In the garden, Adam was tempted by the Devil, and that garden withered and died from Adam's sin and turned into a desert.
Many centuries later, the Last Adam appeared and went into that wilderness to be tempted by the Devil in order that by His obedience the desert might become a garden again.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Deserts and Gardens
Masculine Holiness
C.T. Studd, a wealthy Englishman who sold everything and spent his life in missions wrote shortly before he died:
"Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time for waiting is past! ... Should such men as we fear? Before the whole world, aye, before the sleepy, luke-warm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, ... and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only in our God than live trusting in man. And when we come to this position the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious campaign in sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts; we will have a Masculine Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ."
(cited in Radical, by David Platt, 179)
Elliot on American Complacency
Jim Elliot wrote in his journal:
"Surely those who know the great passionate heart of Jehovah must deny their own loves to share the expression of His... Consider the call from the Throne above, 'Go ye,' and from round about, 'Come over and help us,' and even the call from the damned souls below, 'Send Lazarus to my brothers, that they come not to this place.' Impelled then, by those voices, I dare not stay home while Quichuas perish. So what if the well-fed church in the homeland needs stirring? They have the Scriptures, Moses, and the Prophets, and a whole lot more. Their condemnation is written on their bank books and in the dust on their Bible covers. American believers have sold their lives to the service of Mammon, and God has His rightful way of dealing with those who succumb to the spirit of Laodicea."
(cited in Radical, by David Platt, 177)
Monday, September 13, 2010
Praying with Bloody Hands
Yesterday, Pastor Leithart preached an excellent sermon on Isaiah 1 in which he explored how the prophet condemned Judah for being another Sodom and Gomorrah. Jerusalem is not condemned for sexual sodomy however, not for homosexuality. Rather, Judah is condemned for her oppression of the weak and the vulnerable, for taking bribes and subverting justice and then having the nerve to show up for church on Sunday. The prophet condemns Judah for offering prayer to God with blood on her hands.
Pastor Leithart pointed out that the original Sodomites were also oppressors and sinned against hospitality. Rather than welcoming strangers in their gates (the angels that visited Lot), they wanted to rape them. Thus, the homosexuality and the oppression go hand in hand, so to speak.
The sermon concluded with application to our own nation. In what ways do we have blood on our hands when we offer prayers to God? An obvious example is the blood of the unborn that runs in our streets, and we have exported that evil by funding abortions overseas. And he asked, why would we think that if we are evil and wicked at home (abortion, homosexuality, etc.), we would somehow be saintly abroad? If we cannot defend our own weak and defenseless why would we suddenly grow a conscience when it comes to the weak and defenseless of other nations?
And in fact our military record suggests a pretty mixed bag. Even admitting that we have sometimes done great good does not make all the atrocities go away. Bombing cities filled with women and children, and chalking their deaths up to collateral damage is hardly justice or goodness for the weak. Being a king throughout the Old Testament repeatedly has to do with defending the poor, making sure they have justice, speaking up for those who have no voice, strengthening the arms of the weak.
But in addition to the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima and Nagasaki, an invasion in the Philippines, and various other military crimes in South America, we have supported and continue to support regimes around the world that actively persecute and suppress Christianity. Leithart pointed out that some of our greatest allies and those who receive the most support from the US militarily and financially are Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel all of which penalize, suppress, and sometimes openly persecute Christians. Do we have blood on our hands? Do we have Christian blood on our hands?
Conservative Christians are frequently good at standing against sexual sodomy, but we frequently stand by and allow or even encourage a number of other forms of violent coercion. In other words, the homosexuality in our culture is a sign of far deeper forms of sodomy in our hearts. Our homosexuality began with raping and pillaging the unborn and the weak at home and abroad.
Leithart pointed out that not all of the Israelites hearing Isaiah's condemnation would have been guilty of war crimes and injustice, but the oracle still stuck. Being part of a people whose leaders have acted like the men of Sodom doesn't give the people a free pass. They are still considered the people of Gomorrah. And so in whatever ways we have contributed to the bloodshed, in whatever ways we can repent of injustice and oppression, in whatever ways we can defend the poor, give voice to those who suffer in silence, and strengthen the hands of the weak, we are called to do so.
Eating the Good of the Land
“If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Is. 1:19-20)
The invitation to follow Jesus, to submit to Him, to obey Him, is an invitation to eat the good of the land. It may not always seem like that, but God’s way is always the way of blessings and life. Honor your father and mother that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you. Jesus even says, Assuredly I say to you, that there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospel’s sake who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time – houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions – and in the age to come eternal life. Jesus invites us to His table, and His table is a feast of torn flesh and shed blood. Jesus calls us to partake of His sacrifice, to take up His cross and to follow Him. But He calls us to see this cross as the way to victory; He calls us to taste this cup which was wrath for Him and may be suffering for us, but if follow Him, we will eat the good of the land. The great irony is that if we do not partake of this feast, if we do not partake of the good land in faith, the warning is that we will be devoured, eaten by the sword of judgment. Obedience to Jesus means embracing His cross, and eating the good of the land. Disobedience and rebellion means being struck down. Of course the world offers their rival feasts: the communion and fellowship meals of popularity, respectability, beauty, or wealth. Those meals go down sweet; they pretend to offer the good of the land. But they are lies, and at the end of those paths is sadness and pain. Jesus doesn’t promise us a painless and easy life; but He promises resurrection life. He promises that as we give our lives away, as we follow Him, He will share His Resurrection Life with us in this life, and in the life to come Resurrection Life in absolute fullness. If you obey, you shall eat the good of the land. So come in faith, not fearing or worrying but believing.
Fear No Giant
Living as Christians in this world means facing giants. We live in a fallen world. We live in a world full of danger, hurt, and pain. There is great brokenness all around us. We live on a battlefield, and it is easy to look up and only see corpses and the enemy forces gathering in whatever form they appear to you. Maybe it’s the daily stress and chaos of a young family with lots of little ones. Maybe it’s stress at work with an oppressive boss, or maybe you don’t have a job and you’re wondering how you will pay the bills. Maybe it’s friends, relationships, or an antagonistic spouse or rebellious children. And you look up and only see the giants closing in for the kill. You are sure that everything is going to fall apart at any minute. Victory is impossible.
But looking at the giants in your life and allowing fear and worry to well up inside you is the surest way to secure defeat. You are called to faith. You are called to trust in the Lord Jesus who has gone before you in the battle. This means looking to Jesus. And this is not just a pious saying. Faith means saying that whatever giants are standing in front of you, none of them are too big for Jesus and therefore none of them are too big for you. And you may only have a tiny sling and a few little pebbles, but faith looks up and sees that the giants are too big to miss.
The gospel is this: God is determined to be God for you. God has claimed you, God has washed you, God has come for you in Jesus. And He holds you firmly in His hand, and He will not let you go. There is nothing that can tear you away from Him.
We have this truth in earthen vessels. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed, always carrying around in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body… For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God (2 Cor. 4:7-10, 15).
So do not fear the giants. If God is with us who can be against us?
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Sharing Blood in the Body
“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.” (1 Cor. 10:16-17)
“And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” (1 Cor. 12:26)
In this latter verse, Paul is primarily exhorting the Corinthians to act like they really are members of the same body. He has previously told them not to say they don’t need one another. The eye needs the foot, and the hand needs the eye. But if we really are members of one body and Christ’s blood runs through all of us, then whether we want to or not, it is simply a fact that we do effect one another. We may not feel that we are that closely related to one another, but Paul says that as we gather at this meal week by week, we are communing together in the body and blood of Christ. Just as nutrients flow through the blood throughout the body, so toxins and viruses can travel through the blood and infect the body. This means that suffering for one another may not only be something we consciously choose to do; rather, it may also be the result of being bound together as one body here at this table. In other words, a particular hardship or difficulty in your life may be in part suffering for and with someone else in the body. Of course this also implies a warning about unconfessed sin. It is not possible to isolate a cancer or a virus in one part of the body. When you partake of this bread and cup, you are sharing your life with your neighbors. Sometimes people object to the idea of a common loaf or a common cup in communion because of all the germs that might be shared and spread. But Paul teaches here that there is an even more significant sharing going on. We are being knit together, grafted together into one body, and this means that we share blood. This means that we suffer with and for one another whether or not we realize it, and as members of the body are honored, God bestows great joy whether or not we realize the connection. But this might be terrifying. The thought that I might be infected by your sin or suffering, or that my pain and suffering might be passed on to you is scary. But this really shouldn’t be scary or terrifying because this is the blood of Christ, the blood of cleansing. But this is the blood of the new covenant for the remission of sins. This is the blood of Jesus. This means that we are united, bound together by the Spirit, and we do share in one another’s suffering. But as we partake in faith, as we look to Jesus for our full forgiveness, we can confidently pass the bread and the wine to one another, trusting the goodness of God and the wisdom of the Spirit and the healing power of the blood of Jesus to knit us together in perfect holiness and love, granting us grace to be grace for and to one another, until we come to the Perfect Man, until this world is full of that grace. So come with thankful hearts.
God's Parenting Plan
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: ‘I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.” (Is. 1:2)
The book of Isaiah opens with the Lord lamenting his rebellious children. God says that he nourished them and brought them up, and they have rebelled against Him. And we might be tempted think: well if God’s own children don’t turn out, who can hope to have children grow up to be faithful? If God’s parenting skills are not sufficient to produce godly offspring, who can be expected to do better?
But there are at least two lessons we can take from this. First, certain forms of covenant theology have highly mechanical views of how parenting and faithful children work: put the coin in the machine and out comes godly children. ‘Family devotions plus Christian education plus regular spankings, and out comes godly Christian children.’ And when the children turn out rebellious, we know that the parents failed. But by that equation, God failed as a father. It is true that God promises to bless faithfulness in parenting, and parents can trust the promises of God for the salvation of their children. But this leads to the second point: God’s parenting plan is not finished in Isaiah 1. Ultimately, God will come for his children in Jesus. He will drawn near them and embrace them. He will share their life, take upon himself their sins and hurts and diseases, and ultimately die for them.
There is no mechanical equation for faithful parenting and faithful children. The answer is love. Love that draws near. Love that embraces. Love that takes the weaknesses and hurt of children. Love that sympathizes and cares and ultimately dies and sacrifices for the children. God’s lament over his children provides hope for those parents who have days, weeks, months, even years where they see little or no fruit, where they have labored and nurtured children who have rebelled. God has felt your pain, but God did not stop there. God continued to pour Himself out for His children. And ultimately came for them in Jesus. And more to the point, God poured Himself out in love for your children. Jesus is God come for all the rebellious children. And therefore, we put our whole trust in God, and in the resurrection of Jesus.
And hearing this, we like Daniel cry out saying, “we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.” (Dan. 9:5)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
CRF Talk: Dealing with Weirdos Or Unity and Diversity in the Body
Introduction
One of the glorious facts about living in God’s world is that He likes it messy. He likes it complicated, complex, and hard to understand. God thinks that’s a good idea. And we know this because He invented the Church. Knowing how different we all are, knowing how weird we all are, and knowing that we are sinners and fools on top of that, He called us all together into the body of Christ. And He thought that was a good idea. But how do we begin to live faithfully in such challenging circumstances?
Loyalty & Thankfulness
First, you must know what kind of weirdo you are. What kind of weirdos do you come from? The difference between pride and double-mindedness is thankfulness. Pride and arrogance pretends to be a self-made god. The double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. He is so humble it comes out the other side with a strange self-abasing pride. And this is why the difference is thankfulness. Thankfulness receives gifts without losing sight of the Giver. But thankfulness also instills loyalty. Friends and family give gifts. Pride (of both variations) can produce rivalry and envy, but thankfulness and love pours out. But thankfulness also protects the gifts and the relationship with the Giver. That thankfulness which protects is called loyalty, and it should be fierce. So who are you? What are the great gifts that God has poured on your head, through your family, your church family, your friends, your people?
What Kind of Weirdo Are You?
God pours out gifts, but He also (wisely) gives us challenges to overcome, battles to fight. Pride either ignores the challenges or pride allows challenges to swallow up the gifts. But thankfulness receives them all in faith and confidence. Augustine is remembered as saying, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” What are the essentials? Those doctrines and practices which are either explicitly required by Scripture or so implicitly required that without them, the Scriptures would be broken: The Trinity, Incarnation, Substitutionary Atonement, Authority of Scripture, Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Supper, Baptism, etc. What are non-essentials? Those doctrines and practices that are not explicitly required or forbidden in Scripture and which do not undermine those things which are essentials: Exact forms of worship, methods of evangelism, church polity, and country western music. And of course the messiest situations come when there is disagreement over whether something is “essential” or not. But we walk by faith, love the brothers, search the Scriptures, and look to Christ.
Tradition and Progress
Every generation faces the dual responsibility of honoring their parents and guarding the deposit handed down from them and the duty of obedience and growing in understanding and faithfulness. What is frequently missed is the fact the two are actually connected. The way to have a long life of blessing in the land is through honoring parents. This is the long, patient way of progress, but it’s also the successful way. Thankfulness for what has been given is the ground upon which you will be called to stand and begin building the next phase of the project. But without that scaffold, you will end up taking out a supporting wall that your dad built.
But What About Those Guys?
And if cross-generational relationships were not hard enough, we still have all of our peers both near and far who are different and weird. What about pastors who don’t wear clerical collars? What about guys who get tattoos? What about Baptists who don’t baptize babies? What about that girl with a nose stud? What about Presbyterians who won’t allow young children to partake of the Lord’s Supper? What about “passing the peace”? What about the sign of the cross? What about those guys with a rock band leading worship? What about those guys? Well, the answers to those questions will vary. This doesn’t mean that the answers don’t matter or that it’s all relative. But the way to the answer is found through the path of thankfulness. What kind of weirdo are you? What kind of weirdo is your dad? What are the gifts you have been given?
Do nothing out of selfish ambition, but in humility consider others better than yourself. Living in community means that other families are necessarily different than yours. And God thinks that’s a good idea. He likes us being different from each other. But He wants us to love one another and honor one another. This can only happen through deep and abiding thankfulness, and this is thankfulness that destroys self-aggrandizing pride and self-deprecating pride. Thankfulness sees gifts, challenges, and the Good Giver and cheerfully gets to work.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Driscoll, Chan, and Harris
Here's an interesting conversation between Mark Driscoll, Francis Chan, and Joshua Harris.
I think Mark Driscoll's questions are on the money, particularly his question at about the 8:50 mark, and the conversation that follows is the sort of conversation that many of us are having in various contexts.
HT: Justin Taylor
NSA Disputatio Exhortation: Proving Your Liberty: Just How Free Are You?
What is liberty? What is freedom?
First, we begin with the assertion that God is perfect freedom. Whatever freedom is, God is most supremely free. Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Cor. 3:17).
We might be tempted to condense this talk into a sentence and just say be like God, be free. But what does it mean for God to be free? Was God ever enslaved? Is God’s freedom, merely His prerogative to do whatever He wants?
We frequently describe freedom in relative terms, greater or lesser degrees of freedom. But while this might seem sensible for describing humans, does that really makes sense when it comes to God?
We confess that God is infinite and eternal, and His wisdom and being is oceans deeper than our biggest and brightest thought about Him. Nevertheless, we have the Word of God, the Scriptures which tell us true information about our God. The Bible does not exhaust God’s pursuits, but it describes God truly. And what we find is a God who is strangely preoccupied with us.
Doesn’t God have something better to do? Doesn’t He get tired of our stupidity? Our shallowness? Our sin? Isn’t it annoying to hang out with finite, mortal beings?
But somehow it isn’t, and this is tied to the notion of freedom.
Martin Luther and a number of others noted during the Reformation that freedom is bound up with the notion of nature. A bird is free to fly, but a man is not (unless he invents an airplane). A fish is free to breathe underwater, but a man is not (unless he pipes oxygen down or crams it into steel bottle). And most importantly, a sinful man is not free to become righteous in any meaningful sense.
But before we go all moral and Calvinistic on this point, we should not leave the “nature” notion behind.
Absolute freedom means that God is not bound by nature; rather, His nature is boundless. His nature is one of infinite possibilities.
But infinite, eternal possibility always requires at least one characteristic to have any meaning: It must be alive. Infinite, eternal possibility means infinite, eternal life that constantly overflows and spills out to new horizons, new glory.
This means that if we are to speak of “boundaries” or “limits” to God’s nature in any sense, we merely mean that He is bound to be alive.
How does God use His freedom?
He creates. God is not bound by His deity or infinity from creating a finite world to relate to. He is free to remain both transcendent over and above it and yet He may also freely penetrate and fill it with His presence, and free to interact with it as He pleases.
He saves and delivers. “The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord raises those who are bowed down…” (Psalms)
The Exodus is the great slavery to freedom story. But the trajectory is not freedom from Pharaoh in order to party at the golden calf. Their “Yahweh worldview” did not absolve them from guilt. It just made their rebellion more awful. But the freedom that Yahweh tried to bestow upon Israel was the freedom of sons, serving in His house (the tabernacle). But was Israel ever really ever “free” (Ps. 95)?
Supremely, Jesus is the revelation of the freedom of God. Jesus is the freedom of God in the incarnation. Skeptics wonder how God can become a man. Is that possible? But this is a question of freedom. Is God free to overcome that barrier between Creator and creature? Is God free to enter His creation and become a person within the human race He made?
But more than that, Jesus’ ministry is a ministry of freedom: "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
Jesus’ death is the supreme demonstration of His freedom. The freedom of God is seen in His overcoming every between Him and life, between others and His life. Creation, rescue, incarnation, and ultimately death and resurrection are the grand displays of God’s freedom, His boundless love and life that constantly overflows. God’s freedom is His unexplainable persistence in pursuing us. Mere humans in all our frailty and mortality and finitude, and then mere humans in all of our wretched sin and folly. And God’s freedom is His persistent, patient love by which He pursues His people again and again and again. God is free to come for His people because He has chosen us in His love and mercy.
We know from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that the Spirit of the Lord is the Spirit of liberty (2 Cor. 3:17). Where the Spirit is, there is liberty. Christ has been given the Spirit to overcome every barrier, everything that holds us back from His life and fellowship.
Freedom breaks boundaries and bridges every distance for the sake of righteousness and life. The Jerusalem above is “free” which is the mother of us all, and this means that the barren rejoice because they have mothers (Gal. 4:26-27). And we are children of the free woman (Gal. 4:31). Therefore stand fast in the freedom by which Christ has made us free (Gal. 5:1).
Conclusions & Applications
Freedom is alive, and it creates, heals, saves, and redeems. And Jesus came to bestow this freedom upon us so that we might use it and exercise it for the blessing and salvation of others.
“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. "And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (Jn. 8:31-36)
We have been raised from the dead with Christ and freed from all sin (Rom. 6). Liberty is not for the flesh; liberty is for love and service (Gal. 5:13). And this is why James calls the law the “perfect law of liberty” (Js. 1:25, 2:12). Likewise, Peter exhorts his audience to use their liberty as slaves of God to honor all people, love the brothers, and display the fear of God (1 Pet. 2:16-17). In his second letter, Peter warns against being entangled and enslaved again by the pollutions of this world after being set free from the bondage of sin (2 Pet. 2:19-20).
Therefore:
1. Use your freedom to honor your mother and father. Your parents were set free from bondage and slavery to sin, and you honor them by loving that freedom. Freedom overcome distance and every barrier to communion. How free are you? How can you honor your mother and father?
2. Use your freedom to honor the fathers and mothers of this community. This includes pastors, elders, teachers, older men and women, grandparents. Honor is not merely the lack of disrespect. Honor bestows, honor piles up, honor looks for ways to speak highly of them. How free are you?
3. Freedom from Egypt doesn’t mean playing video games, drinking beer, and smoking cigarettes. Freedom from Egypt doesn’t mean spending all your time sizing up the members of the opposite sex.
4. Use your freedom to give life, to encourage, to build up, to serve, to die. Look for a barrier, a distance that needs bridging and prove your freedom. You have particular gifts as members of the body of Christ, particular talents. Do not bury them, do not short change the rest of the body by staying up late watching stupid movies.
How free are you? Prove it.
This Meal Means You Are Needed
One of the glorious transitions from the Old to New Covenant is the pouring out of the Spirit on all of God’s people, anointing all of God’s people as priests and kings and prophets in Jesus Christ. While access to the presence of God was strictly guarded in the Old Covenant and only certain people had limited access on various occasions, in the New Covenant, all those who have been anointed in the waters of baptism and walk in obedience to the call of Jesus, all of you are called into the presence of God. And here you are welcome to sit in His presence to hear His Word to you, to respond in thankful hymns as well as petitions and prayers, and finally to sit here to share a meal in His presence.
But this means that by sharing in this meal week after week, we are confessing to God and one another that all of us are ministers in this house. All of us are priests in this temple. Paul uses the image of a body: we are all members of the same body, and the body needs all of the members to function properly. By sharing this meal every Lord’s Day, we confess that we are all in this together and that we need one another. The Spirit has been poured on all of you with particular gifts, strengths, talents, and this meal is regular reminder to use them. And this means that if you have particular interests, gifts, concerns, in so far as they are for the edification and building up of the body, you are called upon to use them, do them. Pastors and Elders and Deacons are a few of many of the gifts in the body, but the Body doesn’t run on just those three gifts.
The wonderful thing is that many of you are constantly seeing opportunities for hospitality, service, and ministry, and you jump in faithfully, and so this is just an encouragement to do so more and more. And this meal is not only your authorization to use your gifts in the body of Christ, but here Christ promises to nourish you by the working of the Spirit, perfecting your gifts, strengthening you for ministry, equipping you to love your little ones, honor and bless one another, and look for those who are hurting and needy to befriend and care for. This meal is for the kings and priests and prophets of the Triune God; you are those kings and priests and prophets. You belong here. You are loved, and you are needed. So come and give thanks.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
No Salvation Apart from Others
Love your neighbor as yourself. Bless those who persecute you. Do good to all men. Be hospitable. Be kind and compassionate. These are all well known commands that describe our duty toward others, all applications of the command to love our neighbors. But what we sometimes miss is how tightly God considers our love and treatment of others with our love and treatment of Him. “If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.” “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God who he has not seen?” In other words, our salvation is not reducible to a mere snap shot of “me and God.” Of course, there must be a “me and God,” but that salvation necessarily always includes others. But these Scriptures require us to say this stronger. It is not merely that as a Christian you must be nice to other people, as though salvation were a float in a parade on its way to heaven, and loving your neighbor meant waving and smiling all the way down the street. No, Jesus says that He is bound so closely to His own people and to all those who suffer injustice and oppression, that when we neglect them, we have neglected Him. When Saul is confronted on the road to Damascus, Jesus demands to know why Saul is persecuting Him. True religion, James says, is caring for orphans and widows in their distress. In other words, God has determined not to be God without us. God has determined to be God with us and God for us. And if we have joined this God and His mission for this world, this means that there is no salvation for us apart from the salvation of those around us. Of course some will reject the gospel, but Jesus requires us to live as though our own salvation depended on the salvation of everyone around us. It is terrifyingly easy to turn this into some kind of merit mongering, like inviting friends to sign up for some service so that you can get kickbacks and rewards on your membership. But that’s not the only option. The other option is the way of love. You have been loved, you have been forgiven, you have been shown mercy, and when that reality pours down over us, how can we not overflow in grateful love, forgiveness, and mercy.
Faith, Dads, and Children
Some thoughts on parenting over at Credenda (and hopefully some encouragement):
Faith, Dads, and Children
Monday, August 23, 2010
Gold receiving Gold
Guroian citing Chrysostom again:
"How do they become one flesh? As if she were gold receiving purest gold, the woman receives the man's seed with rich pleasure, and within her it is nourished, cherished, and refined. It is mingled with her own substance and she then returns it as a child!"
Portraits of the King
Vigen Guroian cites John Chrysostom on parenting:
"Let us bring them [our children] up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Great will be the reward in store for us, for if artists who make statues and paint portraits of kings are held in high esteem, will not God bless ten thousand times more those who reveal and beautify His royal image (for man is the image of God)? When we teach our children to be good, to be gentle, to be forgiving (all these are attributes of God), to be generous, to love their fellow men, to regard this present age as nothing, we instill virtue in their souls, and reveal the image of God within them."
Mark 3: From the House of Bondage to the House of God
Introduction
Jesus ministry is focused on rebuilding the house of Israel. And this project is bringing the history of Israel to a radical head. Faithful Israel must follow Jesus as their Bridegroom (2:19) or else be swept away like the temple so many years before.
A Withered Hand
1 Kings 13 records the story of King Jereboam’s withered hand. If the stories are parallels, the presence of a man with a withered hand is an indication of not only uncleanness and deformity in Israel but also of grave liturgical error and compromise (cf. Jeroboam). The synagogue has become a house of demons (1:23, 39) and therefore the rulers of the synagogues are inviting them by their actions. This is proven by their hypocrisy: Jesus asks whether it is right to do good or evil, save life or kill (3:4). And their responses (silence and plotting to destroy Him) indicate that they prefer the latter options (3:6). In this sense, they are far worse than Jeroboam. Given this answer and what follows we can liken this old Israel to Pharaoh and Egypt; it has become a “house of bondage.”
From the Sea to the Mountain to the House
The word translated “withdrew” would probably be better translated “fled” (3:7). Notice the geography of this flight: to the sea, where he is nearly crowed into the sea (3:7, 9), and then to the mountain where the twelve are appointed (3:13-14) and finally into a house (3:19). This should remind us of the Exodus where Israel went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, fleeing from Pharaoh and his armies to the sea. After crossing the Red Sea, Moses leads the people to Mt. Sinai where God claims the twelve tribes of Israel as his own and gives them instructions for how they are to live (Ex. 19-24) and how to build and keep His house (Ex. 25-40). Jesus is reconstituting Israel, remaking His special people.
Beelzebub
The scribes who accuse Jesus, assert that He has “Beelzebub” or “Beelzebul” explaining that he is “the ruler of the demons.” (3:22). If there is a connection or perhaps an allusion or pun on “Beelzebub” then we’re being invited to remember the god of Ekron in 2 Kings 1, where Ahaziah rejected the prophet of Yahweh (Elijah) in favor of another god and is judged severely. His punishment for Baal worship is also a greater judgment on the idolatry of the house of Ahab. Baal-zebub means “lord of the flies.” Beelzebul, however would translate as “lord of loftiness” or “lord of an exalted dwelling” related to the name of Leah’s sixth son to Jacob, Zebulun (Gen. 30:20, cf. Ps. 49:15, Is. 63:15). Regardless, we know this accusation is false because at Christ’s baptism he received the Holy Spirit. But furthermore, with a little help from Luke’s version of this parable (Lk. 11:21-22), we know that the one who binds the strong man must be stronger (cf. Mk. 1:7). Jesus is the one who has entered the strong man’s house and bound him (1:13). Jesus’ ministry of casting out demons is his plundering of the strongman’s house (Israel/Egypt).
A Divided House
The last fifteen verses form what is sometimes called a “sandwich story”. “His own people” (v. 21) and “His brothers and His mother” (v. 31ff) appear to be the same people. At the center of the story of Jesus’ family is a parable about the family of Israel. But if it is wrong to assert that Jesus is dividing the family of Israel, he is at least plundering it (3:27). And this gives some explanation of Jesus’ reaction to His family. He is founding a new family, a family that is tighter than blood. We have already seen this displayed briefly in the fact that Jesus has been going around asking people to follow him. He’s playing the part of a father, giving new occupations (1:17) and giving new names (3:16-18).
Conclusions & Applications
If Jesus came to bring Israel out of bondage, leading them to a new mountain and to a new house, it can be no surprise that this same pattern holds as the gospel progresses in history. The family of God supersedes the family of Adam, and every house will be plundered. The only question is whether you will be a willing house or not. The history of Israel is the story of the failure of the family. Blood is the problem. But in Jesus Christ, the bloodguilt has been paid. This is your family here, and only here are families put back together.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Proverbs 29:11-13
29:11
“A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.”
This proverb can be illustrated by its six word structure:
All of his wind
Goes out
A fool
A wise one
Behind
Stills it
The “it” suffix of the final word is feminine singular and refers back to “wind.” Thus, the proverb begins with wind blowing – a storm. And the proverb ends with the storm being stilled.
All of the wind goes out of a fool. Like the “scoffer” who blows on his city (29:8), the fool blows wind as well. This is one of the ways a wise man turns away wrath (29:8): he holds back his temper. Actually, it is all of his “spirit” that goes out in the case of a fool.
As we noted lasted time, there is something of a reverse negative of the fool with God. God pours out His Spirit in creation and re-creation (e.g. Ps. 104:30, Jn. 14:26, 15:26).
Literally, the wise man holds/soothes his spirit. This is like God who stills the noise of the seas (Ps. 65:8, 89:10).
Dr. Leithart previously suggested that the difference between the wisdom of God who sends forth His Spirit and the fool who lets it all out is perhaps the difference between timing. Perhaps another difference is control. God sends forth His Spirit and His Spirit goes forth in perfect obedience and love, whereas the spirit of the fool goes forth as a sort of chaotic release valve.
The other obvious difference would be one of result. If 29:11 is a further explanation of 29:8, the destruction of cities is different than the establishment and renewal of cities. The Spirit of God renews and creates while the spirit of a fool destroys and tears down.
At the same time, we should not miss the similarities. There is something wild and reckless in the Spirit of God that comes upon Samson for instance. And when the Spirit came upon Jesus they said that He was out of His mind (Mk. 3:21). The ministry of the apostles also tended to stir up trouble in cities (e.g. Acts 17:5, etc.).
Literally, the proverb says that wise one stills the wind “back” or stills it “behind.” Perhaps this is a play on words giving the picture of a wise man holding his spirit behind himself. But regardless, the point is that the wise one rules his spirit, rules the wind and tames it, holding it back at his command.
This reminds us of Jesus of course who is the Wisdom of God and the one who calms the storm, who speaks to the wind and waves and they obey Him.
29:12
“If a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked.”
Ruler
Listens/pays attention
To the word of falsehood
All his ministers
Wicked
This proverb intentionally suggests two readings, one emphasizing result, one emphasizing present reality. The ruler who listens to falsehood will end up with a court full of wicked servants because they will be necessarily included in the deception. But where is the ruler hearing words of falsehood? From his ministers of course, and therefore this proverb is also a statement of fact.
And if his ministers are wicked, the ruler is wicked – either as a result or again as a statement of fact.
“Words” of falsehood could be translated “speech, saying, charge, story, advice, counsel…” and this gives the proverb a fairly wide range of warning. This could include false charges, false reporting, false ideology, etc. This is the same word used in Ex. 20:16 in the ninth commandment.
Literally, this is describing the ruler who “gives attention” to words of falsehood which could be several sorts of things: This could describe a relatively good king who gives falsehood the time of day. In this scenario, the proverb warns against falsehood slowly gaining credibility through repetition. Perhaps another scenario would have a ruler who does not adequately judge against falsehood and allows his servants/ministers to believe and become wrapped up with lies. Finally, the statement of fact scenario suggests that a ruler who does not drive falsehood far from his kingdom is already in some way compromised.
Waltke notes the various ways this might play out in live political scenario: “words of falsehood” could very well be false testimonies, either in court resulting in exonerations or convictions of the wrong sorts of people or the ministers of the king merely give those judgments and pursue those policies they thing the king most desires (regardless of truth and justice).
29:13
“The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.”
We should note that this proverb is sandwiched between two proverbs explicitly describing kings (29:12, 14).
Poor
And the man of oppressors
Meet together
Lighting the eyes
Of both
Yahweh
At the very least you have Yahweh as the Great Light Giver, the Creator, giving light and life to all men (cf. Prov. 22:2)
But this seeming obvious/simple fact also has implications for both the “poor” and the “oppressors.” If God gives life to both, this means that He is sovereign. Oppressors should beware lest their oppressing be judged and the “light of their eyes” is taken away. Conversely, the poor should not grow weary or bitter because it is Yahweh who continues to preserve them (however difficult their circumstances) and they can hope in Yahweh as the deliverer or the poor (Ps. 14:6, 22:26, 34:6, etc.).
Literally, it says “man of oppressors” which may also imply a kind of fellowship among the oppressors over against the singular “poor.” It may also describe social pressures to capitulate to the oppressive ways of some rather than to defend the poor.
The word for “meet together” is frequently used in highly emotionally charged situations: Jacob meeting Esau (Gen. 32:18, 33:8), Yahweh trying to kill Moses/his son (Ex. 4:24), David meeting Abigail (1 Sam. 25:20), meeting a she-bear robbed of cubs (Prov. 17:12). This may suggest that the proverb is insisting that both parties recognize the sovereignty of God in the moment of oppression. At the moment of conflict and oppression, both need to remember Yahwheh.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Real Humanity in Deepest Hell
Algis Valiunas writes in an article entitled "Starlight in Hell" in First Things:
"In the Gulag archipelago, souls are made or saved, as well as broken or lost. Solzhenitsyn remembers a group of intellectuals at the Samarka camp in 1946, dying of hunger, cold, and exhaustion from relentless labor:
Foreseeing the approach of death in days rather than weeks, here is how they spent their last sleepless leisure, sitting up against the wall: Timofeyev-Ressovsky gathered them into a 'seminar,' and they hastened to share with one another what one of them knew and the others did not - they delivered their last lectures to each other. Father Savely - spoke of 'unshameful death,' a priest academician - about patristics, one of the Uniate fathers - about something in the area of dogmatics and canonical writings, an electrical engineer - on the principles of the energetics of the future, and a Leningrad economist - on how the effort to create principles of Soviet economics had failed for lack of new ideas.
Death took some of the participants from one session to the next, but the vocation for learning could not be extinguished - and enforced suffering made better men of those whom it did not ravage utterly: 'Formerly you never forgave anyone. You judged people without mercy. And you praised people with equal lack of moderation. And now an understanding mildness has become the basis of your uncategorical judgments. You have come to realize your own weakness - and you can therefore understand the weakness of others. And be astonished at another's strength. And wish to possess it yourself. The stones rustle beneath our feet. We are ascending.' Humanity - real, individual humanity - glimmers in the deepest hell."
A Prayer for Russia
By Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Our Father All-Merciful!
Don't abandon your own long-suffering Russia
In her present daze,
In her woundedness,
Impoverishment,
And confusion of spirit.
Lord Omnipotent!
Don't let, don't let her be cut short,
To no longer be.
So many forthright hearts
And so many talents
You have lodged among Russians.
Do not let them perish or sink into darkness
Without having served in Your name.
Out of the depths of Calamity
Save your disordered people.
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