Silent Saturday: The Days We Wait

The Bible is full of ‘three day stories”[1]: Jonah in the big fish; Joseph’s brothers in jail in Egypt; the plague of darkness in Egypt; Rahab hid the spies for three days. Jesus was in the tomb for three days. On the third day is when the bad stuff ends. That’s the day we celebrate, and rightly so. But Third Day stories aren’t clear until the Third Day. On Day One and Day Two, it’s not yet clear how the story will end. The First day of Third Day story is often a brutal one.

Crucifixion Friday was the First Day of a Three Day story.  We talked last week about how Jesus understands our First Days. His entrance into the human condition showed that God is not a distant, uncaring and cold God. God understands us.  But there is still Saturday before Sunday. It’s not the day when the tragedy occurred; it’s not the day that Resurrection brings hope and life. It’s that troublesome (and often very long) middle day. 

Here’s what the Bible records the followers of Jesus were doing between Crucifixion Friday and Resurrection Sunday. (This is a combination of the details as they appear in Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20).

At the rising of the sun, after the Sabbath on the first day of the week, the two Marys and Salome came to the tomb to keep vigil. They brought sweet-smelling spices they had purchased to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. Along the way, they wondered to themselves how they would roll the heavy stone away from the opening…

[They encounter the Risen Jesus] 

They brought this news back to all those who had followed Him and were still mourning and weeping. They recounted for them—and others with them—everything they had experienced. The Lord’s emissaries heard their stories as fiction, a lie; they didn’t believe a word of it until Jesus appeared to them all as they sat at dinner that same evening (Resurrection Sunday). 

 They were gathered together behind locked doors in fear that some of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem were still searching for them. Out of nowhere, Jesus appeared in the center of the room and said, “May each one of you be at peace.” 

 What do we see the closest followers of Jesus doing?

·      Keeping a vigil of mourning

·      Planning how to perfume the body of the dead Messiah

·      Hiding in fear

·      Mourning and weeping

·      Refusing to believe that Jesus was alive

It’s not a great resume builder, really. You would think that the biblical writers might want to put a better spin on what happened here. “As the disciples were praying and rejoicing over Jesus’ impending Resurrection, Mary returned and told them the good news. And they said, “Of course! We knew it all along! This is why there are BBQ wings on the table! It’s a party!”

No, they were mourning the death of their long awaited Messiah. They thought he was gone. They thought he had failed – and in that failure had shown that he was not, after all, the promised deliverer. As far as they knew, he was never coming back. 

Crucifixion Fridays are hard, but Silent Saturdays may be even harder. Funeral days are hard, but they are at least full of adrenaline and crisis management and we are surrounded by support. But then the next day, when family drifts back home, and friends go back to their routine… that’s when Silent Saturday sets in. The loneliness and the emptiness…

It’s hard enough when it involves earthly things. But what about when our relationship with God is best described as a Silent Saturday kind of relationship? What if there is a spiritual loneliness and emptiness, a sense that God is aloof at best and gone at worst. What about the times when the heavens seem empty, and our prayers just seem to drift off into a void? What about the times when God is silent?

ANDREW PETERSON – THE SILENCE OF GOD

It's enough to drive a man crazy, it'll break a man's faith
It's enough to make him wonder, if he's ever been sane
When he's bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod
And the Heaven's only answer is the silence of God

It'll shake a man's timbers when he loses his heart
When he has to remember what broke him apart
This yoke may be easy but this burden is not
When the crying fields are frozen by the silence of God

And if a man has got to listen to the voices of the mob
Who are reeling in the throes of all the happiness they've got
When they tell you all their troubles
Have been nailed up to that cross
Then what about the times when even followers get lost?
'Cause we all get lost sometimes

There's a statue of Jesus on a monastery knoll
In the hills of Kentucky, all quiet and cold
And He's kneeling in the garden, as silent as a Stone
All His friends are sleeping and He's weeping all alone

And the man of all sorrows, he never forgot
What sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought
So when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
The aching may remain but the breaking does not
The aching may remain but the breaking does not
In the holy, lonesome echo of the silence of God

John Ortberg tells the following story:

“From the time she was a young girl, Agnes believed. Not just believed: she was on fire. She wanted to do great things for God. She said things such as she wanted to "love Jesus as he has never been loved before." Agnes had an undeniable calling.  She wrote in her journal that "my soul at present is in perfect peace and joy." She experienced a union with God that was so deep and so continual that it was to her a rapture. She left her home. She became a missionary. She gave him everything. And then he left her. 

At least that's how it felt to her. "Where is my faith?" She asked. "Deep down there is nothing but emptiness and darkness …. My God, how painful is this unknown pain … I have no faith." She struggled to pray: "I utter words of community prayers—and try my utmost to get out of every word the sweetness it has to give. But my prayer of union is not there any longer. I no longer pray." 

She still worked, still served, still smiled. But she spoke of that smile as her mask, "a cloak that covers everything." This inner darkness continued on, year after year, with one brief respite, for nearly 50 years. God was just absent. Such was the secret pain of Agnes, who is better known as Mother Teresa.

So what do we do with the Silent Saturdays of our lives? I want to offer a number of suggestions not so that you will be immediately aware of God’s presence, but so you can be purposeful and grow from this kind of season of your life. 

1. Be honest with God. The Bible gives us permission to voice our hearts during Silent Saturday. Look at a few of the Psalms:

·      Psalm 6:2–3  “Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing. Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul is greatly troubled, but you, O Lord, how long?”

·       Psalm 13:1–2 “How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?” 

·      Psalm 90:13–14 “Return, O Lord. How long? Have pity on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love.”

·      “I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.” (Job 30:20)

There is even a Psalm where David longs to bash the heads of the children of his enemies on rocks.  That is a terrible idea, of course, and God did not sanction that, but David wasn’t afraid to say it, as if he knew that God knew, and there was something important about naming the anger within. The psalms give us permission not to hide, as if we could anyway. Bring it into the light.  

A friend sent me a psalm of lament, full of anger and frustration that she had written as part of her process of coming to grips with why God had allowed what He did in her life. It was raw and beautiful, and it was bold. Those are good things. God knows your heart and mind; he already knows your deepest internal struggles. Voice them. God is big. He can handle it. 

2. Keep the vigils

In the spite of the pain of their loss, the Marys did what they had always done, which was part of the ritual life of living in Jewish community. What Jewish people believed and what they did in almost every aspect of life were so intertwined that it’s hard to imagine that the vigil was not considered part of what God called them to do. There is something to be said for keeping the faith through an active commitment to obedience and faithfulness. I would like to offer four vigils I believe are helpful.

A. Pursue Church community. Don't forsake gathering together (Hebrews 10:25). The disciples did at least one thing right: they hung together in the midst of their grief. It’s important that we remain connected and not withdraw. In community, others came back and reported their experiences with the Risen Christ. Even in the midst of doubt, there was hope. We stay in community so that we can be challenged, encouraged, and held close. We need to feel the nearness of God’s people when God feels distant. We need the hope that lives in others when our sense of hope is gone.

B. Pray and Read Scripture. I don’t know that there is a formula for the best way to do this. There are all kinds of cool ideas about how to read through the Bible or how to pray. I don’t think they are bad; I just don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all kind of approach. 

·    Listen to or read the Bible. 

·    Pray alone - or get together with others.

·    Pray for a block of time - or throughout the day.

·    Sing. There are theologically rich songs that    

     are good reminders of the hope we find in Jesus.

C. Dive Into Devotionals (podcasts, books, teachings, even songs). This is one way to experience the community of the church. It’s also a good way to find clarity about the Scriptures and to hear the testimonies of others. What did they do when they were in the First and Second days of their stories? 

D. Practice Obedience. One of the greatest dangers we face is giving up and saying to God, “You know what? If I can’t feel your presence, I am going to live as if you’re not there.” We shake our fist at the heavens and begin to sow sinful things that can be forgiven and healed but will nonetheless be harvested (Galatians 6:7). 

 The Bible describes the way of obedience as “the path of life” (Psalm 16:11). There is something about faithful obedience that is not just healthy; it is wise and stabilizing. This, too, is sowing actions that you will one day reap – but this time it won’t be the wages of sin. It will be the fruit of righteousness.  Also, I believe obedience is one of the ways we are conformed to the image of Christ – and in that conforming – as we begin to see what it means to ‘be like Jesus’ -  we begin to appreciate the wisdom of the One who guides our life. 

3. Learn to wait

·      Psalm 37:7  “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way.” 

·      Psalm 27:14  “Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord.”

 I’m not good at waiting. I want problem resolution. Give me a task! Sometimes that is what God calls us to do, but many God does not work that way. I like what Jon Bloom wrote in an article entitled, “When God Is Silent.”

Why is it that “absence makes the heart grow fonder” but “familiarity breeds contempt”? Why is water so much more refreshing when we’re really thirsty? Why am I almost never satisfied with what I have, but always longing for more? Why can the thought of being denied a desire for marriage or children or freedom or some other dream create in us a desperation we previously didn’t have?  

Why is the pursuit of earthly achievement often more enjoyable than the achievement itself? Why do deprivation, adversity, scarcity, and suffering often produce the best character qualities in us while prosperity, ease, and abundance often produce the worst?

Do you see it? There is a pattern in the design of deprivation: Deprivation draws out desire. Absence heightens desire. And the more heightened the desire, the greater its satisfaction will be. It is the mourning that will know the joy of comfort (Matthew 5:4). It is the hungry and thirsty that will be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). Longing makes us ask, emptiness makes us seek, silence makes us knock (Luke 11:9). 

Deprivation is in the design of this age. We live mainly in the age of anticipation, not gratification. We live in the dim mirror age, not the face-to-face age (1 Corinthians 13:12). The paradox is that what satisfies us most in this age is not what we receive, but what we are promised. The chase is better than the catch in this age because the Catch we’re designed to be satisfied with is in the age to come...  It’s the desert that awakens and sustains desire. It’s the desert that dries up our infatuation with worldliness. And it’s the desert that draws us to the Well of the world to come. 

Sometimes, the best way to hand over the weight of the world is to wait on Christ.

4. Don't confuse what you feel from what is real

I heard a wise man say once, “You will either judge truth by your feelings, or you will judge your feelings by what it true.” What is true is that God may feel absent, but He is not. God is with us always. Why does He feel absent? I don’t know. It could be that you are in rebellious sin. It could be that you are tired. It could be that God has removed the sense of His presence as part of transforming you into the image of Christ. It could be that you are distracted. I don’t know. 

But I know that God is near and faithful no matter how we feel. 

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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

·      “Three Lessons to Learn When You’re Stuck in the Hallways of Life”  - Sarah Coleman


·      “When God Seems Far Away”  - John Ortberg

·      “When God Seems Silent” -  Jon Bloom

[1] I got this idea from a brilliant teaching called “Saturday: Living Between Crucifixion and Resurrection,” posted by Richmont Graduate Universityon youtube. I don’t know who the speaker was. You can access the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U90EKNZPKCU

The Days We Mourn (A Liturgy Of Lament fo Crucifixion Friday)

The Bible is full of ‘three day stories”[1]:  Jonah; Joseph’s brothers in jail in Egypt; the plague of darkness in Egypt. When the Israelites left Egypt, they traveled three days into the desert before they found water; Rahab hid the spies for three days; plagues of judgment against Israel often lasted three days.  Jesus was in the tomb for three days. 

On the third day is when the bad stuff ends. That’s the day we celebrate, and rightly so. But third day stories aren’t clear until the third day. On Day One and Day Two, it’s not yet clear how the story will end. The First day of Third Day story is often a brutal one.  

It was the First Day -  Crucifixion Friday, or Good Friday -  that Jesus died.  His followers did not know this was a Three Day story. All they had on that Friday was the First Day. They had seen so many failed messiahs by this point[2]. They did not understand the prophecy that pointed toward Jesus’ resurrection. They were afraid and in despair.

Crucifixion Friday reminds us that Jesus knows what it means that all of creation groans (Romans 8:22) and how the very land mourns (says Jeremiah 12:4). When the prophet Isaiah wrote of the coming Christ, he wrote, “Surely he has borne our grief’s and carried our sorrows; He was stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:4) 

Jesus understands our First Days. His entrance into the human condition showed that God is not a distant, uncaring and cold God. God understands us.  As an advocate, he empathizes with us.  

“God’s beloved Son, leaving the echoes of His cries upon the mountains and the traces of His weary feet upon the streets, shedding His tears over the tombs and His blood upon Golgotha, associating His life with our homes, and His corpse with our sepulchres, shows us how we, too, may be… sure of sympathy in heaven amid the deepest wrongs and sorrows of earth.” - Edward Thomson.

“The psalms of pain and protest shock Christians who are not used to this way of talking to God. Yet they have an explicit place in the New Testament. Jesus uses the phraseology of Psalms 6 and 42 in Gethsemane, and on the cross utters the extraordinary cry that opens Psalms 22. Nor does Jesus pray these prayers so that we might not have to do so, for a lament such as Psalm 44 appears on the lips of Paul (Romans 8:36). In the New Testament, believers grieve and protest. To refuse to do so is often to refuse to face our pains and our losses.” (John Goldingay)

 So today, we are going to begin our journey toward the Third Day - Resurrection Sunday – but settling into the reality of First Days in our lives, and the importance of clinging to a Savior who understands even the most terrifying and tragic days of our lives. 

In ancient Israel, mourning was a community event. Family and friends showed support by participating in the rituals of lament with the mourner (e. g. Job 2:12-13). To fail to show solidarity in such a situation was to deny the shared covenant. The lament was so formalized that Zechariah gives directions about how to do them in proper order. (12:11-14).  I think Nicholas Wolerstorff, in his book Lament for a Son, captures the reason why well. 

“What I need to hear from you is that you recognize how painful it is. I need to hear from you that you are with me in my desperation. To comfort me, you have to come close. Come sit beside me on my mourning bench.” 

On Resurrection Sunday, we are going to talk about the primary reason Jesus died: to forgive our sins and save us from the penalty of eternal death. That will also be a part of this morning as well, but first we are going to focus on a different part of the story that the church has commemorated for 2,000 years (at least the more liturgical churches have). Esau McCauley says[3],  

“To mourn involves being saddened by the state of the world. To mourn is to care. It is an act of rebellion against one’s own sins and the sins of the world.”

We are going to sit on the mourning bench with each other as we offer our suffering to a Savior who suffered and died so that we could live.

_______________________________________ 

READER: As the soldiers led Jesus away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned for him. Jesus turned and said to them, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.’”  (Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:13-28)

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining...  Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.”  (Matthew 27:45-50; Luke 23:44-47)

Pastor: Jesus entered a world that was broken, suffering, and full of pain. He grieved the loss of his friends; he wept for his people. He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. He entered into a lonesome, weary world in desperate need of the light of hope and peace to bring the promise of God's everlasting presence and love. 

 “ I WILL ARISE AND GO TO JESUS” (Julie Miller)

I will arise and go to Jesus, he will embrace me in his arms,

In the arms of my dear Savior, oh, there are ten thousand charms.

Come, ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall,

If you tarry 'til you're better, you will never come at all.

Come, ye sinner, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore,

Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, love, and power.

 Pastor: God, you have given us reason to celebrate, but we often find the days cold and our hearts hard.  As we await our resurrection into the new life in the world to come, it’s sometimes hard for us to lift up our hearts. You understand the grief of this world; meet us in our aching hearts we pray. Hold as we walk through darkness.

Congregation: Help us. Embrace us. Heal us. 

READER:  “He was despised and forsaken by men, this man of suffering, grief’s patient friend.
As if he was a person to avoid, we looked the other way; he was despised, forsaken, and we took no notice of him. Yet it was our suffering he carried, our pain and distress, our sickness-to-the-soul.


We thought that God had rejected him, but he was hurt because of us; he suffered for us. Our wrongdoing wounded and crushed him. He endured the breaking that made us whole. His injuries became our healing. We all have wandered off, like shepherdless sheep, scattered by our aimless pursuits; The Eternal One laid on him, this silent sufferer, the sins of us all. (Isaiah 53:3-6)

Pastor: Jesus knows the feelings of abandonment, anger, and loneliness we sometimes feel. Jesus knows the depths of our broken hearts, and He alone has the power to bring beauty from the ashes in our lives. We long for the day when His work will be completed in us and in a world that groans as it awaits redemption.  

Congregation: Meanwhile, we weep with those who weep, and we mourn with those who mourn.

READER: The Psalmist wrote in the 88th psalm: O Eternal One! O True God my Savior! I cry out to You all the time, under the sun and the moon. Let my voice reach You! Please listen to my prayers!My soul is deeply troubled, and my heart can’t bear the weight of this sorrow. I feel so close to death… You crush me with Your anger.
You crash against me like the relentless, angry sea. Those whom I have known, who have been with me,
You have gathered like sheaves and cast to the four winds.
They can’t bear to look me in the eye, and they are horrified when they think of me.
 I am in a trap and cannot be free… Are You the miracle-worker for the dead?
Will they rise from the dark shadows to worship You again? Will your great love be proclaimed in the grave or Your faithfulness be remembered in whispers like mists throughout the place of ruin? Are Your wonders known in the dominion ofdarkness,
or is Your righteousness recognized in a land where all is forgotten? But I am calling out to You, Eternal One.
My prayers rise before You with every new sun! Why do You turn Your head
and brush me aside, O Eternal One?
 Why are You avoiding me… I am desperate. Your rage spills over me like rivers of fire; Your assaults have all but destroyed me…  You have taken from me the one I love and my friend; darkness is my closest friend.

Music Inspired By The Story – “Job”

Broken Praise, Todd Smith

If one more person takes my hand and tries to say they understand

Tells me there’s a bigger plan that I’m not meant to see;

If one more person dares suggest that I held something unconfessed

Tries to make the dots connect from righteousness to easy street.

Well I, I won’t deny I’ve relied on some assumptions

A man’s honest life entitles him to something

But who am I to make demands of the God of Abraham?

And who are You that You would choose to answer me with mercy new?

How many more will wander past to find me here among the ashes?

Will you hold me? Will you stay so I can raise this broken praise to You?

Who else will see my suffering as one more opportunity to educate;

to help me see all my flawed theology.

If one more well intentioned friend tries to tie up my loose ends

Hoping to, with rug and broom, sweep awkward moments from the room.

But I, I can’t forget. I have begged just like a madman

For my chance to die and never have to face the morning.

But who am I to make demands of the God of Abraham?

And who are You that You would choose to answer me with mercy new?

How many more will wander past to find me here among the ashes?

Will you hold me? Will you stay so I can raise this broken praise to You?

But You were the One who filled my cup

And You were the One who let it spill

So blessed be your Holy name if you never fill it up again

If this is where my story ends, just give me one more breathe to say

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

PASTOR: In the midst of the brokenness of this world, we have reason to say, “Hallelujah.” Because even when we are tempted to give up, even when we have lost that which brings ‘life’ to our life, even when the comfort of our friends has brought us nothing but ashes, God does not abandon us. 

READER: “At different times and in various ways, God’s voice came to our ancestors through the Hebrew prophets. But in these last days, God’s voice has come to us through His Son, the One who has been given dominion over all things and through whom all worlds were made.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)

Pastor: God of light and life, you speak even when we do not hear. You are present even when we do not sense you are near. In the midst of darkness and silence, we listen for your voice and long to feel your comforting grace. 

Congregation: God of the desperate, draw near to us as we draw near to you. Open our eyes so we can see you; open our ears so we can hear.

READER: The prophet Jeremiah wrote: “My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick… For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.  Is there no balm in Gilead?  Is there no physician there…?  O, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night…”  (Jeremiah 8:18,21-9:1)                     

Pastor: In this place, we join with the prophets in freely admitting our pain, our loss, our fear. Though the light of God’s mercy illuminates our tears, we mourn without shame. Here, among God’s people, we are welcome even if we're cynical, even if we're angry, even if we scoff at the mention of hope and meaning. Here we can bare our hearts to those who will help us to bear our burden.

Congregation: Here we, the followers of a weeping Savior, bear one another’s burdens. 

Pastor: Here, in the company of those who follow the Prince of Peace, let us be at peace.  

 Congregation: May we, the church, be a sanctuary of God’s peace for those in need of shelter.

Pastor: We will cast our sorrows upon Christ, for He cares for us. 

READER: The Psalmist wrote: “My soul is dry and thirsts for You, True God, as a deer thirsts for water. I long for the True God who lives. When can I stand before Him and feel His comfort? Right now I’m overwhelmed by my sorrow and pain; I can’t stop feasting on my tears. People crowd around me and say, “Where is your True God whom you claim will save?” With a broken heart, I remember times before When I was with Your people. Those were better days.  I used to lead them happily into the True God’s house, Singing with joy, shouting thanksgivings with abandon, joining the congregation in the celebration. Why am I so overwrought? Why am I so disturbed? Why can’t I just hope in God? (Psalm 42:1-6)

“WORN” (10th Avenue North)

I’m tired I’m worn, my heart is heavy

From the work it takes to keep on breathing

I’ve made mistakes I’ve let my hope fail

My soul feels crushed by the weight of this world

And I know that you can give me rest

So I cry out with all that I have left

Let me see redemption win let me know the struggle ends

That you can mend a heart that’s frail and torn

I wanna know a song can rise from the ashes of a broken life

And all that’s dead inside can be reborn

Cause I’m worn

I know I need to lift my eyes up but I'm too weak

Life just won’t let up and I know that you can give me rest

So I cry out with all that I have left

My prayers are wearing thin (Yeah, I’m worn)

Even before the day begins (Yeah, I’m worn)

I’ve lost my will to fight (I’m worn)

So, heaven come and flood my eyes

Though I’m worn.

Yeah, I’m worn.

READER: Though we are worn as we wait for all that is dead to be reborn, we can agree with what David wrote in Psalm 42: “ I will believe and praise the One who saves me and is my life… in the light of day, the Eternal shows me His love. When night settles in and all is dark, He keeps me company—His soothing song, a prayerful melody to the True God of my life.” (Psalm 42:7-8)

Pastor: As we lift our broken hands toward the only One who can heal us, we light the darkness of our memories with candles that help us to remember that though our grief is real, our hope burns brightly with the light of the True God of life. 

The First Candle

We light our first candle to recognize that at times we participate in the sufferings of others. We do not simply mourn the sins of the world. We mourn how our own sinful desires have caused us to hurt, use, and exploit others. We mourn what we have done to contribute to the darkness of sin. We light this candle, representative of the light of Christ, as a symbolic act of resistance in which we long for the light of God’s truth, forgiveness and grace to overcome not only the darkness around us, but within us. 

Congregation: Be merciful to us all, God of mercy and grace. 

The Second Candle 

We light our second candle to acknowledge the pain of loss: the loss of relationships, the loss of jobs, the loss of health, the loss of family unity, the loss of normal life in times of pandemic . We take the pain of the past, offering it to God from whose nail-scarred hands we may receive the gift of peace. We light this candle for the light of love to illuminate that which was lost in the darkness of our history. 

Congregation: Renew us, God of light and joy.

The Third Candle 

We light the third candle to remember those who have died. We remember their name, their face, their voice, the memory that we carry with us. We remember the times we laughed, argued, loved, hugged, smiled, and wept. The valley of the shadow of death can seem relentless, so we light this candle to commemorate the memories of a life once shared, and to illuminate with comfort the path of those of us who mourn.

 Congregation:  May the light of a dying and risen Savior’s eternal love surround us.

The Fourth Candle

We light the fourth candle for our attitudes, our mindset, our hidden, inner times of darkness.  We acknowledge the times of disbelief, anger, despair, and frustration, the times we have compromised our integrity and lost our innocence. We bring God’s pure light to the depth of our flawed mortality. With this light, we also remember the family and friends who have stood with us, and the Savior who is faithful even when we are not.

Congregation:  Let us remember that Christ brings the light of life.

The Fifth Candle

We light the fifth candle to remember those who feel alone, who feel isolated from loved ones, far from home, far from friends, far from a God they believe is unconcerned with their suffering. We light this candle to remember that the God who guided His people through a wilderness with fire can illuminate the way of those captive to the darkness of loneliness and disillusionment. 

Congregation:  May Jesus, who was despised and rejected, comfort the lonely and brokenhearted.

The Sixth Candle                                                                                                                          

 We light the sixth candle to remember those who are in the midst of hardships that threaten to overwhelm them. For the poor, the persecuted, the hungry, the homeless, the sick, the forgotten, the oppressed. We lift up those who suffer the pain, indignity, and bewilderment that accompany a broken body, spirit or soul. We pray that God, who lit up the night to guide wise men to the healing Christ, will light the way today to a Risen Savior.  

Congregation: O God, light our path; bring hope to the hopeless; make us new.

The Seventh Candle

We light the seventh candle to remember our faith and the gift of hope. We remember that God promises those who love him a world with no more pain and suffering. We light a candle for courage in the darkness. We confront our sorrow, our loss, our confusion. With God’s Spirit and the presence of his people, we bring the light of comfort to each other, bearing each other’s burdens, and praying for hope in our broken world.

 Congregation.  Let us remember the One who draws beauty from ashes, brings the truth, and offers us hope.

READER: The Apostle Paul wrote: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.”  (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)

Pastor: It is through the suffering of Christ that we find comfort in the midst of our suffering as well.  On the night Jesus offered himself up for us he took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." When the supper was over he took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Drink from this, all of you; for this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Congregation: Because of Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection, we have been delivered from the power of sin, death, and despair. In the light of Gods’ Word, the sacrifice of Christ, and the presence of God’s Holy Spirit, may we endure with hope and faith.

COMMUNION

Pastor: It was in His parting sorrow that Jesus asked His disciples to remember Him. May we, the church, be united in the fellowship of his suffering so we can experience the power of his resurrection. 

READER:  “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes.  Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’  And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’  (Revelation 21:1-5)

Pastor: In the promise of God’s never-ending love from which nothing can separate us, we claim peace. We long for the day when there shall be no more tears, no more sorrow, no more sickness, no more death. Even when we see only a glimmer, we know the light of your love is overcoming all darkness. 

Congregation: Christ himself is with us.  He is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” 

Pastor: Hear the good news:  God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. One day, Christ who died and rose again will wipe all tears from our eyes. He will make all things new. 

Congregation: All Honor and glory to the only One who can bring us peace.

Pastor: As we wait for Resurrection, we lift up our broken hearts. May the God of Comfort be with us.

Congregation: May the God of Resurrection be with us all.

Carrollton’s “Death Has Lost Its Way”

I seem to live in valleys where death is always waiting

for me to come home. I am a wandering soul;

no place to ever call my own, nowhere to lay my head.

Oh, You have found me; You took my heart and breathed in life.

Oh, You've always known me; You took my darkest days and brought me Light.

I've come to lay at Your feet, find comfort in Your shadow, and here I find rest.

We join with heaven's chorus with those who've gone before us

They're singing death

has lost its way. 

____________________________________________________________________________________

[1] I got this idea from a brilliant teaching called “Saturday: Living Between Crucifixion and Resurrection,” posted by Richmont Graduate Universityon youtube. I don’t know who the speaker was. You can access the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U90EKNZPKCU

[2] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12416-pseudo-messiahs

[3] In his excellent book Reading While Black

The Fruit Of Our Love (1 John 2:12-17)

“To be human is to be animated and oriented by some vision of the good life, some picture of what we think counts as “flourishing.” And we want that. We crave it. We desire it…. What if you are defined not by what you know but by what you desire? What if the center and seat of the human person is found not in the heady regions of the intellect but in the gut-level regions of the heart? We are oriented by our longings, directed by our desires. 

The author of The Little Prince succinctly encapsulates the motive power of such allure: “If you want to build a ship,” he counsels, “don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” I want something, and want it ultimately. It is my desires that define me.  In short, you are what you love.  (James K. A. Smith)

This is a biblical notion, as we will see in this passage today. We begin with some verses in chapter 2 that read like a poem or a song (which is probably what it was). Some versions of the Bible will set it apart in a quote form that shows that.  I am using Anthony’s Amplified Version again to embed all the hyperlinks the original audience likely made, so it’s going to look different than the typeset in your Bible, and it’s going to read slightly different as I turn it into prose rather than poetry. 

12-14 I am writing to you, who are all my children in this new faith, because your sins have been forgiven by the authority of His name. I have written to the youngest of you, new converts, because you have known the Father. 13 I am writing to you, Founding Fathers[1] (and mothers),[2] because you have known God the Father, Creator, and recognized Jesus as that same Creator, as the One who started everything. I have written to those of you who, though young in the faith, are full of vigor and life because the voice of God remains and the Word of God is heard among you. Remember that you have conquered the evil one by the power of God.[3]

Okay, that’s the song part that I made less songy. Don’t get hung up on the differences between what John says to the age groups. It seems to be a framework on which to fasten what God is building in the church: You know God through Jesus; your sins have been forgiven by him; God’s Word and power are making you victorious in your fight against the evil one. Well done, church. Then, the caution.

15 Don’t fall in love with the sinful ways of the world or worship the corrupt things it can offer. Those who love (agape) its corrupt ways don’t have the Father’s love (agape) living within them.

16 All the things the world can offer to you—the lust[4] of the flesh (unreasonably excessive desire for sinful indulgence) the lust of the eyes[5] (covetous passion to have things[6]), and the pride of life (pompous sense of superiority and craving for recognition)—do not come from the Father.[7] These are the rotten fruits of this world. 17 This corrupt world is already wasting away, as are its selfish desires. But the person really doing God’s will—that person will never cease to be, but shall abide in the Kingdom of God forever.[8]

Our eyes have the potential to help us see the world as God sees it, so eyes are not the problem. Our flesh has the potential to then go to places our eyes revealed and do Kingdom work in a floundering empire. Our senses aren’t the problem. It’s our hearts. 

• lust of the flesh – unreasonably excessive desire for sinful indulgence; a nurtured desire to do something it is not in God’s will for us to do (at least not in the way we want to do it)..

•  the lust of the eyes - covetous passion to have things; a nurtured desire to have something it is not in God’s will for us to have (at least not in the way we want to have it)..

• the pride of life - pompous sense of superiority and craving for recognition; a nurtured desire to have earthly power and glory that it is not God’s will for us to wield (at least not in the way we want to wield it).[9]

If you want to see two other places in the Bible where these three things are grouped together, check out Eve’s temptation in the Garden and Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.[10]

* * * * *

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Proverbs 4:23) We are what we love. So let’s talk about love and desire that produces fruit that either fades away like “wood, hay and stubble”[11]  or endures forever.

The desires which God has placed in the human body are in themselves not sinful; they are God-given and essential. God made us with eyes and flesh – 5 senses, for that matter. It is not inherently sinful to use them or find pleasure in using them. We are designed to desire food, warmth, shelter, friendship, sex, affirmation, happiness, fulfillment, purpose, rest, relaxation, pleasure….

God made us. He designed us with loves and desires for all kinds of things. When rightly ordered, they reveal the love and care expressed by God in the order of his creation, and we worship God when we properly enjoy God’s creation. It’s when our lives become disordered that they become harmful. Warren Wiersbe wrote: 

"These fundamental desires of life are the steam in the boiler that makes the machinery go. Turn off the steam and you have no power. Let the steam go its own way and you have destruction… These desires must be our servants and not our masters; and this we can do through Jesus Christ.” [12]

I heard the first part a lot growing up. I didn’t hear the second part enough when I was young: Desire is a gift from God. Being human involves wrestling with the fact that we have desires/loves outside of God’s will that should not be satisfied vs. having desires/loves inside of God’s will that can and perhaps should be satisfied. 

The desire to have or experience the beautiful and good things in God’s beautiful and good world aren’t in and of themselves bad. I am afraid sometimes that we can become suspicious of pleasure, as if the only truly godly life is one in which we are always at least slightly miserable, or we feel guilty about really enjoying life. Jesus’ first recorded miracle was to make an already significantly pleasurable wedding feast even better. That says something. 

•  If you have sexual desire, there is not something wrong with you. God designed you to have sexual desire. It just need to be your servant not your master. 

•  If you love a good meal and really look forward to the next one, good for you. You are supposed to want food, and God designed your taste buds to enjoy good food more than bad food. 

•  If you like long walks on the beach, good movies, beautiful art and music, the ability to travel and see the world… awesome. I think we are supposed to desire so experience these things. God’s creation ought to pull out that love in us. 

•  If you wish your life was more ‘sensually’ rich – and by that I don’t mean sexual, I mean that your 5 senses are pleased rather than offended – that’s not a sinful desire. That’s a desire to experience the world in its original creation glory, when God saw all that He made and declared it good. Wanting to experience that goodness is not a cause for guilt or shame. 

 It’s not that we desire, love or enjoy some thing or someone or some place that is a problem. It’s how we love them, why we desire them, in what ways we properly steward the desires that arise (do I nurture it or banish it?), and what kind of world we create on the other side of expressing our loves.  

The lust of the flesh and the eyes isn’t simply desire. It’s nurturing an unreasonably excessive desire for an indulgence that will be sinful.  The problem is not the things which are desired; they are likely part of God’s good creation. The problem is that in a fallen world desire itself is broken. We can love good things poorly, love true things falsely, and at times even love things we shouldn’t. Simply saying “love is the answer” has never been true, because how we love, and why, and to what end we love matters. 

If… 

• evil is the harmful distortion of good things, and

•  sin begins with a lust for this harmful distortion (James 1:14)

Then… then the solution to our inordinate desire for sinful indulgence is not eradication of the desire that God created and called good. The solution is redemption that frees us from desiring the distortion.

•  If you struggle with gluttony - nurtured, unreasonably excessive desire for something withinlimits for you - the solution isn’t for God to take away your desire to eat. You would die. The solution is for God to redeem the brokenness in a desire He designed you to have. 

•  If you struggle with sexual lust – that is, the nurtured, unreasonably excessive desire for someone who is off limits to you – the solution is not for God to take away your sex drive. The solution is for God to redeem your sexual desire so that it is a properly ordered desire for someone who is the righteous focus of your desire. 

• If you struggle with control issues – the unreasonably excessive desire to be in the position of power in everything – the solution is not to take away a love of order, organization and structure. The solution is that your desire be redeemed so it is righteously reasonable such that you and those around you flourish.

•  If you struggle with orienting your life around pleasure – anything to feel good, to not be annoyed or discomforted – the solution is not for God to take away your 5 senses. The solution is for God to redeem and reorient your craving for sensual fulfillment toward His design.  This is why it is important to clarify if is Jesus or the world that we love. Everything flows from our heart.[13] 

* * * * *

So how do we avoid the pitfalls of disordered loves? How do we experience a reformation of our desires? Through a re-formation of our desires and loves. We need to acknowledge, surrender, respond righteously, and test the fruit of our desires and loves.

1.    Acknowledge our desires. It does no good to ignore them or pretend they aren’t there. The unreasonably excessive ones must be named (ideally, in a community of accountability, but certainly before God). God knows what you the distortions of your desire already. He knows your heart. It does no good to ignore what you both know is there.  Step one is to admit you have a problem (if the loves are sinful or disordered). 

2.    Surrender our desires. Once we acknowledge what we love and desire, the next thing to do is view it through the lenses of Scripture. Will this desire, if nurtured, lead me further into God’s will or further away from it? If into it, pray for more. If out of it, pray for God’s help to change the loves of your heart. It will require a miraculous intervention, no doubt about it. Pray hard.

3.    Respond righteously to our desires (resist or nurture?) If we have surrendered them, we should know which path to take after we feel a desire God intends for us to feel. Big Picture: follow the path of the fruit of the Spirit. If you follow a desire you feel in the direction you want to go, will it rob of you of the fruit of the Spirit or bring you a harvest? Practical example: If my wife looks at me and thinks, “That is one fine man,” and has an increasing desire to, um, “know” me, that’s a desire solidly within the biblical framework of God’s will for marriage. She can nurture that rather than resist it. If she looks at another man and the same process begins, that’s one she has to resist. Same starting point, but one requires stepping immediately onto a path of resistance while the other allows her to follow a path of nurturing. 

4.    Test the fruit. “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matthew 3:8). This is “a way of life consistent with the Kingdom of God”[14] that reflects a love of righteousness, not simply outward conformity,[15] and in which the fruit of the Spirit finds a natural home.

I want to leave you with 4 questions to consider. 

Is the desire I have for this pleasure consistent with the design of God? “Did God intend for me to have this kind of desire? Should I resist it all together or is there a place to nurture it?”

 Is my desire unreasonably excessive? (Did God intend for me to feel it this strongly? If not, what is going on?)

Is the end of this desire found within the will of God? (Is there a place in the Kingdom of God where this desire finds holy fulfillment?)

Will the person I become increasingly reflect a transformation into the image of Christ? Will nurturing and acting on the desire increase my fellowship with God and others?

_________________________________________________________________________________

[1] “By fathers it is very likely that the apostle means persons who had embraced Christianity on its first promulgation in Judea and in the Lesser Asia, some of them had probably seen Christ in the flesh; for this appears to be what is meant by, Ye have known him from the beginning. These were the elders and eye witnesses, who were of the longest standing in the Church, and well established in the truths of the Gospel, and in Christian experience.” (Adam Clarke) 

[2] Stresses the historic origins of the faith and the growth of the personal knowledge of Christ that comes only with experience.

[3] “Fathers, πατερες· those who had been converted at the very commencement of Christianity, and had seen the eternal Word manifested in the flesh. Young Men, νεανισκοι· youths in the prime of their spiritual life, valiant soldiers, fighting under the banner of Christ, who had confounded Satan in his wiles, and overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. Little Children, παιδια· disciples of Christ, not of very long standing in the Church, nor of much experience, but who had known the Father; i.e. persons who had been made sons: God had sent the Spirit of his Son into their hearts, whereby they cried Abba, Father! Beloved Children, τεκνια· the most recent converts, and particularly those among young men and women who, from their youth, simplicity, openheartedness, and affectionate attachment to God and his cause, were peculiarly dear to this aged apostle of Jesus Christ… These four classes constituted the household or family of God. (Adam Clarke)

[4] Think “inordinate desire for something forbidden.”

[5] The "lust of the eyes" can refer especially to sexual lust, but can also mean everything that grabs our eyes and brings about greedy desire.

[6] Or…. “the lust of the eyes.  The desire of seeing unlawful sights for the sake of the sinful pleasure to be derived from the sight; idle and prurient curiosity. Familiar as S. John’s readers must have been with the foul and cruel exhibitions of the circus and amphitheatre, this statement would at once meet with their assent. Tertullian, though he does not quote this passage in his treatise De Spectaculis, is full of its spirit: “The source from which all circus games are taken pollutes them … What is tainted taints us.” Similarly S. Augustine on this passage; “This it is that works in spectacles, in theatres, in sacraments of the devil, in magical arts, in witchcraft; none other than curiosity.” (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[7] The world's awful anti-trinity, the "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," similarly is presented in Satan's temptation of Eve: "When she saw that the tree was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise," Ge 3:6 (one manifestation of "the pride of life," the desire to know above what God has revealed, Col 2:8, the pride of unsanctified knowledge). (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)

[8]  ‘For ever’ is literally ‘unto the age’, i.e. ‘unto the age to come’, the kingdom of heaven; the word for ‘age’ (αἰών) being the substantive from which the word for ‘eternal’ (αἰώνιος) is derived. He who does God’s will shall abide until the kingdom of God comes and be a member of it. The latter fact, though not stated, is obviously implied. It would be a punishment and not a blessing to be allowed, like Moses, to see the kingdom but not enter it. The followers of the world share the death of the world: the children of God share His eternal life.”  (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[9] “To the pride or boasting of life,— all that belongs to the outside of existence, houses, lands, whatever exalts a man above his fellow,—to this head we must refer the oppressor’s wrongs. (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)

[10] There is more reality in the parallel drawn between S. John’s classification and the three elements in the temptation by which Eve was overcome by the evil one, and again the three temptations in which Christ overcame the evil one. ‘When the woman saw that the tree was good for food (the lust of the flesh), and that it was pleasant to the eyes (the lust of the eyes), and a tree to be desired to make one wise (the vainglory of life), she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat’ (Genesis 3:6). Similarly, the temptations (1) to work a miracle in order to satisfy the cravings of the flesh, (2) to submit to Satan in order to win possession of all that the eye could see, (3) to tempt God in order to win the glory of a miraculous preservation (Luke 4:1-12).

[11] 1 Corinthians 3:12

[12] (Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor)

[13] And this is where the Pride of Life comes in. The pride of life isn’t merely taking satisfaction in a job well done. I think we are designed by God to feel that. When we hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” I don’t think we will respond with, “Aw, shucks. It was nothing.” I think we will respond with “YES! THANK YOU!” WOO HOO!” The problem is when it becomes the foundation of our identity, the thing we love in ways God never intended. The Pride of Life is a pompous sense of superiority and craving for recognition. If the lust of the flesh is the desire to do something apart from the will of God and the lust of the eyes is the desire to have something apart from the will of God, the pride of life is the desire to be something apart from the will of God.

“It describes a pretentious hypocrite who glories in himself or in his possessions. If one's public image means more than the glory of God or the well-being of one's fellow human beings, such pretentiousness of life has become a form of idol-worship. ‘Pride of life’ will be reflected in whatever status symbol is important to me or seems to define my identity. When I define myself to others in terms of my honorary degrees, the reputation of the church I serve, my annual income, the size of my library, my expensive car or house, and if in doing this I misrepresent the truth and in my boasting show myself to be only a pompous fool who has deceived no one, then I have succumbed to the pride of life. (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[14] Orthodox Study Bible

[15] Reformation Study Bible

Love, Offense, and Fellowship (1 John 2:3-11)

Rather than taking the time to have a separate conversation about the context and commentary that helps to explain today’s verses, I am embedding them into the verses. Think of this as Anthony’s Amplified Version :)

3 We know we have joined Him in fellowship because we live out His commands. 4 If someone claims, “I am in fellowship with Him,” but this big talker doesn’t live out His commands, then this individual is a liar and a stranger to the truth. 

5 But if someone responds to and obeys His word, then God’s love has truly taken root and reached its ‘end stage,’ its final act; it’s love for God functioning at full capacity. This is how we know we are in an intimate relationship with Him: 6 anyone who says, “I live in intimacy with Him,” should walk the path Jesus walked.

7 My beloved children, in one sense, I am not writing a new command for you. I am only reminding you of the old command (to love your neighbor as yourself). It’s a word you already know, a word that has existed from the beginning. 8 However, in another sense, I am writing a new command for you (to love one another as Jesus loved you[1]). The new command is the truth that He lived by laying down His life; and now you are living it, too, because the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining among you.

9 Anyone who says, “I live in the light,” but hates his brother or sister ( everything from detests them to esteems them less than they deserve, or even simply devalues them as image bearers of God) is still living in the shadows. 

10 Anyone who loves his brother or sister lives in the light and will not trigger a self-made trap of sin because his conscience is clear. 11 But anyone who hates his brother is in the darkness, stumbling around with no idea where he is going, blinded by the darkness.

John is going to say a couple chapters from now (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.”

Here’s where we are landing today: Knowing doctrinal truth about God without expressing love and esteem for others is worthless.

The skin and the soul are connected. Our bodies express the priorities of our heart. 

Two caveats that must be said.

•  #1. Sometimes the sin done to us is so impactful – it lands so hard – that we act out in ways that do more to reflect the dark priorities of other people’s hearts that they have imposed on us. We can feel caught, or trapped, or so broken that we do things that we despise. We don’t lose our free will – this is a sermon for another time – but sometimes we choose things we loathe. I’m not talking about that when I say that our bodies express the priorities of our heart. 

• #2. This cannot mean perfect obedience all the time. That is an impossible goal while living in corrupt and unglorified bodies on this side of heaven. But it must mean that our lives are characterized by a dedication and passion for obedience where what we do in our skin connects with a genuine commitment we have in our soul for the things of God.

So, in that context, hear: our bodies express the priorities of our hearts.

Remember those pesky Gnostics from the intro to 1 John? Among many problematic things, they insisted that knowledge of God required neither obedience nor love of others. John rebukes them sharply: love is demonstrated by obedience that manifest in love of others. God’s commandments are an expression of His love (His commands are for our good), and our obedience is an expression of our love. We abide in his love when we walk in His path. The Venerable Bede[2](I love that name) once wrote:

“In vain do we applaud Him whose commandments we do not keep.” (Bede)

When we keep His commands, we are in the light of God’s love, like spiritual solar panels, absorbing God’s light of truth, salvation, holiness, etc. and then shining with the same. This is why loving God and walking in His light (fellowship) is so closely related to loving others. Bede, once again, who had a lot to say about this issue:

“[We] cannot in any way have put off the darkness of [our] sins when [we do] not take care to put on the fundamentals of love.”[3]

Adam Clarke unpacks verse 9 a bit more:

And there is no stumbling block in him; he neither gives nor receives offense: love prevents him from giving any to his neighbor; and love prevents him from receiving any from his neighbor, because it leads him to put the best construction on every thing.

Okay, wait. 

• You mean that walking in the light not only leads me to the kind of love that gives the best to others, but assumes the best from others? 

•  It not only constrains me from putting stumbling blocks in the paths of others – it requires me to assume that others are trying really hard not to put stumbling blocks in my path? 

•  Love demands I give others the benefit of the doubt for as long as possible? 

•  Love demands that I climb up on the altar as a living sacrifice[4] not just before I interact with people, but after they interact with me?

I assume I am just doing my best to get through life with difficult people. I think, more often than not, loving others and esteeming/valuing them properly requires me to walk away from my interactions with others thinking, “I suspect they are doing their best to get through a difficult life with difficult people like myself.” 

When I have conversations with other people about Trump and Biden and mask wearing and vaccinations and how churches should or shouldn’t be meeting right now and how the Holy Spirit works today and what we should do about immigration and how we deal with racism and as Christians and how we best respond publicly to Christian leaders who fall and how church should be run and how old the earth is and how End Times will unfold… 

When I have those super fun conversations, I assume that other people who love me ought to give me the benefit of the doubt about my heart, my intentions, my love for God while I am struggling to express myself wisely in a complicated and fallen world. Barring a habitual history that proves otherwise, I believe that's a biblical expectation. 

So….. barring a habitual history that proves otherwise, I suspect I must also give the benefit of the doubt about their heart, their intentions, their love for God struggling to express itself in a complicated and fallen world…. 

Loving them and esteeming them require that I do the same for them that I want them to do for me.[5] #goldenrule 

Is it possible that I am actually committed to getting up on the altar and “dying to self” only half the time (before something I do) while I’m expecting others to do it all the time (before something they do and after I do something)? 

Because the altar was made for both of those things: actions and reactions. 

Jesus’ love wasn’t just demonstrated on the cross by what He extended to us. Jesus’ love was demonstrated on the cross by what He endured from us.  When Jesus demonstrated His love toward us,

• He absorbed our sins and extended life

• He took our unholiness and gave us holiness

• He carried our grief and sorrow and gave to us hope and joy 

If we are to live in the light of what Christ demonstrated by His life, we must live in this place. When we take up the cross of Christ, we “die to self” as an act of a grace-filled carrying of the sin done to us and a love-motivated offering of the costly grace of Christ passed on through us. To be sure, abuse and sin must be confronted and not glossed over. We can love mercy and do justice at the same time. I’m not talking about helping people avoid consequences. I am talking about how we position our hearts.

Back to the altar analogy of presenting our bodies as living sacrifices.

I am realizing I almost exclusively think of it in terms of how I surrender what I am planning to do: my words, by attitude, my actions, by presence. If I want to love my wife as Christ loved the church, for example, I give my life for her proactively by purposefully ‘dying to self’ before I instigate something. I get that. 

But being a living sacrifice is also required when something is done to me, at the times when I do things reactively. If I want to love my wife as Christ loved the church, I must climb back up on that self-dying place when she interacts with me from a place of darkness and draws darkness out of me. 

It’s not just marriage. 

Church, we live in a world full of darkness, but it is not God’s plan that it will overcome the light. The reverse is true. The true light is shining among us. We know how to live in the light of Christ. So, I wonder what it looks like to present our lives as spiritual sacrifices 

• before and after we come to church

• before and after we go on Facebook

• before and after we have coffee with friends who, “bless their hearts,” push all our buttons some days

• before and after we read commentary about that politician who is an idiot (as best we can tell)

• before and after we watch coverage of CPAC meetings and Black Lives Matter rallies

• before and after we turn on sports matches where some people kneel and some don’t for the national anthem

• before and after we speak out for the pro-life stance

• before and after someone attacks our faith

• before and after EVERYTHING THAT tempts us to detest people or esteem them less than they deserve or even simply devalues them as image bearers of God.

 Now, if we see ourselves in this list, where one of those situations tempts us to detest people or esteem them less than they deserve or even simply devalue them as image bearers of God in our actions or reactions, then we have some repenting to do.  

“Love prevents us from giving offense to our neighbor; love prevents us from receiving offense from our neighbor.” 

What if God’s love inspired us to minimize the possibility of giving offense to our neighbor, and maximized our effort to not only remain unoffended by our neighbor but to move even closer to them? 

What if we esteemed and valued people more than they deserved when the going was good  - and worked even harder to do the same when it was not?

What if laying down our lives as an act of love for the sake of Christ never stopped?

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[1] John 13:34

[2] A Benedictine monk from the 700s.

[3] From St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology, quoted in Bible Gateway’s resources.

[4] Romans 12:1

[5] (SIDE NOTE: That’s not to say there is no place for hard conversations about hearts and intentions and actions. I point you back to the past two weeks of sermons. When we sin – and we will – we need loving confrontation. There are times we need out hearts and intentions and actions challenged in light of God’s Word. For more on that, honestly, listen to basically every sermon so far in 2021 this year. Repentance and confession has been a theme because sinful darkness is a big deal. Today’s focus is different. I’m talking about another aspect of love that John focuses on: those who hate their brother or sister (and I mean everything from detests them to esteems them less than they deserve, or even simply devalues them as image bearers of God are living in the shadows, not the light. This is about our hearts.)

Confess, Keep, Live (1 John 1:5-2:6)

 5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

 3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:  6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

The Process Of Moving Into The Light

1.    Confess our sins. Bringing our sins into the light. This is personal (confessing to God) and corporate (confessing to others). There may we be a public reckoning depending on if our sins are known or unknown. This can be like my experience at the top of the ski slope – embracing humility for the sake of life. 

2.    Keep God’s Commands. Repentance is ‘turning around.’ We commit to being law-keepers instead of law-breakers. We plan not to sin (to quote Tom Gordon) – we enter accountability, create purposeful boundaries, etc. 

3.    Live As Jesus Lived. Purposefully following in the footsteps of the Master.

The Result Of Living In The Light:

1.    Love For God Will Be Made Complete. It is the fullness of the love of heart, mind, soul and strength. One way of getting to know God is through obedience. 

2.    Fellowship With God And Each Other Flourishes. True community grows when we are fully known and fully loved. This obviously begins with God (who knows us fully and yet loves us); God’s plan is that His people follow the standard he Has set by creating a loving community in which people want to fully know others and are willing to be fully known – and are determined to show God’s love and grace in the midst of it all.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Instead of questions this week, I encourage people to share stories from their lives about how God moved them from the darkness of sin into the light of His holiness and grace.

Walk In The Light (1 John 1:1-7)

Probably between ad 85 and 95, John [1] wrote to the believers near Ephesus, in present-day Turkey.[2] The persecution under Nero had come and gone, killing even Paul and Peter. John was the last  apostle, looking back at what had been happening in the early church. 

1 John 1:1-7

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship (koinonia) with us; and truly our fellowship (koinonia) is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our[3] joy may be complete. 

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship (koinonia) with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship (koinonia) with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

In his opening, John seems to be responding to the Gnostics, who thought there was no way Jesus was incarnate (“in the flesh”) because matter was evil.  John makes it clear that he was.  The incarnate Jesus could be seen, heard, and touched.

Then he explains how our relationship with Christ brings us into the family of God. We can have genuine fellowship with other followers of Jesus because our fellowship is grounded in our fellowship with God (1 John 1:3). The result is joy.

Fellowship flows from knowing God, who is “light.” In God there is “no darkness at all” (1:5) Light suggests purity, honest, goodness, righteousness, truth. There are no shadows or dark sides to God (James 1:17); he is perfect and free of sin (Psalms 145:17; Matthew 5:48).[4] Jesus said, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness”(Matthew 12:46). So if genuine fellowship comes from being in the light, the breaking of our fellowship comes from walking in darkness (1 John 1:6). 

Our profession of faith must be backed up by our practice (1:6). Children of the light walk in it (see John 8:12; Eph. 5:8; Col. 1:13; 1 Pet. 2:9.[5]

For John, fellowship with others follows faith in God and displays itself in works that build fellowship with God and others. Life from Christ exhibits characteristics of life of Christ. This is how we know we are ‘in the light’ with Him (1 John 2:5–6): we will increasing resemble Jesus.”[6]

* * * * * * * * * *

“God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship (koinonia) with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true.” 

I've been hearing a lot of discussion about Christians should be responding to recent scandals among Christian leaders. I want to walk into this with fear and trembling, because I am well aware that when sinners talk about other sinners there is a danger of unrighteous judgment and pride. And yet we can’t shy away from this. We must wrestle with how it is that professing Christians  leave the light and head toward the dark, and how we get back out. Our fellowship with God and others is on the line. So I offer some (imperfect) thoughts meant to inspire us to wrestle with this. A lot of the discussion centers around some version of two common phrases: 

·      “There but for the grace of God go I.” 

·      “We are all sinners saved by grace, and so we are all in need of God's forgiveness.” 

There is truth in both of these, but it's a truth that can be misunderstood or misapplied. While it’s an important part of a broader biblical truth, they need to be situation within that broader biblical truth. #context  That's what I would like to explore today.

I think the foundational question is this: are all sins equal in the eyes of God? My question is: Equal how? In eternal consequence? In impact to humanity? In affecting my sanctification? From that follows other questions:

·      Do we all walk in the same kind of darkness? 

·      Are some in shadows while some are in inky, blinding darkness, and does that distinction even matter? 

·      Do all sins have an equal impact on our fellowship with God and others? 

Let’s start to build a framework. 

First, the unholiness of all sin is incompatible with the holiness of God. All sin happens in and contributes to the same darkness of evil’ all sins do something negative to our fellowship with God and others. All sin at minimum “misses the mark” (hamartia) of our holy calling, and at maximum just wreaks sinful havoc in the world (asebeia, parabasis).[7] In Christianity, every sin is fatal to us. That isn't intended to minimize the impact on victims, but to maximize the responsibility of perpetrators - and to remind us that, to vary degrees, we are all perpetrators.

All sin leads to spiritual death; all sin requires a price to be paid that we cannot pay ourselves; all sin requires repentance the leads to forgivenss that will be an act of God’s grace through Christ. 

“ But if you show favoritism… you’ll be sinning and condemned by the law. For if a person could keep all of the laws and yet break just one; it would be like breaking them all.  The same God who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also says, “Do not murder.” If you break either of these commands, you’re a lawbreaker, no matter how you look at it.  So live your life in such a way that acknowledges that one day you will be judged.” 

 (James 2:9-12)

“The wages of sin (hamartia – “missing the mark”) is death.” (Romans 6:23)

Just as “the love of God, which builds up the City of God,” is the source and root of all virtues, so too “the love of self, which builds up the City of Babylon,” is the root of all sins. (Augustine in De Civitate Dei)

 We all walk into the same kind of darkness.  The sinner pays either with his own life or Christ's, but death is due. There is a death my sin brings to me, as it ripples out to others: death of relationship, death of trust, death of innocence. These are not the same death kind of death, but they are real burdens borne by those around me. It requires the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from the penalty of sin and the impact of sin, and move both perpetrators and victims into the same kind of light. 

So in that sense, when we say that the ground is level at the foot of the cross, that's what we mean. All of us kneel there. That is the great humbler in Christian theology. We all kneel. We are all dead in our sins without the life of Christ (Ephesians 2; Romans 6). We all require the grace of God given through Jesus, who paid the eternal penalty of death so we can have eternal life. 

But the temporal implications of sin are handled in a different way biblically than the eternal implications of sin. In other words, the great leveling in the spiritual realm stands arm-in-arm with a gradation of the wickedness and severity of sin in the physical realm. 

Starting at the Old Testament we see that God establishes a system of responses to sinful behavior that does not treat all sin the same. There is a principle of sowing and reaping. If you sow a lot, you reap a lot. That’s true of doing good and doing evil. And God will not be mocked. We will sow what we reap.  

·      Genesis 18:20 states that the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were unusually grievous.

·      Jeremiah 16:12 tells the Israelites they have done worse than their fathers.

·      Exodus 32:30-31 “Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great[8] sin…and have made them gods of gold.”

·      2 Kings 17:21 “Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin.”

·      God revealed the sins of Israel in three stages to Ezekiel. And in each stage Israel’s sins were “more detestable” (Ezekiel 8:6-16) than the previous ones.

·      In Numbers 15, the Bible contrasts sin done unintentionally and sin done “with a high hand,” meaning sin done willingly while shaking one’s fist at God. 

·      Scripture also speaks of “sins that cry out” that God himself will execute judgment because humans and government officials have acted unjustly towards others (e.g., Gen. 4:10; 18:20; 19:13; Ex. 3:7-10; Deut. 24:14-15).

 In the Old Testament, there were escalating temporal responses to violations against others and against God, from escalating fines to being cut off from the people (exile) or being put to death. God applied different temporal penalties to different sins. A thief paid restitution; an occult practitioner was cut off from Israel; one who committed premeditated murder was sentenced to death. In addition, 

“Distinctions are made between different levels of clean and uncleanness requiring different sacrifices (Lev. 11-15, cf. chs. 1-8), and especially between “unintentional” and “intentional” sins (Num. 15:22-30). Unintentional sin can be atoned for (e.g., Lev. 4), but certain intentional sins, specifically “high handed” sins are so grievous that they cannot be atoned for and they require the death penalty (Num. 15:30). This kind of distinction makes no sense unless we think in terms of degrees of sin.”[9]

So while everyone went to the temple to offer a sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins, great or small, not everything played out the same in their community life.  Even Jesus talks about greater and lesser sins.[10]

·      Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above [higher up – from Rome]. Therefore he who delivered Me over to you has the greater sin.”  Matthew 23:14 

·      Jesus, speaking to the Pharisees and scribes, said they shall receive greater damnation because of their hypocrisy. Some sins are called gnats, others camels (Matthew 23:24).

The New Testament writers felt the same way.

·      1 John 5:16-16 “6 In this regard, if you notice a brother or sister in faith making moral missteps and blunders, disregarding and disobeying God even to the point of God removing this one from the body by death, then pray for that person; and God will grant him life on this journey. But to be clear, there is a sin that is ultimately fatal and leads to death. I am not talking about praying for that fatal sin, 17 but I am talking about all those wrongs and sins that plague God’s family that don’t lead to death.”

The Catholic tradition makes a distinction between venial and mortal sins,[11] but we are not Catholic, so let’s see what the Reformers thought –which is that there is a difference between lesser sins and what they called gross and heinous sins.  

“The Reformers did not deny degrees of sin, but they did reject the mortal-venial distinction, especially as it was worked out in Rome’s sacramental theology. For them, all sin is “mortal” before God, and our only hope is that we are united to Christ in saving faith and declared justified in him. For fallen creatures to stand before God, we need Christ’s perfect righteousness imputed to us and all of our sin completely paid for by his substitutionary death. 

 Also, for the believer who is born of the Spirit and united to Christ as our covenant head, since our justification is complete in Christ, there is no sin that removes our justification, and ultimately thwarts the sanctifying work of the Spirit by the loss of our salvation. Yet, although we should reject the mortal-venial distinction as taught by Rome, this does not entail that we should reject a distinction between all sin as equal before God and various degrees of sin in terms of their overall effects on the person, others, and the world.”[12]

But what about this? 

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment… You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:21-28) 

Both scenarios reflect a dark heart that God sees; both are sins that have eternal implications. Both deserve judgment. Both require repentance. But they do not land in the world temporally in the same way. Jesus himself has other teachings that make that distinction. Not all sins have the same impact on the image-bearers around the sinner the same way. The sins of the heart deserve condemnation; the sins of the hand deserve a greater condemnation. Think of it this way:  

·      If sins were in every sense equal, in every sense not different, the person thinking about killing someone they hate might as well just do it, if these sins are not in some sense different, because Jesus says someone who wishes someone else dead is as guilty as if they had murdered them. 

·      If someone would say to me, “I might as well go ahead and commit adultery because I’m already guilty of lust. I can’t be in any worse shape in the sight of God, so I might as well finish the deed.” My answer? “Oh yes, you can be in much worse shape in the eyes of God and others.” The “sowing and reaping” judgment of actual adultery will be much greater than the harvest from internal lust. 

·      If abusers would restrain unrepentant lust in their minds, the people around them might be creeped out when they are around them (“Something’s not right with that guy”), but they would not be abused. It’s a foolish thing for a person who has committed a misdemeanor to say, “I’m already guilty; I might as well make it a felony.” God forbid that we should think like that.[13]

I was watching Knives Out, and there is scene where the villian, who had killed two people, tries to kill a third. “In for a penny, in for a pound.” This is a terrible idea. Killing three people is worse than killing two, and actually killing them was worse than if he had just thought about killing them.  

Both the Bible and our experience make a distinction between the severity of things. We can simultaneously recognize that all of them are bad – all of them are a walk into the valley of the shadows of spiritual death at minimum -  without having to level the impact that they clearly have on the world and on others. It's like cleaning up after a heavy wind storm versus a heavy hurricane. Both are storms; one leaves of disaster unlike the other.

There's a temporal difference between taking one step off the path and having taken a hundred. All the steps must be dealt with, surrendered, and repented for because they all traffic in darkness. But some of them rock the world and ways that other ones don't.  I think we ignore that difference at our spiritual and relational peril.

Justin Bieber[14] and Shawn Mendez sing a song in which they ask, “What if I trip? What if I fall? Then am I the monster?” Well, no, but if you land where monsters grow, you’d best get out. If you don’t, you will be. That’s how monsters start. If you track their lives back far enough, all monsters at one point looked a lot like us.

* * * * * * * * * *

I don’t make this point so that we can look at our sin and say, “It’s just a step into the shadows. I’m not like THAT person, who sprinted there and made a home there.” If that’s where your mind is going, you are missing the point and are further in darkness right now than you realize.[15] If you use the temporal severity of someone else’s sin to give yourself a pass, you need a serious revival in your heart.  

I read a book once that talked about the ripple effect of our sin. It’s like the Butterfly Effect. We see huge sin and the immediate temporal impact and think, “Terrible sin!” and that’s a correct judgment. But we don’t realize our smaller sins are stones cast in the water that ripple out and lead to sins we will never know about but may well be devestating.  We need to get over ourselves and our self -righteousness. It’s like filthy rags if we could see it.[16] 

I make the point  about the temporal gradation of sin for two reasons. You need to hear both reasons before you react to my first reason.  

The first point: if we are not careful, saying, “We are all sinners in need of forgiveness” can sound like a minimization of the terrible impact of what happened, as if stealing  a pencil the same as rape. It can make fail to pass a righteous judgment on what happened.  

Please. Pass a biblically appropriate judgment on all sin. We are allowed to weigh in on fruit. Please, don’t let the fact that we are all sinners stop us from lamenting the horrible nature of escalated sin. Don’t refuse to condemn sexual abuse because you have had lustful thoughts. Repent of your lustful thoughts, and then echo the OT prophets, who were certainly not perfect, and who had no problem calling out the abuse of God’s image-bearers, especially when the sin was committed by those who claimed to be God’s people. 

The second point: we must take seriously the truth that “We are all sinners in need of forgiveness,” and “There but for the grace of God go I.” I don’t mean we all would inevitably end up where some people have. I mean we all have the capacity to step into the shadows and keep going. We know this already in our own ways in our own lives. Even if we didn’t go so far as to become monsters, we know what it is like to at least explore lands of darkness where the monters looked attractive. 

People don't wake up one morning and think, “I'll be a serial sexual predator, or a mass shooter, or start Enron.” I suspect it was something much, much smaller, something that might even feel insignificant in the overall scheme of things but which was a step down a path that veered off the path of righteousness. 

Unless I am intentional and lean on God's grace, I will wade into the water of sin until a point that I am taken terrible places by the relentless undertow I helped create – and I will surely take others with me. It doesn't matter what the sin is - we can all drown accidentally because we went wading on purpose.

I read a book once by the lead detective in the Jon Benet Ramsey case. Something that has stuck with me is that from a police perspective they are not worried about the person who snaps and kills someone else. That person always confesses because their conscience can't handle it. It's the person who is slowly become more violent that they worry about, because by the time they get to killing people they just don't care, they're conscious doesn't bother them, they're not haunted by their sin.

“Sin is of an encroaching nature; it creeps on the soul by degrees, step by step, till it hath the soul to the very height of sin. ...By all this we see, that the yielding to lesser sins, draws the soul to the committing of greater… Ecclesiastes [says] ‘The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talking is mischievous madness.’ ...”  Thomas Brooks

That's applicable to all of us. There, but for the grace of God. we take that first step and keep going, and eventually we end up somewhere very, very dark. So, what do those steps look like? 

·      It's entertaining rather than fighting those lustful thoughts because hey, nobody will know. 

·      It's not reporting that one source of income because it can't be that big of a deal and it's not that much taxes and it's not worth the hassle. 

·      It's clicking on that link because it's just one picture that will get my adrenaline pumping. 

·      It's making demeaning jokes about the opposite sex because they're funny, right? 

·      It's accepting that Facebook friend request from someone who likes to post racy pictures and who has no mutual friends with you because hey, why not?  

·      It's sharing that meme that yeah, it's a little harsh and maybe even a little unfair, but this is the time for it. 

·      It's listening to angry people on podcasts, TV shows and YouTube videos and thinking that they're probably too angry, but this is entertaining. 

·      It’s sharing prayer requests that are gossip. 

·      It's slowly moving from generosity to greed in just the smallest of ways.

·      It’s telling a slight untruth about someone else because it makes us look better.

·      It’s hiding that small sin from the accountability of others because it’s not that big of a deal.

There is the start of a path that, but for the grace of God, we go. And but for the grace of God, we'll keep going. I don't think it's fair to say that we would all end up at the same place with the same kind of sin. What is fair to say is that we will all walk to terrible places of some sort if we do not deal with each step that is taking us there.  

But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

That which is hidden must come to the light.  This is the only way we have fellowship with God and others. We must walk in the light as Jesus was in the light. 

We don't usually sprint to sin,  at least not at first. We usually wander or walk. The speed comes when momentum is built over time. I remember once when I went skiing and I was feeling really confident at the end of the day, so I went up to one of the larger hills. I started down and it only took about 10 feet before I just threw myself to the ground and stopped all of my momentum because I knew it was not going to end well.  I took off my skis and crawled back up while everyone on the ski lift watched me. It was humiliating, but it was better than the alternative. That momentum was going to break a leg, or crash me into people. 

This is why it is so crucial to stop the momentum. The grace of God has given us his Word, his spirit, and his people. These are all meant to stop this momentum and move us back into the light. Part of the grace that God gives us are means of sanctifaction that are right in front of us. Things like accountability and community. Things like honesty and transparency.

I'd like us to think and pray about a few things this week.

·      Do I have a trajectory that is taking me toward darkness or light? 

·      Am I already in deep darkness in need of a blinding light? 

·      How much of my life is hidden? Particularly, what am I hiding? 

·      Am I being honest before God and others about what is happening?

·      What does it look like to turn around?  

·      How will repentance benefit my fellowship with God and others?

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[1] John was the one “whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). He wrote five books in the New Testament: three letters, a gospel, and the book of Revelation.

[2] “His special vocabulary tells the whole story: To remain/continue/abide (24x) in the truth (9x) means to believe in (9x) or confess (5x) the Son (22x), to whom the Father (14x) and Spirit (8x) bear witness (12x); it means further to be born of God (10x), so as to walk (5x) in the light (6x), to hear (14x) and to know (40x) God, to keep (7x) the commandment (14x) to love (46x) the brothers and sisters (15x), and thus to have life (13x), which is from the beginning (8x), and finally to overcome (6x) the world. All of this is in contrast to the lie (7x), deceit (4x), denying Christ (3x), having a false spirit (4x), thus being antichrist (4x), walking in darkness (6x), hating (5x) one’s brothers and sisters but loving the world (23x), thus being in sin (27x), which leads to death (6x).”  (How To Read The Bible Book By Book, Gordon Fee)

[3] Other oldest manuscripts and versions read "OUR joy," namely, that our joy may be filled full by bringing you also into fellowship with the Father and Son. (Compare Joh 4:36, end; Php 2:2, "Fulfil ye my joy," Php 2:16; 4:1; 2Jo 8). It is possible that "your" may be a correction of transcribers to make this verse harmonize with Joh 15:11; 16:24; however, as John often repeats favorite phrases, he may do so here, so "your" may be from himself. So 2Jo 12, "your" in oldest manuscripts. The authority of manuscripts and versions on both sides here is almost evenly balanced. (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)

[4] “1:5 God is light. The connection between God and light begins in the opening verses of Genesis (see Ge 1:3) and continues in the Psalms (see Ps 27:1; 36:9; 104:2) and the Prophets (see Isa 49:6; Mic 7:8). The coming Messiah was also thought to bring God’s light (see note on Jn 1:4–13). Matthew and Luke used Isaiah’s image (Isa 9:2) that the coming Messiah would bring light to those in darkness to point to Jesus (Mt 4:16; Lk 1:79). There are numerous references to light and darkness in the Gospel of John (Jn 1:4–5, 9; 3:19–21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35–36, 46). Outside of the New Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls community called themselves the “sons of light,” playing on the same theme of God as light (see note on Lk 16:8).”  (NIV First Century Study Bible)

[5] Vines Expository Bible Study Notes

[6] “John challenges us to find in the mirror of our everyday lives clearer reflections of Jesus and to disregard the teachings of those who, like vampires, have no reflection at all and seek to suck the life from those who do.” How To Read The Bible Through The Jesus Lens

[7] https://www.theopedia.com/greek-and-hebrew-words-for-sin

[8] This particular word has to do with orders of magnitude greater. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1419.htm

[9] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/degrees-of-sin/

[10] Some common markers theologians use to talk about what makes a sin “greater”: Awareness of breaking God’s law; rebellious motivation; puposeful intent to do harm to others; habitual revisiting of that sin; degree of impactful on others.

[11] https://catholicstraightanswers.com/what-is-the-difference-between-mortal-and-venial-sin/

[12] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/degrees-of-sin/

[13] https://www.ligonier.org/blog/are-there-degrees-sin/

[14] That’s right. I quoted Justin Bieber. 

[15] You may be wondering if this leads to the kind of judgment the Bible warns against. The Bible is clear that it is not our place to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart. That's what God sees. But what the Bible does make clear is that we can know people by their fruits. What people do is something that is an outward expression of something inside and yes, we can reach conclusions about whether what things people do are holy or unholy, whether they are steps in the path of righteousness into the light or steps away from the path of righteousness into the darkness. Ravi has already had conversations with God about the state of his heart. That's not mine to figure out. What I can do is figure out how what he did aligns with what God calls us to do. And that was a pretty easy one to figure out. 

[16] Isaiah 64:6

Alexander, Demas, and Life In The Kingdom (2 Timothy 4:9-16)

Come to me, Timothy, as soon as you can. You see, Demas having loved this present age, has abandoned me, and headed off to Thessalonica. Crescens took off for Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke is the only one left. Bring Mark with you because he is useful in this work and will help look after me. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. On your way here, pick up the cloak I left with Carpus in Troas, and bring the scrolls—especially the parchments.

Keep your eye out for Alexander the coppersmith! He came against me with all sorts of evil—the Lord will render to him according to his works — so watch your back because he has gone overboard to oppose our message.

When it was time for my first defense, no one showed up to support me. Everyone abandoned me (may it not be held against them) except the Lord. He stood by me, strengthened me, and backed the truth I proclaimed with power so it may be heard by all the non-Jews. He rescued me, pried open the lion’s jaw , and snatched me from its teeth. And I know the Lord will continue to rescue me from every trip, trap, snare, and pitfall of evil and carry me safely to His heavenly kingdom. May He be glorified throughout eternity. Amen.

There are two people who get discussed a lot in this passage: Alexander and Demas.

Alexander. It is not clear if this reference is to an Alexander that is mentioned elsewhere. He might be mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:20 and if so, he, along with Hymenaeus, had been 'handed over to Satan' which was a form of discipline that was basically being made to leave the church (the idea was that the church provided spiritual covering, so, being kicked out was ‘handing someone over to Satan with the hopes that the experience would bring them to repentance and restoration). Or…it may have been a Jewish leader involved in accusations against Paul in Ephesus in Acts 19:33. Or….it might have been another Alexander. Whoever he was, he was bad news.

Demas. Everyone agrees on this: He was at one point a co-worker who is mentioned with Luke and Mark (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24) and who stayed with Paul when he was in prison earlier.

They also agree that Demas loved this present age. It was not unusual for Jewish people to contrast “the present age,” with “the age to come.” The present age was characterized by the suffering of God’s people (Galatians 1:4); the age to come would be wonderful rather than terrible. Everyone agrees on these two things. But how we contextualize Paul leads to some very different conclusions.

This disagreement is an ‘open hand’ issue. There is nothing that challenges the foundations of our faith lurking in the differences of opinion here. It’s a comment about a dude named Demas who Paul says abandoned him because he ‘loved this present world.’

I am going to give you the range of what people think, because whatever it means, there is something to learn about life together in the Kingdom from any of the conclusions we reach. Each time I thought, “Oh, I will go this direction with it,” I found something else that made wonder if maybe I shouldn’t go that direction with it…so I am going to go all directions with it.

1. In the most generous reading possible, Demas loved the people who suffered in this present age, and he did not want to stop his ministry. Adam Clarke, who is one of my go-to commentators has the most generous take I found.

Having preferred Judaism to Christianity; or having loved the Jews, and having sought their welfare in preference to that of the Gentiles. The הזה עולם words olam hazzeh… are generally to be understood as signifying, either the Jewish people, or the system of Judaism…This is a light in which the conduct of Demas may be viewed.

It could not have been the love of secular gain which had induced Demas to abandon St. Paul; he must have counted this cost before he became a Christian…It is not intimated that he had denied the faith, but simply that he had left the apostle and gone into Thessalonica; for which this reason is given, that he loved the present world.

Now, if αγαπησας, having loved, can be applied to a desire to save the souls of the Jews, and that he went into Thessalonica, where they abounded, for this very purpose, then we shall find all three - Demas, Crescens, and Titus, one at Thessalonica, another at Galatia, and the third at Dalmatia, doing the work of evangelists, visiting the churches, and converting both Jews and Gentiles. This interpretation I leave to the charitable reader…”

So Adam Clarke admits it’s a charitable reading, but the Jewish rabbis actually practiced doing that when a situation was unclear, so it’s not without precedent. About 180 years before Paul wrote this, a rabbi had said, “Judge each person with the scales weighted in their favor.” From that developed a practice of rabbis meeting together to practice “judging favorably” by brainstorming ways it was easy to rush to a negative judgment and then practice thinking through positive assumptions (until truth was known).

Paul once wrote, “To live is Christ; to die is gain.” Paul seems ready for the “gain” of death at this point in his life, but in Clarke’s reading, Demas was not done ‘living for Christ’ even though he knew the age to come would be gain. So he leaves Paul so that he, too, does not die, and he can display his love to the people in this age by witnessing to the gospel.

2. A second, less generous reading – but I think probably more honest – is that Demas was just not ready to die. Even if his love for the present age could be seen as a passionate heart for spreading the gospel, that wasn’t the only motivation. Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible summarizes well:

“Having loved this present world” does not mean, necessarily, that… he loved the honors or wealth of this world; but it means that he desired to live. He was not willing to stay with Paul, and subject himself to the probabilities of martyrdom; and, in order to secure his life, he departed to a place of safety… That he desired to live longer; that he was unwilling to remain and risk the loss of life, is indeed clear. That Paul was pained by his departure, and that he felt lonely and sad, is quite apparent; but I see no evidence that Demas was influenced by what are commonly called worldly feelings, or that he was led to this course by the desire of wealth, or fame, or pleasure.

”The Pulpit Commentary adds:

“It would appear from this that Demas had not the faith or the courage to run the risk of sharing St. Paul's imminent martyrdom at Rome, but left him, while he was free to do so, under pretence of an urgent call to Thessaloniea; just as Mark left Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:13).”

3. Wuest’s Commentary offers a third reading that builds on this and is more pointed and harsh as it focuses on Paul’s sense of abandonment. There seems to be something personal here. Two others left (Paul didn’t ‘send’ them like he did Tychicus), but Demas is singled out. Even though a couple verses later Paul says everyone abandoned him (it’s the same word), something is going on with Demas. I get the impression that one hurt in ways the others did not.

“Demas had not only left Paul so far as fellowship was concerned, but he had left him in the lurch also, so far as the work of the gospel was concerned. He had been one of Paul’s dependable and trusted helpers. Paul said that he let him down. The Greek word … is made up of three words, “to leave” (leipo), “down” (kata), and “in” (en), that is, to forsake one who is in a set of circumstances that are against him. It was a cruel blow to Paul.”

Gill’s Exposition agrees with this view and adds a hopeful reading to how the story of Demas ends.

“It does not appear…that he entirely apostatized; he might forsake the apostle, and yet not forsake Christ and his interest, or make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience: his faith might be right, though low, and his love sincere, though not fervent; and through a fear of persecution, and loss of life, he might be tempted to leave the apostle, and withdraw from Rome, for his own safety; which though it was far from being commendable in him, yet may be accounted for in this state of frailty and imperfection, consistent with the grace of God. And it should seem that he afterwards was delivered from this temptation… if Demas is only a contraction of Demetrius, and he is the same who is so much commended many years after this (3 John 1:12 ).”

The final and must sobering reading is that Demas abandoned the faith.

"Not lack of courage, but a lust for materialism seemed to be his downfall.”

"The prospect of worldly advantage was the motive which determined Demas. No doubt the busy commercial center of Thessalonica offered many opportunities for success in business, and love of money may have been the besetting sin of this professing Christian."

"While we are ready to think as well of Demas as we possibly can, this falling in love with the world… is here evidently the opposite of loving the Lord's epiphany which is mentioned in verse 8. We are compelled to believe that Demas gave up the love of that coming epiphany for the love of this present world's course. This is what cut into Paul's heart most deeply."

Because of the possibilities in interpretation here (once again, open hand issues; don’t die on one of these interpretive hills), there is richness here that allows us to see the complexity of the human condition. I think we can all find ourselves in the possibilities with Paul and Demas and Alexander.

• Sometimes people attack our message and our faith, and it hurts (Alexander attacking Paul).

• Sometimes people follow God away from us, and it gets lonely (Crescens and Titus, who ‘left’ but did not ‘abandon’).

• Sometimes, the cost of discipleship seems too high, and we want to be faithful but at less cost (Demas, afraid to die).

• Sometimes God motivates different kingdom priorities in different people, and there is tension (Demas loving “this age” in a good way; all of Paul’s friends leaving to evangelize elsewhere).

• Sometimes it feels like people abandon us – which may or may not be the right term, but it feels that way. ( How Paul felt.)

• Sometimes, our circumstances threaten to overwhelm us. (Paul; Demas fearing death)

So what do we see from this passage and Scripture about how to respond to these situations?

Sometimes people attack our message and our faith, and it hurts. Vengeance is not ours to deal. Paul lets it go: “The Lord will reward him according to his works.” Villifying, name-calling, getting revenge – not of Christ.

Sometimes people follow God away from us, and it gets lonely. Make a distinction between abandonment and God expanding His Kingdom. We can’t stay in one place and go into all the world to make disciples. We can’t expand Eden into the world if we all stay in Garden. I grew up in a farming community that used this analogy: Christians are like manure. We make great fertilizer when we are spread out, but , wow, do we stink when we stay all piled together.

Sometimes, the cost of discipleship seems too high, and we want to be faithful but at less cost. Do what Jesus encouraged his disciples to do, which is count the cost.

“27 If you don’t carry your own cross as if to your own execution as you follow Me, you can’t be part of My movement. 28 Just imagine that you want to build a tower. Wouldn’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to be sure you have enough to finish what you start? 29 If you lay the foundation but then can’t afford to finish the tower, everyone will mock you: 30 “Look at that guy who started something that he couldn’t finish!”

31 Or imagine a king gearing up to go to war. Wouldn’t he begin by sitting down with his advisors to determine whether his 10,000 troops could defeat the opponent’s 20,000 troops? 32 If not, he’ll send a peace delegation quickly and negotiate a peace treaty. 33 In the same way, if you want to be My disciple, it will cost you everything. Don’t underestimate that cost!” (Luke 14:27-33 excerpted)

Count the cost now. What is on the altar? Everything. Know what you have signed up for.

Important note: Let’s not ‘overspiritualize’ this so we can merely do what we want. I’m not talking about justifying our desires by sacrificing others or avoiding our God-prioritized responsibilities. God will not call you to turn your back on His known Kingdom priorities for you. For example, if you come to me and say, “I need to abandon my spouse and kids because they just aren’t on board with where I am sure God is taking me,” then we are going to have a chat. Read 1Corinthians 7, especially v. 32-35. Once you get married, once you have kids, you have a primary mission and obligation and mission field as God intended. They are not obstacles to be hurdled, overlooked or dismissed. They are image bearers to be stewarded.

I don’t have a Bible verse for this, but I suspect that when I give an answer on the Day of Judgment, God’s first question to me will be, “Give an account for my daughter, your wife, whom I gave to you to steward.” Everything else will come after that. That’s just one example to make this point: if it is God who is calling you, you will be convicted to put yourself on the altar, not others. And you will, in some fashion, be called to do that every day. ”I die daily,” said Paul. Be ready. Count the cost.

Sometimes God motivates different kingdom priorities in different people, and there is tension. Paul says a couple guys left him, he sent one away - and it all at least felt like abandonment. That’s hard. Practical example: I wanted Sal and Heather to stay here but I’m not the Holy Spirit. I didn’t give them my gifts and passion and vision; God gave them His gifts for them to do His work. It would be foolish and selfish of me to demand that God work in them like I see fit.

People sitting next to you have some different Kingdom priorities than you do because God saw fit to bring diverse people together in a unified mission. The offensive lineman is not the kickoff return man. The hand is not the foot. It is not our job to conform everyone to our image; we are to be conformed to Christ’s image, and I suspect it is in mosaic of the church that we at least get a glimpse of how the diversity of Christ-followers helps us to better see a unified image of Christ. The resolution is to pray for the wisdom to appreciate the diverse complexity of the whole body, fitly joined together for God’s work and purpose.

Sometimes it feels like people abandon us – which may or may not be the right term, but it feels that way. Don’t hold it against them. Paul notes that the strength and nearness of God became abundantly clear to him at the time of his greatest sense of being alone. I’ve noted before that the closest I have ever felt to God was when I stood in the rain beside my father’s freshly filled in grave. I talked to someone this week who had a profound, break-through spiritual experience with God after the death of a spouse.

Watch for God’s strength to be highlighted in what feels like times of great weakness, loneliness or abandonment. Pray for your eyes to be opened to the ever-present reality of Immanuel, God With Us.

Sometimes, our circumstances threaten to overwhelm us. God will rescue us from every trip, trap, snare, and pitfall of evil and carry us safely to His heavenly kingdom. That didn’t mean Paul did not suffer and die. He did. Even as he wrote this, his life was wrapping up here in a hard way. No, I think he meant this:

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)

Let that hope fix our eyes and steady our hearts.

Disaster-ship and Disciple-ship

Moving from 2019 into 2020, it was my sense that we had some really good momentum here in the church on a number of levels: Small groups were going strong, kid and youth ministries were doing well, Message+ was having great post-sermon conversation, the worship team was clicking, we had a new stage and a new sound system, the Mission Board had new life. Then, COVID-19. Granted, COVID hit everyone. That wasn’t unique to us. Still, it felt like going virtual derailed a church train that was picking up some steam.

Then election tension was everywhere. Once again, not unique to us. In that sense, between COVID and politics, the church in the United States has had a refining year –or at least the opportunity to be refined. And since we are a church in the United States, we get that opportunity too.

We started meeting using our outdoor space in May, I think. It was a beautiful summer and our facility enabled us to get back together in a way that observed safety and fostered community. There were some bumps, then we settled in. Then we moved indoors in September. Some bumps again, but we settled in.

The first Sunday we had a full band back on stage in December - the third week of beautiful Advent decorations - was the day of the fire. So not only didnwe lose the gym space and a few more weeks of holiday cheer, we lost the full band just as it was coming back.

A bunch of us had a meeting the Monday night after the fire, and the working assumption (based on some discussion that day with contractors giving estimates) was that it would be a 10 week process. “We will be back in the gymnatorium by the beginning of March.” That was 8 weeks ago and we haven’t started yet. It’s probably going to be at least two more weeks before we can start doing anything. It’s already going to take twice as long as we thought. Honestly, May seems realistic.

So here we are in the lobby. And people who had legitimate concerns about meeting in person because of health or job concerns but or the ripple effect for people around them if they got sick were okay with how much room we had before now aren’t comfortable with this cozy experience (that’s not a criticism; it’s an observation). And while the family of those who consider this church home is significantly larger than those who are here on a Sunday (around 300 vs 50), it still feels like community steps backward also.

Some days I feel like we’re in a 21st century update of Job: God says to Satan, “Have you seen my servants in the world? (pandemic) In the United States? (election tension) At CLG?” (Satan cracks his knuckles and says, “Do they still have Advent candles?”) I don't mean to say that is how it went down. I’m just saying it feels like it.

I have an opinion: I am increasingly convinced that God is using this season to deconstruct us individually and corporately so He can reconstruct something better. Because do you know what all of this sparked at CLG? A huge, messy sanctification process.

Most of us drained our emotional reserves last year, with the result that we burned through all our filters and just kind of started saying what we probably should have been saying for years. So it got messy. It was hard. Is hard.

But what if it was a gift? What if God’s intent is to strip away all our routine and comfort and facades and get our eyes refocused on him for our good and His glory? In a sermon a while ago I quoted the poet Auden, who once said, “We who must die demand a miracle.” What if it’s not that dramatic? What if it’s simply God’s intent to get us as a congregation to the place where we say,

“We who are frustrated and angry at half the people in our own church and in despair about our ability to do life together because we are sooooo different and this lobby will only feel cozy for so long before it gets crowded... We need a miracle. We beg for a miracle.”

And God’s like, “I think that’s a great idea, so if we are going to do this, let’s do it right. Settle into the lobby and settle down. I'm going to need this time to work with y’all. All y’all.”

That’s where I’m at right now. This trial, this test, is a gift that God will work for our good if we indeed love him, and are indeed called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). I believe He plans to rebuild something beautiful and better from the ashes (fire pun intended). We can’t rebuild this with merely our own power or intelligence or personality, or it will fail. Unless the Lord builds it, our labor is in vain. (Psalm 127:1)

* * * * *

Today’s sermon is about cooperating with the Lord’s rebuilding. I’m going to use a ship analogy because why not?

In the business meeting, we are going to talk about how we are restructuring and reorganizing in a way that we are patching holes in the infrastructure of the ship of CLG. The ship needs not only maintenance, but some remodeling. Someone last week who thinks about ships more than I do said, “We’re in dry dock: scraping barnacles, patching things, scrubbing off algae.”

The best sailors in the world are going to have a hard time getting to their destination (or even staying afloat) if they are constantly bailing water and fixing communication coms. So we are restructuring and reorganizing a lot of things in ways that I am convinced were Holy Spirit inspired for this time in this season of CLG, and I am really excited about where we are moving. I don't think it would have happened without the Holy Spirit using last year to shine a glaring spotlight into the shadowy overlooked and ignored corners of CLG’s structure and organization. Because I believe this is the Lord’s inspired rebuild plan, I think you will see ministerial and relational fruit in our church and in your life from this.

But I am also reminded of something T.S. Eliot once wrote: “They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within, by dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good.” I’m really excited about the system we are moving into, but it’s not our savior. It will be as good as the people who are a part of it.

As we have begun to address that need more honestly, something else very important has come into focus: the passengers and crew have some issues and unresolved tension, and by passengers and crew I mean the people on the ship, and that’s all of us.

The business meeting will show you what’s happening during dry dock so that the ship of CLG is more seaworthy. This sermon will be about sanctifying the passengers and crew.

So, here’s the sermon.

This church is a ship that has set sail. It will either be a Disciple-ship (yay!) or a Disaster-ship (boo!). I am going to give 5 ways both courses can happen, building from what Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4: “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith.”

How to create a Disaster-ship

1. Don't take ‘keeping the faith’ seriously.

First, don’t take orthodoxy seriously. How do we know what orthodoxy is? The Bible; the Creeds; two thousand years of Christians wrestling with how to properly keep the faith (note: their are open and closed hand issues, open hand being they ones on which Christians in good faith can disagree as they continue to seek clarity and truth grounded in the things around which they have closed their hands – the divinity of Jesus, his atoning death, his bodily resurrection, etc.). Latest polls among evangelicals show only 52% strongly agree that the Bible is their highest authority; only 58% believe that Jesus’ death is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of sin; only 48% believe that only those who trust solely in Jesus will receive eternal life. That’s building a disastership. That is not a sustainable faith, because it’s not built on the faith.

Second, don't take orthopraxy seriously. Don’t live as if we take God and His path of righteousness seriously. Remember: obedience is a means of getting to know God. Disobedience is a means of getting to know “not God.” This speaks to integrity and character, consistency and commitment, not perfection. Paul knew what was true and knew what to do. If you don’t want to keep the faith, keep yourself in the dark about what is true and ignore what God has called you to do.

2. Fight all the secondary fights in church instead of focusing on the good fight

. I talked about this last week also. We can get so busy fighting skirmishes off to the side that we are distracted from the course of the race: spreading in the good news of the grace of God. The fact is, we can get very good at winning battles that feel super important while losing wars that are far more crucial. There is a scene in Wonder Woman where she is being taken to the front lines of the battle. She keeps seeing heart-wrenching scenes and wants to stop, but they keep reminding her: “We need you in the front. If that changes, the rest of this changes.”

It wasn’t that what broke her heart wasn’t important. It was. It just wasn’t going to change if the source of the problem didn’t change. She could fix that, then be back to fix it again in a month. True change flows from truly changed people. We can get so busy directing the hands and feet of people that we forget that if their hearts are in the right place, their hands and feet will go in the right places. It’s not an either/or – it’s good to stop hands from doing evil and feet from taking us there– but clean hands are connected to a pure heart (Psalm 24:4).

On Disasterships, people spend their time butting heads over the wall color in the galley and the kind of wax to use on the floors (silly), or how to best protect and secure the sails (serious), but they happen at the expense of the most important thing, which is to know the captain, love the crew, and sail toward those who need the good news the ship carries.

3. Hide from each other.

Lack of honesty and transparency is like a cancer in the church. A couple weeks ago Tom Gordon talked about ‘choosing our hard.’ Often the courses laid before us are all hard. We want to choose the hard that bears good fruit. In some ways, dishonesty or lack of transparency or failure to confront biblically is its own kind of hard. We develop bitterness and anger and judgment and it undermines friendships in community. That’s hard. Walking into tension is another kind of hard, but it's a hard that has the potential for good fruit if both parties are committed to being focused on fighting the good fight.

4. Be too near sighted or farsighted (inwardly/outwardly focused.)

It's like either having a magnifying glass or a telescope as we look at the world. It's seeing the things right in front of us but being very blurry about what's far away, or being crystal clear about what's far away and being very blurry with what's right in front of us.There are probably two ways that churches can veer off course with excellent intentions and for excellent purposes.

• One is to get so outwardly focused (on other people or other places) that discipleship fails to happen within the church and within ourselves.

• The other is to get so inwardly focused (on ourselves and our church) that evangelism and ministry fails to happen outside our lives and our church.

Granted, it is not easy to balance those two things. Often the history of churches will look a bit like a pendulum as they continue to self assess and respond. However, a sure fire way to head toward disaster is to ignore the tension and settle unthinkingly into one side or the other.

5. Don't take love seriously.

Love is the heart of Jesus’ teaching.

• Love of God first, which manifests itself in love of others. (Matthew 23:27)

• If we love him we keep his Commandments. (John 14:15)

• If we say we love God and hate our brothers and sisters we are liars. (1 John 4:20)

• The greatest commandment involves love. (1 Corinthians 13)

• Love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)

Without love, we are just loud, obnoxious cymbal crashers. The noise will drown out our words. The noise will overshadow our actions.

How to create a Disciple-ship.

1. Keep the faith.

First, take orthodoxy seriously.

• Study the Bible. Bible Gateway is a good place to start. There is a cheap membership that gives you access to a ton of commentary that you can read side-by-side with a passage. Read a passage and prep a class. Take notes. Put together an outline. Make an application.

• Study the creeds , which represent two thousand years of Christians wrestling with how to properly keep the faith. Generally, the further back you go in history, the more they focus on ‘closed hand’ issues. When you get into modern denominational creeds, they will sometimes include what you need to at least tighten your hand around to be a part of that denomination, so just know the difference. Our church has a Statement of Faith, which is different from a creed, but is worth absorbing.

• We are evangelicals. Go to the National Evangelical Association and check out their statement of faith, and then click on “topics” and “resources” for a boatload of helpful information.

Second, take orthopraxy seriously.

Live is if we take God and His path of righteousness seriously. Remember: obedience is a means of getting to know God. It’s also a means of honoring his image bearers. Become part of a small group or a circle of close friends in which you genuinely hold each other accountable – not telling each other what we want to hear, or complaining about common causes, but surrendering our privacy to trusted people for the sake of discipleship. What two things did Paul land on? He knew what was true, and he knew what to do. Let people help you discern if that is in fact happening in your life.

2. Focus our primary effort of fighting the good fight.

Wrestle on behalf of the Honorable Cause, which Paul described as “testifying to the good news of God’s grace” and displaying a God whose perfect patience is good news for even the worst of sinners (1 Timothy 1:12-17). God knows that I know how easy it is to become distracted. I think you do too. Once again, it’s not an either/or, because there are secondary causes that are deeply intertwined with our primary calling. This is a question of focus, time, emotional investment, guiding principles. Our prayer should be that God gives us the wisdom and strength to engage in wrestling primarily for this Noble Cause while always asking the question: “How is this creating more or better disciples?” Do righteous secondary causes speak to the nobility of our primary cause? Sure. Just don’t make a good thing the ultimate thing. That’s idolatry.

3. Be honest with each other.

We commit to being fully known and fully knowing so that we can be fully loved and fully love. It is impossible to do this without the grace and the love of God filling us. I mean, look at us.

• We are too politically, socially, and psychologically diverse for CLG to work by any cultural standard. So was the early church, and God brought them together for the express purposing of displaying His glory by unifying un-unifiable people.

• We are too broken. We are too easily offended and too casually offensive. Let’s be honest: for about a year now, we have felt it whenever we walk into a room with masked and unmasked people. We fill up this room with our baggage on any given Sunday.

• The range of backgrounds and preferences and quirks and strengths and weaknesses is simply too much for us on our own strength to go about creating this New Humanity that the Bible talks about that is found in Christ.

Ephesians 2:4 “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Let’s be honest: forming a closely knit community from this group will take the same kind of miracle now that it took then. We who are called to be a new humanity beg for a miracle! We cannot do it on our own.

Remember how Paul said God’s perfect patience was revealed in Paul, as if anything less than supernatural, miraculous patience would not suffice? We are the kind of people who require the perfect patience of a long-suffering God to transform us into his image, let alone into a cohesive body ☺ But that’s part of the way we testify to the good news of God’s grace. “Look what God has done. We thought it was impossible. With God, this is one of the many impossible things that becomes possible.”

4. Get bifocals.

Pray that God helps us to see clearly near and far away. How do we do this as a church? Those of you who are nearsighted do the work of nearsighted people and draw the rest of us in with you so that we see what you see. Show us how to be and make better disciples, to do the hard work of sanctification in ourselves and in our church. Those of you who are farsighted, do the work of far-sighted people and draw the rest of us in so that we see what you see. Show us how to make more disciples, how to go into the highways and byways and compel them to come in, so that the house of God is full. (Luke 14:23) This is part of the diversity we need. It will cause tension because it’s easy to get really frustrated with others whose vision is blurry when ours is clear. But it’s a necessary and good tension as “iron sharpens iron.”

5. Take love seriously.

While this love has aspects of friendship and being nice to each other (and even ideally liking each other!) it's much deeper than that. It's what I mentioned last week in talking about those who ‘have loved the appearance of Jesus.’ It's being committed to thinking God's thoughts, and preferring what God prefers, weeping and rejoicing over the same things that caused Jesus to weep and rejoice. I'm not sure where to go with this other than to ask you to wrestle with, from day to day, what love looks like in this moment and with this person and in this situation. What are the most loving words I can say? What is the most loving attitude I can have? What is the most loving action I can take?

1 Corinthians 13 What if I speak in the most elegant languages of people or in the exotic languages of the heavenly messengers, but I live without love? Well then, anything I say is like the clanging of brass or a crashing cymbal. 2 What if I have the gift of prophecy, am blessed with knowledge and insight to all the mysteries, or what if my faith is strong enough to scoop a mountain from its bedrock, yet I live without love? If so, I am nothing. 3 I could give all that I have to feed the poor, I could surrender my body to be burned as a martyr, but if I do not live in love, I gain nothing by my selfless acts. 4 Love is patient; love is kind. Love isn’t envious, doesn’t boast, brag, or strut about. There’s no arrogance in love; 5 it’s never rude, crude, or indecent—it’s not self-absorbed. Love isn’t easily upset. Love doesn’t tally wrongs 6 or celebrate injustice; but truth—yes, truth—is love’s delight! 7 Love puts up with anything and everything that comes along; it trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what. 8 Love will never become obsolete.”

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? 

____________________________________________________________________________

[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)

Itching Ears (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

And now I bring you this charge before God and Jesus the Anointed, the one destined to judge the living and the dead, at His glorious appearance and His kingdom: 2 go out and preach[1] the word! Go in season and out of season - whether it’s an opportune time or not! Reprove, warn, and encourage; but do so with all the patience and instruction needed to fulfill your calling 3 because a time will come when some will no longer tolerate sound teaching. 

Instead, they will live by their own desires; they’ll scratch their itching ears by surrounding themselves with teachers who approve of their lifestyles and tell them what they want to hear. 4 They will turn away from the real truth you have to offer because they prefer the sound of fables and myths. 5 But you must stay focused and be alert at all times. 

Tolerate suffering. Accomplish the good work of an evangelist, and complete the ministry to which you have been called. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

* * * * *

WHAT DO PEOPLE WITH ITCHING EARS WANT TO HEAR? 

They want to hear what they want hear. They want messages from God that will affirm their own desires and approve their choice of lifestyles, not challenge what they love and how they live. Those with itching ears prefer lies that make them feel good to truths that make them uncomfortable. God, then, becomes a God that exists to further our self-interests, not His Kingdom.

I’m going to use a story from the Old Testament to illustrate how this works. It’s likely a story that Timothy would have known (remember Karl’s sermon last week about the Old Testament?), and would have connected to this idea of ‘itching ears.’  

1 Kings 22:1 For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. 2 But in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the king of Israel. 3 The king of Israel had said to his officials, “Don’t you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?” 4 So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?” 

Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” 5 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.” 6 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?”“Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.” 

7 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?” 8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say such a thing,” Jehoshaphat replied. 9 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once.” 

10 Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.11 Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron hornsand he declared, “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.’” 12 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious,” they said, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.” 

13 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.” 14 But Micaiah said, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me.” 15 When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or not?” “Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.” 

16 The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” 7 Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’” 18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?” 

19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. 20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that. 21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ 22 “‘By what means?’ the Lord asked. “‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. 

“‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’ 23 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.” 24 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?” he asked. 25 Micaiah replied, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room.” 

26 The king of Israel then ordered, “Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king’s son 27 and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.’” 28 Micaiah declared, “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.” 

“Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad? Put him in prison.” People with itching ears will oppose truthful messages and truthful messengers because it doesn’t suit their own desires. This is not a new problem, even among the people of God.

 Scripture warns over and over about false prophets and false teachers who draw crowds by proclaiming what their hearers wanted to hear (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11; Ezekiel 13:10,16; Micah 3:5).  The audiences begin to think that because it sounds good and makes them feel good it must be true. Sometimes things that sound good and feel good are indeed true, but they aren’t true because they made us feel that way. They will be true based on something that is not based on feelings.  If someone said, “Anthony, you are a fashion icon in Northern Michigan whose beard is the envy of all men,” that might make me feel good, but it’s not true. 

So what are we drawn to if we are not drawn to truth? What Paul calls ‘fables and myths’ – what other eras might call ‘stuff and nonsense.’ 

"Those who reject the truth are abandoned by the just judgment of God to credit the most degrading nonsense." (biblehub.com) 

“In periods of unsettled faith, skepticism, and mere curious speculation in matters of religion, teachers of all kinds swarm like the flies in Egypt. The demand creates the supply. The hearers invite and shape their own preachers. If the people desire a calf to worship, a ministerial calf-maker is readily found.”  (Vincent’s Word Studies)

 When the Bible talks about prophets, there is a lot of overlap with what  it says about teachers and preachers. In the Bible, over 87% of the time the words of the prophets are more like teaching or peaching than they are prediction.[2] They are usually forthtelling, not foretelling. 

That’s probably why the warning about false teachers and prophets overlap quite a bit. They involve two key things: a) false lifestyle (we talked about that in 2 Timothy 3) and b) false teaching (which just keeps coming up again and again).[3] It is a sobering thing when the people give weight to false prophets and teachers – those who say they speak for God but do not.  It’s a terrible thing when it happens because “the people desire a calf to worship, and a ministerial calf-maker is readily found.”

Paul told the early church not to despise genuine prophecies any more then they should despise genuine teaching.[4] Both are gifts for our good and God’s glory.

But, he gave them standards to protect that gift: If a prophet claims to speak for God, and either what they forthtell (proclaim) does not align with revealed Scripture, or what they foretell (predict) does not come true, they are not speaking for God, and the words they have given will be corrosive to our spiritual health even if they feel good. 

If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed. (Deuteronomy 18:22)

The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I didn’t send them, order them or speak to them. They are prophesying false visions to you, worthless divinations, the delusions of their own minds. (Jeremiah 14:14)

Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, “The Lord declares,” and expect him to fulfill their words. 7 Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, “The Lord declares,” though I have not spoken?... “ 

 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations... 10 because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace,… so I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against… those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign Lord.”’ 

17 “Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them 18 and say… ‘You have profaned me among my people [and] by lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live. 

20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will set free the people that you ensnare…and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power...  I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the Lord.’” (Ezekiel 13)

 Before Christmas we spent some time talking about the importance of identifying true vs. false teachers because the health of our souls is on the line. I cannot stress enough how important it is to separate true vs. false prophets, whether they are claiming to foretell or forthtell.

It doesn’t matter how much what they have to say pleases us. If they are demonstrably false -  that is, if what they claim to say on behalf of God does not align with Scripture or does not come true - they are saying things that are false. I am not saying they intend to. They may the most sincere people on the planet. But if what they is demonstrably wrong, they what they have said is demonstrably false. 

2 Peter 1:21 “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

 If they were carried along by the Holy Spirit in that moment, what they had to say would have aligned with Scripture and/or come to pass. If those criteria are not met, what they had to say came from their will, not God’s.

I know Christians have vigorous debate about whether or not our gifts as ‘works in progress’ just like we are. No matter where you land, I think everyone agrees on this: 

If someone says that God has placed divinely inspired words in their mouth in such a way that they are quoting prophetically in that moment as a direct mouthpiece for something God has to say, the bar is really, really high, because God does not speak untruth. 

At minimum, please, please do not give your spiritual formation over to someone who has a history of prophecying falsely. The health of your soul depends on it. [5]

* * * * *

So how do we avoid the trap of growing our own pair of itching ears? By allowing the written Word of God's eternal, authoritative truth to reprove,[6] warn,[7] and encourage us.[8]   

“The truth strips them of their vices, sacrifices their idols, darts its lightnings against their easily besetting sins, and absolutely requires a conformity to a crucified Christ; therefore they turn their ears away from it.” (Adam Clarke)

You know what’s better than itching ears? Humble and open ears. God’s Word is sufficient to do two very important things: undo us (that’s ‘reproving’ and ‘warning’) and rebuild us (that’s the ‘encouragement’). Please, let the word of God unsettle you. Let the truth of God expose the thoughts and intents of your heart. Let the revelation of God unmask hypocrisy and shatter idolatry.

And then let it rebuild you with truth, and grace, and holiness, and love. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This, I think, is the big question: How do we organize and focus our lives so that we don’t get caught in the trap of ‘hearing what we want to hear’ instead of hearing truth?

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[1] Preach—literally, "proclaim as a herald." The term for the discourses in the synagogue was daraschoth; the corresponding Greek term (implying dialectial style, dialogue, and discussion, Ac 17:2, 18; 18:4, 19) is applied in Acts to discourses in the Christian Church. Justin Martyr [Apology, 2], describes the order of public worship, "On Sunday all meet and the writings of the apostles and prophets are read; then the president delivers a discourse; after this all stand up and pray; then there is offered bread and wine and water; the president likewise prays and gives thanks, and the people solemnly assent, saying, Amen." The bishops and presbyters had the right and duty to preach, but they sometimes called on deacons, and even laymen, to preach. Eusebius [Ecclesiastical History, 6.19]; in this the Church imitated the synagogue (Lu 4:17-22; Ac 13:15, 16). (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)

[2] Shane Wood, in his notes on Revelation

[3] 2 Peter 2:1-3 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words.”

Deuteronomy 13:1-5  “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.”

[4] 1 Thessalonians 5:20 

[5] 1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Matthew 24:24  “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”

[6] “Expose, reprove and convince.” (biblehub.com’s lexicon)

[7] “A warning to prevent something from going wrong.” (biblehub.com’s lexicon)

[8] “Comfort and encourage ‘up close and personal.’ (biblehub.com’s lexicon)