Practicing the Discipline? of Celebration

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Christians are supposed to be serious and dour all the time, right? Isn’t this what the Bible teaches us?

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. (Mt 9:9-10)

Was Jesus hectoring and lecturing the guests at Matthew’s table or was He allowing His joy to infiltrate the gathering, making it a celebration?

When Jesus went to the wedding in Cana with Mary, did He take the jugs of cold water and dump them on the proceedings or did he genuinely celebrate the joyous event? The answer to both of these questions is yes, of course Jesus celebrated to the fullest. The Holiest man ever to tread the planet was no stranger to joy, happiness, and celebration despite the burdens that He carried. With this kind of joy in the head of the Church, shouldn’t the body be following?

Pleasure is not our enemy unless it becomes an end unto itself. We dishonor God by fearing and avoiding it when He has so clearly commanded it and demonstrated it in human form. Celebration is the completion of worship and can be an act of piety in its expression. Celebration is second nature when we have appropriately rooted our attitude by proper thinking:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Phil 4:8)

If your mind is centered on these things and grounded in the faith of the ultimate goodness of the Lord you won’t be able to resist celebrating. It will become your nature rather than a forced act. Joy will become your trademark.

Day Nine in the School of Prayer: Seek Help

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

The Lord taught us the necessity of persistence in prayer for the goals of the kingdom, trusting in the Father’s love for our own providence. He now extends that focus, leading us into prayer for the workers necessary to imbue the kingdom with change. It is easy for us to look around and see the overwhelming need of the souls that press in on us from every side. It is not so easy to understand that we are to pray for the workers needed to reap this bountiful harvest in the name of the Father.

Is this need for prayer due to a deficit in God’s planning? Certainly not. The Creator knows all that is needed and has, in fact, supplied the workers. Who? You. We see Jesus in the passage moved with compassion at the plight of the lost, the sheep without a shepherd. As a disciple of the Son, the prayer that should result from this lesson is not that God would send additional workers but that those who have claimed love for Him would have their hearts turned in compassion to the plight of the sheep. No one should be found standing idle in the vineyard.

Psalm 58 May They Not See the Sun

imageBreak the teeth in their mouths, O God; tear out, O Lord, the fangs of the lions!

let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows be blunted.

Like a slug melting away as it moves along, like a stillborn child, may they not see the sun. (vv 6-8)

The Bible is no stranger to violence whether it be retribution against sin-stained men by God or the broken interactions between men. Many are critical of Christianity and use the violence as proof that their is either no God, or that God cannot be as holy as He is made out to be since He is associated with various violent acts. The psalms do not escape this history and in certain passages, the imprecation of the prayer against his enemies places us in an odd position. The Christian is challenged to justify words such as these in the light of the Beatitudes  or the admonition to put away thoughts of an eye for an eye (Mt 5:38-42).

We must be cautious in our approach to these psalms and not confuse the violent fantasies of the author with the righteous actions of God. In order to show the depravation against which he rails, David attempts to portray a similar level of violence in judgment to that which is being measured out by the unrighteous rulers. Though they may have personally injured David, he is not seeking to justify a personal vendetta. Rather, he is seeking only to restore righteousness to the land and the hyper-violence he portrays is to serve as a warning to the wicked of their coming judgment which he entrusts to God alone.

The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, whey they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.

Then men will say, “Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth. (vv 10-11)

This psalm is about trust, trust that God will see to it that righteousness prevails. The imagery that David utilizes affects our sensitivities differently than it may have to original listeners. He seeks in all of the warning and cries for justice not to destroy the unrighteous but instead, to render them impotent. To break out the teeth of the ravenous beast is to release its prey from certain destruction. To watch watch water evaporate harmlessly is to prove the ultimate fate of evil while their blunted attacks bounce harmlessly to the ground. Perhaps, as David voices, it would be better for the wicked had they never been born.

Joy, Joy, Joy and the Discipline of Celebration

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There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. . .

a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance . . . (Ecc 3:1,4)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5:22)

 

Holy delight and joy is the perfect antidote to the difficulties we face in the world and from pure and honest delight comes genuine gratitude. Joy is the end result of the spiritual disciplines, the fruit of a soul transformed by God. Without the effect of the disciplines that we engage, true joy will evade us and we will settle for the shallow waters of fleeting pleasures and mud pies. As C.S. Lewis preached in the Weight of Glory,

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

The modern Church has made an idol of adversity and trouble, misunderstanding the role of evil. We have taken the Lord’s promise of troubles (John 16:33) to be the whole of our lot in life, making it into something to be endured until we can reach the other side. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We were created to have joy and know the bottomless depths of happiness that come from living within the Lord’s kingdom and knowing restored relationship with Him. Pleasure is not a sin. We dishonor God by avoiding and fearing it as much as we would by living strictly for its pursuit or becoming dependent upon it. God’s instruction in Deuteronomy 14 points the way:

Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice. (Dt 14:26)

As His children, his servants, his worshippers we are to know joy always (Phil 4:4). It is to be our mark but instead, we have become dour and puritanical, fearing that any joy or pleasure will lead us into a temptation from which there is no return. We should be thankful that God chooses to challenge us in the various ways that He does. God works all things for good over the span of His view and finite nature of our understanding can lead us to suspect otherwise. Worse yet, in our narrow view it becomes easy to deny the way in which evil infects our world and our minds associate the Father with the source of the most horrible tragedies.

Celebration is the core of the way of the follower of Christ, a perpetual Jubilee rooted in the trust we have in God. Discipline is the way to get there.

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Day Eight in the School of Prayer : Be Persistent

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Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’

Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. (Luke 11:5-8)

We have often read this parable or heard it preached with an emphasis on the persistence of the asker. The friend who responds to our knock would turn us away because the conditions are not right, yet if we are bold (persistent depending upon your translation) he will arise and provide the requested loaves. There is another emphasis in the Lord’s words that is not often heard and that is speaking to a friend on behalf of another.

Christ teaches us of the importance of intercession in this brief interchange. Our temptation is most often to pray for ourselves and our own needs or comforts. God is certainly not offended when we voice our needs but He is examining our trust of His provision if this activity becomes our sole focus. Jesus speaks here of shifting our focus from ourselves to the needs of others in prayer. We do not seek the three loaves for ourselves because we were too lazy to bake them. We seek the three loaves from a friend at midnight when he is in bed because we want to provide for a visitor who has unexpectedly appeared at our door and is in need of sustenance. We can be assured of answer to our intercessory prayer.

Perhaps the easiest word to read over is ‘friend.’ Jesus does not say we go our neighbor or a stranger to request to loaves, we go to a friend. Are you approaching God as a friend? Jesus proposed the simplest test for us to evaluate our friendship; “You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:14) The prayer as a friend of God is the one in which confidence can be vested.

Psalm 57 My Heart is Steadfast, O God

image I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; God send his love and his faithfulness. (vv 2-3)

We are flighty creatures, given to shifting alliances and dalliances with suspicious centers of strength, sometimes at the merest hint of a shift in the wind. Trouble pursues us, danger surrounds us on all sides and our demise seems imminent. Someone or something appears whispering the siren song of security. Follow me it says. Trust me.

Often the temptation takes the form of contrast; why trust in something you cannot see when I am here before you.

King David knew danger and yet, his trust in God never waivered. His heart was steadfastly committed to the One who would save him even though there might be danger involved.

I am in the midst of lions; I lie among ravenous beasts—men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. (v4)

Danger abounds but the steadfast heart trusts in God and is confirmed by observation of history and circumstances.

They spread a net for my feet—I was bowed down in distress.

They dug a pit in my path – but they have fallen into it. (vv 6)

Have you looked back on your years and considered how danger and trouble have passed? Perhaps for some of us, the trouble has lasted a lifetime without relief while others have been untouched and we wonder why this is. As David does, we turn our eyes back to the first verses of the psalm. We may not know the purpose that He has for us but we know from searching the scriptures that it is ultimately good in the context of His eternal plan. Can we trust in this, knowing that our troubles serve a higher purpose? It is difficult in our finiteness but, as David does, we can praise also and continue to work our hearts into trusting shape. We too can say,

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. (v1b)

No matter how long that time may extend…

 

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God and the Biblical Zombieland

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To paraphrase the serpent, “Did the Bible truly say that you are dead?”

I recently addressed a challenge issued by a Calvinist brother who wanted to establish his core arguments around the notion of humanity being unable to respond to God due to their deceased condition. Zombies, I thought, we’re all zombies walking around (though not feasting) until the moment we are brought back to life by the grace of God. Are we truly bodies without souls hungrily seeking to satisfy the emptiness but finding no relief? Is this the portrait of humanity that the Bible portrays?

The proof text was, as you probably already guessed, Ephesians 2:1:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

We might as well put up the parallel verse in Colossians (2:13) as well:

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.

Well, as long as we’re at it, we should include a verse from Romans (5:12) that provides a similar thought:

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned–

Death in these verses is often, either by casual reading or theological filter, interpreted to mean that the soul has died as the body has died. By extension then, the unsaved are bodies walking around with dead souls. Souls that are unable to hear, recognize, or respond to God’s call to repentance and belief. Dead, dark souls. What we need to ask is whether or not spiritual death is the same as physical death in the language of the Bible.

Our answer, found in the pages of the Bible, is that there are three forms of death mentioned. In the scope of all of scripture, death includes a spiritual, physical, and eternal death. The Bible informs us that the common thread among all of them is separation:

  • Physical death is separation of the soul from the body.
  • Eternal death is permanent separation from God. (Rev 19:20, 20:10)
  • Spiritual death is holy separation from God (Isa 59:1-2)

Separation does not mean spiritual annihilation, contrary to a popular theological position. If it did then that destroyed, actually non-existent, soul would not be able to hear and respond to God. Yet,

  • The “dead” can still perceive the truth of God (Rom 1:20)
  • Adam and Eve were “dead” but still heard and responded to the voice of God (Gen 3:10)
  • The “dead” are able to believe (Col 2:12-13 n.b. We should always read verses in context)

Without the demonstration of annihilation and the destruction of the soul, the spiritual death must be seen as portrayed in the scriptures: a soul that is separated spiritually from God but that retains the ability to hear and respond. As demonstrated from the scriptures above, we must agree that the unregenerate soul is able to hear and respond positively to God. The image of God embedded in humankind was not erased by the Fall (Gen 9:6, James 3:9), rather, it has been marred and defaced, separating us from the Father. If it were otherwise (ie: the soul was destroyed/annihilated) then God would not be able to call on His people to believe (John 3:16-18, Acts 16:31;20:21).

Psalm 56 I May Walk In the Light of Life

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In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise – in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? (vv 10-11)

Each passing day seems to chip away at our trust as we succumb to the temptation to rely upon ourselves rather than God. We trust him for the eternal protection of our soul but our personal safety seems to be regarded as our domain, not His. Think about David’s words at the end of verse 11; ‘What can man do to me?’ If you were to take just a few moments you could probably come up with quite a list of offenses that could be visited upon you.

Now, take that list and ask the same question of each offense. What difference will it make in eternity? Is my current safety and security going to affect my eternal life? Eternal life depends completely on the grace of God and your acceptance of His mercy. When our trust begins to shift back toward God we worry less about what man can do to us and we become bolder as Saints. There is much to learn from King David in this grouping of prayers. Meditate on them and be strengthened.

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Day Seven in the School of Prayer

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“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)

The Lord asks us to consider how small our prayers are. Are we limited in our thinking concerning what God will provide for us? Our prayers may be filled with the mundane and a focus on our day to day needs when our Father wants us to have so much more. To be filled with the Spirit satisfies so many of our needs and yet we fail to seek Him out. Not only will the presence of the Spirit change us as people, but He will also mature and expand our prayer life. It is through the guidance of the indwelling Spirit that we truly learn to pray the prayers of Heaven instead of dwelling in the smallness of the earth.