Bonhoefferian Radicality

The following is an except from an article by Robert W. Yarbrough in the most recent issue of Themelios.

We might note that Bonhoeffer seemed to have an eye for what one could call the apocalyptic dimension of his era in the run-up to Axis hegemony (recall, e.g., the rape of Nanking in 193711) and World War II. It is in tragic hindsight of what he glimpsed and what most denied that his work takes on special poignancy. Surely we are not on the cusp of some analogous international cataclysm? We could wish for Bonhoeffer's prophetic instincts; it might put fire in our bones when we are prone to be at ease. 

Might this help? It has been plausibly estimated that since the early 1920s, around the world there have been nearly 1 billion abortions-about 950 million, actually.12 At current rates we will have reached 1 billion very soon. I wonder if that alone constitutes enough of an affront to God to justify Bonhoefferian radicality in our work, if I may coin a term. This would be in response, not to political usurpation in one nation most relevant to us, as terrible as the Nazis were and the Holocaust was, but because we realize how richly this world as a whole deserves divine retribution. Six million Jews is horrendous, but 950 million is about 158 times the Holocaust. Scripture seems to indicate that God is slow to anger, not bereft of the capacity. If justice exists in or around this cosmos, how short the time may be for us to extend the good news of redemption in whatever ways granted to us! (And to be quite clear: I have in mind here radical and engaged gospel-ministry and legal political activity where warranted, not physical aggression of any kind against abortion clinics or doctors.)

Read the whole article here.

At the end our days, may we be able to say along with Bonhoeffer: "This is the end. For me the beginning of life."

To God Alone be the Glory

When Sleep Doesn't Come

Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. (Ps 121:4)

I have to thank God that I usually have very little trouble sleeping. I can have hard days and I can have long days, but when my head hits the pillow, its usually lights out. But every once in a while...sleep doesn't come. Sure sleeplessness provides an opportunity for prayer or a little extra reading or perhaps a bowl of Cherrios (my favorite sleeplessness remedy). Yet, I think the tossing and the turning, the mind that won't relax, hanging on to yesterday or anticipating tomorrow, the body that is wired for some unknown (or maybe well known) reason all can be viewed as gifts from God to remind us (again) that our rest (physical and spiritual) must be in Him.

Here is a reality that many of us know, but most of us fail to embrace. The message of the Bible from beginning to end is that God is lovingly and sovereignly in control of our lives. Isn't that the point of Mt 6, especially verses 25-34? And yet we live our lives as if we have sole control over everything. Even when things don't quite go our way, we think of what mid course corrections we can make, what lessons we can learn, how we can make improvements to what ever that didn't go our way. Yet, with all of this self focus, God gives us these gracious reminders that we are not even in control of our own sleep.

Of course, we need to remember that God's objective isn't simply to demonstrate His raw power and control. No, as a loving Creator, He always has twin objectives. For those who don't know Him, He is posting yet another sign post that He exists and that our lives are ultimately empty and pointless without Him. And for those who do know Him, He is calling us as a loving Father to rest and trust in Him. Perhaps Heb 4:10 says it best "for whoever has entered God's rest  has also rested from his works as God did from his"

In the end, sleep is good since it too is a gift from God.(Ps 127:2) But I think sleeplessness is good as well, because God can be glorified even in what he periodically withholds.

For God Alone be the Glory

Ambassadors for Christ – 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

The following is the conclusion of a sermon preached today. Read the whole thing here

In the end my friends, we are ambassadors because of 3 things.

• We are ambassadors because Jesus has claimed us as His own.
• We are ambassadors because God has given us the ministry and message of reconciliation, the unbridgeable gap between God and man has been bridged in Christ.
• We are ambassadors because Christ’s love compels us to plead with our friends and neighbors and all who the Spirit brings into our lives: Be reconciled to God.

I think it is fitting to close with the words from Isaiah. Despite the cultural decay and spiritual apathy around him, he continued to plead for reconciliation on God’s behalf:

Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
  Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
  Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
  let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

To God Alone be the Glory

Life Lessons from Acts 4

"This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:11-12)

For some time now, but especially over the past few months, I've been challenged by God to see that this faith we proclaim and this Savior we trust and adore are not new things that God called out of nothingness, but they are rather lost things that He has graciously brought back to our minds and hearts. Part of this challenge has been to read (and re-read) the Old Testament with a Christ-centered, Christ-expectant heart. Another part is to read the New Testament, not as corrective to the Old Testament, but as an expansion, a clarification and (dare I say it?) a fulfillment of what God was saying and doing and promising.

That's where Acts 4 comes into play. As I read it this morning I saw a few key connections between the Old Testament and New. On top of that, I also saw some great examples how we can take this unified story and plan of God out to a lost and dying world.

Everything Starts and Ends with the Gospel

Much could be said about the contents of the first 12 verses, including the fact that preaching the gospel will annoy religious people. But as I read these verses today, what struck me was the simple transparency of the early church's gospel witness. Their master plan was to speak to people (v1) and do good deeds in Christ name (v9, in reference to Acts 3) They also had the willingness (and the power) to testify to gospel realities (vv10-12). How often to I get lost in trying to fit the right words in the right situation instead of just talking about gospel realities. D.A. Carson calls this "gosipping the gospel". And, as Peter says later, "in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect" (1 Pet 3:15)

It should be noted that the conflict here and in most of the first half and the last quarter of Acts is a conflict between two views of God's connection with His people. Either its exclusive and limited by the whole Jewish system, thus Jesus is in fact a heretic, or it is expansive and unlimited through a salvation by grace through faith. Peter makes it clear which claim he believes is true.

The Gospel is a Synthetic Part of our Lives

Nothing seems more difficult for me to remember than the truth that the gospel is not something "out there", but it is "right here" and it touches every aspect of my life. Verses 13-22 bear this out, but verse 13 hammers the point home. The disciples were not the cream of anyone's crop and so people were that much more amazed by the effectiveness of their preaching and ministry. And, people recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Pause a minute to consider the implications of that verse. How could someone tell whether Peter or John or any of the others had been with Jesus? The cool t-shirts? A specific hair style? Their accent? The shekinah glory? Perhaps its because there's an internal recognition system in each of us, broken by the fall, that still resonates when the truth of God and his redemption is proclaimed. This is what our lives, our daily, mundane, ordinary lives are to be like.

On top of this, the disciples had a mantra that should really be placarded over each of our lives. "We must obey God rather than men." This again demonstrates the connection the disciples see with the faith that came before them. They don't see themselves as abandoning Judaism as much as fulfilling it.

God Entranced Prayers yield God Entranced Results

As any of my good friends would know, I have a very healthy respect for the height and breadth and depth of prayer. I certainly would be the last person to deny that God honors the simple, here and now requests of His children. That is the straightforward conclusion of the second half of the Lord's prayer and the teaching of Mt 6:25-34 and Mt 7:7-11. Yet, so many of the prayers within the Bible transcend this "me centered", "temporal centered" perspective. The prayer in verses 24-30 is no different. The disciples give glory to God and ascribe to Him the sovereignty over all the events leading to and through Jesus' crucifixion. Then they don't seek relief, nor do they abandon themselves to the nebulous "will of God". Instead they pray in the hard direction they knew they were called to. And of course the ask for God to continue bring glory to Christ. The results are a direct manifestation of the Spirit and an unashamed proclamation of the gospel.

Our Lives and the Church should begin to look like the New Heavens and the New Earth.

This is not a statement of post-millennial eschatology. Rather, it is simply the observation that in verses 32-37. The people individually and the church collectively were doing something so counter cultural and so against human nature that we simply want to discard these verses. However, if we are really growing in grace, shouldn't this sort of "real-world", radical generosity be a mark of our lives? Isn't this extravagant blessing of others be a mark of people who have been with Jesus? I know there are dozens (maybe hundreds) of "real-world" reasons for us to be cautious of how we give our money and resources. But this doesn't mean hoard them or waste them. Instead it should mean prayerfully, wisely lay them at Jesus' feet and distribute to all who have needs.

It is interesting that the one highlighted for his self-sacrificial generosity is Barnabas, a Levite. The Levites were dependent on other's generosity for their own needs, so here is one who has nothing of his own giving to others who had even less. He is thus pointing to and fulfilling the enduring call of the people of God to love their neighbors as themselves (Lev 19:18, see also Lev 19:9-10)

The bottom-line? We always need to be growing up and growing in to our salvation. There is always more Jesus will ask of us, but He will give us today our daily bread (manna, anyone?). What we should not do is either despair, thinking the bar is too high and we can never achieve it or ignore, thinking this is only for the "elite" Christians who read Puritans and write blogs. The call of Acts 4 is for us all. May the Spirit apply it to your heart today in way that brings glory to Christ and brings you closer to One who sits on the throne.

To God Alone be the Glory

Our Inheritance in Christ

(Note: This is a summary of a sermon preached on July 15, 2012. Audio of this sermon can be found here A manuscript can be found here SDG)

As Peter begins his letter to minister to an increasing persecute and disheartened church, he focuses on four aspects of the great salvation we have in Christ.

1) Our salvation is based on and produces in us a living hope.

2) Our salvation is secured for us by God and He is keeping  it imperishable, undefiled and unfading for us.

3) Our salvation is based on a genuine, precious faith that is graciously tested by God

4) Our salvation is magnificent and yields in us inexpressible joy.

It is Peter's hope and mine as well that these realities will redirect the focus of our hearts and minds. Perhaps the struggles and the failures and the disappointments of life will become less traumatic as we see our lives through the lens of our salvation in Christ.

To God Alone be the Glory

My Servant

I read this today with tears. Here is what our faith in Christ should really be about. Please read this slowly enough that the words can soak into your soul. May God bring us back to this bedrock, both personally and corporately.  SDG

---

Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
so shall he sprinkle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.

Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

He will wipe away every tear

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. - Rev 21:4

Without a doubt, there will be many amazing, indescribable moments in heaven. Worshiping purely before the throne. Gazing with inexpressible gratitude upon Jesus' pierced hands and feet and side. Walking the streets of gold with long separated loved ones. And so many more.

But I wonder, what will it be like to have God our Father wipe away every tear from our eyes?

Tears of sorrow? Gone.

Tears of regret? Gone.

Tears of pain? Gone.

Tears of loss? Gone.

The striking thing is that these tears of our won't simply dry up. They won't just vanish by a command of an almighty sovereign Lord. No He will personally blot them up. He will come to each of us and dry them Himself. He can do this because Jesus has absorbed the penalty for the sin those tears represent. And Jesus' victory over sin and death and the grave has reversed the very cause of our tears.

Remember this, whatever tears you may shed today, God will wipe them from your eyes one day. The journey from here to there may be difficult and there may be many more tears along the way. But the day is coming (soon, I pray) when the God who wept with us will come to you personally and remove the last effect of a sinful, dying world.

And then our joyful, tearless, life begins!

To God Alone be the Glory