A couple months ago I was musing on the word "anathema" in the Septuagint here and here.
In the second post in particular, I was considering the possible connections between the story of Achan/Jericho and Paul's situation dealing with the Judiazers in Galatians.
As I've been working on Romans 8-9 a bit recently, it occurs to me that the context is very similar to Galatians 1 where Paul uses the word "anathema" to describe preachers of the false Judaizing gospel. Only the direction of the anathema is reversed. Instead of pointing the curse at the Judaizing false preachers as in Galatians, Paul turns the gun on himself and says that he would be willing to be anathema for the sake of his brothers according to the flesh (Rom. 9:3).
Only given the immediate context, it seems better to take Paul as not offering to be damned for the sake of the Jews, rather this desire to be anathema from Christ for the Jews is an illustration of the love of God revealed in Christ in 8:31-39. The certainty of Paul's persuasion that nothing can separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus is that Paul would be glad to be killed/die/be utterly destroyed so that they might live. The point is that this is exactly what Jesus did for us: God gave up His own Son to the pain and agony of the cross, but because of the resurrection, this makes our suffering and hardship an opportunity to imitate the love of God in Christ. We may be accounted as "sheep for the slaughter," but in the Lamb of God who was slain, we are "more than conquerors," completely victorious through Him who loved us.
Paul's desire to be "cursed" is a desire to die for them, love them, sacrifice and be sacrificed for them not in a fatalistic, Hellenistic, mock-heroism but rather in the certain hope of the resurrection and the invincible love of God in Jesus.
If God's love is invincible, then we can lay our lives down for one another, for the lost, for our enemies. If we cannot be separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus, then we too can become curses like our Savior who bore our curse on the cross for us. In Him, we are freed to give our lives away fearlessly and gladly.
Understanding the fierce love of God drives us to mission.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Anathema in Romans
This Is Who You Are
We share this meal every week because Jesus told us to. But Jesus told us to share this meal because it was meant to define us and redefine us. This meal is who we are on many levels. We are disciples of Jesus, we are witnesses of His resurrection. This is the feast of the new covenant, the Kingdom of God, the new world order in King Jesus. This meal insists upon forgiveness in the blood of the new covenant. It proclaims the gospel, the death of Christ until He comes. This meal looks forward, it anticipates a bigger banquet at the coming of the King. This meal means that your Father in heaven feeds you and cares for you, and you must not worry or fear. This meal means that you are part of a new family, brothers and sisters and mother. This meal is a love feast, a marriage feast an expression of God’s love for His people in the gift of His son, His love in the gift of the Spirit poured out upon the Church, the bride of Christ. This meal means that God loves sinners, and failures, and outcasts because you have been welcomed to His table. This is the table that the Lord your Shepherd prepares in the presence of your enemies. And we could go on and on, but the point is that this is who you are. You are God’s people, you are a forgiven people, you are a loved people, you are a reconciled people, you are a people cared for and provided for, you are an evangelistic people, people with a mission, a calling, witnesses of the resurrection, friends of God, full citizens of the kingdom of heaven, and so on. And therefore, you must put down all of the other identifications that haunt you. You must reject all of the sins and powers that claim authority over you. You are not a failure of a husband, you are a beloved son of God. You are not a bitter, nagging wife, you are a forgiven child of God. You are not a disobedient son or daughter. You are not a liar. You are not a cheater. You are not thief. You are not an alcoholic. You are not a porn addict. You are not a homosexual. You are not an adulterer. You are not a whore. You are none of those things. You are not damaged goods. You are not broken merchandise. Maybe you used to be, but not anymore. Now you are forgiven saints. You are washed and clean and there is no one who can bring a charge against you. Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. But you may be thinking, but I still struggle with some of these sins. They still haunt me and trouble me. Yes, but the question is, whose word do you believe? Whose power do you trust? God says you are justified. You are innocent. You are forgiven. This meal is who you are. So come, eat, drink, and rejoice, and then go and sin no more.
Second Sunday in Epiphany: Rom. 8:35-9:5
Introduction
The love of God in Christ compels us to love Him and to love His people, making His life present in this world. But this love is also the power of God in us and through us to bring reconciliation to the world. Epiphany is all about the revelation of this justice of God in the love of Christ (Rom. 1:17).
The Text:
The gospel of God revealed in Jesus means that God is for us and no opposition can trump His love (8:31-34). But this doesn’t mean that His people face no challenges or injustice. In fact, Paul recognizes that following Jesus is likely to get you condemned, with charges brought against you, but these cannot separate us from His love because Jesus is risen (8:34-35). Paul points to Psalm 44 where the psalmist remembers how God both delivered and saved His people (Ps. 44:1-8) and then also cast off His people and scattered them among enemy nations (Ps. 44:9-16). But the psalmist insists that he and his people have not forgotten God or broken covenant, though all these things have come upon them (Ps. 44:17-19). And here Paul quotes the psalmist saying that they are like “sheep for the slaughter” (Ps. 44:22) and therefore they cry out for redemption and deliverance (Ps. 44:23-26). But Paul puts this Jewish psalm in the mouth of Christians in Rome now facing the persecution of enemy Jews, and he insists that Christians are completely victorious because of Jesus (Rom. 8:37). This is because Paul is persuaded that they cannot be separated from the love of God in Christ; it is more powerful than any threat or enemy (Rom. 8:38-39). But it is this confidence that drives Paul to go on the offensive, to see his enemies as an opportunity to display the power and justice of God. Paul has such great sorrow and continual grief for his enemies that he could even wish to be “cursed” for them (Rom. 9:3). Paul longs to imitate and see the power of the love of God which was manifested when He did not spare His own Son (Rom. 8:32). In Christ, all “sheep for the slaughter” are united to the Lamb who was slain, and their love and sacrifice for the lost become God’s means of triumph over evil. What the Old Covenant was meant to teach has arrived in power in Jesus and His Spirit: love turns enemies into friends (Rom. 5:6-11).
Parish Life
Jesus said: "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35). Our love and care for one another is to be consciously evangelistic and not clickish. The world delights in clicks as false forms of security, but the only safe place is in the love of God. We are still working to hit our stride with parish life, but the point is to organize centers of fellowship, Bible study, prayer, evangelism, and mercy.
Prayer for the Lost
Nothing reveals our hearts more honestly than our prayer. If the Holy Spirit were to bear witness in your conscience, what causes you great sorrow and continual grief in your heart (cf. Rom. 9:1-2)? There may be many things in a fallen world, but somewhere up near the top ought to be the enemies of the gospel and the hellish lives that unbelief always brings with it. Because this is crucial to any attempts at reconciliation and evangelism, the elders are working on scheduling regular days of fasting and prayer particularly for those who have left the faith, as well as more broadly for those who walk as enemies of the light (cf. Phil. 3:18).
Monday, December 06, 2010
The God of No Shortages
As we have meditated this morning on Isaiah’s prophecy, we have noted the sacrificial and priestly themes in the text. When God strips Zion bare, He removes her skin, washes her, sprinkles blood, and then lights her on fire with the glory of the Spirit. These are the actions of the priest in offering a sacrifice. God is promising to turn Israel into a living sacrifice, and as we have just noted, this is what happens at Pentecost. In Romans 12, Paul famously says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” And I want to point out two things: First, notice that Paul beseeches the Romans by the mercies of God. The word here for mercies is “oiktirmos” which means compassion, mercy, or pity, but the “oik” prefix is usually found on words that have to do with a house or a household. The word for house is “oikos.” Perhaps another way to translate this would be “provision” or “storehouse.” Paul exhorts the Romans to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice because of, or on the basis of God’s great provisions for them. He will go on to exhort them to love one another, to use their various gifts in the body, to show hospitality, to bless those who persecute them, and to feed their enemies when they are hungry. The basis for living sacrificially is the provision of God, the storehouse of God’s mercy. In God’s house, there are no shortages. But secondly, notice that Paul urges them to offer their bodies (plural) as a living sacrifice (singular). And it is evident that this is on purpose since Paul goes on to say that although there are many members in the one body, we being many are one body, and individually members of one another. And this begins to explain how it is not insane to live with sacrificial abandon. It is because we are part of a family, a house over which God rules, in which the Spirit works His gifts and mercies according to His wisdom. And the source of this grace and mercy, the one sacrifice in which all are made one, is this meal, our crucified King, our Savior, our Lord, our Husband. This meal means not only that your sins are forgiven, but that you are part of a family, a house, and the Lord of this house is the King of the world and all that we need is ours through Him. So as you offer the bread and wine to one another, consider the bread and the wine our salvation in Christ, but also consider how that salvation is mediated through the Church, through the body of Christ. Consider these gifts of bread and wine to prefigure the gifts that you are going to give one another at Christmas, the bills you might help one another pay when things are hard, the countless ways we must give to one another in this family, in this house, so that we can be the provisions of God to and for another, so that we might all together and with all the saints become that one living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God in Christ. And this means joyful generosity overflowing in love. So come to the feast.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Anathema
In the Septuagint, "anathema/cursed" is used to describe those cities/people/objects which are wholly devoted to the Lord. And frequently, they are devoted to complete destruction (e.g. Num. 21:3, Dt. 7:26, 13:16, 20:17, Josh. 6:17-18, 7:1-13).
Paul uses this word when he says that he wishes he could be "cursed" from Christ for the sake of the Jews (Rom. 9:3) and then later with regard to those who do not love the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 16:22, cf. 1 Cor. 12:3). The only other use of the word seems to be in Galatians 1 where Paul is describing those who preach another gospel (Gal. 1:8-9).
Monday, November 08, 2010
Nose Piercing
So a little girl recently asked her mother, are ladies that have nose rings Christians?
Now on the one hand this might seem like a silly question. Are ladies who wear jeans Christians? Are ladies who drive Subarus Christians?
And as it happens, we have a number of godly, Christian women in our community with a nose piercing. So the question is not an irrelevant one.
So what should a conscientious mother or father say to such a question?
First, it is manifestly obvious that there is nothing sinful in itself with a Christian woman having a ring in her nose. Abraham's servant brought just such a gift for Rebekah (Gen. 24:22). And God Himself says that He put a jewel in the nose of Israel when He married her at Sinai (Ez. 16:12). Clearly, a nose piercing can be a most lovely thing, a sign of Christian love and affection, particularly for a married woman. In the context of these particular passages, like earrings, a nose piercing seems to symbolize the beauty of a Christian woman submitting to her husband. And three cheers for lovely Christian women.
Second, like most good things, the world likes to take them and twist them and turn them into signs of their rebellion and hatred toward God. And this has clearly happened in the case of nose piercings. In other cultures (like India and Nepal), nose piercing has remained relatively normal, though apparently somewhat through the influence of certain Hindu beliefs. But in the modern West, it is universally recognized that the resurgence of nose piercing has come about in conjunction with widespread rebellion. Which in itself is fairly ironic since in the biblical texts, as we noted, piercing is frequently associated with the beauty of Christian submission. So the question becomes how do Christians both cling to the Word of God as their standard for aesthetics and refuse to take part in the rebellion of the culture around them?
Paul seems to have something fairly similar going on in his day with meat offered to idols. He knows that idols are nothing, and that meat offered to Zeus isn't unclean when Christians receive it with thankful hearts to the true God of heaven. But Paul says that he'd rather be a vegetarian than offend anyone for the sake of a wonderful, slab of meaty goodness.
And I think this parallel actually works quite well. Paul is up against Judaizers who are busy insisting that faith in Jesus is not sufficient for salvation, that believing Gentiles must also keep the holiness code of the Old Testament and on the other hand there are the freshly converted pagans who just minutes ago were sleeping with temple prostitutes and eating medium rare steaks as acts of worship to Athena. On the one hand Paul might be tempted to give the Judaizers the finger and tell everyone to order up the steaks. And he has some pretty harsh words for Judaizers elsewhere. You can't really accuse Paul of being a softy on them. On the other hand, Paul knew that the freshly converted pagans were the young believers, the ones with weak consciences. So he says it's worth being very careful. Which means that Paul ran the risk of looking or sounding like a Judaizer for encouraging people not to eat meat not because it was unclean but for the sake of weak consciences. And Paul's conclusion is, "... if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love..." (Rom. 14:15).
When it comes to certain cultural practices that are not required by God's word, we should be glad to defer to love. Our calling is to love one another and to defer to one another. We are called to look for ways to be a blessing and an encouragement in the faith to one another. We are conspiring to bless. Which means having a keen awareness of the sorts of things that are sure to bless, sure to encourage faith and joy and good works, and being aware of those things that might be a blessing to some but not to others (though they may be perfectly moral in themselves).
If I bring home dessert to my wife and it is not loaded with dark chocolate, I am a failure as a husband. Anyone who knows my wife knows that God has designed her to be sanctified through dark chocolate. This is a deep mystery, but I am speaking of Christ and the Church. And actually I am. Christ comes looking to save, looking to heal, looking to set free, looking to redeem many captives from slavery. His aim was not: 'How much can I get away with and still be the Son of God?' His aim was Life, abundant life, high octane liberty which was found ultimately in laying His life down, giving up His rights, becoming a servant to all and for all.
But we live in a world that is not interested in this kind of wisdom. We live in a world full of people in high rebellion to our Lord Jesus. And that rebellion is expressed in countless ways, and if that were not already complicated enough, we have the responsibility of training up our children to recognize the difference between darkness and light, the difference between godly freedom and satanic slavery. And part of that training includes recognizing uniforms and costumes. Of course we cannot see the heart, and of course mature, godly wisdom does not function on superficial, legalistic dress codes. And a faithful, evangelistic Church is going to be full of people who look like they have been saved from the world. Because as it turns out that's what Jesus is doing.
But when my son looks out the window as we drive by the local high school and casually points out a group of hoodlums to his friend in the backseat and says, "those kids don't love Jesus," I do not freak out thinking that my son has suddenly become a legalistic fundamentalist. I smile and thank God that he is beginning to recognize differences in the world. He's beginning to recognize the uniforms. Of course biblical wisdom can't stop there, and recognizing the uniforms must be married to a robust, evangelistic love for the lost, but our children need to be taught that rebellion *looks* a certain way. And frequently for the last several decades, nose piercings have been part of the getup.
And this isn't meant as any kind of backhanded insult to anyone. I have friends who are lovely, Christian women who have nose piercings. And personally, I do not find their piercings offensive in the slightest. But here would be the one cautionary question: Are there any in the broader Christian community who might be offended by your freedom? What do your mothers and your grandmothers think? What do they *really* think? And if they told you it wasn't their favorite, would that offend you? If another Christian woman asked whether it was really a good idea, would there be a gracious, quiet spirit replying or would there be a defensive attitude?
If you and your husband grew up in homes where nose piercing was just part of the normal, godly, feminine routine, then God bless you and I pray that your daughters grow up to be just like you. If your parents and grandparents and the wives of your elders and pastors all think it's just the greatest thing in the world, then that's wonderful and I'm not worried about a thing.
But the little girl who asked her mother whether ladies with nose rings are Christians or not was a real girl and she was asking a pretty reasonable question. And a wise mother or father needs of course to tell her that there are godly women who have nose piercings. And at the same time, some of those parents may want to also explain why their family doesn't. And it wouldn't be because it's a sin to put a jewel in your nose. Of course not. But the answer would be something like, 'But sweetie, we don't have time for that. There are so many other wonderful things that the Lord has given us to bless one another with.' It's like trying to make it to the big city for a concert or a professional sporting event in time and someone suggesting you take "the back way" or a "short cut." Of course if everyone agrees the "short cut" is really the way to go, then by all means, take the short cut. But if you're really in a hurry and you decide to take the "road less traveled," you must also recognize that you run the risk of showing up late. When you've got places to go, there's no time to worry about giving offense accidentally. There's already enough opportunity for that. And we've got plenty of work to do as the Church: people to love, people to serve, blessing to bestow, and life to live.
And of course perhaps postmillenially speaking, all the faithful, godly women will wear nose rings in a few hundred years. And if that's the case, praise God for that. But the way we will get there is not by pushing the limits and then telling the older women who object to cool their jets and chill out. The way we will get to a Christian civilization full of godly, nose-jeweled women (if that is indeed where we are headed) is through glad deference and joyful submission.
In other words, fighting for the symbol must begin by embodying the symbol. If we want to reclaim this particular symbol, if we want to take it back from the world, it will only happen as we take back what the nose ring actually means. And as we do that as communities and more broadly as the Church, God will bestow His beauty upon His people, and we can be sure that Christian women throughout the world will be like the daughters of Job.
And just to anticipate at least one specific question: what am I suggesting Christian women do who already have a nose piercing? I'm encouraging them to embody the symbol. Do whatever it takes to embody that lovely, Christian submission which the Scriptures call you to, remembering the "incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God" (1 Pet. 3:4). All jewelry, all adornment ought to always be merely a compliment to what is already there in the heart. For some Christian women, this may mean that they recognize some element of an unsubmissive spirit revealed in their adornment, and they ought to talk to their husbands and may need to rethink some things. If it was all love, all grace, all blessing to get the piercing, I have no concerns. But if there was any hint of 'I'm getting this piercing because I can and you can't tell me otherwise...' then your spirit doesn't match the symbol and the symbol may be communicating some of that spirit.
But the exhortation goes the other way as well. As Paul says in Romans, let every man be convinced in his own mind: if your wife has a nose piercing then do it to the Lord and if she does not, do that unto the Lord. But we do not live to ourselves, we live unto the Lord (Rom. 14:5-6). Walk in faith, love one another, and do everything you can to provoke one another to love and good works.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Exodus 9:1-35: Presence, Power, and Mercy
Introduction
The fifth, sixth, and seventh plagues show an increasing severity in the plagues. But these plagues are not only a display of God’s power; they are a display of God’s presence (8:22-23). The entire Exodus story is the story of the revelation of Yahweh as God (4:12-15, 5:2, 6:2-8, 7:1-5, 17, 8:10, 9:14-16, 10:2).
Disease and Boils and Hail
The plague that falls on the livestock appears to be some sort of fast-acting disease (9:5-6). There is again a division made between Israel and Egypt (9:4, 7). God himself sets the time of this plague showing that God rules the world in whatever way He wishes (cf. 8:10). Pharaoh sends servants to find out for himself, and even when he knows the truth, hardens his heart (9:7).
The boils result from the handfuls of ashes or soot scattered toward heaven (9:8). The ashes are taken from the “furnace.” This imagery is used later in Israelite history to recall Israel’s time in Egypt (e.g. Dt. 4:20, 1 Kgs. 8:51, Jer. 11:4). The boils that break out are specifically mentioned in Lev. 13 as one of the things that make someone unclean (e.g. 13:12). Later, God promises that Israel will be afflicted with these boils if they are not faithful to the covenant (Dt.28:27). These sores are so bad that Pharaoh’s magicians could not stand before Moses (9:11). The fact that Moses “stands” before Pharaoh in 9:13 implies that the “difference” between Egypt and Goshen is still in effect. God is with His people. Finally, God hardens the heart of Pharaoh in accordance with His word to Moses: he does not allow Israel to leave (9:12).
As we’ve previously pointed out, the first plague in these cycles begins with the early morning confrontation (9:13, cf. 7:15, 8:20). However, the words to Pharaoh are more severe than previously. This time Yahweh will send all his plagues to Pharaoh’s “heart” (9:14). Yahweh says that if he wanted to, He could have already cut off Pharaoh and his people from the land (9:15). Yahweh takes this opportunity to review what He’s doing with Pharaoh: He’s raising up Pharaoh in order to make His own name famous (9:16) even though Pharaoh thinks he’s showing his power over Israel, refusing to release them (9:17). Again, a time for the plague is appointed (9:18), and a warning is issued concerning the hail (9:19). This plague displays God’s mercy in the midst of judgment. It’s not as severe as it might have been, and God allows for people to show faith in him (9:20). This plague is an enormous electrical storm. Fire runs/walks down to the ground, hail falls, and thunder booms. All that was left out in the fields was destroyed (9:25). Only in Goshen, where Yahweh is with His people, is there no hail (9:26). The thunder is literally called the “voices” and the “voices of God” (9:23, 28, 34). This reminds us of the fire in the burning bush at Horeb (3:1-2) and is like the storm that will descend when Israel gathers to receive the law (Ex. 19:16, 20:18). God’s presence has drawn near to the land of Egypt. Pharaoh’s response is the first time that he suggests that he is in the wrong (9:27, cf. 8:8, 8:25, 28). But even here Pharaoh is not finished; he knows it is Yahweh but he and his servants do not fear Him (9:30-35).
Sovereign Grace
One of the doctrines recovered in the Reformation was the biblical doctrine of the sovereignty of God, and this particular passage is cited by the apostle Paul in Romans to defend this very doctrine (cf. Ex. 9:16, Rom. 9:17). Those who deny the exhaustive sovereignty of God are quick to point out that Paul is talking about Jews and Gentiles: Paul is talking about corporate election, God’s sovereignty over nations. This is most certainly true, but the fact clearly remains that God has mercy on whom He will have mercy and on whom He wills, He hardens. But Paul is not a heartless logician. He’s not just piling verses up and saying deal with it. He knows that this doctrine is a “rock of offense” and a “stumbling stone” (Rom. 9:33), but ultimately Paul insists that this is God’s determined means of showing his mercy and patience and glory in the world (9:22-23, 11:30-32). Ultimately, Paul breaks out in doxology and worships the depths of God’s wisdom and knowledge, bowing before the mystery (11:33).
Conclusion & Application
For Paul (and Israel before him), sovereignty and presence go together. God’s presence is His sovereignty over creation, over Egypt, over Pharaoh so that He might display His great mercy. Ultimately, God sent His Son to display what He does with His sovereignty. The God who wields creation in perfect wisdom came as a little baby for our salvation. The God who dumped frogs all over Egypt is the God who was baptized in the Jordan and declared God’s beloved Son. The God who struck down the livestock of Egypt is the God who healed the diseases and afflictions of the crowds that surrounded Him day after day. This God wields every particle of this universe in perfect sovereignty, in perfect power. Ash becomes boils, every evaporated drop of water obeyed when it plunged to the Egyptian earth and did not miss its mark. And this God ruled the heart of Pharaoh in perfect wisdom.
But the same God who did all these things is the God of Moses and Israel, the God of the Egyptians who fled to Goshen, the God who came in Jesus. This God sent his Son to die for us. That’s the sovereign God at work in the world. This is our God who is with us, our God who is for us. He’s out to save us, out to deliver us (Eph. 1:4ff; Rom. 11:33,35). And this is the kind of presence and authority the Church is called to live out.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Justification is Resurrection
Every week Pastor Leithart or I quote the very end of Romans 4 when we declare the absolution. We remind you that God “has given his only son to die for you and has raised him for your justification.” Every week, we remind you and assure you of your forgiveness by pointing you to the resurrection of Jesus. You know that your God loves you because He sent His son for you. You know that this love cannot die, cannot be deterred by anything because Jesus was raised from the dead. Justification is resurrection. Paul says that when Jesus was raised, we were raised with Him. Your standing, your forgiveness is as sure and as real as the resurrected Jesus. If Jesus cannot die then you cannot be condemned. If death has no hold on Christ, sin has no power over you. But Paul knows and I know that you don’t always believe that. You look at your kids, you look at your life, you look at the challenges, the failures, the sin, and it looks big, it looks ugly, and frequently it looks insurmountable. And here’s the thing: It is insurmountable. Death is insurmountable. You can’t free yourself from it. Sin is death and death is inevitable unless we are delivered from it. But that is what justification means. Justification means that you have been delivered. You have been set free. You have been declared not guilty just like Jesus. When the rulers of that old world condemned Jesus to death and crucified Him, they did so accusing Him of blasphemy and evil and lies and insurrection. They accused Him of all kinds of wickedness, none of which was true. But at the same time, God laid on Him the iniquity of us all, so that He who knew no sin might became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God. But when Jesus died He took our sins and failures and weakness, and He took it down into the grave where it was buried forever. And looking down upon His innocent Son, God the Father thundered from Heaven, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the declarative action that He was innocent. The way we know that Jesus was innocent is because death could not hold Him. And the good news is that He was not only raised in order to prove His innocence, He was also raised in order to enact our justification, our resurrection. This means that as you meditate on what the resurrection means during this season, one of the words that ought to come to mind with some regularity is forgiveness. Jesus was raised because He was innocent, and Jesus was raised so that you might be innocent, so that you might go free. The resurrection means that you are not guilty, that you have been raised from the dead, and your sins have been taken away.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Grace to Stand In
Forgiven people should be the most humble people. But humble doesn't mean groveling-in-the-mud people. Humble means that you know your standing before the God of the universe. Humility is standing in the presence of the Father, united to the Son, in the power of the Spirit.
But the frequently forgotten part of this is the fact that when we stand in the Son before the Father in the love of the Spirit, we suddenly realize that we are welcome. We suddenly know without a shadow of doubt that we belong there. It's the place we most feared, most dreaded, the place that seemed so far off. And yet when we stand there, and we have honestly confessed our sins and heartily asked for forgiveness, there is only grace.
And this grace is grace that commands us to stand. Grace does not hold us down. Grace does not leave us on the floor begging. Grace is something that we stand in. Grace lifts up the head of the humble and meek. Grace causes us to stand, and this kind of humility stands in confidence. We stand in the presence of the Triune God of the universe, the God who knows all, the God who sees all, the God who welcomes us into His presence.
Forgiven people should be the most humble people, but this humility stands up. This humility is fearless. The humble man knows with every fiber of his being that this is where he belongs. And you've finally come home. So believe the gospel: you are forgiven. You are free.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Second Sunday in Easter: Rom. 6:1-23: Justified to Life
Introduction
As we celebrate the season of Easter, we ought to be asking what the resurrection means for our lives. Paul says that the resurrection of Jesus that we ought to live like we truly have been brought back from the grave.
Reckon Yourselves Dead
Paul begins by grounding our Christian identity in baptism and the death and resurrection of Jesus (Rom. 6:3-11). This means “knowing” (6:3, 6, 9) and “believing” (6:8) and “reckoning” ourselves united to the death and resurrection of Jesus (6:11). This is a question about facts and what is true. Paul says that this has everything to do with Easter. Christ was raised by the glory of the Father, so that we should walk in newness of life (6:4). This means being united to the likeness of His resurrection (6:5), that as He was freed from death, we might also be free from sin (6:6-7). And this means that we are alive in Christ (6:8-11). Paul says that we must know this, believe this, and reckon it true. We died with Christ, and we were raised with Him.
Who’s Your King?
But Paul develops these points with a number of allusions to a very specific story. He says this reckoning has everything to do with who your master is. He says: we should no longer be slaves of sin (6:6). We have been set free (6:7). Just as death is not Christ’s master (6:9), we are to reckon ourselves free from sin, not obeying its lusts (6:12). The great slavery/freedom narrative of the Bible is the Exodus, and Paul goes from passing through the water (6:3-4) to insisting repeatedly that this means we are no longer slaves of Pharaoh but now servants of God and of righteousness. To “present” your members (6:13, 16, 19) is to be stationed for service, to stand in the presence of a king (e.g. Gen. 45:1, Dt. 10:8, 1 Sam. 16:21). This is the same word used to describe Israel standing at the foot of Mt. Sinai after the Exodus (Ex. 19:17). Like the children of Israel, Christians must present themselves to the Lord “as being alive from the dead” and not present themselves to any Pharaoh (Rom. 6:13). Our “members” are clearly our bodies which are to be offered as sacrifices to God (Ex. 29:17, Lev. 1:6, 12, cf. Rom. 12:1-2). And as we offer them as sacrifices, they are to be “instruments,” literally ‘weapons/armor of righteousness’ (1 Sam. 17:7, Neh. 4:11, Rom. 13:12). As Israel marched out of Egypt as Yahweh’s hosts, Christians are to take up their weapons and armor as the army of God.
Conclusions
Turning from sin must always include turning towards righteousness, leaving Egypt and going in to the Promised Land. And this kind of repentance is for life. But we must be freed from sin in order to repent. Jesus came proclaiming this forgiveness (Lk. 4:18), Paul is proclaiming forgiveness in Rom. 6, and we are authorized and commanded to carry on this mission in the world (Lk. 17:3-4, Col. 3:13).
If what Paul says is true, then Christians should be growing more and more alive. We should be characterized by life. What is life? What is it to be alive? This means walking in the Spirit, listening and obeying the Word, and then dreaming big. So frequently we are so preoccupied with Egypt that we miss the Promised Land right in front of us. But Christ is risen, and the whole world is before us.
The resurrection means endless possibilities. It means creation restored, and it means humanity offered life as God always meant it to be. We were made for this.
1. Lead your family in loving God and loving His world. Lead them by loving the particular parts of God’s world that were made for you. Find those spots and dance in them. And love your people and dance with them.
2. Lead your family in enjoying God and enjoying His world. Lead them by being consumed with thankfulness for what you have been given: forgiveness, family, gifts, five fingers on each hand, peanut butter and jelly, and a wife to kiss. Lead your family in laughter. Be the first to laugh and the last to stop.
3. Lead your family in resting in God, and share that rest. Lead them by serving your wife, surprising your family with gifts and outings, and share the peace of Christ with those still in Egypt. Peace is unity, affirmation, and forgiveness.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Fourth Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 7, Rom. 1, Matt. 1
Introduction
As we look forward to our celebration of the birth of Jesus, this last Sunday of Advent celebrates the faithfulness and justice of God in coming to His people as the basis for our faith today.
Immanuel: With or Without Us
Isaiah 7 has several similarities to Isaiah 36-38. In this case Ahaz is the king of Judah who is threatened by the Assyrians. This is prior to the final fall of Israel, and Pekah King of Israel has teamed up with Rezin king of Syria to threaten Judah (7:1-2). God promises deliverance (7:3-9) and says that the only requirement is for Ahaz to believe this (7:9). God asks Ahaz to ask for a sign presumably to demonstrate his faith, but Ahaz refuses (7:10-13). Recall that Hezekiah is the son of Ahaz of the line of David. Hezekiah does better than his father since when he is threatened, he repeatedly looks to Yahweh and when his life is threatened, he asks for a sign in the heavens above and is saved (38:7, cf. 2 Kgs. 20:8). Ahaz refuses to ask for a sign, and so God gives one Himself: a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel (7:14). He will eat “curds and honey” apparently because he is part of the remnant left from the Assyrian conquest (7:15-17, cf. 7:22). Notice that the name “Immanuel” is used twice more in the following verses: once apparently referring to the land of Israel/Judah (8:8) and once the reason why no counsel will stand against God’s determined purposes (8:10).
Romans: Justice by Faith
Paul begins by emphasizing what he means by the “gospel” – it is what he was separated to (1:1), what was promised (1:2), the birth of Jesus from the seed of David (1:3), the declaration that Jesus is the Son of God by the resurrection (1:4), and through all of this comes the authorization to call all nations to obedience to the faith (1:5), even the Romans (1:6), and so Paul addresses them with the grace and peace of King Jesus (1:7). Paul knows he is addressing Christians from the empire that currently runs the world, and yet it is their “faith” that is known throughout the world (1:8). And Paul prays for them (1:9-10). Paul hopes to come to them that they might be part of his harvest among all the gentiles (1:11-14). Paul says that this gospel is for all nations, and he is not ashamed of it (1:14-16). It is here that Paul gives his reason: the gospel is the display, the revelation of the justice of God (1:17).
Matthew: The Righteousness of God
Jesus is identified as the “Son of David, the Son of Abraham” and so begins Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus Christ (1:1), recounting the 14 generations between Abraham and David, David to the Exile, and from the captivity to Christ (1:17). Matthew’s genealogy is striking for its inclusion of several women: Tamar (1:3), Rahab (1:5), and Bathsheba (1:6), all oppressed in various ways by faithless men. Joseph is a just man and unwilling to see Mary shamed, and determined to divorce her quietly (1:19). Notice that Joseph is also called “son of David” by the angel of the Lord (1:20). The prophecy of this son includes a name linking the extraordinary son with His mission (1:21), and Joseph signifies his faith by giving the name to the Son (1:25).
Conclusion & Applications
The same God who turns back armies weaves all of history together. It is the power of God to take failures and injustice and weave it into his righteous purposes. The gospel of Jesus, His Advent, is the great display of God’s justice, His justice in coming for His people, His justice in healing our diseases, atoning for our sins, and rising from the dead. Jesus is the faithful one, and God’s powerful justice is displayed in our stories as we live by faith in the sign that God gave Ahaz.
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