The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. (Psalms 19:7b)
Unquestionable, yet it calls our understanding into question. In Christianity, there is no such thing as a wise testimony. Light is simple; darkness is complex, winding, twisting and elusive.
And darkness cannot comprehend light; the natural cannot receive the spiritual; belief cannot cohabitate with unbelief. So where men are exalted and God is minimized, His testimonies only confound, confused bewilder and baffle. It is pearls before swine and the holy before dogs.
People cannot accept the testimony God changed my life; because, it does not fit. They cannot embrace the testimony God healed me; because, it does not fit. They will not hear that prayer made a difference; because, it does not fit. It does not fit into the little box of human wisdom. It defies mere horizontal logic based in laboratory data.
Yet the Psalmist says it is “sure”. That is sound, certain, lasting, and real. And that is the only test of the Lord’s testimonies. Gamaliel said it plainly, “For if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it” In great humility, he resolved to let men be men and God be God.
Paul put it plainly, God is passed finding out. He is passed exploration and discovery. He is passed experimentation and empirical observation. He is subject to no law, no principle, and no standard; for He’s the author of every righteous law, every true principle, and every lofty standard.
To comprehend God is to be God. The assumption that one has comprehended God is the highest position of arrogant ignorance. And that is it: we were converted from wise to simple. What we thought took hard work only took faith. What we thought demanded ambition only demanded patience. What we thought took knowing the world only took knowing Him. When we thought our testimony would be the complexities of what we did ultimately became the simplicity of what God did. The songwriter captures the essence of the simple testimony when he wrote…
Yes, God is real
Real in my soul
Yes, God is real
For He has washed
And made me whole
His love for me
Is like pure gold
Yes, God is real
For I can feel
Him in my soul
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Converting the Soul
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul (Psalms 19:7)
The Psalmist declares the law of the Lord to be complete, sufficient and adequate, converting the soul. It is perfect to manifest one’s guilt. It is perfect to bring one face to face with the ultimate Judge. It is perfect to shut one’s prideful boast. It is perfect to turn one against his existential error. It is perfect to bring one to the end of himself.
Everyone who runs into the law is not converted but there is no one converted that did not run into the law. No one comes to Christ on the upbeat; to the contrary, the sinner comes abused, broken, confused, degraded, and empty from the consequences of sin. And those consequences are the hand of God executing His law. What law? The soul that sins shall surely die. What law? The wages of sin is death. Who killed the man who jumps off the building, it is God: God’s own judicial determination in the unmovable law of gravity. And it is the same God that orders the consequential turmoil, trauma, or tragedy that is essential to every conversion.
Conversion means to be freed from ideas or doubts that bound one to a false course – to repent. Unconverted Peter asserted at the Mount of Olives, “Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.” Yet only hours later, warming at the fire, the consequential denial of Peter’s presumptuous arrogance broke him. Why – Because god has a certain law for pride. Paul employs it when instructing Timothy, “Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.”
There are those who would say that the law is done away with. They would say it is grace today not law. What an error! For if there is no law there can be no grace. O but moreover, if there is no law there is no God. For God is the law; He is himself the standard; He is holiness itself. Thus the law is immutable, immovable, and irresistible. The law was not created the law was revealed. And what is revealed “is always”; and the only thing that “is always” is God. John states it aptly, “ …And the word was God.”
And the story of every Christian is that he ran into God’s law. God would not let us be comfortable in our sin. He would not let us find peace or contentment. Law penalized our sin until we came to the end of it. Law freed us from what we love when its pain was manifest beyond our desire for the wrong itself. …And we were freed, freed from thinking the bad is good; freed from believing that such death is life; freed to hear God’s voice; freed to receive the gospel; freed to know His love; freed to know his mercy and grace. Elsewhere the Psalmist says, “The entrance of thy words giveth light.” The hymnologist, said “I once was blind but now I see.”
The Psalmist declares the law of the Lord to be complete, sufficient and adequate, converting the soul. It is perfect to manifest one’s guilt. It is perfect to bring one face to face with the ultimate Judge. It is perfect to shut one’s prideful boast. It is perfect to turn one against his existential error. It is perfect to bring one to the end of himself.
Everyone who runs into the law is not converted but there is no one converted that did not run into the law. No one comes to Christ on the upbeat; to the contrary, the sinner comes abused, broken, confused, degraded, and empty from the consequences of sin. And those consequences are the hand of God executing His law. What law? The soul that sins shall surely die. What law? The wages of sin is death. Who killed the man who jumps off the building, it is God: God’s own judicial determination in the unmovable law of gravity. And it is the same God that orders the consequential turmoil, trauma, or tragedy that is essential to every conversion.
Conversion means to be freed from ideas or doubts that bound one to a false course – to repent. Unconverted Peter asserted at the Mount of Olives, “Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.” Yet only hours later, warming at the fire, the consequential denial of Peter’s presumptuous arrogance broke him. Why – Because god has a certain law for pride. Paul employs it when instructing Timothy, “Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.”
There are those who would say that the law is done away with. They would say it is grace today not law. What an error! For if there is no law there can be no grace. O but moreover, if there is no law there is no God. For God is the law; He is himself the standard; He is holiness itself. Thus the law is immutable, immovable, and irresistible. The law was not created the law was revealed. And what is revealed “is always”; and the only thing that “is always” is God. John states it aptly, “ …And the word was God.”
And the story of every Christian is that he ran into God’s law. God would not let us be comfortable in our sin. He would not let us find peace or contentment. Law penalized our sin until we came to the end of it. Law freed us from what we love when its pain was manifest beyond our desire for the wrong itself. …And we were freed, freed from thinking the bad is good; freed from believing that such death is life; freed to hear God’s voice; freed to receive the gospel; freed to know His love; freed to know his mercy and grace. Elsewhere the Psalmist says, “The entrance of thy words giveth light.” The hymnologist, said “I once was blind but now I see.”
Thursday, May 20, 2010
When We Remembered Zion
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. (Psalm 137:1)
Their disobedience had brought them to Babylon. The river is indicative here of Babylon’s best. They were in the most plenteous, pleasant, pristine, productive place Babylon had to offer. The Babylonian’s first methodical philosophy was not oppression but one of impression. They sought to woo their captives into service. But when you belong to God, you can never feel comfortable in the world. You may ride in the best Bentley… You may live in the palatial Fifth Avenue Penthouse… You may party with a president and a princess… But the world’s prosperity cannot compare to being blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. All of the world’s blissful places cannot replace the peace of God that passes all understanding. All of the world’s recognitions and accolades cannot measure up to one “Well done thy good and faithful servant”.
While in Zion, they worshiped the gods of Babylon: Baal and Ashtoreth… They demoralized their own priesthood… They persecuted and kill the prophets… Jeremiah prophesied, “I see a boiling pot tilted to the north”… In other words, the Babylonians are coming for us… and God’s going to step back and let them have their way. God gave them all the Babylon they wanted. And they did not like it!
And here they were in Babylon sitting down. “Sitting down” shows inactivity and deep reflection. The flesh fest was over. The fruitless festivities had ended. The stench of sin had reached heaven. And now in exile “they remembered!” As they wept, “they remembered!” Not in Jerusalem, but in Babylon, “they remembered!” Not by the Jordan, but by the Euphrates, “they remembered!” While being offered Babylon’s best, they were contemplating the high cost of their low living.
Saints, if you keep on playing with the world, God will let you have all of the world you want. He will exile you from a place of pleasure to a place of pain. That’s why they are there – Because every now and then, God will turn things upside down; He will put the world on top of the church for a season. He’ll let the sinners dominate the saints for a season. How long is that season? Until He stamps out the mess in you that won’t let Him bless you. How long is that season? – Until you are ready to show forth the praises of Him who has brought you out of darkness into the marvelous light. How long is that season? – Until there is no more you but only Him living in you, living for you, and living through you.
Their disobedience had brought them to Babylon. The river is indicative here of Babylon’s best. They were in the most plenteous, pleasant, pristine, productive place Babylon had to offer. The Babylonian’s first methodical philosophy was not oppression but one of impression. They sought to woo their captives into service. But when you belong to God, you can never feel comfortable in the world. You may ride in the best Bentley… You may live in the palatial Fifth Avenue Penthouse… You may party with a president and a princess… But the world’s prosperity cannot compare to being blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. All of the world’s blissful places cannot replace the peace of God that passes all understanding. All of the world’s recognitions and accolades cannot measure up to one “Well done thy good and faithful servant”.
While in Zion, they worshiped the gods of Babylon: Baal and Ashtoreth… They demoralized their own priesthood… They persecuted and kill the prophets… Jeremiah prophesied, “I see a boiling pot tilted to the north”… In other words, the Babylonians are coming for us… and God’s going to step back and let them have their way. God gave them all the Babylon they wanted. And they did not like it!
And here they were in Babylon sitting down. “Sitting down” shows inactivity and deep reflection. The flesh fest was over. The fruitless festivities had ended. The stench of sin had reached heaven. And now in exile “they remembered!” As they wept, “they remembered!” Not in Jerusalem, but in Babylon, “they remembered!” Not by the Jordan, but by the Euphrates, “they remembered!” While being offered Babylon’s best, they were contemplating the high cost of their low living.
Saints, if you keep on playing with the world, God will let you have all of the world you want. He will exile you from a place of pleasure to a place of pain. That’s why they are there – Because every now and then, God will turn things upside down; He will put the world on top of the church for a season. He’ll let the sinners dominate the saints for a season. How long is that season? Until He stamps out the mess in you that won’t let Him bless you. How long is that season? – Until you are ready to show forth the praises of Him who has brought you out of darkness into the marvelous light. How long is that season? – Until there is no more you but only Him living in you, living for you, and living through you.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Thou shalt not make thee any graven image
Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth. (Deuteronomy 5:8)
What drives the worship of men? Is it not what they want; that is, what they want to be. Yes the Israelites made golden calves. But why? Because they really believed God looked like a cow? No! Because they wanted to become a nation like Egypt, they did what Egyptians did. The image of a perfect, prestigious and powerful nation was resident in their minds and they pursued and worshipped that image until it manifested two things: golden calves and the anger of God. They did not worship bulls they worship Egypt. Yet they did not worship Egypt, they worshipped the likeness of Egypt, which likeness they want to assume.
The real image resides where the graven image originated: in the mind of the worshipper. More existential than the idol itself, is what one believes about the graven image, for this mental idol drives the worship of any physical idol: what one sees himself as, or where one conceive herself as being: the possession, the posture, the prestige. A young man plagued by the abandonment of his dad is on the search for his perfect dad which reality resides only in his mind. Yet it drives his rebellion toward all authority figures. A longing to be married guides a woman into promiscuity, as she stares at herself being married to each man she encounters. That adulterous guy who always imagined himself to be the lady's man has never settled down in his own marriage, wagering the wellbeing of his family, as he exploits woman after woman. And where did that image come from? It was made up of three components: lack, want and hurt. And that idle is often walled in by the sentimental belief that lack, want, and/or hurt legalizes the idol.
Like Christ, the image demands faithfulness, shamelessness, and yet therein is found not the bliss and satisfaction imagined, but only the momentary pleasure of sin that quickly fades into a lifetime of pain. One is sold a scourge, the curse, an endless cycle of hurt, a hopeless hope, shameless shame, and a dead dream that will let him die desperately wondering and looking outside the will of God for fulfillment in a place where it can never be found. Oh yes he will find something: wasted time, wasted opportunities, wasted relationships, wasted resources, wasted efforts and energy. Driven to exponential sins by an idolatrous image that is now set before God, above God.
We, the saints, the warriors of God, must with the power of Christ destroy this false god that has gained dominion over the life of this man or woman. And replace that image with the image of Christ. Paul writes "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." It has been made number one, above Christ and to the consequential detriment of the person.
War must be waged to destroy that image as God destroyed the statue of Dagon in the pagan temple. And who is this person, but the temple of the Holy Spirit in whom God will stand alone in? God will cleanse and claim every place of worship by the entrance of His presence, for therein is light and thereby darkness is gone. The glory of Christ is revealed and the pretention of the idol is exposed and the power of the idol is expelled.
What drives the worship of men? Is it not what they want; that is, what they want to be. Yes the Israelites made golden calves. But why? Because they really believed God looked like a cow? No! Because they wanted to become a nation like Egypt, they did what Egyptians did. The image of a perfect, prestigious and powerful nation was resident in their minds and they pursued and worshipped that image until it manifested two things: golden calves and the anger of God. They did not worship bulls they worship Egypt. Yet they did not worship Egypt, they worshipped the likeness of Egypt, which likeness they want to assume.
The real image resides where the graven image originated: in the mind of the worshipper. More existential than the idol itself, is what one believes about the graven image, for this mental idol drives the worship of any physical idol: what one sees himself as, or where one conceive herself as being: the possession, the posture, the prestige. A young man plagued by the abandonment of his dad is on the search for his perfect dad which reality resides only in his mind. Yet it drives his rebellion toward all authority figures. A longing to be married guides a woman into promiscuity, as she stares at herself being married to each man she encounters. That adulterous guy who always imagined himself to be the lady's man has never settled down in his own marriage, wagering the wellbeing of his family, as he exploits woman after woman. And where did that image come from? It was made up of three components: lack, want and hurt. And that idle is often walled in by the sentimental belief that lack, want, and/or hurt legalizes the idol.
Like Christ, the image demands faithfulness, shamelessness, and yet therein is found not the bliss and satisfaction imagined, but only the momentary pleasure of sin that quickly fades into a lifetime of pain. One is sold a scourge, the curse, an endless cycle of hurt, a hopeless hope, shameless shame, and a dead dream that will let him die desperately wondering and looking outside the will of God for fulfillment in a place where it can never be found. Oh yes he will find something: wasted time, wasted opportunities, wasted relationships, wasted resources, wasted efforts and energy. Driven to exponential sins by an idolatrous image that is now set before God, above God.
We, the saints, the warriors of God, must with the power of Christ destroy this false god that has gained dominion over the life of this man or woman. And replace that image with the image of Christ. Paul writes "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." It has been made number one, above Christ and to the consequential detriment of the person.
War must be waged to destroy that image as God destroyed the statue of Dagon in the pagan temple. And who is this person, but the temple of the Holy Spirit in whom God will stand alone in? God will cleanse and claim every place of worship by the entrance of His presence, for therein is light and thereby darkness is gone. The glory of Christ is revealed and the pretention of the idol is exposed and the power of the idol is expelled.
Monday, December 21, 2009
A Setting For A Coming
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:13-14
Seeds of ambiguity have been sown among believers, as to whether Christians should observe the Christmas celebration. Some have gone as far as deeming it a pagan practice, yet a look at history will not affirm this. Christmas has its origin, not in paganism, nor in edicts of Emperor Constantine, but in the church. That's right! The church has always set aside a day to celebrate the birth of Christ. While no one knows the day that Jesus Christ was born, the day of observance was not first December 25th, but January 6th. Some say it was a syncretistic change of date, meant to merge Christian and pagan worship. However, history does not produce the outrage, debate, division, or bloodshed that such a motive would have occasioned. Rather history is more aligned with the idea that, in agreement, the church sought to counter pagan observances by moving the Christmas celebration. This seems clear not only by the absence of resistance, but confirmed by the fact that this was not the only holiday moved as a counter measure to pagan observances.
While history of this sort is very meaningful and one should be careful in either contradicting or abandoning the long standing traditions of the church, there is still a higher authority that sets forth a pattern of celebrating the birth of Christ.
The angels celebrated the birth of Christ, for they sang "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Not only did the angels celebrate the birth of Christ, but the shepherds celebrated the birth of Christ, "And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen." Not only so, but eight days after Jesus was born, there in the temple, Simeon the priest celebrated the birth of Christ saying, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." And after him, a widow who served continually at the temple, the prophetess Anna, she celebrated the birth of Christ, as she gave thanks "and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." About two years later, the wise men arrived at the home of Mary and Joseph and they celebrated the birth of Jesus, "and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." Is this not a pattern of celebrating the birth of Christ to be imitated?
For 400 years God had shut up heaven. Since the prophet Malachi, there was no word, no revelation, no prophet, and no preacher. Isaiah described the conditional context of the advent of the Savior as a drought, dry and unfruitful ground, a land filled with crusting and cracking river beds. And then an emerging greenery came into view, a shoot out of the parched dirt, and the consoling sight of life, the hope of fertility.
This is the setting, circumstance, context, background of Christmas. The setting for the coming of Christ is the extended silence of heaven broken by the heralding voices singing angels. For the one who understands the setting in which the birth of Christ occurs, it not only commands the celebration of Christmas but it demands the celebration of Christmas. Moreover such shallow religion that does not affirm the celebration of Christmas, one may rest assured that it is neither biblical nor Christian.
Seeds of ambiguity have been sown among believers, as to whether Christians should observe the Christmas celebration. Some have gone as far as deeming it a pagan practice, yet a look at history will not affirm this. Christmas has its origin, not in paganism, nor in edicts of Emperor Constantine, but in the church. That's right! The church has always set aside a day to celebrate the birth of Christ. While no one knows the day that Jesus Christ was born, the day of observance was not first December 25th, but January 6th. Some say it was a syncretistic change of date, meant to merge Christian and pagan worship. However, history does not produce the outrage, debate, division, or bloodshed that such a motive would have occasioned. Rather history is more aligned with the idea that, in agreement, the church sought to counter pagan observances by moving the Christmas celebration. This seems clear not only by the absence of resistance, but confirmed by the fact that this was not the only holiday moved as a counter measure to pagan observances.
While history of this sort is very meaningful and one should be careful in either contradicting or abandoning the long standing traditions of the church, there is still a higher authority that sets forth a pattern of celebrating the birth of Christ.
The angels celebrated the birth of Christ, for they sang "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Not only did the angels celebrate the birth of Christ, but the shepherds celebrated the birth of Christ, "And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen." Not only so, but eight days after Jesus was born, there in the temple, Simeon the priest celebrated the birth of Christ saying, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." And after him, a widow who served continually at the temple, the prophetess Anna, she celebrated the birth of Christ, as she gave thanks "and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." About two years later, the wise men arrived at the home of Mary and Joseph and they celebrated the birth of Jesus, "and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." Is this not a pattern of celebrating the birth of Christ to be imitated?
For 400 years God had shut up heaven. Since the prophet Malachi, there was no word, no revelation, no prophet, and no preacher. Isaiah described the conditional context of the advent of the Savior as a drought, dry and unfruitful ground, a land filled with crusting and cracking river beds. And then an emerging greenery came into view, a shoot out of the parched dirt, and the consoling sight of life, the hope of fertility.
This is the setting, circumstance, context, background of Christmas. The setting for the coming of Christ is the extended silence of heaven broken by the heralding voices singing angels. For the one who understands the setting in which the birth of Christ occurs, it not only commands the celebration of Christmas but it demands the celebration of Christmas. Moreover such shallow religion that does not affirm the celebration of Christmas, one may rest assured that it is neither biblical nor Christian.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Ministry that Draws
While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live... And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment (Matthew 9:18 & 20)
Here we have an episode of two daughters: one dead and one dying. But Jesus is the God of wholeness and resurrection. Jesus is the answer to whatever ails us; He will give life to the dead and wholeness to the hurting. The paradox here is that the faithful will follow Jesus; and consequently, Jesus will follow the faithful. He will follow the faithful …to his home …to his job …to his community …to his church. Here the ruler, the dead girl’s father, came to Jesus not with doubtful request but with faithful admission, confession, acknowledgment, recognition; “My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.” This was not a commanding of the person of Christ, but a commendation of the power of Christ: “I know what will be so, if You will to do so.”
In the mist of Jesus’ journey to this faithful politician’s home he is touched by a faithful commoner, a woman with a lineage problem, an issue of blood, she’d been battling with for 12 long years… no open confession or outward vocalization, as popular theology claims to be essential to the formula, but speaking in herself… motivation in her heart… resignation in her mind… determination in her body.
And that is the point: this Christological ministry is characterized by its drawing power; it will draw rulers and regular folk. What a comparison made in this passage: On one hand, a politician, a man of nobility, somebody in the community; on the other hand, a common woman. And perhaps “common” or “regular” is my extreme overreaching for alliteration. She is in all likelihood less than common, at the very least due to her issue of blood, of which the number 12 indicates symbolically that the curse was inherited. Literally, for 12 year she was shunned by peers and ousted from the community; she was considered unclean. While the ruler came to Jesus in some sense standing, this woman actually came crawling. And in my years of hearing about this woman in countless sermons, I have heard all sorts of mystical meanings poured into the significance of the “Hem of His Garment”. However, it is apparent that the touching of the hem points not to Jesus, but to the lowliness of this woman, her dyer condition, and her utter rejection by the masses. The ruler could get to Jesus face to face; crowd and all, yet who would make room for this defiled woman? What right does she have to an audience with Jesus? Yet the contrast is just that, Jesus was not too busy helping somebody to stop and help nobody; because, nobody to men is still somebody to Him.
Often the lofty believe that the lowly is not Jesus’ kind of people and the lowly thinks their condition automatically puts them in the way of God’s grace and mercy. This passage says neither is true. Such determination is God's business alone and our business is to lift Jesus up and receive whosoever He draws. God is respecter not of persons but of the faithful; that is the common denominator here that merited the reward of God. Christological ministry draws the rich and poor, the lofty and lowly, the Jew and the Gentile, the bond and the free, men and women, the rulers and the regulars. God is a rewarder of any and all who faithfully seek him.
Here we have an episode of two daughters: one dead and one dying. But Jesus is the God of wholeness and resurrection. Jesus is the answer to whatever ails us; He will give life to the dead and wholeness to the hurting. The paradox here is that the faithful will follow Jesus; and consequently, Jesus will follow the faithful. He will follow the faithful …to his home …to his job …to his community …to his church. Here the ruler, the dead girl’s father, came to Jesus not with doubtful request but with faithful admission, confession, acknowledgment, recognition; “My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.” This was not a commanding of the person of Christ, but a commendation of the power of Christ: “I know what will be so, if You will to do so.”
In the mist of Jesus’ journey to this faithful politician’s home he is touched by a faithful commoner, a woman with a lineage problem, an issue of blood, she’d been battling with for 12 long years… no open confession or outward vocalization, as popular theology claims to be essential to the formula, but speaking in herself… motivation in her heart… resignation in her mind… determination in her body.
And that is the point: this Christological ministry is characterized by its drawing power; it will draw rulers and regular folk. What a comparison made in this passage: On one hand, a politician, a man of nobility, somebody in the community; on the other hand, a common woman. And perhaps “common” or “regular” is my extreme overreaching for alliteration. She is in all likelihood less than common, at the very least due to her issue of blood, of which the number 12 indicates symbolically that the curse was inherited. Literally, for 12 year she was shunned by peers and ousted from the community; she was considered unclean. While the ruler came to Jesus in some sense standing, this woman actually came crawling. And in my years of hearing about this woman in countless sermons, I have heard all sorts of mystical meanings poured into the significance of the “Hem of His Garment”. However, it is apparent that the touching of the hem points not to Jesus, but to the lowliness of this woman, her dyer condition, and her utter rejection by the masses. The ruler could get to Jesus face to face; crowd and all, yet who would make room for this defiled woman? What right does she have to an audience with Jesus? Yet the contrast is just that, Jesus was not too busy helping somebody to stop and help nobody; because, nobody to men is still somebody to Him.
Often the lofty believe that the lowly is not Jesus’ kind of people and the lowly thinks their condition automatically puts them in the way of God’s grace and mercy. This passage says neither is true. Such determination is God's business alone and our business is to lift Jesus up and receive whosoever He draws. God is respecter not of persons but of the faithful; that is the common denominator here that merited the reward of God. Christological ministry draws the rich and poor, the lofty and lowly, the Jew and the Gentile, the bond and the free, men and women, the rulers and the regulars. God is a rewarder of any and all who faithfully seek him.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Let your moderation be known
Philippians 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
The challenge of the Christian life is to learn how to walk out high mountain peaks and deep valley lows as though it were constant level plain. The Christian life is to be lived with a balanced perspective. That is to not get too high with the highs and not to low with the lows. The temptation is to be carried away by mountain top pride which says, “I deserve to be up so high,” or valley low pride which says, “I don’t deserve to be down so low.”
Although one’s current experience is peaking, he should expect that the valley is his next destination. And although one may be going through a valley, he should bear in mind he will not be there always. The Apostle calls it “moderation” in this verse; just a few verses down he calls it contentment; elsewhere the scripture calls it temperance. Simply put, no situation must cause the Christian to be out of sync.
And here is the moderating factor, “The Lord is at hand.” It is not that God is ever absent from the Christian’s experience, but that the Christian fails to realize that the Lord is near. And I’ve been there, where the problems of the day made me forget that the problem-solver was with me, where my broken heart made me numb to the finger of the heart-fixer tapping me on the shoulder; where my confused and troubled mind caused me to ignore the voice of the mind-regulator speaking in my ear. In my mind the circumstance had more power than the Lord who was there with me, who promised to never leave me, nor forsake me. Although He was really present, His presence was not a reality to me.
And Paul said that the goal is not merely internal moderation, but the manifestation of the moderation, so that it is experienced by all men, although it will exceed their understanding. And it should, because the Lord, the moderator, the one in control, is a present reality. And He will moderate you: keep you calm when your husband walks out; take you through the doctor’s terminal diagnosis; leave you at peace when your baby boy is facing a prison sentence; cause you to acknowledge and trust Him when your job plays out. You can see what others can’t, the nearness of the Lord’s proximity to your situation. You can hear what others can’t; His soothing voice whispering in your ear. You feel what others can’t, the intimacy of his very present help in your time of trouble. You smell what they can’t; the sweet smelling fragrance of your sacrificial obedience that is well pleasing to God. You can taste what they can’t, that the Lord is sho’nuff good.
The challenge of the Christian life is to learn how to walk out high mountain peaks and deep valley lows as though it were constant level plain. The Christian life is to be lived with a balanced perspective. That is to not get too high with the highs and not to low with the lows. The temptation is to be carried away by mountain top pride which says, “I deserve to be up so high,” or valley low pride which says, “I don’t deserve to be down so low.”
Although one’s current experience is peaking, he should expect that the valley is his next destination. And although one may be going through a valley, he should bear in mind he will not be there always. The Apostle calls it “moderation” in this verse; just a few verses down he calls it contentment; elsewhere the scripture calls it temperance. Simply put, no situation must cause the Christian to be out of sync.
And here is the moderating factor, “The Lord is at hand.” It is not that God is ever absent from the Christian’s experience, but that the Christian fails to realize that the Lord is near. And I’ve been there, where the problems of the day made me forget that the problem-solver was with me, where my broken heart made me numb to the finger of the heart-fixer tapping me on the shoulder; where my confused and troubled mind caused me to ignore the voice of the mind-regulator speaking in my ear. In my mind the circumstance had more power than the Lord who was there with me, who promised to never leave me, nor forsake me. Although He was really present, His presence was not a reality to me.
And Paul said that the goal is not merely internal moderation, but the manifestation of the moderation, so that it is experienced by all men, although it will exceed their understanding. And it should, because the Lord, the moderator, the one in control, is a present reality. And He will moderate you: keep you calm when your husband walks out; take you through the doctor’s terminal diagnosis; leave you at peace when your baby boy is facing a prison sentence; cause you to acknowledge and trust Him when your job plays out. You can see what others can’t, the nearness of the Lord’s proximity to your situation. You can hear what others can’t; His soothing voice whispering in your ear. You feel what others can’t, the intimacy of his very present help in your time of trouble. You smell what they can’t; the sweet smelling fragrance of your sacrificial obedience that is well pleasing to God. You can taste what they can’t, that the Lord is sho’nuff good.
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