The Competitor

"If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread."

Matthew 4:3

As much as Jesus is our example of perseverance in running the race, it must be said that He did not run alone, without competition.  There is another in scripture who stands as one who doggedly and with determination pursues his goal, from one garden to the other, from Eden to Gethsemane, and beyond.  He appears tireless, and does not seem to accept defeat.  He uses every means at his disposal to accomplish his purpose, and he is a dirty competitor.  He is, of course, Satan.

In the broad scheme of God carrying out His purposes for humankind, there are a number of critical, and even strategic, points at which Satan shows up, points at which, were it not for the superiority of God's grace, he might have permanently undone God's plan of redemption.  In the life of Jesus on earth there are several of these critical moments, as when Herod sought to eliminate any Messianic competition by murdering all the male children in Bethlehem and its environs.  Another such moment was in the garden the night before Jesus' crucifixion. Mel Gibson, I believe, rightly alluded to this in his movie, The Passion of the Christ, by placing Satan, in his classic form of a serpent, there at Jesus' side as he prayed for strength to accomplish the task for which he had been sent.  In a beautiful - and biblical - image, Jesus finally crushes the serpent's head under his foot.

The past two days, I have been looking at another of these critical moments in Jesus' earthly life and ministry.  Matthew 3 records Jesus' baptism by his cousin, John.  As Jesus comes up out of the water, he has an experience that He must have recalled over and over again in the years of his earthly ministry, one repeated during two other recorded events in the gospels.  In this moment of "fulfilling all righteousness" (3:15),  Jesus - and presumably, John and those present - audibly hears the very voice of the Father from heaven say, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased."  I believe this voice was not just for the sake of those observing, but to give assurance to Jesus Himself, based on what happens next.

Immediately Jesus is driven (Mark 1:12) by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, where he fasts (and prays, based on a true understanding of biblical fasting) for 40 days and nights.  By the morning of the 40th day, Jesus is very hungry.  His flesh demands food, and in his flesh he would like to satisfy that craving.  And he could have; all he had to do was leave the wilderness and get something to eat!  Except for one thing:  the Spirit had not given him leave yet of his fast. 

At this critical moment, the devil - so faithful to his purposes - shows up and offers Jesus a simple solution.  "Didn't God say, 'This is my beloved Son?' Well, if you are the Son of God, you must be able to turn rocks to bread!  Hey, go for it!  And by the way, this will prove what you thought you heard back there at the river.  By doing this, you will kill two birds with one stone:  you'll satisfy those annoying hunger pains, so you can get on with praying without distraction, and you'll satisfy any doubts you may have about whether it was really God's voice calling you His Son.  Such a deal!"

Well, I wondered, what would be so bad about that?  Where in the Bible does it say that God's Son cannot make bread from rocks if He wants to - or needs to?  Wasn't He there at creation?  Didn't God make all things through Him?  What's the big deal?  Just this:

1.  It would have tested God, violating Deuteronomy 6:16, as Jesus pointed out in response to one of Satan's other attempts.  Thus He would have disobeyed God.

2.  In doing so, Jesus would have acted independently of the Father, by Whose authority He had been sent to the wilderness to fast and pray.  As He had not yet indicated to Jesus that His fast was over, by taking matters into his own hands, Jesus would have been disobeying God.

3.  It would actually have been an act born of doubt, not faith.  By responding to the phrase, "If you are the Son of God," to satisfy his fleshly cravings, Jesus would actually have been giving in to doubt.  And the Apostle Paul tells us, "Whatever is not from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23).

4.  It would have been a selfish misuse of his authority and power.  When we see Jesus use his supernatural powers in later chapters of the gospels, it is always on behalf of others, always for the purpose of ministry, never by some self-centered whim nor to satisfy himself.

For these reasons, if Satan had succeeded in convincing Jesus to turn rocks into food, Jesus' ability to accomplish the redemption of His people would have been impossible.  He would no longer have been the spotless, sinless Lamb of God, but a tainted sacrifice liable - as we are - for his own sin.  And Satan would have won.

The evil one is so subtle.  He will challenge us to disbelieve and to disobey.  In those moments, we must not cling to personal "experiences" nor even to voices from heaven, audible or otherwise.  In those moments, we need to look to our champion - Jesus - who, though he had every right to claim God's words spoken very personally to him, relied on the writtten word of God, and said, "It is written, 'People do not live by bread alone, but by every word which comes from the mouth of God."  Jesus depended on the written word to validate God's spoken word, not the other way around.  Thank God he did, and God help me to do the same!

"Help me, Lord, to know when I am being tempted, and to fly to Your written word for strength, and for guidance, and to dispel the lies of the one who would defeat me."

On "Hitting the Wall"

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

Hebrews 12:1-3

I've put many, many miles on my running shoes over the years.  I've been in 5Ks and 10Ks, I've taken innumerable physical fitness tests, run on track and roadway, in the country and in the city, in 95 degrees with humidity to match, and when water was freezing on my eyebrows.  I've run at sea level and at 9,500 feet.  I've run sprints and jogged, done interval training that made me want to heave up my insides, and puttzed around on easy "fun runs."  But one thing I've never done is a marathon.  

Marathons are really hard.  26.2 miles of grit and determination.  In 490 B.C., the first marathoner, Pheidippedes, actually died after he ran this distance to deliver the news of the Athenian victory over the Persians at Marathon!  (Evidently he didn't know how to train properly.)

I'm told by those who have run marathons that there is a point - around 21 to 23 miles for most - at which physical exhaustion sets in, and the runner feels like he has nothing left with which to go the distance.  This is commonly referred to as hitting the "wall."  At this point, the runner is faced with a decision: settle for the considerable distance he has already run, and call this a victory, or press on through sheer determination and strength of purpose.  To do the latter, he had to be prepared in advance to finish the race no matter what.  He had to understand that the only acceptable distance for him - or her - would be 26.2 miles.  Nothing less.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that the Christian life - the life of faith in Jesus as both initiator and perfecter of our faith - is not a sprint, it's not a "fun run," nor is it a 10K.  It is like a marathon.  Each follower of Jesus is called to "go the distance" in a long race that is grueling at times.  With this in mind, I wonder where it is in this faith journey that we "hit the wall."  Is it when trials come?  Or when conflict with others discourages us?  Or is is when horrific events - like the mass murder of children in Newtown, Connecticut, or the slaughter of movie-goers Denver, Colorado - followed by the reasonable scoffing of unbelievers, cause us to begin ourselves to question the goodness or existence of God?  Or maybe when self-serving or subversive politicians succeed only in reshaping our nation into an unrecognizable version of the country we've known and helped to build?

If these assaults constitute "the wall" in our faith journey, then perhaps I've hit it, or am approaching it.  Lately, in spite of the joys of holidays with loved ones, I've noticed something of a creepy chipping away at my spiritual vitality, and it seems to be linked to a number of the things above.  Not that all have come at once; it's more cumulative, more insidious, over time.  Deaths of good friends, the heartache of my daughter's two failed pregnancies, the loss of hoped-for opportunities, misconceptions of God's leading, disappointment over my own lack of spiritual progress, all seem to combine with the incredible sufferings of those around me and across the globe to lull me in the direction of a certain spiritual lethargy.

So what to do?  The Hebrews author says what I need is endurance.  I fully agree.  Like the marathoner who hits the wall, I need something to go on - fuel from somewhere outside of my own resources.  He tells me that I get endurance by keeping my eyes on Jesus, who is my champion, my example, the one who has blazed the trail ahead, the one who has finished the race, and endured unspeakable suffering along the way.  He is now at the finish line, cheering me on.  Yet He is also in my heart, and has given me His word, and whispers to me, "I am with you, and I love you, and you will finish this race.  Go on!"

To that end, this year I am laying aside my habit of reading through the entire Bible during my daily time alone with God, in favor of focusing my attention on Jesus alone.  My journey this year will be through the gospels - with occasional side trips to other portions of scripture for commentary - just to gaze at Jesus.  My hope is that this will provide the spiritual fuel for the journey ahead, whether long or short.  Thing is, I don't know whether I'm at the 22-mile point, or the 25th.  None of us does, but I, for one, really do intend to finish, with Jesus' help. I hope to share with you what I observe and experience along the way.

Religious "Entertainment"

And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it."

Ezekiel 33:32

When I cam upon this passage during my morning Bible reading, I was struck by its relevance to modern Christianity.  The speaker in this passage is God Himself, speaking to the prophet Ezekiel.  He observes that, although people come to hear what Ezekiel has to say, they do not take seriously Ezekiel's words as being the words of God, or at any rate they do not see the need to obey them.

It reminds me of much of Christendom, which seems to be in search of a "cooler" religious experience, but the effect of their search seems simply to produce something of an odd Christian subculture rather than winsome, loving service to God and people.

When people come to hear a man - or woman - of God speak what is on the mind and heart of God, but not for the sake of obeying God; when their only response is to evaluate how well the person spoke, and to discuss how eloquently he put forth his arguments, it resembles mere religious entertainment.  It is as though they look to the speaker primarily to make what they see as an obligatory religious exercise a bit more tolerable; that is all.

Evidently things did not change, even in the early Christian church.  James, the brother of the Lord, writing during the first decades of the church's existence, exhorts us: 

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, her is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty , and perseveres being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." - James 1:22-25

If we really want to present to the world a credible witness to the reality of Jesus and His gospel, let's drop the emphasis on whose church has a latte bar, or which church has the most kickin' praise band, or whether the pastor has a faux and wears sandals, and attend to the preaching of God's word with the intent of taking it to heart and doing it.

Happy Reformation Day!

While the world around us is busy today with Halloween festivities, followers of Jesus have something far more significant to celebrate! On October 31, 1517, a German Catholic monk named Martin Luther protested against the tactics employed by Pope Leo X in raising funds to pay for the reconstruction of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Frustrated by huge debt, Leo was unsuccessful in obtaining necessary funding from the Venetian bankers upon whom the Church had come to rely. He therefore seized upon the idea of raising the money from the faithful of the Church, by guaranteeing that their payments to Rome would effectively purchase an early transport from Purgatory to Heaven for deceased relatives. The basis for this was the authority believed to be inherent in the Pope's position as successor to Peter, to whom Christ had given "the keys to the kingdom."

Luther objected to this, finding no scriptural grounds for the practice, nor any justification in the annals of Church tradition. He formulated his objections in 95 statements, now known as his 95 Theses, which he posted on the town bulletin board, which happened to be the castle church door in his town of Wittenberg, Germany. Students of Luther subsequently used modern technology - the printing press - to reproduce Martin's objections, and then spread them throughout Germany. Popular response was strong, creating the beginning of an uprising now known as the Protestant Reformation.

Over the ensuing decades, Luther's initiative resulted in significant reforms within and outside of the Roman Catholic Church, most particularly the placing of the Word of God into the hands of the laity in their own language. You and I - and all of Christendom - benefit today from this wonderful gift!

SO, as you read your Bible this week, you might say a prayer of thanks for a humble German monk who insisted that the Church both adhere to and unleash the Word of God. In a very real sense, Luther's efforts led to you having the Bible in your hands, and as a result, in your heart.

Happy Reformation Day! You can read Luther's 95 Theses here:

http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/web/ninetyfive.html

Sola biblica,

Larry

"Let not your hearts be troubled.  You believe in God; believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself,
that where I am, there you may be also." 

John 14:1-3

Jesus says, "Let not."  It's difficult to tell whether this is a command, an invitation, or both.  Certainly Jesus intended to comfort His disciples in view of His coming suffering, death and departure from them.  His words intend to bring us comfort as well.  Yet they also indicate that we have some ability to obey - or not.  "Let not."  Do not allow.  Do not permit it. We can choose, either to "let" our hearts continue to be troubled, or not to allow our hearts to be troubled.  How?  What is the mechanism by which we are to deal with the pain in our lives?

The rationale for choosing the path of "untroubledness" - the bridge over troubled waters, so to speak - is a belief in God which includes belief in His Son.  God is not just the majestic, eternal, all-knowing and fearsome Creator-God, distant and elusive; He is the God of love and compassion who condescended to take on human flesh and "move into the neighborhood."  He was here, walked among us, experienced what we experience, right down to the temptations we face - temptations to sleep in, to give in, to give up, to coddle ourselves, to justify ourselves, to condemn and criticize others, to "circle the wagons" and let the world go to hell - He experienced all that, but without giving in, without choosing to sin.  He did in fact keep the whole Law and it is a source of tremendous comfort that He did, for in His keeping the Law, He kept it on our behalf.

Most of us have read the poem, "Footprints in the Sand."  The gist of it is that an individual had a dream in which he and Jesus reviewed his life as represented by footprints in the sand.  His belief that Jesus always walked with him through life appears to be confirmed as he observes two sets of footprints.  However, he suddenly notices that during periods of the greatest difficulty, there is only one set of footprints, and his shocked reaction is that, in the moments of greatest need, Jesus left him alone.  The "punch line" of the poem is then delivered by Jesus, "The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you."

While this is a touching sentiment, it contains a glaring theological flaw.  The flaw is the notion that Christ only "carries" His people in their moments of deepest emotional need.  In fact, He carries us all the time.  In the economy of God, in the mercy of God, there is always, only, one set of footprints, and they are those of Christ.

So, as Jesus says goodbye to His friends, He says "Don't let your hearts be troubled.  Believe in Me."

"And because you believe in Me, because you believe in one set of footprints, I am going to also prepare an eternal dwelling for you.  This dwelling is not like your house on earth, no matter how nice it is.  No matter how much work you put into painting it, decorating it, no matter how much you adorn it with gardens and flowers and gold letters that announce its street address, no matter how many square feet you have, no matter whether you have wall-to-wall carpet or hardwood floors, the finest tile or linoleum, your house cannot compare with the one I am going to prepare for you.

"And it won't take long," He says.  "I'll be gone a few years perhaps, but in the timekeeping of eternity, it will only be a moment.  Actually, I'll be right back!  I'll be right back when the time is right for you, and I'll tell you that your place is ready, that you will be more comfortable - most comfortable, actually - in your new place, your new home, prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

"O yes, I knew you back then - before you were born, even before I was born on earth - you were in my mind, and I knew when you would be conceived, when you would be born, when you would take your first steps, when you would marry, where you would work, the struggles, the victories, the failures, the pain and heartache you would experience.  I knew them - intimately - for you see, they were mine as well.  I came to live your victories and to pay for your failures.  And, like Nathaniel, I saw you - when you were under the fig tree, or the apple tree, or the oak tree, even before  that - and I chose you for My own.  And because I chose you, you came, you followed, and your life has never been the same since.

"Together we have walked and talked and you have listened, some days better than others, but always - there have been but one set of footprints.

"So don't let your hearts be troubled.  Believe in Me, even when you can't see Me.  As I said, I'll be right back, and even while I'm gone from your sight, I'm not really gone.  I'm keeping my eye on you - not to criticize of condemn - but to bless you, and keep you, to make my face shine upon you, and to be gracious to you; to lift up My countenance upon you, and give you peace.  And I'll be back shortly, to take you to My Father's house, for good.  There - in a place that is more of a mansion than anything you have ever seen, or could conceive - you and I will walk and talk and live together forever and ever.  And oh, by the way, even in that day, in  that eternity in the forever of heaven, there will still be only one set of footprints!"

REFLECTING ON REFLECTIONS

Reflecting on yesterday's post, I could see where some might have gotten the mistaken perception that I might have been suggesting that difficulties - like the fire- only come to those 

who choose not to live near the Lord.  

Not at all!   

Trials come to all in this broken world, and some trials are huge and painful beyond describing.

 My point is that events are never out of control.  For those who place themselves under the loving authority and care of their Heavenly Father, He permits trials to mold and shape them in the likeness of His Son.

Proverbs 18:12 teaches that "humility comes before honor."

Like a loving earthly father, our heavenly Father "disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. (Hebrews 12:10b).  In tenderness He promises to be with us in our trials, with the purpose of bringing us through the crucible of humility, that we might come forth refined and purified.  And those who have borne His discipline He will honor, that they may more perfectly serve and glorify Him.

Yet most certainly, "for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant."  But our great confidence is that, "later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" (Hebrews 12:11).

So then, those who suffer - and all will suffer sooner or later - are left to choose whether to try to tough it out alone, with those who choose to live apart from God; or with those who put themselves in His care, trusting in His pruposes for them, and His promise to do them good.

REFLECTIONS ON THE FIRE

from Psalm 148

Praise the LORD from the earth,

You great sea creatures and all deeps,

Fire and hail, snow and mist,

Stormy wind fulfilling his word!

Vs. 7,8

All the creatures and elements of the earth have a common call: to praise the LORD.  The animate and the inanimate are commanded to glorify Him: even the fire.   The LORD is sovereign over the fire, and it must obey His command.  As it does so, He is glorified.  As the stormy, raging wind obeys Him, which it must, it glorifies Him.  As He is exalted, man is put in his place, and we are reminded that God is God, and that we are not.  The raging elements, though they appear to be out of control, are not, but serve to remind us of our humanity, our mortality, our limitations, our dependence upon a Higher than ourselves.  They remind us to depend upon Him, to fear Him, to serve Him, and to labor together as His children to overcome the challenges of living in this temporal, fallen world.

He has raised up a horn for his people

Praise for all his saints,

For the people of Israel who are near to him,

Praise the LORD!

Vs.14

The fact is, God has His favorites.  Some people are near Him, some are not.  His hand is on His people.  No surprise there.  It has always been so.  There are some who are close to the LORD in their daily living, in their awareness of Him, in their fear of Him, in their obedience of Him.  They live under His authority, and under His mantel.  He loves them, He cares for them, He disciplines them for their own good, with the loving purpose that they may share His holiness.

There is another, larger group – and always has been – who are not close to the LORD.  Perhaps they give Him lip service, a tip of the cap - or not - but they  have no real interest in being under His care and authority.  They are the independent ones who might attempt a semblance of interdependence or community in order to survive or overcome the challenges of life, but their attempts bear only as much authenticity as does a statue to a living, breathing human.  There is no true life, no hope of discovering true meaning, purpose or fulfillment apart from a proper connection with the Living God.  We were made to live in a dependent relationship with Him.

LORD, I want to be among those who are near you, near you in truth.  I want to behold you, I want to gaze upon you, I want to live in communion with you and your people at all times.  As the fire has revealed only so clearly the very temporal nature of this world, which is passing away, I long for the eternal, the authentic, the true.  I am not saying I desire to die, but there is great hope in the thought of being eternally with you, though my finite self does not comprehend that.  As I observe the rage of nature and the fallibility of human systems, I realize there is no real hope in them.  My only confidence is in you.