Harmony #23: The Reward of Righteousness (Matthew 6; Luke 11)

In Matthew 6, Jesus addressed three common Jewish practices of devotion to God: giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting. In each one, Jesus said of people who do things for show, “They have their reward.” Then he noted that for those who do them as genuine acts of devotion, “Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.”

Last week we noted that righteousness is not for show. It’s not a vehicle to impress others or to make our name great. We are called to live out our righteousness as a sincere and humble response to God’s grace. 

This week, let’s talk about how does doing these things “in secret” brings about a reward. I think that happens on two levels.

• The practice of righteousness has its own reward. God has designed in such a way that when we go through life as God intends, we flourish in ways we didn’t expect.

• The presence of God is a reward, as captured in the Lord’s prayer, the pinnacle of the Sermon On The Mount.  

 #1. The Practice Of Righteous Has Its Own Reward

GENEROSITY. When we sincerely practice generosity and compassion, it changes us.

• victory over the power of money and covetousness, possessions #commercialism #rat race

• victory over addiction to comfort (trusting money over God).

• growing prayer life when generosity requires faith for provision

• increasing love for the those toward whom we give our treasure, because "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21).

PRAYER. The discipline of prayer reorients us.

• our hearts will change as we fellowship with God #transformed #likenessofJesus Conversation + time = change that comes from experiential  knowledge.

• we gain a Kingdom focus, a break from the world’s priorities

• we find refuge, comfort and peace by giving God our burdens

• we become more aware of our need for God and more likely to recognize what He is doing #Hisstrengthperfectedinweakness

• our love for others grows as we pray for even our enemies

FASTING/SELF-DENIAL. I believe fasting can involve more than food, though food is certainly included. Bible first, then a Bible commentary. 

“Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?” (Isaiah 58)

“Fasting also is not merely abstinence from food, but consists of self-denial in all areas of life in order to escape the control of the passions. On the eve of Great Lent, we sing, “Let us abstain from passions as we abstain from food.” St. John Chrysostom writes, “What good is it if we abstain from eating birds and fish, but bite and devour our brothers?”  (Orthodox Study Bible)

When a believer practices Spirit-led self-denial, practical strength over the appetites of the sinful flesh grows; after all, the formative power of habits are a thing designed by God. Fasting, or other forms of self-denial, allow us to more fully experience the abundant life God offers to us.[1]

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#2 The Presence Of God Is A Reward

Jesus offered what we call The Lord’s Prayer[2] to his disciples as sort of a model. What Jesus offered was not was not new ground. Adam Clark (among many others) notes that every line of this prayer was already being prayed in common Jewish eulogies, such as this one:

"Our Father who art in heaven, be gracious unto us! O Lord our God, hallowed be thy name, and let the remembrance of Thee be glorified in heaven above, and in the earth here below! Let thy kingdom reign over us now, and for ever! The holy men of old said, remit and forgive unto all men whatsoever they have done against me! And lead us not into the hands of temptation, but deliver us from the evil thing! For thine is the kingdom, and thou shalt reign in glory for ever and for evermore."[3] 

While Matthew simply records the prayer, Luke records that the disciples made a common request from disciple to rabbi: “Teach us to pray.” Considering how Jesus compiles known prayers into a concise version (like when he was asked to summarize the law and the prophets), I think Jesus may have been affirming to his disciples that they already knew how to pray.

Remember last week how praying, fasting and giving were not the problem but it was the heart with which they were practiced? Jesus had just told them not to pray for show, not to try impress God with wordy, impressive prayers to get Gods attention. Just pray. You don’t need something new that will get God’s attention better. Just pray. Simple prayers can be profound and meaningful too.

Our Father, Who Is In Heaven…[4]

“Our Father” starts us off with good theology. God is not a deistic God, aloof and uncaring. God is not a pantheistic God that is just part of nature. God is not the Force. God is person who is a relational, immediate, and accessible God. The word for Father is a very relational and personal word, used only in a relationship of safety, trust, and love.[5] There is reward in remembering God is personal.

“Our Father” reminds us that he’s our father. Not mine; ours. We cannot forget when we pray this that we are raised from spiritual death into new life in a family, a Christian community. In this, we are recognizing that while God is for us, He is for all of us. I cannot be content to simply think of God in terms of “me and God.” It must be “us and God.” The Bible has no view of “loner” Christians disconnected from a local church. If we are going to pray the language of “us”, we must live the life of “us.” There is reward in remembering we are part of a community.

Hallowed be Thy Name

“Hallowed be thy name” is a plea, not a statement of fact. It’s saying, “Please, make your name  - character, nature and reputation -  revered or held holy.” It’s asking for God to start the process in a world full of people – including the one praying – who take Jesus too casually. It’s asking that God’s character and nature be recognized as great by all who dismiss, insult or ignore it. This should humble us, because that includes us.[6]

It’s a plea of both humility and hope. “Help me not to take the reality of who you are lightly or casually. Help me to appreciate the majesty of God. I want the entirety of my life to reflect the great weight and value I give to you; with your help, all I think, say and do will offer an accurate representation of you.”  There is reward in remembering the greatness of the God we serve.

May Your Kingdom Come And Your Will be Done, On Earth As It Is In Heaven.

This is another phrase of hope and humility. Whenever we pray for justice, mercy, hope, love, truth, and holiness, we are praying with hope that these heavenly realities will actually manifest here and let us see in part now what we will see fully in the life to come.

It’s humbling in that we are asking God to reign in our lives in ways He does not now in our emotions, desires, thoughts and commitments. We want His desire to be our desires; His will to be our will; His loves to be our loves; His holiness to be ours. It’s also a reminder that, at the end of the day, we want God’s will to be done, not ours.

It’s also challenging. What if I am the thing God uses in answer to someone else’s prayer?

• When the poor pray for finances, will I be willing to help?

• When the lonely pray for a friend, am I available?

• When the desperate pray for help, am I ready?

 This part of the prayer reminds us that others are praying this too. If we are excited to see God’s will for us accomplished through others, buckle up. It’s not possible for us to see all that God sees, so in many situations our best prayer is one where we show hope and trust, prayer in which we surrender our desire to the will of a God who has faultless wisdom, live and power.[7]

There is reward in remembering to align our heart, soul, mind and strength with the values, priorities and practices of the kingdom of God.

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread…[8]

The word used is only found in the Bible in all of ancient literature, and it is used only twice, so there is some uncertainty about how to translate it correctly. Luke seems to focus on present, practical provision, while Matthew seems to ask for the spiritual bread we will share at the banquet in God’s coming kingdom.

The main idea is this: trusting God to provide what we need to sustain us in every way now and into eternity.[9] We can take for granted that we can take care of ourselves. If that fails, our family, church or government will provide. This part of the prayer a reminder that everything happens under the sovereignty of God; all our blessings find their source in him. For that reason, we thank God ultimately for supplying for our needs.

It’s a constant reminder that life is saturated with the presence and work of God, and even in our greatest accomplishments or in the most generous deeds of others it is God who sustains and provides.

There is a future hope here as well. We are trusting that God will sustain us into and through eternity, which will require the true “bread of life,” Jesus Christ.

There is reward in remembering that our creator is our sustainer in the way that matters most both now and through eternity.

Forgive Our Sinful Debts As We Have Forgiven Those Who Have Sinned Against Us.

Here is the first acknowledgment: We have all sinned against God, broken His law and harmed others, and we are in desperate need of forgiveness of an unpayable debt we owe. This is a plea for God, in His mercy, to cover the cost of our sins. There is reward in remembering that God so loved the world… 

The second acknowledgment is that we must forgive those who sin against us. This is much tougher than praying that God forgives us of our sins. We must forgive those who have sinned against us: our spouse, our parents, cruel people at work or school. This list includes users and abusers, manipulators and liars. We all have sinned; we all are in desperate needs of God’s forgiveness. We want God to forgive us; as representatives bearing His name – if we are to ‘hallow’ his name -  we must offer forgiveness as well.

This portion of the prayer is what Augustine called “a terrible petition.” If we pray these words this while harboring unforgiveness, we are actually asking God not to forgive us. We would be saying, “I haven’t forgiven my friend/spouse/neighbor yet, so please don’t forgive me.” 

Forgiveness is a crucial spiritual marker that says something about the sincerity of our ongoing surrender and discipleship. There is, of course, a HUGE difference between moments of unforgiveness and a settled position of habitual and intentional unforgiveness. We must be committed to being deliberately and habitually forgiving.[10] There is reward in experiencing the freedom of forgiving and living in a community committed to forgiveness.

Lead Us Not into Trials (“trouble sent by God and serving to test or prove one's faith, holiness, character”), And Deliver Us From The Temptations (“an enticement to sin, arising from outward circumstances, within, or from Satan”) Of The Evil One.[11]

Sometimes God leads us into trials, because we are a proud and rebellious people for whom God in his love will send trials to refine and mature us if that’s necessary. Here, we pray for spiritual maturity in any other way, but just by praying it we acknowledge that our hard hearts sometimes need to be broken. Please, dear God, if at all possible, let this cup pass from me. Jesus prayed it; we can too.

But if a trial is what it takes to transform us into the image of Christ – if we must drink that cup -  keep us from giving into the temptation from the Evil One[12] that would turn those trials for our good into sins to our harm. It is so easy for a maturing test to push us away from God instead of toward God. Deliver us, Lord, from the Evil One, who would turn what you plan to use to bring us spiritual life into something that brings spiritual death.

But there is the hopeful reminder in this request: we know that God is a Deliverer. The Old Testament shows us that, time after time, God faithfully guides his people through trials and delivers his people from the snares of sin and power of temptation.[13]  There is reward in the purifying refinement of the fire.

For Yours Is The Kingdom, And The Power, And The Glory Forever, Amen.

N.T. Wright says,

“If the church isn't prepared to subvert the kingdoms of the world with the kingdom of God, the only honest thing would be to give up praying this prayer altogether, especially its final doxology.”

After focusing on our needs, our troubles, our frailty, we return to the glory of God. All kingdoms answer to God. All power comes from God. All glory belongs to God.  In a world where empires rise and fall, and power corrupts, and glory is tarnished and fleeting, it’s a reminder that God is uncorrupted, lasting, powerful and good, and true glory is found only in him.

* * * * * * * * * *

How should we pray?

Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. May your kingdom come and your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day the bread of life both now and for eternity. Forgive our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us. Lead us not into times of testing, and deliver us from the temptations of the Evil One. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.

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[1] Though I added some modificatons, the lists and the quote at the end are from Nate Holdridge, How Is A Relationship With God Rewarding? (Matthew 6:1-18).  https://www.nateholdridge.com/blog/how-is-a-relationship-with-god-rewarding-matthew-6-1-18

[2] To connect the Lord’s Prayer with the three practices of righteousness Jesus mentioned, praying reminds us that God’s name and Kingdom is to made great, not us and ours; generosity is God’s preparatory program for trusting him for provision; fasting is God’s preparatory program for times of testing.

[3] “In his book Jesus and the Judaism of His Time, University of Toronto scholar Irving Zeitlin cites line-by-line parallels between the Lord's Prayer and the Jewish mourner's prayer, the Kaddish ("May (God) establish His kingdom during our lifetime and during the lifetime of Israel"), the Eighteen Benedictions ("Forgive us our Father, for we have sinned" is the sixth blessing), Talmudic prayer ("Lead me not into sin or iniquity or temptation or contempt," goes one) and other Hebrew scriptures in which we find "Give us this day our daily bread." (“The Radical Truth Behind The Lord’s Prayer,” https://www.thestar.com/life/2008/02/23/the_radical_truth_behind_the_lords_prayer.html

[4] Galatians 4:6, “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father!’ ” Romans 8:15, 16: “You received the spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

[5] “Patḗr ("father") refers to a begetter, originator, progenitor – one in ‘intimate connection and relationship.’” (HELPS Word Studies)

[6] I pulled some ideas about the radical nature of the Lord’s Prayer from this excellent article: “The Lord’s Prayer Advert Has Been Banned For Being Offensive - Which It Is.” http://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/the_lords_prayer_advert_has_been_banned_for_being_offensive_which_it_is\

[7] Even Jesus prayed: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22)

[8] “In Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer the verb “give” in Greek is a present imperative, which means something like “keep on giving.”   Also the verb “day” is a Greek expression that means “each day.”  So this part of the Lord’s Prayer in Luke’s version says literally, “Keep on giving us each day our daily bread.” But Matthew’s Greek reads differently. In Matthew’s version the verb give is an aorist imperative, which in Greek is a one-time decisive action, which we might translate “Give us once and for all.”  Also, Matthew’s version uses a different word for “day.”  It’s not a phrase that means “each day,” but a word that means “this day, today, right now.”  So Matthew’s version, translated literally says, “Give us once and for all today here and now the bread of tomorrow.”   In Matthew, Jesus reminds us to pray for the bread of tomorrow, the bread we will share at the banquet in God’s coming kingdom.  Pray for that bread to come into our lives and world today. I think the Bible gives us two versions of the Lord’s Prayer because Jesus wants us to practice praying both.” (From a sermon called “Tomorrow’s Bread Today,” http://spcdesmoines.org/spcsermons/2019/9/3/tomorrows-bread-today

[9] Tim Keller suggests that it’s also a prayer for justice. If one does not have bread, particularly in Jesus’ day, it wasn’t because of a lack of resources. There was either oppression from the Romans or disdain from the Jews, whom the Law required to take care of the poor. It’s a plea for justice to be done to yourself; it’s a prayer for society.

[10] If we claim to love God and hate our brother, we are liars (1 John 4:20).

[11] Both these words use the same root word; translations will differ on the usage at times. http://biblehub.com/greek/3986.htm.  In this case, the commentaries I have been reading are noting that “lead us not into temptation” is better understood as “lead us not into trials”; the second part of the phrase focuses on temptation.

[12] Luke 4:13; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8

[13] Every weekday morning in synagogues around the world, Jewish People open their siddurs (prayer books) and read a prayer like this: “May it be Your will, HaShem, my God and the God of my forefathers, that you rescue me today and every day from brazen men and brazenness, from an evil man, an evil companion, an evil neighbor, an evil mishap, the destructive spiritual impediment [‘Satan’], a harsh trial and a harsh opponent, whether he is a member of the covenant or whether he is not a member of the covenant.” (From “Discover The Very Jewish Lord’s Prayer,” https://free.messianicbible.com/feature/lords-prayer-jewish-prayer/)

Harmony #22: Righteousness And Reward (Matthew 6; Luke 6, 11)

If you are a Bible nerd like me, or you think the art of good literature is really cool, you may enjoy seeing where we are at in the Sermon on the Mount. If you think of the sermon like a mountain (like the literal one Jesus ascended and descended at the beginning and end of the sermon), we are at the high point this week.

To add another layer of nerdiness/coolness to how this sermon is constructed, check out this pattern.[1] After starting with the Beatititudes, the rest of the sermon is unpacking them in reverse order.

We are at Matthew 6 today, which is unpacking, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Jesus is expanding on what it means to have righteousness that exceeds the Scribes and Pharisees.

Quick reminder: because of Jesus, the debt of our sin has been paid and we are placed in right relationship with God. This righteousness is a gift, freely by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus. The $10 King James word is that righteousness was ‘imputed’ to us by Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

In today’s passage, “doing” or “practicing righteousness”[2] has to do with participating in religious practices that are the outworking of the righteousness given to us. Think of how a doctor “practices medicine.” Doctors don’t practice medicine to become doctors; it’s what they do because they are doctors. That’s what this passage is talking about: in particular, what righteous people do in response to Jesus making them righteous. 

Jesus addresses three common Jewish practices of devotion to God: giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting. Don’t think of this as the only three things. It’s just three examples. You will see a pattern emerge. In each one, Jesus will say of people who do things for show, “They have their reward.” Then he will talk about how, for those who do them out of the spotlight, “Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.”

 (Matthew 6:1-18; Luke 6,11)

“Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.

Thus whenever you do charitable giving, do not sound a trumpet before you,[3] as the hypocrites[4] do in synagogues and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, they have their reward. But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners[5] so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles,[6] because they think that by their many words they will be heard. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.[7]

9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (14For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.[8]

 “When you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, they have their reward. When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.”

I want to come back to the verse that started this section:

 “Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.” 

Let’s talk about righteousness, and then reward. It’s going to take two weeks J

RIGHTEOUSNESS

Jesus assumed his disciples would do the things he talked about here, but he wasn’t asking the disciples to outdo the Pharisees or even give, pray or fast more than they were. Jesus was asking them to make God the only audience that mattered. Righteousness is not for show.  It’s not a contest to be won or a platform to build our brand and be noticed. It’s not a vehicle to impress others or to make our name great. We are called to live out our righteousness as a sincere and humble response to God’s grace.  This isn’t the only time Jesus talked about the danger of turning the practice of righteousness into a practice of arrogant hypocrisy. 

“Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness….you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.” (Luke 11:39; 43) 

As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.” (Mark 12: 38-40)

In other words, they were not people of integrity. Their inside and their outside were not integrated into a unified whole. They pretended to be something on that outside that was sharply at odds with what was on the inside because they loved the attention. They displayed what appeared to be righteousness merely to be seen by people.

Practicing righteousness is not for show or applause or to get the best seats at the best places. It’s not intended to give us bragging rights about how amazing we are. It’s the way in which we live in humble response to the righteousness we have been given through Jesus.

I looked up all the times the Apostle Paul talked about bragging or boasting (and it’s a lot). Most of the time, he’s boasting about others. The one time he points out that, in a boasting contest on worldly terms, he would win it, he says, “But I boast in my weakness.” Why? Because God’s strength becomes clear as God works through that which is weak and broken.[9]

In addition, Jesus’ first audience would have heard this teaching through another layer: the warning of their prophets about hypocrisy in the camp of God’s people. The prophets talked about this A LOT. I want to give you a couple snippets just so we understand that simply mentioning that a religious person was acting as a hypocrite carried a lot of weight.

The Prophet Amos

“The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They sell honorable people for silver and poor people for a pair of sandals. 7 They trample helpless people in the dust and shove the oppressed out of the way… At their religious festivals, they lounge in clothing their debtors put up as security. In the house of God,they drink wine bought with unjust fines.’ (Amos 2)

“Go ahead and offer sacrifices to the idols at Bethel. Keep on disobeying at Gilgal.
Offer sacrifices each morning, and bring your tithes every three days. 5 Present your bread made with yeast as an offering of thanksgiving. Then give your extra voluntary offerings so you can brag about it everywhere! This is the kind of thing you Israelites love to do.” (Amos 4)

“I hate all your show and pretense - the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.22 I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. 23 Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. 24 Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.” (Amos 5)

“Listen to this, you who rob the poor and trample down the needy!5 You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless. You measure out grain with dishonest measures and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales. 6 And you mix the grain you sell with chaff swept from the floor. Then you enslave poor people for one piece of silver or a pair of sandals.” (Amos 8)

The Prophet Isaiah (Chapter 1)

13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations -I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. 4 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! 6 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

God has some opinions about what is acceptable in His house and in His people. Blatant hypocrisy is not okay. Keeping up a façade of righteous practice (prayer, offerings, meeting in the temple/church) over a self-corrupted and baldly chosen moral desolation - God has some opinions about that.

If you are like me, I find hypocrisy really annoying:

• The outspoken environmentalist whose carbon footprint is a big is a small town’s.

• The free speech advocate who tries to shut other people down.

• The fitness guru who says he’s built like a brick outhouse because he’s all natural – and you find out he’s loaded on steroids.

• Leaders in the church who lead a double life of abuse and corruption. 

• People of God who claim to love God and others and then build a reputation of name-calling and meanness, a bit like the disciples who asked Jesus if he would call down fire on a city instead of asking if they could go tell them about Jesus.

• I’ve worked with youth most of my life. One of the most heartbreaking stories I hear is, “I’m done with Christianity. I saw my parents show up and look good on a Sunday – everybody admired them and told us how lucky we were - but the rest of the week was a nightmare. If that’s the kind of people who fill up a church, I’m not interested.”

Remember I noted that the Sermon on the Mount was unsettling? I assume there was a lot of soul-searching going on in that first audience – and maybe this one. “Is that me? That’s not me…. Is that me? I’ll bet it’s Bob, but it’s not me. Is it? My hands aren’t full of blood. Is that an image for hurting people in lots of different ways?”

“I hate all your show and pretense - the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.22 I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. 23 Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. 24 Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.” (Amos 5)

I’ve been thinking about this a lot this week. Have I turned anything in my faith into a show about me?

• When I pray at the end of my sermon, am I more interested in if you think of me as a great prayer than I am in if God sees my prayer as a sincere act of communion with Him?

• When I sing or play during musical worship, is my physical response ‘virtue signaling to others or is it my response to God?

• When I’m part of small groups, do I show up the way I do or say the things I do to impress others or to faithfully present as I serve God?

• In conversation, do I choose words that make me sound more spiritual than I am? (Like saying I’ve been praying about something when all I’ve been doing is thinking about it).

• Do I misrepresent myself here? Am I the same Anthony here that I am at home and at the gym and coaching basketball or do I put on the kind of show I think a pastor needs to put on?

I guess I want us all to let those same kinds of questions simmer in us this week.

* * * * *

Here’s where I want to anticipate a question you may have - because I have the same question. This is going to be the point that brings the sermon to its conclusion.

“Does this mean that ‘going through the motions’ of practicing righteousness when I’m not feeling it puts me in this category of people that the prophets railed against? Or if I’m struggling during the week to turn my heart and mind toward Jesus, does this mean I shouldn’t bother showing up on Sunday because God’s disgusted with me?”

There is a world of difference between a principled commitment to “going through the motions” and a hypocritical deception of “going through the motions.”

Let’s say Sheila and I are angry and frustrated at each other, or we are in a season in our marriage where we feel distant and disengaged. Should I still treat her with all the loving actions I do when it feels like we are on a second honeymoon? Absolutely. I should care for her with my words, action and attitude. I should help with family responsibilities like I normally do. I should go out of my way to love and serve her.

Does that make me a hypocrite? I don't think so. It would make me a husband who knows how to honor my commitments. It would mean I have a principled commitment to displaying my covenant love, and so I do these things in spite of how either one of us feels. Am I going through the motions? Sure, but they are valuable motions motivated by a commitment to do the right thing. Meanwhile, Sheila and I shouldn’t be pretending everything is okay. It’s not. We can simultaneously not be okay and still be faithfully committed to honoring each other as we work toward being okay again.

That’s entirely different than if I start an affair and keep going through the motions at home. Now, my actions when I am with my wife say, “I am honoring our covenant with my actions,” while I am most definitely not. That’s a hypocritical deception of going through the motions. Jesus didn’t say,

“If you are struggling with questions or doubt, don’t be singing and praying until you get it all figured out.”

“If you don’t feel like giving to the needy, don’t help anybody in need until you feel like it.”

“If God feels distant and disconnected, don’t bother coming to church until you feel tight with God again.”

“That practice of self-discipline (fasting), it’s worthless if you don’t feel like it. Indulge until you feel like practicing restraint.”

That’s not what Jesus was saying. Hypocrisy and show is very different from a principled commitment to do the next right thing no matter how we feel. This is about being humble and honest about who and where we are in our relationship with God and others, and remembering why we committed do what we do in the first place. How do I know this? This parable.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 

 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his chest and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

 Note that the problem with the Pharisee was not that he fasted and tithed. It was his arrogance. The tax collector brought no show, no pretense. He was honest. “He would not even look up to heaven” as he stood at a distance. The most important thing he brought was himself - in humility and transparency.

David wrote Psalm 51 after he took Bathsheba and killed her husband to cover up his sin. He notes in that Psalm of repentance that right then, God wasn’t interested in David sacrificing something on an altar in a formal, public display of righteousness. God was interested in David bringing the same thing the tax collector brought.

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.

Most of us can figure out the game of impressing people by taking good things – bible memory, prayer, singing, sacrifice for and service of others – and making them a show about us. If you want to bring a show, you’ll get the reward you want: people’s attention. It will chip away at your soul and your sanity and create a church that loves show.

What does God want? First and foremost, He wants you. When you go to God or come to church, you don’t need to impress anybody. We don’t form churches to build public platforms for popularity. It’s all about Jesus – seeing who He really is, surrendering our lives to His glorious work of saving us and making us new, then living in and living out the righteousness He has so graciously given us, and at such great cost. And in living like this there is great reward.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. That’s the reward we will consider more fully next week.

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[1] I could not figure out how and who to cite for this source, as I found it on a Prezi online.

[2] 1 John 2:29. “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”

[3] “Some learned men have thought that the word shopher, a trumpet, refers to the hole in the public alms chest, into which the money was dropped which was allotted for the service of the poor. Such holes, because they were wide at one end and grew gradually narrow towards the other, were actually termed שופרות shopheroth, trumpets, by the rabbins… An ostentatious man, who wished to attract the notice of those around him, would throw in his money with some force into these trumpet-resembling holes, and thus he might be said שופר σαλπιζειν, to sound the trumpet.”  (Adam Clarke) 

[4] This word referred to Greek actors who wore different masks in the same play to present themselves as different people.

[5] “The Jewish phylacterical prayers were long, and the canonical hours obliged them to repeat these prayers wherever they happened to be; and the Pharisees… contrived to be overtaken in the streets by the canonical hour, that they might be seen by the people, and applauded for their great and conscientious piety.” (Adam Clarke)

[6] Pagans repeated the names of their gods or the same words over and over without thinking (1 Kings 18:26; Acts 19:34). (ESV Global Study Bible)

[7] “Prayer is not designed to inform God, but to give man a sight of his misery; to humble his heart, to excite his desire, to inflame his faith, to animate his hope, to raise his soul from earth to heaven, and to put him in mind that THERE is his Father, his country, and inheritance.” (Adam Clarke)

[8] The very learned Mr. Gregory has shown that our Lord collected this prayer out of the Jewish Euchologies, and gives us the whole form as follows: -"Our Father who art in heaven, be gracious unto us! O Lord our God, hallowed be thy name, and let the remembrance of Thee be glorified in heaven above, and in the earth here below! Let thy kingdom reign over us now, and for ever! The holy men of old said, remit and forgive unto all men whatsoever they have done against me! And lead us not into the hands of temptation, but deliver us from the evil thing! For thine is the kingdom, and thou shalt reign in glory for ever and for evermore." Gregory's Works, 4to. 1671, p. 162. (Adam Clarke)

[9] https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Paul~s-Boasting

Harmony #8: "Out With The Old, In With The New: Part 2" (John 2:13-22)

If we are like Jesus, zeal that our lives and our church become a holy space, “set aside” for God’s purposes, will consume us. So, what tangible Kingdom attributes should we be zealous to put in the courtyard of our church and our lives so that the church flourishes as God’s transforming presence is made manifest in our transformed lives?

Sweep out Stinginess and replace it with Generosity – giving to those in need[1]

• “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”  2 Corinthians 9:11

•  “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”  1 John 3:17

• “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”  Hebrews 13:1

A generous community is a healthy community. The book of Acts records of the early church that “they sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” This was one of a number of things recorded in Acts that led to them “enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”[2]  Turns out generosity is a great witnessing tool. God’s people have a Great Commission: go everywhere, preaching the gospel and making disciples. Things like generosity cultivate the soil in which the seeds of the gospel will be planted. It helps to break up the hard ground in the hearts of souls of people.

Sweep out Harshness and replace it with Gentleness – keeping strength under control[3]

• Ephesians 4:1–3  “I… urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness...”

• 1 Timothy 6:11–12  “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.”

• 1 Peter 3:14–16  “Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”

 Gentleness is not weakness. Gentle people are those with the ability to do harm who are careful not to do harm. You have to train dogs about the power of their own bite so they know how to be gentle. Kids have to learn it at an early age so siblings and pets don’t get hurt. Gentleness occurs when those who could hurt others, don’t.

• “I could say this and leave no tip and let that waiter know just how bad of an experience this was.” Be gentle.

• “I could gossip and throw him under the bus.” Be gentle.

• “I could take that past failure of my friend or spouse or parent or that person across the room right now and use it against them for a long, long time.” Be gentle.

Sweep out Self-indulgence and replace it with Self-control – not being ruled by our appetites[4]

• “Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”  1 Corinthians 9:24-27

• “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  Galatians 5:13-16

God gave us appetites and the proper fulfillment of them. If we are hungry; there’s food. If we want companionship, there are people. If we want order, there’s organization. If we want family, there’s marriage and sex. If we want independence (or agency) and there’s free will. If we want to learn, there’s knowledge. Appetites (or desires) are not necessarily the problem. What these verses highlight are two ways appetites and desire can go wrong:

• They could knock us out of the race (compromise our witness)

• They could cause us to bite and devour others to get what we want

When things other then Jesus begin to order or control our lives, we will live in such a way that we will begin to bite and devour others to get what we want.

• Our desire for companionship becomes manipulative control of those around so we get all our needs met on our terms. Those around us become the sacrifice as we consume people to fill that void within us.

• Our desire for order becomes a coercive demanding that people and things be just like we like them all the time, with the attached message that those not as orderly are not just physically deficient, but probably morally deficient in some way. And when disorder strikes, those around us become the sacrifice as we lash out at those who messed up our world.

• Our desire for family becomes our desire for the perfect, ideal family, which becomes a fixation on everybody being perfect – well, everybody being what I want them to be. And when Billy doesn’t act or dress just right, or your spouse falls short…look out. They are about to become the sacrifice.

• Our desire for agency becomes an excuse for indulgence and rebellion at all authority. “Nobody can tell me what to do.” Anytime there is a sense that we might be responsible to something or someone bigger than ourselves we reject it, because nobody is bigger than ourselves. When this happens, community gets sacrificed – and that includes the relationships with the people in it.

 The opposite of being ruled by our desires is self-control, which is surrendering our desires to God’s desires. “Serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[5] This Paul calls “walking in the Spirit.” We talk about living a Spirit-led life, one in which the gifts and the fruit build up the body of Christ and serve as a witness to God’s transformative power at work in us. What does this look like? Serving one another in love. 

Sweep out Self-Sufficiency and replace it with Prayer,[6] pouring out our soul to the Lord (Hannah, in 1 Samuel 1:15)

• “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. “  Matthew 26:41

•  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6

I don’t know if ‘self-sufficiency’ is the best word, but here’s what I’m getting at: Prayer reminds us that we need help. We are not good at being autonomous. We lack the ability to be righteous and holy on our own. We thrive in the service of a King who is ‘far beyond what we ask or think,’[7] and without this King reigning in our lives, we’re in trouble (as are the people around us).

• We resist temptation, but we also recognize the need for Holy Spirit power in that resistance, and we ask for and remind ourselves of that through prayer.

• If we think we can be good or righteous through our own will, we will either be proud (“I nailed it and all these losers around me haven’t figured it out yet”) or ashamed (“I am the loser. I just can’t get it right!”), so we pray for God’s power to bring about righteousness in us that we simply can’t do on our own.

• I realized a while ago I often said, “I’ve been thinking and praying about this,” and I wasn’t trying to be dishonest, but it turned out I was just thinking. Why? Because of course I could figure it out. I didn’t need God’s input. Ummmmm…

 Prayer is, among other things, a constant acknowledgment that I can’t do this by myself. It’s an act of surrender in which we take the ball and put it in God’s court – which is where it was always meant to be.

Sweep out “Right”ness and replace it with Righteousness – doing that which God would approve[8]

• “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God…”1 John 3:10.

• “Then Peter said: ‘In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation, whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.’” Acts 10:34-35.

I am defining “right”ness as, “But it’s my right!” But doing what we have the right to do can sometimes be very different from doing what is righteous. Paul as clear: even when things are permissible, they are not always beneficial.[9] I have the right to say almost anything I want here in our country, but not all of it would be righteous; so, as a child of God, I can’t exercise that right like others can, at least not in good conscience.  I have a right to hoard my money; I have a right to gamble it all away. I have a right to drive around town with offensive bumper stickers.  I have a right to go all kinds of places online.

But, as a follower of Jesus, my rights exist in service to the righteousness to which I am called. Righteousness is “right living” in the eyes of God, and living righteously is not just a necessary goal for the individual health of Christians, it’s an act of love for others. How can I love you well? Do what God tells me is the right thing to do.

Sweep out lords and replace them with servants – looking to serve rather than be served

• "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins… As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace." 1 Peter 4:8-10 

• Philippians 2:3  “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

• Luke 22:26-27   “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”

 So this comes back to the question of power. God gives us power in order to help us serve more effectively. In the corporate world, those with power are often those for whom others work. The more people you lead, the more people work for you, and the more important you are.

Not so in the church. The more people you lead, the more people you serve. The more power you have, the more you are called to be broken and spilled out for others, not them for you.

Sweep out unrighteous Judgment and replace it with Nurture – caring for those who are hurting or broken[10]

• Romans 14:19  “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

• 1 Thessalonians 5:14  “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

• “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29

I’ve recently head the analogy of a garden to describe our lives. I like it.  Comparing people with plants and farms is good biblical territory. J So, what do we do if we want a garden to flourish? WE TAKE CARE OF IT. I don’t angrily pound plants into the ground because they have bugs on them. I don’t withhold water because I’m mad the beans aren’t a tall as they should be. I don't ignore weeds that are overwhelming my plants because I figure the plants should be dealing with their own problems. I fertilize, weed, prune, water, dust for bugs.  I take care of my garden because fruit follows nurture.

You want to see Holy Spirit fruit in your life? Nurture yourself in the Word, in prayer, surrounded by God’s people. You want to see fruit in the people around you? The Holy Spirit is doing Holy Spirit work, but we are on a co-mission with God. . Nurture them.

Sweep out Timidity and replace it with Boldness – fearlessly doing and saying what is righteous[11]

• 2 Corinthians 3:12  “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold.”

• 1 Thessalonians 2:2  “But thought we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi…we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.”

• Philippians 1:14  “And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.”

 Bold is not brash, pushy or obnoxious. It’s just confident and unashamed in spite of whatever difficulties result. And notice the passage from Philippians: because of my chains, most have become confident. Apparently, persecution clarifies for people that it is time to go big or go home.

Church: we need to ‘go big’ all the time. By that I mean unashamed confidence ought to characterize our lives.  Some of you get the opportunity sitting around a dinner table or a family reunion; for some of you, it’s every day at work. Some of you might take it to a larger scale. Wherever we are, unashamed confidence ought to characterize our lives.  We are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ; it is the power of God unto salvation.[12]

Help us, Lord, to play our part in this church becoming increasingly a holy community of love, truth, prayer, worship, repentance, forgiveness, justice and mercy – a place for people of all neighborhoods and nations, a place where the grace of Jesus’ saving atonement is central, a place where God’s name is honored in our words and actions and God’s presence is experienced as transformative, saving, and healing. May zeal for the integrity of your house, guided by your Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, consume us.[13]

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[1]  “Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.”  Proverbs 21:13

“Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.”  Proverbs 28:27

 “Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.”  Luke 6:30

[2] Acts 2:42-47

[3] 2 Timothy 2:24–25  “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.”  

Titus 3:1-2  “Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all humility toward all men.”

[4] “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 25:2

[5] Galatians 5:13

[6] “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

[7] Ephesians 3:20

[8] “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” Proverbs 21:3.

“If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” 1 John 2:29.

[9] 1 Corinthians 6:12

[10] James 2:14-17   “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

[11] Proverbs 28:1  “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are like a lion.”

[12] Romans 1:16

[13] Colin Smith, https://openthebible.org/sermon/zeal-for-gods-house/

Raised Up (Ephesians 2:1-10)

Why do we treat a canvas that is painted differently than we treat a  blank canvas? It’s just pigments and resins and some kind of surface they will stick to. The cash value of the actual parts is not that much. And yet the cash value people pay for it is remarkable.  Why do we put our kids’ pictures or stories up on the refrigerator? Once again, the crayon on notebook paper is worth about a penny on the market, but we think of them as priceless.

Something added value. Something made these things more than just the sum of their parts. There was canvas or paper and something to make marks. Yet a painting can sell for millions of dollars, and we keep the letters and drawing for years.  

Something added value -  in this case, the personal touch of the someone who took ordinary things and created something of great value.

This is as old as Genesis 1. God takes dust and adds value. The material value of the human body: about $160 dollars for just raw materials. God makes common clay into imago dei representationally (we are icons of God), intrinsically (our representational status gives us inherent value and dignity), and functionally (we act on God’s behalf in the world).

In Ephesians 2, Paul goes beyond the fact of imago dei and shows what Christ does in us and for us. First, he explains what kind of material God has to work with. Brace yourselves: it’s even worse than you thought.

As for you, don’t you remember how you used to just exist? Corpses, dead in life, buried by transgressions, wandering the course of this perverse world. You were the offspring of the prince of the power of air—oh, how he owned you, just as he still controls those living in disobedience. I’m not talking about the outsiders alone; we were all guilty of falling headlong for the persuasive passions of this world.

We all have had our fill of indulging the flesh and mind, obeying impulses to follow perverse thoughts motivated by dark powers. As a result, our natural inclinations led us to be children of wrath, just like the rest of humankind. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

I don’t know about you, but that’s not how I like to think of myself. However, that’s the raw materials. That’s us before Christ. We’re not just plain canvas; we are stained and soiled canvas. We’re not just paper – we are torn and soggy. 

Paul doesn’t pull any punches. We were corpses, dead in life. We were the zombies in a much more serious sense of the word than most horror movies show. Those are just biological problems. Ours is deeply spiritual. 

I find it interesting how how an increasing number of modern stories use a thing like a zombie – the Walking Dead -  to make a point that we find in the Bible 2,000 years ago.  It’s as if no matter how far from Christ people wander, there is this lingering dread that we will somehow be dead even while we live, just wandering through a world that robs us of life and offers us nothing in return. 

A recent book series called The Zombie Bible takes incidents from the Bible or early church history and inserts zombies – which sounds silly, but the author (who takes the Bible very seriously) uses them to stand in for the deepest expression of being dead in our sin. 

This world was one of hunger, filled with those who would devour you—both among the dead and among the living.… Like a violent fever, the hunger eats away mind and spirit. In the end, everything that we truly are is gone. Only the hunger remains. Even other men and women are no longer anything but… meat for our desires and obsessions. Then we are lost— unless some other brings a Gift. We cannot recover ourselves alone.” – From What Our Eyes Have Witnessed

 If that’s what we are stuck with, that's lousy for us and everyone around us. But Paul says this is not our fate.

But God, with the unfathomable richness of His love and mercy focused on us, united us with the Anointed One and infused our lifeless souls with life—even though we were buried under mountains of sin—and saved us by His grace. He raised us up with Him and seated us in the heavenly realms with our beloved Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King. 

He did this for a reason: so that for all eternity we will stand as a living testimony to the incredible riches of His grace and kindness that He freely gives to us by uniting us with Jesus the Anointed. For it’s by God’s grace that you have been saved. You receive it through faith. It was not our plan or our effort. It is God’s gift, pure and simple.You didn’t earn it, not one of us did, so don’t go around bragging that you must have done something amazing. 

For we are the product of His hand, heaven’s poetry etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago. (Ephesians 2:4-10)

Lots of worldviews offer a solution for the problem of walking in our own life of death and feeling like we are worth nothing. Another thoughtful zombie story called Warm Bodies offers a solution: 

“We will exhume ourselves. We will fight the curse and break it. We will cry and bleed and lust and love, and we will cure death. We will be the cure. Because we want it.”

The problem is, that never happens. It’s a humanist salvation story, but nothing in the history of the world suggests that solution will work.  Humanity’s never been the cure of the deepest, darkest aches in our souls. We’ve always been the problem. Even when we fix a particular issue, it’s only a matter of time before we ruin it again. 

• We said, “Hey, let’s get more energy by harnessing the power of the atom!” and then figured out how to use it to kill a lot of people.  

• We said, “Let’s cure disease with stem cells!” and eventually began to plunder the bodies of unborn babies for our benefit.

• We said, “Hey, wouldn’t we be healthier if we could learn about sex earlier and more explicitly? The problem with our culture is that we are prudish and repressed. ” And eventually we found ourselves in a culture where STD’s are epidemic, and  pornography and the hook up culture first desensitizes us then damages us.

• We say, “Let’s protect the freedom to speak!” and use it to slander and blaspheme and gossip and produce copious amounts of pornography.

• Remember John Winthorp who wanted build a “city on a hill” characterized by Christian love and generosity in the Massachusetts Bay Colony?[1] It lasted 17 years. “As the people increased,” he wrote, “so sin abounded.”

 Nothing in human history suggests we are able to save ourselves. [2] On the other hand, the Zombie Bible got the solution right (and it better, with ‘Bible’ in the title):

“What do we know to be true? Nothing is broken that cannot be remade. Nothing is ill that cannot be healed, nothing captive that cannot be freed. That is what [Jesus] taught us.” – from What Our Eyes Have Witnessed, The Zombie Bible series.

That’s actually the gospel. That’s part of the good news.  Tom Holland’s book Dominion traces the history of Christianity, and one of his points is that, even when Christianity got off the rails as a movement, it contained within itself – within the revelation of Scripture from God and the incarnational reality of Jesus – the seeds for its own revival. It’s the only thing in the world that does that.  

Paul says we can do nothing on our own – our default is to be one the spiritually Walking Dead – and we don’t raise ourselves up. Now, we are raised by Jesus and made fully alive.  Heaven’s poetry is etched on our lives by his saving hand; other translations say we are His handiwork. God plans for us to be the ones through whom His good work is seen, and by whom His good work is done in the world. 

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If Christ is “raising us up”, if God is restoring all these things in us and putting us on His mission, there are at least three important things that follow.

This should bring to us a staggering amount of humility. Paul says none of us can boast about how we contributed to the project of moving from spiritual death to life. “Don't’ go around bragging as if you did something amazing.” Any time we think, “I just wish people had the self-control and work ethic and mastery of emotions that I have crafted for myself,” we have missed the point. We should be thinking, “All that I am is a gift of grace. I will pray that God works in the life of others so they too can experience God’s grace.” 

Paul never says, “Look at me!” He always says, “Look at Christ in me.”  I would guess that’s because the minute he says, “Look at me!” someone else could say, “Do you mean all of you? Do you realize what you were doing 10 years ago? You killed people!”   

Why would I say, “Look at me”?  Just ask my wife if I have given a perfect picture of what it means to be a godly husband. Ask my boys if I have been a perfect father. Ask anyone in this church if I am a perfect pastor. Ask my friends if I have been a perfect friend. 

For every time I want to say, “I’m awesome!” someone around me is thinking, “Except when you’re not.”  What I have to say (if I look at myself honestly) is only this: “Please don’t look at me. Look at Christ in me. He is the only hope of glory in my life.” The fact that Christ steps in and raises us up should bring about an incredible amount of humility

This should change how we view our worth and dignity. If you are the product of God’s hand - if God is raising you up so you can bring good into the world in a way that will be empowered by Christ working in you - then you should never say, “I guess I deserve to be mistreated. I guess I deserve to be belittled. I don’t matter. My life is nothing. Everybody else is cool and doing great things and I’m just stuck with my personality or looks or circumstances.” If that’s the voice in your head, I promise you it’s not the voice of Christ. 

The voice of Christ says, “Just bring what you’ve got. It’s my job to take you are and craft you into something that will be for your good and my glory.” 

Now, God will ask us to “run the race” that He sets before us, and that might look sketchy at times, because now we are involved, and we bring sketchiness to the project.  In fact, it is often through the process of walking (and stumbling, falling, and getting back up) that Christ does this work in us.  But we “run the race” only because Christ has shown us the track, and strengthened our legs, and given us the right kind of shoes, and given us a prize on which to fix our eyes. 

So we are called to run the race, but the glory for the ground we cover belongs to Christ alone.

This should change how we treat others. This is why we should never treat others in a way that shames, belittles or mocks them. We don’t brag about our spiritual exploits to other people.  We don’t judge how far we think we are down the track vs. how far back we think they are.

We don’t take advantage of people, or purposefully hurt them with our words, our attitudes, or our hands.  Read Romans 14. Paul has a pretty blunt chapter on this. 

We are, after all, created for “good works” – that is,  we are to do good to others as representatives of Christ’s presence on the earth. Certainly that will include walking in the path of life that God has shown us, but it goes beyond just that. We look for opportunities to do good. We look for opportunities to affirm in those around us that they matter, and love them as Christ would love them.  

I loved watching the gymnastics community support Simone Biles this past week. They got it. They understood. While lots of people were complaining that she was weak or a ”national embarrassment” for withdrawing in the Olympics, the ones who know what she was going through (“the twisties”) cared for her rather than discarded her.[3]  

Isn’t this what life with God’s people is supposed to look like? When we lose our way in the middle of our spiritual routine, what are the rest of us on the team supposed to do? Show the empathy Jesus showed us[4]; surround them[5]; lift up those who have become disoriented and lost their way[6]; train together again under the only Coach who can teach us finish well. [7]

If heaven is writing poetry on the lives of my wife and children, who am I to step in and scrawl nonsense on the work of Christ? Whenever my words or my attitude send them a message that they are failures, or that they have to earn my love or pride, or that they are an annoyance, I deface the work of Christ. Every time I give my wife a look that tells her without words that she is “less than”, I step in and write shame and anger into the poetry of heaven. 

We need to model grace and speak words of life to our family and friends and church community. We need to honor and not shame, to speak truth but always with grace, to affirm gifts and talents, and to display the compelling nature of Christ through our words and actions. 

* * * * *

We often wonder if God has a plan for our lives. Yes. His plan is to raise us up as His children.His plan is that we become a testimony to the incredible riches of His grace as He makes us into something beautiful. 

#practicerighteousness

• Share with someone how God’s grace has “raised you up” when you were dead in your sins. 

• Read through this passage every day to remind yourself of the immense “added value” God has given to you through Jesus.

• Purposefully practice the three implications (practicing humility, remembering value and worth, and consciously treating others well). Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide your heart, mind, and strength.

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[1] https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/colliding-cultures/john-winthrop-dreams-of-a-city-on-a-hill-1630/

[2] G.K. Chesterton, a famous author, was once asked by a newspaper, “What’s wrong with the world today?” He famously responded, “I am.”  

[3] https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/28/us/simone-biles-olympics-gymnastics-physical-mental-health/index.html

[4] Hebrews 4:15

[5] Romans 12; 1 Peter 3:8

[6] 1 Thessalonians 5:11

[7] 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Matthew 5:19

Practicing Righteousness: The Fruits (Part 2) - 1 John 3:4-11; Galatians 2

The Bible is clear: righteousness comes from God on the basis of faith (Philippians 3:9; Romans 3:22; Romans 9:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21). God declares us to be righteous because we have become part of His family, and he is righteous. We are part of the Righteous Family. The fancy biblical term is that he ‘imputes’ it to us – he gives his righteousness to us.[1] It means we are in ‘right standing’ (thanks to Jesus) and that we are committed to doing the ‘right thing’ (imitating Jesus).

Two weeks ago, we reached the part in 1 John where John wrote about “practicing righteousness” vs. practicing sin. Paul talked about this also: 

“All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16)

 Last week I introduced the idea that we ought to be practicing[2] what the Bible calls the ‘fruits of the Spirit.’ [3] They are gifts from God, but we are responsible for the exercise, the practice, thepoeio. It’s simply being purposeful in doing the things that someone like us is made and empowered to do.  So let’s keep going with what it looks like to display and practice the fruits of the Spirit. 

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Kindness is the ability to serve others practically, often in ways which are costly or make us vulnerable. Our hearts are broken by the things that break the heart of God, and we do something about it. It’s active empathy[4]. 

·      Ephesians 4:32  “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

·      Luke 6:35  “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”

I recently read a book on marriage[5], and the concluding advice from the authors was: be kind. Everything falls into place if you are kind to each other. 

The counterfeit[6] of kindness is manipulation. You do kind things - to be noticed and to get something in return. Practically, people say, “Wow, you are generous with your time (or money).”  But…you did it so they would say that. If nobody noticed, or people don’t honor you lik you want them too, you would probably stop doing it. Or maybe people do respond by giving you something you want in return, so now kindness is a means of getting what you want. You might even be trying to manipulate God with your impressive displays of kindness.  That’s manipulation masquerading as kindness.[7]

The opposite of kindness is rudeness, which is just being a jerk. We bully people with our words, or our emotions, or even physically (anywhere from intruding on personal space to abuse). 

·      How do we respond when the waiter messes up our order? 

·      When the person checking out at Meijer takes foorrreeevvveerrrr. 

·      When a family member steps on our emotional toes? 

·      When someone gets on our case for wearing/not wearing a mask? 

·      When someone ignores us or overlooks us?

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

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 Goodness has to do with personal integrity. We are the same everywhere, and our actions and heart and speech are integrated. If friends from our different social circles met and they started talking about us, they would all know they were talking about the same person. 

For a Christian, goodness (personal integrity) cannot be separated from our standard for goodness: Jesus. It’s not enough to have our hearts and hands aligned – I mean, you can be consistent and be a terrible person. Marilyn Manson told us for years what kind of guy he was, and it turns out he was that kind of guy. Fair enough. I suppose he had integrity – he was integrated – but that’s not enough to really count as a mark in our favor Maybe a more thorough definition for us as Christians is righteous integrity.

 “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.” Proverbs 10:9 

 “Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.” Proverbs 28:6 

 “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.” Proverbs 11:3 

 The fruit of the Spirit is that we are consistent, integrated person in the path of righteousness.

The counterfeit of goodness is puffed up goodness – pride. You might not be a hypocrite – that’s the opposite; wait for it -  but you’re a jerk. You think that you are all that and then some, amazing just as you are, so there is no reason to be tempered by things like… the fruits of the Spirit J You think people can’t handle you because they can’t handle being around someone who walks so boldly and consistently in righteousness, when really they just don’t want to be around someone who walks so obnoxiously in pride. Something about a resounding brass or clanging cymbal...[8] “At least I’m not a hypocrite! You know exactly who I am!”  That’s not always a mark in your favor. 

The opposite of goodness is hypocrisy.[9] Personal dis-integrity. You are not integrated. You are different people on the outside and inside; you say one thing and do another; you are on person at home and another person at church and another person at work; you claim to believe one thing but live a different way; you say, “I’m this kind of person” but… you’re not. 

“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” (Matthew 15:7)

“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar.” (1 John 4:20)

“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.” (James 1:26)

““Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)

“They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works.” (Titus 1:6)

Some of us are hypocrites and know it, but for many of us, this can be surprisingly subtle. Like Matt Chandler likes to say, nobody lies to us as much as we do. We can become really good at genuinely believing that we are fantastic ambassadors for Jesus when we are not.  

“I love my neighbor.” Do you, though? How have you been broken and spilled out lately, loving at cost, “esteeming them better than yourself,”[10] honoring all people[11], serving in love[12]rather than asking to be served? Do we have contempt or judgment for someone whose appears weak to us on what the author of Romans call’s “disputable matters.”[13] How’s that going with your spouse? Your kids or parents? Your friends? People here at church? At work?

“The Bible is the foundation of all truth.” Cool. When you think of cultural issues that have grabbed your attention and on which you have strong opinions, did you start with the Bible? Did you spend time studying passages that address this issue, and seeing if the church has a historical stance, and looking to see what Christian pastors and theologians and historians are saying? Did you do that before reaching an opinion based on a different foundation and then which you then used to filter the Bible, or did the Bible filter those other things for you? 

“My faith is the most important thing to me.” Quick question: when you schedule gets full, what gives – is it the practices of your faith (prayer; Bible reading; gathering for corporate worship, teaching and fellowship; staying in connection with Christians brothers and sisters; getting your kids involved in the rhythm of prioritizing things of the Kingdom)? If someone did a faith audit of our lives for 6 months, what would they conclude has the power to prioritize how we live?

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good[14], pleasing and perfect will… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:2;21

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 Faithfulness is courageous/righteous loyalty. It’s being reliable, dependable and honest even if it’s difficult. Faithful people offer a grounding or stabilizing presence to the people around them. Faithful friends don’t lie, they don’t leave, and they don’t cover up sin. 

When the writer of Hebrews unpacks what we call the Hall of Faith,[15] he uses a phrase to summarize what kind of people endure in the midst of incredible hardship. He says they are people ‘of whom the world is not worthy.’[16] The mettle within the faithful person is not of this world. Their endurance is not characterized by perfection; it is characterized by courageous, righteous loyalty. They do not forsake the truth on which they stand and of which they proclaim. They never stop living it. The mark of faith-fullness is faithfulness. 

The counterfeit of faithfulness is enabling loyalty. You are loyal but not courageously truthful, and chaos follows from that. I mean, Hitler had faithful followers, and that’s not a sign of character on their part. Loyalty is not enough. It must be courageous and stabilizing. How many youtube videos go viral because loyal friends don’t stop their stupid friends from doing stupid things?  How many people failed to get their friends help because “Dude, I won’t tell anybody because I am your friend”? Loyalty, on its own, is capable of covering up a multitude of sins. Faithfulness doesn’t waver in the midst of the uncovering, because it’s courageous in its loyalty.  

That, by the way, is why faithful Christians can talk honestly about the sins in the history of the church, and why American Christians who love their country should be the first to talk about the sins in our history as a nation, and why we can talk honestly about the failures or struggles in the past and present of this church. God forbid we merely be enablingly loyal. God help us be courageously loyal. 

The opposite of faithfulness is unreliability. This is a form of consumerism. You may or may not show up when others need you, and that has to do with your words, your presence, and your material help. Faithfulness focuses on the one to whom we are being faithful; the opposite focuses totally on the self. Maybe the opposite of faithfulness is selfishness: I am invested in you only as long as it benefits me.        

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Gentleness is the humble, healing use of power. It’s what helps us play games with our kids when we don’t like the game, we don’t like the pace at which they play it, and we are annoyed that we can’t seem to win at Wii tennis. It’s why we rein in our words when we know we could bully or hurt people with our words. It’s why we talk about things like servant leadership, modeled after Jesus, who as part of the Godhead humbled himself and became like one of us, serving even to the point of death.[17] The gentle make the powerless feel powerful. It’s why those of us with the power of Christ in us must be oh, so careful that any type of authority or power brings humility in us, not pride, and that we heal the world with the gospel and the gifts of Jesus Christ.

The counterfeit of gentleness is patronization. It’s very similar to manipulation. We help, but it's a kindness that reminds the recipient and others that they are lucky they have a powerful person like us around. We feel good about ourselves, but leave others diminished and ashamed.  The counterfeit makes the powerful feel more powerful, and the powerless are reminded of how much they lack. As with all the other counterfeits, it has once again become about us. 

The opposite of gentleness is abrasive use of power. It’s bullying or  even abuse. It’s a callousness to how people are impacted by us.  Let’s talk about words as just one example. I had a humbling moment when I reviewed a popular author’s book years ago. I didn’t care for it, and I wrote a pretty sarcastic review on my blog. Shockingly, he responded in the comments seciont. And one of his comments was along the lines of, “I didn’t expect this from a pastor.” Ouch. I was a minor blogger. A couple hundred people (maybe) read my review. But I still had power, and I abused it. Like, the Bible was clear about the power of words, and I had just ignored it. [18]

I’ve talked to too many people this past year who work in restaurants or stores who have talked about how mean customers have been over COVID stuff. Look, I get it. COVID has made a looooot of things super frustrating. But we are Christians. We are followers of Jesus. We claim to have God’s Spirit indwelling us, and as a result we have the fruit of gentleness – a fruit we have opportunity to practice right now with our words and presence in Michigan in every business we enter.  

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” (Philippians 4:5)

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 Self-control is purposeful living. Self-control has to do with controlling the self for the sake of others. We understand what God wants us to prioritize in life, and we practice that prioritization. We practice self-reflection, repent where needed, and then ‘turn around’[19] and actively practice doing the right thing. 

·      We don’t just stop gossiping, we actively build up others with our words.

·      We don’t just stop consuming entertainment 5 hours a day, we purposefully do something productive with our time.

·      We don’t just stop building a 250 foot poop wall between us an our neighbor (#truestory[20]), we tear and down and put in a path. 

·      We don’t just stop wishing terrible things would happen to our enemies, we start praying for them.

The counterfeit of self-control is willpower. It’s controlling the self for the sake of the self.  It’s about purposeful restraint rather than purposeful momentum. Restraint of something bad is a good thing, please don’t misunderstand. It’s just only half the battle. Jesus told an interesting story:

“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.” (Matthew 12:43-45)

Willpower cleans a room in our lives. That’s not a bad thing, but that room will fill back up. Self-control cleans the room in order to fill it with something better.  

The opposite is self-indulgence.[21]  If self-control is purposeful living for the sake of others, self-indulgence is purposeless extravagance at the expense of others. It’s gluttony applied to more than food. 

“It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory. Like a city that is broken down and without walls is a man who has no self-control over his spirit.” (Proverbs 25:27-28)

 We seek our own glory and pleasure. We are consumers of things and people. We are the monsters characterized by zombies and vampires: we live to feed, and everything and everyone around us is food, and their worth to us depends on how much they fill us. 

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What do the fruits have in common? Agape love that sacrifices self for the sake of others.

What binds the counterfeits and opposites together? Selfishness that sacrifices others for the sake of self. 

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:9-10)

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[1] Romans 4:22

[2] Jesus had already given instruction on how to practice righteousness well: "Beware of practicing (poieo) your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 6:1)[2]

[3] Seek and pursue the fruit of peace  (Psalm 34:14) as much as it depends on you (Romans 12:18).

Consider it the fruit of joy when you face trials (James 1:2), or when we share in Christ’s suffering (1 Peter 4:13)

Choose the fruit of love (Luke 6:27 “But to you who are willing to listen…”)

Be patient (James 5:7-8) like a farmer waiting for crops, imitating the saints before us (Hebrews 6:12)

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness and self-control (2 Peter 1:5-7)  

Clothe yourself with gentleness and kindness (Colossians 3:12)

[4] “Let a righteous man strike me--that is a kindness; let him rebuke me--that is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.” (Psalm 141:5)  Interesting: kindness is not passivity or enablement. One can be kind and confrontational; in fact, sometimes kindness demands confrontation.

[5] The Great Sex Rescue, by Joanna Sawatsky, Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, and Sheila Wray Gregoire.

[6] “The real trouble is that 'kindness' is a quality fatally easy to attribute to ourselves on quite inadequate grounds. Everyone feels benevolent if nothing happens to be annoying him at the moment. Thus a man easily comes to console himself for all his other vices by a conviction that 'his heart's in the right place' and 'he wouldn't hurt a fly,' though in fact he has never made the slightest sacrifice for a fellow creature. We think we are kind when we are only happy.”  (C.S. Lewis)

[7] Key check point: You might be a manipulator if a) you build a relationship through your kindness, then demand that relationship unfold on your terms, or b) you are kind as long as you have ownership or control of the relationship. 

[8] 1 Corinthians 13

[9] https://www.openbible.info/topics/hypocrisy

[10] Philippians 2:3

[11] 1 Peter 2:17

[12] Galatians 5:13

[13] Romans 14

[14] agathós – inherently (intrinsically) good; as to the believer, 18 (agathós) describes what originates from God and is empowered by Him in their life, through faith. (HELPS Word Studies)

[15] Hebrews 11

[16] Hebrews 11:38

[17] Philippians 2:8

[18] Epic fail on my part. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14 ) 

[19] That what repentance means in the Bible – turn around, change direction, move toward the right goal instead of the wrong one. 

[20] https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/man-builds-poop-wall-in-washtenaw-county-after-dispute-with-neighbor  (“It's not a poop wall. It's a compost fence," said the dude who built it.)

[21] I got the foundation for the opposites from Sophia McDonald at https://unlockingthebible.org/2017/02/the-fruit-of-the-spirit-or-the-flesh/

Practicing Righteousness (1 John 3:4-10)

We tend to use the word “practice” two different ways. 

• First, we might refer to how we do things. “It is our practice to….” That’s why attorneys practice law or doctors practice medicine. 

• Second, we do something over and over to get better at it (think learning a sport or a musical skill). 

John is going to use the word poieo (poy-eh-o) numerous times in today’s passage, a word often translated as “practice.” I think that the two meanings for practice put together capture what he is trying to say: poieo is how we do things, or it’s something we do over and over and get better at it. Keep that in mind as we read. 

 Everyone who practices sin (lives a life of habitual sin)[1] is living in moral anarchy. That’s what sin is.[2]  Jesus came to take our sins, but there is not the slightest bit of sin in Him. The ones who live in an intimate relationship with Him do not persist in sin, but anyone who persists in sin has not seen and does not know the real Jesus.[3] 

“Taking on our sin” has an interesting image associated with it. It’s the idea that someone picks something up and takes it with her, like what the lame man did with his bed (Matthew 9:6), or like a transferred yoke from one cow to another in farm work (Matthew 11:29). Remember how Jesus asked people to take his yoke upon them?[4] He was asking them to “take” his mission, to join him in where he was going. More on this later, so keep that image in mind. 

Children, don’t let anyone deceive you. The one practicing righteousness (persistently doing the right thing and getting better at it) is just imitating Jesus, the Righteous One.  The one who practices sin (persistently doing the wrong thing and getting better at it) belongs to the diabolical one, who has been all about sin from the beginning. That is why the Son of God came into our world: to destroy the plague of destruction inflicted on the world by the diabolical one. 

No one who has been born into God’s family practices sin as a lifestyle because the God’s children are the spiritually generated offspring[5] of God Himself. Therefore, a child of God has the power to reject a life of persistent sin.  So it is not hard to figure out who are the children of God and who are the children of the diabolical one: those who do not practice righteousness (what God approves) and those who don’t practice agape love for one another do not belong to God.

 Practicing righteousness vs. practicing sin.  

 Poieo.  

 Getting better at righteousness vs. getting better at sin by doing them.

Last weekend I was talking with a young man from Russia (one of Braden’s friends.) I was reminiscing about how last summer he cooked us borscht. I thought I was doing pretty good with my English pronunciation, but when he started rolling those r’s to show me how it was really pronounced, I was in trouble. He was good at it because he grew up doing it. He got better and better because he’s done it millions of times. I, on the other hand, have not. I have practiced ‘hard’ r’s, and I’m good at those. 

 Poieo.

I was watching a new series on Neflix. In episode one, a boy hides from bullies. A nun tells him, “If you want to be the kind of boy who runs from bullies, you might last until you are 20.” It was harsh world. She was probably right. It morphs into a scene 10 years later where he is fighting the equivalent of MMA, taking on all comes, with a reputation of a guy who was not afraid of anything. 

Poeio. Practice.

This is not in opposition to the reality that God gives us gifts. It’s in conjunction with the reality that God gives us gifts. Something can be given to us freely, and we still have to practice.

My dad gave me a basketball, a bike, a BB gun. I still had to practice to get good at them. I had good singing voice when I was younger. I had the ability to find the rhythm with a bass. I could speak in front of others without fear and trembling. I could write good – sorry, I could write well J I had the genetics to be relatively successful at a few sports. I did not earn any of these things. They were in some sense given to me. I had to practice if I wanted them to grow. 

It’s Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour/10 year rule. You do something for 10,000 hours, you are probably really, really good at it. The more poieo, the more accomplished you become at. It begins to feel natural because you get used to it and the exercise of that gift becomes more and more natural. 

John does not claim we earn our righteousness. Biblical writers are clear that our being declared righteous is a free gift from God. But he still says we must practice it. And our practice is guided by our yokes.

Eventually, you get used to the yoke you wear. You get better at following the direction of the yoke, fulfilling the mission of the yoked.

The yoke is something farmers would hook up to two oxen for plowing a (hopefully) straight line. There were good combinations and bad.  Ideally, they moved in a straight line toward a common goal. We yoke with something or someone for everything. We have all picked something up and taken it with us wittingly or unwittingly; we have all willingly joined the formation or course of our life with something or someone else.  

•  I was an Auburn fan when I was a kid for no reason other than somebody got me an Auburn jacket. Then, when I moved to Ohio, I (by the grace of God) became a Buckeye fan.

•  I like food you find in the south because I grew up in the south.  Boiled crawdads and fried catfish and grits, man. I even like dried okra.

•  I speak English - for a while with a good Southern accent. 

 Those are all things I unwittingly took on. It was just a natural thing based on the social ecosystem in which I lived. There are other things – yokes, if you will - I chose wittingly: 

•  I became a Christian – I took on that yoke.

• When I got married, Sheila and I yoked together.

• When we started coming to church at CLG, we yoked with the people here. 

We constantly ‘put on’ things, and when we do, poieo will follow. We will inevitably practice. From the moment we get out of bed, every day, we are practicing righteousness or sin based on who or what shares our yoke. 

Paul addressed this reality with the church in Corinth. When Paul first went to Corinth, he had apparently warned them about associating with people who were sexually immoral. Unfortunately, they did not understand what he was trying to say.  In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul clarified his command: “I didn’t mean people who aren’t following Christ. You would have to leave the world.” In other words, of course you are going to have friends and relate to people who don’t agree with you or live like you.

In his second letter, he gives them a little more clarity on how not to be “of” Corinth even while they live “in” Corinth:

“Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers. What common interest can there be between goodness and evil? How can light and darkness share life together? How can there be harmony between Christ and the devil? What business can a believer have with an unbeliever? What common ground can idols hold with the temple of God? For we, remember, are ourselves living temples of the living God.” (2 Corinthians 6:14 - 7:1)

You may have heard this passage used about marriage, but it’s not about marriage specifically (it applies to all relationships). Everybody yokes. Be careful with whom you yoke.

There are some things that will either guide us on a straight path in the Kingdom of God or try to pull us around into a different Kingdom altogether. Every yoke works with us or against us as we move toward a goal. If we want to practice righteousness well, we must yoke with the righteous. Be careful who shares your spiritual yoke.

During the Roman persecutions, Christians were commanded to cast a little incense on the altar of a pagan god. They refused to do it, and thousands were killed.  Just a little incense. Why was this such a big deal?This was a question of allegiance and partnership. It seemed like one small thing, but it was practice. It was the first step in poeio.

This is the idea behind the imagery of the infamous “mark” in the book of Revelation (as I understand it). What marks you? What are you known for? Where is your allegiance? With whose identity does your practice yoke you and thus mark you?[6]

·    Who gets your conscious, deliberate sacrifice?  Not of incense, but of time, money, energy, thoughts, priorities? Who yokes you into supporting them in thought or in practice? And how does that mark you? If something is going to give in your schedule during the day, what gives? Poeio. If something is going to give in your week, what is it? Poeio.

·    For whom or what will you go out of your way, rearrange your schedule, bump other things?  Who or what yokes you into prioritizing them, and their agenda, and their schedule? Poeio.You are practicing something that will make you a particular kind of someone. 

·    With whom are you willing to unite to avoid hardship or discomfort or get what you want? How much are you willing to compromise for pleasure and comfort? Will you walk into or away from tension with others? Poeio. 

·    Who or what forms your view of world events, and thus orders your thoughts and speech and actions? Who yokes you into thinking like they do?  You can find out what leading Christian thinkers say about it first, or you can start with leading politicians or talking heads on TV. Every one is poeio. You are practicing. 

John has already told us the importance of yoking with Jesus, with the Word, with God’s people, through the power of the Holy Spirit. For the rest of the book, John is going to tell us how yoking in this way will mark as one of God’s righteous children. The mark is the practice of showing the righteous love of the Father to others. [7]  Those who practice righteousness and those who practice agape love for one another belong to God (v.10). We bear the mark of Christ when we live the love of Christ.

·      1 John 3:11  “For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”

·      1 John 3:14  “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other.”

·      1 John 3:16: “We ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

·      1 John 3:23: “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” 

·      1 John 4:7  “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.”

·      1 John 4:11  “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

·      1 John 4:21  “Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

·      1 John 5:2  “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.”

That which leads us to practice a greater righteousness and display the fruits of the Spirit (starting with love) is of God; that which leads us to practice sin and show contempt, disdain, or hatred to others is of the devil. 

You want to know with whom you are yoked? Are the fruits of the Spirit growing or fading, beginning with love?[8]

When we survey the cultural landscape and see all the things that stand in opposition to the Kingdom of God, are we marked in our internal and external response by the fruits of the Spirit that proclaim us to be a child of God and a practitioner of righteousness, and does it call out of us a desire to agape love those both near and far from Christ? 

When we watched or read the coverage of George Floyd’s death, and then the trial of one of the officers this past week, and then news stories with an intersection of violence and race, what increases in us? Was it a practice in righteousness? Did our thoughts, emotions, or words bear the mark of Jesus and show that we have partnered with him in spirit and in truth? Did it call out of us a desire for all those involved to experience the agape love of Christ, beginning with the embodiment of that love as displayed in His people?

As COVID rolls on with all of its devastation and frustration, are we increasing in peace, joy, hope and love, or are we increasing in anger, bitterness, judgment and fear? Is our voice and presence stabilizing and soothing a tumultuous world, or inflaming it?  Is the love of Christ for others growing in us for all of the following:

·      maskers and anti-maskers

·      COVID vaxxers and COVID anti-vaxxers

·      lockdown fans and lockdown opponents

·      people who have lost loved one; people who have lost jobs

·      exhausted health care workers in hospitals

·      people longing for unmasked faces – or masked faces

·      people wrestling with mental health issues more than ever

·      politicians whose decisions will always put them in somebody’s sights

·      that person walking through this church door that we think is living in fear because they wear a mask or don’t get a vaccine, or living in arrogance because they don’t wear a mask or brag about their vaccine

Do you feel it after that list? Something is rising within you? Are the fruits of the spirit bubbling up more than ever?  Did you feel agape love?  Did any of that take your joy?  Are you at peace even if something on that list triggered you?  Are you planning how you can show patience, kindness and gentleness to “that person?”  Were you considering how your presence around others on this list can be characterized by faithfulness and goodness?  Is your self-control being tested? What’s winning?

Is the love of Christ moving in us so that we are seeing all of these people as Christ sees them, thinking of them as Christ thinks of them, speaking to and of them as Jesus would speak if they were here? 

“How can we avoid sin? By keeping the commandments of Christ. And what is that commandment? It is that we should love. Love, and sin is undone.” (Augustine) 

Keeping the commandment of love. Poeio. 

Practice love, as one who has passed from death into life (1 John 3:14). 

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[1] A. “The present tense of the Greek suggests behavior that is characteristic or usual. In this way John acknowledges, but does not excuse, the possibility of occasional sin. Another possibility is that John has in mind the specific sin of apostasy, mentioned in 2:19 (cf. also 5:16–18). If so, John means that true believers will not totally abandon their faith.”   B. “John is not teaching sinless perfection (see 1:8, 10; 2:2). He speaks here of habitual practice of known sinful acts. The true believer’s actions will conform to the character of his true father, either God or Satan. The person born of God will reflect this in his behavior.” (Both quotes from commentary on Bible Gateway.)    C) “Christ in himself is most pure, and he came to take away our sins, by sanctifying us with the Holy Spirit, therefore whoever is truly a partaker of Christ, does not give himself to sin, and on the contrary, he that gives himself to sin does not know Christ. (Geneva Study Bible) 

[2] That moral anarchy is disregard of known law, or acting as if one has no law when if fact the law is known. (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[3] “Hath not seen him - It is no unusual thing with this apostle, both in his gospel and in his epistles, to put occasionally the past for the present, and the present for the past tense. It is very likely that here he puts, after the manner of the Hebrew, the preterite for the present: He who sins against God doth not see him, neither doth he know him - the eye of his faith is darkened, so that he cannot see him as he formerly did; and he has no longer the experimental knowledge of God as his Father and portion.” (Adam Clarke)

[4] Matthew 11:29

[5] “3:9 God’s seed. A daring metaphor employing the word “seed” (Greek sperma) to depict the Spirit’s work in believers. Unlike the children of the devil (in this case the secessionists), the children of God do not go on sinning because the Spirit dwells within them. There is an apparent contradiction in 1 John concerning sin in the believer’s life: those who claim not to have sinned are liars (1:10); those born of God do not and cannot sin (3:6, 9). A possible resolution is that, in context, 3:4 defines the latter sin as “lawlessness” (Greek anomia). In the NT this word refers not to breaking the law but to rebelling against God (like the devil’s rebellion). If this is the case, John is saying that those who claim to know God and yet sin in this way certainly do not know God and are, in fact, in league with the devil. This is the sin that those born of God do not and cannot commit. It is possible for believers to sin in other ways, as 1:8—2:1indicates.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[6] Question to the Bible Project guys: Is there a relationship between the engraving of Yahweh’s holiness on the golden plate of the priest’s turban in Exodus 39:30 also described in Exodus 23:28 as a mark on Aaron’s forehead, and the mark of God’s name on his bondservants’ foreheads in Revelation 7, Revelation 22? ? And is there also a counter relationship to the mark of the beast?

Their answer: “The descriptions of priests’ attire in the Hebrew Bible specify that priests are to wear the phrase “belonging to Yahweh” on their foreheads. And all Israelites are instructed to bind the words of the Shema, a prayer they learned to recite morning and night, on their hands and foreheads (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). In Ezekiel 9, there’s another instance of Israelites having their foreheads marked. In this case, the mark is a sign of people who are grieved by the idolatry of Babylon and therefore spared from Yahweh’s judgment. John had all of these images in mind when he described the forehead markings of God’s servants in Revelation, which are indeed an anti-mark to the mark of the beast.  (https://bibleproject.com/podcast/mark-priest-or-mark-beast/).

[7] All disobedience is contrary to love; therefore sin is the transgression of the law, whether the act refers immediately to God or to our neighbor. (Adam Clarke)

[8] “No man is of God who is not ready on all emergencies to do any act of kindness for the comfort, relief, and support of any human being. For, as God made of one blood an the nations of men to dwell upon the face of the whole earth, so all are of one family; and consequently all are brethren, and should love as brethren.” (Adam Clarke)

Fight The Good Fight (2 Timothy 4:5-8)

5 But you must stay focused, self-controlled and be alert at all times. Tolerate suffering[1]. Accomplish the good work of an evangelist, and complete the ministry to which you have been called.6 For I am already being poured out, and the last drops of this drink offering are all that remain; it’s almost time for me to leave[2]. 

 7 I have fought the good[3] fight, I have stayed on course and finished the race, and through it all, I have kept the faith.[4] 8 I look forward to what’s in store for me: a crown of righteousness that the Lord—the always right and just judge—will give me that day (but it is not only for me, but for all those who have loved/have longed for His appearing). (2 Timothy 4:5-8)

 Paul must have had a sense this day was coming. He had written years earlier:

“But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.” (Philippians 2:17)

“Even if” has become “am already.” Paul sees his blood as the libation which had already started being poured on the sacrificial offering.[5] Libations were one of the final acts of a sacrifice, with the worshiper pouring (usually) wine on the altar after the burnt offering was mostly consumed. Paul was under a death sentence; it appears the cruelty had already begin. Paul’s blood is about to finish off his life of sacrifice, a spiritual commitment that had now become a physical reality.  And then here comes his classic ‘legacy’ statement:

“I have fought the good fight, I have stayed on course and finished the race, and through it all, I have kept the faith.”

“I have fought the good fight”

This likely alludes to Grecian games: Literally, “I have wrestled that good wrestling.”  "I have played out the honourable game" showed up in another commentary. This has two layers of meaning: I have struggled hard, with determination and commitment (that’s good – speaks to character and integrity) in an honorable cause (that’s good – speaks to nobility of the person or the cause for which we fight.).

Key point: not every struggle is noble. Paul often quoted the Greek poets. There is a passage from Euripides with the exact expression Paul uses that shows how “the good fight” was used among the Greeks to express the honorable nature of the fight. In this case, Euripides refers to a wife laying down her life for her husband when both his parents had refused to do it. 

"Thou [the parents] wouldst not, neither darest thou to die for thy son… thou wouldst have fought a good fight hadst thou died for thy son."[6]

Sometimes, we get bloodied for terrible causes. From the perspective of the Bible, bravery, courage, and the willingness to take the blows of battle are not enough. 

• We don’t have to look further than 9/11 to see this is true. I suppose the terrorists were brave: they were willing to give their lives for a cause. They were faithful to the end. But none of us in this room would look at what they did and say, “Well done.” Why? Because the cause, the mission, was evil.  

• This is why we don’t applaud KKK members who stuck with it to the end of their lives, because they stuck with something horrific. Between 1882 and 1959[7] – around 75 years – there were almost 5,000 lynchings.[8] If you were dedicated to a movement that fueled that, your dedication counts against you, not for you.

• Let’s be honest: we make this distinction when we see protestors/rioters who get tear gassed or arrested. If we think the cause is noble, they are heroes. If we think their cause is not, we think they are criminals and maybe even terrorists who got what was coming to them. 

• It’s why Just War Theory demands just ends, just means, and a just cause.

• Sometimes we get bloodied in church over difference that should never have reached that level. When I grew up, I knew churches that split over coverings, Bible versions, and End Times theology. Now we are often deeply divided over elections and COVID responses. They rise up and threaten to overwhelm our fellowship and unity, when the ‘good’’ fight is the task of testifying to the Good news of God’s grace. (More on that in a minute).

 Sincere and radical commitment is not enough. The cause matters. And the cause is what Paul calls ‘the course.’

“I have finished the course.”

This is a reference to the Games (which Paul does a lot). The course is what a runner has marked out.  Paul's life was that course;[9]  he explains “his course” in Acts 20:24.

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

We can get distracted by asking the question, “What am I supposed to do with my life?” because we often mean, what vocation am I supposed to do, or how do I use my gifts and talents? These are important questions. However, they aren’t the most important question. We already know what God wants us to do with our life in the most important sense: testify to the good news of God’s grace. Paul has the same course we all do. This can happen anywhere, in any situation, with any set of skills. Land on this. Find stability and meaning and purpose on this. Then, ask the other questions. They are worthwhile, but they are not ultimate. Don’t confuse them. 

Notice what Paul doesn’t say. He doesn’t brag about how awesome he has been. There’s no, “And I crushed it, dominating everything thrown at me.” No, in fact, Paul was pretty clear in his writing that he saw himself as the chief of sinners. In his first letter to Timothy, he noted: 

12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. 

 15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 16 Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1.12-17)

There is no bragging here about merits of self-help or pulling himself up by his spiritual bootstraps. In fact, Paul says, God used Paul to demonstrate God’s perfect patience. Paul was the kind of guy who apparently had a tendency to draw out frustration and impatience from even God. In other places, he publicly acknowledges the war within.  

15 Listen, I can’t explain my actions. Here’s why: I am not able to do the things I want; and at the same time, I do the things I despise. 16 If I am doing the things I have already decided not to do, I am agreeing with the law regarding what is good. 17 But now I am no longer the one acting—I’ve lost control—sin has taken up residence in me and is wreaking havoc.  

18 I know that in me, that is, in my fallen human nature, there is nothing good. I can will myself to do something good, but that does not help me carry it out. 19 I can determine that I am going to do good, but I don’t do it; instead, I end up living out the evil that I decided not to do. 20 If I end up doing the exact thing I pledged not to do, I am no longer doing it because sin has taken up residence in me. 

21 Here’s an important principle I’ve discovered: regardless of my desire to do the right thing, it is clear that evil is never far away. 22 For deep down I am in happy agreement with God’s law; 23 but the rest of me does not concur. I see a very different principle at work in my bodily members, and it is at war with my mind; I have become a prisoner in this war to the rule of sin in my body.  

24 I am absolutely miserable! Is there anyone who can free me from this body where sin and death reign so supremely? 25 I am thankful to God for the freedom that comes through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!

 This is a guy who is well aware of who he is apart from Christ, and well aware that he is still a work in progress while ‘in Christ,’ and therefore aware of just how glorious that makes Jesus. “Fighting the good fight” has nothing to do with our goodness and everything to do with the cause for which we are fighting, and strength God gives us – in His grace – to press on to the end. 

 “I have kept the faith.” 

This is the good cause that makes the fight good. “Keeping the faith” could mean that Paul has kept the body of doctrine safe from distortion and heresy.[10] It could mean Paul has remained personally faithful in his commitment to God. Either one seems possible considering how Paul talks about both of those things in other places. The Pulpit Commentary puts them both together nicely. 

“Through his long eventful course, in spite of all difficulties, conflicts, dangers, and temptations, he had kept the faith of Jesus Christ committed to him, inviolable, unadulterated, whole, and complete. He had not shrunk from confessing it when death stared him in the face; he had not corrupted it to meet the views of Jews or Gentiles; with courage and resolution and perseverance he had kept it to the end.” (Pulpit Commentary)

 It sounds like ‘keeping the faith’ is a combination of preserving orthodoxy (right belief) while committing to orthopraxy (right actions). 
 

If I may offer an encouragement to those of you who are struggling right now either just through life or with your faith. Notice Paul says nothing about how he feels or felt. He didn’t think his faith was going to make his life easy – just read the lists of what all he went through, and remember how many letters were written from Roman jails. In the midst of all these things, Paul stood on two things: he knew what was true, and he knew what to do. He clung to orthodoxy, and he lived orthopraxy. And in the end, he says: “I have fought the noble fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith.”

I look forward to what’s in store for me: a crown of righteousness[11]… 

This is likely another Games reference. In the Games, the winner gets the crown. One historical record from the Greeks notes: 

“‘Pytheas, broad-shouldered son of Lampo, won the crown of the double-contest (wrestling and boxing) at the Nemean games.”[12]

 But note Paul said this crown is for “for all those who have loved/have longed for His appearing.” We won’t get the crown because of how broad-shouldered we are. This race isn’t about finishing ahead of other people. It’s about finishing by the grace and through the power of God. There is a reward for those who finish the race because we have a broad-shouldered savior who conquered death, hell and the grave so that we even have a race to run. 

We even get a hint of what keeps Paul (and by extension, us) focused: “have loved/have longed for his appearance.[13] “Have loved” seems to refer to his first epiphany of Jesus; “have longed” to his second.[14] I don’t know how to explain this word in this context, so I am going to recruit HELPS Word studies.  

• agapáō –for the believer, preferring to "live through Christ" (1 John 4:9,10), i.e. embracing God's will (choosing His choices) and obeying them through His power.  

• With the believer, agapáō ("to love") means actively doing what the Lord prefers, with Him (by His power and direction). 

So, those who have loved the appearance of Christ have embraced God's will (choosing His choices and preferring His preferences) and been obedient with the help of God’s power and direction. I suspect this is what leads to the longing for his return. If we embrace and obey, we “taste and see that the Lord is good.” And when we get a taste of that, we long to see the One from whom that blessing has come.

QUESTIONS FOR PRAYER AND REFLECTION

What does it look like for you to focus your primary effort on “fighting the good fight” rather than getting distracted by all kinds of secondary fights that, while perhaps good in their own way, are not the good fight? Are there areas in which your priorities have been compromised? What does it look like to realign your life?

In what ways has it been challenging to “stay the course” in your life (testifying to the good news of God’s grace with your words and actions)? What does repentance – turning around - look like in this area?

In what areas do you need to pray for the Holy Spirit to help you “keep the faith”(studying to preserve the truth of God’s revealed word and committing to a life in the path of righteousness)?

 Do you love/long for the appearance of Christ? Have you embraced God's will - choosing His choices and preferring His preferences? Are there areas of your life you need to surrender more fully so that the Holy Spirit will align your preferences and choices with the heart and mind of God? 

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[1] Things of “a malicious disposition." (HELPS Word Studies)

[2] There are multiple images here having to do with loosing what is tied: raising a ship’s anchor;  an army striking tents and marching. (Meyer’s NT Commentary)

[3] Kalos – beautiful or noble. He isn’t saying he did a good job; he’s saying that for which he fought is good and noble.

[4] Does “the faith” that Paul has kept mean the body of doctrine, as elsewhere (2 Tim. 1:12, 14; see also Eph. 4:5), or does it refer to Paul’s personal faith? Either is possible. It is interesting to note that “to keep the faith” was a fixed expression in extrabiblical literature for those who remained faithful to God. It is not inconceivable that Paul used a common expression but with the added meaning that is so important in the Pastorals. (NIV Application Commentary)

[5] For libations or ‘drink offerings’ accompanying Old Testament sacrifices, see  Exodus 29:40-41; Leviticus 23:13, 18, 37; andNumbers 15:4-10, 24; 28:7-10). 

[6]  Found this example thanks to Adam Clarke.

[7] The last year the Tuskegee Institute published a report. 

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_in_the_United_States#Statistics

[9] Pulpit Commentary

[10] See 2 Timothy 1:12, 14; Ephesians 4:5),

[11] ‘Righteousness’ then is the ‘race’ of the Christian life. So in 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22, ‘follow after righteousness,’ and in ch. 2 Timothy 3:16, ‘the discipline which is in righteousness. (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)

[12] Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

[13] “The Apostle specifies here exactly the persons for whom “the crown” was reserved—those who in this life have indeed longed for the appearance of the Lord... . None here could in very truth desire “His appearing,” save His own, who love Him and struggle to live His life.” Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

[14] “As in 2 Timothy 4:1, of the second coming; to which all the six occurrences of the substantive in N.T. refer. The verb in Luke 1:79 and Titus 2:11; Titus 3:4 refers to the first Epiphany. Some have interpreted appearing as Christ's first coming into the world, as 2 Timothy 1:10; but the other sense is according to the analogy of 1 Corinthians 2:9; Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 9:28.” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)

Walking In War (Ephesians 6:10-20)

"Finally, brothers and sisters, draw your strength and might from God. Put on the full armor of God to protect yourselves from the devil and his evil schemes. We’re not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood. No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places. And this is why you need to be head-to-toe in the full armor of God: so you can resist during these evil days and be fully prepared to hold your ground."

Here we see individual responsibility in the midst of corporate unity. This is not like spiritual gifts or the “Five Fold Office” mentioned earlier in Ephesians where God gave “some” to be apostles, evangelists, etc. This is a clear call to all of us.

"Yes, stand—truth banded around your waist, righteousness as your chest plate, and feet protected so you are steadied by and ready to proclaim the good news of peace with God. Don’t forget to raise the shield of faith above all else, so you will be able to extinguish flaming spears hurled at you from the wicked one. Take also the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray always. Pray in the Spirit. Pray about everything in every way you know how! And keeping all this in mind, pray on behalf of God’s people. Keep on praying feverishly, and be on the lookout until evil has been stayed. And please pray for me. Pray that truth will be with me before I even open my mouth. Ask the Spirit to guide me while I boldly defend the mystery that is the good news— for which I am an ambassador in chains—so pray that I can bravely pronounce the truth, as I should do."

 In Romans 13: 12-14, Paul writes, "Put on the armor of light… clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ." He was expanding on the words of Isaiah:

• “Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash round his waist.” Isaiah 11:5

• “For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head” (Isaiah 59:17).

Paul talked other places about the nature of our fight. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. We destroy arguments…and take every thought captive.” (2 Corinthians 10:3- 5).

 Let’s be clear: God makes the armor. We ask for it, and He gives it, not because we are awesome, but because He is. Then we have to put it on.  Paul says, “It’s time to move. Put on that which God offers you for your good and His glory.”

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• Put on: The Belt of Truth (aletheia, reality as opposed to illusion).

• Stand For: The truth that God is real; Jesus was God in the Flesh; his life, death and resurrection bring us salvation, forgiveness and hope. If this is not true, “we are of all people most miserable.” (1 Corinthians 15:19)

• Stand Against: The error that Christianity is wishful thinking (“I want it to be true!”), merely human thoughts (“The Bible just shows us how people thought about God”), or only one way of many equally effective ways.

• Put on: The Breastplate of Righteousness    (dikaiosune, right standing with God)

• Stand For: The truth that it is only through Jesus Christ that we are absolved from the penalty of sin, freed from the power of sin, and guarded while in the presence of sin.

• Stand Against: The error that we are born good (“I’m on the right track, baby, I was born this way”), or that we can become righteous through our works .

• Put on: The Shoes of Peace (eirene, peace with God; tranquility in salvation)

• Stand For: The truth there is spiritual peace with God through our commitment to and ongoing life with Jesus Christ. This is not the same as saying that if you are a Christian, there will be peaceful coexistence of others on earth, or that you will always feel interior peace. This is a claim about a truth that is greater than our circumstances or our feelings. Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory.”

• Stand Against: The error of false saviors (spiritual or material) and fleeting peace, which is usually some form of indulgence or avoidance. If something calms the chaos in our life no matter how little and how temporary, we tend to overindulge. Money? Sex? Being noticed and admired? Food? Vacations? Or if something brings anything unsettling, we avoid. People who annoy us…situations that aren’t just to our liking…a controlled environment (diet, exercise, social groups)

• Put on: The Shield of Faith (pistis; “Trusting, holding to, and acting on what one has good reason to believe is true in the face of difficulties.” – Tim McGrew)

• Stand For: The truth that there is wisdom in an ongoing trust in and response to God. A belief that the Bible matches the world.  We often think of faith as just trust in God. I think we have to include trust in God’s revelation. The Bible tells us that we are to be faithful in little things if we expect to be trusted in big things (Luke 16:10). But if the Bible is wrong, then God has not been faithful in little things. If you don’t understand the little things in the Bible, press in to them. Read. Study. Pray. Ask qualified, godly people for advice. Trusting that the biggest things are true in Christianity will trickle down; trusting that the smallest things in Christianity are true will build up.

• Stand Against: The error that we should trust in Idols (self, hidden knowledge, politicians, the economy, health, pop psychology, etc).

• Put on: The Helmet of salvation (soterios; saving)

• Stand For: The truth of God's promises of eternal salvation and ongoing sanctification in Jesus Christ. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind… “ (Romans 12:2)   “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 2:5) “…be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)

• Stand Against: The error of gaining salvation from anything other than Christ, or evolving spiritually by thinking positively

• Put on: The Sword of the Spirit (The Bible) 

• Stand for: The truth of the power, trustworthiness and sufficiency of God's Word to tell us what we need to know about Christ and His plan for the world.     

• Stand Against: The error of giving anything else equal weight in your spiritual formation; trusting outside sources or inner revelation over clear Biblical truth.

Note: In Bible times, there was no stainless steel. A sword unused became rusty, dull, and pitted. Swords were kept clean by frequent use or by honing them against a stone (the Rock of Ages) or another soldier’s sword. “Iron sharpeneth iron” (Proverbs 27:17)

• Put on: Prayer (proseuchomai; literally, to interact with the Lord by switching human wishes (ideas) for His wishes. “They Kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)  “Whatsoever you ask in my name…” (John 14:13) Accordingly, praying is closely inter-connected with pístis ("faith") in the NT. – (biblehub.com). In fact ,James 5 talks about the prayer of faith (“

• Stand For: The truth that prayer is powerful and necessary. We are told to constantly pray (1 Thessalonians 5:16) “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12) “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)

• Stand Against: the error that prayer manipulates God or that prayer is unnecessary. God is not a machine. He’s not programmed in such a way that we can manipulate Him. God will answer prayer how he chooses to answer prayer. The prayers of the righteous are powerful, but not coercive. On the other hand, prayer is clearly not irrelevant. Part of being faithful is praying faithfully, and in the end praying what Jesus prayed: “Not my will, but yours be done.”

A final thought involving shields: We often read this individually: “You, Anthony! Stand!” But this letter was written to the churches in Ephesus. It’s a group command. Everyone then who saw the Roman army knew how this principle worked (see the cover of your bulletin). Now, in order for the group to stand, individuals need to stand to. It doesn’t absolve us. But it reminds us again of the importance of unifying around Christ, then standing against everything that comes against us – together.