What does it mean to be a Christian?

Readings for the day: Matthew 10, 14, Mark 6:7-56, Luke 9:1-17, John 6

What does it mean to be a Christian? Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of answers to this question. Some think it means they raised their hand and prayed a prayer at some point in their life. Others believe it has to do with the fact they were baptized as an infant. Still others believe it means they go to church every Sunday and pay their tithe. Some of the people I’ve talked to see it as an inheritance. They were raised by Christian parents so they must be Christian. Others see it as a cultural designation. We live in a Christian nation so we are Christian by default. Like I said, lots of different answers to this all-important question...what does it mean to be a Christian? 

Sadly, too many people refuse to look to the Bible for their answer. If they did, they would see Jesus offering a pretty clear definition for what it means to follow Him. First and foremost, you have to have what the ancients might have called “orthopathy” or the “right heart.” The people who experienced the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand did not chase Jesus around because they loved Him. No, they wanted their bellies filled again. (A big deal in a 1st century subsistence agricultural economy.) They followed Him for selfish reasons. They wanted their needs met. Their illnesses cured. Their diseases healed. Their wants satisfied. And that’s why Jesus tells them He is the bread of life. The food they are seeking is not temporal. Their needs are not just physical. They are spiritual and eternal and only the Christ can satisfy them but they must believe. They must have faith. This is what Jesus means when He talks about feasting on His body and drinking His blood and it was too much for some. They turned away. Even many of His disciples stopped following Him. Why? They did not believe. They did not trust. They could not accept the truth of what Jesus was teaching. They did not have the right heart. 

The second thing we learn about following Jesus is that it takes “orthodoxy” or “right teaching.” Jesus is who He says He is! He gets to define Himself. He gets to reveal Himself. We don’t get to accept parts of Jesus and reject others. We don’t get to reduce Jesus down to our size. We don’t get to make Him comfortable or safe. Jesus is God. He is Lord over disease. Lord over death. Lord over sin. Lord over evil. Lord over this world and all that is in it. He casts out demons. He heals the sick. He messes with the atomic structure of bread and fish to feed five thousand people! He walks on water. He calms the wind and the waves. He is the bread of life. He is the manna from heaven. He alone has the words of eternal life. All of these different events may seem strung together randomly but they are not! They are designed to give the disciples. Give His followers. Give those who believe and trust in Him a true picture of Himself. Jesus wanted them to understand the true nature of His divinity. He wasn’t just another prophet or miracle-worker. He was God Himself. True Christians take Jesus at His Word. They accept Him for who He is. They do not try to replace Him with a Jesus of their own making. Right thinking about Jesus is essential for the Christian. 

Finally, there is “orthopraxy” or right practice. True Christians live what they believe. Their works flow from a heart that is full of faith. The disciples believed and were given authority to go forth and proclaim the Kingdom of God. Preach a message of repentance. Heal the sick. Cast out unclean spirits. These are the “right practices” that should mark the life of every believer to a greater or lesser extent depending on where one is on their journey.  

As Christians, we do not get to pick and choose. We do not get to claim a right heart and hold to a heretical theology. We do not get to claim a right theology and live a heretical life. We do not get to claim a righteous life and yet cling to a hardened heart. It’s an all or nothing deal. Now, are we perfect? Of course not. Is there room to grow in every Christian’s life? Absolutely. Is following Christ a journey? Complete with ups and downs? Doubts and fears? Successes and failures? Yes! Yes! And yes! But over the course of time. As days turn to weeks turn to months turn to years, we should be able to see the growth. Our hearts and minds and lives should reflect more and more of Jesus.  

Desperation

Readings for the day: Matthew 8:18-34, 9:18-38, Mark 4:35-41, 5:1-43, Luke 8:22-56, 9:57-62

I have met Legion. Men and women so tormented and oppressed. I have seen them sitting catatonic in the streets of Harar. I have watched them convulse and tremble behind the bars of a prison cell. I have met them in psych wards where they live for their own protection. Sadly, they feel so cut off from community. So isolated and alone. They feel helpless and afraid. They are desperate for freedom. 

I have met the woman with the issue of blood. They live all over the developing world. Without access to basic sanitation and medical care, women are often left to fend for themselves. Their menstrual cycles make them feel cursed. Especially when there are problems. They too feel cut off from their community. Isolated from their families. Helpless and afraid. At the mercy of their biology. They are desperate for freedom.  

I have walked with countless families through grief. The loss of someone they love. It’s especially tragic when they are young. When they have their whole life ahead of them. The loss of children in particular can make or break a person’s faith. I have wept with parents at the bedside of a child dying of cancer. I’ve been in the hospital room when the doctor delivers the terrible news of a rare and terminal illness. These are incredibly painful and difficult spaces. Those living through them often feel cut off from their community. Isolated from their friends. Helpless and afraid. They are desperate for healing. 

What I love most about Jesus is His great compassion. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew‬ ‭9:36‬) One can only imagine the pain and suffering He saw as He surveyed the hundreds, even thousands of poeple who flocked to hear Him speak. He knows their every need. He knows their every desire. He knows their every heartache and heartbreak. He knows how desperate they are for healing. How desperate they are for freedom. And He loves them. He has compassion on them. He reaches out to them. Demons flee. Diseases are cured. The dead are raised. Everywhere Jesus goes, these miraculous signs accompany Him. Everywhere He goes, the Kingdom comes with power and authority. Everywhere He goes, new life breaks forth. 

But the needs are too much even for Jesus. He cannot heal every single person. He cannot cast out every single demon. He cannot sit with every family in their grief. So He sends His disciples. They will be His hands and feet. They will minister in His name and under His authority. They will be His ambassadors, Christ making His appeal to the world through them. Christ healing through them. Christ delivering through them.  

Our world is still full of desperation. People feel so harassed and helpless. They wander aimlessly through life like sheep without a shepherd. And the question for the church is this...do we have compassion? Are our hearts tenderized by the needs we see all around us? Do we make the time and take the time to come alongside those in pain? Are we willing to re-orient our priorities? Redirect our resources? Re-order our lives in such a way that we make space to care for the lost and lonely who live all around us? This, friends, is what it means to love and follow Jesus. 

The Kingdom of God

Readings for the day: Matthew 13:1-53, Mark 4:1-34, Luke 8:1-18

Have you ever wondered what the Kingdom of God is actually like? And how it differs from the kingdoms of this world? In our readings for today, Jesus takes up the subject of the Kingdom and describes it from a number of different angles.

• The Kingdom is like a field full of different kinds of soils, some more fruitful than others.
• The Kingdom is like a paddock where both wheat and weeds grow up together.
• The Kingdom is like the smallest of seeds that blossoms into one of the largest of trees.
• The Kingdom is like the little bit of leaven one puts in bread to leaven the whole lump. 
• The Kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field.
• The Kingdom is like that one pearl of great price.
• The Kingdom is like a net that captures all kinds of fish, some good and some bad. 

It is striking how different Jesus’ kingdom is from the kingdoms of this world. The world’s kingdoms value wealth and power and success. They measure themselves according to their size and influence. Their goal is to achieve as much success as possible. To sit atop the rankings. They jockey for position. The compete with one another. They take delight on another’s fall even as they scramble for a higher rung on the proverbial ladder. 

Sadly, too many churches fall into this trap as well. We value attendance. The size of our annual budgets. The number of people on staff. The beauty and attractiveness of our property and facilities. We jockey for position on Outreach Magazine’s Top 100. We seek to expand our brand by planting churches in communities where many other gospel-preaching churches may already exist. We define success by the number of new attendees even though statistics show they are often transfers from the churches around us. So our “success” is another church’s “failure.” The American church is particularly susceptible to this line of thinking. I heard a pastor recently argue that we should pull back from missions around the world so we could focus on planting churches in America. After all, he said, imagine what God could do with all the resources we have in this country? As if God needs our resources to accomplish His mission. 

I will confess my own failings here as well. It is so tempting for me to focus on the crowd that gathers on a Sunday morning. To dwell on how they receive the message I preach and whether or not they are putting it into practice. I spend a lot of energy daydreaming over what God could do with the resources in my little church family and how that would impact not only Parker but the whole world. If I am not careful, my passion to see God awaken every heart in my congregation spills over into a sinful trust in our strength. Our wealth. Our resources.  

I needed this reminder today. As my colleagues and I spend time on retreat, planning out the next season of sermons at PEPC. It is good to be reminded that the Kingdom cannot be measured by the number of people who attend. The number of dollars given. Or our ability to expand our programming and update our facility. The Kingdom is measured in much smaller, more subtle ways. It is the man set free from addiction. The abused woman who finds a listening ear. It is a marriage saved by counseling. A child who invites Jesus into their heart. It is a person going on a mission trip for the very first time. Or volunteering to serve in a classroom even though they feel so inadequate to the task. It is men and women stepping forth to lead and to serve in all sorts of ways. This is what the Kingdom is like. It is often hidden. Often under the radar. Often under the surface. It is messy and complex. Never clean or neat or easy. It is often two steps forward, one step back. The people we think have so much potential often are the most resistant and the people we often overlook become the true heroes and heroines of the faith. 

In my experience, good soil is always mixed in with concrete, gravel, thorns and thistles. Wheat is always mixed in with weeds. Mustard seeds often get lost in the shuffle. Leaven disappears into the dough. The treasure sometimes stays hidden for years. Finding that one pearl can take decades. Casting a wide net brings in all kinds of fish. Such is life in the Kingdom and thank God it’s not up to me to sort it all out. 

The Problem of Evil

Readings for the day: Matthew 12:22-50, Mark 3:22-35, Luke 8:19-21, 11:14-54

It’s one of the most challenging questions I face as a pastor and believer in Jesus Christ. How can a good God allow evil and suffering in the world? My atheist friends rightly press the question even further. “The existence of evil and suffering in the world leaves two possibilities...either your God is good but not all-powerful. Impotent in the face of evil and suffering. Helpless to stop it. Or your God is all-powerful but not good because He chooses not to step in. Either way, your God ceases to be god. Heads we win, tails you lose.” 

The Pharisees and religious leaders were essentially asking Jesus the same thing. Does He truly have the power and authority to defeat evil? And is His power good? Does it come from God? The reason they asked these questions is because they had just seen Jesus perform an exorcism. It’s not the first time. They’ve probably heard reports of other miracles of deliverance. But now they are seeing it with their own eyes. A mute man released. Set free. Words literally tumbling out of his mouth. It’s like everything he’s wanted to say for so many years comes rushing out in a torrent all at once. Exorcism wasn’t a common practice in Israel in those days but it wasn’t unknown either. There were other Jewish exorcists running around, claiming to cast out demons but something about the way Jesus did it was different. The power and authority He exercised was clearly unique and set the religious leaders on edge. What were they seeing? The demons obeyed this man’s every word. What did that mean? Grasping for understanding, they accused Jesus of being in league with Satan or Beelzebul himself. Perhaps the reason the demons obeyed is because Jesus’ power came from the prince of demons? Jesus shoots that theory down. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Why would Satan fight against himself? That leaves only one other option. Jesus is confronting evil and darkness and the devil with the power of God. 

Now we enter really dangerous territory. If the Kingdom of God has come. If Jesus is casting out demons by the finger of God Himself. If the Holy Spirit is at work in these miracles then to deny them is to deny God Himself! An unforgiveable sin! An unpardonable offense! If the religious leaders persist in their skepticism and unbelief, they will find themselves on the outside looking in when the Kingdom of God finally comes. This is why Jesus is so confrontational with them at the end of Luke 11. He wants them to believe. He wants them to come around. He wants them to lay aside their skepticism and disbelief and embrace Him as the Son of God and Son of Man. To see what He’s doing as the work of God in confronting evil and suffering. To see what He’s doing as the goodness of God in action in destroying all the works of the devil. The blind see. The deaf hear. The mute speak. The lame walk. Those who are opppressed and possessed are set free. These things are not random miracles. They are intentional acts of God to break the power of evil and suffering in our world.

And the work Jesus is performing here is just the beginning. After His death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus pours out His Spirit on the church. The people of God. The Body of Christ. We now are called to go forth - with the same power and authority - to confront the darkness! To defeat evil! To work for the good of the world! This is the commission given to us by our Father! In the beginning. In the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were given dominion over all God had made and sent forth to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with the glory of God. Nothing has changed. God’s decision to work through His people remains the same. So you ask what God is doing to defeat evil and relieve suffering in the world? I say look in the mirror! He has put you on this earth to make that happen! He has given you His Spirit to empower you and strengthen you and give you wisdom for the task! He has planted you in your neighborhood. Sent you into your school or workplace. Brought different people into your life and across your path for this very purpose! “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John‬ ‭4:4‬) Believe this! And go in God’s grace, love and power to defeat the powers of darkness and relieve the hurt and suffering of the world! 

A Dinner Party with Jesus

Readings for the day: Matthew 8:5-13, 11:1-30, Luke 7

Imagine you’re having Jesus over for dinner. You send out invitations. Line up a caterer. Clean your house. Put out tables and chairs. Light your scented candles. Maybe even spring for some live music. You leave nothing to chance. You want Him to be impressed. The day of the affair arrives. Your home is packed with people. These are your friends. Your colleagues. Your family. All of whom cannot wait to meet Jesus. He walks in. What do you do? Do you greet Him? Offer to take His coat? Get Him a drink? Give Him the seat of honor? Do you make sure to serve Him first as your guest? Introduce Him to all your friends by name? Make sure He feels welcomed and honored? Of course you would. You would be embarrassed if you didn’t. Your friends would be ashamed of you. 

Let’s take it up a notch. Imagine what would happen if a homeless man wandered in to your home that evening. Or a prostitute. Or a drug addict. Imagine them disrupting things. Imagine the crowd parting as people stumble over themselves so they don’t have to touch them. Imagine the room going silent and all eyes turning to you to see how you will respond. Now imagine those same eyes shifting to Jesus as the homeless man/prostitute/drug addict falls at His feet. Weeping. Shedding so many tears, Jesus’ feet literally become drenched. Now imagine the homeless man taking out a dirty handkerchief to wipe His shoes. The prostitute letting her hair down to dry his feet. The drug addict using his ratty t-shirt. You would probably be uncomfortable with the whole scene. Unsure of what to do or how to respond. Embarrassed by their behavior. After all, this whole affair is supposed to be about impressing Jesus! 

Imagine Jesus turns to you and tells you a story. Two people went into deep debt to a loan shark. One for five hundred thousand and the other for fifty. Neither could afford to pay. In a shocking move, the loan shark forgave both their debts. Which would love him more? The one who owed him the greater amount, of course. This homeless man. This woman of the night. This poor addict struggle with many things. Their lives are a trainwreck. Your life, on the other hand, is good. You live in a nice home. You are surrounded by people who love and respect you. You make a good living. You enjoy some of the finer things of life. Yes, you know you are not perfect. Yes, you have your own struggles. Yes, life is not always easy. But you have been given much whereas this man. This woman. This addict have been given little. And even what little they did have has been squandered away. Who do you think will love Me more? 

The one who is forgiven much, loves much. The one who is forgiven little, loves little. Friends, ask the Father to show you the full measure of your sin. Ask Him to show you how far you have fallen short of His glory. Not so that you will despair but so you can more deeply appreciate the sacrifice He made to save you! God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it! NO! He sent Jesus so the world might be saved through Him! All of us from the richest to the poorest. From the most privileged to the most oppressed. Perpetrators and victims alike need forgiveness. We all need grace. And Jesus stands ready to offer it to us in abundance! Know your sins have been forgiven and let that fan the flames of your devotion to Jesus! 

Building a Life that will Last

Readings for the day: Matthew 5-7, Luke 6:20-49, 11:1-13

 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." (‭Matthew‬ ‭7:24-27‬)

The Sermon on the Mount is the greatest sermon ever preached. Period. In it, Jesus casts His vision for His Kingdom. He defines what life looks like under His rule and reign. He sets boundaries around human desire and behavior to protect us from self-destruction and to teach us how to build a life that will last forever. Sadly, too many of us believe we can choose our own path. Defiantly, we try to chart our own course into eternity. Foolishly, we attempt to bushwhack our way through the wilderness of this world only to quickly lose our way. The results are tragic and heartbreaking.  

I wonder sometimes why we find our culture’s pact with sin and death so enticing. What is it about our culture that draws us in? We all know it’s not good for us. We all know the pace we’re setting isn’t healthy. We all are feeling the effects of isolation and loneliness. We all are struggling under the pressure that’s been created and exasperated through social media. So why do we persist? Why can’t we seem to opt out? Are we truly so addicted we cannot stop? 

How many families have to break up? How many pills do we have to take? How many children have to die before we wake up from the nightmare we find ourselves in? When will we stop believing the lie that life is all about me? All about my wants? All about my desires? The world tells us to “follow your heart” and “be true to yourself.”  I can think of nothing more devastating. The world tells us we “can be whoever we want to be” and to do “whatever feels good.” I can think of nothing more heartbreaking. Do we not see the pain we are leaving in our wake? The broken relationships? And for what? So we can selfishly pursue our own happiness at the expense of others? Do we not see the toll this is taking? The high price we are paying? The cost to those around us, especially those we love most? 

I meet them every single day. In coffee shops and bars all over town. Men and women and children who are suffering. Struggling. Wrestling with a deep sense of existential loneliness because they have tried their best to do this life on their own. They “believed in themselves” but that belief took them nowhere. Like Sinatra, they did life “my way” only to find themselves at a dead end. They tried to be the captain of their own destiny. The master of their own fate. The ruler of their own domain only to discover their reach far exceeded their grasp. In the words of Jesus, they built their entire lives on sand and their ruin was great.  

Perhaps that describes you today. You are looking around at the ruins of your marriage. The ruins of your family. The ruins of your professional career. Your bank account is overdrawn. Your energy levels are dangerously low. Your emotional reserves are tapped out. Your relationships are broken. Your heart is aching. And you feel so very alone. Depressed. Angry. Frustrated. Anxious. Afraid. Perhaps you’ve even been tempted to put an end to it all. Don’t believe the lie! God is with you! Even in the valley of the shadow! Even in the darkest of nights! His presence is always there to comfort and to guide and to bring us back into the light! 

How do we get from here to there? We start building on the rock. We start by surrendering our hearts and lives to Jesus. We invite the Holy Spirit to come and take up residence within us so He may transform us from the inside out. Only God can re-orient the desires of our hearts! Only God can re-prioritize the values of our lives! Only God can redirect our loves. As He does this deep work in us, what comes out of us begins to change. Life on the outside begins to reflect the new life that’s emerging on the inside. Regenerate actions flow from a regenerated heart. New wine is poured from new wineskins as God removes our hearts of stone and gives us new hearts that beat for Him alone! 

How do we know if we’ve received this new heart? Look at the Sermon on the Mount. Rather than treat it as a list of “do’s and don’ts“ instead consider it more of a diagnostic. Let the words of Jesus dissect your every thought. Your every deed. Your every emotion. Let it stand like a plumb line in your life against which you are constantly measuring yourself. Not because you must earn God’s favor but because you long to bring glory to God. Not because you have to follow some law but because you want to chart the progress the Holy Spirit is making in sanctifying you for His Kingdom. Not because you have to clean yourself up before God can love you or accept you but because you trust He has already done so and is hard at work to present you blameless before His throne. 

One can spend a lifetime learning from these few chapters and still never arrive. This isn’t about perfection, friends. It’s about the journey. It’s about following the way of Jesus. And if you are like most, you will find yourself stumbling down the road like a drunk man, swaying from one side to the other. That’s okay. That’s actually quite normal. The key is to keep walking down the road. 

Lord, Help Me Get One More

Readings for the day: Matthew 8:1-4, 9:1-17, 12:1-21, Mark 1:40-45, 2, 3:1-21, Luke 5:12-39, 6:1-19

One of my favorite movies is Hacksaw Ridge. It tells the story of Demond Doss who won the Medal of Honor for his courage during the Battle of Okinawa where he single-handedly saved 75 men. Doss was a combat medic who famously became a conscientious objector and refused to carry a weapon or kill an enemy soldier even in self-defense. Doss was persecuted for his devout Christian beliefs. He was frequently abused as his superiors attempted to drum him out of the army. He was even court-martialed. However, he persevered and served with great distinction. He won several awards for valor as he rushed into the heat of battle to save lives. His greatest moment came when his company attacked and tried to capture Hacksaw Ridge. They were met by a deadly counterattack by the Japanese and less than a third of the men made it safely down the cliff face to safety. Doss stayed behind. He prayed, “Lord, help me get one more.” And back onto the battlefield he went. Dragging one man after another to safety and lowering them down the cliff. For twelve hours he worked. Saving one soldier every ten minutes. It was truly miraculous. On May 5, 1945, as the army formed up to retake the ridge, they waited for Doss to finish his devotions and pray for them before going into battle. It was the Sabbath day. Doss was wounded four times on Okinawa. He saved lives by taking the brunt of a grenade blast which left shrapnel in his arm. While being evacuated, he saw a wounded soldier and rolled off the stretcher to treat him. He gave up his stretcher for the man and while he waited, was shot by a sniper. Desperately wounded, he crawled 300 yards to an aid station under heavy fire where he was rescued. 

What does this movie have to do with Jesus? I truly believe when God looks down on the earth, He sees a war raging. A battlefield strewn with the bodies of those he loves. They are broken. Wounded. Hurting. Struggling to survive. Lepers. Paralytics. Withered hands. Blind. Deaf. Lame. We come in all shapes and sizes and all of us are under relentless, ruthless attack by the enemy. Into this world steps Jesus. He prays to His Heavenly Father, “help me get one more.” Lepers are cleansed. Paralytics rise and walk. Withered hands are restored. Blind receive sight. Deaf hear. The lame dance. The enemy tries to stop him. They accuse Him of blasphemy. Eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. Working on the Sabbath. But Jesus came for the sick not the well. He came for the sinners not the self-righteous. Jesus prizes mercy over sacrifice. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus would eventually be killed for His beliefs. He would give His life on a Cross. 

The world is still a battlefield. A war rages all around us each and every day. The enemy’s attacks are relentless and ruthless. The devil wants to cause as much pain as he possibly can. He seeks to devour and destroy all God loves. Into this world, Jesus sends His people. To be His hands and feet. To come alongside the lost and lonely and hurting in our world. To bring healing and hope in His name. The church is like a MASH unit in the midst of this great spiritual battle. And Jesus sends us out to save lives one at a time. Is it dangerous? Yes. Will it be costly? Yes. Will we find ourselves tired and exhausted at times? Absolutely. Wounded along the way? You bet. But our passion for the casualties of this war must outweigh our comfort. Our sense of safety and well-being. Christ gave His life for us. Are we not called to give the same in return? Today, and everyday, may your prayer be as you leave your home, “Lord, help me get just one more.” 

It’s All About Jesus

Readings for the day: John 3-5

From the moment I was saved on the campus of the University of Colorado up in Boulder, I’ve had a passion to share Christ with others. I evangelized my family. My college buddies. My co-workers after college. I even found myself evangelizing while at Princeton Theological Seminary if you can believe it! Over the years, I’ve shared with Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons. More recently in my trips to Africa, I’ve encountered and shared Christ with those who follow more traditional tribal beliefs. And the one thing I’ve learned over the years is this...it really is all about Jesus. 

I remember meeting with Mormon missionaries in college. Every year I would walk up to their information desk the first week of school and ask to meet. I would be up front and honest with them about my motivations. I wasn’t interested in converting but rather having a dialogue about the differences between Christianity and Mormonism. It is tempting in these conversations to major in the minors. To talk about all the esoteric beliefs they hold to vis a vis our own. None of those conversations bore much fruit to be honest. Where we really gained traction is when we started talking about Jesus. Is He God? Or simply the Son of God? Is He the Creator? Or a created being just like us? Is He the Word Incarnate? Or just an enlightened teacher?  

Today’s reading makes it clear how Jesus saw Himself...

• Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
• For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
• For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
• For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
• For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.
• I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 
• I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.” (John‬ ‭5:19-23, 26-27, 30, 43‬)

These are stunning claims that would have put Jesus right in the crosshairs of the religious leaders of His day. They knew He was claiming to be God. Claiming a kinship with the Father that was unique to Himself. Indeed, just a few chapters later in John, Jesus will sum it all up by stating, “I and the Father are one.” Not just in spirit. Not just of one mind or one accord. But actually one in essence. In being. Which is why the Jews pick up stones to kill Him for blasphemy. 

My Mormon friends and I went round and round on this point. Is Jesus God? My Muslim friends and I have gone round and round on this point as well since they revere Jesus as a prophet. But Jesus isn’t just an enlightened teacher. Jesus isn’t just a great prophet like the others mentioned in the Bible. Jesus isn’t just one of the sons of God. He actually is God! As such, He alone has the power to give us new life! He alone has the authority to judge! He alone can raise the dead! He alone can deliver us from sin and evil! And if we still harbor doubts, Jesus calls witnesses to His defense. “If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (John‬ ‭5:31-32, 36-40‬)

Friends, Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan of salvation. He is the one to whom all human history points. He is the climax of the covenant. He is the telos of the Law. He is the capstone of creation. He is the Alpha and Omega. The First and Last. The Beginning and the End. All who believe in Him shall be saved. All who reject Him stand already condemned. This was his message to Nicodemus. To the woman at the well. To the man at the pool in Bethesda. It is His message to us as well. 

Reflecting Jesus

Readings for the day: Matthew 4:23-25, 8:14-17, Mark 1:21-39, Luke 4:31-44

 “So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them.” (Matthew‬ ‭4:24‬)

The news broke today of a dramatic increase in suicide threats being reported in my home state of Colorado. A ninefold increase in the last six years. It’s heartbreaking. And it only confirms what I hear from law enforcement and professional therapists in our area about rates of depression and anxiety skyrocketing, particularly among young people. Adding to this toxic brew are climbing rates of substance abuse. Recent studies show Colorado ranks #1 among all 50 states when it comes to opioid painkillers, alcohol, cocaine and marijuana. Deaths related to overdose increased significantly from 2002-2015 with 904 Coloradans dying from drug use and 847 from alcohol in 2015 alone. According to an article posted on drugrehab.com - (https://www.drugrehab.com/colorado/trends) - Colorado is home to some of the worst rates of drug-related deaths in the country. It’s tragic and terrifying. 

I have felt for a few years now that we are seeing the beginnings of a tsunami of pain that is just starting to hit our shores. Our children are suffering and dying all around us. Our culture is filled with an increasing amount of rage and anger. Death threats are now common against those who disagree. (Witness what Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh’s family are both going through at the moment.) It seems like everything is taken to the extreme. It makes for a very hostile and dangerous environment. Of course it must be acknowledged that what seems new to many of us has been the normative experience for so many of our friends of color or members of the LGBTQ community. They have lived with these threats for decades or more. But is this all there is? Are we doomed to live our lives under such threats? Constantly withdrawing or drawing our boundaries ever tighter in order to protect those we love? Or is there a different way? 

First century culture in Palestine was little different than our own. Pharisees. Saduccees. Essenes. Herodians. Roman collaborators. It was a divided society where different religious/political factions dotted the landscape. Each vying for power. Each seeking supremacy so they could eradicate their opposition. This was the world into which Jesus was born. This was the world in which Jesus launched his ministry. And what a ministry it was! So different than all the rest! Jesus welcomed the outcast. Ate with sinners. Spent time with the ritually unclean. He lifted up women. He cleansed lepers. He restored the isolated and lonely to community. As his fame grew, many people came from all over to bring him their sick. Their diseased. Their hurting. Their wounded. The demon-possessed were set free. He healed all their afflictions. And this only drew more hurting people to him. God was glorified. The Kingdom drew near. Salvation came to so many. All in the name of Jesus.

Could the church serve a similar role today? What if the church made it her aim to serve her community? To go out each and every week - having been filled and equipped in worship - to share the good news of the gospel? Bring healing in Jesus’ name? Freedom in Jesus’ name? Hope in Jesus’ name? What if the church was known as a refuge? A place of safety and security amidst the turmoil and violence of our world? What if the church was known for love rather than hate, even as she called the community around her to greater faithfulness? Would not the fame of Jesus increase? Would not people be drawn to the care and comfort we provide? What if we laid aside our internal theological fights and squabbles and instead linked arms to serve? What if we stopped stabbing our wounded in the back and instead embraced grace as a way of life? What if we put aside our need for political influence and power and instead sought to prayerfully and thoughtfully engage across the political spectrum? And what stops us? Why not start right now? Even today?  

Friends, true followers of Jesus should be known more by what they’re for than what they’re against. Jesus was certainly against many things in his day but he was known for his love and compassion and ministry among the poor. The outcast. The sinner. What is your church known for? And how can you - as a member of that local church - represent Christ more faithfully today?  

Temptation

Readings for the day: Matthew 4:1-22, 13:54-58, Mark 1:12-20, 6:1-6, Luke 4:1-30, 5:1-11, John 1:35-2:12

 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews‬ ‭4:15)

Jesus was fully human. He took on a fully human nature. With all its weaknesses. All its brokenness. All its vulnerabilities. As such, He knew temptation. He knew the temptation to provide for Himself. To satisfy His own needs. To put Himself above the will of His Father. “Command these stones to become loaves of bread.” He knew the temptation to make a name for Himself. To perform spectacular feats and miraculous deeds in an effort to extend His “brand.” To lift His name up above that of His Father. “Throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the Temple.” He knew the temptation to compromise. To accomplish His Father’s will by means other than the cross. “I will give you all the kingdoms of the earth and their glory if you will but worship me.” Jesus suffered these temptations and more throughout His life and ministry. And yet, He remained without sin. He remained faithful. Steadfast in His love for His Heavenly Father. 

Can you imagine the frustration of the devil? Here is his chance. Here is his opportunity to wreck it all. To take down the very Son of God and destroy the eternal plan of God. He knows he’s no match for God. He knows he is a created being. He knows he exists only because God’s mysterious will allows for it. And yet, he is so bitter and angry and prideful, he wants to do all he can to kill and destroy that which God loves. And what does God love most? His Only Begotten Son. So if the devil can get to Him. Get Him to sin. Corrupt Him in some way, shape or form. Turn Him from the cross then he wins. But Jesus peeps his game. Sees right through his schemes. He raises the shield of faith and extinguishes every single flaming dart of the evil one. He counters every thrust with the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and parries every blow. And what happens? The devil flees. 

Friends, you and I face temptation every single day. 1 John 2:16 describes it as “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life” and these things are not from the Father but are of the world. They are part and parcel of our experience as human beings. It is a weakness we bear from conception. A vulnerability we all share due to our broken, sinful, fallen natures. None of us escapes. None of us is immune. The temptations may take on different forms or different shapes but, at their root, they remain the same. Learning to identify and then resist temptation is a key part of the Christian life. It is one of the keys to deeper intimacy with Christ. 

How does one resist temptation? How does one take their stand - as Christ did - against the devil and put him to flight? We do what Jesus did. First and foremost, we cultivate a deep and intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. Through prayer. Meditation on God’s Word. Worship with God’s people. Regular participation in the sacraments. These ordinary means of grace become extraordinary sources of strength when temptation comes. They are the wells we draw on for water when the devil would put us under siege. Second, we identify the lies the devil is trying to get us to believe. Lies about ourselves. Lies about who God is. Lies about life in this world. The devil is the “father of lies” according to Scripture and he is constantly seeking to deceive us so we will fall into his traps. Third, we counter the enemy’s lies with the truth of God’s Word. When tempted towards self-reliance, we remind ourselves every good gift comes from God. When tempted towards self-promotion, we remind ourselves it is God who lifts up and exalts those He loves. When tempted towards self-protection, we remind ourselves it is God who is our fortress, our sanctuary, our Protector. When tempted to build our self-esteem, we remind ourselves we are not our own. We were bought with a price. When tempted to focus on our self-image, we cling to the truth that we were made in the image of God. These temptations are all around us. We are inundated by them every single hour of every single day. Social media. Peer interactions. The different voices in our heads. We are under constant bombardment to define ourselves outside of Christ. 

And that is why the writer of Hebrews is so quick to remind us that our great High Priest is faithful. Jesus, though tempted in every way as we are, remains without sin. He lives to intercede for us for He knows the struggle is real. He knows the power of your compulsions and addictions and predilections. He knows what draws you away from Him. And He is faithful to strengthen us. He stands ready to guide and protect us. He is with you always. Even to the end of the age. 

John the Baptist

Readings for the day: Matthew 3, Mark 1:1-11, Luke 3, John 1:15-34

 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction." (Malachi‬ ‭4:5-6‬)

John the Baptist is one of the most fascinating figures in all the Bible. He is Elijah reborn. The one whom Malachi prophesied would prefigure the coming of the Messiah. He is the messenger. The final Old Testament prophet. Like the prophets of old, he lives an ascetic lifestyle. He dwells in the desert. Survives on locusts and wild honey. Wears clothing made from wild camel hide. From birth, he was set apart as a Nazarite which meant no wine touched his lips nor would he cut his hair. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and he was sent to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. 

John preached a message of repentance. In keeping with his prophetic forebears, he pulled no punches. He showed no fear. In the face of political and religious opposition, he spoke the truth. He called out the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. He called out the immoral behavior of Herod the tetrarch. He called out the sins of the people as they came to be baptized. He called them to obedience. Called them to surrender. To sacrifice. To devote their lives to Yahweh. And revival began sweeping the region. 

God called John to serve a very special purpose. Though it meant prison. Though it would eventually cost him his life. John was called to prepare the way for Jesus. To make His path straight. To lift up every valley. To tear down every mountain. To straighten out the crooked and smooth the rough edges. He was called to lay the groundwork for the ministry of the Messiah so that all people might see the salvation of God. His calling was not to fame. Fortune. Safety. Security. Comfort. Peace. As soon as his ministry gets rolling, he hands it off. As soon as he is becoming popular, Jesus shows up on the scene. As soon as he really starts getting traction, he steps aside.

"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John‬ ‭1:29‬) This is our calling as well. To step aside. To get out of the limelight. To do all we can to point everyone to Christ. It may not make us popular. It may not gain us fame or fortune or a good reputation. It may cost us some of our rights. Some of our freedoms. Some of us may indeed be put in prison. Some of us indeed may lose our lives. (Not necessarily here in America but certainly in many places around the world.) The calling John received from God has been given to the church. To preach the good news of the gospel to the ends of the earth. To call people to repentance before the Lord. To call people to surrender their lives to Jesus before it’s too late. Before the day of judgment comes. Before the ax is laid to the root of the tree and the wicked are cut off. We too must make straight the path for Jesus. We too must lift up every valley. Tear down every mountain. Straighten out the crooked and smooth over the rough edges. In short, we must do all we can to remove every barrier to Christ. We must ourselves get out of the way so that others will see Jesus. 

Favor with God

Readings for the day: Matthew 2, Luke 2:39-52

Jesus evokes the strongest reactions. Wise men from the east. Probably pagan astrologers who watched the skies over Babylon. Men who possibly had been raised on the stories of their fabled Jewish forebears, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, come to Israel following a star. The heavenly sign was so compelling they traveled who knows how many miles over how many weeks to worship and offer gifts to a newborn king.  

Jesus evokes the strongest reactions. The king of Israel. Descendent of Esau through his father who had converted, Herod was raised a Jew. However, he was not of the Davidic line and therefore was considered a pretender at best to the throne. Furthermore, he reigned at the whim of Caesar, his first allegiance being to the Roman Empire rather than Yahweh. He received the news the wise men brought and was troubled. The news of a new king being born would be a threat to his own power. So he marshals his forces and lays waste to the entire region surrounding Bethlehem, killing all the male children under two years of age. 

Jesus evokes the strongest reactions. Joseph and Mary are traveling home from their annual trek to Jerusalem. After they make camp for the night, they realize Jesus is not with them. He has remained behind. So back they go frantic in their search for their now 12 year old son. For three days, they searched high and low throughout the city only to find him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening and asking questions. “Why have you treated us like this?” Why disrespect us? Why not obey us? Why did you not come when it was time to go? Their anger and frustration is palpable. And Jesus humbles himself and returns with them to Nazareth. 

Jesus evokes the strongest reactions. The Heavenly Father looks down on His Son. Sees him in danger and sends an angel to warn his parents. Sees him at the Temple listening and learning from the teachers of the Law. Sees him as he grows up under the love and guidance of Joseph and Mary. The Father sees it all and grants the Son favor. Blessing. Wisdom. Strength. Preparing him for the day when he would launch his ministry. Laying the groundwork for what’s to come. 

What’s your reaction to Jesus? How do you receive Him? Is it with a glad heart? Do you feel yourself compelled to seek Him and grow a relationship with Him like the wise men? Is it fear? Do you, like Herod, respond in fear and anxiety to the idea that Jesus would be your Lord and Savior? Is it frustration? Like Joseph and Mary, does Jesus sometimes confound your expectations? Or do you respond with love and devotion? Is Jesus finding greater “favor” with you with each passing year? 

Promise Keeper

Readings for the day: Matthew 1, Luke 1-2:38

 “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet…” (Matthew‬ ‭1:22‬)

God always delivers on His promises. God is always faithful to His covenant. God is always true to His Word. The birth of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan. This is the primary message of the gospels. It is why Matthew begins with a long genealogy tracing all the way back to Abraham. It’s why Luke will trace his genealogy all the way back to Adam. It’s why all the gospel writers connect the miraculous birth of Jesus to the promises God gave to the prophets. Matthew cites Isaiah and the virgin who will conceive. Luke summarizes Malachi and the one will come in the spirit of Elijah. It’s why Mary and Zechariah both sing songs recalling the great things God has done.

The advent of Jesus reveals the full measure of God’s radical commitment to His creation. To the people who bear His image in the world. The advent of Jesus is God’s “Yes” to our rebellious and defiant “No.” He is God’s declaration of unconditional love and grace and mercy. He is God’s affirmation in the face of our fear. He is God’s acceptance in the face of our loneliness and struggle. He is God’s answer to all our questions.

The road to Jesus was a long and winding one. All one has to do is go through the list of names Matthew sets out and recall their stories. Each of them is broken in their own way. Each of them struggled with fear, uncertainty, pain, and heartbreak. Each of them struggled and suffered. None of them are clean or pure or holy in and of themselves. And yet God uses all of them to tell His story of salvation. God uses the barrenness of Abraham and Sarah. The incest of Tamar. The prostitution of Rahab. And an unclean Moabite named Ruth. God uses the adultery of David and Bathsheba. The arrogance of Rehoboam that divides a kingdom. And the blasphemous idolatry of Ahaz and Manasseh that leads to exile. God uses another barren couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth to prepare the way for His Only Begotten Son who will be born of a young virgin named Mary who is betrothed to a poor carpenter named Joseph. This is the lineage of Jesus. It is dysfunctional. Full of brokenness and sin. And yet it is through this rather ordinary line of people that God makes good on His promise to bring salvation to the world.

What about you? What is your story? What is your life like? What is your family like? What skeletons lie deep in your closet? What fears keep you locked up inside? What wounds do you carry? What dysfunctions do you grapple with? And how have you seen God at work through it all? Or do you see God at work through it all? Friends, the promise of the gospel is this…In Christ, God works together all things – ALL THINGS – for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Cling to the promise of Christ today! Trust in the promise of Christ today! Believe in the promise of Christ today!

Reading the Bible Wholistically

Readings for the day: Psalm 106, John 1:4-14

For decades, maybe even a few centuries, there has been a strong push among biblical scholars to break the Bible down into it’s component parts. To atomize the Scriptures so we can get to the truth.  To divorce each word, each phrase, each passage from the rest of the material around it so we can put it under the microscope. When I was in seminary we were taught to stay within the text. To stay within the particular chapter we were reading. We most certainly were not encouraged and, in some cases, not allowed to draw from other books of the Bible to make our exegetical case. Such efforts were dismissed in favor of a “dis-integrated” approach that frees the interpreter from the constraints of the overarching narrative. 

The problem, of course, is this notion is completely foreign to the Biblical authors themselves. Clearly whoever composed Psalm 106 had no trouble drawing on material from all over the Bible as he prayed to God. Egypt. Exodus. The wilderness wandering. A golden calf. The great sin at Peor and the valiant actions of Phinehas to stay the plague. The conquest of Canaan. Inhabiting the Promised Land. Kingdom. Exile. Return. He basically is telling and re-telling the story of Israel as he prays. Recounting the great faithfulness of God as he remembers and cries out for salvation once again. He understands his place the larger narrative. He understands his role in the larger story. He sees Scripture “wholistically” and draws great comfort from the text. 

Jesus himself took this approach. He saw the Scriptures a “unified” whole that could not be separated or broken down into hermetically sealed little packages, one having nothing to do with the other. Listen to what he tells two disciples on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection.  “And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke‬ ‭24:25-27‬) Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection makes no sense if it is not connected to the larger story of God’s salvation. The greater plan God has been working out since the foundations of the world. Jesus’ birth seems random and even capricious - at least to Mary - unless it remains anchored in the prophetic witness of the Old Testament. Jesus’ teaching seems like it comes out of left field unless it remains linked to the Law of God revealed on Mt. Sinai. The cross - divorced from the context of the Old Testament system of sacrifices - becomes a horror rather than a hope. The resurrection, rather than sounding the death-knell of sin and death and evil, becomes this strange, other-worldly, super-spiritual, psychosomatic event that doesn’t really change much at all. 

It is without question that every single author of every single book of the Bible believed with all their heart, soul, and mind that the events they recorded were part of the eternal plan of God. The Apostle John especially understood this great truth when he wrote these immortal words, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John‬ ‭1:14‬) With the advent of Jesus, John knew the world had changed. The curtain had closed, so to speak, on human history as God Himself took the stage. Light now shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. Good stood toe to toe with evil and backed him down. God had now entered our world of brokenness to mend it and make it whole. And the great news for all of us is this, “To all who receive him, who believe in his name, he gives the right to become children of God, who are born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John‬ ‭1:12-13‬)

A Dark Ending

Readings for the day: Nehemiah 11-13, Psalm 126

I grew up watching Star Wars as a kid and it is generally accepted that The Empire Strikes Back  is the best of the original trilogy, if not the best in the entire series. It’s a very dark movie. Evil is on the move and in fact, seems to be winning. The end of this second installment finds the heroes in disarray. Luke Skywalker has lost a hand and his innocence as he finds out Darth Vader is his father. Han Solo has been captured and frozen in carbon so he can be delivered to Jabba the Hut. Leia, Chewbacca, the droids, and Lando aren’t quite sure what to do and the hopes of the rebellion seem very slim. It’s all a set up of course. The final installment of the series will see the heroes overcome all these obstacles to win an improbable victory against a seemingly invincible enemy. Stop me if this plot seems familiar at all. 

The Old Testament - whether you read it chronologically as we have this year or you simply read the books in order - doesn’t end well. Israel is in disarray. Despite their return to the Promised Land, they simply cannot get it right. They are unable to remain faithful. They intermarry. They profane the Sabbath. They worship other gods. The whole point of the Old Testament on some level is to drive us to complete and total despair. To bring us to the end of ourselves. The end of our strength. The end of our resources. The end of our wisdom so we will cry out for God. It’s to prepare God’s people for the coming of the Savior who is Jesus Christ. Because it is impossible for us to remain faithful, He must do it for us. Because it is impossible for us to obey God’s Law, He must do it for us. Because the sacrifices are only temporary, Jesus must become the perfect sacrifice on our behalf. Hanging between heaven and earth. Representing both God and humanity. He intercedes for us even as He takes our place.  

If you are wired like me, you find the end of the Old Testament incredibly unsatisfying. It goes over like a lead balloon. A wet blanket. It just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. The reason I feel this way is because deep down I want to believe I can be a good person. Deep down I want to believe that if I work hard enough, stay disciplined enough, read the Bible enough, pray enough, worship enough, you name it; I can work my way to God. I can find favor with Him. I can earn His praise. But Ephesians 2:8-9 confronts me with the truth, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Saved by grace. Saved through faith which itself is a gift from God. None of my works matter in the grand scheme of thing because God will not allow me to boast in anything except Christ. 

We’ve spent nine months in the Old Testament. It’s a long, hard slog no doubt. We have watched the same pattern repeats itself over and over again. God raises up His people only to watch them fall into sin. Adam and Eve. Noah and his family. Abraham and Sarah. Moses and the Exodus. Joshua and the Judges. Samuel and Saul. David and Bathsheba. On and on the list goes until you get to Ezra, Nehemiah and the Exiles. All of them sin and fall short of the glory of God. All of them are like sheep who have gone astray. All of them unworthy of anything but God’s judgment. So how does God respond?  

 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”‭‭ (John‬ ‭1:14‬)

Tell the Old, Old Story

Readings for the day: Nehemiah 8-10

Creation. Abraham. Egypt. Exodus. Judges. Promised Land. Kings. Temple. Priests. Prophets. Exile. Return. Whenever the people of God renew their covenant with the Lord, they take time to remember their story. They understood their current situation was but the latest link in a chain of events stretching all the way back to the Garden. All the way back to God Himself at the dawn of creation. But for God, they would have been destroyed. But for God, they would have been erased. But for God, there would be no history. No story to tell. Listen to them tell it again and think about how far they’ve come...

 “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous. "And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters. By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them. "But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, 'This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,' and had committed great blasphemies, you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. "And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan. You multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness. "Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. "Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.” (Nehemiah‬ ‭9:6-37‬)

Those of you who have been tracking with us through the Bible this year know these stories. You read them in great detail. You pondered them. You prayed over them. You listened for the voice of God in them. Many of you grew frustrated at times. You couldn’t understand why they kept making the same mistakes. You got angry at times. You couldn’t understand the righteous judgment of God. Many of you laughed and cried and wrestled and struggled with the lessons the people were learning. About themselves. About their God. About His plan and His future.  

It’s important for us to remember this story. To read it over and over again for it is our story as well. As Christians, we are grafted into this story. Adopted into this family. Warts and all. These people are our people. They are our mothers and fathers. Sisters and brothers in the faith. And we are so like them. If we’re honest with ourselves, we too make the same mistakes over and over again. We too sin and fall short of the glory of God. We too deserve judgment and death. Punishment and exile. But we have the benefit of living after Christ. Jesus Christ took the punishment we deserved. He went into exile for us. He endured the righteous wrath of God so we do not. He stood in our place just as surely as He stands in the place of the Old Testament saints who came before us. He is Savior of the world. Past. Present. Future. He is the Alpha and Omega. Beginning and End. His blood is sufficient to cover every sin. As we head into the New Testament, we must hold onto our history. Christ came as the climax of this history. He is the One to whom the Old Testament points. He is the One in whom all prophecies are fulfilled. He is the One every single saint from Abraham forward looked to by faith. 

Relinquishing our Rights

Readings for the day: Nehemiah 5-7

The call of the gospel is to lay down our lives for others. To do as Jesus did. Jesus is God. As such, He could have chosen to hold onto His divine right to rule. His divine right to reign. His divine right to wield authority and power and compel obedience. But Jesus relinquished those rights. He laid them aside. Taking on the form of a servant. He became obedient even unto death. And not just any death but the most humiliating, degrading death possible. Death on a cross. At any time, He could have called down legions of angels to crush His enemies. At any time, He could have taken back up His authority and destroyed His enemies. But Jesus relinquished His rights because He had a greater prize in mind...the approval of His Heavenly Father. Jesus put no stock in the ways of this world. The accolades of this world. The kingdoms of this world. The treasures of this world. He placed no value on anything this world had to offer and instead looked to the world to come for His hope. This is why His Father exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above every name. His willingness to lay everything down in humble obedience to His Father’s will was vindicated by His resurrection, ascension, and exaltation.  

I see Christ in Nehemiah. A man who was willing to relinquish his rights and lay everything down for the sake of God’s people. A man who put service to His nation above his own well-being. He had every right to demand tribute as governor. He had every right to levy taxes and exact a heavy toll on his constituents. He had every right to demand a portion of the interest the wealthy had placed on the poor. But he gave all that up and by doing so, set a godly example before the people.  “From the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah...neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver...But I did not do so, because of the fear of God. I also persevered in the work...we acquired no land...what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people.” (Nehemiah‬ ‭5:14-19‬) And how did the people respond to such godly leadership? The rich forgave the debts of the poor. Land was restored to their rightful owners. Interest was no longer accrued. The people were set free. Such acts of generosity were a sign to everyone that God was in their midst. 

What about us? We live in a nation consumed with selfishness and greed. Everyone seems out to get “theirs.” Everyone is concerned about protecting their “rights.” Everyone wants justice. The problem is we don’t all share the same view of justice. We believe all truth is relative. We all want an equal share but often refuse to make equal sacrifice. Too many feel entitled to what they have rather than view it as a gift from God. Too many do all they can to protect what they have rather than walk with open hands. Too many hoard all they have rather than give generously. And here I am just talking about the Christians! The very people who claim to follow Christ!  

It is estimated that if every American who called themselves a Christian tithed, an additional 165 billion dollars could be raised? Think of the global problems that could be solved with that kind of money! According to the United Nations, 25 billion dollars could relieve world hunger, starvation and death from preventable disease within five years. 12 billion could eliminate illiteracy in five years. 15 billion could solve the world’s water and sanitation issues. 1 billion could fully fund all overseas mission work. Do all that and you would still have almost 100 billion left over! (Source: www.relevantmagazine.com/love-and-money/what-would-happen-if-the-church-tithed) Imagine how the reputation of the church would change if we got serious about following the example of our Savior and laid down our lives for others? Imagine how the world would change if the church would relinquish her rights and instead sought to serve? Imagine how many lives would be saved if we truly embraced the heart of the gospel like Nehemiah and so many others who have gone before us? 

The Work of Prayer

Readings for the day: Nehemiah 1-4

What is your first response when facing a crisis? What is your initial instinct when you receive bad news? When life seems to be falling apart, what do you turn to? For many, it is alcohol or drugs. Opioids. Marijuana. Psychedelics. All are readily available in my community. For many, it is sex. Porn. Tinder. Hook-up apps. All pose very real temptations to those who in need of a “fix.” For many, it is work. Longer hours. Longer days. More gratification. More achievement. More success. It can be intoxicating. However, all these behaviors only postpone the inevitable. At some point in time, we have to face our fear. We have to enter the darkness. We have to deal with the heartbreak and pain. 

Nehemiah receives the worst news imaginable. He had asked about his people. How many had survived? How many were still living in Jerusalem? What was life like for them? The news was grim. The people were helpless. Vulnerable. Weak. They were barely hanging on. Without a wall to protect them, there was no way they would survive. So how does Nehemiah respond? With prayer and fasting. Weeping and mourning before the Lord for days. Many would argue he’s wasting valuable time. He should use his position of influence to get what he needs to save his people. He should run to the king immediately to let him know what’s happening. Why waste time in prayer? Surely God understands! And can’t Nehemiah pray along the way? Why now? Why wait? When there’s so much work to be done? 

We live in a busy world. A world that puts the pedal to the metal 24/7. A world that sets a relentless pace. It is easy to get caught up in the race. It is easy to pull up anchor and let yourself be driven by all the activities and opportunities the world puts in front of us. It’s easy to go from crisis to crisis without ever stopping to ask why? Why am I trying so hard? Why am I running so hard? What am I trying to avoid? Who am I trying to impress? What’s the cost? Prayer forces us to slow down. It forces us to sit in the Lord’s presence and wait for His Word. Prayer silences the cacophony of voices that fill our head every single day. Or at least quiets them for a few moments. Prayer brings us in touch with what is truly real and noble and true and allows us to identify the lies we so often believe. Prayer gives time for wisdom to sink in. For plans to be made. For actions to be mapped out. 

Consider again the example of Nehemiah. After praying and fasting for days, he wipes his tears and resumes his post as cupbearer before the king. The king sensed his mood however and asked him what was wrong. Nehemiah clearly had prepared for this moment. When asked, he laid out his concern and his plan. “I said to the king, "Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?" Then the king said to me, "What are you requesting?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it." And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), "How long will you be gone, and when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy." And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.” (Nehemiah‬ ‭2:3-8‬) Nehemiah left nothing to chance. In prayer, he had sought the wisdom and counsel of God. He waited for days until the Lord revealed His will. He emptied himself through fasting in order that he may receive. And God was faithful. God gave him a plan to present to the king. Furthermore, because Nehemiah appealed to God first, God gave him favor when it came time to appeal to the king. 

Too often prayer is an afterthought. A last resort. Something we do when it’s time to “break glass in case of emergency.”  Too often we look at prayer as a passive exercise. We assume it is a way of avoiding hard work or hard conversations. We don’t value prayer as we should. Instead, we are people of action. We want to move and move now! We want to act and act now! We demand instant gratification and instant success and instant feedback. Especially in a social media world. But prayer is vital to the life of a believer. It slows us down. It calms us down. It gives us perspective. All good things in our world today! 

What’s your prayer life like? Do you make time to pray each day? What do you pray for? Wisdom? Understanding? Insight? Strength? Peace? All these things and more are available to you through our Heavenly Father. All you have to do is ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened. 

Racism in the Bible?

Readings for the day: Ezra 7-10

Today’s reading definitely presents a challenge. Particularly since we live so far removed from the specific cultural situation Ezra faced as the Israelites returned from exile. It is deeply offensive to our 21st century sensibilities to imagine a group of men initiating a mass divorce simply over race and/or nationality. We rightly wonder what happens to the women and children who are kicked to the curb? Are they left destitute? Is this of the will of God? Or was this an example of early Pharisaism rearing it’s ugly head? Zealousness for the Law of God taken to a logical extreme? Moreover, many wonder if this is yet another example of God’s Law remaining culturally bound? Irrelevant to our modern lives? After all, how can we respect a God who commands the breakup of so many families?  

This is what makes Bible reading such a challenge. We can’t just read the words on the page and accept them at face value. We have to dive deeper to understand the cultural currents of the day and how this story fits if we want to understand. Furthermore, we have to acknowledge the cultural assumptions we ourselves bring to the text. We are not objective observers. We too have biases and perspectives that are shaped by current cultural movements like #MeToo, feminism, and, at a more fundamental level, the US Bill of Rights that will shape how we respond to the text. It’s hard to lay these things aside and try to walk a mile in Ezra’s shoes.  

So why was Ezra so upset over the intermarriage of Israel with their pagan neighbors? And why does he call for them to “put aside” the foreign women and their children? And what were the social ramifications of such a drastic move? First and foremost, we need to understand that in ancient near east culture, ethnicity, tribal identity, and religion all overlapped. You see something similar in the world today where Islam is so closely identified with the Arabic ethnicity. Tribal kingdoms were defined in a very real sense according to the god they worshipped. Each nation had their own god and their own unique religious practices. Their god ruled over a specific territorial boundary which defined the geographic limits of a particular kingdom. Other features that defined tribal and/or national identity had to do with the personality of the king who ruled, the language they spoke, and then, downstream from the rest, the particular physical features of the people themselves. One can see how different this is from modern racial theory forged in the wake of the horrors of the Holocaust and ethnic purges of the last 150 years.

From a Biblical standpoint then, if one married a pagan, one pledged allegiance in a certain sense to their god. This obviously represents a fundamental break with the First Commandment which is why Ezra reacts so strongly to the news. Furthermore, intermarriage also brought into question one’s tribal and/or national identity. It was an open question whether one could actually be an Israelite if one married a non-Israelite. One would always be suspect as would one’s children. If/when an invasion took place, whose side would you be on? Could you be trusted? All these were very real questions for a fragile group of people seeking to reestablish themselves and rebuild their nation. Certainly there were options for non-Israelites to become Israelites. The book of Ruth is a great example and a story the people in Ezra’s time would have known well. However, in order to become an Israelite one had to renounce any connection to their former god and their former people. “Where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16)

Hopefully, this helps us understand Ezra’s dilemma and heartbreak. He is ashamed. He is afraid. He knows his history well and he knows what happens when God’s people are unfaithful. "O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today.” (Ezra 9:6-7) He tears his robe. He rips his beard. He falls on his face before God and intercedes for the people. 

As he prays, a few men come forward with a solution. What if everyone who has taken a foreign wife puts her aside? What if they separated out the foreign women and children as an act of repentance? This seems good to Ezra. The proclamation goes forth. Those found guilty repent. And the story ends. We don’t know how it turns out for the women and children. Are they simply cast side? Left to fend for themselves? Surely not as God’s Law is just as clear about how we treat the foreigner and stranger and most vulnerable in our midst as it is about intermarriage.

So what happened? No one can say with certainty. I can only here offer a modern day analogy. In many places in Africa, it is common for the men to take more than one wife. Polygamy is not God’s design for marriage so I’ve encouraged them to choose one wife and essentially “put away” the others. They remain in the household under the economic care and protection of the man of the house but he lives in covenant faithfulness with only one woman. He provides for them. He takes care of their children. He still fulfills all his responsibilities as a husband and father so they are not left destitute on the streets. It’s not a perfect solution but it is one offered in an attempt to bring the family into covenant faithfulness to the gospel. 

So where do you find yourself today? What does covenant faithfulness look like for you? Where are you living in covenant obedience? Where are you living in disobedience? Is your heart grieved by the brokenness and sin of your life?  

Offering

Readings for the day: Malachi 1-4, Psalm 50

I am the parent of four teenagers. They are all strong-willed. All independent thinkers. They are all straining at the leash, longing to be on their own. I love it. It’s exactly how it should be. But they aren’t ready yet and my job in this phase of life is to coach them. To encourage them. To guide them. How do I know they aren’t ready? Because their attitude and effort is still subpar. They don’t complete their work all the way. They leave far too many things undone. They struggle to submit. They struggle to take responsibliity. They are afraid of - in their words - “adulting.” I get it. I remember feeling the same way when I was their age.  

When I read Malachi, it feels to me like God is dealing with a bunch of adolescents. Believers whose attitude and effort is subpar. Yes, they bring their sacrifices to the Lord but they are blemished. Yes, they meet their obligations in worship but it’s not their firstfruits. They say and do all the right things but their hearts are not pure. They are just going through the motions. And God knows all this! He sees the sacrifices they have to offer. “When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil?” (Malachi‬ ‭1:8‬) He sees right through all the BS. “Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.” (Malachi‬ ‭2:3‬) He knows their tears are simply for show. “You cover the Lord 's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, "Why does he not?" Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless...” (Malachi‬ ‭2:13-14‬) He can count. He knows they aren’t giving in accordance with His commands. “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions.” (Malachi‬ ‭3:8‬) And yet, when confronted with their sin, what do the people do? They protest. Throw up their hands. Stomp their feet. Raise their voices. Shift the blame. It’s typical adolescent behavior. 

What is God’s desire? He wants His people to grow. He wants them to be strong. He wants them to be wholly devoted to His great name.  “For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts...For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.” (Malachi‬ ‭1:11, 14‬) He wants His people to be pure of heart and true in faith. “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi‬ ‭2:5-7‬) His desire is to bless and not curse. To give and not withhold. To pour out abundance upon them so that they nations will see all God has done. “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi‬ ‭3:10-12‬)

But God also knows our hearts. He knows what He expects is impossible for us to achieve. He knows the corruption that exists at the core of our being. The sin that so easily entangles. We brought this on ourselves and God has been trying to teach us how helpless and hopeless we are without Him. So He will send His messenger to accomplish all that we could not. He will be the Faithful One. He will be the True Israelite. He will be the Messiah and Savior of all who believe.  “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.” (Malachi‬ ‭3:1-3‬) He will purify our offerings. He will sanctify our hearts. He will make us righteous before the Lord.