Harmony #69: Parables of the Lost Son, Lost Sheep & Lost Coin (Luke 15:1-32)

Last week, we read in Luke that Jesus had just told the Pharisees that when they host an elaborate meal, they should be inviting the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind: basically, those that polite religious society had written off for reasons we talked about last week. Then he told the parable of the Great Banquet, where he showed that even though all are invited to the spiritual feast at God’s table, those who look to be the most obvious guests aren’t that interested, and those who look to be the least likely guests are elated to join the feast. Cue 3 parables.

 Now all the tax collectors[1] and sinners were coming to hear him. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Sharing a meal was regarded as a sign of social acceptance in Eastern culture.[2] To the Pharisees, this kind of gesture appeared to validate the sin of those with whom Jesus was eating.[3] Jesus is having none of it. He is valuing people by giving them the dignity of treating them as image bearers of God, worth relational investment simply because they have an inherent value and dignity given to them by God.

Clearly, his presence changed people as his character and teaching introduced them to the Kingdom of God. #Zaccheus  However, the text doesn’t say everybody he ate with began to follow him. It doesn’t mean everyone we ‘share a meal’ with will want to follow Jesus. That didn’t stop Jesus from dining with all, and it shouldn’t stop us either.

To be sure, Scripture warns against too close of fellowship with those who revel in their sin (Psalm 1:1; Proverbs 1:15; 14:7) out of concern it might draw us into sinful, destructive behavior (as the parable of the Prodigal Son will make clear today). We need to know ourselves, our weaknesses, our boundaries. But in this instance, the influence is going the other direction.[4]  #salt #light

So Jesus told them this parable: “Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and he loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it? Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

 Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent. [5]

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them,[6] does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it? Then when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

These coins, by the way, were probably worn as a headdress or on a necklace. They represented her savings and perhaps formed part of her dowry. Losing it would be shameful as well as financially problematic (it’s 10% of her wealth).[7]

Then Jesus said, “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that will belong to me.’[8] So he divided his assets between them. After a few days, the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle.

Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and worked for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He was longing to eat the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. [9]

“But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food enough to spare, but here I am dying from hunger! I will get up and go to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.[10] I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers. So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way from home his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him. Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

But the father said to his slaves, ‘Hurry! Bring the best robe, and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Bring the fattened calf and kill it![11] Let us eat and celebrate, because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again—he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

Now his older son was in the field. As he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the slaves and asked what was happening. The slave replied, ‘Your brother has returned, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he got his son back safe and sound.’

But the older son became angry and refused to go in.[12] His father came out and appealed to him, but he answered his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never disobeyed your commands.[13] Yet you never gave me even a goat[14] so that I could celebrate with my friends! But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’

Then the father said to him, ‘My son,[15] you are always with me, and everything that belongs to me is yours. It was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’ “ [16]

There are so many things one can take away from this story.

1.  Note the different circumstances:

• the lost sheep wandered and gave up (lost sheep usually lie down and gives up on trying to find its way back)[17]

• the lost coin ‘fell away’ from a necklace or a headdress

• the lost son rebelled (both sons did, actually, but in very different ways).

 It’s a good reminder that there are different reasons why people are far from the Father or not in fellowship in the household of His Kingdom. Their reason for being where they are is not as important as the response of the God character in all the parables. God is portrayed as both seeking them out and waiting eagerly for their restoration.

2.  They are all precious.

“We should also recognize that our search is for something precious, costly and dear just like the coin the woman has lost…She does not argue that the loss of one is not a tragedy, because there are still nine left. It is not the quantity that counts, but the value of each coin as an individual piece. It does not matter whether it was a large or small coin…all are her coins!  

Likewise, as individuals we are each valued by God. Each of us is a unique being because of the dignity and value that God has conferred upon us. Nobody should regard herself or himself as low, useless, rotten and unproductive. And because each of us is unique, it matters deeply when one of us is lost. The loss of one is as serious as the loss of all…  Because each of us is so precious, we must also constantly be searching for ways to guarantee that no human life will be lost, degraded, exploited, abused or violated.” (Africa Bible Commentary)

3.  God is a seeking, caring God.

“What is revealed about the character of God is value he places on even the least deserving and the care he extends to such people. God is not passive, waiting for people to approach him after they get their lives in order. He is a seeking God who takes the initiative to bring people back, regardless of how ‘lost’ they are.”[18] 

And if we take our cues from God, that’s our position also. We are not called to be judgmental, dismissive, cold, or aloof toward those who are lost, wandering, fallen or rebellious. We are called to move closer to them, to seek them out, to run toward them and embrace them when we see them, and to rejoice in restoration.

4.  The lost things did not lose their status; they all remained within the claim of the owner:

• it was still the shepherd’s sheep, just lost in its wandering;

• it was still the woman’s coin, just lost in its hiding

• the boys were still their Father’s sons, just lost in their own unique rebellions

 God is not only searching for them, He is longing for their return into fellowship. This gives hope not only to the “tax collectors and sinners,” but to the very Pharisees who are bringing charges against Jesus. These are parables of hope, after all. God’s heart is restoration.

5.  The prodigal son had insulted his father. Asking for that which you would normally get when your father died was viewed as wishing he was dead. Then, he sold what his father gave him (including land!) and left the household (think ‘lived outside the parameters of the Kingdom’). He indulged himself on extravagant sin, thinking that was the path to the good life (#Solomon #Ecclesiastes), but it led him to pain, loss and shame. Even all the friends he had when he had money left him. He appears to experience regret because the consequences of his sin have left him destitute.[19] It wakes him up.

6.  His rehearsed speech was this:” “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.” The hired worker was a day laborer. He wasn't asking to live in the house. He’s just asking for provision from the Father that he earns and takes with him. However,

“The prodigal declares that he is not worthy of his own identity and wants something less, but he is no hired hand. Grace lets you be who are supposed to be even though you do not deserve to or may not want to.”[20]

7.  His father begins running toward him before he can say a word. In the context, it sure looks like the father has been faithfully watching the road. The father ran. That’s embarrassing already, be he would likely have lifted up his robe to run better, which is even more embarrassing. Kenneth Bailey, author of The Cross & the Prodigal, explains that if a Jewish son lost his inheritance among Gentiles, and then returned home, the community would perform a ceremony (kezazah) in which they would break a large pot in front of the prodigaland yell, “You are now cut off from your people!” So, why did the father run? He probably ran not only because he was glad to see the son returning, but also in order to get to his son before the son entered the village and was rejected by the people.[21] 

8. The son manages to say the first part of his planned speech (“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”) The Father cuts him off before he can make the request to be merely a servant and basically yells, “Son!” before giving him the clothes of a son.

“He receives [him] cordially, affectionately - takes [him] to his bosom; for so the word implies. What mercy! Jesus receives sinners in the most loving, affectionate manner, and saves them unto eternal life! Reader, give glory to God for ever!” (Adam Clarke)

9. Note the elation/celebration for the 1 in all three stories. It wasn’t as if the other 99, or 9, or the older son didn’t matter. As the father tells the son, “You are always with me, and everything that belongs to me is yours.” Sounds a lot like, “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

There is something here that calls out jealousy, pride and entitlement. When we have lost the ability to let the spotlight shine on someone else and to join in a celebration of the lost being found or the spiritually dead finding new spiritual life, we are really far from the heart of the Father. We have lost the heart of the Kingdom.

Those who are not lost wandering, fallen away or rebellions have been living with full access to all that belongs to the Father. They were living in a Kingdom full of the resources of the King. The idea that Older Son here can’t rejoice is a tragic commentary on his heart. In fact…he may be as prodigal as his brother. It’s just not as obvious.

10.  Note the way entitlement, pride and jealousy bring out the worst in the older brother.

He refuses to enter the home during a village-wide celebration, which shamed his father.

• He calls his own brother “your son” rather than “my brother” – which the Father corrects by calling the Prodigal “your brother.”

• He complains about not getting a goat; meanwhile, “All that I have is yours!” Like, he could have had a feast anytime.

• ·    He doesn’t address his Father properly when he speaks to him. He starts with, “Look!” which to Jesus audience was very disrespectful.

• Also, note that once the party started, no one went to get him. Everyone else seems very comfortable not having him around.

 The entitlement, pride and jealousy of the Older Brother are just as destructive as the kind of living the Prodigal embraced. The destructiveness just isn’t as easy to spot, because it exists behind a façade of good works. Yet in the end, who is rejoicing to be with the Father? The son who experienced forgiveness and grace.

11.  Note how the Father says to the older brother, “‘My son, you are always with me, and everything that belongs to me is yours. It was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’” He doesn’t reject him. He pulls him closer, reminds him of his status, and corrects him oh, so gently. Both sons were wrong. Both need correction that leads to repentance to redirect their hearts and hands into that which brings life, not death. Both sons remained loved by the Father. Don’t forget, it’s the kindness of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4); we see it demonstrated here for both sons.

12.  The parable ends on a somber note. It’s not clear if the older son joins the banquet of celebration. He can – he is welcome and wanted. Will his injured pride and sense of entitlement stop him from rejoicing and feasting because his own younger brother, who was lost and dead, is now found and alive? Will he be able to see the miracle in front of him – the spiritually dead was brought back to life; that precious family member presumed lost is now back and ready to live fully in the Father’s house?

“While the ending is disappointing, the image people are left with at the end of this parable is an image of the waiting, running, embracing, kissing and partying One who has compassion for the lost who are still a long way off (15:20) and for those who have always been near (15:31).  

A banquet of great joy is provided by this waiting One, who is none other than the waiting, running, embracing, partying and kissing God. The parable describes God’s goodness, grace, boundless mercy and abundant love.” (Africa Bible Commentary)

_______________________________________________________________________

[1] “Tax collectors were regarded with special contempt as they were widely considered by the people to be agents of their oppressors.” (NKJV Evangelical Study Bible)

[2] NKJV Evangelical Study Bible

[3] Rabbi Ishmael wrote in Mekhilta Amalek, “Let a man never associate with a wicked person, not even for the purpose of bringing him near the Torah.” (Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables of Jesus, by Klyne Snodgrass)

[4] NIV Cultural Background Study Bible

[5] “Walking in his footsteps as he searches for the lost is not easy in a world burdened with lost sheep in the form of refugees and those affected by slavery, colonialism, dictatorship, the debt burden, HIV/AIDS, unemployment, homelessness, sexual abuse and gender inequality. (Africa Bible Commentary)

[7] NIV Women’s Study Bible

[8] “Demanding one’s share of the inheritance before the father died was tantamount to saying, “I wish you were dead”; an ancient audience might have expected the father to discipline the son, perhaps by beating him.” (NIV Cultural Background Study Bible)

[9] “Moralists commonly observed that those who were friends only for the sake of pleasure would abandon one when the money ran out. A normal ancient story might have ended here, with an obvious moral for listeners: don’t disrespect and abandon your father, or you might end up like this! Yet Jesus’ story continues.” (NIV Cultural Background Study Bible)

[10] A very different phrase from King David after his sin with Bathsheba and killing of her husband, when he wrote in the Psalms, “Against you only (God) have I sinned….”

[11] “Would feed the entire village. A person of means invited as many people as possible to a major celebration.” (NIV Cultural Background Study Bible)

[12] “Ancient hearers might have expected the father to discipline this son. The father…going outside to entreat him reinforces the humiliation.” (NIV Cultural Background Study Bible)

[13] “Failure to greet his father with a title (“Father” or “Sir”) was offensive.”  (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[14] “ ‘The one who seems to himself to be righteous, who does not see the beam in his own eye, becomes angry when forgiveness is granted to one who confesses his sin and begs for mercy.” (Ambrose, quoted in the Orthodox Study Bible)

[15] “The father reaffirms his love for the elder brother; the way is open for him — and for Jesus’ religious critics - if they are willing.” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[16] Interesting take from Eastern Orthodoxy: “The [shepherd], the woman, and the father are seen as representing Christ, the Church, and God the Father. ‘Christ carries the sinner, the Church seeks and intercedes, and the Father receives.’” (Orthodox Study Bible)

[17] Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables of Jesus, by Klyne Snodgrass

[18] Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables of Jesus, by Klyne Snodgrass

[19] One of the forms of the “wrath of God” is reaping what we sow. See the Bible Project’s “Saved From God’s Wrath.” https://bibleproject.com/podcast/saved-from-gods-wrath/#:~:text=God%20demonstrates%20his%20wrath%20by,which%20ultimately%20leads%20to%20death

[20] Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables of Jesus, by Klyne Snodgrass

[21] https://www.biola.edu/blogs/biola-magazine/2010/the-prodigal-sons-father-shouldnt-have-run

Harmony #29: The Bottle And The Jar Luke 7:36-50

Last week, Jesus called out the Pharisees for refusing to properly mourn when called to repentance, and refusing to properly celebrate when they see the Kingdom of God being offered to all. In the incident which follows, we have an illustration of both the fruit of repentance and the beautiful, life-changing offer of the Kingdom to all.

Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman[1] (Luke 7:36-50)
 Now one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table.

When a woman of that town,[2] who used to be[3] a sinner, learned that Jesus was dining at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfumed oil. As she stood behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. She wiped them with her hair, kissed them,[4] and anointed them with the perfumed oil.[5]

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.” So Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” He replied, “Say it, Teacher.”

“A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty.  When they could not pay, he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.” Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

 44 Then, turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman?

I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss of greeting, but from the time she entered she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfumed oil.

Therefore I tell you, because her many sins have been forgiven, she has loved much; but the one who is forgiven little loves little.”[6] Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”[7] But those who were at the table with him began to say to themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” He said to the woman, “Your faith [the faith I have given you][8] has saved you; go in peace.”

* * * * *

I want to unpack this story, then apply it. Here are some things that stand out to me about this story.

1.    The Bible doesn’t say why she was sinful. Tradition says she was a prostitute, perhaps because when the Bible describes Jesus as eating with “tax collectors and sinners” (as the Pharisees did a couple paragraphs earlier), that seems to be a phrase that typically includes prostitutes. It would make sense that one of the Pharisees’ derided ‘sinners’ would show up in this next event.

2.    If a Jewish woman was a prostitute – and this woman seems to be Jewish - then an entire community had failed to keep the Law of Moses. There was no way a woman should have had to resort to prostitution. The Pharisees, as the teachers and defenders of the Law,should have made sure she was taken care of. They apparently didn't.

3.    When guests arrived for a meal, servants typically washed and anointed them with perfumed oils. This did not happen to Jesus. Simon was not a great host. But, to be sure, Jesus had just compared him to children that don’t know how to properly mourn in repentance or rejoice in salvation, so….

4.    The guests reclined as the ate, lying on one side, feet behind them. That’s how the woman had easy access to Jesus’ feet.

5.    Nobody asked this woman to leave and nobody stopped her from anointing Jesus’ feet, even though it’s clear they knew her and her reputation. That’s intriguing to me.  Simon didn’t rebuke her or remove her when she touched Jesus, an act that a Pharisee should never have let happen to a rabbi.

6.    Simon saw this as a test. Would Jesus know secret information about this woman? He would, if he was truly a prophet. Well, the joke’s on Simon: Jesus demonstrated Simon’s expectation of a prophet knowing private things by responding to Simon’s interior thoughts.[9]

7.    What are these tears? Sorrow? Regret? Joy? Relief? Love? Hope? The Bible doesn’t say. Yes to all?  I remember after watching Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and A Monster Calls, I sobbed what I will call beautiful and terrible tears. How can they be both? They just can. It tore my heart and filled my soul. Some of my best soul-cleansing cries not involving movies have been on the other side of repentance when I am overwhelmed first by what I have done, and then by the goodness, grace, mercy and love of God and others who forgive me, love me, and truly believe that my history is not my destiny.

8.    Some think that “washing his feet with tears” was more than just tears in the moment. Keeping tears in a bottle, or a container, was a thing.[10] This bottle was a history of the hardship of one’s life. When a person was buried, the tear bottle was buried with her. If these were tears from her tear bottle, it tells you how deeply this woman was invested in Jesus.

9.      Drying his feet with her hair sounds odd to us, but in that culture, a woman’s hair was her glory. She was indicating to everyone there that her own glory was good enough only to wash Jesus’ feet.[11] I don’t know what the equivalent is today. Whatever it is, it has something to do with laying down our pride and perhaps offering that which the world sees as making our name great and surrendering it for the purposes of making Jesus’ name great.

10.  Kissing the feet of someone was unusual, but not unheard of.

·      When Rabbi Papi (360 AD) got a man acquitted of murder, the man kissed his feet, and paid his taxes for him for the rest of his life.

·      Rabbi Yannai and Rabbi Jonathan (220 AD) were hanging out when a man came up and kissed Rabbi Jonathan’s feet. Jonathan explained that the man was having trouble with his son, so Jonathan told him get some men to rebuke and correct his son. When the matter turned out well, the man had showed his appreciation by kissing his feet.[12]

·      “The kissing of the feet is clearly not a kiss among equals or a kiss of familiarity, relation, or intimacy. It is a kiss of profound thankfulness and indebtedness. It is a kiss used to express that one’s life is much improved because of the one being kissed, or even that one owes his/her life itself to the one being kissed. It is a kiss reserved for a savior.”[13]

11. Jesus seems to have met her before. He says she loved much because she had been forgiven much.  For you grammar nerds, the verb tenses matter in this story. She ‘used to be’ a ‘sinner,’ though Simon clearly thinks she still ‘is.’ Her sins ‘have been forgiven,’ an indication of something that already happened. Her love was the effect of her being pardoned, not the cause of it. The woman’s acts of reverence to Jesus honored him as the one who had brought God’s message of grace to her. The tears and the perfume are a response of thankfulness and love. She is one of His children.

"Thanks to thee, most blessed sinner: thou hast shown the world a safe enough place for sinners - the feet of Jesus, which spurn none, reject none, repel none, and receive and admit all.”[14]

Jesus offers her something the Pharisees never could: hope. If tradition is correct, she became one of his disciples - not the 12, but there were many more that traveled with him, including women (see Luke 8:1-3). In Luke 10:1, Jesus sent out 70! As a follower/disciple of Jesus, she was taken care of in a way she was not before, not just spiritually but practically.

* * * * *

It’s often said of stories that readers connect well to the power of a story when they find themselves in the story. So let’s look at the two characters other than Jesus and see if we recognize ourselves.

THE PHARISEE

How hospitable are we to Jesus? Jesus isn’t going to walk in the front door of our house, but he’s knocking on the door of our hearts. (Revelation 3:20.) Do we let him in to clean house? Do we, like Simon, let him in but refuse to show hospitality, reverence, and humility? “Fine, I guess you can be here. Try not to touch anything.” Jesus isn’t someone to be dabbled with, like a hobby or a pet or a toy. He’s not a curiosity to amuse us. He’s a savior set on saving; a shepherd set on directing and caring for us; a King setting up a Kingdom.

Do we see the greatness of our Debt Forgiver? If I am hiking along the Boardman and I wander off the trail a couple yards, I’m not going to be impressed if someone comes running up to me, grabs me by the hand and says, “I found you!” Yeah, I wasn’t that lost. If I am two days off road into an Alaskan forest, with no supplies and suffering from hypothermia, whoever finds me is going to have my life-long gratitude.

How honest are we about how lost we were or are? How honest are we about our need for a Savior? This incident reveals that our response to Jesus comes from experiencing His gracious love for us, demonstrated by paying the debt for our sins and bringing new life to our dying souls. (1 John 4:19)

When we refuse to take our lostness seriously, we won’t see the value of our Savior clearly. This doesn’t mean we have to beat ourselves up everyday. This could go off the rails and turn into a shame-based life if all we do is walk around telling ourselves on repeat that we are losers.

We don’t have to be pulled out of a pit every day to remember the days we are pulled out of a pit. We don’t have to be undone every day to remember the days we were undone – and restored.  We don’t have to be crushed every day by the weight of our sin to remember the days we were crushed – and Jesus took the weight and lifted us up. Those who know they are forgiven much love much. Let’s not look away from the messy and uncomfortable and crucial process of repentance.

What ‘sinners’ are we refusing to love into the Kingdom of God?

The Pharisee knew about the woman. She seemed more like a tool in his test of Jesus than a human being deserving of love - which would have been demonstrated by taking care of her financially and bringing her into the care of the community of God’s people rather than forcing her to the fringes and ignoring her.

·      What sinners do we think are such great sinners that we have lost our love and concern for their physical and spiritual well-being?

·      With what sinners have we contented ourselves with “othering” them in their uncleanness and sin and keeping them at arms’ length lest they dare get to close to us and make us dirty?

·      Who is it we have stopped loving so much that we have stopped going to them and demonstrating, with our words and lives, the good news of the person of Jesus and the community of His church?

Honestly, as I scroll throught the news, I see such fear, anger and disdain directed toward certain individuals and groups of people right now by Christians. When the people of Jesus put those vibes out, why would we expect others to think Jesus feels any differently about them? And where is the compelling good news of the Gospel in that?

There is campaign right now seeking to boost Jesus’ PR. It’s called “He Gets Us.” I am not here to criticize them; I appreciate their hearts. But you know what? If people already knew that from their interaction with the people of Jesus, we wouldn’t need that campaign. And if someone believes the ads and joins a local church but doesn’t experience from the people of Jesus what the ad promised was true about Jesus, the ad won’t matter.

What sinners are we refusing to love into the Kingdom? If we see ourselves in the story in the person of the Pharisee, we’ve got some repenting to do. To use Jesus’ analogy last week, the music is a dirge, and it’s time to mourn.  

THE WOMAN

What brought her to Jesus? The merciful kindness and love of a Savior. Maybe this is you. You have experienced the grace and forgiveness of God, and perhaps experienced it flowing through others. Her response of love, service and adoration makes sense to you. You were the hiker two days out in the wilderness.

When I get my checkups with the doctor who fixed my heart, I have this unavoidable feeling of tenderness and thankfulness. I’m always like, “Hey, thanks again,” which feels totally inadequate.  And he only saved my physical life, and only once. But the one who saves our souls and continues to save, deliver, and heal? The more we see and understand the profound gift of God’s redemption, the more we live in such a way that our lives give out a constant testimony of “Hey! Thanks again!”

Or…maybe this isn’t you, but it’s who you want to relate to in the story. You haven’t experienced this, and you are desperate to know that you are valued and loved by God, and you want to experience forgiveness, restoration and peace that has been so elusive.

Good news: Jesus offers that to you.[15]  “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

What tears do we bring? Repentance? Weariness? Cynicism? Bitterness? Loneliness? Disillusionment? Pain? Sorrow? Joy? Relief? Beauty? Longing?

I suspect we store up those tears; we just do it in our hearts instead of a bottle.

Sometimes it’s just memories, things we hold close because to lose them, even if they are painful, feels like a loss. Life in its fullness has been beautiful and terrible, and we don’t want to forget who we were and who we are, because the entire story matters. That seems like a good and healthy thing.

But sometimes it looks like this: “Do you know what all I’ve been through? I deserve…” Then that bottle of tears become an identity, an obsession, a prison, an addiction, a card to play to excuse and avoid and defend and demand.

I wonder what it looks like to pour that bottle out at the feet of Jesus.  It’s giving up the right to have the final word, to get revenge, to demand pity, to hide behind our history, to cling to the toxic safety that we know and therefore feels comfortable.

What tears do we bring? How might we pour out those tears to Jesus?[16]

With what acts of adoration do we seek to make his name great?

The perfume was a costly act of adoration. We aren’t going to pour out perfume literally like she did, but there are other ways. In 2 Corinthians 2:14, Paul wrote,

“Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”

He told the church in Philippi that he had,

“…received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.”

David wrote in the Psalms 141:2,

“May my prayer be like special perfume before You. May the lifting up of my hands be like the evening gift given on the altar in worship.“

It’s in costly but sweet-smelling offering of our lives, our fellowship, and our focus that we best respond to the love of our Savior.[17]  We tell others about Jesus; we offer our testimonies; we live honestly so others can see the ongoing work God is doing in us; we enter into the family and church community rhythms of repentance and forgiveness; we seek, as image bearers, to more clearly embody truth, justice, mercy, love.

We have been forgiven much, and it’s glorious. May we love God and others much in return.

__________________________________________________________________________________

[1] https://www.billmounce.com/monday-with-mounce/bible-contradiction-sinful-woman-luke-7-36-50

[2] “The widespread belief that she was Mary Magdalene has absolutely not a single jot or tittle of evidence in Scripture. Nor can there be said to be anything like even a tradition in its favor. The earliest Fathers of the Church are silent. Origen discusses and rejects it. Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine are doubtful. It first gained general acceptance through the authority of Gregory the Great.”  (Ellicott’s Commentary)

[3] “Refers here to the time past, though lately past; she had lately been infamous and notorious, but it appears by what follows that she was not so now, other than in the opinion…of the people.’  (Matthew Poole’s Commentary)

[4] “Among the ancients the kissing of the feet was a proof of deep veneration, which was manifested especially to Rabbins.” (Meyer’s NT Commentary) 

[5] ‘This was doubtless one of the implements of her guilty condition (Proverbs 7:17, Isaiah 3:24), and her willingness to sacrifice it was a sign of her sincere repentance.”  (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)

[6] Jesus emphasized that Simon never understood the depth of his guilt. If he had, he would have viewed Jesus as the woman did.  

[7] “Turning again to the woman, in her deep penitence, and at the same time in her deep joy - joy springing from her newly found peace - he formally renews to her the assurance of that pardon which she already was conscious of…” (Pulpit Commentary)

[8] See an extensive discussion on faith as a gift from God at https://biblehub.com/greek/4102.htm

[9] Jesus had already shown he had prophetic insight into people’s lives. #Samaritanwoman

[10] In Psalm 56, David mentions the tear bottle.

[11] https://confidenceandjoy.com/washed-his-feet-with-her-tears/

[12] https://breadforbeggars.com/2013/06/a-kiss-on-the-feet-a-gospel-commentary-by-nathan-biebert/

[13] https://breadforbeggars.com/2013/06/a-kiss-on-the-feet-a-gospel-commentary-by-nathan-biebert/

[14] Bernard, as quoted in Vincent’s Word Studies

[15] Great song for meditation: “Your Kindness,” by Leslie Phillips

[16] Great song for meditation: “Tenth Avenue North, “Greater Than All My Regrets”

[17] Great Song for meditation: “My Jesus,” Anne Wilson

Some Thoughts About The Asbury Awakening

I’ve waded through a lot of hot takes, knee-jerk reactions, profound reflections, critiques, praises, and personal testimonies the past two weeks concerning the events in Asbury. First, I am going to give a biased overview of what’s happening (‘happened’) at Asbury. That’s my cards on the table. I think a good thing – not a perfect thing - happened, and I’m feeling a little protective of it. Second, I want to offer some thoughts on how good things can go bad if we aren’t careful.

It began after a chapel message in an expositional series on Romans.  The speaker thought his message from Romans 12 had completely flopped. I listened to the message.[1] It was an excellent challenge about the importance of humbly serving and loving other people as Jesus would have us love them. It started like this:

“I hope you guys forget me but anything from the Holy Spirit and God’s Word would find fertile ground in your hearts and produce fruit. Romans 12. That’s the star, okay? God’s Word and Jesus and the Holy Spirit moving in our midst, that’s what we’re hoping for.”

After he challenged them to love others with the love of Jesus, he noted that doing this sounds impossible, and it is – unless we have Jesus. He reminded the students that our ability to love others well will come from the love Jesus has shown to us flowing out of us; in my words, we can only pay forward what God has given to us through Jesus. He gave them a particular challenge: if you are having trouble loving others well, you need to pray that you understand and experience the love of Jesus. That’s the only way it will work.

I’ve heard some criticism of this sermon for not preaching “the whole gospel.”  Listen. It was one of three-times-a-week chapels at a Christian college in an expositional series on Romans. This sermon had a particular focus on a particular morning. It was great. Speaking as a pastor who preaches a lot, if someone would take one isolated sermon and judge me or our church based on that one sermon, I would find it grossly unfair. It’s like judging the plot or message of a book based on one chapter. Sermons (and chapels at Christian colleges) occur in a much broader context. Speakers don’t cover everything every time. Everybody relax.

The next unexpected spark in what would become a fire was a public confession/repentance from a student shortly after that message as about a dozen students lingered in the chapel. I don't know what this student confessed, but if it built from the message, it was inspired by a conviction to love others well. One student reported that, in the following days, she observed students who couldn’t stand each other praying together and reconciling.[2] That tracks with the focus of the sermon.

It quickly swelled as a grass roots movement characterized by repentance and personal renewal/refreshing. Remember: the focus was on the importance of understanding and experiencing the love of Jesus – which is what many are reporting to have felt strongly. To criticize this moment for not necessarily going beyond that seems to me to be unfair. There is biblical precedent for what they are describing.

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19-20).

Meanwhile, there was a lot of Scripture reading interspersed, a sermon every night, clear calls to repentance,[3] and people making first-time decisions to follow Jesus.  

What’s happening seems to have tapped into particular longings. I will quote one Asbury student whose voice stands in for many of the interviews I have read:

“It's been a really hard couple of years, and not just for me but for a lot of my friends, and I just felt like the Lord was releasing me from a lot of bitterness and anger that I've had just about all kinds of stuff, even some of it towards God and so I would say for me personally, the biggest word I can use is that it's been a very, very healing experience for me."[4]

A theology professor at Asbury’s seminary noted, 

“The mix of hope and joy and peace is indescribably strong and indeed almost palpable—a vivid and incredibly powerful sense of shalom. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is undeniably powerful but also so gentle… 

Sometimes God does what Jonathan Edwards called “surprising work” and what John Wesley referred to as “extraordinary” ministry. I firmly believe that much of what is important and vital in the Christian life happens in the everyday moments—in the daily disciplines and liturgies…in the in-the-moment decisions to pursue righteousness, in acts of sacrificial love of neighbor, in prayers breathed in quiet desperation. 

I know that these “extraordinary” acts of God are no replacement for the “ordinary” ministry of the Holy Spirit through Word and sacrament. Likewise, the “surprising” works of God are not a substitute for the long road of discipleship. If that were the case…we would be dependent on this experience—rather than the Holy Spirit who graciously gives the experience—to sustain us. 

But I also believe that we should be willing to recognize and celebrate these astounding encounters with the Holy Spirit. Our Lord promises that those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” will be filled. He promised that he would send “another Comforter” - and indeed that it would be better for him to go away and send his Spirit. And anyone who has spent time in Hughes Auditorium over the past few days can testify that this promised Comforter is present and powerful.”[5]

I’ve read some dismissive remarks: “It’s just personal refreshment.” Oh, do you mean that the Holy Spirit – the Comforter – is comforting (as the Spirit always does?) Sometimes the Good Shepherd leads us beside still waters and restores our souls. People are experiencing God’s loving grace of in seasons of desperation. God forbid we dismiss the work of the Holy Spirit in comforting and refreshing people. 

The leadership of the college has been rejecting celebrity involvement. There are no faces you would know on the stage.[6] The student involvement is organic, and from all accounts, humble. There is no one person who is the face of this – nobody (that I have seen) has reported going there to see or hear Person X. The leaders are actively stopping people who start to “hijack the meeting.”[7] Lawon Stone, a professor at the seminary, said in an interview,

“Word comes that on Wednesday a group will be in town trying to preach and hold meetings that, to say the least, do not embody the humility, peacefulness, and focus on Jesus that has characterized recent days. The institutions have made it clear they are not welcome, but they assert their "right" to come and speak. 

 I would like to suggest we give them the Deuteronomy 13:1-4 treatment: IGNORE THEM. To a false prophet, to be ignored is almost worse than death. Don't engage them, don't be uncivil to them. Just ignore them…Let's beware of any voices that direct us to anything other than Jesus.”[8]

The leadership of the college has kept good structure so that things are done “decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40). They have an ABC structure to testimonies: All glory to God alone; Brief, and Current. When the chapel staff opened up the microphone for testimonies, they started vetting them first… “Saturday and Sunday, we were asked all day long, ‘Can I give a word? “Well, tell us your word first.”[9] They protected what was happening from other potential derailments as well.[10] From an article in Christianity Today about how the leadership at the college was working hard to steward this gift God had given to them:

The shofars didn’t start until Saturday. With them came the would-be prophets seeking to take center stage at the Asbury University chapel where students had been praying and praising God since Wednesday morning; the would-be leaders who wanted to claim the revival for their ministries, their agendas, and celebrity; and the would-be disrupters, coming to break up whatever was happening at the small Christian school in Kentucky with heckling, harangues, and worse…

When someone started blowing on a shofar…the chapel staff didn’t have a protocol for that exact situation, but they knew what to do. They asked the person to recognize the way God had showed up in the chapel and be faithful to the sweet, humble, peaceful spirit of the outpouring.

They did the same thing…when someone started praying loudly and aggressively. And again when someone started attempting an exorcism—not arguing about demonology or citing university rules, but invoking the authority of the outpouring itself.

“We want to be true to how the Holy Spirit showed up with our students,” said Baldwin, the vice president of student life. “We experienced joy. We experienced love. We experienced peace. There was lots of singing and testimonies. Those became our signposts. This is how, in front of our eyes, we are seeing the Holy Spirit come upon our students, and we want to honor that.”

 They have also worked to turn internal renewal into action: if God does a work in you, it’s going to translate into how you live. This is important (and I will come back to this). Lawson Stone, a professor Old Testament at the seminary, said that they are shifting from a “come” mode to a “sending” mode.

“It's winding down the public services on the campuses…but… the focus needs to shift to resuming lives of fruitful service and…heading out across the country with the gospel. We can't stay on the mountain indefinitely. Some will try to put up tents for Moses and Elijah, but the leadership in town has felt strongly that the time has come to get to work, get back to work, albeit on a new level.”[11]

When the main campus got full, the college leadership restricted access to primarily their own students, and then those under 25. Meanwhile, other churches in the area opened up their auditoriums, which I like. Now the broader church community is involved. This is good, as people need to be connected with local church communities. If this results in Wilmore, Kentucky suddenly being full of people inspired by the love of Jesus, all of those churches will be needed to accommodate attendees. 

Asbury is seeking to return to a normal college routine in terms of classes, etc. though there are still venues in the college and the town that are open for people to use. Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that students weren’t bailing on classes. Professors report they were responsible in the midst of all of this. The student paper is already writing articles about “When The Dust Settles.”[12] They recognize they’ve been given a gift to steward, and they want to do it well as they move forward.

* * * * *

So far, this all seems good to me in the Big Picture.[13] If you shine a spotlight on some moments or some individuals, you can certainly find things that will make you uncomfortable at best or upsetting at worst. That’s inevitable, but – to go back to my puzzle analogy from a couple weeks ago - I don’t want to form an opinion of the Big Picture because a couple pieces of the puzzle are troubling. If those pieces begin to characterize what’s happening, that’s different. As far as I can tell, that’s not happening.[14]

If I have concerns, they have nothing to do with the impact this is having on those who are there or the manner in which it has unfolded. It has more to do with how good things can go wrong. I offer the following as a protection - guiderails, if you will, to put up so that which began well can continue well.

LET’S USE LABELS CAUTIOUSLY (What is actually happening?)

Asbury’s website is comfortable with people calling it what they want, such as “revival, renewal, awakening, outpouring.”[15] Maybe this is semantics, but I’m not sure I would use the word “revival” just yet. Right now, it seems more like a refreshing or renewal - which is still a really good thing J

The reason I make this distinction is this: when we see what we usually call revival in the Bible, it involves more than saying words of repentance - which has been happening, and is a good start, to be sure! But biblical repentance always results in a radically changed lifestyle. The biblical image is that of someone going in one direction, then turning and going in another direction. The reality of repentance is confirmed by ‘fruit,’ and that takes some time to see. The President of Asbury has noted this as well.

The desire is to “mainstream” renewal into the very fabric of our lives so that we are transformed right where we live, and work and study. We all love mountaintop experiences, but we also know that it must be lived out in all the normal rhythms of life…We have to live into this desperation for God to do what we cannot do. We have to live into transformed relationships. We have to live into new patterns of life and worship.  

We will know that revival has truly come to us when we are truly changed to live more like him at work, at study, at worship, and at witness…we should let God move us to a permanent place of transformation before God and the eyes of the watching world. In that sense, we are seeking to take what is clearly an abnormal move of God and ask how this can become normalized in a deep way. 

Someday, we will look back on these days and thank God that he visited us in ways we will talk about for years to come. But, what we are doggedly seeking is not lasting memories, but transformed lives long after the lights go out in Hughes auditorium… 

In short, it is not about “this place” or “that place” whether Wilmore or any other city. It is about Christ himself. None of us “owns” this awakening. But all of us must own in our own lives His work and his gracious beckoning to that deeper place.”[16]

 It sure looks like this awakening is landing with potentially life-changing impact in people, but there’s a reason I use the world ‘potentially.’  What is going to change in people?

• Will they now be radically generous when they were previously stingy? Luke reports the first two outpourings of the Holy Spirit in Acts were followed by concern for the needy (2:44-45; 4:32-35).

• Will the slanderous gossip now use their words to affirm and build people instead of tear them down?

• Will the person with unhinged anger become known for gentleness?

• Will the person who despised and hated others become known for loving them, praying for their good, and treating them with dignity?

• Will the person who used other people for their pleasure now learn to honor and protect them?

• Will the liar become known for truth, the arrogant for humility, the divider for peace-making?

• Will we see an increase in the fruit that comes from the work of the Holy Spirit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? (Galatians 5:22-23)

 These are not changes we see in a moment; these are habits over time that establish who we are. Craig Keener wrote,

“During the First Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards noted visions and “manifestations” such as falling to the ground and weeping. He also noted that, while some manifestations were human responses to the work of God’s Spirit, some were imitations or worse. The long-term fruit of the revival, he pointed out, is about how we live.”[17]

Or, as one pastor put it, “How do you tell if it is really a work of God? It’s not how high you jump, it’s how straight you walk when you land.”[18]

 I can’t tell you how many emotionally moving experiences I had in the context of church life. I look back on all of them fondly, because I loved what felt like sweet moments in the presence of Jesus. But I also have to acknowledge that they typically changed me for a week or two. I was refreshed, but I wasn’t “revivaled”. Feeling the nearness and conviction of God in a moment is very different from taking hold of the kind of radical repentance that leads to the kind of worship that goes beyond the songs I was singing.

 The preacher whose sermon sparked it all preached 6 days ago. His challenge?

“What are you going to do when this is over?This moment is not a shrine to cling to, but a catalyst into an endless pilgrimage and formation of your heart.”[19]

My hope and prayer is that this is, indeed, what we see on the other side of what is happening in Asbury. So far, there is good reason to believe we will. The reports say that both students and faculty are focused on how turn this experience into action. But…maybe let’s wait before we assume something that has yet to be seen, while praying for its fruition.

LET’S REMEMBER THAT GOD IS OMNIPRESENT

I read this in an article from someone who visited from another Christian college:

“Well everybody at [said Christian college] right now, including all the executive vice presidents, are all crying out for revival - they're having extra prayer services over there right now. They want the presence of the Lord on campus so we're just so thankful that they sent us here to get whatever we can to bring back.”

I don't see in the Bible that we are told to go somewhere and bring something back.[20]  When the Samaritan woman asked Jesus about the right place to worship, Jesus said – and I paraphrase - “It’s not about places.” God is here, now, working in deep and profound ways. In moment of outpouring like we see in Asbury, people become more aware of God’s presence, but that says something about our awareness, not God’s presence.

What are we to bring back? Is it not simply the message of the gospel? And do we not already have that? If God moves you to go somewhere to experience what’s happening, by all means go. But you don’t need to bring ‘it’ back. Just bring yourself back, renewed in holiness, righteousness, and obedience, bringing with you a deeper love for God and others, to the place where God is already present and working.

LET’S REMEMBER THAT GOD IS PERSONAL

This is not the fault of Asbury at all, but I wonder if we are going to have to fight the tendency to assume that any work of God is going to look like what is happening in Asbury. I think it could be easy to look around us and wonder, “What’s wrong with us that God isn‘t working in the same way here?”

I have been in church all my life, and I have seen and experienced different times of refreshing/awakening/revival: concerts, speakers, small groups, Bible study, sitting around a campfire. A college or church or school could replicate everything Asbury is doing outwardly and have very different outcomes because what it looks like is not a template for all of us to try to replicate. It was an unexpected (though not unanticipated) moment for that people, that place, and that time.[21]

Might others experience something similar? Absolutely. They have and they will throughout history. But we don’t have to go get what’s there and assume revival happens when that experience is replicated.

I’ve seen this danger when we talk about who’s a ‘good’ worshiper when the music is playing. Is it the person raising their hands or the person sitting quietly? The exuberant or the quiet? The loud singer or the one who doesn’t sing? God forbid we make judgments about the quality of a person’s musical worship experience or the status of their heart just because they look different than us when we are singing. One student at Asbury wrote:

“Across campus, there is already a toxic stigma of “revival shaming.” I’ve heard things such as, “How many hours have you been here? I’ve been here all day. I am sooo exhausted. I even skipped class.” What do you notice in these comments? Jesus is usually not mentioned. We must be careful with self-centered responses based on who is “showing up for Jesus” and who is not.”[22]

Now, let’s expand that. Is there a way a revival must look? Other than long-term fruit, I don’t think so. We have seen just in U.S. history how different revivals or moves of God have looked in different places and generations. Our churches and schools are not Asbury. We shouldn’t assume we are not being or have not been revived if we don’t replicate what is happening there.

God is currently present and doing powerful, life-changing work around the world and in our church. How do I know this? Because I see the fruit in your life.

When we surrender our lives to the Lordship of Christ, God ‘vives’ us through Jesus. We who were dead in our sins were brought back to life. God is constantly ‘reviving’ us, working in us through His Word, His Spirit, and His people to restore what’s broken, heal what’s wounded, and bring us back to life when we choose sin and its wages. It's not always obvious, but God is always at work making us the kind of trees that bear good fruit. As one participant at Asbury noted,

“Hughes Auditorium feels like a holy place at the moment. But in Scripture, God’s people are his temple. Whatever other places might be special to us in some respects, we are his most sacred place, and we don’t have to be near campus to welcome and honor God’s presence.”[23]

Now, if we believe that either we individually or our church corporately is badly in need of refreshing and revival, then let’s by all means pray for it. (I hope we have continually been doing that anyway!) And when we have seasons in which the power and presence of God moves us in unusually profound ways, it might look like what I or you expect – and it might not. Either will be okay if God is behind it and in the midst of it.

Suzanne Nicholson, a Professor of New Testament at Asbury University, wrote about her experience there in “When Streams Of  Living Water Become A Flood: Revival At Asbury University.”[24] After talking about her experience on campus, she offered a couple analogies for what was happening, with this being her favorite. 

My favorite image…arises from Psalm 1:3: those who delight in the law of the Lord “are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.” Believers who regularly commune with the Lord through prayer, Bible study, corporate worship, receiving the Eucharist, and other means of grace are the trees planted by streams of water, receiving their nourishment. 

But occasionally we need flood waters to spur new growth—not the destructive floods that wipe away homes, but rather the essential spring flooding of the Nile that brought much-needed water and nutrients to agricultural lands in the ancient world….The Holy Spirit has graciously sent gentle flood waters to revive us, reshape us, and empower us for the work ahead…We are drinking deeply from this refreshing gift.

She closes – and I will too - with a hopeful challenge:

The challenge will occur, however, after the flood waters recede. We must not forget that we are still streams planted by living water. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, even if we experience God in different ways on different days. We cannot forsake the normal means of grace in search of floodwaters alone. 

It will be important in the days ahead for local faith communities to disciple those who have found new life as a result of this outpouring. We will need to teach Scripture in depth and provide small-group support and accountability in order to help people make sense of what they have experienced and challenge them toward deeper relationships with Jesus. 

This flood we are experiencing today is meant to revive us for a purpose— to share the joy and the love of God with those living in a dark world. As this revival has been occurring, we have simultaneously watched tens of thousands of dead being pulled from the rubble after the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. We have witnessed several more mass shootings, including one on the campus of Michigan State University. 

We continue to see famine and poverty, addiction and despair, racism and sexism, abuse and ailments across the world and in our homes. We need this refreshing of the Spirit more than ever as a testimony that God has not abandoned this dark world. We have tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). This is the hope for a world gone wrong. 

Our experience of this hope empowers us to go and preach the good news to the dying and the destitute, not only through our words, but also through our actions. God calls us to perfect love of both God and neighbor. If we keep this refreshing Spirit to ourselves, then we have missed the point. God has given us shalom—wholeness and healing and flourishing—so that we can bring the love of God to others. 

If we proclaim the love of Jesus but do not demonstrate God’s love by helping the poor and destitute, then we are nothing but a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (1 Cor. 13:1). God forbid that we turn these songs of praise into nothing more than a noisy interruption.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

[1] “The Chapel Service that Launched the Asbury Revival 2023.” Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGvvGbgUmMU

[2] https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/february/asbury-revival-outpouring-protect-work-admin-volunteers.html

[3] https://www.foxnews.com/media/asbury-university-student-emotional-story-regaining-christian-faith-revival-god

[4] https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2023/february/line-stretches-half-a-mile-as-the-fruit-of-revival-is-on-display-at-asbury-a-very-very-healing-experience

[5]“ Asbury Professor: We’re Witnessing a ‘Surprising Work of God.’” https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/february-web-only/asbury-revival-1970-2023-methodist-christian-holy-spirit.html

[6] “There were also Christian leaders who went quietly, just to pray and participate without trying to take the stage. Kari Jobe, the contemporary Christian music singer who won a Dove Award …went to Asbury and went down to the altar. Several students prayed for her, according to Asbury staff, without appearing to know who she was. A leader of the Vineyard Church came and went without announcing anything on social media.” https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/february/asbury-revival-outpouring-protect-work-admin-volunteers.html

[7] https://billelliff.org/blogs/news/reflections-from-asbury-part-2

[8] https://wellversedworld.org/asbury-revival-2023

[9] “‘No Celebrities Except Jesus’: How Asbury Protected the Revival.” https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/february/asbury-revival-outpouring-protect-work-admin-volunteers.html

[10] https://billelliff.org/blogs/news/reflections-from-asbury-part-2

[11] https://wellversedworld.org/asbury-revival-2023

[12] When The Dust Settles.” Anna Lowe. http://www.theasburycollegian.com/2023/02/when-the-dust-settles/

[13] Check out “Ordinary and Extraordinary: A Day at the Asbury Awakening.” https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/asbury-awakening/

[14] I’m not sure where to note this, so I will note it here. I have read rather harsh criticism along the lines of, “No way a real revival is happening at Asbury. It’s too conservative/liberal in its theology.” Okay, you think Asbury needs revival, then. And now you don’t think it can have it because…it needs it so much? Do people have to not need revival before they get it? Sigh. Also, here is their statement of faith. https://www.asbury.edu/about/spiritual-vitality/

[15] https://www.asbury.edu/outpouring/

[16] Quoted in “The Asbury Revival Then And Now.” https://thecitizen.com/2023/02/19/the-asbury-revival-then-and-now/

[17] “What Is Revival – And Is It Happening At Asbury?” By Craig Keener.

[18] “All eyes focus on (another?) Asbury revival.” https://www.kentuckytoday.com/baptist_life/all-eyes-focus-on-another-asbury-revival/article_6994621a-a9b0-11ed-9cf7-67c841f9b6a3.html

[19] Asbury preaching Monday 2/20. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC6d-G3hQ6E&t=346s

[20] SIDE NOTE: Before technology and easy transportation, people didn’t hear within 24 hours about what God was doing somewhere else. There was no live stream or Instagram posts. People couldn’t do a day trip from 100 miles away. If they came from another country, they had to take a boat, not a plane. The local revival stayed local for a while. When revivals happened for years, others would go see what was going on, but even then the cost was high enough that it weeded out what I heard a podcast host describe as “revival tourists,” the ones taking selfies at a revival.

[21] From Madison Pierce, as student at Asbury Theological Seminary: “I find it interesting that God would mark this outpouring with: A tangible sense of peace for a generation with unprecedented anxiety. A restorative sense of belonging for a generation amidst an epidemic of loneliness. An authentic hope for a generation marked by depression. A leadership emphasizing protective humility in relationship with power for a generation deeply hurt by the abuse of religious power. A focus on participatory adoration for an age of digital distraction.  It feels as if God is personally meeting young adults in ways meaningful to them. My generation was formed differently then previous generations, and so the traits of this revival are different then revivals of old. The new outpouring is not the signs and wonders nor zealous intercession nor spontaneous tongues nor charismatic physicalities nor the visceral travail. It is marked by a tangible feeling of holistic peace, a restorative sense of belonging, a non-anxious presence through felt safety, repentance driven by experienced kindness, humble stewardship of power, and holiness through treasuring adoration.”

[22] “When The Dust Settles.” http://www.theasburycollegian.com/2023/02/when-the-dust-settles/

[23] “What Is Revival – And Is It Happening At Asbury?” By Craig Keener.

[24] https://firebrandmag.com/articles/when-streams-of-living-water-become-a-flood-revival-at-asbury-university

Repentance: Planning Not To Sin

OPENING PRAYER OF REPENTANCE

Where the life changing truth of the salvation offered through Jesus Christ is either not known or not embraced, may we, your ambassadors, go into the highways, byways with the bold, truthful, grace-saturated message that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the only hope for the brokenness in the world and the evil in our hearts. May your Holy Spirit prepare the soil in those who hear, and may your Holy Spirit enable us to be faithfully present in a dark world with the light of holiness, truth and love.

Where lies and deception flourish, bring the light of truth that we can shine into the darkness of deception.

Where fear lurks, bring hope that we can spread to the despairing and hopeless.

Where hatred festers, bring loving peacemakers – like ourselves, dedicated to the hard and messy work of dragging real peace from deep conflict.

Where revenge motivates, bring forgiveness and reconciliation that is genuinely demonstrated and taught by your people.

Where injustice rages, let justice roll down through our words and actions.

Where cruelty simmers, bring gentleness and mercy from the lips and by the hands of your children.

Where chaos erupts, bring calm and order that begins in our hearts and permeates our cities.

Where lawlessness lives, bring accountability and lawfulness that begins with us.

Where evil abounds, may goodness much more abound, and may our heart, soul, mind and strength display it.

Where hard and cold hearts motivate, bring grace that first saved us, and continues to be extended to us, the most unworthy of all.

And where we have failed to bring heaven to earth in these ways – and we have – oh, merciful God, forgive us, and give us another chance.

______________________________________

To recap last week:

1. Repentance involves submission. We have to recognize that, if we choose to surrender our lives to Christ, there is a sense in which choices have been made for us. In moments of temptations, I think, “This isn’t my choice to make. It’s already been made for me. God established the path of righteousness, and when I surrendered my life to Him, my steps were ordered in that path. The choice has been made.” Question #1: What choices are you wrestling with that have already been made for you?

2. Repentance involves action. Repentance literally means we “turn around” and to the other direction. I believe God gives us the strength and the grace to repent; I also believe that we can experience the act of turning very differently. Question #2: What change of direction will follow your repentance? Depending where you see yourself in the analogy, what has God strengthened you to do right now?

3. Repentance involves humility. This means not just acknowledging your sin to God, but to others who were hurt by your sin without equivocation or defensiveness.so that peace can follow. Question #3: To whom do you need to go and make peace through humble confession and repentance?

This week, point #4: Repentance Involves Planning Not To Sin.

You've heard the saying "those who fail to plan, plan to fail." Never was this more true than with Christian character formation and discipleship. When it comes to sins of various sorts, it is a necessary and good beginning to "not plan on sinning." In other words, not positioning myself, my heart, my attitude in such a way that I am ready and eager to sin. I'm not planning to "rent that movie, pick at my spouse, sow discord, etc."

However, this is what I will call a ‘negative’ approach to righteousness. It's defensive, as it were, telling me what I won’t do. I am not "planning" to sin. Real discipleship - hence, real repentance - requires that we add the positive counterbalance by shifting the terms around. Instead of merely "not planning to sin," I need to "plan--not--to--sin."

See what I just did there? I still need to plan. I need to plan and position my heart, my attitude, my circumstances in such a way that I am filled with light because of what I view, read, listen to, dwell on, say, etc. This plan puts me in places and around people that will tend to effectively crowd out the temptation to sin. What kind of movie will I rent? How might I bless my spouse? How will I sow seeds of unity, etc." It is taking the offensive, rather than the defensive. Instead of hoping to hold the ground I have, I take new ground and am transformed in the process. Consider the following

▪ "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been forcibly seized, and aggressive men seize it aggressively." (Matt 11:12) (Matt 11:12) What in the Heaven does this mean? Well, there are differences of opinion, but this could very well be a picture of Jesus' apprentices taking positive action to get the Hell out of themselves and the Heaven in. Picture a bunch of sheep bursting through the opening of their pen in the morning when the shepherd lets them out after being penned up all night. They ‘thunder’ out into the world. They don’t stay penned up in a defensive structure.

▪ "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt 16:18) Imagine the gates of Hell having been erected inside your own soul. Their purpose is to keep your soul "separated" from the Kingdom of the Heavens. What God has done through Jesus is batter down those gates and invite us to participate in building new ones: gates that now protect the holy kingdom that has been set up in our hearts. One of our primary battering weapons is repentance.

▪ "When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." (Matt: 12:43-45) What is your plan for putting something new in place of the bit of Hell that just got removed from you? Repentance isn't just ceasing some sinful action. It is turning and going the other direction. Repentance isn't negative and defensive, it is positively offensive against the Gates of Hell. For example, if we struggle with lustful thoughts, we need to put new thoughts in our head, or the lustful ones will simply move back into that empty space. If we struggle with saying harsh words, we need to practice saying kind words. If we struggle with spending money selfishly, we need to make a practice of spending money sacrificially. If we like to fill our time with anxiety -producing news, we need to replace it with peace-inducing material.

In the same way that Jesus improves on the Silver Rule "Do not do to others what you would not have done to yourselves" (a negative, defensive maneuver) and gives us the Golden Rule (Do to others what you would have them do to you), we are to go on the offensive (Do); we are not to remain on the defensive (Do Not). We Christians are already known predominantly for what we are against.

We talk a lot about getting as many people as possible into Heaven. This is indeed the end result of the Great Commission. However, I think it’s helpful to remember that the means to this end is to diligently evangelize to get Heaven into as many people as possible--starting with ourselves. This is literally why Jesus came--to get the Hell out of humanity by putting Heaven into us. This is what God’s grace through Jesus does on the other side of repentance; this is the aim of discipleship; it has got to be the primary goal of our Church fellowship.

Question #4: With regard to repentance, in what specific way can you ‘plan not to sin’ by going on the offensive and ‘taking new ground’ with the help of Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God?

The Day After Christmas: The Story Of The Christmas Dragon (Revelation 12: 1-6, 13-17)

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars[1] on her head.  She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon[2] with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns[3] on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.  

The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”[4] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days[5]… 

The dragon pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle,[6] so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time,[7] out of the serpent’s reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent.  

 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.[8] Then the dragon was enraged at the woman[9] and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. (Revelation 12: 1-6, 13-17)

Did you know that was a Christmas story? Here’s what part of it looks like in Matthew’s Gospel.

When [the Wise Men] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”  (Matthew 2: 13-18)

What happens after Christmas? “The dragon will wage war against those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.” I think John intended his audience to understand Rome/Herod/Caesar as the dragon. It would make sense considering how biblical writers used the image of Babylon.

• Babylon, the actual city, become an image of all great cities and empires whose love of pleasure, indulgence, and excess wreaks havoc among God’s people. In Revelation, she is represented as a prostitute seducing the people of God.

• Rome, the actual city, represents the power empires used to undermine and attack God’s people. 

 We can be attacked by both; we can fall in love with both. Revelation’s ‘prostitute’ (Babylon’s pleasure) and ‘dragon’ (Rome’s power) have made war with us for 2,000 years.

I think John was reminding God’s people that what the old map-makers wrote was right: “Here there be dragons.” Except now it’s everywhere. Isn’t Revelation the first version of Huxley’s Brave New World (Babylon) and Orwell’s 1984 (Rome)? In the United States, I think we get to battle both: the spiritual war we face in a culture infatuated by both pleasure and power.[10] But that’s another sermon….  

* * * * *

We've already talked about life in between the two Advents, the birth of Christ in the return of Christ. We've already talked about how while Advent begins in the darkness it ends in the light. We have the hope of Jesus behind us and in front of us. There is a stabilization in our lives because of this. The Advent focus on peace, hope, love, and joy all depend on the reality of the life, death, resurrection and future return of Jesus.

That foundation is in place.

But we see how life unfolds between the two advents right away in scripture. After Jesus is born, Mary and Joseph have to flee with him to a foreign land, a land that represented a history of bondage and slavery to the people of Israel. They live separated from family and perhaps livelihood for months, perhaps years. In the area from which they fled, Herod promptly slaughtered children.[11]

The dragon was unleashed. Just like that, the darkness begins to push in to the light. As John made clear in his apocalypse, that war would continue. Indeed, it has, in great and small ways. The dragon hates the light of truth, love, goodness, hope, joy, peace…. When life feels ‘kingdom good,’ expect pushback. Expect war. It’s after Advent begins and the gymnatorium gets decorated and peace on earth starts for feel tangible after a hard year that a fire forces us to pivot yet again in a year with an exhausting number of pivots. 

It's often after great moments of God's revelatory light that the darkness pushes in hard.[12]

I’ve not been persecuted in any meaningful sense of the world, so I don’t want to compare my experience with that of the persecuted church around the world. When I talk about the dragon in my life, I’m talking of the ways in which spiritual/emotional/relational darkness presses in to spiritual light. I don't know if you've experienced this in your life, but I've often found moments of great depression after times of great satisfaction.  

• I go teach in Costa Rica, and it's a profound experience, and I come home and I wrestle with physical and emotional health.  

•  It's the sermon that feels really good followed by a Monday of doubt and anxiety and second-guessing. 

•  It's the fantastic vacation with my wife, and two weeks later feeling like there is a relational chasm between us. 

•  It's feeling really good about my fathering one day, and then having the wheels come off the next.

• It's thinking one day how much I love the people in my life and the next day having my heart torn out by one of them. 

• It's having a much better financial year at church than I would have anticipated because of Covid, only to realize we have to cut budget for next year because we lost momentum in the latter half of the year.  

• It’s going from a moment where I think, “I am finally grounding my identity in Christ” to days of thinking, “Dear God, I am such a screw-up.” 

• Sheila and I both had bad experiences with dreams this past week. We went to sleep after a meaninful evening at home, and woke up from inexplicable chaos in a way that darkens and disorders our day. I told Sheila, “I think the dragon is making war.”

This is the pattern.[13]

But how does it end? With the resurrection and life. How will history end? With the return of the king to make a New Heaven and New Earth. What happens when my life ends? Joy unspeakable and full of glory.

So we know the beginning, we know the middle, and we know the end of the story. We're just in the middle right now. The light shines, the dark pushes in, the light shines, the dark pushes in. This is life between the advents.

This, too, is an apocalypse of sorts, an unveiling that the Bible makes clear to us and that is confirmed throughout our life. We think of the apocalypse as something earth-shattering and perhaps catastrophic, but in some ways it's the ongoing pattern of our life. Truth is constantly being unveiled to us by the grace of God. We see through a glass darkly on this side of heaven (1 Corinthians 123:12), so there is a constant need for an unveiling.

·      It's when we finally understand that obscure passage of scripture. 

·      It's when we finally see how a biblical truth applies to our life in a life-changing way. 

·      It's when we begin to actually understand the power of repentance, and grace, and justice, and mercy.

·      It's when the biblical interplay of both grace and works clicks. 

·      it's when we see the flow of our life in the reality of God's plan. 

·      It's when one our Christian brothers or sisters speaks truth into our life that opens our eyes. 

·      It's when we see ourselves as God sees us. 

·      It's when we learn how to lift up our heads (Psalm 27:6; 3:3; Luke 21:28)

·      It's when we understand how God in his mercy and power could take people like us and tell us to arise and reflect his light  (Isaiah 60:1) in a way that will bring glory to him. 

These, too, are unveilings. We participate in an ongoing apocalypse. So one of the questions I have between the two advents of God is this: “How do these dark valleys work in our favor? How does God take the war leveled by the dragon and use it for our good and God’s glory?” 

Apocalyptic literature in scripture was always literature of Hope. How does my life participate in that kind of story?

Think back to what we've read the last two weeks from the prophets in the Old Testament. What was the key to living in the light? It was repentance. 

Those who walked in darkness had often walked in the darkness of their own making. In fact, the Bible has far less to say about the attacks from the dragons “out there” than the ones that have burrowed into our hearts. We tend to think of dragons like Smaug in The Hobbit: huge, overwhelming, flying over out towns or churches and just breathing fire, and so we pick up weapons and fight the dragon that came from over there, on that mountain. Let’s go take that mountain! That feels like a noble quest, right? It fits with the image in Revelation nicely.

To be sure, the dragon will make war against the saints in a very public way, no doubt. There are Smaugs that fly over our spiritual Laketowns. The church for 2,000 can give testimony to persecution and martyrdom. In those situations, we are told to be strong. The story ends in glory for the people of God, even if we wade there through blood.

But that’s only part of the story. God’s people in the Old Testament didn't get taken into exile in Babylon and bondage in Rome because Babylon and Rome were overwhelmingly strong. Israel had Yahweh. If Yahweh was for them, who could take them? 

God’s people ended up there because they trashed their covenant with God and reaped the consequences of what they sowed – consequences God had made clear. And if Old Covenant physical realities are meant to teach us truths about New Covenant spiritual realities – and I think they are – I find myself with this conclusion: Our greatest threats as Christians and as a Church are not out there. Diablo- the devil, the dragon - is in here too, ever since Eden. “The call is coming from inside the house!” 

There is no person, politician, law, educational system, Hollywood star, or organization that can make us give in to Babylon or Rome. There is no dragon that can force our hand or batter down our spiritual doors. The gates of hell cannot prevail against a holy church. But… we can embrace temptation.  

They may not be able to force my hand, but I can choose to lie in Babylon’s bed or sit on Rome’s throne. They can’t storm the gates of heaven, but I can begin to worship their power and influence and pleasure. The most thoroughly conquered people are not those who are too weak to plot resistance; it’s those who see no reason to resist.[14]

If you read through the Old Testament prophets, they don't pull any punches. God's people gave in, and they did not see their sin. They did not see the darkness as darkness, and they embraced it. 

“Arise, shine – absorb the light and shine in the darkness.” A crucial step to staying in the light of salvation in the Glorious kingdom of God is to repent. Since we started with a passage from Revelation, let’s look at where John goes with this. 

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven. (Revelation 18:4-5) 

God told his people through the Prophet Jeremiah that if they humbled themselves and sought the face of God, their nation would experience the blessings that God told them were in store for them if they were true and loyal to God. If they didn't (as Jeremiah warned so vividly), it wasn't going to end well for their nation at all. They were always going to be God’s covenant people, but their experience of that covenant, their experience of life, was going to be radically different based on the posture of their hearts. 

Their flourishing in the Kingdom God had planned for them had almost nothing to do with what the nations around them did. It had everything to do with how seriously they took the covenant. And if Old Testament physical realities teach us something about New Testament spiritual realities, our flourishing as Christian individuals and as a church will have almost nothing to do with what our Empire does to us or for us. It will have everything to do with how seriously we take our covenant. 

This, I think, is the way in which we experience life more abundant, the fullness of the richness of God’s redemption of the world in our lives. And that can’t help but make us the kind of salt and light in the world that God intends.

We want revival in ourselves and in our nation; we want holiness in ourselves and in our nation; we want a rejection of sin and a love of justice and mercy in ourselves and in our nation. We want the light of Christ and his gospel to push back the darkness of sin. Where does this start? In the church (1 Peter 4:17). Revival begins here.[15]

Cultures cannot become more holy if the church does not become more holy; churches cannot become more holy if we fail to repent of our sinful contribution to the brokenness of the world and beg first for forgiveness from God and those we have wronged, and then for God’s wisdom, love and strength to walk in righteousness.[16]

We are going to take time for repentance this morning. I’m going to pull from the list of sins that were undermining Timothy’s church because it’s fresh in our memory.[17] You don’t have to limit yourself to this, but if you follow these categories as far as the Holy Spirit takes them in reference to your life, I think you might be surprised how much territory this will cover. 

Areas of Repentance

1.  proud/boastful  “Boasting to anyone who is foolish enough to take him seriously! This kind of person claims many things he can't really do, so he must always keep moving on to new, naive listeners.”  (HELPS Word Studies).  Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you humility. God gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5) “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”  (James 3:13) “Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.” (Proverbs 16:19) 

2.  arrogant/haughty  “Literally, ‘hyper shiny’. These are they who contemptuously look down on others beneath them, either in social position or wealth (the boasters), or perhaps in natural gifts (the proud).” (Ellicott’s Commentary)  Pray for Holy Spirit to help you “honor everyone” (1 Peter 2:17) “above yourselves” (Romans 12:10). “God has put the body [the church] together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.” (1 Corinthians 12:24-25) “Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3) 

3.  abusive “Revilers/railers/blasphemers. Reverses spiritual and moral realities” by calling evil good, and good evil. (HELPS Word Studies) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you gentleness and truth. “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2)  “Let every word you speak be drenched with grace and tempered with truth and clarity. For then you will be prepared to give a respectful answer to anyone who asks about your faith. (Colossians 4:6)

4.  Treacherous; Traitors.—Or, betrayers… of their Christian brethren. It does not mean traitors to their king or country, but generally betrayers of the persons who trust in them, and of the cause of the trust committed to them; perhaps specially… of their brethren in times of persecution. (Pulpit Commentary) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you loyalty. “Never let loyalty (steadfast love) and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.” (Proverbs 3:3) “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1) “Be devoted to one another in love.” (Romans 12:10)

5.  Reckless - Better rendered “headstrong” in words, or thoughts, or actions. Rash. "Headstrong" rather denotes obstinacy which will not be influenced by wise advice… the person who acts from impulse, without considering consequences, or weighing principles. (Pulpit Commentary) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you prudence and self-control. “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.” (Proverbs 16:32) “Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.” (Proverbs 25:28) “The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.” (Proverbs 14:8)

6.   Self-important - Highminded.— blinded by or inflated by  pride. (See 1Timothy 3:6.) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you humble self-awareness. "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord." (Lamentations 3:40) "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." (James 1:22-24)  “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” (Romans 12:3)

7. Rebellious against parents [authority] ’Unwilling to be persuaded (by God), which shows itself in outward disobedience (outward spiritual rebellion).” (HELPS Word Studies)  Pray for the Holy Spirit to help us honor our parents/spiritual authorities. Pray for the ability to “add wealth” or “give weight” (biblical imagery) to godly voices in your life.  Paul planted and Apollos watered (1 Corinthians 3:6-7); we all need holy planters and waterers in our lives. Hebrews 5:12 says, "you need someone to teach you." Pray for those that ‘have weight’ in your life; they are in desperate need wisdom, grace and truth.

 8.   Ungrateful – “properly, without God's grace (favor) which results in unthankfulness (literally, "ungrace-full"). (HELPS Word Studies) Pray for the ability to respond to God’s grace by “presenting our bodies (lives) as a living sacrifice” as a “reasonable act of service” (Romans 12:1). Pray for the Holy Spirit to enable you to pass this grace on to others.

9.   Unholy - “A lack of reverence for what should be hallowed.” (HELPS WORD STUDIES) Pray for Holy Spirit to help you treat with reverence, or set apart as holy, all that should be hallowed. What are those things? God, clearly, and people (who are all image bearers (Genesis 1:26-27, 5:1-2); followers of Jesus are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3 and 6). Now ask yourself, “Am I treating everything in God’s created world with appropriate  honor, with appropriate care and reverence?

10.  Without restraint  - “Incontinent.—Having no control over the passions or urges – emotions, words, appetites of all kinds.” (HELPS WORD STUDIES) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you temperance and restraint, especially when it comes to moral and relational issues. Between the Holy Spirit, the guidelines of God’s Word, and the company of God’s people, there is no temptation to sin that we cannot bear (1 Corinthians 10:13)

11.   Savage (bestial) - Fierce.—Inhuman, savage, or merciless, harsh, cruel. They are both soft and hard, incontinently indulging themselves and inhuman to others, when they should be hardened to self-indulgence and soft toward others.” (Pulpit Commentary) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you the ability to be hospitable (merciful), or “soft toward others.” God is described as “abounding in mercy.”  Jesus told people to learn what it means that God desires mercy more than sacrifices (Matthew 9:13).  Blessed are the meek and the peacemakers (Matthew 5). Greater love has no one more than laying down your life (John 15:13). Serve others sacrificially. Turn away wrath with a soft answer (Proverbs 15:1). Overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). If someone strikes you or takes your cloak, don’t seek revenge (Luke 6:29). ‘Shame’ them with kindness (Romans 12:20). Give food and water to your enemy, and the Lord will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21-22)

12.  Haters of anything good - “Despisers of those that are good; that is, hostile to every good thought and work and person.”  (HELPS Word Studies) Pray for the ability to be lovers of good (good thoughts, actions and persons), the things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report (Philippians 4:8). Pray for the ability to not only dwell on them, but to celebrate them everywhere we see them.

 13.  “Uncaring, coldhearted; without natural affection.” “Careless and regardless of the welfare of those connected with them by ties of blood, like spouses, parents and children. Plato says, ‘A child loves his parents, and is loved by them;’ and so, according to St. Paul's judgment in 1 Timothy 5:8, were "worse than infidels."  (Pulpit Commentary) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you the ability to love your spouses, parents, children and extended family. This may be a hard prayer. Remember: you are praying for a miracle, as supernatural gift from God. Also, pray for the wisdom to know what genuine love looks like in your situation. This may be a good one to pray in a small group of people who can offer wisdom. 

14.  Slanderers/false-accusers - the word is diabolos. People who a) have no regard for truth and b) like quarrels. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth (John 16:13), beginning with Scripture and extending into the rest of the world (Proverbs 23:23). Pray for the ability to know which ‘hills to die on,’ and which ones to give ground. Pray for the abilit to listen before you speak, and long for peace rather than thrive on conflict. 

15.  Despisers of covenant - Those unwilling to embrace bonds of treaty or covenant….one who will make no truce or treaty with his enemy.”  (Pulpit  Commentary)  Pray for the longing to enter into biblically covenanted relationships (spouses (Genesis 2), friends (1 Samuel 20), family (see #13), church (Hebrews 10). Pray for the strength and grace to endure. Pray for wisdom to know how to be faithfully present in the covenants in your life. 

THREE QUESTIONS

In what ares of your life do you need to repent?

To whom, besides God, do you need to repent?

What does it look like for you to move forward in a lifestyle of repentance?

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[1] “The woman is commonly thought to represent Israel. The imagery is similar to the sun, moon, and 12 stars that bowed down to Joseph in his dream (Genesis 37:9–11). In Revelation 12:2 we see Isaiah’s prediction (Isaiah 66:7–8) of a woman (Israel) bringing forth a man child fulfilled.” (Halley’s Bible Handbook Notes). The 12 stars are the faithful remnent from the Tribes of Israel. “The prophets portrayed righteous Israel as the mother of the restored future remnant of Israel (Isa 26:18 – 19; 54:1; 66:7 – 10; Mic 4:9 – 10; 5:3), and also as the mother of the leader who embodied Israel’s restoration (Isa 9:6; cf. Mic 5:2 – 3).” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)  In this case, the mother of Jesus, Mary, arises from ‘mother’ Israel. 

[2] The dragon is commonly understood as the Roman empire.

[3] These symbols represents great power.

[4] This is Jesus, the Messiah. See Isaiah 7:14 and Psalm 2:7–9.

[5] “1,260 days. The time of spiritual protection corresponds to the time of persecution (see Revelation 11:2; and 13:5). (NIV Study Bible Notes)

[6] Exodus 19:4

[7] See Daniel 12:7. This is also 1,260 days. 

[8] Jesus is delivering them from bondage, just like Moses. Thus the borrowing of image from the Exodus. “A flood of water could represent any sufferings (Ps 32:6; Jer 47:2), including unjust opposition (Ps 18:3 – 4; 69:1 – 4,14 – 15; 124:2 – 5); serpents’ mouths represent slander in Ps 140:1 – 5. But God would be with his people through the waters (Isa 43:2).” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[9] “The victory that God has previously accomplished over Leviathan is the pattern for the woman’s triumph over the dragon.”  See Isaiah 51:9-10; Psalm 74:14; Job 41. (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary)

[10] “If God is dead, somebody is going to have to take his place. It will be megalomania or erotomania, the drive for power or the drive for pleasure, the clenched fist or the phallus, Hitler or Hugh Hefner.” – Malcolm Muggeridge

[11] “Advent is the right time for the asking of hard questions. Advent comes to a climax, not only on Christmas Day but also in the massacre of the innocents by Herod. The church has historically observed the Feast of the Holy Innocents on December 27, a remarkable conjuncture that remembers a massacre of infants in the same season that we rejoice in the birth of Christ. The great theme of Advent is hope, but it is not tolerable to speak of hope unless we are willing to look squarely at the overwhelming presence of evil in our world.”  Fleming Rutledge

[12] It’s a pattern found in Scripture. 

·       After God calls light into the world in Genesis 1, in Genesis 3 the darkness moves in with serpents and sin. 

·       After God Saves Noah and his family, Noah falls into sin almost immediately. 

·       Joseph gets miraculously insightful dreams from God, and it turns him into an arrogant, boastful jerk. 

·       Moses meets God on the mountain, and yet his sin keeps him from entering the Promised Land. 

·       Israel gets the promised land and then ends up in Exile when it all falls apart.

·       Mary gives birth to the Messiah, but will eventually lose her husband and watch her son be crucified.

·       Paul’s account of what his life was like after a personal apocalypse of the Risen savior is characterized by persecution.

[13] It doesn't surprise God. He entered into a world in which he experienced life in this pattern. He was revealed in the light of God's glory, only to go to a wilderness to endure temptation. (Matthew 3-4) He entered Jerusalem to adoring crowds who would eventually kill him. (Matthew 21:1–11, Mark 11:1–11, Luke 19:28–44, and John 12:12–19).He surrounded himself with 12 disciples, only to have one of them betray him. (Luke 22)

[14] Me. I just put it like a quote so I could read it word-for-word J

·       [15] Isaiah 30:15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”

·       Psalm 139:23: “Search me o God and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in me, and Lead Me into life.” 

·       Acts 20:20-21 "I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus."

·       1 John 1: 8 "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 

·       2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." 

·       Acts 3:19 “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” 

·       Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

·       Matthew 3:8 “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”

·       Romans 2:4  “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”

·       1 John 1:8-9  “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

·       Revelation 2:5  “Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”

·       Proverbs 28:13  “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

·       Acts 26:20  “[They] declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.”

[16] What about Ninevah? Jonah told Ninevah that there was one particular thing God was going to judge them for: violence. They paid attention. There is every reason to believe the rest of life in Ninevah remained as pagan as ever. They did not become holy. What about Constantine’s embrace of Christianity for Rome? That, too, did not bring about holiness. It doesn’t appear much changed in daily Roman life except that Christians weren’t persecuted. And because Christians (understandably) were quite pleased not to be killed, they eventually began to support the nationalistic agenda of Roman to stay on Rome’s good side. And that, friends, is called syncretism.

[17] We went through in our 2 Timothy series in the three “Roots and Fruits” sermons.

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)

________________________________________________________________

[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.