Being People of the Word: Sadducees and Herodians

Some of you have been asking if there is some way to talk about Christians and politics in preparation for what is sure to be another volatile election. A podcast I have been listening to covered some ground this week that I hope can lead us into introspection and discussion.

This involves what happened to the Jewish people before the arrival of Jesus, when they had returned from exile and splintered into 5 groups, all of which had reached different conclusions about how best to live as people of God in Greek and then Roman culture. I don’t usually do history, but this particular window of time seems relevant to where we are now.

* * * * *

 In 586 BC, the Jewish people headed into Babylonian captivity. While in exile – lacking a temple - the synagogue took root.[2] Synagogue was about an entire lifestyle centered around Torah symbolized by the very architecture of the synagogue. Yes, they had it before exile, but this is different. They assumed their exile was because they didn’t obey the Torah. This would not happen again. So text-centered synagogues developed in exile and continued when they returned to their land in 538 BC to rebuild, as recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah.

In 332 BC, approximately 200 years later, Alexander the Great began to conquer the West as a warrior/evangelist with a euangelion, the Greek word for gospel or “good news.”  This euangelionwas Hellenism, a worldview that is all about me. Previously, every worldview centered around the gods: what made the gods happy, or angry; what were the gods were doing? Hellenism changed all that. Pythagoras said, “Man is the measure of all things.” People are the new rulers; the gods bear their image, not the other way around. It’s no longer about what the gods  want; it’s about what I want. Ask not what you can do for the gods; ask what the gods can do for you.

Alexander’s “good news” was not always at the point of the sword. There were easier ways to conquer a culture. He asked for four things.

• Education: He can control what people learn, think and know.

• Healthcare: Everyone wants to be healthy, and the Empire will be their doctor.

• Entertainment: Distraction brings complacency as they are (once again) being educated

• Athletics: Competition and tribal identity will keep the adrenaline flowing.

Notice, none of those things are bad things. It was just that under Alexander’s Hellenism, it was easy to begin to love your conqueror, because he gave you comfort, leisure and luxury. His euangelion was simple: “Good news! The Kingdom of Greece has arrived!” and people believed it.

When he died, he handed this Greek empire over to four different rulers. Ptolemy ruled the area of Judea where the Jews had resettled. Much like Alexander, he didn’t need a big military show of force. He said, “Here’s Hellenism. I think you will like it.” They did, for the most part.

By 167 BC, the Seleucids (another of Alexander’s predecessors) had taken over Judea. Eventually they entered Jerusalem, and…..disaster. Seleucus sacrificed a pig on the temple altar. A group that will eventually be known as the Zealots were furious so they led the Maccabean Revolt (which is the story of Hanukkah).

They defeated the Seleucids in Jerusalem and got the temple back. When deciding who was going to rule now, they went back to the text (because they were people of the text) and decided God’s original plan was for priests to rule, not kings.  So, they handed the kingdom over to the priests – the Hasmoneans (167-63 BC = the Hasmonean Dynasty.)

Within 20 years, the Hasmoneans had became completely Hellenistic. They loved the power, money, luxury and entertainment. Josephus wrote that there weren’t enough priests to run temple services because the priests were at the Empire’s entertainment spectacles. This is the priestly class that will become known as the Sadducees. (The Herodians will be those who share their views to a large degree but are more of a political party.) The Sadducees are the one party that does not appear to be represented in Jesus’ disciples.

The Maccabeans did not care for this turn of events at all, and they and a lot of others headed to Galilee. These Hasidim, the ‘pious ones,’ intended to build a devoted Judaism totally committed to the way of God. Two groups emerged: Zealots and Pharisees. Both are devoted to following God, but Zealots were devoted with the sword, and Pharisees with absolute obedience.

Paul was a Pharisee, and likely Jesus and most of the disciples as well. Jesus had two followers who were Zealots: Simon the Zealot and Judas “the” Iscariot (sicarii, "dagger-men," a group of Zealots who carried a knife with them at all times and vowed that if they ever found a Roman soldier alone they would kill him.[3])

Meanwhile, the Essenes were a group of disenchanted priests who couldn’t stand the corruption. They moved to the desert and set up a places like Qumran. #deadseascrolls They were the Jewish Amish. John the Baptist was likely Essene; Jesus was baptized by him, which suggests Jesus trained at times under his teaching.

Rome eventually conquered Judea. Rome, by the way, loved Hellenism. They just added to it the “pax romana,’ the peace by the sword (an idea that the developing Zealots will embrace). Their euangelion was similar to Alexander’s: “Good news! The Kingdom of Rome is here!”

 When the Sadducees saw Rome on the horizon, they started working on a solution to stay in power because they didn’t want to lose all that stuff that the built up over the last century: buildings, luxury, power, advantage, privilege, comfort.

Enter Herod the Great, the son of the king of Idumea.  His people, the Nabataeans, owned the spice trade. The whole thing. Think of one people group owning all of the oil in our world.  Herod was by far the wealthiest man to ever walk the face of the earth.

The Sadducees knew they could never combat Rome’s power. But…Rome needed money. They went to the wealthiest man on the planet, and said, “If you’ll marry one of our daughters, you’ll be kind of Jewish? And you can be the king of the Jews.” So, Herod married into the priestly line and offered his wealth as an asset to Rome – specifically, to Julius Caesar – in exchange for being the King of the Jews. Julius liked that idea a lot. Herod’s reign lasted from 37 BC to 4 BC, approximately two years after Jesus was born.

When Herod died, he split his kingdom among his three sons: Philip got the north, Archelaus got southern Judea, and Antipas got central Judea (Galilee). Archelaus in southern Judea is a horrible ruler who almost immediately gets replaced by Rome with…. Pontius Pilate. 

That catches up the historical dynamics that led to the splintering of the Jewish community. They were all trying to grapple with, “What do we do with Rome? How do we live as people of God in this context? How will we usher in the age of the Messiah?”  Do you….

• run from it and focus on learning in order to be faithful (Essenes)

• ignore it and focus on obedience to entice the Messiah’s return (Pharisees)

• become a part of it and enjoy what it has to offer while waiting for the Messiah (Sadducees and Herodians)

• attack it and pave the Messiah’s way in blood (Zealots)

 This is the world into which Jesus is born. Galatians 4:4 says,

“ When the right time arrived, God sent His Son into this world (born of a woman, subject to the Torah) 5 to free those who, just like Him, were subject to the Torah. Ultimately He wanted us all to be adopted as sons and daughters.”

Of all the points in human history, this was just at the right time. Perhaps one of the reasons is because of the tension within God’s people. This was the time to unite them around the Word become flesh, the Text in bodily form. Fascinatingly, Jesus seems to have called disciples who represented all four of the approaches[4] with the plan to make them a team centered around The Living Torah, the Word in the Flesh.

 That sounds like a terrible idea to me, but not to Jesus. This would be a sign of the power of the Kingdom and its King. Jesus will show them how making peace with God will lead to making peace with others, breading down every barrier and creating one new humanity (Ephesians 2).

This sounds like a message we need in today’s political and religious climate. So, we are going to look more closely at these groups, try to find ourselves in them, looking at their strengths and weaknesses, and discern how to unite around Jesus. Today we will cover two groups that had a lot in common: Sadducees and Herodians. Next week, Pharisees, Zealots, and Essenes.

SADDUCEES[5]

When the now thoroughly Hellenistic Sadducees convinced Herod to be their king, he offered the high priesthood to the highest bidder from the 7 main families. Annas won the bidding. The Chief Priesthood will not leave his family until the temple is destroyed in AD 70. When we read about Caiaphas and Jesus clashing, Caiaphas is a descendant of Annas.

These seven families became a corrupt religious mafia. Josephus talks about the priesthood gathering in tithes and offerings and then not paying the other priests, just getting and more and more financially secure while their fellow priests suffered. They had their own Temple Guard, their muscle (think of Jesus’ arrest). They were corrupt bullies who used the cover of the temple to indulge in the power, prestige and luxury Rome offers at the expense of all those they exploited.

To give you an idea of the luxury of the priests, in the Herodian Quarter in Jerusalem archaeologists discovered a priestly home with17 bedrooms and 21 mikvah baths. In another priestly home they found a wine cellar full of bottles valued (when adjusted to our dollars today) at about $5,000 to $10,000 per bottle of wine.

Meanwhile, there were two Sanhedrins (the ruling body), a formal and informal one. The formal Sanhedrin was 70 or 72 people, half Pharisees and half Sadducees, to balance the Jewish leadership. The informal one met in the high priest’s house where this Sadducee Deep State made decisions that WOULD BE RATIFIED (#wink) by the formal Sanhedrin if the voters valued their lives. There corruption was so bad that some biblical scholars wonder if the “abomination of desolation” referred to in Daniel was not, in fact, the sacrificing of a pig on the altar (as is commonly assumed), but is this time of ruling by the Sadducees in which God’s house was profaned in more serious ways than pig’s blood.

Jesus spent three years with the Pharisees, and in spite of all their conflict they tried to save his life twice. He spent one week with the Sadducees before they kill him. I wonder if the many times Jesus told people not to report being healed was to avoid getting on the radar of the High Priests of the Sadducees.

So, what should we think of this group? The wrong is obvious: They are corrupt bullies. The power and luxury of Empires are corrosive partners with leadership of the people of God. It destroys the true faith, it creates terrible cynicism and frustration in those trying to do true worship, and it ultimately fails. When Rome destroyed the temple in AD 70, that Empire they tried to partner with wiped the Sadducess and the Herodians off the face of the earth.

The Bible describes Zachariah as a “righteous” priest, adding an adjective that shouldn’t have been necessary. Unfortunately, many in the role of priest weren’t righteous. To be a priest was a good thing, but to be a corrupt priest who loved the means and methods of Empire was horrible, and it goes against everything that the priesthood is supposed to represent and stand for. When those who claim Jesus and are supposed to embody holiness, servanthood and love become morally compromised, arrogant and selfish, we have lost the plot of God’s story.

The positive is they deeply desired to be in a role that was a God-ordained role. God has a role for priests. 1 Peter 2:9 reminds us, 

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation..that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

That’s us. There is a God-ordained role that we need to serve in well. What are you doing in your life right now? You are doing it in a priestly role as part of the priesthood of all believers, and God plans to use you where you are. What do we priest have to watch out for? The allure or power, luxury, safety, and comfort, especially when the means to get it involves collusion with the Empire.   

HERODIANS

If you weren’t a priest, but your approach to Hellenism was very similar to that of a Sadducee, you were a Herodian. This was almost more of a political party that said, “I can have a little bit of Rome – maayybe a lot of Rome - and I can have a little bit of God and Hellenism, and I can put the two together quite comfortably.”

To be sure, the core things Hellenism offered (education and healthcare, entertainment, athletics) were not in and of themselves problematic. The wealth available through the Empire was not the problem. The things aren’t necessarily the problem. However, Hellenism used good or neutral things to tell the wrong story: life is ALL ABOUT YOU.

This feels like it hits close to home. America has historically liked a definition of freedom that says it’s all about me. We love rugged individualism: “don’t tread on me”; “nobody puts baby in a corner”; “It’s my life, I can do what I want.” The right to pursue my happiness how I define it is right there in key American texts. We want to be able to sing “I Did It My Way,” and sing “I will Follow You, Jesus” without there being a conflict. Let’s not look away from how close this is to us as we talk about the Herodians.

Zippori is our poster city for what happened to Herodians. Zippori was a Jewish village that led a revolt against Rome. Rome destroyed it, then one of Herod’s sons rebuilt it as a Herodian colony inhabited almost entirely by Jews, who quickly embraced the goodies of Rome.[6] For example:

• Instead of giving their excess to the poor, they had sidewalks paved with mosaics, which would have been an unheard of distraction and waste of resources in a traditional Jewish village.

• The Jewish homes were full of beautiful mosaics in geometrical patterns (you weren’t supposed to make images of people) which would have been seen as selfishly lavish 50 years prior.  

Once again, it’s not that art is bad. Surely one can appreciate art and have money and love God. But to the Jewish population historically, this flourishes went against the ethic found in the text on how to use money and resources with an eye for the poor and powerless. And that compromise, though small, opened the door to some more compromising rooms. Literally.

• The geometric mosaics were in the public-facing area of the house. In the same house, in more private spaces, we see not just images (!) but images of Greek and Roman gods like Pan, the god of sexual fertility. Perhaps they were thinking, “I don’t worship that. I don’t go to the temple of Pan. I worship the God of Israel. It’s just a story.”

• Meanwhile, in the main living area, the centerpiece on the floor is a mosaic of the Egyptian mythology of the Nile.[7] Egypt. The nation that enslaved their ancestors and whose gods Yahweh humiliated.

• In the same town, different house, we find the Mona Lisa of the Galilee. This mosaic has 22.5 million pieces (!) in it. In the center is the lady of the house, but the spiral path around her tells the Greek mythology, with scenes of daily life connected with the rites of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and orgy. The story ends with Dionysus drinking Zeus under the table.

It’s in a Jewish home that’s supposed to be centered around the biblical text that is instead centered around the Roman story. What may have started as a relatively innocent compromise spirals toward serious spiritual compromise. Paul later writes to the churches about this very issue.

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces (Galatians 4:8-9) 

The sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? (1 Corinthians 10:19-22)

“Anthony, that reference is dated. Give us something more modern.” Can do. In the rotunda of the US Capitol building has a mural called The Apotheosis of Washington (1865). It depicts Washington as having ascended into the heavens and becoming exalted or glorified. He wears the colors of Roman emperors, with a rainbow arch at his feet, flanked by the Roman goddesses of Victory and Liberty. There are six scenes around him, 5 of which have Roman gods/goddesses:

• Science, Minerva, surrounded by inventors.

• Marine, Neptune, with warships in the background.

• Commerce, Mercury, giving a bag of gold to a financier of the Revolutionary War.

• Mechanics, Vulcan, with cannons and steam engines.

• Agriculture, Ceres, with a mechanical reaper.

• War, Columbia, the personification of America, aka Lady Liberty

 Can you feel the dissonance if we would ask to make sure a copy of the 10 Commandments or the Beatitudes were posted there along with a dare I say blasphemous image of Washington doing what Jesus did, surrounded by Greek gods and a freshly minted American god of war? That dissonance has not ended. We still put side-by-side thinks that don’t fit comfortably together. Methinks the Herodian urge remains alive and well.

Now, the positive. Jesus loves Greeks and Romans as much as He loved any person that’s ever been a part of this story, and He wants to redeem their story. Citizens of Herod mattered very much to God, and who knew this world better than the Herodians? They are perfectly placed for God’s mission.  

• You wanted to redeem theater? Who better than the Herodians?

• You wanted to use athleticism as a platform to tell God’s story? Who better placed to be an athlete than Herodians?

• Who was better placed to impact the Herodian world for the God narrative than the educator, doctor, artist or a mosaic maker?

 They are perfectly placed to impact the world around them because they understand it, they are in the middle of it, they engage it every single day. The challenge is not falling into it and letting it consume and compromise you. The danger is idolatry, serving Mammon rather than God.

We have to watch for the subtle shift in values that tripped up the Jewish people and the first Christians. Enjoying life can become indulging in life, which can become a gluttony of pleasures (feasting every day like the Sadducee in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus), which can become exploitation. “You’re heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks,” the prophet Isaiah scolded in Isaiah 5, and it’s not a compliment. It’s a timeless warning.

That this is the danger of the Herodian. We want to talk about our worship of God while remaining comfortable in our wealth. We want privilege, influence and control while being able to think of ourselves as following in the footsteps of the one who came not to be served, but to serve. We want to feast on safety, comfort and pleasure without even thinking about what it costs to get what we want, who might be hurt in the process, and what we might be keeping for ourselves that the early church described as belonging to the poor.

Here, I think, is the bottom line dilemma for the Sadducees and the Herodians: They were gathered around the Roman mosaics rather than the biblical text. They forgot about the point of synagogue as a lifestyle, where their lives spiritually and practically centered around the text. Rome now guided their imagination and thoughts. Rome told them what the good life was like. Rome told them how to think about people, about God, and about themselves. They took their eye off the text.

One very important lesson we learn from them is that, as aliens and exiles sojourning through the life in the United States of America, the text that centers us is the Bible. It’s not the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. It’s not college professors or TV talk show hosts or politicians or conference speakers.

The church community is centered around the Word - both the text and the Word become Flesh – and like-minded followers of Jesus. The answer to “What do we do with Rome/the United States?” will not be found in the texts of the Empire. It’s found in the Word. We gather and study and pray week after week after week 1) to learn the Word of God so that we can walk in the life-giving path of God, and 2) to experience the life-changing reality of the Word made flesh.  

For the disciples, their goal was to know what their rabbi (Jesus) knew, in order to do what their rabbi did, for the reasons that the rabbi did them, in order to be just like the rabbi in their walk with God. 

Nothing has changed for disciples today. The goal is to know what Jesus knows, in order to do what Jesus does, for the reasons that the Jesus does them, in order to be more and more like Jesus in our walk with God.[8]

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[1] I am deeply, deeply indebted to Marty Solomon at Bema for almost all of today’s information. I am borrowing heavily from his podcast and printed notes, which can be found at bemadiscipleship.com, episodes 73-81.

[2] There are seven elements commonly found in synagogues. A mikvah was a ritualistic cleansing bath. The basilica, the pillared section of the synagogue both held up the roof and allowed for high windows, because “You read God’s Light by God’s light.” The bema seat was a slightly raised platform in the center of the room to stand on when reading the text for discussion. The chief seats were benches around the outside of the synagogue reserved for the more seasoned in the community, those who knew Torah best. The Torah closet held the few scrolls in each synagogue. The Seat of Moses is where a reader sat to give an introductory read to the text. Finally, every synagogue had a study room.

[3] There is a theory “that Judas, when he betrayed Jesus, was not just giving Jesus up for the sake of the money, not because Satan made him do it, not because he was possessed by a demon, and certainly not because God made him do it. Rather…Judas was trying to initiate a confrontation between Jesus and the authorities so that the war could begin.” https://revkevnye.com/2010/04/27/the-judas-theory/

[4] The Herodians represent the Herodians/Sadducees. There were no Sadducee disciples.

[5] The Sadducees came from line of priestly families that date all the way back to the time of David and Solomon. They get their name from being in the line of Zadok whose descendents are Zadokim in Hebrew. In English, we say “Sadducee.”

[6] Zippori is three miles away from the Nazareth of Jesus. In between Nazareth and Zippori is a stone quarry. Joseph was, in the Greek, a tektōn, likely working with stone more often than anything else. It is likely that Joseph worked in a stone quarry between Nazareth and Zippori that was owned by Herod. It is likely Jesus was raised in a household for whom Herod wrote the paycheck. There’s also good chance that Jesus was raised with Herodian exposure. Jesus at one point quote Euripides from a play called Trojan Women. “Troy, Troy, how I long to gather you as a hen gathered its chicks…” He talks about hupokrites, the word for actors. If he was Jewish and attended Roman theater, there was some Herodian influence there. It’s a good reminder that the things themselves (like plays) were not the problem. It’s the story you believed about them.

[7] “Now, again, do they worship the Egyptian gods? No. I can almost guarantee you, this family doesn’t worship the Egyptian gods, but this is what they put in their dinner table. By this point, most of my group is like, “Yes, they are compromising.”  I love to just lay it on my listeners and say, “Wait a minute, is this not exactly where you and I live?”  We watch (insert name of show or movie or song list here). Our centerpiece is a little different, but I have figured out in my mind, I can appreciate and think critically about art over here and I don’t worship this. What do we do with that? Most everybody that says, “Oh yes, they’re definitely compromising here,” will immediately have to backtrack when asked, “Wait a minute, isn’t this exactly what you do when you go back home?” And the answer is, “Absolutely.” This is where we live. We are Herodians.” (Marty Solomon)

[8] Once again, I am deeply indebted to Marty Solomon at Bema Discipleship for this material.

Sabbath Rest

So, Jesus said the Sabbath was “for” us. We talked about that being true of the Law in general; today, I want to talk about the rest that is the gift of the Sabbath in the Old Testament and the Lord’s Day in the New. Let’s begin with the passages in the Old Testament that talk about the command to the Israelites to honor the Sabbath.  

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. ‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you….The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. (Exodus 31: 12-16)

 “Sabbath” is related to the Hebrew word for “rest.” It is the only one of the 10 Commandments given as a covenant sign. We see elsewhere in the Old Testament that covenants have signs: the sign of the Noahic covenant is the rainbow (Gen. 9:8–17); the sign of the Abrahamic covenant is circumcision (Gen. 17).[1]

The observance of Sabbath was a constant re-honoring of the covenant between God and Israel.  It was an act of covenant renewal, a reminder of and a refocusing on the God with whom they had a covenant. Resting wasn’t just for personal renewal; it was for relational renewal with God.

As the Jewish people came to understand it, their primary duty was to stop working. We might think about it as getting out of the ‘rat race,’ but it became a lot more than that. Over time, the rabbis listed 39 categories of Sabbath work that was out of bounds.  This was called “putting a fence around the Torah,” a well-intentioned effort to make sure they honored God as precisely and carefully as possible. See if this list makes you restful.

• ripping up a piece of paper or sharpening a pencil was forbidden since it resembles “cutting to shape” or could be confused with it.[2]

• agreeing to buy something was prohibited, because #“writing”

• climbing a tree is forbidden, because it may lead to breaking twigs or tearing leaves, which could be construed as “reaping” (i.e., separating part of a growing plant from its source)

• adding fresh water to a vase of cut flowers (“sowing” — any activity that causes or furthers plant growth).

• Opening an umbrella or unfolding a screen (“building”).

• Wearing eyeglasses not permanently required (“carrying” from private to public domain and vice versa).[3]

• You could carry on your property, but on public property you could only carry the clothes you needed to wear – even keys and handkerchiefs had to be left at home.

• They didn’t blow a temple shofar when Rosh Hashana happened on the Sabbath. Sure, there was a shofar at the temple, but what if it got broken and someone had to carry one there to replace it?

• A Sabbath’s journey could be no longer than 2,000 cubits (3,000 feet) from one’s house. In some parts of Israel today, residents have been known to throw stones at those driving through their neighborhoods on Shabbat. However, they must set aside the stones for use on Shabbat.[4]

 There is some irony here: Sabbath was supposed to remind them how God freed them from bondage, and it turned into bondage to the Law.[5]  Which wasn’t the point at all.  Sabbath was a gift designed to bring us rest. That doesn’t sound like rest.[6]

While it is the only one of the Ten Commandment given as a covenant sign, it is also the only commandment referred to as a type pointing toward the True Sabbath. Many of the New Testament writers compared Sabbath to the other covenant sign, circumcision: both were physical ways of enacting a covenant with God; both were now enacted spiritually in Christ.

“True circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. “(Romans 2:28-29)

"Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." (Colossians 2:16-18)[7] 

“There still remains a place of rest, a true Sabbath, for the people of God because those who enter into salvation’s rest lay down their labors in the same way that God entered into a Sabbath rest from His.” (Hebrews 4:9-10)

 Literal Sabbath Day rest functioned as important reminder of the spiritual rest in Christ. The seriousness with which the Old Testament treats the observance of Sabbath rest was admirable, but Jesus pointed out that so many of the Pharisee’s laws were missing the point of Sabbath. Sabbath is for us. It had become a burden to keep, and it should not have been a burden. It should have been a blessing. After all, 

"Sabbath isn't about resting perfectly; it's about resting in the One who is perfect." - Shelly Miller

Jesus didn’t un-command it, but – like all the times he said, “You have heard it said…but I say unto you,” he clarified that there was something more going on. I like how Justin Martyr summarized it about 100 years after Jesus’ death:

“The new law requires you to keep perpetual sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious, not discerning why this has been commanded you…if there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if any adulterer, let him repent… if any one has impure hands, let him wash and be pure. Then he has kept the sweet and true sabbaths of God.“

 One of the reasons Sunday rose in importance vs. Saturday in the early church had to do with the question of where we find rest in New Covenant enacted by Jesus.

• In the Old Covenant, rest followed our work at the end of the week (Saturday) Once we had accomplished, we got a reward for what we did.

• In the New Covenant, it is only after resting in Christ’s completed work for us on the first day of the week (Sunday) that we even begin our work. Our rest comes not from what we did, but from what Jesus did.

• The Sabbath commemorated the first creation; the Lord’s Day is linked with the new creation. The Sabbath day was a day of responsibility; the Lord’s Day is a day of privilege.[8]

The new covenant radically alters the Sabbath perspective. Current believers do not first labor six days, looking hopefully towards rest. Instead, they begin the week by rejoicing in the rest already accomplished by the cosmic event of Christ’s resurrection. Then they enter joyfully into their six days of labor. - O. Palmer Robertson, (slightly modified)

“The Sabbath teaches us that we do not work to please God. Rather, we rest because God is already pleased with the work, he has accomplished in us.” A.J. Swoboda

I want to talk more about resting in God’s completed work in us by looking at some principles for observing and experiencing rest in Jesus as an ongoing experience, not just something we pursue one day a week. Let’s start by expanding our view of a verse we looked at last week.

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is usefully kind, and my burden is light.”—Matthew 11:28-30

Come to Jesus and take His yoke.  “Take my yoke” was a common saying of rabbis. It meant, “If you are going to be a disciple, you must obey my teachings and follow my example.” If you want rest – deep, spiritual rest of the heart and soul - don’t pursue rest. Pursue Jesus. Jesus will lead you to rest.

Learn about Jesus, and you will find rest for your souls.    Rest is connected to trust. My cat sleeps on me without a care in the world because she trusts me. If you trust the driver, you can rest on a trip. I can bare my soul to my wife because I trust her. Rest is connected with trust. If you can’t seem to rest in Christ, learn more about a Savior you can trust.

Is there a formula for how we can practically experience this rest (and I’m talking about soul rest that permeates every aspect of our life)? Formula is not the right word, but there are habits (spiritual disciplines) that are helpful. I am going to offer a couple ideas built from a list taken from some of Tim Keller’s writing on the Sabbath. 

First, consciously enjoy[9] God and His good gifts. Practice acknowledgment of God throughout the day by improving purposeful contact with God.  

• Consciously appreciate salvation, sanctification, grace, forgiveness, the fruit of the spirit, the love and faithfulness of God: basically, the good and perfect gifts given to us by Jesus.

• Celebrate the freedom Jesus offers from all kinds of slavery: slavery to sin, slavery to achieve, slavery to impress, slavery to earn, slavery to addictions of all kinds, slavery to your past, slavery to the gnawing need to be good enough to matter…

• Consciously rest in the identity we have in Christ. We are loved children. We aren’t perfect children, but God’s love for us never depends on our perfection. It flows from His.   

 Second, do something that frees you from the tyranny of being amazing.  This has to do with accomplishing, making a mark on the world, being noticed. The rabbis who created the “fence around the Torah” understood the importance of getting out of the rhythm of the ‘rat race’ and into the rhythm of the Kingdom.

"If we only stop when we are finished with all our work, we will never stop, because our work is never completely done... Sabbath ... liberates us from the need to be finished." —Wayne Muller

It turns out that the world turns even when we take time off! (I know, right?) Israelites had to let their fields lie fallow every seventh year. (Leviticus 25:1–7). This stopped them from over farming.  They could enjoy whatever grew on its own. You need time to make sure you don’t “overfarm” your life or your schedule; plan fallow time, and enjoy it. Consciously let God take care of the ‘being amazing’ part.

• some meals can just be Ramen noodles and leftovers

• your house can be a mess when people come over

• your lawn doesn’t have to be immaculate all the time

• you can let down your guard and cry in front of others

• you can show up at church looking like you need a hug

• you can let your burdens show, and ask others to help you.

• you can make mistakes, do dumb stuff, show up grumpy, post something you regret

• you can own your sin in front of God and others

• you can go back and apologize (which, I know, means you were wrong in what you did or said or thought)

I love this quote from Barbara Brown Taylor:

“At least one day in every seven, pull off the road and park the car in the garage. Close the door to the toolshed and turn off the computer. Stay home, not because you are sick but because you are well. Talk someone you love into being well with you. Take a nap, a walk, and hour for lunch. Test the premise that you are worth more than you can produce – that even if you spent one whole day of being good for nothing you would still be precious in God’s sight.  

And when you get anxious because you are convinced that this is not so – remember that your own conviction is not required. This is a commandment. Your worth has already been established, even when you are not working. The purpose of the commandment is to woo you to the same truth.”

 You can’t be amazing all the time.  Jesus knows this – and friends, I hope we all do too. God forbid we use this as an excuse to be lazy, but God forbid we don’t rest in a Divine love that has covered a multitude of our sins and imperfections on the Cross.

Sabbath ceasing means to cease not only from work itself, but also from the need to accomplish and be productive, from the worry and tension that accompany our modern criterion of efficiency, from our efforts to be in control of our lives as if we were God, from our possessiveness and our enculturation, and, finally, from the humdrum and meaninglessness that result when life is pursued without the Lord at the center of it all. —Marva J. Dawn

When we are weak, the strength of God shines. His glory is perfected in our weakness. We don’t try to be weak so His glory can abound, but we rest in knowing that God uses our worst to point toward His best.

Plan rhythms that lead to spiritual rest. Notice fear/worry/anxiety and invite the peace of Christ.  I don’t know what your schedule is. Sometimes we are at a place in life when we have time to stop everything and carve out chunks of time. Sometimes our days (or weeks or months) keep us hopping. Either way, 

• I can breath a prayer in the checkout line instead of check my phone.

• I can listen to music in my truck that points me toward God.

• I can download a Bible App or get a short devotional book that orients my mind.

• For parents with young kids, bring ‘em to church when we offer stuff for kids and take some time to re-orient and rest.  Hmmm…I bet a ministry of babysitting would be deeply appreciated….

It is so easy to get swept up in life – it comes at us relentlessly at times. Paul summarized the solution this way in Philippians 4:

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

Do something that refreshes you when you can. Hopefully, the things mentioned above do that. In addition, there are activities you (hopefully) have time and opportunity to do in addition to engaging in church fellowship and worship. Enjoy things that are good and that you find beautiful, and thank God for it. I know what those things are for me: puzzles and podcasts; fishing; napping (is that recreation?), gardening, sitting by a fire pit and watching a sunset… I’m not sure what they are for you. I just think they involve enjoying God’s good world. Find the green pastures and still waters that restore your soul.

Focus on passing on the grace God has given to us. I love this account of what an early Lord’s Day observance looked like in the church. This is from around A.D. 155. 

 “ And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things.  

Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons.  

And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who supports the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need.  

But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead.

For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration. (Justin Martyr, First Apology Chapter LXVII.—Weekly worship of the Christians. [A.D. 155])

Contribute to restful spaces. In relationships, seek peace and as much as it is up to you, and pursue it. (Psalm 34:14) As much as is possible, live at peace with all. (Romans 12:18) Like Jesus said, peacemakers are blessed. (Matthew 5:9) Do not be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

 Let the Lord who leads us into the Sabbath rest of salvation rule and reign your heart and mind such that those around us experience the peace God has given us. Peacemaking can involve hard truth and bold confrontation at times – but it will never be absent the kind of Christ-centered agape love that motivates to be broken and spilled out as we work for the good of God’s image bearers and children.

“I have come to think that the moment of giving the bread of Eucharist as gift is the quintessential center of the notion of Sabbath rest in Christian tradition. It is gift! We receive in gratitude. Imagine having a sacrament named “thanks”! We are on the receiving end, without accomplishment, achievement, or qualification. It is a gift, and we are grateful!” ― Walter Brueggemann, Sabbath as Resistance

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[1] Circumcision was not unique to the Israelites. Egyptians, for example, appear to have used circumcision as an act of initiation or rite of passage for boys entering manhood. Circumcision was an act of initiation; the style of circumcision showed what you had been initiated into. This may seem odd to us, but it made sense to everyone in the Ancient Near East. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/55911658.pdf

[2] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shabbats-work-prohibition/

[3] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shabbats-work-prohibition/

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_on_Shabbat#cite_note-23

[5] “Anyone who cannot obey God's command to observe the Sabbath is a slave, even a self-imposed one. Your own heart, or our materialistic culture, or an exploitative organization, or all of the above, will be abusing you… Sabbath is therefore a declaration of our freedom. It means you are not a slave—not to your culture's expectations, your family's hopes, your medical school's demands, not even to your own insecurities. It is important that you learn to speak this truth to yourself with a note of triumph...” -Keller

[6] “If we do not allow for a rhythm of rest in our overly busy lives, illness becomes our Sabbath…our accidents create Sabbath for us.”  ― Wayne Muller, Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives He doesn’t mean that if you get sick or dangerously sloppy, it’s always because you dishonored God’s command to rest. His point is that our bodies need rest, and if we don’t set time aside for to rest our bodies (as best we can), our bodies keep score in some fashion. For me, it was a nervous breakdown. God didn’t smite me: my body needed rest that I wasn’t giving it.

[7] “So, when you ask why a Christian does not keep the Sabbath, if Christ came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it, my reply is, that a Christian does not keep the Sabbath precisely because what was prefigured in the Sabbath is fulfilled in Christ. For we have our Sabbath in Him who said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Augustine, reply to Faustus,Book XIX.-9)

[8] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[9] Also got some good ideas here: https://tifwe.org/the-sabbath-and-your-work/

Rebuilding: A Parable

“Imagine yourself as a living house. 

God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? 

The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace.  

He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

CHAPTER ONE: The Ruins

You live in a broken, run-down house. You’ve been here as long as you can remember. You know nothing else. For a while you were able to at least keep it looking nice on the outside, but it’s always been falling apart. 

You recently discovered that the foundation has massive cracks, with huge chunks falling out. In some places it looks like somebody just spray painted over some really sandy soil (Matthew 7:24-27) to look like concrete. You don't know much about foundations, but this seems like a problem.

The landlord seemed like a great guy at first (2 Corinthians 11:24). He allowed you to skip rent. He let you host all the parties you wanted – he even helped fund more than one. Sure, your friends trashed the place, but you trashed theirs, so it all seemed fair in a messed up kind of way. 

But you slowly realize that the landlord is a hard owner. You thought he was your friend. He isn’t. That rent you thought you skipped shows up in different fees, and when you think about the math you know the cost is more than you realized.

The landlord keeps promising that you will have a better house and a better life if you will just do one more thing: fix the roof, mend some pipes, hang new drywall, repaint, rebuild the foundation that keeps sinking further into the sandy soil. 

But all those things cost money that you don’t have, so you borrow money from the landlord at what you know is a ridiculous rate, but nobody else will loan you money. But even that growing debt can’t keep you ahead of the decay of this house. The only thing that ever pans out is pandemonium. 

You spackle over holes in the wall when you need a new wall; you wrap duct tape around leaking pipes when you need new pipes; you keep putting new vinyl tile on the floor to cover up the cracks when you need a new floor. Really (and deep inside you know it), you need a new house, because this house is doomed (Jeremiah 19:13).

It doesn’t help that you are really sick (Psalm 38). You feel as run down as your house looks. Maybe it’s the asbestos in the walls, and the ton of lead in all the paint, and what you are starting to think are purposefully leaky pipes in the gas stove. Maybe it’s the hint of sulfur that’s always in the air. 

Maybe it’s the snakes that keeping waiting outside the door to bite your feet (Genesis 3:15). Maybe it’s the parties that trash the whole property, or the foolish things you’ve done thinking they would make the house better when they just made everything worse.

Whatever the reasons, there’s something toxic about this house. It’s killing you. But as far as you know, this is all you have. This is the only place to live. All of your friends live in houses like this; the stories they tell about their landlord make it sound suspiciously like yours. You hate the person you have become in the house you’ve allowed to fall apart.

To make things worse, you realize one day that somebody is following you. Literally. He’s one step behind you everywhere you go. When you are finally able to catch a glimpse in a mirror, you realize… it’s you. 

Not just like you, but a zombie version. This other you looks like one of the Walking Dead. By the end of the day, he’s got a hand on your shoulder. The next morning, he drapes his arms around you and makes you carry him everywhere you go.

 He stinks. He’s dead weight. (Romans 7:24). You call your landlord hoping he can do something, but he already knew. “Yeah, they always show up in my houses.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s you. It’s just the real you. The dead you.”

“Why did it show up just now?”

“Oh, it’s always been there. You’ve been dead for years. You just couldn’t see it. ” 

There’s nothing you can do. The landlord doesn’t care. Most of your friends hang out somewhere else, and the ones that show up get really uncomfortable when you start to talk about it. You aren’t sure if it’s because they don’t see the dead you, or if they have their own haunting them. They just change the subject.

But they are your friends, so they try to help do things like paint the siding that is falling off the side of the house, and you continue to help them too. (Jeremiah 8:11)  It’s tough to paint while carrying death around.

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CHAPTER ONE ENDNOTES 

Among other horrible things that happened during Bible times, captive soldiers were sometimes forced to carry a dead body until the rot of the corpse killed them. The Roman poet Virgil wrote: “What tongue can such barbarities record or count the slaughters of his ruthless sword?
’Twas not enough the good, the guiltless bled,
Still worse, he bound the living to the dead:
These, limb to limb, and face to face, he joined;
O! monstrous crime, of unexampled kind!
Till choked with stench, the lingering wretches lay,
And, in the loathed embraces, died away!” About 100 years later, when Paul was looking for an analogy about how much he hated the part of him prone to sin, he wrote:

“Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24)

Several commentators have noted that Paul was possibly referring to the same thing Virgil did.  

CHAPTER TWO: Bring Out Your Dead!

The next day a man walks onto the porch and crushes a snake twisting up from the steps. “Bring out your dead!” he calls out cheerily (John 11:25). 

You study him for a moment. “Don’t I know you? I do! You offered one time to fix my cabinets and, uh, I didn’t hire you. You’re Mary’s boy, right?” He nods amiably. “Why are you asking for dead? Haven’t you been helping your daddy build houses?”

“I have indeed been about my Father’s business,” he responds, “but there’s more than one kind of house, and more than one way to build them. Bottom line: I am here to help you with your housing situation.”

“What makes you think I need help with my house, and what makes you think there are dead here?”

“I could see it from the road. I can smell it on your breath; I hear it in your words (Romans 3:13); I see it in your eyes. Oh – and it clings to you like a monstrous burden. 

This house has killed you. Your landlord cracked the gas lines and installed the asbestos. Your landlord made sure there are no detectors for smoke or gas. He made sure you owe him so much money that you feel like he owns you. He loads this property up with snakes. 

Your landlord likes to get everything he can from his tenants before leaving them dead. But you were meant to be alive (John 5:21). And I can get rid of that body of death and make this house livable.”

This sounds great, but… “How can I trust you?” 

“Why do you think you even know that death is haunting you? You thought you were tired and sick. But that day you first saw yourself in the mirror, I was the one who showed you what was real. I was the one who opened your eyes. You needed to know (2 Timothy 2:26). You can trust me, because I bring you truth that will set you free (John 8:32).”

”I don't think you understand. It won’t be that easy. I drowning in my debt; I’m dying in my sickness. I’ve explored other options, but as best as I can tell, I’m doomed to live here until this house collapses or I do.     I’m a captive here.” 

He nods. “I do understand. I’ve been in this neighborhood for a while. I actually moved into the area to live with you and your friends. And I’ve got good news: I have a plan to pay for your debt, and I’ve got a pretty good track record of bringing beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3).”

“How will you do that?”

His smile is gentle, and grave. ”It will be…costly. But I will take captive the things that have captured you; I will pay your debt. I will take that load of death onto me so that you can be free from it. I am here to offer you freedom from your landlord and your dead self (Romans 5:6-21).”

“Why me? I’m nothing. Nobody. I’ve done nothing to deserve this.”

“Why not you? I care about you. I am here to seek and save people and situations that seem hopeless (Luke 19:10). Plus, I would actually like to move into this house (1 Corinthians 6:19), and where I am, there is no room for death and ruin (1 Corinthians 15:55).” 

“Where would I go if you move into this house?”

“Why would you want to go?”

You sit quietly for a long time. Your father always said you got what you deserved, and he never helped with your house or your health. Your landlord pretended to be your friend while guiding you down a road to death. Your friends had trashed your house, then had taken their dead selves to their dead parties on dead-end streets.

You look around at the shambles all around you. You remember the landlord’s harsh, condemning voice (Revelation 12:10). You feel the dead weight of your sins, failures and inadequacies on your back (Isaiah 43:24). 

You’ve never known anyone who seemed to care about you and your life. This man is kind (Romans 2:4). He’s generous (2 Corinthians 8:9). He offers a new start. He offers a new identity. Basically, He offers to make all things new (Revelations 21:5). 

Finally you whisper, “I have no future. I have no hope. Everyone offers me death. There is nowhere else to go. You are the only one who has ever offered me life (John 6:68). So…yes. Let’s do this. I and my house are yours.”

The Man stands up, lifts my dead self off my back, and places it onto his. “Well done. You have asked for resurrection, and I will give it. I will get the deed to your house, and when I return, I will show you what life is supposed to look like (Hebrews 2:14-18).”

You watch him until he is out of sight. It takes a while. He stops and knocks at every house. You wonder what he is going to do with all the dead he takes upon himself as he walks through the town. Then you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

When you awake at dawn three days later, you know everything has 

changed.

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CHAPTER TWO ENDNOTES

Christ sets us free from that dead weight that’s been killing us. Why? Because He can, and he loves us.  We just need to ask. Then we are set free from that body of death. Here’s how Paul explains it in Romans 6 (beginning in verse 2).

"We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin? Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ when we were baptized? We shared his death in our baptism. When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. So, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the wonderful power of the Father, we also can live a new life… We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin…

CHAPTER THREE: ReOrientation

You have a hard time believing the changes. No more debt. No more creditors knocking at your door – or at least, when they do, this man takes care of them. Now the rain stays outdoors and the plumbing stays in the pipes. Your front door actually latches. The floors seem to be some strange new normal –maybe that’s what people mean by level? It’s…amazing (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This Man – you’ve started calling him the ReBuilder - has a bigger plan than you realized. He isn’t going to just uncondemn the house and sweep up the garbage. He is planning to turn your shack into a mansion. When he first told you, you said, “Awesome! Go right ahead!” 

But the ReBuilder smiled and said, “Not without you. It’s our house. We work together. I’m going to completely remake the foundation(Matthew 7:24-27), and I am taking the lead on the rebuilding so you don’t work in vain (Psalm 127:1), but you need to give yourself to this project” (Romans 12:1).

The first thing you do is take an honest assessment of the mess that your house has become. You forgot how many rooms you had added, locked rooms haunted by the ghosts of the other Dead Yous that you didn’t even realize were there. 

The oldest one was the ghost of Abused You, sealed away, thinking it would stay behind that door but knowing (honestly) that it crept out all the time and hovered over every relationship you had. Then there was the room of the No Longer Innocent You, the room where love began to fade and shame began to grow; the room where Addicted You lost control.

Then there’s the room where Greedy You first learned to trample on others; the room where Angry You still punched holes in the wall and watched the fear grow in the eyes of others; the room of Mouthy You, where you first learned that words can manipulate, control, and wound – and you liked it.

It’s an embarrassing tour. The Rebuilder doesn’t seemed shocked. He keeps an arm around your shoulders as you walk; he lifts your chin up when your shame overwhelms you (Psalm 3:3). When you are done he says, “Has anyone ever killed a fatted calf for you?” (Luke 15:11-32)

“What? That’s…um, no. A fat calf? They once grilled a chicken – poorly, I might add, but they tried. Does a plump chicken and potato salad count?”

He smiles. “Not the same thing. It’s time to throw a celebration party for you.”

“What? This- (you point at the hallway with so many Dead You rooms – this deserves a celebration?”

“No, not that. But you were lost; now you are found (Luke 15:11-31). This deserves a celebration. Something barbecued or maybe even deep fried, and with an onion blossom of some sort. And we’re going shopping. The living do not wear the clothes of the dead (Romans 13:14). Maybe you’ll even get some snakeskin boots.”

You don’t argue. No one had ever celebrated you before. 

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CHAPTER THREE ENDNOTES

Sanctification happens as the Holy Spirit works through Spirit-driven obedience as an act of worship.

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (Romans 12:1)

But a living sacrifice wants to get off the altar sometimes. That old body of death is hanging around. 

“On the one hand, I serve the law of God in my mind; but on the other hand, the carnal side of me follows the law of sin.” (Romans 7:25)

This is an image for the process of sanctification. Initially, we are set apart (“made holy”) when we are justified by Christ. It changes our identity. We are no longer spiritually dead, enslaved to sin. Now we are alive and renewed. In an ongoing manner, the justified person who submits to God's will is becoming conformed to the image of Christ. Colossians 3:1-12 gives a great description of how the process takes place:

“Since you were raised from the dead with Christ, aim at what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Think about the things in heaven, not the things on earth. Your old sinful self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God.  Christ is your life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory. 

So put all evil things out of your life: sexual sinning, doing evil, letting evil thoughts control you, wanting things that are evil, and greed. This is really serving a false god. These things make God angry. In your past, evil life you also did these things. But now also put these things out of your life: anger, bad temper, doing or saying things to hurt others, and using evil words when you talk. Do not lie to each other. You have left your old sinful life and the things you did before. You have begun to live the new life, in which you are being made new and are becoming like the One who made you. 

This new life brings you the true knowledge of God.  In the new life there is no difference between Greeks and Jews, those who are circumcised and those who are not circumcised, or people who are foreigners, or Scythians. There is no difference between slaves and free people. But Christ is in all believers, and Christ is all that is important.

God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So you should always clothe yourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”

See this tension? Though we are freely justified, fitting the mold of goodness doesn’t come naturally. God will continue to do a work in us through the Holy Spirit, but we invest sweat equity too. We see this tension other places in the Bible as well.

·      God works in us for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). 

·      God helps us bear good fruit (John 15:4).

·      God equips Christians to do his will (Hebrews13:21). 

At the same time the Bible also states:

·      We must work out their salvation (Philippians 2:12). 

·      We work to supplement our faith with virtue and good works (2Peter 1:5-7). 

·      We commit to abounding in the work of the Lord (1Corinthians 15:58).

CHAPTER Four: ReBuilding

As you work, the ReBuilder gives you all the tools you need – which is a good thing, because it turns our your tool set is part of the problem. He gives you his personally drawn blueprint, a fund to draw from for building materials, expert advice and help, etc. Since he’s the architect, designer, builder and inspector, He is available every day – leading, guiding, protecting, correcting (Romans 8:14).

But you have to set your alarm, get out of bed, put on the tool belt, pick up the lumber, swing a hammer, get splinters, and break and rebuild a few things. You are going to invest some sweat equity into this house (1 Corinthians 9:27).

Some days are better than others. You notice other houses in the neighborhood that are also being transformed by this ReBuilder. As you visit their project and they stop by yours, you build friendships as you listen to each other’s stories and admire the work of the Rebuilder. It is strange to be surrounded by…how would you describe this new feeling?... Hope. That’s it. Hope (Colossians 1:27). 

But you find it’s also easy to be jealous of other houses that look nicer – or to be proud as you compare yours to the ones the look less advanced. The ReBuilder picks up on this and just shakes his head. 

“Focus. Eyes on me. You and I are building your house (Philippians 2:12). You don’t know what kind of house they had before or where we are at in the rebuilding process. Let’s get your own house in order. I’ll worry about the others.”

You get hurt; you get tired; you misread the blueprint and put some walls at the wrong place and tear down others that should have been left alone; you shoot yourself with the nail gun more than once. You learn the importance of safety glasses and noise cancelling headphones, because it turns out guarding your eyes and ears is a thing that matters.

 You question the ReBuilder’s blueprint when it shows that he plans to remodel a part of your old house that you wanted to keep. You argue when He shows you something that is not up to code. He makes you move that foundation off the sand and onto a rock (Matthew 7:24-27), and that is some exhausting work. You never realized how much you had built on a poor foundation.

You occasionally find that your creepy old landlord has slithered off the sidewalk and is crouching outside your door (Genesis 4:7), wondering if he can hang out for a while. “Take a break,” he hisses. “Don’t take life so seriously.” Some days you actually invite him in and you hang out. 

It’s sometimes fun for a while (Hebrews 11:25), but it never ends well. You feel worn down again, almost as if your dead self was back, hand on your shoulder, whispering emptiness and loneliness into your ear. Your landlord always ends up roaring through your house, punching holes in the drywall, unfastening pipes, taking a jackhammer to the foundations - basically trying to demolish everything. (1 Peter 5:8)

But the Rebuilder helps you resist, and the old landlord has to leave (James 4:7). More than once the ReBuilder has picked that sneaky ghost of your Dead Self up by the collar and thrown him out on the street. You apologize to the ReBuilder when this happens.

He hugs you and reorients you. He doesn't yell (1 John 1:9). His forgiveness is just another one of the gift you don’t deserve (Ephesians 1:7). But that doesn’t mean you don’t spend days –even weeks - cleaning up the mess you created. 

You pick up all the stuff you can, and the Rebuilder gets the places you can’t reach and corrects the damage beyond your ability. He helps you make a plan to resist and avoid this situation the next time (Ephesians 4:27; 2 Corinthians 2:11). 

There are some days you wonder why the ReBuilder even puts up with you, but he never leaves you on your own. He remains true to his word. He holds you to the code but patiently helps you when you miss the mark. He teaches you how not to shoot anyone, including yourself, with the nail gun. 

You know you are in this together, that he is for you, that he will restore you and help you even when you are at your weakest (Psalm 51:10-12). So every day you rise and build, and you find increasing satisfaction in the affirmation of the ReBuilder and the pleasure of a job well done (Nehemiah 2:17-18; Matthew 25:23).

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CHAPTER FOUR ENDNOTES

"We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin? Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ when we were baptized? We shared his death in our baptism. When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. So, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the wonderful power of the Father, we also can live a new life… We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin... “ (Romans 6:2 and following)

Baptize meant to "put into" or "immerse" so that the thing baptized takes on the properties of the thing into which it was baptized. Garments were "baptized" in dye so that the garments took on the color of the dye. Cucumbers were “baptized” so that they became pickles. Christians absorb the righteousness that comes from Jesus’ death and resurrection. But part of devotion is making a choice about to whom you will offer yourself.

“Surely you know that when you give yourselves like slaves to obey someone, then you are really slaves of that person. The person you obey is your master. You can follow sin, which brings spiritual death, or you can obey God, which makes you right with him. In the past you were slaves to sin—sin controlled you. But thank God, you fully imitated the pattern of our teaching. You were made free from sin, and now you are slaves to goodness.” (Romans 6:16-18)

This “pattern of our teaching” refers to melted metal cast into a mold and conforming to the impression that is sunk or cut in the mold. They used to pour themselves into sin, and they conformed to its pattern. Now they are choosing to pour themselves into the truth about Christ, and they conformed to it. They looked like goodness. 

If we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him…You should see yourselves as being dead to the power of sin and alive with God through Christ Jesus. So, do not let sin control your life here on earth so that you do what your sinful self wants to do. Do not offer the parts of your body to serve sin, as things to be used in doing evil. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have died and now live. Offer the parts of your body to God to be used in doing good. Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law but under God’s grace.  (Romans 6:1-8; 11-14)

 “To live” in something was to be wholly given to it. An ancient writer, Aelian, wrote: “The Tapyrians are such lovers of wine, that they live in wine; and the principal part of their life is devoted to it.”  Not only do we soak up righteousness (which is a passive word of transformation), we can be wholeheartedly devoted (an active verb). 

CHAPTER FIVE: ReBuilt and Alive

It’s not all work. A lot of the time you just spend time with each other. He fishes with you on still waters. You shoot hoops at the YMCA and join friends at Buffalo Wild Wings for March Madness and go to Jonny Lang concerts. Being around him restores your soul (Psalm 23) even while your callouses thicken. You realize that you are absorbing his ideas, his language, his priorities, his way of living life abundantly (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Others join your circle. Some bring their dead; some have already been set free (Mark 2:13-17). Some still live in shacks; others are working with the ReBuilder on mansions. 

The Rebuilder welcomes them all. He didn’t come to condemn the dead to their bare, cold shacks. He came to save them and rebuild their lives (John 3:17). You invite even more to hang out with you (1 John 3:10). Some do; some don’t. You never stop inviting.

And slowly but surely, your house is becoming the kind of mansion that showcases the glorious power of the Rebuilder (Philippians 1:6). You find that you easily congratulate others whose houses are flourishing, and you compassionately help neighbors who are struggling. 

The blueprint makes more sense than it used to. You look forward to your alarm clock. The old landlord still comes around, but more than ever you see through his lies (John 8:44). Your Dead selves that once haunted you so closely stay on the sidewalk, and you notice their numbers have been dwindling. 

You notice a neighbor starting to work on his house by himself. He looks miserable. He is constantly having to redo things that don’t work; he has changed foundations twice, and that didn’t help his mood or his progress. He’s mentioned before that he had noticed the changes in your house, so you swing by occasionally to talk about his project. 

He’s not interested in your advice, so you help him bail water out of his flooded basement and bide your time.You take him some water one blistering day (Mark 9:41) and see that he finally has a blueprint. “Oh,” you say, “Did you meet the ReBuilder?” 

“No,” says your neighbor. “Why would he want to help with my house? It’s horrible. I found this fixer-upper idea from some well-known landlord online – he’s all over Twitter - and I added my own modifications. I think I can fix my house enough so the ReBuilder will notice. Once I make it good enough, I’ll be ready for him. When I meet him, I’d rather start with him being impressed than thinking I am some loser in need of help with everything.” He pauses. “No offense.”

“None taken,” I say. “But I have to tell you that this isn’t Field of Dreams.”

“My favorite movie!” he interjected.

“I figured. But this isn’t, ‘If you build it, he will come.’ It doesn't work that way. Stop trying to do it yourself (Isaiah 64:6). Unless the Rebuilder builds it and shares his tools, your labor is useless (Psalm 127:1). It’s making you angry and annoying your neighbors, and the next big storm is going to put you back at square one (Matthew 7:24-27).” 

“Nah,” he said. “I’ve got this. You’ll see.” He returns to his works. His Dead Self turns and smirks at you as you walk away and hands your neighbor some bottled water from Sulfur Springs, motto: “Thirst. Again.” (John 4:14)

You find that, the longer you work with the ReBuilder, more than a few note how you are continuing to become like Him (Ephesians 5:1). You are humbled and encouraged. Your friends used to comment on the eerie similarity between you and your former landlord (John 8:44; 1 John 3:10).This is much better. 

“But,” they say, “what’s with all the ongoing work? You told us this was a gift, but it’s starting to look like a life-long project.”

“Oh, it is, and it’s fantastic! Working side by side with the ReBuilder is part of the gift (1 Corinthians 1:9). I don't deserve to be his apprentice. Who am I to swing a hammer on this house? Who am I to cut expensive trim, and build a strong chimney? I brought nothing to this project, but he gives me everything I need to build great things (Colossians 3:1-12) on the foundation he has set.

“He has given me far above what I could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). I just want to know Him and understand what kind of person gives grace to the failures and life to the dead (Philippians 3:10).  I just want to be near him and be like him and be part of the work he is doing in the world.

And in that process, all these things (here you wave your hand to show His house, His tools, the work of His hands, the campfire where He sat with his friends) have been added unto me” (Matthew 6:33). This, my friends, is what happens when obedience responds to grace. This is life (John 10:10; Romans 8:12-14).”

The Passion and Resurrection of the Christ

Listen to audio here.  

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/clgtc/videos/10155529579690829/[/embed]

[From a compilation of the Gospel narratives, all of which add insightful details to the trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. These narrative begin in Mark 15, Matthew 27, Luke 23, and John 18.]

Early in the morning the leading priests and the elders met again to lay plans for putting Jesus to death. Then they bound him, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him.  Jesus replied, “So you say.”

But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent.  “Don’t you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?”Pilate demanded. But Jesus made no response to any of the charges.

Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd—anyone they wanted.  This year there was a notorious prisoner named Barabbas. As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

The leading priests and the elders said,“By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.” They persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death.  When Pilate heard this, he was frightened.

He took Jesus back into the headquartersagain and asked him, “Where are you from?”But Jesus gave no answer. “Why don’t you talk to me? Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”

Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. Those who handed me over to you have the greater sin.”

Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.”

Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”

   And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—his blood be on us and on our children!”

So the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you want me to release to you?”

The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!”

Pilate responded,“Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

“Crucify him!”

“Why? What crime has he committed?”

“Crucify him!” yelled the crowd.

 Pilate responded,“Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find him not guilty.”

So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

The soldiers stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him.  They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted,“Hail! King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it.  When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross.  They went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”).  The soldiers gave him wine mixed with vinegar, but when Jesus had tasted it, he refused to drink it.

The soldiers nailed him to the cross, then gambled for his clothes while keeping guard. A sign fastened to the cross above Jesus’ head announced the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.

The leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’”

Pilate replied,“No, what I have written, I have written.”

The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery.  “Look at you now! You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus.  “He saved others but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him!  He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”  

Two criminals were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

One of them scoffed and said, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die?  We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong. Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

At noon, darkness fell across the whole land.  At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah.  One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink.  But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”

Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.  At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened.

The Roman officerand the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

The Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath.  So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down.  So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.

As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate issued an order to release it to him. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth.  He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. 

The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate.   “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’  So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”

Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.”  So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.

Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.  Suddenly there was a great earthquake! An angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it.  His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.

Then the angel spoke to the women.“Don’t be afraid! I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.  And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”

The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. They ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”

Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.  When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas, was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you. Thomas, put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

“My Lord and my God!”Thomas exclaimed.

Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book.  But these are written so that you may continue to believethat Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47OkuvT5JFo[/embed]

If there is one thing that is more clear than ever, it’s that the world is broken, and I’m not saying this just because Michigan and not Ohio State is in the Final Four.

• Shooters (who will use knives if they can’t get guns)

• Sexual harassers and abusers (#metoo movement and human sex trafficking)

• Families literally imprisoning their own children

• Love letters to mass murderers (the Parkland Shooter)

• Twitter abuse that exposes the cruelty that simmers in more people than we knew

• Racism that is a very real ongoing problem in our culture

• This Nxvim cult I have been reading about that literally brands and enslaves women

• Netflix has more and more documentaries about corruption, lies and greed in business

Last week, a friend of Sheila’s was shot by her husband and put in the trunk of his car, where she stayed until one of her six children talked their father into turning himself in.

There is evil at work in the world, and we know it. It’s not just the stories ‘out there’ that get headlines; it's the story of our own life that reveals how all of creation groans as it waits for redemption. (Romans 8:22)

Maybe we have had things done to us that have damaged us. These are the things that we see or experience and we know deep in our souls, “This is not okay. That is not the way life is supposed to be.” We know something is wrong, and we instinctively desire that justice be done, that God deal with evil in the world. The prophet Amos said, “Let justice roll down like a river,” and that resonates with us. (Amos 5:24)

But that will put us in a bind, because we have done things to othersthat deserve condemnation. Something we said or did contributed to the brokenness of this world, and to someone else’s life in particular. We did or said something that was not okay, and honestly, we are the perpetrator, not the victim. Our words or our actions or even our attitudes have hurt others. There are obvious ones where someone is physically hurt, right? But there are more less noticeable ways we go about doing this.

• Our addictions lead us to use and hurt those around us.

• Our pornography use demeans and dehumanizes others.

• Our sarcasm leaves deep scars.

• Our insecurities cause us to lash out at others who have done nothing wrong.

• Our need to be in control makes us cruel and manipulative.

• As parents, we pass on too many of our dysfunctions to our kids, and as kids, we have wounded our parents more than we know.

Let’s be honest: we have all done things that deserve condemnation. There is plenty of guilt to go around.  And this means that if God is going to judge evil, God is going to judge us.

Enter Jesus, the incarnation, God in human flesh.On our own, we are spiritually dead. Our sins have doomed us to be swept away by the justice of God. Jesus came to take that flood on himself, and in so doing bring peace between sinful, fallen humanity and a holy God. And because Jesus was fully God and fully human, as a perfect man he satisfied God’s uncompromising justice against sinful humanity; as God, he revealed God’s unfailing love in his sacrifice of himself to pay the penalty He demands.

“God did not, then, inflict pain on someone else, but rather on the Cross absorbed the pain, violence, and evil of the world into himself… this is a God who becomes human and offers his own lifeblood in order to honor moral justice and merciful love so that someday he can destroy all evil without destroying us.” (Tim Keller)

Or, as John so eloquently puts it in Scripture:

“God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that whoever believes on Him will not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but so the world through Him could be saved.” John 3:16-17)

Jesus said his death would rescue us from the ultimate penalty that we deserve for what we have done; his resurrection shows that He has the power to do what He says he will do. He has shown us that, in the midst of this broken world, Jesus loves us enough to give his life so that we can truly live, and he is strong enough to offer the only kind of healing and hope that can save even the worst of us sinners.  And here is where the radical and perhaps even scandalous message of the gospel really kicks in.

• Jesus came to save those who have been verbally, physically, emotionally or spiritually abused – and those who did the abusing.

• Jesus came to save those who have been used – and those of us who use others for our own selfish gain.

• Jesus came to save the cheated on and the cheater, the back-stabber and the back stabbed, the liar and the lied to, the grudge-holders and the grudge creators.

• Jesus came to save those who self-destruct, and hate, and judge, and lash out, and hurt others.

And since all of us are on this list – probably in every category in some way -  that’s great news for all of us.

2,000 years ago, we were visited by a God who entered the world to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). That is still what Jesus does today.

No matter what you have done, or what has been done to you, or what you think of Jesus, it is still true: “That by believing in Him you will have forgiveness of sins, the redemption of your soul, and life everlasting.”

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iLscNgnRSU[/embed]

The Terms Of Peace (Palm Sunday)

You can listen to a podcast here. You can also watch a live stream of most of the service below.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/clgtc/videos/10155510657580829/[/embed]

This is Matthew’s account of Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem (as found in Matthew 21, with some details in bold print added from Luke 19.) 

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her that no one has ever ridden. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” 

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.

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Worth noting: Riding on a donkey was something a very particular kind of King did.

“In the ancient Middle Eastern world, leaders rode horses if they rode to war, but donkeys if they came in peace. First Kings 1:33 mentions Solomon riding a donkey on the day he was recognized as the new king of Israel… The mention of a donkey in Zechariah 9:9-10 fits the description of a king who would be ‘righteous and having salvation, gentle.’ Rather than riding to conquer, this king would enter in peace.”  (gotquestions.org, “Why would A King Ride A Donkey Instead Of A Warhorse?”

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A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds (of disciples) that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, 

“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”0 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

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Their chant is probably a reference to Psalm 118, which describes a king entering a city to ascend to the altar and offer sacrifice: “Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar!" (Psalm 118:27). This time, the king is the sacrifice.

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When Jerusalem came into view, He looked intently at the city and began to weep.

Jesus: Oh, Jerusalem, how I wish you knew today what would bring peace! But you can’t see…”

Jesus used the phrase “what would bring peace” elsewhere.

“What king going to encounter another king in war will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace.” (Luke 14:31-32)

"Terms of peace" is the same phrase translated "what would bring peace." The king will bring peace, but it will be the King’s peace, on the King’s terms, and in the King’s way.

• Then Jesus drives out the money lenders in the Temple

• Then Jesus curses a leafy fig tree for not bearing fruit.

• The he tells the chief priests and the elders that tax collectors and the prostitutes would the kingdom of God ahead of them before telling them the parable of a landowner with a vineyard who sent his son to collect the harvest, and the tenents killed him. “ “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”

It’s an interesting way for the Messiah to start his Kingship.

The crowds cheered him as The Messiah – and by that, they meant a zealot warrior who would overthrow Rome.[1] That’s why there were palm branches. It was the sign of the Zealots. They wanted bloodshed from a Messiah with a sword. I have to imagine they weren’t too excited about a King on a donkey instead of a war horse.

The religious leaders were looking for Temple messiah, one who would purify the Temple and restore its reputation and influence in the world.

Well, Jesus purified the Temple, but not in the way they expected. He overthrew the hypocrites in the temple, then demonstrated the uselessness of a tree that does not bear fruit it is meant to, and told the chief priests and elders that that tree was them: fruitless; barren. He goes on to tell them they actually made disciples on behalf of hell (Matthew 23:15).

He refused to start an uprising against Rome. He actually told people to give to Caesar what was Caesar’s, and to repay evil with good. He told them that his Kingdom was not of this world, so his followers shouldn’t use force to spread His kingdom.

To get an idea of just how unsettling this was, think of John the Baptizer, while in jail awaiting his death, sent a message to Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” This was John the Baptist, who once announced Jesus as, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” He needed to know if Jesus was the real deal.

Jesus replied by quoting Isaiah (35:5 and 61:1): “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. And blessed are those who do not take offense in me.” (Luke 7)

That last line seems odd, but remember that the Jews were expecting a Messiah with a sword, not just a healing touch. Jesus is basically saying, ‘Don’t let this trip you up. This is what a real Messiah does.”

“Oh, Jerusalem, how I wish you knew today what would bring peace! But you can’t see…”

So what is the peace the Messiah was bringing, and where do we see it?

It was Jesus, and we see it in Jesus. 

• “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” (Ephesians 1:7)

• “For this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28)

• “… and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood…” (Revelation 1:5-6) 

• “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14) 

• “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)

I don’t know what you expect from Jesus, but let’s look at the life and mission of Jesus.

If you expect that peace will come to the world (and to you) when the King takes care of the things around you, you will be disappointed. He didn’t make the Romans go away; he told the people how He would help them live in the presence of Romans. He didn’t confront others in answer to the hopes and prayer of the Pharisees; he confronted them.

They wanted a Messiah who would set everyone else right, as if the problem was only around them rather in them. This is why they couldn't see it. They assumed that God needed to deal with others.

But the problem was them. They were the source of sin in the world. They were the ones for whom the Messiah had to come.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et1vriu29Qk[/embed]

And Jesus did just that, and He set the terms of peace: He came to make things right between sinful, fallen humanity and a holy God, and he would do it by paying the price of reconciliation. He would satisfy the requirements of a just God while showing the heart of a loving God.

“God did not, then, inflict pain on someone else, but rather on the Cross absorbed the pain, violence, and evil of the world into himself… this is a God who becomes human and offers his own lifeblood in order to honor moral justice and merciful love so that someday he can destroy all evil without destroying us.” (Tim Keller)

Justice must be served because God is just; to save just one of us, it would have cost him a crucifixion. This should always humble us, because it reminds us that we are more sinful than we want to admit.

But mercy must be offered because God is merciful. To save just one of us, Jesus was willing to do this. This should always encourage us, because it reminds us that God’s love for us is so much deeper than we can ever imagine.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrgl9z3grKU[/embed]

[1] A short list of Messianic Kings who had tried and failed:

• Judas (of Galilee), Zealot, led revolt against Romans AD 6 (Acts 5)

• Judas Maccabeus 160's BC, considered on par with David/Gideon. He entered Jerusalem at the head of an army, purified the temple. His reconstitution of the temple is the basis of Hanakuh. He destroyed altars to Ashdod, but was eventually killed in battle.

• Menahem ben Judah, (grand)son of Judas the Galilean led a revolt against Agrippa II.

• Simon bar Kokhba 135), founded a short-lived Jewish state that he ruled for 3 years before being defeated in the Second Jewish-Roman War. 580,000 Jewish people died. He went from Kokhba,“Son of a Star” (Numbers 24:17) to Kozeba, “Son of the Lie.”

• Theudas (mentioned in Acts 5:36) died in AD 46. He claimed to be a Messiah, and led about 400 people to the Jordan River, where he said he would divide it to show his power. He didn't. He was stopped and executed.

• The Anonymous Egyptian (Jew). 55, (an allusion to Moses), with 30,000 unarmed Jews doing The Exodus reenactment. He led them to the Mount of Olives, where he claimed he would command the walls around Jerusalem to fall. His group was massacred by Procurator Antonius Felix, and he was never seen again.

Baptized Into Death - And Life

I have a short list of things in the Bible that seem unusual to us today that need a context in order for us to understand.

1. The woman washing Jesus’ feet with a tear bottle (Luke 7)

Context: In the first century, tear bottles were sealed shut and kept prominently, then buried with you as a sign of how hard your life was. Some of the wealthier Romans would even hire mourners to cry and fill bottles. In death, there was finally peace. So when she washed Jesus’ feet with her tears she was giving up her hard earn right to be pitied, and in a sense was saying she had found the peace for which she longed.

2. Salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-15)

Context: Salt was a precious commodity for money (Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt); it obviously also gave flavor to things which were otherwise bland.  Pure salt never loses its flavor, but salt like the salt from the Dead Sea could, because the salt was impure. It was often then thrown on roads because it was useless except to be trampled on.

3. John records an interesting promise from God: “He who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.” (Revelation 3:12)

Context: At the time of the early church, Asclepius was the god of healing.  In many cities were Asclepions, or hospitals. One daughter was Hygieia (hygiene) and another Panacea.  They would only accept people they thought they could heal, then put an inscription on a tablet or a marble pillar that described the cures and the healed parts of the bodies.  These were testimonies to the apparent power of the gods.    John may well have been saying, “Your lives will show God to be the true healer, the Great Physician.”

I think baptism needs a similar context because it’s not something for which our culture has a shared story around which to unite. It’s a symbol that still haunts our culture – there are baptism scenes in the Matrix and the latest King Arthur movie – but it’s not embedded into our lives, and when we see it symbolized in our cultural stories there is only some vague sense of change, not a real concrete idea of what this means.

Then people come to church, and we say, “Hey, you know you are going to need to let someone dunk you under the water.” Hmmm…

The ancient world was full of ritual of baptism of water and blood, even among the pagans.[1]  No one needed an explanation about why one should be baptized when they joined a religious group. They grew up in a world that understood this was the public pledge of allegiance to that being which you worship.  No one joining the church was surprised.

Over time, baptism become one of several sacraments that the Protestant churches practice. A sacrament is an outward sign of an inward seal that reminds of what God has done and what God intends to do to help us grow in grace. (2 Peter 3:18; Titus 1:4)

• Sign: I’ve seen it compared to the Batsignal: by our participation we are sending a message to God: “We need you. We are in a situation in which we cannot succeed without your help.” Obviously, God is already there, but it’s a reminder to us.

• Seal: An ancient king would use a ring to put a seal on a glob of wax on an important letter as a way of saying to everyone who saw it, “Property of the King.” In observing sacraments, we publicly accept the seal of Jesus: “I am the property of Christ the King.”

Sacraments humble us by reminding us of our need for God, yet at the same time they encourage us by reminding us that God has placed His seal on us, and we are under His protection, guidance and Lordship. And when we ask God for help and accept his seal, that humility and surrender is fertile ground for God’s ongoing work of grace in our life.

I want to focus on baptism so that  we understand the rich history of this sacramental symbol. To do that, I need to talk about a story involving water that began at the beginning of time and has been retold for all of human history.

Genesis 1, Creation

Jews were desert nomads; they were not at home on the water. And ancient cultural stories depicted the sea as a monstrous beast and a place where Baal would battle with Yam, the sea god (Yam is the Hebrew word for “sea”). 

• Leviathan lives there (Job 9.13; Psalms 89.8-10; Isaiah 27.1)

• Those in distress feel like they are being drowned in deep water (Psalms 69.1,2; Lamentations 3.54)

• Being saved from an enemy is like being pulled out of the waters of death (Psalms 18.16)

The ocean before creation, the “tehom” or the deep, was unsettled and chaotic. Even the pagans thought that. It was to be feared. But out of the water of chaos and death and formlessness God brought life, and it’s good.

The Flood, Genesis 6-9  The same word used Genesis 1, “tehom,” refers to the waters of the deep that flooded the earth. Once again, on the other side of chaos and evil is new life.  All ancient cultures recorded this. Peter late compared the water of baptism to the waters of the great flood that God used to save Noah and his family (1Peter 3:20 – 21) 


"In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ…”

The Exodus and Promised Land  (Exodus 14) 

 “For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (1 Corinthians 10: 1-2)

Note here that they didn’t actually get wet as they passed through the waters that saved them; there was something about the experience of this ‘baptism’ that placed them into the life and legacy of Moses. I could also add here that under the covenant with Moses, baptismal ceremonies were a huge part of become ritually purified.

Jesus himself was baptized (Mark 1: 4-9)

“And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.  I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

Jesus Taught The Importance Of Baptism

Jesus then says to his disciples, “Go into all the world, preach the gospel, and baptize…” (Matthew 28:19-20) [2]

Paul commanded it. He wrote in Hebrews 10:22:

"Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."

Paul also wrote that Jesus sanctified the church, “having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” (Ephesians 5:26). Note how one washed by water with the word.  There is clearly something symbolic happening that is not connected to some specific magical property of the water itself. 

The audience of Jesus’ time understood the story in which they were being asked to participate.  God brings order from chaos, life from death, purity from dirtiness, and God illustrates this spiritual reality with an earthly metaphor His people understood.

Let's apply all this to today. What does it mean when we get baptized now?

1. It's a public testimony to our salvation. Baptism is not a marker that we have arrived spiritually and now worthy of being initiated into the kingdom because we are so awesome. It’s a public alliance with the only one who can and has saved us.

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)

2. It's a spiritual uniting with Christ into His death and resurrection.    

“Remember that all we who are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ are baptized to die with him?  We are buried with him by baptism, for to die, that likewise as Christ was raised up from death by the glory of the father, even so we also should walk in a new life.  For if we are like him in death, even so must we be in the resurrection.” (Romans 6)

If we are going to walk in new life, we have to die first. In baptism, we see the death of the old as we go under the water, and the arrival of the new as we come up. Now we publicly bear the seal of Christ. (I wish there was someway we could stamp you when you come up: “Claimed by Jesus.”)

“We may never be martyrs but we can die to self, to sin, to the world, to our plans and ambitions. That is the significance of baptism; we died with Christ and rose to new life.”     - Vance Havner

3. It's the beginning of a life-long immersion in Christ.

Historians have found a recipe for making pickles that dates back to 200 B.C.  In order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be 'dipped' (bapto) into boiling water and then 'baptised' (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. The first is temporary. The second, the act of baptising the vegetable, takes longer, and produces a permanent change. Genuine baptism ‘pickles us’ into the life of Christ.

This, I think, is what we must remember. We don’t walk away from a sacramental moment and forget about it. They are moments that pledge our lives, and in that outward sign we have participated in the reality of an inward work of the Holy Spirit that is part of our life constantly.

We have publicly said, “I give myself to you,” and that means we are in a process by which God transforms us for the rest of our lives into the image of Christ.

Here, by the way is where the community aspect of baptism comes in. Baptism is more than just you and God; it’s a public and formal alliance with God’s people, specifically the church you are in.

• It’s an act that gives permission: “You may now hold me accountable as a child of God and a brother or sister in Christ.”

• It’s an act that states responsibility: “And now I must do the same for you.”

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A FEW RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

 “Water Baptism In The Early Church.” http://www.churchhistory101.com/feedback/water-baptism.php

“Sacraments” (Theopedia) http://www.theopedia.com/sacraments

“That Great Day” (Jonny Lang song)

“Water Grave” (Imperials song, but plenty of others sing it!)

“Baptism” (Randy Travis song)

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[1] “Baptism: A Pre-Christian History.” http://www.bible.ca/ef/topical-baptism-a-prechristian-history.htm

[2] The Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:36-38) is a great example.

From The Great Physician To The Great Commission (Part 5)

• A Labor Foreign Secretary (1966-68) named George Brown got this response from another guest at a diplomatic reception: “I shall not dance with you for three reasons. First, because you are drunk, second, because this is not a waltz but the Peruvian national anthem and third, because I am not a beautiful lady in red; I am the Cardinal Bishop of Lima.”

• When Barbara Bush, the wife of then Vice President George Bush, Sr., was on a diplomatic visit in Japan, she attended a lunch with Emperor Hirohito at Tokyo's Imperial Palace. In spite of her best efforts to start a conversation, the Emperor would only smile and give very short answers. She finally complimented Hirohito on his official residence."Thank you," he said. "Is it new?" pressed Mrs. Bush. "Yes." "Was the palace just so old that it was falling down?" “No, I'm afraid that you bombed it."

________________________________________________________________________________

It’s embarrassing when a leader or an ambassador poorly represents something of which you are a part. They are supposed to be a compelling face for something or someone, and it’s hard. At times they fail, sometimes hilariously and other times more seriously. We tend to think of this in politics or schools or sports teams, but Paul wrote to the first followers of Christ,

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20

As followers of Christ, we are His ambassadors to a world that is not our home. We represent another King and another Kingdom. "Our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20).

As ambassadors for Christ, we have the same kind of responsibility as the previous spokespeople I mentioned. But now we are going to the Kingdom of the Earth on behalf of the Kingdom of Heaven, and things of eternal import are at stake.  We’ve been talking about spiritual health for the past six weeks. It’s worth noting that we don’t become healthy through Jesus just for our sake. We are made healthy as part of preparation for evangelism and discipleship.

“The Church is the Church only when it exists for others...not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell [people] of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison).

We are made new with a purpose: to fulfill the Great Commission.

We represent Jesus whether we like it or not. We don’t stop representing Christ … ever. We will be an ambassador for better or worse.

When I was in high school, I worked at a restaurant, and I talked with my non-Christian friends about Jesus. One day a girl said to me, “I notice you say X about your faith, but then you do Y. How does that work?” (I don’t remember what the issue was.) That was a really uncomfortable conversation.

People can’t see God, but they can see us. They can be drawn to or pushed away from the One we represent based on how we, as ambassadors, represent God. I gave one verse from Paul earlier. Here is the broader context:

“ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”  (2 Corinthians 5:17- 21).

It is in this light that we need to understand 2 Corinthians 6:1:

“As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain…”

Paul is not saying that God’s grace is unable to save us. He’s not saying that the people reading the letter aren’t Christians. He refers to them as co-workers!  He’s just pointing out that we can be healed and be made new…and watch an opportunity for bringing others to the Great Physician slip through our fingers.  

So, how can we make sure that doesn’t happen?[i]

KNOWLEDGE

First, an ambassador must have some basic knowledge. After I had my second blood clot, I went to my doctor to find out what to do. He said some stuff I knew, then said we were done. I said, “Should I be taking shots until the Coumadin kicks in?” He agreed that would be a good idea. “Should I rest and elevate my leg?” Sure. Why not? I basically walked him through my treatment. I didn’t go back. He did not have saving knowledge – or if he did, he didn’t know how to communicate it well. Knowledge isn’t the only thing, but it’s a crucial thing. And as some of you have experienced, a doctor who lacks knowledge can have a very real impact on how you view the medical profession in general.

An ambassador for Christ needs two kinds of knowledge: factual knowledge and experiential knowledge.

By factual I simply mean never stop learning more about what you believe and why. Knowledge can’t save you, but it can ground and stabilizes you.

• I was glad I had already wrested mentally with the problem of pain and evil before I wrestled with it experientially when by Dad died and when I had my heart attack. [1]

• I have found that the more I study God’s plan for marriage and human sexuality the more I am strengthened in the face of temptation. [2]

• When I hear challenges to the existence of God from atheists, the nature of God from other religions, or the character of God from well-meaning Christians who have non-biblical views of who God is and how he works in the world, I am glad for the solid theology of my Mennonite upbringing, and the Christian voices that have filled me with truth.[3]

By experiential I mean commit to walking in the footsteps of Jesus and committing to life in His Kingdom.  We are called to explain the hope that lies within us. We are going to need to talk about the transformational nature of discipleship. I can talk about being in the military, but I don’t know what it’s like to be in the military. I can talk about football, but I don’t know what it’s like to play football. Ask me about basketball, crossfit, pastoring, teaching or marriage – I’ve experienced it. In all of those, I immersed myself in it for a while. They weren’t just passing fancies. I didn’t dabble. I entered in as fully as I could.

As Christians, we can’t dabble. We can’t pick and choose parts or pick and choose times and expect to be able to tell people what it’s like to really be a sold-out follower of Jesus.  G.K Chesterton is famous for saying:

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”

I’m not talking about perfect knowledge or perfect discipleship. That’s impossible on this side of heaven. If someone expects that level of expertise, everyone on earth is going to fail them. I’m talking about the process of being committed to that process of learning and growing within the framework of the gifts, talents and opportunities God has given you.  

TACT

This knowledge must be deployed in a skillful way with wisdom and persuasiveness.  Paul notes all the ways in which he “becomes all things to all people” in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22 “so that I may save some . . .”

It isn’t possible to never give offense as an ambassador for Christ, because the message of the cross can be offensive (Luke. 6:26; 1 Corinthians 1:23). But we must do our best to take away needless offense.

“We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way…” (2 Corinthians 6:3)

The message of the Gospel is difficult enough without us giving people additional reason to turn away. We must pray for the wisdom to know how to connect and genuinely enter into the lives of those around us without compromising our morality or faith. It’s part of being “in the world but not of it.” (John 17:15-16). [ii]  I'll explain this more fully in my final point, which is...

CHARACTER

Because ambassadors bring themselves along in everything they do, their presence can either make or break the message. After talking a about tact, Paul talks more about his character, or what it is about his life that has  “commended” him to them. After he describes the suffering he endured for the sake of the gospel, he writes the following about how to live:

“…in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God…” (2 Corinthians 6:5-7)

“Purity” is used here probably to refer to sexual purity, but it has a broader meaning that encompasses all of life. We are called to be pure from the inside out – morally clean, able to live without fear of what others may find out about us. Think of this as free transparency. Can someone check your internet history right now or your business’s books? If there is a video of how you interact with people throughout the day, would you be embarrassed if someone saw it, or would you be willing to say, “Sure, have a look!”

“Understanding” refers to an in-depth understanding of the Christian worldview (2 Timothy. 2:15). It’s what I talked about earlier.  It doesn’t mean you have to have all the answers, but you are constantly seeking in some way to understand your faith more fully. Study…listen carefully…think and pray and talk with others about your life….learn to process your life with Christ so that when others ask you to talk about what it means to be a Christian, you can draw from past experiences.

 “Patience.”  This is staying power; being long tempered instead of short tempered. Not easily provoked.  We can listen to or see things hostile to our faith without getting immediately angry and defensive.   If someone says, “I think Christianity is stupid,” and starts to rant, can you listen patiently, trying to understand what they are saying?  Or do you get angry and tense and lash back as soon as you have an opening?  When someone posts a comment that challenges your faith or a position that you hold because of your Christian worldview, do you start a fight, or do you patiently engage for the sake of their salvation?

“Kindness” refers to cultivating a high view of other people and treating them with respect.  It’s meeting real needs – not just spiritual, but relational, financial, emotional…. It’s treating people in God’s image as if they bore God’s image.  In talking with those who are skeptical of Christianity, I have fielded questions like this:

·      The Bible is just an old book with a lot of errors. Why would any intelligent person pay attention to it?

·      Believing that Jesus was a God who died and came back to life is like believing in the Easter Bunny. 

·      You are so judgmental about sex.  Why don’t you want other people to be happy?”

So do I respond with anger and defensiveness?  Do I quote, “The fool has said in his heart there is not God” and stomp away, content to have struck a blow for the Kingdom of God? I need to relate to others with patience and kindness. It’s how God treats us, and it’s intended to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4).  My goal is not win the argument, though that would be nice. My goal is that they be reconciled to Christ, and God forbid my attitude get in the way.

I’ve realized over the past number of years that people skeptical about my faith expect me as a Christian to attack or belittle them.  Somewhere in their lives, they have seen Christians either act like that or be portrayed like that. Whether fair or not, it’s the impression that's out there.  We need to change that impression one person at a time.

“Sincere love” – This is the ‘agape’ we talked about several weeks ago – “deliberately living in a way that shows esteem or value of something or someone as a precious, beloved prize.” If we don’t have this, we are just obnoxious noise makers even if we could speak the language of angels (1 Corinthians 13).

“Truthful Speech” - We can’t compromise on the reality, and we must be willing to defend it even if it is offensive.  Remember, God does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9), and neither should we. 

 “The Holy Spirit…the Power of God” - We depend on the power of God to take God’s word, our words, our lives, and point people toward Christ.  We don’t have to force the issue.  We “plant and water,” but God brings the harvest. Be content to be faithfully present, looking for opportunities to plant and nourish God’s truth.  At the right time, speak up. At the right time, challenge and encourage. Just always remember that the Holy Spirit is at work, which is good news indeed.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:36-38)

We, the community of the healed and healing, takes the Good News of the Great Physician to a world in desperate need of the redemption offered by Jesus alone. May we are do this with sincere lover, and with the power and protection of the righteousness of God.

[1] So, there’s this book, Learning To Jump Again, that explains my journey through this :) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005H11AHO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

[2] I recommend the following (out of many good options)

• Real Sex, by Lauren Winner

• The Thrill Of The Chaste, by Dawn Eden

• Fill These Hearts, by Christopher West

• The Mingling Of Souls, Matt and Lauren Chandler

• The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller (youtube speech given for Google employees)

• Sexual Morality in a Christless World by Matthew W Rueger

[3] I recommend the following as good starting points that give the Big Picture

• The Story Of Reality, by Greg Koukl

• The Reason For God, Tim Keller

• Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis

• How Shall We Then Live? Francis Schaeffer

• How Now Shall We Live? Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcey

[i] I am indebted to Grek Koukl at Stand To Reason (str.org) for a lot of teaching on three characteristics of a good Christian ambassador.

[ii] How can we tell the difference between tact vs. fear or compromise?

• Someone who is tactful does not compromise the truth; they simply remember that “well-spoken words are like apples of gold in pitchers of silver.”

• Someone who is tactful does not avoid confrontation; they confront with respect, care and love, remembering that everyone is created in the image of God.

• Someone who is tactfful seeks to build bridges, not burn them. Tact does not post mean mean or mocking memes. Tact does not name-call. Tact isn’t defensive. Tact listens, engages, seeks to understand even before being understood.

• Someone who is tactful enters into accountability so that others observe and weigh in on how they are doing.

From The Great Physician To The Great Commission (Part 3)

Here is today’s leading question: how do we reorder our loves and experience what David called ‘the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living’ (Psalm 27:13)? I would like to offer general principles about what I think is the God-ordained path by which our hearts flourish in their new life – and by flourish I mean our hearts increasingly begin to resemble that heart of Jesus.

First, pray for God to do the work only God can do.

He must create a new heart in you (salvation and regeneration), and he must be the foundation of our ongoing heart health (sanctification). I hope my list last week didn’t drive you to despair. It was meant to drive you toward Jesus. Even if we have a sliding scale that showed us how close we were to the right side, it would always remind us of the need for Jesus. No matter how close we get, we will fail. This reality is not meant discourage us. Godly sorrow is intended to bring repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10).

I am reminded of the times when it is clear to me that I fail my wife or friends. I have two choices: I can retreat in frustration and depression (maybe even anger), or I can appreciate how much they must love me to continue to do life with me. So my failure, properly processed, increases my awe at their faithful love. It is often when I am most aware of my sin that I am in awe of God’s love. When I am most aware of my weakness, I marvel at His power. When I am asking others and God to forgive me, I see the cost and beauty of their love as they forgive and remain faithful.

Let your failures increase your awe of God’s love and inspire you even more to press toward the kind of heart that loves like that.

Second, repent of your disordered loves and commit your ways to Jesus.  

To understand this, we need to talk about the biblical definitions of “love” and “repent”.

LOVE

I talked last week about loving the world or loving God. Love, in the Bible, is not usually used in the sense that we use it in 21st century America.[i] We think of falling in and out of love, of passionate feelings, of overwhelming emotions. We use love to mean like, lust, enjoy, approve…we use it far more widely than the Bible does. The Bible is far more pointed.

We often talk about agape, phileo and eros, three Greek words that show up a lot to define different kinds of loves.[1] Agape is the word most often used for how God loves us; it’s also used a LOT to tell us how to love God and others. It has to do with a commitment to self-sacrifice for the sake of the other. We almost always use it to talk about our relationship to God or other people, but it is used in other ways in the Bible as well.

• I John 2:15 “Do not love (agapao) the world.”

• 2 Timothy 4:10 “Demas has deserted me, because he loved (agapao) this present world…”

• Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters…he will love (agapao) the one…”

• "…men loved (agapao) darkness rather than light." — John 3:19 

• "For they loved (agapao) the praise of men more than the praise of God." — John 12:43

This is a usage of agape (the verb form is agapao) that is often overlooked. In this kind of context, there is a different emphasis that emerges (which is true of many Greek words).

• “Agape has to do with the mind: it is not simply an emotion which rises unbidden in our hearts; it is a principle by which we deliberately live.” – William Barclay

• “Agape is called out of one’s heart by the preciousness of the object loved. It is a love of esteem, of evaluation. It has the idea of prizing.” https://www.mcleanbible.org/sites/default/files/Multiply-Resources/Chap3/GreekWordsforLoveWS_Chapter3.pdf]

• Agapao is a "discriminating affection which involves choice and selection." (biblehub.com)

So when I talk about love in this context, I’m talking about deliberately living in a way that shows esteem or value of something or someone as a precious, beloved prize. Here are some (admittedly weak) analogies:

• I have some Michael Jordan cards that I value. I take good care of them; I protect them. I also have cards of no name journeyman and I don’t care a bit about them.

• I have a puzzle in my office – a picture of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling - that I shellacked and framed and have it sitting where I can see it every time I walk in to the office.

• I have family photo albums at home. If there is a fire, I want those first.

I deliberately live in a way that shows esteem or value of a precious, beloved prize. In terms of my lifestyle, there are things I love in this sense as well.

• I value my health, so I go to the gym regularly. I spend money for a membership. I buy clothes and accessories that help me. I study. I get advice from other lifters (#AJ).

• I value this job, so I study the Bible, I prepare, I pray, I live submitted to others for accountability, I rest, I listen to podcasts, I buy books, I ask for wisdom from others when I’m in over my head.

• I value my marriage, so I invest time, energy, and money in my marriage constantly. We spend money on dates nights, on counseling, on vacation together. We listen to sermons and podcasts. We've been to conferences. We seek counsel from others.

In all these things, I am deliberately living in a way that shows esteem or value for something I prize. And the Bible is clear: We can do this for the things of God or the world. We can deliberately make choices to value pornography over purity; wrath over gentleness; gossip over self-control; greed over generosity; hatred over love; resentment over forgiveness.

I’m sure we don’t think of these things as a something we prize, but when we choose them - or when we choose to stay in them - we deliberately live in a way that shows that we esteem or values that over something else.

You might say, “But I don’t like that I use pornography; I don’t like that I keep giving in to gossip; I don’t like that I nourish resentment.” I hear you. We do things we don’t like or that makes us dislike ourselves all the time. That’s because this isn’t about what we like (an emotional response). It’s about what we love (a purposeful choice to value one thing over another).

What we habitually do reveals who or what we consistently love. Our habits reveal our hearts.

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are not a slave to sin (Galatians 4:7; Romans 6:18). In other words, God is stronger than habitual, ongoing sins. The process of living in God-given freedom may be a long and arduous journey as you deal with influences that have formed you (and sometimes formed you deeply), but you don’t have to be stuck in repeated, habitual patterns of sin.

God did not make you a puppet; He has given you the agency to decide what you value more: the freedom that comes from serving Christ, or the continued bondage to habitual patterns of sin. And you will choose a path, and that path will show what you value. It will show what you love. Joshua told the children of Israel:

“Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if you be unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”(Joshua 24:14-15)

You will choose a path for your life, and that path will show what you value. Elisabeth Elliot, whose husband was killed while on mission work (read Through Gates Of Splendor) once wrote:“When obedience to God contradicts what I think will bring me pleasure, let me ask myself if I love him.”

This isn’t a word about perfection. It can’t be. Look in the Bible: David was “after God’s heart” and he was at times a hot mess. Peter denied his faith at one point. Abraham was willing to let Abimelech add Sarah to his harem to save his skin. But they repented, and re-committed themselves to esteeming and valuing God as their precious, beloved prize. So this is not about the perfection of every moment. It’s about a direction, a trajectory, a commitment of your life in spite of times of failure. 

Agape love describes a chosen commitment and focus. It’s about habits and patterns. It’s about taking up our cross, dying daily, and presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice because we believe in Jesus and we want to give our life to him as an act of honor in worship.[ii] And if we are who we love (or we become like that which we love), we are in the midst of the life-long process of being transformed into the image of Jesus.

REPENTANCE

Loving God is deliberately living in a way that shows that we esteem or value Jesus and righteousness as a precious, beloved prize. It means we orient our life around Jesus (“What did Jesus do? What would he have me do?”)

Repentance is a call to transfer our agape love to God from anything else and keep it there. It’s turning from sin, shifting our gaze, focusing on Jesus. It means we value and prize not just the person of Jesus but also the path of Jesus. In the Bible, obedience to God and love of God are very tightly connected.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you…

He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him… If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  He who does not love me does not keep my words…” (John 14:15-24, excerpted)

I don’t know how many times I went up to the altar to rededicate my life to Jesus when I was in my teens and 20’s. I think the reason I kept going back was that I never really repented. I felt sorry in an emotional moment, which is a different thing. I never turned around from following my own law and kept God’s commandments – or I did for a couple weeks, and then slipped right back into those old habits. My life was changed when I realized how closely intertwined repentance was with obedience, that love could not be separated from the orientation of the habits of my life. 

We say “I’m sorry” pretty casually at times. If we really mean it, we stop doing the thing that we said we were sorry for. Or at least – imperfect people that we are – we commit our lives to turning the ship. We pray, we get counseling, we put ourselves in accountability, we study, we do the hard work of repentance. It doesn’t mean we will be perfect, but we demonstrate the reality of our repentance by our re-commitment to obedience to God. We can’t do it alone; we will stumble along the way. Be at peace. God, who is rich in mercy and full of grace, will be faithful to keep doing the things only God can do in our hearts and minds.

Third, focus on Jesus. Read the gospels. Study the person and work of Jesus. Sing about Jesus. Pray in worship of Jesus. Commit yourself to living in the path of life that Jesus has laid out for us. That must include filling yourself with truth, which is can be found not just in Scripture but in teachings, books, podcasts, counseling, and mentoring. [iii] I hope this is something you see happening at CLG consistently, but we can’t do it enough. You are going to need to “feed yourselves” too.

One thing that stands out to me: a life characterized by love of God looks very, very compelling: responsible, open, forgiving, humble, self-controlled, loving, generous, content. That’s why Jesus said his yoke of obedience is easy, and his burden of sacrifice is light (Matthew 11:30). It brings abundant goodness and life (John 10:10).

God’s desire is that we flourish as His children in His Kingdom for His glory. His path is for us; it is the ‘after care’ plan that leads us ever more deeply into the spiritual healing and transformed life that only Jesus can bring. I will close with David’s encouragement: ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good (really dive in and experience it!); blessed are those who trust in him.” (Psalm 34:8)

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[1] There’s more but these are the big three!

[i] Read a book called Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes for more examples.

[ii] Obedience is ideally meant to point us toward the goodness of the one to whom we are obedient.

• My Crossfit training pointed me toward my instructor’s wisdom.

• Following a coach’s instruction reveals a coach’s good plan. ‘Buying in’ to the coach’s system is the same as ‘buying in’ to the coach.

• Following the directions and creating a tasty dish – especially when I am skeptical about the combination of ingredients - points me toward the creative wonder of a good chef.

There is something about the process of obedience that points us to the one who gave the commands. Walking in the path of Jesus helps us to appreciate the person of Jesus. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8) carries with it the idea of experiencing God, and in the context of the Psalms it so often has to do with obedience.

[iii] I really recommend starting with Philip Yancey’s The Jesus I Never Knew.