Thursday, July 9, 2009

Middle East Politics

We've stayed this week in the Palestinian controlled East Jerusalem. A street divides Jewish controlled areas from Arab ones. A wall separates the West Bank and the Gaza Strip from the rest of Israel. Rarely do you find a Jew even a block into the Arab zone and vice-versa. It just isn't done. Thankfully, as an American I felt perfectly safe. No one cares about me - their hatred and bitterness are reserved for each other.
I came to Israel a strong believer in Israel's right to exist as a safe and secure state in the promised land. That hasn't waned. It's not only biblical, but the hand of the Lord has been visibly at work protecting and expanding Israeli land through each of the three wars. The holocaust museum presents a compelling case for the world making a place for the people whose suffering failed to move us in WWII.
I saw the poverty of the refugee camps where well over a million Palestinians have been forced to live. I watched soldiers force a humiliated and frustrated Moslim mother and her young children off a bus because something was wrong with her identity card. It doesn't take a lot of insight to understand the anger of losing land families have lived on for generations.
The problem is as complex as is the depth of the mutual hatred and mistrust. What little I have seen convinces me that man will never solve this. Not really. He may impose a lid - but when the pressure gets to great, or the hold on the lid slips, it will always blow.
Only God can solve this as He moves in hearts and changes lives. The ministry that hosted us has been raised up by the Lord to take food and the gospel to the Palestinian refugees of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and others in east Jerusalem. They gave us first hand accounts of Palestinian Muslims having dreams and visions of Jesus that lead them to Christ. One man dreamed that Jesus no longer wanted him to pray on his Muslim rug any more, but on the rug Jesus gave him. A woman dreamed of Jesus again and again closing the Koran every time she opened it, handing her a Bible to read instead.
Politics can separate and military force can intimidate. But neither can ever change the human heart. Jews and Arabs, both learning to love each other with the love of the Lord, is the only real answer this crisis will ever find.

Jerusalem

Earlier this week, I walked the Via Dolorosa. The next day, I touched the spot in the Bethlehem cave where many believe Jesus was born. Yesterday, I sat with my feet in Elijah's Springs, within 100 yards of the ruins of the ancient walls of Jericho. Today, I looked upon what I'm convinced is Golgotha and about 200 feet away entered what perfectly fits the biblical description of the empty tomb. (We won't dwell on the fact that the actual location of the cross is covered over with the asphalt of a Palestani bus station parking lot).
It was all much more than a little surreal. I actually stood in what in all likelihood is the exact spot where Peter stood when he burst into the empty tomb on Easter morning. Outside, I stood where I would have heard the Risen Lord's first word 'Mary' - had only I been there two millenium ago (I could have even gotten to her first and said, 'Psst you might want to look a little more closely at the One over there. Check out His eyes. I believe you'll feel better.)
It all was suddenly very real. I'm not one who believes we're any nearer to God in Jerusalem than in Athens. But, there's no denying I felt several worlds away from Lumpkin Street.
As I sat there trying to take it all in, the thought occurred to me that I don't need to come to Jerusalem to encounter the Lord Jesus. He is, after all, Risen. He is alive and through His Spirit has been poured out for all people of every place. Jesus can be encountered by anyone, anywhere, whose heart burns to know the living God.
I doubt I will ever forget what I experienced this morning. But I hope I take full advantage of the promise He reminded me of - no matter where I am, He will never be further from me than He was this morning in the tomb when I stood on one of the world's holiest spots.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

When God Leaves Us In The Dark

John places the account early in Jesus' ministry. Angered over the temple courts having been filled with money changers and sacrificial animals, Jesus cracked the whip and cleansed His Father's house. Not surprisingly, those in charge ask for a sign. "Do something that will show us that you have the authority to do what you just did."
Jesus invited them to destroy the same temple He had just cleansed, and He would rebuild it in three days. The temple had taken 46 years to build. How could anyone rebuild it in 3 days? Friend and foe alike were equally in the dark. John says that it was years later, only after Jesus was raised from the dead, that His disciples understood what He had meant.
I was struck by how willing the Lord was to leave His disciples in the dark. We approach the Lord as if we should always understand everything He is doing. And yet, Jesus was often content to leave even His closest friends confused and bewildered.
It shouldn't surprise us when we have no clue as to what God is doing or why He is allowing things to unfold as they are. God will periodically give all of us times when we can only walk by faith, when the best we can do is trust that He knows what He's doing.
After Jesus had risen, John and the other disciples finally understood. In our lives too, all things will one day make sense. But until then we don't need to have all of our questions answered. We only need to trust that He knows what He is doing, that all of His ways are perfect, and that one day we will stand amazed at the completeness of His faithfulness.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Some Things Never Change

Brokenness began with but a simple command, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." There was nothing to misunderstand. God had spoken in black and white, in a time when there were no shades of gray.

But then came the seduction. The fruit was alluring. The serpent assured they wouldn’t die. And who wouldn’t want to be like God? Usually we chalk it up to a simple case of disobedience. God told them one thing, they did another. But more than a sin of rebellion, it may have most essentially been an issue of unbelief. In the light of all that seduced them, they lost their trust. In that moment when they reached out to grasp the forbidden fruit, they no longer believed God knew best and had their best interests at heart.

God has been clear on many things; sex is His gift to the marriage covenant; forgiveness must never be withheld; pornography will never satisfy (because it hasn't the capacity to); our lives are not measured by what we have or by how high we climb (these can’t satisfy either). There's an old saying, 'Curiosity killed the cat.' The cat just had to know for himself. He couldn't trust that what had been forbidden was done so for his own good. There are times when the root of sin is old fashioned rebellion. At other times, sin's origin lies in unbelief; we stop trusting God.

It’s interesting to me that it was when Abraham believed the Lord, righteousness was imparted. God brought things full circle. Though the context was completely different, the Lord offered Abraham the same essential choice He did Adam and Eve, ‘Will you trust Me?’ Trust abandoned first broke the relationship. Trust embraced renewed it.

Still today God has made trust the catalyst for our relationship with Him. Ro11 makes clear faith grafts in, unbelief cuts off. Faith is what activates Grace. It’s what is credited to us as righteousness. Not just an idle belief in a creed. But, a trust that actually inspires one to embrace Jesus as Savior and Lord; to obey, if only because God says so; to leave behind everything the world values to pursue what only God could have birthed in the heart. Some things never change.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Worship's Rhythm

Karl Barth makes the point that before the fall, man was in the naïve state of not fully realizing the difference between himself and God. The Lord walked in the garden in the cool of the day. Adam and Eve didn't behold God in His Glory, but in human likeness. They may well have thought that God was even one of them, not unlike a human parent.

But after the fall, the chasm between man and God became fully evident. Fellowshipping was out. If God was to be encountered, it would be in such a way so as to inspire awe; as when the Lord thundered from Mt. Sinai, Elijah cowered in the cleft of the rock, and Isaiah cried openly of his sinfulness upon seeing a vision of but the train of the Lord’s robe.

Rev21 points to the ultimate restoration of the Edenic Paradise. There will be no more sin or pain or death – this entire order will pass away. But, one thing that will not be restored will be man’s original naiveté. In the garden, Adam and Eve fellowshipped with the Lord. In eternity, more than fellowship, we will worship the Lord in all of His Glory.

There’s always a tension between God revealing Himself in intimacy (as in the garden) and in Glory (as in Isaiah's vision). Jesus brings the two together. He calls us friends, inviting us to walk, eat, and follow as if he were but a kindly rabbi. All the while, He is the Creator and Sustainer of all that is, moment by moment holding all of creation together.

In our finiteness, we cannot always focus completely on all things. Consequently, we tend to emphasize one aspect of the Lord at the expense of the other. Many focus on intimacy, He is the one true Lover of their souls. Others focus on His Glory, He is the One who was with God in the beginning. On the Mount of Transfiguration, the two were manifest together. Peter, John and James beheld His Glory as a radiant light shone forth. All thoughts of Jesus as the familiar Friend they had joked with fled as they fell to the ground in awe and wonder. Coming down from the mount, He was the One who would one day soon wash their feet.

My sense is the Lord is calling us to a healthy balance, a rhythmical movement between the two poles. There are moments God would have us be in awe of His Glory. At other times, He invites us to crawl into His lap to feel Abba’s embrace. Always when we are most aware of the one, there is to be an accompanying understanding of the other.

Monday, May 18, 2009

The 'So What?' of Grace

Years ago, when I was sharing with my wife some theological nuance I had learned that day in seminary, she looked at me and said, “So what? I’ve got three children, two of whom are in diapers. If your theology can’t help me on Tuesday morning when I’m changing diapers while you’re off at seminary, then I don’t have any use for it."

I tire of theology for theology’s sake. Deep down I want to please God and the older I get the more convinced I am that God is far more pleased with people who live well than with correct theology. He keeps reminding me of Paul’s words in 1Co13:2, “…if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”

So what do we do with the theological treatise we know as the first 11 chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans? (Which I’m spending the first part of the summer studying). What’s the relevance of Paul’s concept of Grace (his central tenet)? How does it impact the one changing diapers on a Tuesday morning?

When it comes to Grace, Paul is trying to say essentially two things. First, by his own definition, Grace is God doing what only God can do in order to make/declare people to be righteous. Grace is God giving us right standing before Him; making people whole and free; doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Which is what distinguishes Grace from works and from anything we might do to try to accomplish these things for ourselves. Paul’s primary premise is that righteousness has to be something God accomplishes and imparts.

Secondly, if Grace is God doing for us what we cannot, then Grace is received when we come to the end of ourselves. We experience Grace when we abandon any effort to somehow make ourselves acceptable to God; when we confess our helplessness and ask Him to do for us what we have come to realize we can never do for ourselves.

This is where Paul most completely echoes the Lord Jesus. Jesus was adamant that it was the poor in spirit, the one who beats his chest and cries out ‘Lord, have mercy on me a sinner,’ the repentant prodigal who has rehearsed his confession of unworthiness - who experience mercy and forgiveness.

Often God will orchestrate our lives for the express purpose of bringing us to the end of ourselves. A bankruptcy, a personal failure, a marriage in crisis, a ministry that seems to be going nowhere, all can be used by God to bring us to our own “Bruce Almighty moment.” (Jim Carrey kneeling in the street, crying out to God.) Which means that blessing a cash strapped seminary couple with three children, two in diapers, may have purposes beyond simply the building of the Kingdom. It could be that through all of that they abandon all confidence of handling things themselves, and for the first time cry out in a sustained dependence on God, opening themselves up to the 'much more' of God.

Those who experience God do in them the most, have always somehow, someway, first come to the place where they have abandoned all hope of ever doing those things for themselves. Which may be the most relevant ‘So what?’ of Grace.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Mary and Martha Revisited

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-41

Mary and Martha are often trivialized. Mary is portrayed as the one who seeks to be still, contemplating the Lord; Martha as the one who gets things done. As it often the case today, Martha resents Mary’s idleness.

Rather than focusing on Martha's complaint, listen instead to the Lord's response. “…you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.” Martha complained about the surface issue, the visible tension of the moment. But, Jesus addressed the heart.

Martha needed many things. There were many things that had to be just so, before she would allow herself to abandon her worry and upset. And even then she would have been anxious knowing how short lived are the moments when life’s circumstances favorably align.

"Lord, why am I not yet married? My spouse isn’t who I thought he was. Why won’t you help us get pregnant? My children are out of control, they have no heart for you or me. Why can’t I get a good job? I’m so tired of this run down house. We never have enough money. Why is everyone else’s ministry growing and larger than mine?"

Jesus said, “you are worried about many things, but only one thing is needed.” Anything beyond our reach or that can be lost isn’t absolutely necessary. We are Martha when our joy and peace are dependent upon a host of things that are not promised. That’s why we’re upset and afraid. The many things we’ve told ourselves we have to have, are either beyond or reach or only precariously within our grasp.
Janis Joplin sang, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." That doesn't mean we need to lose it all in order to be free. It simply voices the call to reduce our 'have to have' list to the one thing needed. At that moment, we will be truly free.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Learning To Feed Ourselves

One of the critiques of America’s welfare system is that it has created a new dependent class. Rather than standing in the gap to help people through a crisis, it is accused of having caused many to lose all initiative to provide for themselves. Many now see themselves as being wards of the state, entirely dependent upon the federal government for their well being.

I was watching Clay feed Fields (he's 9 months old) earlier today. Fields is totally dependent on Clay and Deborah for everything he eats. To put a spiritual spin to this, one of the most common statements I hear from people is, "I’m looking for a place where I can be fed.” I really don’t have a problem with that. When I gave up preaching on Sunday mornings to come to UGA Wesley, my wife and I brought that same mentality into our search for a church. But, I am concerned whenever I encounter the mindset that, as believers, we are dependent upon others to feed us. God never intended us to be spiritual 9 month olds.

Ps119:15 says, “I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” Notice the pronoun “I”. Verse 105 adds, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Again, the psalmist speaks in the first person. God has set apart some to be pastors and teachers, to help explain and apply His Word to others. But never has it been God’s intent that we would be completely dependent on others for our knowledge of Him.

Believers need to learn how to feed themselves - and that includes college students and those young in their faith. What I receive on a Sunday morning can never substitute for what God speaks to me as I pursue Him on my own. I’ve yet to meet a mature Christian who hasn’t learned to feed for himself on the Word of God.

Many students, who have learned to walk with the Lord during their time on campus, dread summer. They fear going home to old friends and old ways. They are unhappy with the prospect of losing the worship and teaching to which they’ve become accustomed. But in Ro8, Paul assures us that, “God works through all things for the good of those who love Him…” A season in which there is no one to feed us can force us, if we will take advantage of it, to get into the Word for ourselves. In the absence of a shepherd, we can learn to feed and grow and fend for ourselves.

I always want every student to have relationships with other believers for encouragement and accountability. And likewise, I hope each one will always have available a worship setting that leaves them inspired. But even when these things are hard to find, summer can still be a time of tremendous growth. The one who has learned to feed himself has often learned the most valuable lesson of all.

Most of us would never passively sit back and leave our physical provision to another. Why would we do any different when it comes to our spiritual well being?

Friday, May 8, 2009

God's Sovereign Choice

God’s perspective is the only one that matters. His has the weight of eternity and transcendence behind it. All others are like dust in the wind.

Which brings us to righteousness. Righteousness is the thing we need most. To be righteous is to be right with God; to be able to stand before Him, share in His life, abide in His Glory. Abraham was one of the most noble and godly men who ever lived. And yet from God's perspective, nothing he ever did or didn’t do was able to make him righteous. It had nothing to do with how he compared to other people or what a great man we think of him as being.

Ge15:6 tells us, “Abraham believed the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness.” God alone can declare someone righteous. He has to impart it. There is no other way. That's His decision, not ours. And paradoxically, God has chosen to declare to be right those who have absolutely no confidence in their own goodness, i.e., the tax collector who could only cry out "Lord have mercy on me a sinner" and the prodigal who had rehearsed how he would confess to his father how unworthy he was.

It’s when we find nothing in ourselves in which to hope, that we are finally positioned to fully receive Grace and be declared right. Many believers take most of their lives to really get there. Some who struggle most are those who have accomplished the most, sacrificed the most, and served the most. These are the ones who are often lulled into believing there is now something in them that can make them acceptable to God. It wasn't only in Jesus’ day that prostitutes were often better positioned to embrace Grace than the religious elite or the rich and powerful.

God could have opted for any standard when it comes to what makes someone acceptable to Him. But beginning with Abraham, and later affirmed by the Apostle Paul, He Sovereignly chose faith. Twenty seven years into my Christian walk I’m still learning what that means. The good news is, the more I abandon any pretense of righteousness deep within myself, the more the Lord seems to see fit to enable me to experience His Grace and Life here and now.

Burning Sticks Snatched From The Fire

Karl Barth tells the story of a man who, in the midst of a blizzard, wandered unknowingly across a frozen lake. There were places where the ice was thin. One misstep and he would have fallen through. But he was unaware. It was only after the storm had subsided that he was able to look back and realize how perilous his state had been.
'God is as serious about wrath as He is about salvation.' That's the thought resonating in me as I work through the early chapters of a summer long study of Romans. Normally, I would skim over references to wrath, reasoning God has already dealt with that. But I'm trying to let Paul speak what he intended to say rather than simply endorse long held views. Ro1:18 says, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of men..." Ro2:5 refers to "the day of God's wrath." And Ro2:12 reminds us, "All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will also be judged by the law."
The typical Christian today seems oblivious to what we have been saved from and how perilously we have each wandered. God's love does not negate His wrath. To borrow from Zechariah, we are all as 'burning sticks snatched from the fire.' Which means that to the extent I lack for joy or gratitude, I have lost sight of all that God in His grace has saved me from and even now by His grace is working to lead me into.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

When Jesus Picks A Fight

In the movie ‘Braveheart,’ there’s a scene where the ragtag army of Scottish volunteers is lined up to do battle against the well trained troops of King Edward. Someone turns to William Wallace and asks “What are you going to do now?” And Wallace replies, “I’m going to 'peck' a fight.”

As I read the gospels, it seems to me that on more than one occasion Jesus 'pecked' His own fight. Rather than make peace, there were times when He went out of His way to stir dissension. Most often it had to do with the Sabbath.
The way the Sabbath was commonly understood symbolized everything that was wrong with first century Judaism. As such, this was where Jesus drew His bead. It was as if being a good Jew had little to do with one’s heart toward God or the way others were treated, but was a matter of how much work one didn’t do one day a week. The Sabbath was so misunderstood it was allowed to be a hindrance to people doing the very thing God did call them to – namely, doing good and showing mercy to others.

Modern religion is really no different. The holiness movement substituted lipstick and jewelry for the Sabbath. Being a good Christian was a matter of abstaining from both. Charismatics substitute raised hands and spiritual gifts. Traditional evangelicals trust in toted Bibles and faithful attendance.

I think the Lord’s problem with the Sabbath was it had become a shallow outward work that people practiced in place of living with a real heart for God and compassion for others. A primary temptation for every new generation of Christians is to substitute something outward for real relationship. And no matter how relevant or winsome the outward expression might be, the Lord is equally opposed to all religious substitutes. There can never be an acceptable substitute for loving God and being merciful towards others.

Friday, February 20, 2009

What Jesus Values

I've been reading the gospels alot lately. I'm wanting to know all I can about Jesus - who He is and what He did. In Luke 16:15, Jesus was in a confrontational mood. Pulling no punches, He said, "What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." Clearly, He intends to radically change what we value. I'm left wondering, after all these years, how much of what I value God is either indifferent towards or directly opposed to.

So, trying to set aside all of my theology and prejudices, going only from what I've been reading of late, I've begun to make a list of what Jesus values. Many clearly overlap. Here's what I've got so far.

1. Loving God – which means being ever mindful of God, fiercely devoted to God, doing the right thing because we love God, etc.
2. Treating others the way we would want to be treated.
3. Mercy – a huge part of #2
4. Compassion.
5. Taking time for people.
6. Being faithful to your mission - to what's been entrusted to us.
7. Prayer – simple, prayer.
8. Honest confession.
9. Abiding with God.
10. Life without pretenses. No attempts to impress others.
11. Serving others.
12. Mercy.
13. Humility.
14. A pure heart.
15. Willingness to deny ourselves to do the right thing.
16. Trusting God – anxiety free living.
17. Did I mention mercy?

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Power of Testimony

How does a post Christian society, that generally gives the scriptures no authority whatsoever, come to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior? I think part of the answer is that they experience His love in and through His people. I think another part of the answer is that they experience God Himself. And in the New Testament, healing and delivering were common ways people experienced God. These were also two of the primary things that drew people to Jesus. I try to include testimonies in our services for several reasons. 1) To praise God for the thing He has done - to give Him all the glory we can. 2) To encourage people that God does love us and He does help us in response to our prayers. 3) To give people tangible evidence - the way Jesus and the New Testament church gave tangible evidence - that Jesus really is who the Bible says He is. All over the world the gospel is advancing as people are experiencing God doing things only God can do - in Jesus' name.
Church leaders in China have estimated that there are over 100 million born again Christians in that nation. They assert most came to Christ by a personal experience of God doing something miraculous. I believe the greatest power of a testimony is that it can witness to secular people that this Jesus - in whose name this great thing has happened - is everything the Bible says He is.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Thoughts on Healing

Recently a student sent me a well intentioned email questioning a comment he overheard some other students make referring to medicine being a crutch for those who don't have the faith to be healed. That led to general questions concerning my and UGA Wesley's overall understanding and approach to healing. Below is the bulk of my response.

...I don't believe medicine is in any way a crutch. I take medication when I need it. I encourage others to, as well. When sick, I receive medication as God's gift. One of my best friends, who has a strong belief in God's healing and often prays for the sick, is a pharmacist. Historically, some of the healing evangelists of the early 1900's, probably because they experienced seasons where they saw God heal a large majority of those they prayed for, taught that the use of medicine was a sign of unbelief. I disagree with that entirely. Two people I have read and respect on the subject of healing are Francis McNutt and John Wimber. Their experience is that sometimes God heals supernaturally. At other times, He heals through medication and prayer (where God's response to prayer makes the medication more effective than it otherwise would have been). Sometimes a healing is partial - there is improvement - but not a complete healing. And at other times no discernible healing takes place. So while UGA Wesley affirms the power and efficacy of healing prayer - we also acknowledge that there is a mystery to healing that is beyond our full understanding.

With regard to our theology of healing, as in all things, I look to Jesus. He is God. As such, His heart is identical to that of the Father. The gospels indicate that Jesus healed everyone who came to Him. And He sent His disciples out to do the same things He had been doing (Mt10). Never once did Jesus say, "I'm not going to heal this because this sickness is from God and He's using it to make you a better person." I know God didn't deliver Paul from the thorn in his side. But the text in no way implies Paul was struggling with a sickness. Scripture leads me to believe sickness originated in the fall and is the work of the enemy. It also teaches that Jesus' heart was to heal the sickness that was brought to Him and that Jesus is the same forever - He never changes.

I don't really have a good explanation as to why we don't experience more healing. I simply try to be grateful for all that God does do - believing it to be an expression of His love and grace. But looking to Jesus' example, I always pray believing that He would heal whatever it is we're praying for if He were physically here with us - because that's what He did when He walked the earth. I praise God when we experience His healing and I trust Him when we do not.