"We have become so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God’s coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God’s coming should arouse in us. We are indifferent to the message, taking only the pleasant and agreeable out of it and forgetting the serious aspect, that the God of the world draws near to the people of our little earth and lays claim to us." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Prior posts:
Day 23 | Day 22 | Day 21 | Day 20 | Day 19 | Day 18 | Day 17 | Day 16 | Day 15 | Day 14
Day 13 | Day 12 | Day 11 | Day 10 | Day 9 | Day 8 | Day 7 | Day 6 | Day 5 | Day 4 | Day 3 | Day 2 | Day 1
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Monday, December 21, 2015
Advent 2015 - Day 23
"On this fourth week of Advent, we declare our awe of your matchless glory and measureless grace. Continue to open the eyes of our hearts to behold even more of your incomparable beauty; expand the chambers of our hearts to make room even more of the wonders of your love. Free us to be generous and joyful as the Magi. Liberate us to love as you love us, to forgive as you have forgiven us, and to pursue others as you so faithfully seek us. So very Amen we pray, in your trustworthy and worship-worthy name. " (Scotty Smith)
Prior posts:
Day 22 | Day 21 | Day 20 | Day 19 | Day 18 | Day 17 | Day 16 | Day 15 | Day 14
Day 13 | Day 12 | Day 11 | Day 10 | Day 9 | Day 8 | Day 7 | Day 6 | Day 5 | Day 4 | Day 3 | Day 2 | Day 1
Prior posts:
Day 22 | Day 21 | Day 20 | Day 19 | Day 18 | Day 17 | Day 16 | Day 15 | Day 14
Day 13 | Day 12 | Day 11 | Day 10 | Day 9 | Day 8 | Day 7 | Day 6 | Day 5 | Day 4 | Day 3 | Day 2 | Day 1
Saturday, November 7, 2015
An Ephesians 3 Prayer
May (youu) have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. - Ephesians 3:18-19
Father, as I consider the multi-dimensional love of Christ, I would ask for your help to know and grasp just how big you are, how powerful you are, how holy you are, how majestic you are and how loving you are. The immesity of these qualities are really beyond my grasp and I need your Spirit to anchor them into my heart and soul.
On top of this, oh Lord allow the expanse of your sovereignty to soak into my bones. Grant me the privilege to really believe that you are able to do all things, that you are active everywhere accomplishing purposes that you have established since the foundation of time, and that you really truely know what you are doing. May this reality strengthen and establish my trust and faith in you.
In addition, dear Jesus, give me the eyes to see the depth to which I had fallen. I am not there anymore, which is a praise to your glorious grace, but I need to reminder that I am sustained solely and completely by your steadfast, faithful, ever-enduring love. Also, help me begin to begin to comprehend the depth to which you lowered yourself in order to redeem a people to yourself. The creator steping into creation, the eternal one stepping into time, the sovereign one stepping into dependence and the holy, righteous one stepping into a broken, sinful. fallen world. All of this was not to rule or reign, but to suffer and to die. For me. Oh God when I consider this, I am undone.
And finally Father, graciously give me a glimpse of the breadth of what you are accomplishing by your Spirit. My vision is so small. My mind is so simple. My heart is so weak. My faith is so frail. But you are doing things in every home, in every community, in every nation around the world. You are calling people to faith in Christ even as I pray these words. You are pushing and proding people to serve you today in ways they may have never considered before. You are allowing people to suffer today for your glory and their ulitimate good. You truely are a good, good Father. Help me, help all your beloved children, to see this truth and transform us today even more into the image and likeness of your dear Son Jesus, in whose name I always and forver pray.
Amen.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
The Real Good Samaritan
(link to the audio here)
Luke 10:25-37
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
D.A. Carson, New Testament scholar and co-founder of the Gospel Coalition has said, mastering God's Word is one thing; being mastered by it is something entirely different.
This morning we have a very familiar passage of scripture before us. I would dare to say that if I took a quick survey almost everyone in this room knows about the parable of the Good Samaritan. I would also dare to say that most of you think you know the punchline to this sermon already. And maybe you do since this is one of the most culturally referenced parts of Scripture. And yet, this is God's Word. We may be masters of it, but even today, as familiar as this passage is, we still need to be mastered by it.
Prayer
My goal this morning is to look at this passage on two different layers. As I just mentioned, the first layer will be very familar to most of us. Still, in that familiarity, I trust God will speak to us and use his word as a sharp, double edged sword. The first layer we will consider is the point and pupose of the parable in its immediate context. Following that, I would also like to look at this parable in the sweep of middle section of the book of Luke. From 9:51 to 19:44, Jesus is on this relentless journey to Jerusalem, teaching both disciples, bystanders and opponents both by lesson and by example, what going to Jerusalem really meant and why it was necessary for us all.
Before we dive in, I think it will be helpful for us all to remember a couple of things about parables. Parables, of course, are stories. They are illustrations Jesus and other teachers of that day used to hammer home a point that may not have been obvious to the immediate audience. Thus in Matthew many of Jesus' parables start with the phrase "The kingdom of heaven is like..."
One guiding principle we must keep in mind is that since parables are illustrations, they have one main point which takes us outside of the parable and into a spiritual reality. Thus, the parable of the lost sheep is not about diligent shepherding, but rather about the unstoppable love, grace and mercy of God. Additionally, since parables have one main point, they are not meant to say or communicate everything that Bible has to say on a topic.
Another reality about parables is that most were given with the intent that the audience would find themselves within the parable. I realize this is risky because by human nature we will want to place ourselves as either the hero or the villian. But, if we have ears to hear, if we really listen as the Spirit speaks God's word to us, I am confident we can see who we are in this parable.
The final item to consider is the combination of these prior elements. These aren't just stories like Age of Ultron or Cinderella or even Pilgrim's Progress. Jesus used parables both as challenging calls and stinging rebukes. He openned vistas of God's magificent grace so that we might believe and he presented spirtual realities so that we would see the exclusivity and preemince of his own life, death and resurrection. You see parables have one main point and we find ourselves in them so that the Spirit can move us forward in our faith.
With all of that being said, what is the stage that this parable is playing on? Look with me at Luke 10. Verse 25 sets it up for us nicely. An expert in the Jewish law is seeking to test Jesus' view on salvation. Of course, much could be said about the scribes and Pharisees and other Jewish authorities, but what has always intrigued me is the phrasing of the question. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Do? Inherit? These words don't seem to go together, do they? An inheritance, almost by definition, is something done to you. So this question is in essence asking "what can I do to be born into Bill Gates family?"
But it also betrays where the lawyer's heart really is. Intrinsically we go here by default, don't we? What can I do? What can I do to fix my marriage? What can I do strengthen my kids? What can I do to improve my walk with God? What can I do to prepare for the next stage of life? High School, College, First Job, marriage, Kids, empty nest, grand children, retirement, nursing home, death. And so many more. What can I do? Many of us in this room are asking this very question. It seems to be the fundatmental human question.
Notice though, how Jesus responds. Those of us who have a theological defense mechanism might have arched our backs and cut loose on the lawyer. But not Jesus. Jesus, the master teacher and superb discussion guider responds with a question of his own. Its a question right up the alley of this Jewish legal scholar. In fact, some would say its was a high arching softball pitch intended for an easy answer. So Mr legal scholar, how would the Law answer your question?
Jesus' approach here is helpful for a couple of reasons. First, it reminds us that God is never out to trick us or trap us. Even though this was the lawyer's goal, Jesus' actually wanted him to learn something, to grow in his faith, to put his trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord. And, he's asking the same thing of us. He knows we all have this "I can do it myself" attitude. So he asks us, "What does the Bible say?"
But there's another, less obvious thing as well. Jesus is underscoring the reality that the Jews could know how to be saved from just their Old Testament scriptures. Think back to last week, how Steve showed us so clearly that Naaman's healing and even life circumstances point us to Christ. Remember, the Old Testament is all this guy had. Its all Nicodemus had. Its all Peter and Paul and John and James had. We are blessed with the New Testament, but the point here is that the Old Testament has always pointed to Jesus.
The lawyer responds with a classic "sabbath school" answer. He quotes two Old Testament verses Dt 6:4-5 and Lev 19:18. To pharaphrase his answer he says love God supremely and love people sacrificially. Bam. Out of the park. Home run.
Now, if I could step into the story at this point I would. The lawyer had just dialoged with Jesus and even if he did not regard him as the Messiah, most people saw him as a teacher worthy of respect. Even Nicodemus, "Israel's teacher", approached Jesus with deference. To engage in a conversation with Jesus and receive such a positive reponse was incredible. So if I could, I would step in say to the lawyer "stop talking", "just leave it alone", "don't say another word".
Fortunatey for this lawyer and fortunately for the rest of us, I was not there and God allowed the lawyer to speak out of the overflow of his heart. You see he did what we so often do. He had recited a creed, but this creed had never become a confession. He knew that God's word said in his head, but what it meant never really made it down into his heart. Think about it. Even without Luke's commentary, the question "And who is my neighbor?" betrays the real god of this man's heart.
How often do we fall into the same pit? How much to I have to give? How often to I have to go? How long do I have to serve? We seem to have this insatible need to put limits and caps on God's call in our lives. Why? Because, as Tim Keller would say, "We need to protect what is most important to us." You see, where we draw the lines, where set up the limits, that demonstrates where our true allegiance lies.
Now, before we move into the parable itself, let me hit the pause button for just a few seconds. This is the moment where we all need to be careful. At the risk of sounding over dramatic, I believe we are on dangerous ground. We are treading on the ground of familiarity. In fact for this parable it could actually be called the ground of over familiarity. I am not going to ask you to forget what you know and I won't ask you to pretend like 2 millenia of cultural baggage doesnt affect how we read this parable. But, I will ask and have been praying that you read and listen with fresh, attentive minds and hearts. By doing this, I am trusting that God may bless us and allow his word to master us.
One thing we need to capture is how this parable probably unfolded to the original audience. You see we know (or think we know) the punch line. In fact, we, not scripture have titled the Samaritan "good", as if the parable is about him. By contrast, most of us view the priest and levite as "bad". I would dare say, those first two guys were normal and doing what was culturally expected. And the Samaritan? He would have been viewed as the least likely to help and certainly the least likely to be the hero of this story.
Now consider with me what Jesus is saying in this parable as it plays out in verses 30-36. An unknown man is robbed and left for dead. Two religious men pass by onthe other side of the road, doing their duty to the Law, but not to the man. A third traveler, one who would be least likely to help and probably would not have been helped by the man who was robbed if the situation was reversed not only helps but goes above and beyond the immediate need. In this little story are at least three things we are meant to see.
First, loving God supremely and loving people sacrificially requires more than religious obedience. Remember the conversation that triggered this parable. Jesus and the lawyer agreed that to have eternal life one must love God supremely and love people sacrificially. But the lawyer wanted to know the limits on this mandate. In essence he wanted to make it a religious system. The parable does the exact opposite; blasting open even the preconceived limits the lawyer already had. This is demonstrated in the first two travelers. As I said, they were doing their religious duty. They were obeying the Law. They were keeping themselves pure for service to God. And yet, Jesus' implication is that they didn't do what was most honoring to God nor what was most loving to the man. Would there have been a sacrifice in crossing the road? Absolutely. Seven days to become rituallly clean again. But what is that compared to saving someone's life?
And we can do this too, can't we? Choosing something good over something better. Helping ourselves rather than helping others. Using our religious structures and traditions to limit the scope and call of Holy Spirit in our lives. Here is one simple example: I have been meeting for years with a couple other guys for breakfast once a week. Most weeks we have some pre arranged material to kick start our conversation. But I also desire to pray for our time before we meet. Sometimes, however, when I get to the prayer time I realize I am unprepared for material. At the point I typically abandon the prayer for the prep, even though I know that it is God, through prayer, that really makes our time effective.
A second thing to see in this parable is what we most often connect with, that loving God supremely and loving people sacrificially cannot be limited by our social constructs. The Jewish / Samaritan divide was what was in view here, but in reality Jesus has any such barrier in view. Male / female, rich / poor, strong / weak, white / black, straight / gay, American / foreign, Christian / secular. And on and on.
To be candid, the more I've reflected on this, the more God has pressed me. If the extent of my love for God is measured by the scope of my love for people who are different from me then perhaps my love for him isn't as deep or broad or wide or deep as I thought. Thankfully, God's love for me is not contingent on my love for him, but yet the upward call of Christ keeps pressing and pulling and urging and calling us deeper in. And, just to add some fuel to this fire, none of this exempts from serving and caring and loving those who are closest to us.
The third thing that Jesus is pointing out to the lawyer and to us about loving God supremely and loving people sacrificially is in regard to the expanse and extent of this love. Notice the Samaritan doesn't just stop with checking on the traveler or cleaning up his wounds. He also took him to a place where he could recover and he provided for the expense of not only his stay but also his care. And, he promised to pay for any extra costs that might be incurred. To steal a line from a older strong, "His love was extravagant"
So there it is. To love God supremely and to love others sacrificially requires us to put our religiosity away, that we go beyond our social constructs, and that we allow the boundless love that we have received from God through Jesus to flow freely to those around us.
As awesome and as challenging as it is to see the depth of Chirst's call in this parable, there is another layer of the parable of the Good Samaritan that we need to consider. You see, just like the parable itself doesn't occur in a vaccum and is in fact an answer to a question, the entire encounter between Jesus and the lawyer doesn't occur in a vaccum either. Jesus is on a somewhat circuitous journey that starts in Luke 9:51 where Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem. This journey culmunates with the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem followed by Jesus' entry into the temple in Luke 19:44. Along the way Jesus' mission to seek and save the lost, to redeem a people for God, to fulfill all of the Old Testament promises continued to gather steam. Each stop along the way was like a tributary flowing into the river of his mission and pupose.
With this perspective in view, let's consider again the encounter between Jesus and the lawyer. The lawyer's own answer to his original question was that eternal life is bound up with loving God supremely and loving people sacrificially. As true as this is, how many of us could have claimed to do this before we were Christians? Personally, God was there to serve me and people were simply in the way. And so, here we have the same dilemma we have throughout the Bible: we are stuck in a deep hole with only a shovel to get us out.
So, is Jesus' response to the lawyer meant to cause us to despair? Is there no way I can love God supremely and love people sacrificially? Since we can't do this perfectly, since no one can do this completely, are we to give up and simply languish in our sin? Or, is this actually meant to give us hope? We are correct to realize we cannot live out the affirmation of the lawyer, but we dare not stop there. We need find the one man who can.
In this sense, when the lawyer asks, who is my neighbor, we need to read the question backward. Not just who is my neighbor to love sacrificially, but who is my neighbor who loved me with the ulimate sacrifice? If we see the parable at this 2nd level then the charaters and the parable itself take on an added dimension.
First, who is the victim? In the immediate context we saw the victim was anyone we are called to love sacrificially irregardless of whatever differences we may have with them. But now we can see that at a spiritual level, at the level of Jesus setting his face toward Jerusalem, we are the victim. We are the one who was bereft of resources. We are the one who was been left for dead. We are the one people avoided in the name of religion. We are the one who was naked and alone. We are the one who was without hope.
What about the first two travelers? We could play some games and say one is legalism and one license or one is religion and one is worldly wisdom. While those would be cute, the real point is that there is nothing, no system, no individual, no power, no possession that is able or even willing to save us. I think this is important to note and remember. The first two travelers didn't try to save the beaten, bloody victim and fail. They went to the other side of the road so as to even avoid the attempt. The same is true with anything you can dream up that might rescue us from our desperate condition. Nothing can save us and nothing is even willing to try.
That leaves us with the third traveler. He is the one who binds our wounds. He is the one who treats us as a friend, even though we would likely consider him our enemy. He is the one who took us out of the domain of our trouble. He the one who clothed us with clothes we couldn't afford. He is the one who provided a safe place for us. And, he is the one who promised that if any expense is incurred for our care, he would pay for it.
Does this sound familar to anyone? I would hope so. It is Jesus!
Let me botton line this for you. As Andrew made clear a couple of weeks ago, we are all on this spectrum of a spiritual journey. Because of that there are different aspects of this parable that may press upon you differently depending on where you are and what God is moving you toward.
For those who are here that have never trusted in Christ for your salvation, who when you hear all that Jesus has accomplished for his children and say "I wish that were true of me", let me say this: It can be. Today is the day of salvation. Don't wait another day or hour or even minute. Stop your striving, stop your performing, stop your attempts at self salvation and rest in Christ. Trust that God is willing and able to save and rescue and redeem and that he has done so through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Now, for those of us who perhaps are stuck in neutral in our Christian life, who hear Jesus describe what it looks like to really love God supremely and love others sacrificially and sigh and say: that's not me, what do we take from this passage? First is this: know that Jesus is the real Good Samaritan. Since Jesus loved God supremely and others sacrificially, we as his brothers and sisters inherit that obedience. By this we are freed and empowered to begin loving God supremely and loving others sacrificially. Remember, as Matt Chandler is fond of saying, God's not looking for perfection, but progress. And second, beware of putting limits on God's claim on your life. We all do this, to some degree, but Jesus, via this parable, is saying since I withheld nothing to save you, you should withhold nothing to serve those I bring across your path.
And for those who see the mandate of this parable and are seeking by the power of the Spirit to live it out, I would say praise God! You are where God wants you to be. Keep up the good work that God was prepared in advance for you to do. But you also need to remeber, along with all of us, that there is no arrival. We must always be growing and we need to continue to grow. Grow in faith, grow in dependance, grow in praise, grow in knowledge of God, grow in reliance on the Spirit, grow in communion with God.
Finally for all of us who consider ourselves followers of Jesus. We need to praise God for what he has done, what he continues to do and what he will ultimately do. We are caught up in the entire sweep of redemptive history from the promise in Gen 3 to the triumphant wedding feast in Rev 19 and this reality alone should cause us to simultaneously weep and shout and stand dumb founded. And, one day we will realize that God has actually given us way more than we could possibly ask or imagine. May that realization begin today.
To God Alone Be The Glory
Luke 10:25-37
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
D.A. Carson, New Testament scholar and co-founder of the Gospel Coalition has said, mastering God's Word is one thing; being mastered by it is something entirely different.
This morning we have a very familiar passage of scripture before us. I would dare to say that if I took a quick survey almost everyone in this room knows about the parable of the Good Samaritan. I would also dare to say that most of you think you know the punchline to this sermon already. And maybe you do since this is one of the most culturally referenced parts of Scripture. And yet, this is God's Word. We may be masters of it, but even today, as familiar as this passage is, we still need to be mastered by it.
Prayer
My goal this morning is to look at this passage on two different layers. As I just mentioned, the first layer will be very familar to most of us. Still, in that familiarity, I trust God will speak to us and use his word as a sharp, double edged sword. The first layer we will consider is the point and pupose of the parable in its immediate context. Following that, I would also like to look at this parable in the sweep of middle section of the book of Luke. From 9:51 to 19:44, Jesus is on this relentless journey to Jerusalem, teaching both disciples, bystanders and opponents both by lesson and by example, what going to Jerusalem really meant and why it was necessary for us all.
Before we dive in, I think it will be helpful for us all to remember a couple of things about parables. Parables, of course, are stories. They are illustrations Jesus and other teachers of that day used to hammer home a point that may not have been obvious to the immediate audience. Thus in Matthew many of Jesus' parables start with the phrase "The kingdom of heaven is like..."
One guiding principle we must keep in mind is that since parables are illustrations, they have one main point which takes us outside of the parable and into a spiritual reality. Thus, the parable of the lost sheep is not about diligent shepherding, but rather about the unstoppable love, grace and mercy of God. Additionally, since parables have one main point, they are not meant to say or communicate everything that Bible has to say on a topic.
Another reality about parables is that most were given with the intent that the audience would find themselves within the parable. I realize this is risky because by human nature we will want to place ourselves as either the hero or the villian. But, if we have ears to hear, if we really listen as the Spirit speaks God's word to us, I am confident we can see who we are in this parable.
The final item to consider is the combination of these prior elements. These aren't just stories like Age of Ultron or Cinderella or even Pilgrim's Progress. Jesus used parables both as challenging calls and stinging rebukes. He openned vistas of God's magificent grace so that we might believe and he presented spirtual realities so that we would see the exclusivity and preemince of his own life, death and resurrection. You see parables have one main point and we find ourselves in them so that the Spirit can move us forward in our faith.
With all of that being said, what is the stage that this parable is playing on? Look with me at Luke 10. Verse 25 sets it up for us nicely. An expert in the Jewish law is seeking to test Jesus' view on salvation. Of course, much could be said about the scribes and Pharisees and other Jewish authorities, but what has always intrigued me is the phrasing of the question. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Do? Inherit? These words don't seem to go together, do they? An inheritance, almost by definition, is something done to you. So this question is in essence asking "what can I do to be born into Bill Gates family?"
But it also betrays where the lawyer's heart really is. Intrinsically we go here by default, don't we? What can I do? What can I do to fix my marriage? What can I do strengthen my kids? What can I do to improve my walk with God? What can I do to prepare for the next stage of life? High School, College, First Job, marriage, Kids, empty nest, grand children, retirement, nursing home, death. And so many more. What can I do? Many of us in this room are asking this very question. It seems to be the fundatmental human question.
Notice though, how Jesus responds. Those of us who have a theological defense mechanism might have arched our backs and cut loose on the lawyer. But not Jesus. Jesus, the master teacher and superb discussion guider responds with a question of his own. Its a question right up the alley of this Jewish legal scholar. In fact, some would say its was a high arching softball pitch intended for an easy answer. So Mr legal scholar, how would the Law answer your question?
Jesus' approach here is helpful for a couple of reasons. First, it reminds us that God is never out to trick us or trap us. Even though this was the lawyer's goal, Jesus' actually wanted him to learn something, to grow in his faith, to put his trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord. And, he's asking the same thing of us. He knows we all have this "I can do it myself" attitude. So he asks us, "What does the Bible say?"
But there's another, less obvious thing as well. Jesus is underscoring the reality that the Jews could know how to be saved from just their Old Testament scriptures. Think back to last week, how Steve showed us so clearly that Naaman's healing and even life circumstances point us to Christ. Remember, the Old Testament is all this guy had. Its all Nicodemus had. Its all Peter and Paul and John and James had. We are blessed with the New Testament, but the point here is that the Old Testament has always pointed to Jesus.
The lawyer responds with a classic "sabbath school" answer. He quotes two Old Testament verses Dt 6:4-5 and Lev 19:18. To pharaphrase his answer he says love God supremely and love people sacrificially. Bam. Out of the park. Home run.
Now, if I could step into the story at this point I would. The lawyer had just dialoged with Jesus and even if he did not regard him as the Messiah, most people saw him as a teacher worthy of respect. Even Nicodemus, "Israel's teacher", approached Jesus with deference. To engage in a conversation with Jesus and receive such a positive reponse was incredible. So if I could, I would step in say to the lawyer "stop talking", "just leave it alone", "don't say another word".
Fortunatey for this lawyer and fortunately for the rest of us, I was not there and God allowed the lawyer to speak out of the overflow of his heart. You see he did what we so often do. He had recited a creed, but this creed had never become a confession. He knew that God's word said in his head, but what it meant never really made it down into his heart. Think about it. Even without Luke's commentary, the question "And who is my neighbor?" betrays the real god of this man's heart.
How often do we fall into the same pit? How much to I have to give? How often to I have to go? How long do I have to serve? We seem to have this insatible need to put limits and caps on God's call in our lives. Why? Because, as Tim Keller would say, "We need to protect what is most important to us." You see, where we draw the lines, where set up the limits, that demonstrates where our true allegiance lies.
Now, before we move into the parable itself, let me hit the pause button for just a few seconds. This is the moment where we all need to be careful. At the risk of sounding over dramatic, I believe we are on dangerous ground. We are treading on the ground of familiarity. In fact for this parable it could actually be called the ground of over familiarity. I am not going to ask you to forget what you know and I won't ask you to pretend like 2 millenia of cultural baggage doesnt affect how we read this parable. But, I will ask and have been praying that you read and listen with fresh, attentive minds and hearts. By doing this, I am trusting that God may bless us and allow his word to master us.
One thing we need to capture is how this parable probably unfolded to the original audience. You see we know (or think we know) the punch line. In fact, we, not scripture have titled the Samaritan "good", as if the parable is about him. By contrast, most of us view the priest and levite as "bad". I would dare say, those first two guys were normal and doing what was culturally expected. And the Samaritan? He would have been viewed as the least likely to help and certainly the least likely to be the hero of this story.
Now consider with me what Jesus is saying in this parable as it plays out in verses 30-36. An unknown man is robbed and left for dead. Two religious men pass by onthe other side of the road, doing their duty to the Law, but not to the man. A third traveler, one who would be least likely to help and probably would not have been helped by the man who was robbed if the situation was reversed not only helps but goes above and beyond the immediate need. In this little story are at least three things we are meant to see.
First, loving God supremely and loving people sacrificially requires more than religious obedience. Remember the conversation that triggered this parable. Jesus and the lawyer agreed that to have eternal life one must love God supremely and love people sacrificially. But the lawyer wanted to know the limits on this mandate. In essence he wanted to make it a religious system. The parable does the exact opposite; blasting open even the preconceived limits the lawyer already had. This is demonstrated in the first two travelers. As I said, they were doing their religious duty. They were obeying the Law. They were keeping themselves pure for service to God. And yet, Jesus' implication is that they didn't do what was most honoring to God nor what was most loving to the man. Would there have been a sacrifice in crossing the road? Absolutely. Seven days to become rituallly clean again. But what is that compared to saving someone's life?
And we can do this too, can't we? Choosing something good over something better. Helping ourselves rather than helping others. Using our religious structures and traditions to limit the scope and call of Holy Spirit in our lives. Here is one simple example: I have been meeting for years with a couple other guys for breakfast once a week. Most weeks we have some pre arranged material to kick start our conversation. But I also desire to pray for our time before we meet. Sometimes, however, when I get to the prayer time I realize I am unprepared for material. At the point I typically abandon the prayer for the prep, even though I know that it is God, through prayer, that really makes our time effective.
A second thing to see in this parable is what we most often connect with, that loving God supremely and loving people sacrificially cannot be limited by our social constructs. The Jewish / Samaritan divide was what was in view here, but in reality Jesus has any such barrier in view. Male / female, rich / poor, strong / weak, white / black, straight / gay, American / foreign, Christian / secular. And on and on.
To be candid, the more I've reflected on this, the more God has pressed me. If the extent of my love for God is measured by the scope of my love for people who are different from me then perhaps my love for him isn't as deep or broad or wide or deep as I thought. Thankfully, God's love for me is not contingent on my love for him, but yet the upward call of Christ keeps pressing and pulling and urging and calling us deeper in. And, just to add some fuel to this fire, none of this exempts from serving and caring and loving those who are closest to us.
The third thing that Jesus is pointing out to the lawyer and to us about loving God supremely and loving people sacrificially is in regard to the expanse and extent of this love. Notice the Samaritan doesn't just stop with checking on the traveler or cleaning up his wounds. He also took him to a place where he could recover and he provided for the expense of not only his stay but also his care. And, he promised to pay for any extra costs that might be incurred. To steal a line from a older strong, "His love was extravagant"
So there it is. To love God supremely and to love others sacrificially requires us to put our religiosity away, that we go beyond our social constructs, and that we allow the boundless love that we have received from God through Jesus to flow freely to those around us.
As awesome and as challenging as it is to see the depth of Chirst's call in this parable, there is another layer of the parable of the Good Samaritan that we need to consider. You see, just like the parable itself doesn't occur in a vaccum and is in fact an answer to a question, the entire encounter between Jesus and the lawyer doesn't occur in a vaccum either. Jesus is on a somewhat circuitous journey that starts in Luke 9:51 where Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem. This journey culmunates with the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem followed by Jesus' entry into the temple in Luke 19:44. Along the way Jesus' mission to seek and save the lost, to redeem a people for God, to fulfill all of the Old Testament promises continued to gather steam. Each stop along the way was like a tributary flowing into the river of his mission and pupose.
With this perspective in view, let's consider again the encounter between Jesus and the lawyer. The lawyer's own answer to his original question was that eternal life is bound up with loving God supremely and loving people sacrificially. As true as this is, how many of us could have claimed to do this before we were Christians? Personally, God was there to serve me and people were simply in the way. And so, here we have the same dilemma we have throughout the Bible: we are stuck in a deep hole with only a shovel to get us out.
So, is Jesus' response to the lawyer meant to cause us to despair? Is there no way I can love God supremely and love people sacrificially? Since we can't do this perfectly, since no one can do this completely, are we to give up and simply languish in our sin? Or, is this actually meant to give us hope? We are correct to realize we cannot live out the affirmation of the lawyer, but we dare not stop there. We need find the one man who can.
In this sense, when the lawyer asks, who is my neighbor, we need to read the question backward. Not just who is my neighbor to love sacrificially, but who is my neighbor who loved me with the ulimate sacrifice? If we see the parable at this 2nd level then the charaters and the parable itself take on an added dimension.
First, who is the victim? In the immediate context we saw the victim was anyone we are called to love sacrificially irregardless of whatever differences we may have with them. But now we can see that at a spiritual level, at the level of Jesus setting his face toward Jerusalem, we are the victim. We are the one who was bereft of resources. We are the one who was been left for dead. We are the one people avoided in the name of religion. We are the one who was naked and alone. We are the one who was without hope.
What about the first two travelers? We could play some games and say one is legalism and one license or one is religion and one is worldly wisdom. While those would be cute, the real point is that there is nothing, no system, no individual, no power, no possession that is able or even willing to save us. I think this is important to note and remember. The first two travelers didn't try to save the beaten, bloody victim and fail. They went to the other side of the road so as to even avoid the attempt. The same is true with anything you can dream up that might rescue us from our desperate condition. Nothing can save us and nothing is even willing to try.
That leaves us with the third traveler. He is the one who binds our wounds. He is the one who treats us as a friend, even though we would likely consider him our enemy. He is the one who took us out of the domain of our trouble. He the one who clothed us with clothes we couldn't afford. He is the one who provided a safe place for us. And, he is the one who promised that if any expense is incurred for our care, he would pay for it.
Does this sound familar to anyone? I would hope so. It is Jesus!
Let me botton line this for you. As Andrew made clear a couple of weeks ago, we are all on this spectrum of a spiritual journey. Because of that there are different aspects of this parable that may press upon you differently depending on where you are and what God is moving you toward.
For those who are here that have never trusted in Christ for your salvation, who when you hear all that Jesus has accomplished for his children and say "I wish that were true of me", let me say this: It can be. Today is the day of salvation. Don't wait another day or hour or even minute. Stop your striving, stop your performing, stop your attempts at self salvation and rest in Christ. Trust that God is willing and able to save and rescue and redeem and that he has done so through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Now, for those of us who perhaps are stuck in neutral in our Christian life, who hear Jesus describe what it looks like to really love God supremely and love others sacrificially and sigh and say: that's not me, what do we take from this passage? First is this: know that Jesus is the real Good Samaritan. Since Jesus loved God supremely and others sacrificially, we as his brothers and sisters inherit that obedience. By this we are freed and empowered to begin loving God supremely and loving others sacrificially. Remember, as Matt Chandler is fond of saying, God's not looking for perfection, but progress. And second, beware of putting limits on God's claim on your life. We all do this, to some degree, but Jesus, via this parable, is saying since I withheld nothing to save you, you should withhold nothing to serve those I bring across your path.
And for those who see the mandate of this parable and are seeking by the power of the Spirit to live it out, I would say praise God! You are where God wants you to be. Keep up the good work that God was prepared in advance for you to do. But you also need to remeber, along with all of us, that there is no arrival. We must always be growing and we need to continue to grow. Grow in faith, grow in dependance, grow in praise, grow in knowledge of God, grow in reliance on the Spirit, grow in communion with God.
Finally for all of us who consider ourselves followers of Jesus. We need to praise God for what he has done, what he continues to do and what he will ultimately do. We are caught up in the entire sweep of redemptive history from the promise in Gen 3 to the triumphant wedding feast in Rev 19 and this reality alone should cause us to simultaneously weep and shout and stand dumb founded. And, one day we will realize that God has actually given us way more than we could possibly ask or imagine. May that realization begin today.
To God Alone Be The Glory
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Of the Father's Love Begotten
(HT to Kevin DeYoung Of the Father's Love Begotten)
Of the Father’s love begotten,
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore!
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore!
At His Word the worlds were framèd;
He commanded; it was done:
Heaven and earth and depths of ocean
In their threefold order one;
All that grows beneath the shining
Of the moon and burning sun,
Evermore and evermore!
He commanded; it was done:
Heaven and earth and depths of ocean
In their threefold order one;
All that grows beneath the shining
Of the moon and burning sun,
Evermore and evermore!
He is found in human fashion,
Death and sorrow here to know,
That the race of Adam’s children
Doomed by law to endless woe,
May not henceforth die and perish
In the dreadful gulf below,
Evermore and evermore!
Death and sorrow here to know,
That the race of Adam’s children
Doomed by law to endless woe,
May not henceforth die and perish
In the dreadful gulf below,
Evermore and evermore!
O that birth forever blessed,
When the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bare the Saviour of our race;
And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face,
evermore and evermore!
When the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bare the Saviour of our race;
And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face,
evermore and evermore!
This is He Whom seers in old time
Chanted of with one accord;
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word;
Now He shines, the long expected,
Let creation praise its Lord,
Evermore and evermore!
Chanted of with one accord;
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word;
Now He shines, the long expected,
Let creation praise its Lord,
Evermore and evermore!
O ye heights of heaven adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him,
and extol our God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert sing,
Evermore and evermore!
Angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him,
and extol our God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert sing,
Evermore and evermore!
Righteous judge of souls departed,
Righteous King of them that live,
On the Father’s throne exalted
None in might with Thee may strive;
Who at last in vengeance coming
Sinners from Thy face shalt drive,
Evermore and evermore!
Righteous King of them that live,
On the Father’s throne exalted
None in might with Thee may strive;
Who at last in vengeance coming
Sinners from Thy face shalt drive,
Evermore and evermore!
Thee let old men, thee let young men,
Thee let boys in chorus sing;
Matrons, virgins, little maidens,
With glad voices answering:
Let their guileless songs re-echo,
And the heart its music bring,
Evermore and evermore!
Thee let boys in chorus sing;
Matrons, virgins, little maidens,
With glad voices answering:
Let their guileless songs re-echo,
And the heart its music bring,
Evermore and evermore!
Christ, to Thee with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving,
And unwearied praises be:
Honour, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory,
Evermore and evermore!
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving,
And unwearied praises be:
Honour, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory,
Evermore and evermore!
Monday, December 29, 2014
New Year, New Blog.
Well, maybe not so much a new blog as a refocused effort to post content on to the existing blog. My list of excuses for not posting could stretch for a mile, but the reality is that it all comes down to priorities. And, if the truth be told, that is the same for all of life. Not enough time for this. Too tired for that. Can't concentrate. Not interested. The list grows, but the underlying foundation is the same. We will prioritize what is important and can easily discard what is not.
So, when I look back over a sparse year or two of blog posts I can see that same thing. I could blame busyness or an inability to focus on topics, but the simple truth is that other things took precedence. Now, they may have been good things, even necessary things. However, as I sit here today, on the edge of the calendar flip into 2015, I sense the need to return to blogging with more regularity. The other stuff is still there. The excuses are still hiding in the weeds. But, by God's grace, my priorities toward this blog and how He might use it are changing.
One final thing. I know blogs can feel like a one way street. However for those who have a Google login, I have always allowed comments to my blog posts. I am notified of each one and read them all. So, if God uses some post down the line to inspire you or provoke you, feel free to let me know. Also, any one who reads this blog is free to share it or repost it or whatever the newest thing is. The more we can spread the truth about the grace and mercy and love of God as it is found in Jesus the better.
Soli Deo Gloria.
So, when I look back over a sparse year or two of blog posts I can see that same thing. I could blame busyness or an inability to focus on topics, but the simple truth is that other things took precedence. Now, they may have been good things, even necessary things. However, as I sit here today, on the edge of the calendar flip into 2015, I sense the need to return to blogging with more regularity. The other stuff is still there. The excuses are still hiding in the weeds. But, by God's grace, my priorities toward this blog and how He might use it are changing.
One final thing. I know blogs can feel like a one way street. However for those who have a Google login, I have always allowed comments to my blog posts. I am notified of each one and read them all. So, if God uses some post down the line to inspire you or provoke you, feel free to let me know. Also, any one who reads this blog is free to share it or repost it or whatever the newest thing is. The more we can spread the truth about the grace and mercy and love of God as it is found in Jesus the better.
Soli Deo Gloria.
Monday, October 28, 2013
The Aim Of Our Charge Is Love
The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. - 1Ti 1:5
Is the essence of the Christian life really this simple? And this difficult?
The more I read and listen and thoughtfully, prayerfully consider the word of God, it really does come back to love. Love drives the Trinity. Love commissioned the Son. Love crafted the gospel. Love took Jesus to the cross. Love brought Jesus out of the tomb. Love sent the Holy Spirit. Love bound the early church. And love is the call in each of our lives.
Here are just a few things I am praying through and trying seriously to put into practice, by the grace of God.
- Love for God, with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, cannot be separated from loving my neighbor as myself. We can often limit one or the other, which is the challenge of the parable of the Good Samaritan, but to separate them is to deny them both. To love God truly, I must love my neighbor. To truly love my neighbor, I must love God.
- I don't live self-consciously enough. Too much of my life flows like water down the Mississippi, simply gone, without a trace. How does one love subconsciously (or unconsciously). It seems to me the very definition of love would preclude this. Perhaps, the fruit of the Spirit will allow an alertness, an attention to the moments of life and that love can be exercised and displayed with much more frequency.
- Love, like grace and faith and mercy, is a gift. I cannot conjure up love just because I want to. God gives it. And yet, God is the giver who keeps giving to those who ask. So, where is my prayer request for grace? For faith? For love? Whatever container I hold these in is very leaky. I need the love of Christ as much today as any day before. And I think the same will be true tomorrow.
In the end, I think it is a simple and as difficult as Paul states in 1 Timothy. Let everything--prayers, worship, giving, teaching, eating, reading, talking--be done in self-conscious love.
your affectionate, though unworthy brother and servant in Christ,
To God Alone Be The Glory
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Amazing Grace?
We probably all know the first line of this hymn:
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me"
I want to say that I agree with John Newton's assessment. Grace is amazing and its very, very sweet.
And yet I think that familar words and hymns and creeds can become rote and routine. I think we can read or sing or say the words but lose their meaning and power. So, today I'm seriously asking myself: "Is God's grace really amazing?" and "If it is amazing, why?"
Amazing? Really?
One could probably open the Bible to any page and see statements of God's grace, mercy and steadfast love. Lam 2:22-24 come to mind (see blog post for 1/4). However seeing the reality of these things and assigning an adjective like amazing to them are two different things. And people being who they are can easily dismiss something that may in fact be amazing (see Jn 12:27-29)
But, if you slowly and carefully read passages like Isa 1 or Rom 1:18-3:20, you begin to get the sense that there are dimensions to this grace and mercy that we have received that go beyond the simple fact that I'm a helpless sinner (which in fact we all are). So, I thought I'd list some of the realities that make God's grace amazing.
More than amazing?
For me, this is where the love and grace and mercy of God become incredibly amazing. When you consider the fact that He paid our unpayable debt and he gave to us the right standing we did not and could not obtain on our own and you add to that the reality that he did this while we were his enemies, rebels and traitors, then you have astoundingly, amazing grace.
Years ago, I heard a speaker say that the stunning thing about John 3:16 is not so much that God loved the whole world in a numeric sense (i.e. isn't it amazing that God can love so many people). Instead, John 3:16 is stunning because the world, especially in John's writing, is such a bad place (i.e. isn't it amazing God can love anyone as sinful as me, much less millions of us). God's love is expansive, covering the globe, covering the centuries, covering all cultures and languages and genders. But this love and mercy and grace become a multifaceted diamond when you really consider how unlovely and unworthy and treacherous and self absorbed we are.
Consider anything you enjoy or appreciate. Something you "love" in the broad, 21st century way of speaking. Why do you love or appreciate that thing? In the end, isn't there something that you find lovely or enjoyable about it? Whether its a spouse, a close friend, or pizza, the things we love are the things that appeal to us, that make us feel good, that are lovely to us.
Now consider the depth of Rom 5:8, "God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us". Brother, sister, friend, God loves the unlovely. God loves what would make him vomit, would make him turn away in disgust, would make him weep. We don't really know that kind of love, but we can see it in the cross.
In the end, the grace of Christ is incredibly amazing. It is amazing in what it accomplishes. It is amazing in what is secures. It is amazing in what it overcomes. It is amazing in what it endures.
And, it is amazing in that it is given at all.
To God Alone be the Glory.
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me"
I want to say that I agree with John Newton's assessment. Grace is amazing and its very, very sweet.
And yet I think that familar words and hymns and creeds can become rote and routine. I think we can read or sing or say the words but lose their meaning and power. So, today I'm seriously asking myself: "Is God's grace really amazing?" and "If it is amazing, why?"
Amazing? Really?
One could probably open the Bible to any page and see statements of God's grace, mercy and steadfast love. Lam 2:22-24 come to mind (see blog post for 1/4). However seeing the reality of these things and assigning an adjective like amazing to them are two different things. And people being who they are can easily dismiss something that may in fact be amazing (see Jn 12:27-29)
But, if you slowly and carefully read passages like Isa 1 or Rom 1:18-3:20, you begin to get the sense that there are dimensions to this grace and mercy that we have received that go beyond the simple fact that I'm a helpless sinner (which in fact we all are). So, I thought I'd list some of the realities that make God's grace amazing.
- We are totally helpless in the spiritual sense
- We are broken / fractured at such a foundational level that we cannot truly discern God's work
- We see ourselves as the center of the universe
- We consciously and subconsciously wish God would both leave us alone and provide everything we need (spiritually bi-polar?)
- Others exist to make us happy and we would gladly kill them (physically or at least verbally / emotionally) when they fail in this task
- Our view of heaven is where we finally achieve all that has been missing in our lives
More than amazing?
For me, this is where the love and grace and mercy of God become incredibly amazing. When you consider the fact that He paid our unpayable debt and he gave to us the right standing we did not and could not obtain on our own and you add to that the reality that he did this while we were his enemies, rebels and traitors, then you have astoundingly, amazing grace.
Years ago, I heard a speaker say that the stunning thing about John 3:16 is not so much that God loved the whole world in a numeric sense (i.e. isn't it amazing that God can love so many people). Instead, John 3:16 is stunning because the world, especially in John's writing, is such a bad place (i.e. isn't it amazing God can love anyone as sinful as me, much less millions of us). God's love is expansive, covering the globe, covering the centuries, covering all cultures and languages and genders. But this love and mercy and grace become a multifaceted diamond when you really consider how unlovely and unworthy and treacherous and self absorbed we are.
Consider anything you enjoy or appreciate. Something you "love" in the broad, 21st century way of speaking. Why do you love or appreciate that thing? In the end, isn't there something that you find lovely or enjoyable about it? Whether its a spouse, a close friend, or pizza, the things we love are the things that appeal to us, that make us feel good, that are lovely to us.
Now consider the depth of Rom 5:8, "God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us". Brother, sister, friend, God loves the unlovely. God loves what would make him vomit, would make him turn away in disgust, would make him weep. We don't really know that kind of love, but we can see it in the cross.
In the end, the grace of Christ is incredibly amazing. It is amazing in what it accomplishes. It is amazing in what is secures. It is amazing in what it overcomes. It is amazing in what it endures.
And, it is amazing in that it is given at all.
To God Alone be the Glory.
Friday, January 4, 2013
New Year, new grace
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lam 3:22-24
This is an often quoted passage of scripture and, I feel, often misapplied. My goal here is not to debunk any particular misapplication of these verses but instead take a moment to reflect on the grand truths they contain. And I also want this to be, in a sense, a statement of my writing theme (themes actually) for the foreseeable future.
Here are the the glorious realities that Jeremiah lays out in the middle of his lament over the destruction of Jerusalem (Imagine every home and business in your town (including your own) being totally destroyed and then singing this kind of praise to God!)
God's love is certain and forever - we cannot out run it or ruin it.
God's mercy (and grace, flip sides of the same coin) are not limited to an event or experience but are unlimited and are continually renewed - we cannot sin beyond God's grace and we cannot exalt ourselves beyond our need for his mercy.
God's faithfulness is great, in fact greater than we realize - we need each person of the Trinity - Father, Son and Spirit - intervening in our lives constantly to keep us from falling into oblivion
God's provision for us is complete and sufficient - all we need, whether we admit it or not (God makes the rain fall on both the righteous and the unrighteous) comes from God and rests in his love and faithfulness.
Our response is hope and faith and praise - Scriptural images abound, but my mind continually returns to the tax collector in Lk 18:13 "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner"
There is a lot here and perhaps my goal of having a more focused writing theme has been blown out of the water. And yet, as I reflect on the themes of these three verses, I see a lot of overlap and much that compliments the other. In the end, I think it boils down to the grand theme of the love of God reflected in his grace and mercy and manifested most powerfully in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
To God Alone be the Glory
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The Wonder of All Wonders
From Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
God travels in wonderful ways with human beings, but does not comply with the views or opinions of people. God does not go the way that people want to prescribe for him; rather his way is beyond all comprehension, free and self determined beyond all proof.
Where reason is indignant, where our nature rebels, where our piety anxiously keeps us away: that is precisely where God loves to be. There he confounds the reason of the reasonable; there he aggravates our nature, our piety--that is where he wants to be, and no one can keep him from it. Only the humble believe him and rejoice that God is so free and so marvelous that he does wonders where people despair, that he takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous. And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly... God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in. He chooses people as his instruments and performs his wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and the broken.To God Alone be the Glory
Sunday, September 16, 2012
O the deep, deep love of Jesus
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!
To God Alone be the Glory
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Basking in the "Godness" of our Salvation
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Tit 3:4-7)
In preparing for an upcoming message on the power of the Holy Spirit in our salvation, I was drawn to Titus 3:5. However in quickly scanning the surrounding verses I was struck once again by the otherness of our salvation. Or maybe its better to say the "Godness" of our salvation.
I could break down each verse and highlight things like the goodness and kindness mercy of God, the richness of the grace of Jesus, cleansing and renewing (dare I say resurrecting) power of the Holy Spirit. I could highlight that our salvation really occurs in spite of ourselves, like little children who are rescued from dangerous, even life threatening peril without even realizing we were in danger. I could draw out the cooperative effort of the Trinity in saving us or the fact that our salvation doesn't just get us in, but places us in the exalted position of heir, one of God's beloved children.
I could do all of the above in this post, but my heart has a different bent right now. I simply want us to bask in the enormity of what God, in all of his trinitarian fullness, has orchestrated and accomplished for us. In reality Titus 3:4-7 is like a picture of the Grand Canyon. It is awesome to behold and is compelling to consider. But it pales to actually being there. No picture, no movie can replace actually standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon and just soaking in its enormity. No description, no topographical map can communicate the depth and scale of being in the inner canyon and actually feeling as small as we really are.
And what is true of one small part of God's incredible creation is true of the apex of His work in the lives of his people. Today, can we take 5 minutes and simply (or profoundly) step into God's salvation? For 5 minutes can we take our eyes off ourselves and put our eyes on the Father of mercy, the Son of grace and the Spirit of power? For 5 minutes can we get lost in the enormity of God and His amazing, incredible, boundless love?
May this be the beginning of a journey that will take us to the very heart of God.
To God Alone be the Glory
In preparing for an upcoming message on the power of the Holy Spirit in our salvation, I was drawn to Titus 3:5. However in quickly scanning the surrounding verses I was struck once again by the otherness of our salvation. Or maybe its better to say the "Godness" of our salvation.
I could break down each verse and highlight things like the goodness and kindness mercy of God, the richness of the grace of Jesus, cleansing and renewing (dare I say resurrecting) power of the Holy Spirit. I could highlight that our salvation really occurs in spite of ourselves, like little children who are rescued from dangerous, even life threatening peril without even realizing we were in danger. I could draw out the cooperative effort of the Trinity in saving us or the fact that our salvation doesn't just get us in, but places us in the exalted position of heir, one of God's beloved children.
I could do all of the above in this post, but my heart has a different bent right now. I simply want us to bask in the enormity of what God, in all of his trinitarian fullness, has orchestrated and accomplished for us. In reality Titus 3:4-7 is like a picture of the Grand Canyon. It is awesome to behold and is compelling to consider. But it pales to actually being there. No picture, no movie can replace actually standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon and just soaking in its enormity. No description, no topographical map can communicate the depth and scale of being in the inner canyon and actually feeling as small as we really are.
And what is true of one small part of God's incredible creation is true of the apex of His work in the lives of his people. Today, can we take 5 minutes and simply (or profoundly) step into God's salvation? For 5 minutes can we take our eyes off ourselves and put our eyes on the Father of mercy, the Son of grace and the Spirit of power? For 5 minutes can we get lost in the enormity of God and His amazing, incredible, boundless love?
May this be the beginning of a journey that will take us to the very heart of God.
To God Alone be the Glory
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The Sacrificial Love of Christ
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor 13:13)
On Valentine's Day, it seems appropriate that we talk about love. But with such a broad topic, where to go with it or what to say in a short space seems daunting. Just listing the options seems overwhelming. For instance, we could look into:
Each these would worthy of a post, but I'd like to reflect for a moment on the sacrificial love of Jesus. This is probably best summed up in John 15:13 "Greater love has no than this, that he lay down his life for is friends." Combine that with Rom 5:7-8 "For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." and we have the heart of the gospel.
The essence of God's salvific love is not that He loves us because we are so lovely or even that we are so potentially lovely. The incredible, awesome, unimaginable saving love of Christ is that He loves us because we are unlovely. Remember the rebellion, remember the sin, remember the self-love. The picture of the Bible and our own lives is that, left to ourselves we always go the wrong way. And God loves us anyway.
We must also remember that God doesn't just leave us as He finds us. His love rescues us, redeems us, restores us. But it does so at cost. Just like everything else in life, salvation isn't free. Oh it is free for you and for me, but is was not free for Christ. The debt had to be paid. Our debt had to be paid.
I want to add one more layer to this awesome picture. If you are a follower of Jesus, you've been called to be a disciple. One of the aspects of being a disciple is hanging out with, living with, interacting with your master so that you become more and more like the master you are following. Isn't that what the disciples did in Jesus' day? The question becomes, is what we are doing today? Especially as it comes to sacrificial love. We will never die for anyone's salvation. Precious few us of will be called on to die for our faith. But as followers of Christ, as disciples of Jesus aren't there small, but very real ways for us to "die" for our friends. Think about it. In the church, in our homes at our jobs. What kind of revolution would we see if we decided to seriously be loving disciples of Christ?
To God Alone be the Glory
On Valentine's Day, it seems appropriate that we talk about love. But with such a broad topic, where to go with it or what to say in a short space seems daunting. Just listing the options seems overwhelming. For instance, we could look into:
- 1 Cor 13 and Paul's definition of love (plus love being greater than the gifts)
- How John uses the love relationship between the Father and the Son to display that Jesus is truly God and that everything He is accomplishing is born out of that love.
- The deep, passionate marital love (and picture of Christ w/ his bride) found in Song of Solomon.
- The sisterly and familial love of Ruth and the tender love of Boaz
- The brotherly love of David and Jonathon
- The creative, sustaining love of God in Gen 1&2, followed by the grieving love of God in Gen 3.
Each these would worthy of a post, but I'd like to reflect for a moment on the sacrificial love of Jesus. This is probably best summed up in John 15:13 "Greater love has no than this, that he lay down his life for is friends." Combine that with Rom 5:7-8 "For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." and we have the heart of the gospel.
The essence of God's salvific love is not that He loves us because we are so lovely or even that we are so potentially lovely. The incredible, awesome, unimaginable saving love of Christ is that He loves us because we are unlovely. Remember the rebellion, remember the sin, remember the self-love. The picture of the Bible and our own lives is that, left to ourselves we always go the wrong way. And God loves us anyway.
We must also remember that God doesn't just leave us as He finds us. His love rescues us, redeems us, restores us. But it does so at cost. Just like everything else in life, salvation isn't free. Oh it is free for you and for me, but is was not free for Christ. The debt had to be paid. Our debt had to be paid.
I want to add one more layer to this awesome picture. If you are a follower of Jesus, you've been called to be a disciple. One of the aspects of being a disciple is hanging out with, living with, interacting with your master so that you become more and more like the master you are following. Isn't that what the disciples did in Jesus' day? The question becomes, is what we are doing today? Especially as it comes to sacrificial love. We will never die for anyone's salvation. Precious few us of will be called on to die for our faith. But as followers of Christ, as disciples of Jesus aren't there small, but very real ways for us to "die" for our friends. Think about it. In the church, in our homes at our jobs. What kind of revolution would we see if we decided to seriously be loving disciples of Christ?
To God Alone be the Glory
Monday, February 13, 2012
Christ's death / Our assurance
(The following was excerpted from a sermon I preached on 2/12/2012. The full manuscript is here. The audio can be found here. SDG)
So, we have four reasons that Jesus chose to die.
1) Jesus died because we are his sheep. vv11-13
2) Jesus died because He knows us. vv14-16
3) Jesus died because the Father loves him v17
4) Jesus died because He has the authority to die (and to live again) v18
But what do we do with these truths? How can we take them with us into the rest of our lives? Here are just a few quick items that I pray the Spirit will press upon your hearts.
First, remember that Jesus was speaking both to build our confidence and to bolster our assurance. We must realize that whatever comes our way, He died for his own, for us who by grace have put our faith and trust in him. The hardships in your life are not a surprise to him. The temptations that seem to derail your walk with Christ are not insurmountable obstacles to him. Remember that he died to secure your eternal redemption.
Second, rest on the reality that Jesus’ death was intentional, purposeful and born out of love. We are too quick to view Jesus’ death as just a point in time event. While it was that, it was (and is) so much more. The Father, Son and Spirit planed your redemption before the world began. They have been acting throughout history to bring the cross and the Christ together. They have been working everyday of your life, first to bring you to faith, and second to build you up in Christlikeness. And they are laboring now toward the restoration of all things. As Paul asks in Romans, if God is doing all this, will He not, along with Christ graciously give us all things? On top of that, if Christ has done all of this, what in all of creation could possibly separate us from the love of God that is in Christ?
Third, we need to rely on the fact that all of this, our salvation, sanctification and glorification, the redemption of all things, the restoration recreation of the universe all hinges on the magnificent and incomprehensible love of God. Jesus’ love for the Father sends him to the Cross. The Father’s love of Christ accepts, approves and is filled out by Jesus loving submission. The love of the Shepherd for his sheep compels him to protect them and preserve them despite the cost to his very life.
Finally, we are both recipients and responders. The Bible is God’s story of creation, redemption and restoration. From Genesis to Revelation, we are simply recipients of God’s unmerited favor. Jesus did the heavy lifting. In reality, He did all the lifting. And yet, God expects a response to his grace. We need to receive it. We need to own it. We ought to revel in it. We ought to run with it. But whatever we do, we dare not reject it.
But I would remiss not to reiterate that the security of Jesus’ sacrificial death only applies to His sheep. If have not surrendered your life to Him, if have not accepted the free gift of his grace, neither I nor the Bible can offer you any assurance. Yet the Bible is clear: today is the day of salvation. If the Spirit is pressing on your heart, if the love of Christ has hemmed you in, if you are experiencing a gut wrenching hunger for this kind of assurance, let go of your tightfisted grip on a self-righteousness that can never save and reach out to embrace the magnificent gospel of grace and the Savior who chose to die so that you could live.
Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He has laid down his life for us. We are safe, we are secure. We are free to live and serve and die for the one to has our lives in the palm of his hand.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
To God Alone be the Glory
So, we have four reasons that Jesus chose to die.
1) Jesus died because we are his sheep. vv11-13
2) Jesus died because He knows us. vv14-16
3) Jesus died because the Father loves him v17
4) Jesus died because He has the authority to die (and to live again) v18
But what do we do with these truths? How can we take them with us into the rest of our lives? Here are just a few quick items that I pray the Spirit will press upon your hearts.
First, remember that Jesus was speaking both to build our confidence and to bolster our assurance. We must realize that whatever comes our way, He died for his own, for us who by grace have put our faith and trust in him. The hardships in your life are not a surprise to him. The temptations that seem to derail your walk with Christ are not insurmountable obstacles to him. Remember that he died to secure your eternal redemption.
Second, rest on the reality that Jesus’ death was intentional, purposeful and born out of love. We are too quick to view Jesus’ death as just a point in time event. While it was that, it was (and is) so much more. The Father, Son and Spirit planed your redemption before the world began. They have been acting throughout history to bring the cross and the Christ together. They have been working everyday of your life, first to bring you to faith, and second to build you up in Christlikeness. And they are laboring now toward the restoration of all things. As Paul asks in Romans, if God is doing all this, will He not, along with Christ graciously give us all things? On top of that, if Christ has done all of this, what in all of creation could possibly separate us from the love of God that is in Christ?
Third, we need to rely on the fact that all of this, our salvation, sanctification and glorification, the redemption of all things, the restoration recreation of the universe all hinges on the magnificent and incomprehensible love of God. Jesus’ love for the Father sends him to the Cross. The Father’s love of Christ accepts, approves and is filled out by Jesus loving submission. The love of the Shepherd for his sheep compels him to protect them and preserve them despite the cost to his very life.
Finally, we are both recipients and responders. The Bible is God’s story of creation, redemption and restoration. From Genesis to Revelation, we are simply recipients of God’s unmerited favor. Jesus did the heavy lifting. In reality, He did all the lifting. And yet, God expects a response to his grace. We need to receive it. We need to own it. We ought to revel in it. We ought to run with it. But whatever we do, we dare not reject it.
But I would remiss not to reiterate that the security of Jesus’ sacrificial death only applies to His sheep. If have not surrendered your life to Him, if have not accepted the free gift of his grace, neither I nor the Bible can offer you any assurance. Yet the Bible is clear: today is the day of salvation. If the Spirit is pressing on your heart, if the love of Christ has hemmed you in, if you are experiencing a gut wrenching hunger for this kind of assurance, let go of your tightfisted grip on a self-righteousness that can never save and reach out to embrace the magnificent gospel of grace and the Savior who chose to die so that you could live.
Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He has laid down his life for us. We are safe, we are secure. We are free to live and serve and die for the one to has our lives in the palm of his hand.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
To God Alone be the Glory
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Speaking the Truth in Love
"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ" - Eph 4:15
"When you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ...You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it." Oswald Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest
Its funny how context matters.
In reading Ephesians 4, Paul's one main point is that we need to live in a manner worthy of the calling we have received. A substantial part of that living is done within the church. So, we unify around truth, have have men who are gifted to teach us and challenge us, and we grow up to become more and more like Christ. This is so we will not be tossed by every false doctrine, but be locked in on Christ and can do our part within the church so that it may be built up in love.
With that as background, what does Paul mean by "speaking the truth in love"? It would seem to me, that while it may be wise to always speak truth and to always speak lovingly, Eph 4:15 is not a blanket rule on how to have a conversation. Paul is very specific. Our love saturated truth speaking has a goal, to grow us up into Christ. This verse is here because this sort of truth speaking is either a) hard to do or b) hard to do lovingly or c) hard do to lovingly so that we grow up in Christ.
Please note Paul is not saying "be quiet". That would be the wrong application. Rather, he is saying: 1) know the truth, 2) love the truth, 3) speak the truth that you love, 4) always know, love and speak so that others will grow closer to Christ. Easy? No. Worth it? Yes!
To God Alone be the Glory
"When you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ...You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it." Oswald Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest
Its funny how context matters.
In reading Ephesians 4, Paul's one main point is that we need to live in a manner worthy of the calling we have received. A substantial part of that living is done within the church. So, we unify around truth, have have men who are gifted to teach us and challenge us, and we grow up to become more and more like Christ. This is so we will not be tossed by every false doctrine, but be locked in on Christ and can do our part within the church so that it may be built up in love.
With that as background, what does Paul mean by "speaking the truth in love"? It would seem to me, that while it may be wise to always speak truth and to always speak lovingly, Eph 4:15 is not a blanket rule on how to have a conversation. Paul is very specific. Our love saturated truth speaking has a goal, to grow us up into Christ. This verse is here because this sort of truth speaking is either a) hard to do or b) hard to do lovingly or c) hard do to lovingly so that we grow up in Christ.
Please note Paul is not saying "be quiet". That would be the wrong application. Rather, he is saying: 1) know the truth, 2) love the truth, 3) speak the truth that you love, 4) always know, love and speak so that others will grow closer to Christ. Easy? No. Worth it? Yes!
To God Alone be the Glory
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
A theme for daily contemplation
"Here is a theme for daily contemplation. The eternal purpose to redeem us from our foreseen ruin, to cleanse and sanctify us, and at last to glorify us, was of infinite antiquity, and runs side by side with immutable love and absolute sovereignty. " - C.H. Spurgeon
Monday, November 8, 2010
God's Greatest Adversary
The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but the endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The greatest adversary to the love of God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable and almost incurable. -- John Piper
Monday, April 26, 2010
The Steadfast Love of God - Ps 36
Psalm 36:5-10 (English Standard Version)
5Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O LORD.
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.
10Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
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