CHANGE IN PLANS!

I have received some words of wisdom from some people who care about me (yep, there are a couple), and some prayerful consideration, I have decided not to do any blogging during my sabbatical.

We ALL need a break, so I hope you'll check back in June as we pick things up again...The good Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

Blessings and Peace to you in Christ Jesus, the Lord!

Sabbath Midrash

Very soon now I will be heading off on a month-long sabbatical, graciously offered to me by my church family. (Nice bunch of folks, they are!) My plans are to get in lots of reading and thinking time, and hopefully get back into a solid running routine. In all truth, I am REALLY anticipating this time of rest and reflection.

One of my desires during this sabbatical time is to focus upon the Songs of Ascent, taken from Psalms 120-134. Those songs of the community of pilgrims as they made their way to the city of Jerusalem for any one the annual Holy Days. I am going to endeavor to walk with the ancients, journeying with them as we seek to enter into worship and celebration. The Hebrews understood that the journey was meant for community, and that is where this blog comes in.

My desire is to approach these portions of God's Word in a manner which the Hebrews call "Midrash." Midrash can be defined as an ancient approach to Scripture interpretation that employs imaginative tools such as story, metaphor, argument and wordplay to search out the meaning of the text. It is a hermeneutic that understands that God gave us His Word not just as a text to be studied like a history book or a science text, but it is meant to be interacted with as one would face-to-face with another person. It is in God's Word that we not only read God's Word but we have a living encounter with a living person through His living Word. (Hebrews 4:12)

So, I invite you to join me on my journey. From time to time I will post the Psalm with which I am "journeying," and will share some of my thoughts of the journey, and I welcome yours as well. But, as we read the Word, I encourage us to live in it as well. Ask it questions, respond to its answers, be challenged and comforted with its truth.

If you are interested in learning more about the midrashic hermeneutic, there is a book I am presently reading, and finding helpful in the journey. It's entitled, "The Burning Word: A Christian Encounter with Jewish Midrash," by Judith Kunst.

So, let the journey begin. And as it does in the Psalms, we begin with Psalm 120. I'll post my thoughts come the first of the week. But feel free to join the conversation anytime.

Shalom!

1 I call on the LORD in my distress,
and he answers me.
2 Save me, O LORD, from lying lips
and from deceitful tongues.
3 What will he do to you,
and what more besides, O deceitful tongue?
4 He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows,
with burning coals of the broom tree.
5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech,
that I live among the tents of Kedar!
6 Too long have I lived
among those who hate peace.
7 I am a man of peace;
but when I speak, they are for war.

Working the Body

Today (April 13, 2008) my sermon was drawn from Article 7 of the new proposed Statement of Faith for the Evangelical Free Church of America. (All of this is part of my sermon series on what we believe, why we believe it, and what difference it should make in our live. The series in entitled, "It's Hard to Believe.")

The Article reads:

We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

After the morning service during our discussion time, aptly called "The Pastor's Study," because that's where we meet, our discussion turned to how do we, as the Body of Christ, live out the reality in our daily lives? How can we be the church outside the walls of the facility often referred as the church? As we threw around some ideas I was drawn to Jesus' words when He told His disciples that they were the "light of the world" and the "salt of the Earth" and by extension "Unhidden hilltop cities." I noted that Jesus did not say they would become these things, He said that they are these things.

Too often, I believe, we in the church feel that we are inadequate for the task for which we have been called, and that is to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. We feel unprepared, untrained. If only there was another class we could take, after the numerous ones we have already taken, on how to be good witnesses, or how to better share our faith. Doesn't strike you as odd that the first church didn't have class one in Friendship Evangelism, but people were added to the church on a daily basis, and sometimes in large numbers.

I believe, as those who have put their trust and faith in Jesus Christ, those who according to the Scriptures are born again, have what is needed. As the Holy Spirit has been given to abide in use we become the salt and light of which Jesus referred. Our task is therefore to go forth and live our lives by the power of Him who lives within us. We are to go forth and pray for those we shall and do encounter, and we go forth to compassionately, selfless, and even sacrificially care for the people we encounter on a daily basis. I guess another way to say that is we are to let the life of Christ live in and through us.

What do you think? This coming week, Lord willing, I am planning to address the issue what what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ in our world today? What does it mean to live incarnationally before our family and friends?

Have you any thoughts on those questions? I would love to hear your musings on what it means to be the church, rather than to just do church.

No Foolin'!

Given that this is April Fool's Day 2008, I thought it would be good to deal with an aspect of foolishness. Really. No kidding!

Last, week my sermon dealt with the Holy Spirit. Who He is -- God. What His focus is -- glorifying Jesus Christ. What His role is today -- to convict the world, convert the believing sinner, and to conform us to the likeness of God's Son. A lot to cover in a sermon...but it was done, albeit in a truncated form.

This week I felt it important to discuss a little more about what this all means for us as followers of Jesus Christ the Lord of all. What it mean to "Walk in the Spirit?" (Galatians 5:16)

In keeping with the April Fool's theme I take us to another portion of Galatians, a section that often is not directly connected with the portion on walking in the Spirit, that is Galatians 6:7-8. The Apostle Paul writes,

Do not be deceived (don't fool yourself), God is not mocked (not fooled by you). People reap what they sow. Those who sow to please their sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; those who sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Sadly, I find that too often we really don't believe the above truth from God's Word. We feel that we can both fool ourselves and fool God and without an dire consequences. I know I have sometimes lived under this very foolish and deadly notion!

In the 5th chapter of Galatians we are told to walk, be led, live and keep in step with the Spirit, and then there is the admonition to "be filled with the Spirit" in Ephesians 5:18. In other words, it is of critical importance to our daily life to stay intimately connected to the Holy Spirit. Note that is these verses there is a part that we play in living by the Spirit. Not only are we the ones who are to walk, live, and be filled, but we are also the ones to live a life that has nothing to do with the sinful nature. We are reminded that old way of life has been crucified with Christ. (Galatians 5:24) Not only should it not be part of us, it is not part of us, therefore is is ultimately foolish for us to partake in that old way of life. It's wrong in so many ways.

So, let us not be fools, using our God-given and God-blessed freedom to live for ourselves and to mangle God's grace, but let us be wise redeeming the day.

Any thoughts, O wizened ones?

A Ghostly Dwelling

Post-Disclaimer:
I realize that I have not been very consistent that last few weeks with my postings, please forgive me. The biggest reason has been I haven't had much of a creative thought to get myself going. That, and add to it the Easter Week "stuff" and well, there's my excuse!

In our ongoing sermon series, "It's Hard to Believe," we are using the proposed revision of the Statement of Faith of the Evangelical Free Church as a guide for our weekly messages. This week we move to Article Six which deals with the Holy Spirit. The Article reads:

We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

As I have been thinking about the Person and role of the Holy Spirit I have been reminded that He is the One who really makes the Body of Christ (the church) what it is. And thus the title of this week's blog entry, "A Ghostly Dwelling."

This title comes as a double-edged sword. Is the church a place so dead that only the ghosts of past life remain, or is it a place of the Holy Ghost's dwelling? We of course hope and pray that the latter truth holds sway.

The Holy Spirit's role (note: He's really not a ghost at all) is to bring people to become like Jesus. That "bringing" starts with convicting those without Jesus about their sin and their need for a Savior (John 16:8). Once a person responds to the grace offered in and through Jesus, then the Holy Spirit works to help us to become conformed to the image of God's Son. And to be a holy dwelling, not just as individuals, but as the family of God gathered, the Body of Christ, His Bride, the Church.

The struggle I face today, among many, is how is the church doing as a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Is he the indwelling, illuminating, guiding, equipping and empowering God is us that He must be, or has He been relegated to the role of the blessed anointer of our plans and programs?

I am coming to believe that for the last 40 years or so, the focus on the Holy Spirit has been in relationship to our individual lives, rather than to the binding of us together as the Body of Christ. The church's focus, (at least in the west, and specifically in the United States,) has been upon the individual rather than the incarnational aspect of the Body of Christ. There is lots that could be said in this regard, some which has been the topic of this blog in the past, but I would like to address the issue once more as we contemplate the role of the Holy Spirit in the life and heart of the church.

A question that was thrown at me many years ago, in the early days of my professional ministry, was, "How long would it take for you to notice if the Holy Spirit left your church's ministry?" Thus, how long would things go on status quo before the bottom dropped out? Sadly, in some of the ministries in which I have been involved in the past, it might have been months, maybe years before we realized that He was "gone." Why? Because He was never really "there" in the first place. That's not to say that He was never actually present, and that He did bless in spite of us many times, but that we were really running on our own power, rather than His.

I think this is a good question to ask on a continuing basis. In light of that I would like to direct you to a couple of other blogs I read today. I don't necessarily agree with everything the blogger writes, but there are many thoughts that resonated with my heart. I encourage you to consider what the author writes. The blog is entitled, "They Love the Church, but Not the Institution" and it comes in two entries. And I encourage you to pray with me, that we would be the church of Jesus Christ, that is we belong to Him, we are His Body, and thus we need to be indwelt, illumined, guided, equipped and empowered by God, the Holy Spirit.

Jesus for President!

JESUS FOR PRESIDENT! Not quite, "HOSANNA, BLESSED HE IS WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!" But, maybe not too far off in the minds of those crowding the streets of Jerusalem on that day we remember as Palm Sunday. They were surely as fickle and celebrity-driven as we are today. On that first day of the week they wanted to crown Him king, but less than a week later they recanted and responded to the local religious leadership to call for His crucifixion. Talk about a volatile political situation!

Why the quick change? Why did the religious leadership hate Him so? Sure, He did agree with their question about being God. (Matthew 26:63-66) But more than that I believe he was shaking up their whole system. They desired a Messiah and a Savior, but only according to their design and understanding. With Jesus it was not the status quo. It was Samaritan women, tax-gathers, and prostitutes standing side-by-side with priests and rabbis. The Kingdom of God wasn't just pushing at the walls of their religious system, it was blowing them clear away. You can understand their fear.

As I approach the celebration of Palm Sunday this weekend, I am once again drawn to the question of how I would have responded to the events of that Passion Week. Would I have gone from "Hosanna!" to "Hang him!"? I pray not! I hope I would have welcomed, with open heart and arms, the One who was to be crowned King of the Jews. I pray I would have welcomed and embraced the coming of the Kingdom of God.

But, I wonder...would I?

I surely welcome Jesus now into my heart as Lord, as Savior. I pray, and even work from time to time, for His Kingdom to come. But as I take a hard look at my Lord's declarations of what the Kingdom is, I realize how "wall-destroying" His teaching is. This was powerful placed before me as a result of my attendance at the National Pastors Convention about two weeks ago.

During the convention I was privileged to attend a panel discussion led by the host of Speaking of Faith, Krista Tippet. The panel was comprised of Chuck Colson, Rev. Gregory Boyd, and Shane Claiborne. They most definitley covered the political spectrum. It was an enlightening and informative, as well as thought-provoking time.

Toward the end of the discussion a question was asked from those gathered about what the Kingdom of God looks like, sadly, the question was never really answered. I gave the question some thought and came to the conclusion that if you want to know what the Kingdom looks like take a read of Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount. Certainly this is not all that the Kingdom is, but it is a good start. Jesus' teaching, recorded by Matthew, set out what it means to follow Him. It is teaching that begins to blow away the box of our religiosity.

As I thought about it some more (while running through the woods of Henry Cowell State Park) I was struck and humbled by the thought that most of the ministry professionals gathered at the National Pastors Convention really did not want the Kingdom of God to be established right now. If we did, then we really could not be attending such events that cost us hundreds of dollars in fine hotels and good food and conference entertainment. Money that would be better spent to care for widows and orphans and the things closer to the heart of the Lord, things that deal with justice and mercy. (Micah 6:8).

Please don't take me for bitter and jaded, I am rather feeling quite convicted and humbled. I see myself in the Palm Sunday crowd cheering for the coming Deliverer, but once faced with what that deliverance would cost me, I quickly become one of the cowards in the crowd.

The challenge for me is strong. The Kingdom of God is not just about then and there, it is about here and now (Luke 10:9 among others) If Jesus is Lord, and with that Lord of all, then what He says, goes. Yes, it is difficult! Yes, it blows the walls off my religion! But it is His Kingdom, and I as one who has chosen to believe and follow, to enjoy the God's glorious grace, must be one who seeks to live in the reality of His Kingdom and rule. Oh, I am so far from the mark. But, as the Apostle Paul declared I push on toward the goal, the upward call in Christ. (Philippians 3:12-14)

May I truly live out the proclamation, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD."

Jesus is Not a Big Deal

Now, lest you start writing a powerful quick and vehement response based upon the title of this blog, please read on...at least for awhile. Some people asked the question, "So, what's the big deal with Jesus?" The reality is that Jesus is not a big deal, He's the whole deal! (This thought is not original with me. I gleaned it from Andrew Purves book, "The Crucifixion of Ministry," pg. 43ff) You see it is all about Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote,

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)

This week's sermon deals with the fourth article in our Proposed Statement of Faith for the Evangelical Free Church of America. It states,

We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel's promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

This article is critical to who we are as evangelical Christians. It not only defines what we believe, but who we are. The church rises and falls upon the truth contained within this article of our Statement of Faith. In it's lines we learn of who Jesus is, and what He came to accomplish, and how He accomplish it as well. As the old hymn reminds us, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness."

The power of this belief we hold is beautifully stated forth in the Apostle Paul's letter to the Philippians, and as Paul's prologue says, the basis for our Christian life and unity are bound up in this eternal reality. The Word of God records,

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature£ of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)

Vital to our understanding of Jesus Christ and His mission is the reality of His dual nature, that He is both fully God and fully man. As can be imagined, this is truly a great and awesome mystery, one that is not easily explained, but yet is crucial to our faith. In fact, it is a truth that we must hold on to by faith alone. Truth be known it is this mystery which continues to draw me to Christ, and helps me to remember that He is God, and I am not. I must remember that His reality cannot be limited by my capacity to comprehend. In this regard I appreciate the song by Graham Kendrick entitled, Meekness and Majesty. Part of the song declares,

Meekness and majesty manhood and deity
In perfect harmony the Man who is God
Lord of eternity dwells in humanity
Kneels in humility and washes our feet
O what a mystery meekness and majesty
Bow down and worship for this is your God
This is your God.

It is the great and awesome mystery of God Incarnate that draws me to my knees, and causes me to confess, with all of creation, Jesus Christ is Lord!

So, you see, Jesus is not the big, He is the whole deal. It is all about Him, the One who is God incarnate. The Eternal One, made flesh. The Sovereign God come to be our Savior. What a majestic mystery.