Dedication

Posted on by December 16, 2014
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John 10:22-23 — And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.

Jesus was in Jerusalem for the feast of dedication — also known as Hanukah. Hanukah starts today. “That’s nice,”, you might say, “a nice winter festival for my Jewish friends, but what does that matter to me as a Christian?” You have to know the story … and the connection to the martyrs I wrote about yesterday.
Alexander the Great marched across the known world. In 329 BC he arrived in Israel. Remarkably, instead of beating the Jews into submission he came to an accommodation with them, and Greek culture penetrated Jewish society.
More than 150 years later came Antiochus Epiphanes. This ruler of the Seleucid empire tried to stamp out Judaism. The worst of his provocations was the erection of an idol (“the abomination that makes desolation”) in the Temple, and a demand that the Jews bow down before it. Enter Judas Maccabeus!
After several years of conflict Judas drove the enemy from Jerusalem, purified the Temple and on the 25th of Kislev (December 14, 164 BC) he restored the service in the Temple. The rededication of the temple became the permanent Jewish holiday, Hanukkah, which continued even after the Temple was destroyed and is still celebrated annually.
Antiochus intended to eliminate Judaism. Plenty of Jews went along, to save their lives … but there were others …
Eleazar, a ninety year old man was commanded to eat pork. He let the soldiers beat him to death rather than break God’s law.
Hannah and her seven sons were arrested when they refused to give up the Torah. She was forced to watch her sons tortured. When they would not bend they were boiled alive in cauldrons. Hannah cheered her youngest son with the hope of resurrection — before she, too, died for her faith.
Judah’s father, Mattathias, started the resistance. Judas — “the hammer”, inspired by the martyrs, completed it. And then came the miracle. When the Maccabees captured the temple, they searched and found only a single cruse of pure oil — enough to light the menorah for only one day but the menorah burnt for eight days!
A miracle occurred, and they lit the menorah with this oil for eight days. The next year,they established those eight days as days of festivity and praise and thanksgiving to God — Hanukah, the Festival of Lights, the feast of Dedication.
So, nice history lesson — but what’s in it for us? Well, just this — Just as for the martyrs yesterday, for the Jews of Judas Maccabeus’ day, God’s Word should be non-negotiable for us. Dedication is a must!

The Fifth Seal

Posted on by December 15, 2014
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Revelation 6:9-11 — And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Look, I know it’s Advent, and Christmas is almost here. But I’m haunted by the stories of children being beheaded by ISIS for the “crime” of refusing to deny Jesus.
Now let me be honest … there is some uncertainty as to whether the widely reported beheadings have really taken place. But I know that over many years Christians have been killed for their faith. One story I have never been able to clear out of my mind is that of Australian missionary Graham Staines who, with his sons ten-year old Philip and six year-old Timothy (aged 6), was burnt to death by a gang while sleeping in his station wagon at Manoharpur village in India in 1999. It’s just one of thousands over the years, many unrecorded.
My text doesn’t really speak of those already martyred. It speaks specifically of those who will be martyred during the tribulation. I can see that, because they are promised that after a little while they will be avenged … if their martyrdom were before the tribulation it’s possible their slayers could be redeemed. Knowing that, I’m still going to say there much to learn from this passage. Here are just a few things …
The martyrs have died “for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held”. The qualification is not evangelism, but — as with the martyred children — the receiving of the word and the refusal to deny it.
The murderers of the martyrs are “them that dwell on the earth” — Dr. R. L. Thomas identifies this as a “semitechnical designation for mankind in their hostility to God.” The world is, and always will be, mortal enemies to Christians. We should never forget …
The faithful are given robes of white — the formal robes of honor that show their blessedness and the beauty of holiness.
The martyred dead are told to wait for just a little season. It is a mild rebuke, to contain the impatience that is not worthy of their glorified state — but also confirmation of an appointed time for God’s vengeance.
For me, the fifth seal is not just the picture of part of God’s plan for the tribulation. It is also a promise that in due time there will be rewards for the faithful dead — and punishment for their unrepentant murderers!

Advent : Born Again!

Posted on by December 14, 2014
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John 3:3-6 — Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

There is a process in the Christian life that I’m trying to understand. It’s the idea that we must be born again, and that we must become as little children if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is the process, if you like, that expands the truth that if any man is in Christ he is a new creation …
The process was made possible when Jesus entered the world as a little baby. His rebirth, his advent, has become for me a picture of an “advent” we must all undergo as we become what God has made us to be.
Jesus describes this “advent” to Nicodemus at their meeting that is recounted in John 3. I don’t think Nicodemus is the only one to find Jesus’s words difficult. In fact, two thousand years later, I think most of us find them cryptic the first time we hear them. Thomas Merton the twentieth century Trappist monk and spiritualist explains it brilliantly in his book “Rebirth and the New Man in Christianity”:

What Jesus speaks of is a new kind of birth. It is a birth which gives definitive meaning to life. The first birth, of the body, is a preparation for the second birth, the spiritual awakening of mind and heart. … The rebirth of which Christ speaks is not a single event but a continuous dynamic of inner renewal.

Charles Wesley built the rebirth into his most famous (and perhaps most scriptural) Christmas carol:

Hail, the heaven-born Prince of peace!
Hail the Son of righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King.
(Hark The Herald Angels Sing)

Passing through our second birth we can make our advent, our entry into the new creation. We can shed the worldly “adulthood” that we may have grown up into and begin our spiritual childhood.
The second birth, like the first, may be traumatic and painful — but oh the glorious new life we are born into!

Yes, but how?

Posted on by December 13, 2014
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Ephesians 5:25-28 — Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

So, while I’m looking at Ephesians 5, here’s another verse that doesn’t get enough attention.
What does it mean to love my wife as Christ loved the church?
Christ loved His church so much that He set aside His position and devoted Himself, day by day, to her good … even going so far as to suffer a humiliating death, more painful than we can truly imagine. So must we husbands be prepared to set aside our lives to serve those we love. The dying part is, I hope, not compulsory — but the willingness is not!
That still leaves open the question of “how”? What does it look like to our wives? One good starting point is provided by an old Puritan, Paul Bayne, who wrote a monumental commentary on Ephesians. Love, he said, makes a husband:
1) Willing to listen to his wife,
2) Provide the things she needs,
3) Imagine what those things might be,
4) Entrust things to his wife, for her to take care of,
5) Allow her more of life’s comforts than he takes himself,
6) Patiently overlook any little failings,
7) Share with her in any grievances.
Phew! And that love, he says, is marked by three things — by its chastity, its sincerity and its constancy.
That is wonderful advice — but how do you know when it’s working? How do you know what love looks like to your wife? A much more modern expert on Biblical love, Dr. Gary Chapman, wrote in his 1995 book “The Five Love Languages” that there are five primary ways in which we give and receive love. They are “gifts”, “quality time”, “words of affirmation”, “acts of service” and “physical touch”. The tricky issues are that we all have different primary languages, and that of the husband and wife often differ. In my case, for instance, my primary love language is “words of affirmation” and it’s closely followed by “physical touch” . For my lovely wife, her primary is “acts of service”, and the other is “quality time”. So does that ever give us challenges? Of course. Over the years we’ve learned what works, and we try to deliver. One of us doesn’t always succeed …
For a Christian husband there is a bottom line to this. Yesterday I wrote about the notion of submitting each to the other. For the husband that means submitting his life to the cause of loving his wife. It is the self-sacrificing “agape” love that is a foundation for three other kinds of love for his wife: Passion (eros), satisfaction (stergo) and affection (Phileo). Does that sound like a big challenge? It is — it’s a full time, life long commitment!

Who’s On Top?

Posted on by December 12, 2014
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Ephesians 5:21 — Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

I was talking to a good Christian today. And before you jump in, no I don’t mean he’s absolutely good. I mean he’s accepted Christ as his Savior and he’s working hard to be a good disciple.
In the conversation I was having with this man, I was reminded of thus verse, which I can’t help feeling is sadly neglected. So often the next verse, a subject of controversy, gets all the attention: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22)
Christians, just like everybody else, I suppose, are inclined to see things hierarchically. Somebody’s on top, somebody’s on the bottom, and maybe there’s a few levels in between. But that’s probably not how it should be!
We live, in an increasingly selfish and self-centered world. But here’s Paul offering this prescription that is completely counter-cultural in that world. Submit, he says, each to the other. That is, each of you seek to adjust your thoughts, plans and behavior to accommodate the needs of those around you.
Jesus was no stranger to submission … He submitted to His Heavenly Father — “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:28) — and He submitted to His earthly parents — “And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart” (Luke 2:51)
Paul too, even as he wrote about submission, knew about submission — “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.” (1 Corinthians 9:19)
In the redeemed world, each of us will submit to the other. Does that mean there will be no leaders? By no means, but there leadership will be the leadership that Paul describes in the verse only a few lines further down in his letter to the Ephesians: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;” (Ephesians 5:25). In the redeemed church, each of us will have a place, and will exercise the leadership appropriate to that place — and each of us will submit to the others, as appropriate.
I love this notion. In the New Jerusalem we will be a picture of the Trinity, for the persons of the Trinity surely have this kind of mutual authority / submission. So let none of us demand submission, nor let us fear to give it … but let us rejoice in it!

A Great Leader

Posted on by December 11, 2014
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But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:25-28)

Jesus’s father, Joseph, wasn’t just a great man. he was a great leader!
Maybe you don’t see it. But Joseph raised some pretty good kids. That’s not easy. And when he decided to move to Egypt, and when he decided to move them back … he made it work! That’s not easy either.
Leadership is not about standing on a pedestal and soaking up applause. Leadership is about leading — going in a  direction and having others follow you.
I’m going to claim Joseph as a Christian leader too. I know you can say he wasn’t a Christian in the conventional sense, but he was instant in belief and obedience when the Holy Spirit spoke!
Christian leadership is special. For a start, no Christian is ever really at the top of the tree. That place is reserved for Jesus!
Christian leaders operate under constraints that not all leaders feel. If you’ll pardon me saying so, some leaders have been stinkers! Leaders in the world may be more focused on wealth and position than on doing the ethically right thing.
For a Christian leader, leadership is a spiritual gift. Romans 12:3-8 makes the point: In discussing how gifts are to be exercised, Paul says leadership is to be diligent, placing it in the list.
The objectives of Christian leadership are different too. In fact, perhaps I should have said “the objective” singular. Christian leaders are focused on forwarding the Kingdom.
Now if you want to say I’m pretty short of scripture to back my claims for Joseph’s leadership, I’ll agree with you! He doesn’t get much coverage in the Bible. I’m basing my case on the fruit. Joseph raised good kids! You might say he couldn’t help but do a good job with Jesus — but there were James and Jude as well, and Jesus’s other brothers and sisters. Then there was Mary. Now you can say she had a great start … but she turned into a wonderful woman. I’m still reading between some pretty thin lines, but I think a sweet shy girl grew up into a mature confident woman. I believe she flourished with the leadership of a great husband.
Joseph was a great servant leader. I wish I was more like him!

Plans

Posted on by December 10, 2014
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Proverbs 16:1-3 — The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits. Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

I love this time of year. In our house the tree is lit, the nativities are out, we’re cranking up the Christmas shopping …
But there’s a dark side to this time of year — for me, at least. It’s the business planning season. That means a lot of work researching, collecting numbers, budgeting and trying to plan how to make things work better next year than they did last year. It’s a lot of stress and busyness!
There’s something funny about business plans. in fact it’s true for pretty much all human plans, all of the time. Our plans don’t work out the way we plan them. God’s plans, on the other hand, always work out exactly the way he planned them! “The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:” (Isaiah 14:24)
There are other differences between God’s plans and my plans. One thing is that my plans are mostly for my benefit — and God’s plans are usually not for God’s benefit, but for somebody else’s: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Another thing is that when I make my plans I think I know why I’m making them — but the truth is that there are many times that I’m not really honest with myself. If I really dug deep into my heart, I know I’d find my motives are often a lot more selfish than I’d like to admit. God, on the other hand, is good. Jesus said of His Father, “... there is none good but one, that is, God …” (Matthew 19:17)
The last difference that I’m going to call out between my plans and God’s plans is that my plans are pretty short term. Even if I had a plan that covered my whole adult life it wouldn’t stretch much more that forty years so far. God’s plans, on the other hand, stretch for thousands of years. His plan for man runs from Genesis to Revelation, creation to redemption. His complete plan runs from before the beginning of time to beyond the end of time. That’s long term!
I’m so grateful for the Master’s plans. Just another reason to worship!

A Righteous Man

Posted on by December 9, 2014
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And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. …
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. …
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. …
Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: (Matthew 1:16, 18-20, 24)

Joseph does not, to my mind, get enough credit. Faced with a wife who had gone astray he had rights. And the King James translation of Matthew’s gospel certainly presents us with a Joseph who suspected that his betrothed had committed adultery. There’s another view of Joseph’s reaction by the way, and we’ll come back to that.
If Joseph did look at the pregnant Mary and conclude — reasonably — that she had strayed he had a right, even an obligation, to shame her loudly and publicly. In fact at that time Jewish law called for the death penalty by stoning. But Joseph, being a just man was inclined to just quietly divorce her. The word translated as “just” can be interpreted as meaning legally righteous — but it also can mean “upright, just, fair; right, fair or equitable” — and that’s the Joseph who was so easily persuaded to stand by his betrothed.
Then there’s that other view of Joseph, that you don’t hear very often.
According to that other view, Joseph the humble carpenter was also the righteous and Biblical knowledgeable man who knew two things. He knew that his wife-to-be was pure, a virgin, and he knew that Isaiah had said “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 KJV)
Of course that leaves a question — if Joseph knew Mary had done no wrong, why was he willing to put her aside? Well Joseph was righteous — but he was also humble, too humble to be comfortable acting as father to God’s Son!
Whichever Joseph is the one you believe in, he was teachable. When the Holy Spirit told him to take Mary as his wife he set hesitation aside. Then he worked hard to take care of his family. For at least twelve years we know he was a husband to Mary and father to Jesus and His siblings. Then, of course, he disappears from the story … But those children grew up pretty well, didn’t they? I’m thinking Joseph was a pretty good husband and father. However that might be, Joseph — a righteous man — doesn’t get the credit he deserves!

You Better Watch Out!

Posted on by December 8, 2014
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Romans 3:23 — For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God;

You know the song …

You better watch out
you better not cry
you better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He’s making a list
And checking it twice
Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice
Santa Claus is coming to town

Santa’s rules: Every year you get a reset. Start from scratch, and the balance of naughty and nice will determine whether you get gifts under the tree or a lump of coal in your stocking. I wonder what age you were when you figured out that the world doesn’t work like that?
God’s economy, of course, is different. Would it surprise you to know that He has a list too? It’s called the “Book of Life” and the “Lamb’s Book of life”. The terms refer to the same thing — it is the list of those who are destined for eternal life, rather than an eternity in the lake of fire. There’s a few things we need to know about the Book of Life:
How does God make His list? Santa checks his list to see if you’ve been naughty or nice. The fancy theological term for that is he looks at your works. God doesn’t do it that way. He checks your faith. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9). At its simplest it comes down to believing in Jesus. Going just a little bit more deeply, it involves admitting that — just like everyone else you are a sinner, believing that Jesus paid the penalty for those sins and accepting Him as your Lord. Do that, and you’re on the list.
God’s list never resets! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
Oh … and like Santa, God coming to town! But nobody knows quite when, for as Jesus told his disciples: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. … Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. … Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” (Matthew 24:36, 42, 44)
So, if you’re not on the list, not in the Book of Life … “You better watch out” … because you don’t know when the Lord is coming.

Advent : WWJD?

Posted on by December 7, 2014
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Luke 1:30-31 — And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

I’ve been reading a great (but difficult) book about Easter Saturday. Jesus in the tomb. So perhaps it’s not surprising that, in this time of Advent, my mind should turn to Jesus in the womb.
My mind also turned to the 1990’s evangelical catchphrase — WWJD: “What would Jesus do?”. This time, however, it was “What was Jesus doing?” What was happening from when the Son of God was planted as a sesame seed sized embryo in Mary’s womb until He was born in that stable in Jerusalem?
Wow! Let’s stop and think about that one for a moment. The Son of God — God Himself — as a sesame seed sized embryo. I never thought about that before. I’m awestruck again.
O.K. I’m back! Meditating on that leaves me feeling that what was going on is a mystery I don’t need to penetrate. The mystery of Jesus’s birth shares something with the mystery of His death. Jesus lived every element of the human experience. I like the Message Bible version’s loose translation of 1 Peter 4:1-2, “Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.” Jesus went through everything we go through. Birth to death, hunger, fear, cold, pain, discouragement, desertion by friends, betrayal … It’s what He signed up for:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

That’s another of those passages of scripture that has so many lessons for us. This one is “life might be tough … But Jesus hasn’t just been through everything you’re going through … In fact He planned to do it, so He’d be perfectly ready to go through it with you”.
Sesame seed in the womb, to body in the tomb, to resurrected child of God. Jesus is ahead of us, every step of the way. That’s what He was doing in the womb. Praise Him forever!