.
Like apricot trees and watermelon vines, nine-foot-long tomato “trees” and elephant-ear summer squash. Things like okra spears thrust into the sky and gigantic jewel-drops hanging from the eggplant plants. Wonderful things like grapevines filled with bright and juicy reds ready to explode with flavor, green beans poled and granny smith apples stretching a tree’s limits. It all begins with good soil.
Christ makes it clear: Where the Spirit and the Word of God are, there is such a thing as “good soil,” and there is such a thing as “good fruit.” There may be variations in quantity from vine to vine or branch to branch, but good soil results in good fruit. When the fruit is poor or non-existent, check soil conditions.
What makes for good soil? Not only ears that hear but hearts that receive the Word of God for the truth, law, and promise that it is. Not only lips that confess but hearts that embrace and love and obey. Pray for such hearts, long for them, work for them, and use the organic material of the Word of God to enrich them. Such hearts are tilled and turned over, clods broken up, stones cast out. Such hearts are made soft over time and with experience rather than hardened and left fallow through disuse (or misuse). Such good hearts receive the Word of God and produce.
What is the fruit? The apostle Paul gives us this list as representative: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Those who are full of the Spirit are full of these things, and those who are full of the Spirit are drinking from the well of living water the Spirit has authored, that is, the Holy God-breathed Scriptures. Pray for this fruit as well, look for it, hope for it, long for it. Pray for a never-ending supply of love for God and love for others. Pray for God-given peace externally (between you and others) and internally (in your own breast). Pray for increasing crops—the hundredfold variety—of charity and goodness and purity and faith. Pray for the blessed fruit of patience produced by trials, itself producing perfections and completeness. But in all your prayers remember these things spring only from the seed of God’s Word planted in the receptive soil of the heart.
“God, grant us such fertile hearts as receive Your Word and find it growing healthy, fruit-bearing vines that extend to every corner of our lives. Fill us with Your Spirit, and by Your Word produce within us the fruit of the Spirit, dropping from our branches and lying all about us on the ground. Give us ears to hear, hearts that accept, lives that bear fruit—hundredfold—we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
Showing posts with label Gospels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gospels. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Roots in the Rocks
“Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. . . . These likewise are the ones . . . who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.” (Mark 4:5, 6, 16, 17)
I live in the South and have lived in the South practically all of my life. I find it humorous to hear the comments each year: “It’s never been this hot before!” “I can’t believe how dry it is!” “It’s gotten a lot hotter earlier this year”—and on and on the complaints and seeming amazement roll out every time there is a gathering. But, as I said, I have lived in the South all of my life, and it always gets hot, pretty much from April to October, and we almost always have a drought (there have been exceptions) or at least what can be called a “dry season.” Grass stays green in your lawn if you water, but brown and yellow can generally be expected to take over at some point if you don’t. It has always been that way and always will be, “global warming” or not.
I have lived in the world all of my life too (as we all have, of course), and there is another certainty I have found: trouble comes to everyone, and persecution comes to all who love God’s Word enough to live by it (2 Timothy 3:12). Christ says in this passage there are “rainy-day Christians” who find it easy to be Christians when things are going well for them, when it is easy to flower and blossom and look promising. But when summer comes, and the sun gets to glaring, and the long haul of 100˚-days sets in—when sickness takes hold, relationships get tough, or the Christian thing to do goes contra “cool”—where is their faith and hope and love now? It has found no root, Christ says, in the stony soil of their hearts but is far more like the pretty spring wildflower-weeds that spring up today and wither tomorrow.
A well-balanced soil makes for not only happy but healthy plants. All green on top but no root results in a flashy but short show. Hearing the Word of God, believing it, committing to it, obeying it, and living according to it in every nook and cranny of life, come hell or high water and through thick and thin, means growing the deep roots that will survive any trouble/trial/tribulation or the sure persecution that comes from loving the Word more than the world. Survive, not “make easy.” Trouble and persecution by definition exclude “easy.” But while the heat of life destroys some, it is life and even joy to others—the difference being the roots that can reach the water of the Word of God through faith, hope, and obedience.
“Lord God, we give You thanks for the gift of Your Word, the sound of Your voice that has come to our ears. We pray our thanks would not be short-lived or fair-weather only but that we would love and cherish Your Word always, when the pressure is on as well as off. Help us to endure when all the world seems against us. Help us to rely upon You, trust in Your promises, hope in Your grace and mercy, when life is hot and dry and troublesome or mundane. Keep us from stumbling, dear God, and grant to us the strong roots of trees that bear fruit, whose leaves do not wither, because their delight and every thought is grounded in the Word of God. So we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
I live in the South and have lived in the South practically all of my life. I find it humorous to hear the comments each year: “It’s never been this hot before!” “I can’t believe how dry it is!” “It’s gotten a lot hotter earlier this year”—and on and on the complaints and seeming amazement roll out every time there is a gathering. But, as I said, I have lived in the South all of my life, and it always gets hot, pretty much from April to October, and we almost always have a drought (there have been exceptions) or at least what can be called a “dry season.” Grass stays green in your lawn if you water, but brown and yellow can generally be expected to take over at some point if you don’t. It has always been that way and always will be, “global warming” or not.
I have lived in the world all of my life too (as we all have, of course), and there is another certainty I have found: trouble comes to everyone, and persecution comes to all who love God’s Word enough to live by it (2 Timothy 3:12). Christ says in this passage there are “rainy-day Christians” who find it easy to be Christians when things are going well for them, when it is easy to flower and blossom and look promising. But when summer comes, and the sun gets to glaring, and the long haul of 100˚-days sets in—when sickness takes hold, relationships get tough, or the Christian thing to do goes contra “cool”—where is their faith and hope and love now? It has found no root, Christ says, in the stony soil of their hearts but is far more like the pretty spring wildflower-weeds that spring up today and wither tomorrow.
A well-balanced soil makes for not only happy but healthy plants. All green on top but no root results in a flashy but short show. Hearing the Word of God, believing it, committing to it, obeying it, and living according to it in every nook and cranny of life, come hell or high water and through thick and thin, means growing the deep roots that will survive any trouble/trial/tribulation or the sure persecution that comes from loving the Word more than the world. Survive, not “make easy.” Trouble and persecution by definition exclude “easy.” But while the heat of life destroys some, it is life and even joy to others—the difference being the roots that can reach the water of the Word of God through faith, hope, and obedience.
“Lord God, we give You thanks for the gift of Your Word, the sound of Your voice that has come to our ears. We pray our thanks would not be short-lived or fair-weather only but that we would love and cherish Your Word always, when the pressure is on as well as off. Help us to endure when all the world seems against us. Help us to rely upon You, trust in Your promises, hope in Your grace and mercy, when life is hot and dry and troublesome or mundane. Keep us from stumbling, dear God, and grant to us the strong roots of trees that bear fruit, whose leaves do not wither, because their delight and every thought is grounded in the Word of God. So we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Tidy Sidewalks
“And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. . . . And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.” (Mark 4:4, 15)
Birds eat seed. I have three birdfeeders in my backyard, and the birds keep me busy filling them up with sunflower seeds. This is great, of course, if you are trying to attract birds, but it is a whole ’nother story if you are trying to grow sunflowers. Put out bean “seed” in the garden and wait and watch. Before long, here comes rockin’ robin to see what you left him. Plant enough for the birds.
Just as surely as the birds are going to eat some of your seed, the devil’s purpose in life is to take away the Word of God out of your heart. That has been his line from the very beginning. When God had given His word to Adam and Eve, Satan came along and twisted it and questioned it and tried to rub it out altogether.
So guard your heart. The first step is to plant the Word of God there. But if it is not guarded and cherished through faith and obedience, Satan will come waltzing in through an open door, robbing you of its benefit, strewing doubt and lies and temptations in its stead.
Sometimes we allow the Word of God to lie bare upon our soul like so much seed on the sidewalk. To use another metaphor, it is like we walk up the front steps of the Word, take a look around, pick up an item or two and turn it over curiously like we would a museum piece, place it back neatly on its little table or stand, and walk back out again. If we are not using the cutting board and knife, eating the food out of the refrigerator, sleeping in the bed, taking clothes off the hanger, etc., we are not living in the Word of God, from the Word of God, through the Word of God, by the Word of God.
To return to Christ’s picture, the Word of God must penetrate into the hard clay soil of our hearts (which needs softening up by the Spirit of God) and take root there, bearing fruit, else our hearts begin to run the risk of having it taken away altogether. This may sound ominous, but, sadly, there are too many once-orthodox-but-now-agnostic-or-atheist “believers” to be counted, whose lives each tell the same story. They heard the Word, but through disobedience their hearts were hardened to its life-changing message, and they have had less and less use for it until it is gone from their lives altogether. They have tidy sidewalks, thanks to the birds, who are all too happy to gobble up all that unused seed lying about and making such a mess of things. But the birds leave their own mess, of course, and in the end there is no true life where the voice of God has disappeared.
“God, we pray for better things in our own hearts. Break up the fallow ground, these stony hearts of clay, and cause Your Word to take root and bear fruit in our lives. Guard us from the evil one, dear God, who would rob us of Your Word and the life it brings through Christ our Lord. Move our hearts to respond to Your Word always in faith and obedience, and revive us, O God, according to Your Word, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
Birds eat seed. I have three birdfeeders in my backyard, and the birds keep me busy filling them up with sunflower seeds. This is great, of course, if you are trying to attract birds, but it is a whole ’nother story if you are trying to grow sunflowers. Put out bean “seed” in the garden and wait and watch. Before long, here comes rockin’ robin to see what you left him. Plant enough for the birds.
Just as surely as the birds are going to eat some of your seed, the devil’s purpose in life is to take away the Word of God out of your heart. That has been his line from the very beginning. When God had given His word to Adam and Eve, Satan came along and twisted it and questioned it and tried to rub it out altogether.
So guard your heart. The first step is to plant the Word of God there. But if it is not guarded and cherished through faith and obedience, Satan will come waltzing in through an open door, robbing you of its benefit, strewing doubt and lies and temptations in its stead.
Sometimes we allow the Word of God to lie bare upon our soul like so much seed on the sidewalk. To use another metaphor, it is like we walk up the front steps of the Word, take a look around, pick up an item or two and turn it over curiously like we would a museum piece, place it back neatly on its little table or stand, and walk back out again. If we are not using the cutting board and knife, eating the food out of the refrigerator, sleeping in the bed, taking clothes off the hanger, etc., we are not living in the Word of God, from the Word of God, through the Word of God, by the Word of God.
To return to Christ’s picture, the Word of God must penetrate into the hard clay soil of our hearts (which needs softening up by the Spirit of God) and take root there, bearing fruit, else our hearts begin to run the risk of having it taken away altogether. This may sound ominous, but, sadly, there are too many once-orthodox-but-now-agnostic-or-atheist “believers” to be counted, whose lives each tell the same story. They heard the Word, but through disobedience their hearts were hardened to its life-changing message, and they have had less and less use for it until it is gone from their lives altogether. They have tidy sidewalks, thanks to the birds, who are all too happy to gobble up all that unused seed lying about and making such a mess of things. But the birds leave their own mess, of course, and in the end there is no true life where the voice of God has disappeared.
“God, we pray for better things in our own hearts. Break up the fallow ground, these stony hearts of clay, and cause Your Word to take root and bear fruit in our lives. Guard us from the evil one, dear God, who would rob us of Your Word and the life it brings through Christ our Lord. Move our hearts to respond to Your Word always in faith and obedience, and revive us, O God, according to Your Word, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
Friday, July 22, 2011
Sowing Good Seed
“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. . . . The sower sows the word.” (Mark 4:3, 14)
God is a gardener. And when He made man, He made him a gardener too. He gave him fingers to dig in the dirt, fingers for sandy loam to run through. He gave him taste buds and a growling stomach to drive him into the dirt to plan, plant, and wait. He gave him eyes to behold the beauty of peach orchards, corn fields, and fat red tomato slices on the white plate before him. God made man with a hoe and a rake and a shovel already waiting for him in the shed out back.
God Himself is a sower of seed. His way is the way of life. He dreams of life, plans life, prepares for life, and makes life happen. When He makes dirt, He makes it for seeds to grow in. When He makes it rain, He rains life on His seed. When He calls for the sun to come out and blaze, the hot sun that sometimes also scorches and kills, He is calling forth the life in the seed. When He pulls weeds, leaving them to dry up and disintegrate and turn back into the dust from which they sprang, He is pulling for the seed. He does all He does for the life of the seedling: nurturing, caring, tilling, fertilizing, watering, praying for life and health and a good return for His labor.
Want to see life flourishing at your fingertips? Sow the Word of God into it. Do all you do to nurture the success of the Word of God in your life. The voice of God called forth all things into existence, and it is nothing other than the voice of God that brings forth life and goodness and causes all things to thrive. Beautiful fruit will come—through wind and rain and summer sun—where the Word of God takes root. If we want to see life and love and happiness and fruitfulness in our lives, in our families, in our world—in our “garden”—it will only come by way of the seed of the Word of God sown and grown and nurtured over time. When we pray according to the Word of God, think, dream, plan, work, speak, feel, and act according to the Word of God—when every square inch of the dirt floor of our lives is covered with the seed of the Word of God—“eye has not seen, nor ear heard” what God has in store for those who love Him in such a way.
“Great God in heaven above, we give thanks this day for Your sowing Your seed of love in our hearts and bringing forth the fruit of love for You in our lives. Thank You for the Word of God in which we find life, and thank You for causing it to take root in us. Grant to us life and fruit through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and make us good and hearty sowers of the Word ourselves, in our own lives and in the lives of all whom our lives touch. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
God is a gardener. And when He made man, He made him a gardener too. He gave him fingers to dig in the dirt, fingers for sandy loam to run through. He gave him taste buds and a growling stomach to drive him into the dirt to plan, plant, and wait. He gave him eyes to behold the beauty of peach orchards, corn fields, and fat red tomato slices on the white plate before him. God made man with a hoe and a rake and a shovel already waiting for him in the shed out back.
God Himself is a sower of seed. His way is the way of life. He dreams of life, plans life, prepares for life, and makes life happen. When He makes dirt, He makes it for seeds to grow in. When He makes it rain, He rains life on His seed. When He calls for the sun to come out and blaze, the hot sun that sometimes also scorches and kills, He is calling forth the life in the seed. When He pulls weeds, leaving them to dry up and disintegrate and turn back into the dust from which they sprang, He is pulling for the seed. He does all He does for the life of the seedling: nurturing, caring, tilling, fertilizing, watering, praying for life and health and a good return for His labor.
Want to see life flourishing at your fingertips? Sow the Word of God into it. Do all you do to nurture the success of the Word of God in your life. The voice of God called forth all things into existence, and it is nothing other than the voice of God that brings forth life and goodness and causes all things to thrive. Beautiful fruit will come—through wind and rain and summer sun—where the Word of God takes root. If we want to see life and love and happiness and fruitfulness in our lives, in our families, in our world—in our “garden”—it will only come by way of the seed of the Word of God sown and grown and nurtured over time. When we pray according to the Word of God, think, dream, plan, work, speak, feel, and act according to the Word of God—when every square inch of the dirt floor of our lives is covered with the seed of the Word of God—“eye has not seen, nor ear heard” what God has in store for those who love Him in such a way.
“Great God in heaven above, we give thanks this day for Your sowing Your seed of love in our hearts and bringing forth the fruit of love for You in our lives. Thank You for the Word of God in which we find life, and thank You for causing it to take root in us. Grant to us life and fruit through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and make us good and hearty sowers of the Word ourselves, in our own lives and in the lives of all whom our lives touch. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
Monday, June 20, 2011
Lights Shining in the Darkness
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14–16)
There are approaches to “good works” that are just plain wrong, of course. First, we should not do good works in order to earn our way into God’s grace or somehow build up enough “credit” to win our way into heaven. Grace is exactly what we don’t deserve, and grace is the only way to be saved. We are being saved from our sins and the punishment they deserve, and all the good works in the world cannot help one iota but only the grace of God.
We also are instructed by God not to do good works in order simply to be seen by men or to win the praise of men. Later in this same sermon (the famed “Sermon on the Mount”) Jesus says specifically, “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1) If our only goal in doing good is to win the praise of others or to stoke up our own ego or merely to “keep up appearances,” i.e., do enough to make sure people think well of us, then our good works are all for the wrong reason.
But here Jesus says our good works themselves are to be so abundant, so remarkable, so evident, and so representative of our lives overall that they shine out as lights in this dark world of evil. We Christians are to stick out simply by being good Christians. We are to love God and others so much that people can’t help but notice. We are to live by such faith in every circumstance—and especially the bad ones—that people are amazed and perhaps even long for (and hopefully pray for) that kind of faith themselves. Our good works should be so profuse, simply because that is what the Spirit of God is doing in us, that they can’t help but be notable.
Motive matters, of course. Jesus says here the end result will be that men “glorify your Father in heaven” when they see your good works. Our desire should be that God receives the praise and the glory and credit for anything good done in us or through us. But if we are not doing any good works, or if our good works are done in a corner somewhere—perhaps for fear someone might mistake us for being a Christian, heaven forbid—then no light is shining, the darkness is still winning out in your arena, and the God of all glory and wonder is not being glorified.
So the way to “shine your light” is not to put a spotlight on yourself so others can see you and ooh and aah. Rather the way to shine as lights in the world is to trust God, obey God, do His will, and seek His glory, in every circumstance and before all men, and the rest will take care of itself.
“Great and glorious God in heaven above, we give You thanks for sending our Lord Jesus Christ to be the Light of the world, to shine in the darkness, that we might know You and come to the Light ourselves. Make of us, dear God, lights that shine in the world, exposing evil, driving out darkness, bringing glory to You , O God. Move within us by Your Holy Spirit in such a way—fill us with Him, dear God—that we are overflowing with such good works that they incite the praise and wonder of men for the great works of God done in and through mere men. For we are saved entirely by Your grace—not of works, lest any man should boast—and we are saved for good works, that You might be glorified forever and ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
There are approaches to “good works” that are just plain wrong, of course. First, we should not do good works in order to earn our way into God’s grace or somehow build up enough “credit” to win our way into heaven. Grace is exactly what we don’t deserve, and grace is the only way to be saved. We are being saved from our sins and the punishment they deserve, and all the good works in the world cannot help one iota but only the grace of God.
We also are instructed by God not to do good works in order simply to be seen by men or to win the praise of men. Later in this same sermon (the famed “Sermon on the Mount”) Jesus says specifically, “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1) If our only goal in doing good is to win the praise of others or to stoke up our own ego or merely to “keep up appearances,” i.e., do enough to make sure people think well of us, then our good works are all for the wrong reason.
But here Jesus says our good works themselves are to be so abundant, so remarkable, so evident, and so representative of our lives overall that they shine out as lights in this dark world of evil. We Christians are to stick out simply by being good Christians. We are to love God and others so much that people can’t help but notice. We are to live by such faith in every circumstance—and especially the bad ones—that people are amazed and perhaps even long for (and hopefully pray for) that kind of faith themselves. Our good works should be so profuse, simply because that is what the Spirit of God is doing in us, that they can’t help but be notable.
Motive matters, of course. Jesus says here the end result will be that men “glorify your Father in heaven” when they see your good works. Our desire should be that God receives the praise and the glory and credit for anything good done in us or through us. But if we are not doing any good works, or if our good works are done in a corner somewhere—perhaps for fear someone might mistake us for being a Christian, heaven forbid—then no light is shining, the darkness is still winning out in your arena, and the God of all glory and wonder is not being glorified.
So the way to “shine your light” is not to put a spotlight on yourself so others can see you and ooh and aah. Rather the way to shine as lights in the world is to trust God, obey God, do His will, and seek His glory, in every circumstance and before all men, and the rest will take care of itself.
“Great and glorious God in heaven above, we give You thanks for sending our Lord Jesus Christ to be the Light of the world, to shine in the darkness, that we might know You and come to the Light ourselves. Make of us, dear God, lights that shine in the world, exposing evil, driving out darkness, bringing glory to You , O God. Move within us by Your Holy Spirit in such a way—fill us with Him, dear God—that we are overflowing with such good works that they incite the praise and wonder of men for the great works of God done in and through mere men. For we are saved entirely by Your grace—not of works, lest any man should boast—and we are saved for good works, that You might be glorified forever and ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Everlasting Temple of God
Jesus answered them and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
The Body of Christ is a temple.
Just as in “Herod’s” Temple in Jerusalem (the temple to which the Jews refer here, the temple Jesus had just swept clean with a whip of cords), there are sacrifices—of the lips, of the heart, living sacrifices—in the Body-of-Christ temple. There are priests in it who pray and proclaim the Word of God. Praise to the heavenly Father is lifted up in this temple day and night. And the holy shekinah of God Himself resides there. Beautiful is the Body of Christ, as beautiful as ever shone the glistening gold and polished stone of the first-century temple on Mt. Zion.
There are differences as well, however. Herod’s Temple is no more, decimated to its last foundation only forty years after Jesus’ triumph and never rebuilt. The temple of the Body of Christ, on the other hand, has risen from its destruction, just as Jesus predicted, never to be destroyed again. The Body of Christ has been and will be persecuted in innumerable ways, but she will never be taken out.
Thus the worship of God continues forever, world without end. And all those who take shelter in this Temple-Risen-from-the-Dead will never die either, their voices preserved for the glory of God, their hearts rewarded for their undying praise.
“Great God in heaven above, we give You thanks for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and for our resurrection in Him. Thank You for establishing Your Church on the foundations that will stand forever, Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone. We pray, dear God, You would cleanse us and make us holy, that we as the Body of Christ might bring You glory and pure worship, and we pray You would fill us with Your Holy Spirit as You filled the temple of old with the cloud of Your Presence. For unto You alone belongs all praise and honor and glory and worship forever and ever. Amen.”
Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
(John 2:19–21)
The Body of Christ is a temple.
Just as in “Herod’s” Temple in Jerusalem (the temple to which the Jews refer here, the temple Jesus had just swept clean with a whip of cords), there are sacrifices—of the lips, of the heart, living sacrifices—in the Body-of-Christ temple. There are priests in it who pray and proclaim the Word of God. Praise to the heavenly Father is lifted up in this temple day and night. And the holy shekinah of God Himself resides there. Beautiful is the Body of Christ, as beautiful as ever shone the glistening gold and polished stone of the first-century temple on Mt. Zion.
There are differences as well, however. Herod’s Temple is no more, decimated to its last foundation only forty years after Jesus’ triumph and never rebuilt. The temple of the Body of Christ, on the other hand, has risen from its destruction, just as Jesus predicted, never to be destroyed again. The Body of Christ has been and will be persecuted in innumerable ways, but she will never be taken out.
Thus the worship of God continues forever, world without end. And all those who take shelter in this Temple-Risen-from-the-Dead will never die either, their voices preserved for the glory of God, their hearts rewarded for their undying praise.
“Great God in heaven above, we give You thanks for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and for our resurrection in Him. Thank You for establishing Your Church on the foundations that will stand forever, Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone. We pray, dear God, You would cleanse us and make us holy, that we as the Body of Christ might bring You glory and pure worship, and we pray You would fill us with Your Holy Spirit as You filled the temple of old with the cloud of Your Presence. For unto You alone belongs all praise and honor and glory and worship forever and ever. Amen.”
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Good as God
“Now behold, one came and said to Him [Jesus], ‘Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?’
“So He said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.’. . .
“The young man said to Him, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?’
“Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’”
My six-year-old son Ian received a sucker this week in Sunday school. It was one of those specialty suckers—made entirely of sugar, of course, like all the rest—but this one not only was fashioned in the form of a snail, but you could eat the stick as well. He was thoroughly impressed, and I was too.
As we prepared to sit down to Sunday dinner, his mother investigated: “Now why again did you get this sucker?” I had not thought to ask this. I had thought it was merely a gift, but my wife knows many things I do not—she senses them, intuits them.
I think Ian had probably forgotten momentarily the why part of the equation as well. He seemed more interested in that he had gotten a sucker rather than why. Nonetheless, the truth was called forth from the now-ancient (three-hours-earlier) past.
“It was because I was good as God.”
I know he was not meaning to be blasphemous. Even I can intuit that much. Language is a really funny thing with six-year-olds. He says things like this all of the time—like, “Let me ‘tell’ you a question”—the grammar teacher has learned much patience. The theologian in me gets a little more anxious, however. Regardless his actual meaning, I was quick to the correction. “I am proud of you for being good, Ian—What? All of the other kids got suckers, too? Well, whatever the case, look—nobody is as good as God. But we are all supposed to be trying to be good like God. Maybe you mean to say you were being good ‘like’ God.”
Maybe. Who knows? And who knows what lessons of mine really sink in? Sometimes he soaks up a lot more than I give him credit for.
It is a lesson hard for grown-ups to grasp, not just six-year-olds. There are some people who act like they really do believe they are “as good as God.” Indeed they are like God in this way: they never apologize, never ask forgiveness, never even admit fault. Intellectually, they know “we are all just human” and “nobody’s perfect”; but, practically speaking, they function as the exception to the rule, having built up seemingly sturdy walls of defense against the reality of their own actual imperfections and uglinesses and sins.
Here is another problem, though. Because we all know we are not as good as God, and because we know good and well we ain’t never gonna be (see, I can let my grammar hair down), we tend to be altogether too lax about shooting for the goal—which is, guess what, to be as good as God. Jesus said to His disciples, “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” The mark is set high, and, looking to God for grace, we are to jump with a sincere desire to reach it. Our desire should be to be as good as God, and our actions will always reflect our true desires. In fact, because of the Christian’s desire to be like Christ in all His ways, he is that much more inclined to admit and grieve over the so many ways he is not. He desires to be morally pure like God, and that desire drives him at the same time both to confess that he is not and to strive with all his might for that very goal.
“Good and Holy and Perfect Father, thank You for your goodness. Forgive us our sins, which are many, and forgive us for our pride in not admitting them. Help us to be good like You are good: help us to follow in the steps of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.”
“So He said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.’. . .
“The young man said to Him, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?’
“Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’”
(Matthew 19:16–21)
My six-year-old son Ian received a sucker this week in Sunday school. It was one of those specialty suckers—made entirely of sugar, of course, like all the rest—but this one not only was fashioned in the form of a snail, but you could eat the stick as well. He was thoroughly impressed, and I was too.
As we prepared to sit down to Sunday dinner, his mother investigated: “Now why again did you get this sucker?” I had not thought to ask this. I had thought it was merely a gift, but my wife knows many things I do not—she senses them, intuits them.
I think Ian had probably forgotten momentarily the why part of the equation as well. He seemed more interested in that he had gotten a sucker rather than why. Nonetheless, the truth was called forth from the now-ancient (three-hours-earlier) past.
“It was because I was good as God.”
I know he was not meaning to be blasphemous. Even I can intuit that much. Language is a really funny thing with six-year-olds. He says things like this all of the time—like, “Let me ‘tell’ you a question”—the grammar teacher has learned much patience. The theologian in me gets a little more anxious, however. Regardless his actual meaning, I was quick to the correction. “I am proud of you for being good, Ian—What? All of the other kids got suckers, too? Well, whatever the case, look—nobody is as good as God. But we are all supposed to be trying to be good like God. Maybe you mean to say you were being good ‘like’ God.”
Maybe. Who knows? And who knows what lessons of mine really sink in? Sometimes he soaks up a lot more than I give him credit for.
It is a lesson hard for grown-ups to grasp, not just six-year-olds. There are some people who act like they really do believe they are “as good as God.” Indeed they are like God in this way: they never apologize, never ask forgiveness, never even admit fault. Intellectually, they know “we are all just human” and “nobody’s perfect”; but, practically speaking, they function as the exception to the rule, having built up seemingly sturdy walls of defense against the reality of their own actual imperfections and uglinesses and sins.
Here is another problem, though. Because we all know we are not as good as God, and because we know good and well we ain’t never gonna be (see, I can let my grammar hair down), we tend to be altogether too lax about shooting for the goal—which is, guess what, to be as good as God. Jesus said to His disciples, “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” The mark is set high, and, looking to God for grace, we are to jump with a sincere desire to reach it. Our desire should be to be as good as God, and our actions will always reflect our true desires. In fact, because of the Christian’s desire to be like Christ in all His ways, he is that much more inclined to admit and grieve over the so many ways he is not. He desires to be morally pure like God, and that desire drives him at the same time both to confess that he is not and to strive with all his might for that very goal.
“Good and Holy and Perfect Father, thank You for your goodness. Forgive us our sins, which are many, and forgive us for our pride in not admitting them. Help us to be good like You are good: help us to follow in the steps of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.”
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Yet Shall He Live
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?’
“She said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’”
It is fascinating to me that the Creator of all things, the One who is the Life of all things living, the One who spoke all things into existence and gave them being, also built Death into the woof and warp of His creation. We often think of death as being introduced at the moment of the Fall of mankind into sin, and in one sense, of course, that is true. But in another sense there was death present in creation from the start, although not a death alone or final—rather a death, burial, and resurrection.
For example, every tree that bears fruit produces a fruit that must die—literally rot into the ground—and the seed it hides must be buried into the earth and die to itself before new life, a new fruit-bearing tree, can come forth. This was God’s design from the beginning, the gospel told in the fabric of creation.
Another example is the death of the sun each day in the west, its burial through the night, and its subsequent resurrection each morning. Each morning’s sunrise is a fresh proclamation of God’s love and mercy in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Lamentations, God’s song of sorrow for the death of Jerusalem, sings it this way: The Lord’s mercies do not die, His compassions do not fail, but “they are new every morning—great is Thy faithfulness! The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore I hope in Him!” (3:22–24)
Death seems so final to us. But to those of us who, like Mary, believe in the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who has come into the world to give life, death is but a momentary step in the direction of life—resurrection life, life again, everlasting life. Life that believes in Life Himself, though it dies, yet shall it live again. Life that believes and trusts in Jesus the Lifegiver, Christ promises, “shall never die.”
Do you believe this? Then do not fear death, and do not mourn as those without hope. Christ the Resurrection and the Life speaks life and hope to us this day—as He does all days—“He who believes in Me, though he may die, yet shall he live.”
“For this life, Holy Father, compassionate Lord, we give thanks—we give thanks for our life through Jesus Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life Himself. Grant us grace in this day, that we might trust and hope and glory in You, who bring both life and death into life again through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is the forgiveness of sins, the defeat of all death, and the life everlasting. Amen.”
“She said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’”
(John 11:25-27)
It is fascinating to me that the Creator of all things, the One who is the Life of all things living, the One who spoke all things into existence and gave them being, also built Death into the woof and warp of His creation. We often think of death as being introduced at the moment of the Fall of mankind into sin, and in one sense, of course, that is true. But in another sense there was death present in creation from the start, although not a death alone or final—rather a death, burial, and resurrection.
For example, every tree that bears fruit produces a fruit that must die—literally rot into the ground—and the seed it hides must be buried into the earth and die to itself before new life, a new fruit-bearing tree, can come forth. This was God’s design from the beginning, the gospel told in the fabric of creation.
Another example is the death of the sun each day in the west, its burial through the night, and its subsequent resurrection each morning. Each morning’s sunrise is a fresh proclamation of God’s love and mercy in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Lamentations, God’s song of sorrow for the death of Jerusalem, sings it this way: The Lord’s mercies do not die, His compassions do not fail, but “they are new every morning—great is Thy faithfulness! The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore I hope in Him!” (3:22–24)
Death seems so final to us. But to those of us who, like Mary, believe in the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who has come into the world to give life, death is but a momentary step in the direction of life—resurrection life, life again, everlasting life. Life that believes in Life Himself, though it dies, yet shall it live again. Life that believes and trusts in Jesus the Lifegiver, Christ promises, “shall never die.”
Do you believe this? Then do not fear death, and do not mourn as those without hope. Christ the Resurrection and the Life speaks life and hope to us this day—as He does all days—“He who believes in Me, though he may die, yet shall he live.”
“For this life, Holy Father, compassionate Lord, we give thanks—we give thanks for our life through Jesus Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life Himself. Grant us grace in this day, that we might trust and hope and glory in You, who bring both life and death into life again through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is the forgiveness of sins, the defeat of all death, and the life everlasting. Amen.”
Thursday, April 21, 2011
New Passover
“Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.’”
Indeed Jesus, Peter, John, and the other disciples had participated in or performed this same function every year of their own lives: “Go and prepare the Passover.” In the minds of Christ’s disciples, as in the minds of all other Jews at the time, this was a special time of the year, yes, but nothing new—the same Festival they had always known: the same giving of thanks, the same unleavened bread, the same wine blessings, the same lamb, the same psalm-hymns sung at the close of the meal, the same stories told.
Jesus alone knew this Passover was different. Jesus knew this Passover corresponded with a new and truer Passover that marked the new beginning of a renewed nation of God, a nation of God that would include all nations. From this Passover on, the giving of thanks would be for one Lamb of God, the Passover who takes away the sins of the world. This Passover and all future “pascha” celebrations would center on the bread of His own Body and the wine of His Blood. This night the psalm would hardly pass from their lips and the lips of every Jew before its fulfillment was set into motion: “The stone which the builders rejected/Has become the chief cornerstone. . . This is the day! . . . O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!/His mercy endures forever.”
Now for two thousand years, not only once a year but every first day of each new week, those over whom the death angel has “passed,” those whose doorposts have been marked with the blood of the Lamb, those whose feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, have celebrated this Feast given to us new by Jesus Himself. Only now no new Passover must be killed—one Sacrifice has been slain once for all! Let us go with joy to the Table set before us, that we may eat once again in celebration of the freedom that has been won for us by our Lord.
“Lord God, Heavenly Father, we give You thanks for our Lord Jesus Christ and His gift to us in the Supper handed down to us from the eve of His sacrifice on the cross for our sins. Look upon His blood that marks our ‘doorposts and lintel,’ and grant to us eternal life through Him, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
(Luke 22:7, 8)
Fifteen hundred years old by the time of Christ, the observance of Passover was wrapped deeply into the corporate psyche of all Israel and, due to the Dispersion, was present to some degree in the soul of every other civilized nation as well. Each year Jews from all over the world made the pilgrimage back to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast that marked the birth of their nation out of the dark womb of slavery in Egypt. Indeed Jesus, Peter, John, and the other disciples had participated in or performed this same function every year of their own lives: “Go and prepare the Passover.” In the minds of Christ’s disciples, as in the minds of all other Jews at the time, this was a special time of the year, yes, but nothing new—the same Festival they had always known: the same giving of thanks, the same unleavened bread, the same wine blessings, the same lamb, the same psalm-hymns sung at the close of the meal, the same stories told.
Jesus alone knew this Passover was different. Jesus knew this Passover corresponded with a new and truer Passover that marked the new beginning of a renewed nation of God, a nation of God that would include all nations. From this Passover on, the giving of thanks would be for one Lamb of God, the Passover who takes away the sins of the world. This Passover and all future “pascha” celebrations would center on the bread of His own Body and the wine of His Blood. This night the psalm would hardly pass from their lips and the lips of every Jew before its fulfillment was set into motion: “The stone which the builders rejected/Has become the chief cornerstone. . . This is the day! . . . O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!/His mercy endures forever.”
Now for two thousand years, not only once a year but every first day of each new week, those over whom the death angel has “passed,” those whose doorposts have been marked with the blood of the Lamb, those whose feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, have celebrated this Feast given to us new by Jesus Himself. Only now no new Passover must be killed—one Sacrifice has been slain once for all! Let us go with joy to the Table set before us, that we may eat once again in celebration of the freedom that has been won for us by our Lord.
“Lord God, Heavenly Father, we give You thanks for our Lord Jesus Christ and His gift to us in the Supper handed down to us from the eve of His sacrifice on the cross for our sins. Look upon His blood that marks our ‘doorposts and lintel,’ and grant to us eternal life through Him, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Love Stoops
“Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
“And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.
“So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.’”
Jesus is the perfect host. The night before He lay down His life for His friends, He prepared a place, he prepared a meal, and he planned for the entire evening. He broke bread with them, gave them wine to drink, and led them in the richest conversation imaginable. He did far more than this, however. The thing that makes Jesus the perfect host is that He gave Himself entirely to His guests. He gave Himself in the wine and the bread. He gave Himself as He gave them His Word and the promises of His Word. He gave Himself as He humbled Himself to perform the most menial of all tasks for them, to wash their feet. The following day, of course, He will give them—and us—the greatest example of this love and service and sacrifice and humility as He gives Himself away to us and for us as He hangs upon a cross paying for all of the sins and misery of the world.
Jesus gave Himself in all of these ways because it is in the character of the Trinity to do so. All that He is and has and has done has always been in the form of a gift to His Father, just as His Father has always loved and served and given to Him. He is a servant to His disciples because He is a servant to His Father and because this is what He has seen His Father do for Him.
And so now He teaches His disciples explicitly that this is what it will always be to be a disciple of Christ: not simply a “washer of feet”—that, yes—but rather a “giver-away-of-oneself.” No place left for pride here. No place left for self-serving or self-preservation. There is no thing too low to which love will not stoop. No reservations, no holding back in the service of Christ. If Christ who created all things and rules over all things and owns all the glory in the universe can stoop to clean out the gunk between my toes, how much more willing should I be to do that and anything else to which love calls me.
“Dear heavenly Father, thank You for giving Yourself away for us, for inviting us to be Your guests at Your great banqueting table, for feeding and nurturing us and serving us with the hand of God in Christ. Thank You again for Christ’s sacrifice for us. Make us like Him—make us His disciples indeed—and teach us to wash feet and serve and sacrifice and give ourselves away with the same joy that leads You to do all of this for us. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
“And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.
. . .
“So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.’”
(John 13:1–5, 12–17)
Jesus is the perfect host. The night before He lay down His life for His friends, He prepared a place, he prepared a meal, and he planned for the entire evening. He broke bread with them, gave them wine to drink, and led them in the richest conversation imaginable. He did far more than this, however. The thing that makes Jesus the perfect host is that He gave Himself entirely to His guests. He gave Himself in the wine and the bread. He gave Himself as He gave them His Word and the promises of His Word. He gave Himself as He humbled Himself to perform the most menial of all tasks for them, to wash their feet. The following day, of course, He will give them—and us—the greatest example of this love and service and sacrifice and humility as He gives Himself away to us and for us as He hangs upon a cross paying for all of the sins and misery of the world.
Jesus gave Himself in all of these ways because it is in the character of the Trinity to do so. All that He is and has and has done has always been in the form of a gift to His Father, just as His Father has always loved and served and given to Him. He is a servant to His disciples because He is a servant to His Father and because this is what He has seen His Father do for Him.
And so now He teaches His disciples explicitly that this is what it will always be to be a disciple of Christ: not simply a “washer of feet”—that, yes—but rather a “giver-away-of-oneself.” No place left for pride here. No place left for self-serving or self-preservation. There is no thing too low to which love will not stoop. No reservations, no holding back in the service of Christ. If Christ who created all things and rules over all things and owns all the glory in the universe can stoop to clean out the gunk between my toes, how much more willing should I be to do that and anything else to which love calls me.
“Dear heavenly Father, thank You for giving Yourself away for us, for inviting us to be Your guests at Your great banqueting table, for feeding and nurturing us and serving us with the hand of God in Christ. Thank You again for Christ’s sacrifice for us. Make us like Him—make us His disciples indeed—and teach us to wash feet and serve and sacrifice and give ourselves away with the same joy that leads You to do all of this for us. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Of Figs and Mountains
“Now in the morning, as he returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, ‘Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.
“And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither away so soon?’
“So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.’”
The fig tree incident occurs the week of Christ’s passion. It is a real-time story, but it is also a parable. The fig tree, that looked healthy and like a tree that ought to have fruit but had none, is Israel. On the outside they profess a love for God, but in a few short days they will murder God’s Son. Thus the curse and the fast wither. Once Christ is rejected, Israel’s downfall will be swift and severe.
But where this fig tree withers a new sprout of fig, forever fruitbearing, will appear. When this mountain is removed by the faithful prayers of a few faithful men, it will be cast into the sea, buried and then resurrected fresh and new, and from there it will spread to fill the entire world. The old mountain upon which Jerusalem stands will be leveled, but the new mountain of God upon which is built the kingdom of heaven will be established through the Word of God and prayer in Christ’s name, and it will never fail.
You and I are figs on this new tree; we stand upon the new mountain of God. Our joy-filled purpose is to glorify God in the bearing of fruit and in the faithful praying of mountain-moving prayers ourselves.
“Thank You, dear God, for the triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ over His enemies and ours, and thank You for the triumph of the kingdom of God throughout the world. Bring Your kingdom, make us to bear the fruit of the gospel, and fill our hearts and mouths with believing prayers. We give thanks this day for the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that makes all of this reality, and we pray in His name. Amen.”
“And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither away so soon?’
“So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.’”
(Matthew 21:18–22)
The fig tree incident occurs the week of Christ’s passion. It is a real-time story, but it is also a parable. The fig tree, that looked healthy and like a tree that ought to have fruit but had none, is Israel. On the outside they profess a love for God, but in a few short days they will murder God’s Son. Thus the curse and the fast wither. Once Christ is rejected, Israel’s downfall will be swift and severe.
But where this fig tree withers a new sprout of fig, forever fruitbearing, will appear. When this mountain is removed by the faithful prayers of a few faithful men, it will be cast into the sea, buried and then resurrected fresh and new, and from there it will spread to fill the entire world. The old mountain upon which Jerusalem stands will be leveled, but the new mountain of God upon which is built the kingdom of heaven will be established through the Word of God and prayer in Christ’s name, and it will never fail.
You and I are figs on this new tree; we stand upon the new mountain of God. Our joy-filled purpose is to glorify God in the bearing of fruit and in the faithful praying of mountain-moving prayers ourselves.
“Thank You, dear God, for the triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ over His enemies and ours, and thank You for the triumph of the kingdom of God throughout the world. Bring Your kingdom, make us to bear the fruit of the gospel, and fill our hearts and mouths with believing prayers. We give thanks this day for the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that makes all of this reality, and we pray in His name. Amen.”
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Triumphant King
“Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?”
And Jesus said to them, ‘Yes. Have you never read,
“Our of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have perfected praise”?’”
The scene is the Triumphal Entry. Jesus has, “lowly, and sitting on a donkey,” just ridden into the City of the Great King to the tune of these same loud and incessant HOSANNAs shouted by multitudes waving and tossing and strewing palm branches before Him. The city is in an uproar already. And now this.
Jesus is turning everything upside down—and not just the tables and chairs of those who sold sacrificial doves in the Temple. In complete defiance He is healing the lame and the blind within the Temple precinct. The priests are beside themselves. “Who brought this filth in here? What does this fellow mean by wrecking the entire Temple? Will someone get control of these children? Do You hear what they are saying?
Jesus’ reply rings with all the mocking laughter of a God who not only is in complete control of all that is going on but is almost mischievously so. “Yes.” “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I hear quite well what these joyful little voices are singing. Don’t you priests recognize it also? What did you think Psalm 8 meant when it said the little children—the tiniest babies—would sing the perfect praise, in triumphant over the enemies of God?”
Indeed the very term hosanna is praise reserved for a Savior, a Deliverer. Yes—though it is shaking heaven and earth for them to do so, the children’s singing is just as it should be. The Eternal Christ of the Living God is high and lifted up, enthroned in His Temple, and absolutely nothing can turn back the tide of events now. At the end of this week, this same Jesus, still triumphant and more so, will fulfill the role of High Priest as He offers Himself up as a sacrifice for the sins of His people. Jesus—Jehovah saves. Hosanna—He alone is our Savior. In the death of this Prophet-Priest-King even death itself will be turned on its head, and the triumph will continue until all things are brought under His feet.
“Heavenly Father, we give You great thanks for our Savior and Lord, our Triumphant King, and for His salvation of us. Fill our mouths with His praises and our hearts with the joy of the winning side. Complete in us what Christ has begun, conform us to His image, convert us from blind and lame to the holy and incorruptibly faithful You have saved us to be, and bring in Your kingdom, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
And Jesus said to them, ‘Yes. Have you never read,
“Our of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have perfected praise”?’”
(Matthew 21:14–17)
The scene is the Triumphal Entry. Jesus has, “lowly, and sitting on a donkey,” just ridden into the City of the Great King to the tune of these same loud and incessant HOSANNAs shouted by multitudes waving and tossing and strewing palm branches before Him. The city is in an uproar already. And now this.
Jesus is turning everything upside down—and not just the tables and chairs of those who sold sacrificial doves in the Temple. In complete defiance He is healing the lame and the blind within the Temple precinct. The priests are beside themselves. “Who brought this filth in here? What does this fellow mean by wrecking the entire Temple? Will someone get control of these children? Do You hear what they are saying?
Jesus’ reply rings with all the mocking laughter of a God who not only is in complete control of all that is going on but is almost mischievously so. “Yes.” “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I hear quite well what these joyful little voices are singing. Don’t you priests recognize it also? What did you think Psalm 8 meant when it said the little children—the tiniest babies—would sing the perfect praise, in triumphant over the enemies of God?”
Indeed the very term hosanna is praise reserved for a Savior, a Deliverer. Yes—though it is shaking heaven and earth for them to do so, the children’s singing is just as it should be. The Eternal Christ of the Living God is high and lifted up, enthroned in His Temple, and absolutely nothing can turn back the tide of events now. At the end of this week, this same Jesus, still triumphant and more so, will fulfill the role of High Priest as He offers Himself up as a sacrifice for the sins of His people. Jesus—Jehovah saves. Hosanna—He alone is our Savior. In the death of this Prophet-Priest-King even death itself will be turned on its head, and the triumph will continue until all things are brought under His feet.
“Heavenly Father, we give You great thanks for our Savior and Lord, our Triumphant King, and for His salvation of us. Fill our mouths with His praises and our hearts with the joy of the winning side. Complete in us what Christ has begun, conform us to His image, convert us from blind and lame to the holy and incorruptibly faithful You have saved us to be, and bring in Your kingdom, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
Friday, April 15, 2011
Our All in All
“And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all: for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” (Luke 21:1–4)
Appearances are not as they often seem. It looks as though the wealthy are putting in much more than anyone else, but Jesus sees through all of that and says the widow is actually giving more than they are. At first glance, this looks as if Jesus is simply saying percentage giving is what really reveals the heart. And there is something to that, of course. Jesus also said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” which among other things means that what you spend your money on reveals a lot about where your heart is.
But there is more to be seen here. Jesus reveals here a woman who has “made herself poor, yet has great riches.” (Proverbs 31:7)
When I say she has made herself poor, I do not mean that she is responsible for her great misfortune of being immersed in poverty. Rather, I mean that she is facing the trouble that has come upon her by denying herself, dying to herself, refusing to seek to “save her life.” I mean that, rather than attempting to hold on to what she has, using her poverty as her excuse for doing so, she gives her life away. And as a result, she finds life—and riches—the riches no one can take away from her.
This woman, observed by Christ only days before His own great sacrifice on the cross, is not struggling with appearances. She is not fooled by her great poverty, her circumstances, her trouble, her misfortune. To the contrary, she sees only one thing, and that one thing is the truth: God is her all in all. She will give herself away to Him because He has given Himself away for her. Not only has God always taken care of her—and her abundance is found in Him—but He has always given of His all for her. How can she do less?
“Lord God, You are our all in all. Thank You for giving of Yourself that we might have life. Thank You for Christ’s own humiliation, poverty, and death that we might have glory, riches, and life. Make us like You, O God, and teach us to lay down our all for You—our money, our time, our relationships, our loves, our everything—knowing all that we need is found in You. Help us, dear God, not to look on appearances, not to be fooled by circumstances, but to look to the truth as it is found in You, to look to the promises of Your Word, to see the great riches we have in following You, to look by faith to our only hope, which is Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.”
Appearances are not as they often seem. It looks as though the wealthy are putting in much more than anyone else, but Jesus sees through all of that and says the widow is actually giving more than they are. At first glance, this looks as if Jesus is simply saying percentage giving is what really reveals the heart. And there is something to that, of course. Jesus also said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” which among other things means that what you spend your money on reveals a lot about where your heart is.
But there is more to be seen here. Jesus reveals here a woman who has “made herself poor, yet has great riches.” (Proverbs 31:7)
When I say she has made herself poor, I do not mean that she is responsible for her great misfortune of being immersed in poverty. Rather, I mean that she is facing the trouble that has come upon her by denying herself, dying to herself, refusing to seek to “save her life.” I mean that, rather than attempting to hold on to what she has, using her poverty as her excuse for doing so, she gives her life away. And as a result, she finds life—and riches—the riches no one can take away from her.
This woman, observed by Christ only days before His own great sacrifice on the cross, is not struggling with appearances. She is not fooled by her great poverty, her circumstances, her trouble, her misfortune. To the contrary, she sees only one thing, and that one thing is the truth: God is her all in all. She will give herself away to Him because He has given Himself away for her. Not only has God always taken care of her—and her abundance is found in Him—but He has always given of His all for her. How can she do less?
“Lord God, You are our all in all. Thank You for giving of Yourself that we might have life. Thank You for Christ’s own humiliation, poverty, and death that we might have glory, riches, and life. Make us like You, O God, and teach us to lay down our all for You—our money, our time, our relationships, our loves, our everything—knowing all that we need is found in You. Help us, dear God, not to look on appearances, not to be fooled by circumstances, but to look to the truth as it is found in You, to look to the promises of Your Word, to see the great riches we have in following You, to look by faith to our only hope, which is Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.”
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Greater Love Has No Man
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for His friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John 15:11–14)
These are the words of Jesus to His most intimate disciples on the eve of His death. What was His desire for them in these “final” words? Their joy—that His joy would become their joy, and that their joy would be full to overflowing.
What then is the joy of Christ? Loving His disciples; loving His friends. And not with just any love, but with the greatest love there is, a love that takes a man to the cross for the sake of those he loves.
And this then is our joy too: To love as He has loved. Such a love will take us to the cross as well—and if to the cross, then to every other suffering short of the cross.
Are we willing to die for others? Then we will be willing to learn patience with them as God in Christ has been patient with us. Are we willing to sacrifice our own lives for the sake of the life of others? Then we will be willing to live for others as well, learning what it is to be a servant to all just as our Lord Jesus is a servant to us His friends. Have we taken up our own cross as a disciple of Christ? Then we will give a cup of cool water in His name; we will bless even those who curse us; we will overcome evil with the good we do to others—even when they have done evil to us.
Indeed we serve God best as we learn to love and to serve one another. This is what it is to be the friend of God: to do whatever He commands you. His command? Love sacrificially in everything you do, everything you think, everything you say, everything you feel.
And what again is the outcome of such love? Nothing less than the joy of God—a divine joy we not only can know but that we can have to the full—only as we learn this great love that our loving Savior and Lord has shown to us.
“O Lord, please teach us to love one another. Make Your joy our joy, and make our joy full. We give You thanks for Your taking on the form of a bondservant and for humbling Yourself to the point of death for our sakes. Plant and grow and cause to flourish this great love in our hearts and in every facet of our lives, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
These are the words of Jesus to His most intimate disciples on the eve of His death. What was His desire for them in these “final” words? Their joy—that His joy would become their joy, and that their joy would be full to overflowing.
What then is the joy of Christ? Loving His disciples; loving His friends. And not with just any love, but with the greatest love there is, a love that takes a man to the cross for the sake of those he loves.
And this then is our joy too: To love as He has loved. Such a love will take us to the cross as well—and if to the cross, then to every other suffering short of the cross.
Are we willing to die for others? Then we will be willing to learn patience with them as God in Christ has been patient with us. Are we willing to sacrifice our own lives for the sake of the life of others? Then we will be willing to live for others as well, learning what it is to be a servant to all just as our Lord Jesus is a servant to us His friends. Have we taken up our own cross as a disciple of Christ? Then we will give a cup of cool water in His name; we will bless even those who curse us; we will overcome evil with the good we do to others—even when they have done evil to us.
Indeed we serve God best as we learn to love and to serve one another. This is what it is to be the friend of God: to do whatever He commands you. His command? Love sacrificially in everything you do, everything you think, everything you say, everything you feel.
And what again is the outcome of such love? Nothing less than the joy of God—a divine joy we not only can know but that we can have to the full—only as we learn this great love that our loving Savior and Lord has shown to us.
“O Lord, please teach us to love one another. Make Your joy our joy, and make our joy full. We give You thanks for Your taking on the form of a bondservant and for humbling Yourself to the point of death for our sakes. Plant and grow and cause to flourish this great love in our hearts and in every facet of our lives, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”
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