Lent #3 2004
One of the ladies in the church dropped me a note several years ago. I'm not sure she remembers, but I still have it in her own handwriting in case she has forgotten. She told me about three boys who were bragging about their dads. One boy's dad owned a big farm. Another boy's dad ran a very large business. The third little boy (whose father was a preacher) said his dad owned Hell. When other boys said they had never heard of anyone owning Hell the boy explained, "My dad does-because I heard my mom tell grandma the deacons came over last night and gave it to him.
Not every church is like ours- full of peace and tranquility. But people can change, even old war horses. In 1963, George C. Wallace, governor of Alabama, literally stood in the door of the University of Alabama, preventing Vivian Malone Jones, a black woman, from enrolling as a student. Thirty-three years later, Wallace awarded Jones for the first Lurleen B Wallace Award of Courage (the award, named in honor of Wallace's wife, recognizes women who have made outstanding contributions to the state of Alabama). Wallace publicly apologized to Jones for the 1963 controversy; Jones, in turn, forgave Wallace. These two former enemies were reconciled at last. People can change!
Regrettably, stories of reconciliation are buried in the avalanche of stories about conflict, strife, and war. Much of our world is driven by bitterness, jealousy, or hostility. The witnesses are legion: wars over cultural and religious issues, terrorist activities motivated by envy and fear, and racial prejudice justifying genocide.
Then there are the more polite forms of hostility. Gossip and backstabbing, passive aggressive revenge, and divorce (you're no longer good enough, I'm going to find a better life- there may not be a more painful form of alienation).
And then there is the root of all strife- a sense of alienation from God. Sin not only separates us from God, it condemns us. And somehow we know it.
Sin describes our attempts to downgrade or demote God. Each of us has told God, with our own unique style, "I'm going to find a way to make my life better without you." Then we find out that living in the world God created, having shoved God away, leaves us a little disoriented.
Good news- God did not leave us alone.
Read II Corinthians 5:17-21.
Paul says three things here about reconciliation. He says: it is God's project, it is very expensive, and it must be consented to.
First: reconciliation is God's doing. The main part of the Good News is to announce, "God has undertaken a great project to bring peace to the world." If we can not say, "God has made peace" we have no good news. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism- none of them claim to have good news: sinners are alienated from God, and can not rectify that problem. But the Good News is that God has done something. Reconciliation is not something we achieve, it is something we receive.
Christianity is utterly and completely unique at this point. All other religions may have major differences from each other that make them unique, but they are alike in this one basic point: salvation depends on human solutions.
Buddhism sees the problem of sin as frustrated desire. The solution is to eliminate desire. In orthodox Buddhism, there is no god to help, but if you try hard enough, you make make it. Hinduism sees the problem of sin as coming from the fact that we are ignorant of our divine inner nature. The solution is to strive for enlightenment. Islam understands sin in a similar way to Judeo/Christianity. Their solution is to work at accumulating more good deeds than bad deeds. Since you can never know until judgement if you have been successful, it pays to be very diligent...extra credit for dying in jihad.
In orthodox Judaism, salvation/sin is not the issue because Jews can presume right standing before God based on their race. Barring some horrible act of apostasy, "they are saved by race."
Christianity says, "If there is going to be reconciliation for the society of the damned- God must do it. We are helpless." And that is what God did in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Back to Isaiah 53:6 it says," We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Paul explained this concept to the Roman church saying, "when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son" (5:10).
Read Colossians 1:19-23a.
All the New Testament writers speak with one voice in saying that God has taken the initiative to break the cloud of alienation. In Jesus, God has moved to bring peace to each of you.
The second thing Paul says here is that this "God project" is very expensive. And God paid the whole price. Man has sinned and God has suffered. This, too, separates Christianity from every other faith. The first sentence in Bruce Shelley's large text on Christian history is, "Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central event the humiliation of its God." Can you think of one other religion that would dare to suggest that God suffers for man's sin?
We do get small tastes of the cost of spiritual reconciliation. Whenever, on a human plane, reconciliation is morally real, it is costly. When friends become bitter enemies- for reconciliation to occur someone has to pay the price in humility. In cases of marital infidelity, for reconciliation to occur someone has to pay the price in humility. In cases of marital infidelity for reconciliation, one side must swallow the pain of betrayal and the other side must accept the pain of in-depth emotional confession. Sometimes they may live together without real reconciliation. But to really come together, a pain of one kind must be dissolved inside of one soul and the humiliation of exposure of moral fault made by the other.
The cost of reconciliation of sinners to God is beyond the ability of our limited minds to calculate. The physical and emotional ordeal of crucifixion as immense as it was, was only part of the cost. There was a hidden spiritual side- where Jesus accepted the shame of our sin. That shame, we may never understand.
Reconciliation was costly. Jesus was the sin-offering. Jesus said, "this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." It cost Jesus His life.
And finally Paul tells us- reconciliation must be consented to, submitted to, the rebel who once resented God for not being the servant of his selfish ego- surrenders and exercises faith in the value of Jesus' death. By this act of faith the new believer is changed from an enemy of God, to a member of God's family. This confidence in Jesus allows you to cross the bridge that God has built.
As Paul comes to the climax of this passage the thrust of what he wants to say is: consent to this awesome offer. God has acted in Jesus the Messiah to remove the barriers. Before it can be personally real to the individual, it must be submitted to.
Reconciliation that is one sided is not reconciliation at all. I have known of a number of marriage partners who are/were ready and willing to reconcile to their mate. But their open arms do not make a whole marriage- and that marriage will not be whole until both mates returns body and soul.
The sinner may be able to see the open arms of Jesus, but not until you walk into those arms by repentance and gratitude are you reconciled. God has a warm and welcome place for you in His family. He and all of His offspring are saying this morning, "we implore you on Christ's behalf: be reconciled to God."
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Wake Up!
Lent #2 2004
Some wake up calls are loud and over the top, while others are a bit more subtle at first. My eight grade English Lit class had a sign over the clock that read, "Time will pass...will you?"
Paul was trying to wake up one of his troubled and slipping churches when he wrote in II Corinthians 6:2b, "I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." The emphasis is on now, today- not tomorrow!
Jesus, too, was inclined to offer wake up calls. Especially when He sensed over-confidence.
Read Luke 13:22-35
The opening question comes from a person who assumes because of his breeding and upbringing that he is "in." His question amounts to something like, "How many, if any of the lesser breeds are going to be saved?"
Jesus' reply is a wake up call with a jolt. The Christ-life is not the kind of life people are born into. It is a kind of life that is too vigorous to take for granted. Presumption of personal merit or entitlement is a symptom of a deadly drift. Hebrews 2:1 also says, "Pay more careful attention...so that we do not drift away."
This is not a problem specific to one race or ethnic group. Listen to the words of Jesus, as He speaks to a Gentile congregation in Revelations 3:17, "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked." Their overconfidence blinded them to their 'wretched' spiritual condition.
Jesus' answer to this person's question certainly feels pessimistic. He does not give a clear cut answer in terms of numbers. But He suggests grim possibilities. One question that is raised is, "Does the narrow door limit the number of people who can enter- or the number of opportunities people will have to enter?"
What we know from the general tenor of scripture is that God blesses those who genuinely search for Him. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, " You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you."
The one time that an all out effort always fails is when it comes too late; after the door is closed. In the life of The Spirit there are seasons-providential moments-when circumstances and sensitivity are ripe, made so by God's Spirit! When those intersections pass, we never know when the next appeal of God's Spirit will be. Ultimately the door will close permanently when we die or Jesus comes again. We know that for sure!
We also know the opportunities given to us are valuable gifts. In the days before modern harbors a ship had to wait for the flood tide before it could enter port. The term for this situation in Latin was ob portu, that is, a ship standing off a port waiting for the moment when it could ride the tide to harbor. The English word opportunity is derived from this Latin phrase. The captain and the crew had to be ready and waiting for that one moment. They knew that if they missed it they would have to wait for another tide to come in. Shakespeare turned this meaning of opportunity into one of his most famous passages. In Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene 3 Brutus says:
Most of the secular world thinks that forbidding sin is an unfair prohibition of fun. They see it as a life long "initiation." If you join a fraternity or sorority you may have to eat a few worms or perform a few humiliating stunts for the entertainment of those already in. But that is the price you pay to enjoy the advantages of the organization.
The world sees giving up sin as the initiation that lasts and lasts. It is the price you pay for enjoying eternity. Give up fun today for joy later.
For those who have entered into a life long and close relationship with Jesus, we begin to understand that Jesus has rescued us from a life of destruction- from a life in the pig pen. God calls us to a different lifestyle because He loves us. Like a parent who wants their teens home at night before the criminals come out to take over the streets. Our kids think we hate them and want to ruin their lives, even when we explain it to them.
It may take a long pull of strenuous effort to break our attraction to sin and to learn that right living has many happy rewards. Jesus encourages us to make the effort.
He also understands that many folks live their lives under the false hope that salvation is available to the vast majority, just for being a decent person. Eternal lost-ness is only for those few monsters- serial killers, molesters, etc...This false hope lulls many to a dangerous spiritual lethargy. Jesus says, "Wake up!"
But Jesus called us to extra vigilance because He knew there would also be outside obstacles: moral integrity may cause you to lose your job. Your friends may ridicule your new life with Jesus. You may be a target for abuse because you're a Christian.
In light of the attractiveness of sin, problems with false hope, and real kinds of abuse, it is necessary to make every effort to be vigilant.
In many ways, because the warning is so strong, this is a dark passage. There is an undertone of strong compassion, but there is more here on missing the way than there is on the comfortable yoke we wear with Jesus. There is not as much about the joy of salvation as the cost of salvation. Jesus is focusing His teaching like a laser on the problem of misplaced confidence. There is only one entrance to spiritual life, and there are limited opportunities. A lot of people are going to try a different way- rather than surrender to Jesus. Then after the whole world has seen their error, all efforts at the right door will be too late.
But if the narrow door seems difficult for the person who becomes Jesus' apprentice- it is much more difficult for the teacher. For Jesus it is the way of the Cross. In verses 33 and 34 the word Jerusalem is repeated three times with only punctuation breaks. It is an expression of compassion for those who rejected Jesus. And these words describe the weight of the burden Jesus would carry for the world when He arrived there at Jerusalem. Jesus has an incredible desire to rescue those who would be lost for eternity (all of us), but when a person or group rejects the extraordinarily HUGE gift of salvation, all God can do at that point is mourn.
There is something profound- heart rending about the Son of God standing at the edge of Jerusalem, tears streaming down His face and His chest heaving in grief, because they would not accept the only hope He could offer them.
When a nation or person persists in rejecting Jesus, then even God can only mourn and weep for their fate. There is no hint of bitterness or "you rejected me, now you get what's coming to you." There is only the grieving cry of a parent over a child lost forever."
Wake up before it's too late!!
Some wake up calls are loud and over the top, while others are a bit more subtle at first. My eight grade English Lit class had a sign over the clock that read, "Time will pass...will you?"
Paul was trying to wake up one of his troubled and slipping churches when he wrote in II Corinthians 6:2b, "I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." The emphasis is on now, today- not tomorrow!
Jesus, too, was inclined to offer wake up calls. Especially when He sensed over-confidence.
Read Luke 13:22-35
The opening question comes from a person who assumes because of his breeding and upbringing that he is "in." His question amounts to something like, "How many, if any of the lesser breeds are going to be saved?"
Jesus' reply is a wake up call with a jolt. The Christ-life is not the kind of life people are born into. It is a kind of life that is too vigorous to take for granted. Presumption of personal merit or entitlement is a symptom of a deadly drift. Hebrews 2:1 also says, "Pay more careful attention...so that we do not drift away."
This is not a problem specific to one race or ethnic group. Listen to the words of Jesus, as He speaks to a Gentile congregation in Revelations 3:17, "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked." Their overconfidence blinded them to their 'wretched' spiritual condition.
Jesus' answer to this person's question certainly feels pessimistic. He does not give a clear cut answer in terms of numbers. But He suggests grim possibilities. One question that is raised is, "Does the narrow door limit the number of people who can enter- or the number of opportunities people will have to enter?"
What we know from the general tenor of scripture is that God blesses those who genuinely search for Him. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, " You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you."
The one time that an all out effort always fails is when it comes too late; after the door is closed. In the life of The Spirit there are seasons-providential moments-when circumstances and sensitivity are ripe, made so by God's Spirit! When those intersections pass, we never know when the next appeal of God's Spirit will be. Ultimately the door will close permanently when we die or Jesus comes again. We know that for sure!
We also know the opportunities given to us are valuable gifts. In the days before modern harbors a ship had to wait for the flood tide before it could enter port. The term for this situation in Latin was ob portu, that is, a ship standing off a port waiting for the moment when it could ride the tide to harbor. The English word opportunity is derived from this Latin phrase. The captain and the crew had to be ready and waiting for that one moment. They knew that if they missed it they would have to wait for another tide to come in. Shakespeare turned this meaning of opportunity into one of his most famous passages. In Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene 3 Brutus says:
There is a tide in the affairs of men,Why does Jesus endorse the idea of all out effort? For one thing Jesus knows that there will be significant opposition to your surrender to Him. There is that fallen nature we live with when we first come to Him that still thinks sin is a good time.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures."
Most of the secular world thinks that forbidding sin is an unfair prohibition of fun. They see it as a life long "initiation." If you join a fraternity or sorority you may have to eat a few worms or perform a few humiliating stunts for the entertainment of those already in. But that is the price you pay to enjoy the advantages of the organization.
The world sees giving up sin as the initiation that lasts and lasts. It is the price you pay for enjoying eternity. Give up fun today for joy later.
For those who have entered into a life long and close relationship with Jesus, we begin to understand that Jesus has rescued us from a life of destruction- from a life in the pig pen. God calls us to a different lifestyle because He loves us. Like a parent who wants their teens home at night before the criminals come out to take over the streets. Our kids think we hate them and want to ruin their lives, even when we explain it to them.
It may take a long pull of strenuous effort to break our attraction to sin and to learn that right living has many happy rewards. Jesus encourages us to make the effort.
He also understands that many folks live their lives under the false hope that salvation is available to the vast majority, just for being a decent person. Eternal lost-ness is only for those few monsters- serial killers, molesters, etc...This false hope lulls many to a dangerous spiritual lethargy. Jesus says, "Wake up!"
But Jesus called us to extra vigilance because He knew there would also be outside obstacles: moral integrity may cause you to lose your job. Your friends may ridicule your new life with Jesus. You may be a target for abuse because you're a Christian.
In light of the attractiveness of sin, problems with false hope, and real kinds of abuse, it is necessary to make every effort to be vigilant.
In many ways, because the warning is so strong, this is a dark passage. There is an undertone of strong compassion, but there is more here on missing the way than there is on the comfortable yoke we wear with Jesus. There is not as much about the joy of salvation as the cost of salvation. Jesus is focusing His teaching like a laser on the problem of misplaced confidence. There is only one entrance to spiritual life, and there are limited opportunities. A lot of people are going to try a different way- rather than surrender to Jesus. Then after the whole world has seen their error, all efforts at the right door will be too late.
But if the narrow door seems difficult for the person who becomes Jesus' apprentice- it is much more difficult for the teacher. For Jesus it is the way of the Cross. In verses 33 and 34 the word Jerusalem is repeated three times with only punctuation breaks. It is an expression of compassion for those who rejected Jesus. And these words describe the weight of the burden Jesus would carry for the world when He arrived there at Jerusalem. Jesus has an incredible desire to rescue those who would be lost for eternity (all of us), but when a person or group rejects the extraordinarily HUGE gift of salvation, all God can do at that point is mourn.
There is something profound- heart rending about the Son of God standing at the edge of Jerusalem, tears streaming down His face and His chest heaving in grief, because they would not accept the only hope He could offer them.
When a nation or person persists in rejecting Jesus, then even God can only mourn and weep for their fate. There is no hint of bitterness or "you rejected me, now you get what's coming to you." There is only the grieving cry of a parent over a child lost forever."
Wake up before it's too late!!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
The Temptations of Christ
Editor's note: I wanted to include this lent series during the actual lent season, so we will finish the last two fruit of the Spirit messages following the Easter season.
Lent #1 2004
What is your strategy for dealing with bullies? Sometimes all you need to do is call their bluff. And then there are those times when they're not bluffing. They really are bigger, meaner, and nastier than anyone else you've ever met. For example, there's the devil.
What do you believe about the devil? What is your understanding of spiritual battle? When you go to battle what's your preferred way to start? Hitler liked to start with overwhelming force and speed (blitzkrieg). It worked well against a Polish army equipped with horses but bogged down once it became a fair fight. Some generals start by probing the enemy for weak points that they think they might exploit. The devil used this method.
Read Luke 4:1-13.
Luke reports that God, through the Holy Spirit, is the one who arranged for this time of testing. It will be important to remember this was God's idea. It was His plan for Jesus to face up to the challenges of being the world's redeemer. Jesus must decide His strategy- determine how He will work with the Father. Will He win men by power or sacrifice?
Jesus knows that He has been equipped to be the Messiah. The Bible tells us that Jesus laid aside His privileges of divinity. He fought the devil as a man. But God has equipped men with gifts before: Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Joseph, and Daniel all had extraordinary power and wisdom. It would not be unfair for Jesus to be gifted with spiritual gifts for His ministry as Messiah, and still fight the spiritual battle of the ages as a man.
But how would He use those gifts? The devil knew a few things, too. He is not omniscient, but he knew Jesus could turn stones to bread. He has never tempted me to do that.
This narrative is set on a very barren stage. There are only two characters present. The Savior and the devil and a few rocks and wild animals. The devil has an agenda. Do you need three guesses?
His whole strategy focuses on one purpose- to ruin Jesus' capacity to be the world's redeemer. Each temptation is a challenge to Jesus' loyalty to His Father's plan. The only plan that will work.
The first temptation is cunning, devious, and shrewd. After 40 days without food, not to mention exhausted from His spiritual struggles, Jesus is literally starving. Esau sold his soul for a cup of soup, and he wasn't as hungry as Jesus. A committed Russian revolutionary who couldn't stand the pain of nicotine withdrawal after his capture spilled his guts for a cigarette- leading to the death of many of his comrades. We don't take physical cravings lightly!
Jesus begins to struggle with the issue of feeling good or being good. Remember, Luke tells us the Holy Spirit led Jesus to this barren place. In Deuteronomy Moses reminds Israel that God led them to the wilderness so that He could mold them into the family of God (8:2).
First lesson for Israel: When God gives directions, they must be followed, even if obedience causes a shortage of food and water. God's command will contain His provisions for His people. Based on this principle, Moses told them "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (8:3).
Jesus used this principle for His own wilderness test. Remember He was led here. Notice He didn't say, "Man does not live on bread period." Food is needed. For an animal without a soul it might be all that is needed, but for people created in the image of God, nourishment for the soul is even more important than food. For people who like to eat and enjoy eating at every given opportunity, this might sound a bit idealistic! But soul concerns must outweigh physical concerns every time and we can only nurish our soul through acts of obedience.
The temptation for Jesus is to act as if His desires are more important than God's will. Desires are king today. It is presumed that if you love a person, you will naturally approve of their desires- so long as they're not illegal. Just think of how many times you've heard someone say, "If you loved me, you would do what I want." On any Biblical (or sane) view, to love someone means to favor what is good for them, and then be prepared to help them toward that good. Even if it means disapproving of their desires.
God knows our good better than we do. Jesus understood that at the right time, the Father would provide for His needs. To prematurely "leave the wilderness" when the Holy Spirit hadn't led Him would be to not trust the Father. It would be to walk away from the nourishment of God.
By contrast to the first temptation, the second is not so subtle. Certainly the devil has something to offer that resonates with Jesus. What it lacks for in cunning it makes up for in its attractive packaging. Satan tries to sell Jesus "the easy way to power." Jesus could set up a world government that would beat the Pax Roma all to smithereens. The devil is offering Jesus, in Tolkein's metaphor, "the ring of power," that source-of-power-that-must-be-destroyed!
Jesus did not agree that the devil could legally lay claim to the kingdoms of the world. Neither did He argue with him. In fact, the Bible does refer to Satan as the god of this age and the prince of this world.
In exchange for allegiance to Satan, Jesus could avoid the agony of Gethsemane, the rejection of His people and the torture of the cross. But the bill would come due. For a few comfortable years we could enjoy a level of prosperity, but then there would be Hell to pay. Of course people make that compromise every day. But Jesus would not make it for us. Instead He would build a bridge over the abyss and invite us all to join Him in an eternal kingdom. It will be your choice.
The third temptation is perhaps the one that resonates the most with us garden variety people. None of us will turn stones to bread. The devil may offer the world to you, but most of us know that as soon as you sign up for it- all you'll get is demonic belly laughs.
But this idea of Jesus doing miracles to prop up our faith sounds pretty good. Satan is suggesting that Jesus use miracles to compel faith. The Israelites tried this with God. They were thinking that God had forgotten about their need for water. They were ready to lynch Moses and head back to Egypt, but first they worked out a deal, "If God will perform a miracle (provide water) we will hang around a little longer" (Exodus 17).
This sounds like bartering faith for a miracle. "I'll give you some faith- if you'll give me a satisfying demonstration of your divinity." It also sounds something like blackmail. In Deuteronomy 6 Moses warned them very sternly to never again test the Lord. He reminded them of the horrible consequences of that kind of behavior. They may have gotten water, but they also had to live with weak faith that turned them away from the Promised Land.
If you are measuring the quality of your spiritual life by the intensity of your spiritual ecstasies, you are using the wrong yard stick. Your faith is worthless without a miracle. It is unbelief masquerading as extraordinary faith.
The power of God is very real. But it is not a computer program that you can turn on to solve your problems or your boredom. The blessing of God comes with a spirit of humble obedience. Faith is something you have before miracles. Most saints go years or a lifetime without an ecstatic presence of God's Spirit. Of course some people would rather have the experience than the Spirit.
At the beginning of His ministry Jesus chose the way of sacrifice. The way of the cross. His choice was our only hope. This encounter at the beginning of His ministry is a significant event on the long road to the passion. These were Jesus temptations. We can learn a few things for ourselves from this account- such as temptation is not irresistible. Jesus can help us overcome the devil, too. We are not doomed every time he shows up. We also see that an important weapon in this battle is the word of God.
But this is a story about Jesus, not us.
This battle with Satan does more to reveal Jesus commitment to our salvation and His love for the Father than the feeding of the 5,000, curing blindness, or raising the dead.
Our response, should be worship- awe. We are viewing the first taste of the passion of the Messiah. For you, and even me, Jesus chose the way of Sarifice because it was the only way to save us from eternal lost-ness.
Lent #1 2004
What is your strategy for dealing with bullies? Sometimes all you need to do is call their bluff. And then there are those times when they're not bluffing. They really are bigger, meaner, and nastier than anyone else you've ever met. For example, there's the devil.
What do you believe about the devil? What is your understanding of spiritual battle? When you go to battle what's your preferred way to start? Hitler liked to start with overwhelming force and speed (blitzkrieg). It worked well against a Polish army equipped with horses but bogged down once it became a fair fight. Some generals start by probing the enemy for weak points that they think they might exploit. The devil used this method.
Read Luke 4:1-13.
Luke reports that God, through the Holy Spirit, is the one who arranged for this time of testing. It will be important to remember this was God's idea. It was His plan for Jesus to face up to the challenges of being the world's redeemer. Jesus must decide His strategy- determine how He will work with the Father. Will He win men by power or sacrifice?
Jesus knows that He has been equipped to be the Messiah. The Bible tells us that Jesus laid aside His privileges of divinity. He fought the devil as a man. But God has equipped men with gifts before: Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Joseph, and Daniel all had extraordinary power and wisdom. It would not be unfair for Jesus to be gifted with spiritual gifts for His ministry as Messiah, and still fight the spiritual battle of the ages as a man.
But how would He use those gifts? The devil knew a few things, too. He is not omniscient, but he knew Jesus could turn stones to bread. He has never tempted me to do that.
This narrative is set on a very barren stage. There are only two characters present. The Savior and the devil and a few rocks and wild animals. The devil has an agenda. Do you need three guesses?
His whole strategy focuses on one purpose- to ruin Jesus' capacity to be the world's redeemer. Each temptation is a challenge to Jesus' loyalty to His Father's plan. The only plan that will work.
The first temptation is cunning, devious, and shrewd. After 40 days without food, not to mention exhausted from His spiritual struggles, Jesus is literally starving. Esau sold his soul for a cup of soup, and he wasn't as hungry as Jesus. A committed Russian revolutionary who couldn't stand the pain of nicotine withdrawal after his capture spilled his guts for a cigarette- leading to the death of many of his comrades. We don't take physical cravings lightly!
Jesus begins to struggle with the issue of feeling good or being good. Remember, Luke tells us the Holy Spirit led Jesus to this barren place. In Deuteronomy Moses reminds Israel that God led them to the wilderness so that He could mold them into the family of God (8:2).
First lesson for Israel: When God gives directions, they must be followed, even if obedience causes a shortage of food and water. God's command will contain His provisions for His people. Based on this principle, Moses told them "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (8:3).
Jesus used this principle for His own wilderness test. Remember He was led here. Notice He didn't say, "Man does not live on bread period." Food is needed. For an animal without a soul it might be all that is needed, but for people created in the image of God, nourishment for the soul is even more important than food. For people who like to eat and enjoy eating at every given opportunity, this might sound a bit idealistic! But soul concerns must outweigh physical concerns every time and we can only nurish our soul through acts of obedience.
The temptation for Jesus is to act as if His desires are more important than God's will. Desires are king today. It is presumed that if you love a person, you will naturally approve of their desires- so long as they're not illegal. Just think of how many times you've heard someone say, "If you loved me, you would do what I want." On any Biblical (or sane) view, to love someone means to favor what is good for them, and then be prepared to help them toward that good. Even if it means disapproving of their desires.
God knows our good better than we do. Jesus understood that at the right time, the Father would provide for His needs. To prematurely "leave the wilderness" when the Holy Spirit hadn't led Him would be to not trust the Father. It would be to walk away from the nourishment of God.
By contrast to the first temptation, the second is not so subtle. Certainly the devil has something to offer that resonates with Jesus. What it lacks for in cunning it makes up for in its attractive packaging. Satan tries to sell Jesus "the easy way to power." Jesus could set up a world government that would beat the Pax Roma all to smithereens. The devil is offering Jesus, in Tolkein's metaphor, "the ring of power," that source-of-power-that-must-be-destroyed!
Jesus did not agree that the devil could legally lay claim to the kingdoms of the world. Neither did He argue with him. In fact, the Bible does refer to Satan as the god of this age and the prince of this world.
In exchange for allegiance to Satan, Jesus could avoid the agony of Gethsemane, the rejection of His people and the torture of the cross. But the bill would come due. For a few comfortable years we could enjoy a level of prosperity, but then there would be Hell to pay. Of course people make that compromise every day. But Jesus would not make it for us. Instead He would build a bridge over the abyss and invite us all to join Him in an eternal kingdom. It will be your choice.
The third temptation is perhaps the one that resonates the most with us garden variety people. None of us will turn stones to bread. The devil may offer the world to you, but most of us know that as soon as you sign up for it- all you'll get is demonic belly laughs.
But this idea of Jesus doing miracles to prop up our faith sounds pretty good. Satan is suggesting that Jesus use miracles to compel faith. The Israelites tried this with God. They were thinking that God had forgotten about their need for water. They were ready to lynch Moses and head back to Egypt, but first they worked out a deal, "If God will perform a miracle (provide water) we will hang around a little longer" (Exodus 17).
This sounds like bartering faith for a miracle. "I'll give you some faith- if you'll give me a satisfying demonstration of your divinity." It also sounds something like blackmail. In Deuteronomy 6 Moses warned them very sternly to never again test the Lord. He reminded them of the horrible consequences of that kind of behavior. They may have gotten water, but they also had to live with weak faith that turned them away from the Promised Land.
If you are measuring the quality of your spiritual life by the intensity of your spiritual ecstasies, you are using the wrong yard stick. Your faith is worthless without a miracle. It is unbelief masquerading as extraordinary faith.
The power of God is very real. But it is not a computer program that you can turn on to solve your problems or your boredom. The blessing of God comes with a spirit of humble obedience. Faith is something you have before miracles. Most saints go years or a lifetime without an ecstatic presence of God's Spirit. Of course some people would rather have the experience than the Spirit.
At the beginning of His ministry Jesus chose the way of sacrifice. The way of the cross. His choice was our only hope. This encounter at the beginning of His ministry is a significant event on the long road to the passion. These were Jesus temptations. We can learn a few things for ourselves from this account- such as temptation is not irresistible. Jesus can help us overcome the devil, too. We are not doomed every time he shows up. We also see that an important weapon in this battle is the word of God.
But this is a story about Jesus, not us.
This battle with Satan does more to reveal Jesus commitment to our salvation and His love for the Father than the feeding of the 5,000, curing blindness, or raising the dead.
Our response, should be worship- awe. We are viewing the first taste of the passion of the Messiah. For you, and even me, Jesus chose the way of Sarifice because it was the only way to save us from eternal lost-ness.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness
August 18, 1996
An ambitious salesman delivered his company's bid to an engineering firm. The project director left for a few minutes. The salesman could not help but notice their chief competitor's bid lying on the top of the desk (with all the figures in plain view except for the total amount, which happened to be covered by a can of Coke. He knew that he should not take unfair advantage by sneaking a look at the total bid. On the other hand, a multi-million-dollar contract was at stake for his company, not to mention several thousand dollars of commission for him. He felt hot and flushed as the battle raged in his heart. Since no one was around, he lifted the Coke can for a peek.
Thousands of tiny ball bearings instantly spilled out of the bottomless can all over the desk and onto the concrete floor.
In the book Profiles of Leadership, America's top business and government leaders were asked what quality they considered the most important to the success of a leader. Their unanimous answer: integrity.
You've got to wonder, however, when Pentagon procurement officers pay a vendor $600 a piece for airplane toilet seats that should've cost $25, or $659.53 for an ashtray, or $400 for a hammer. Where is the integrity?
Remember Abscam? In 1980 FBI agents posed as Arab Sheiks willing to pay big bucks for government influence. The agents filmed several dozen officials happily accepting bribes. Senators and representatives went to prison. Then the congress chastised the FBI for being so sneaky!
The Bible says, "The integrity of the honest keeps them on track; the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin" (Proverbs 11:3). Most of us would like to add "the sooner the better!" but God's timing in dealing with evil is wiser than our impatience. And who among us hasn't been grateful that God delayed swift justice for us? The fruit of the Spirit is goodness.
What is goodness? It is a word that nearly everyone uses but few will know how to define in detail. A watermelon can be good, a baseball game can be good, a newspaper article can be good, a doctor's report can be good and at Christmas, children are told in song, "be good for goodness sake."
Among ordinary people goodness has to do with some kind of agreeable or likable behavior. It can be very subjective. I can call your behavior good if I happen to like it, even if someone else doesn't. I might holler, "good catch, Dave," while someone on the other team would call it lucky. Goodness doesn't seem to have a concrete pin-downable-definition out in the world.
The Bible is not quite so vague. Goodness in the Bible is defined by a character quality of God, that is a mixture of a blameless, principled character combined with a generous spirit. Generosity is like warm skin on the bones of integrity.
Dan Clark tells about a friend named Paul who found an inner city boy walking around his shiny new car, admiring it. "Is this your car, Mister?" he asked.
"My brother gave it to me for Christmas," Paul replied.
"You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish..." he hesitated. Paul assumed that he wished he had a brother like that. But Paul could hardly believe his ears when he heard the boy reply, "I wish that I could be a brother like that."
Paul looked at the boy with astonishment, then impulsively asked, "Would you like a ride?"
Would he? In an instant he was sitting wide-eyed in the font seat. After awhile he asked, "Mister, would you mind driving to my house? It's just a few blocks from here."
Paul smiled, thinking he knew what the boy wanted; to show off his new friend and his great car to his neighbors. But no. The boy asked him to stop at a dilapidated old house scrunched between tall, shabby apartment buildings. He ran up the steps.
In a little while, Paul saw the broken out screen door push open. He could barely believe his eyes. The boy was carrying his crippled younger brother. He struggled across the porch and sat him down on the top step.
"There she is, buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas, and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day, I'm gonna give you one just like it, so you can see for yourself all the pretty Christmas lights I've been trying to tell you about."
Deeply moved, Paul got out, lifted the crippled boy in his arms, carried him to the car, and slid him into the front seat. The beaming older brother climbed into the back seat, and the three of them began the holiday ride of a lifetime.
That Christmas Eve, Paul experienced the power of the words of Jesus when He said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35). It is good to be generous.
It is thought provoking, that when your typical "person on the street" begins to think about life and death issues, and especially the possibilities of life after death- that they almost always think of getting to heaven in terms of being good enough. And in almost everyone's mind, they are good enough. The question is almost never asked "How good is good enough?" or "How bad is too bad?" and "How do you know?"
This contentment with homemade theology makes it that much more shocking when a person finally does get around to asking God or studying His word with the question in mind: just how good is good enough.
The answer is the same as the answer to the question "How good is God?" Goodness is a character quality of God. Remember in Exodus, when Moses asked for an encounter with the physical presence of God. In 33:19 it reads, "And the Lord said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence.'" The essence of goodness is synonymous with God's glory. When Paul wrote, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God"- we could say" Come short of the goodness of God." That's the standard you don't want to come short of!
All this means then, is- if we are ever going to be good enough, we will have to allow Jesus to work His nature into the stuff that makes up our character. Computer programmers complain about a common problem. They describe the problem in their own shorthand: garbage in-garbage out. The phrase "fruit of the Spirit" is another kind of short hand: the spirit of Jesus in- the spirit of Jesus out...or Jesus in- goodness out. Fruit is a product of the Spirit.
In Genesis 1:31 Adam and Eve were declared very good. But it didn't last. Why did they lose their good rating? Was it because they did a lot of bad things? Did they begin to fight violently or murder one another or commit adultery with Satan or gossip? Obviously not. What they did- the act itself- wasn't all that bad as far as sin goes. Some of you still smile at your one or two acts of watermelon stealing in your youth.
All of us have done much worse than take a bite from someone else's apple. Even a small sin caused a huge change on the inside that was very significant. They lost their very good rating because a small sin cause a big change in attitude. By rejecting God's supervision or oversight, and taking charge of their own lives, they let evil into their hearts. A small sin-hardly bad enough by appearances was disastrous!
The Bible tells us that God has, ever since, been on a mission to bring people back to what He intended to a standard of goodness. The ultimate working out of God's mission was the coming of Jesus to be a servant, to die on a cross and to defeat death in the resurrection. The goodness of God is especially in focus for us as we see Jesus on the cross. In that sacrifice, Jesus gave God the father the tools again, to make you and me good from the inside out. The surgeons tools are in God's hands. We cannot perform the surgery on ourself.
The Bible clearly says none of us are qualified. Read Romans 3:10-12.
The common folk theology that is made up as we sit around our TV sets, and dinner tables, and sick beds- this homemade theology that says we're all (just about anyway), we're all good enough- this is just plain wrong.
Pride is a real enemy at this point. We look at all the things we think are disgusting: rape, molestation, dishonesty in government- and think we're pretty good. this is street theology. Talking to our pride. The Bible says you and I don't have the luxury of comparing ourselves to the latest celebrity murderer. The standard we'll be set next to is "the Glory of God." That is bad news. Homemade theology is like little children who close their eyes in the presence of danger and think they're safe: almost all of us are good enough, homemade theology says with its eyes closed- the Bible says none of us are. And since God is the final judge, whose standard do you think is going to be used- His or ours?
But the good news is that through the efforts of God on the cross, He can make us good enough. Read Romans 3:20-26.
Goodness is a gift. When you put your confidence in Jesus' efforts to save and sanctify you, or to put it another way- to rescue you from hell and in the process transform your heart to be like His. When you put your confidence in Jesus to do this- then He has permission to transplant His character into your life.
In an ongoing way, this gift continues in the form of available resources. Those resources are there because the Holy Spirit is there and they help you live a life of integrity and generosity.
If the spirit of Jesus is in you, goodness can come out. Is it coming out? Are you taking advantage of the resource of the Holy Spirit to develop a generous and blameless spirit? Jesus in- goodness out! Jesus in- blameless character and generous spirit out!
An ambitious salesman delivered his company's bid to an engineering firm. The project director left for a few minutes. The salesman could not help but notice their chief competitor's bid lying on the top of the desk (with all the figures in plain view except for the total amount, which happened to be covered by a can of Coke. He knew that he should not take unfair advantage by sneaking a look at the total bid. On the other hand, a multi-million-dollar contract was at stake for his company, not to mention several thousand dollars of commission for him. He felt hot and flushed as the battle raged in his heart. Since no one was around, he lifted the Coke can for a peek.
Thousands of tiny ball bearings instantly spilled out of the bottomless can all over the desk and onto the concrete floor.
In the book Profiles of Leadership, America's top business and government leaders were asked what quality they considered the most important to the success of a leader. Their unanimous answer: integrity.
You've got to wonder, however, when Pentagon procurement officers pay a vendor $600 a piece for airplane toilet seats that should've cost $25, or $659.53 for an ashtray, or $400 for a hammer. Where is the integrity?
Remember Abscam? In 1980 FBI agents posed as Arab Sheiks willing to pay big bucks for government influence. The agents filmed several dozen officials happily accepting bribes. Senators and representatives went to prison. Then the congress chastised the FBI for being so sneaky!
The Bible says, "The integrity of the honest keeps them on track; the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin" (Proverbs 11:3). Most of us would like to add "the sooner the better!" but God's timing in dealing with evil is wiser than our impatience. And who among us hasn't been grateful that God delayed swift justice for us? The fruit of the Spirit is goodness.
What is goodness? It is a word that nearly everyone uses but few will know how to define in detail. A watermelon can be good, a baseball game can be good, a newspaper article can be good, a doctor's report can be good and at Christmas, children are told in song, "be good for goodness sake."
Among ordinary people goodness has to do with some kind of agreeable or likable behavior. It can be very subjective. I can call your behavior good if I happen to like it, even if someone else doesn't. I might holler, "good catch, Dave," while someone on the other team would call it lucky. Goodness doesn't seem to have a concrete pin-downable-definition out in the world.
The Bible is not quite so vague. Goodness in the Bible is defined by a character quality of God, that is a mixture of a blameless, principled character combined with a generous spirit. Generosity is like warm skin on the bones of integrity.
Dan Clark tells about a friend named Paul who found an inner city boy walking around his shiny new car, admiring it. "Is this your car, Mister?" he asked.
"My brother gave it to me for Christmas," Paul replied.
"You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish..." he hesitated. Paul assumed that he wished he had a brother like that. But Paul could hardly believe his ears when he heard the boy reply, "I wish that I could be a brother like that."
Paul looked at the boy with astonishment, then impulsively asked, "Would you like a ride?"
Would he? In an instant he was sitting wide-eyed in the font seat. After awhile he asked, "Mister, would you mind driving to my house? It's just a few blocks from here."
Paul smiled, thinking he knew what the boy wanted; to show off his new friend and his great car to his neighbors. But no. The boy asked him to stop at a dilapidated old house scrunched between tall, shabby apartment buildings. He ran up the steps.
In a little while, Paul saw the broken out screen door push open. He could barely believe his eyes. The boy was carrying his crippled younger brother. He struggled across the porch and sat him down on the top step.
"There she is, buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas, and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day, I'm gonna give you one just like it, so you can see for yourself all the pretty Christmas lights I've been trying to tell you about."
Deeply moved, Paul got out, lifted the crippled boy in his arms, carried him to the car, and slid him into the front seat. The beaming older brother climbed into the back seat, and the three of them began the holiday ride of a lifetime.
That Christmas Eve, Paul experienced the power of the words of Jesus when He said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35). It is good to be generous.
It is thought provoking, that when your typical "person on the street" begins to think about life and death issues, and especially the possibilities of life after death- that they almost always think of getting to heaven in terms of being good enough. And in almost everyone's mind, they are good enough. The question is almost never asked "How good is good enough?" or "How bad is too bad?" and "How do you know?"
This contentment with homemade theology makes it that much more shocking when a person finally does get around to asking God or studying His word with the question in mind: just how good is good enough.
The answer is the same as the answer to the question "How good is God?" Goodness is a character quality of God. Remember in Exodus, when Moses asked for an encounter with the physical presence of God. In 33:19 it reads, "And the Lord said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence.'" The essence of goodness is synonymous with God's glory. When Paul wrote, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God"- we could say" Come short of the goodness of God." That's the standard you don't want to come short of!
All this means then, is- if we are ever going to be good enough, we will have to allow Jesus to work His nature into the stuff that makes up our character. Computer programmers complain about a common problem. They describe the problem in their own shorthand: garbage in-garbage out. The phrase "fruit of the Spirit" is another kind of short hand: the spirit of Jesus in- the spirit of Jesus out...or Jesus in- goodness out. Fruit is a product of the Spirit.
In Genesis 1:31 Adam and Eve were declared very good. But it didn't last. Why did they lose their good rating? Was it because they did a lot of bad things? Did they begin to fight violently or murder one another or commit adultery with Satan or gossip? Obviously not. What they did- the act itself- wasn't all that bad as far as sin goes. Some of you still smile at your one or two acts of watermelon stealing in your youth.
All of us have done much worse than take a bite from someone else's apple. Even a small sin caused a huge change on the inside that was very significant. They lost their very good rating because a small sin cause a big change in attitude. By rejecting God's supervision or oversight, and taking charge of their own lives, they let evil into their hearts. A small sin-hardly bad enough by appearances was disastrous!
The Bible tells us that God has, ever since, been on a mission to bring people back to what He intended to a standard of goodness. The ultimate working out of God's mission was the coming of Jesus to be a servant, to die on a cross and to defeat death in the resurrection. The goodness of God is especially in focus for us as we see Jesus on the cross. In that sacrifice, Jesus gave God the father the tools again, to make you and me good from the inside out. The surgeons tools are in God's hands. We cannot perform the surgery on ourself.
The Bible clearly says none of us are qualified. Read Romans 3:10-12.
The common folk theology that is made up as we sit around our TV sets, and dinner tables, and sick beds- this homemade theology that says we're all (just about anyway), we're all good enough- this is just plain wrong.
Pride is a real enemy at this point. We look at all the things we think are disgusting: rape, molestation, dishonesty in government- and think we're pretty good. this is street theology. Talking to our pride. The Bible says you and I don't have the luxury of comparing ourselves to the latest celebrity murderer. The standard we'll be set next to is "the Glory of God." That is bad news. Homemade theology is like little children who close their eyes in the presence of danger and think they're safe: almost all of us are good enough, homemade theology says with its eyes closed- the Bible says none of us are. And since God is the final judge, whose standard do you think is going to be used- His or ours?
But the good news is that through the efforts of God on the cross, He can make us good enough. Read Romans 3:20-26.
Goodness is a gift. When you put your confidence in Jesus' efforts to save and sanctify you, or to put it another way- to rescue you from hell and in the process transform your heart to be like His. When you put your confidence in Jesus to do this- then He has permission to transplant His character into your life.
In an ongoing way, this gift continues in the form of available resources. Those resources are there because the Holy Spirit is there and they help you live a life of integrity and generosity.
If the spirit of Jesus is in you, goodness can come out. Is it coming out? Are you taking advantage of the resource of the Holy Spirit to develop a generous and blameless spirit? Jesus in- goodness out! Jesus in- blameless character and generous spirit out!
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