Archive for » October, 2006 «

John’s Preposition

Tuesday, October 31st, 2006 | Author:

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth   1 John 1:6

With – What’s so important about a preposition?  Who cares about those little words like in, over, before, or about?  If you’re reading John’s New Testament contributions, there’s at least one preposition that’s very important.  It’s meta (with).  John uses it with a special sense.  It is his way of describing discipleship.  Fellowship with Jesus means allowing Jesus to clean up my whole life (see John 13:8) and participating in the community of the washed.  The nuance of meta in John’s writing is the idea of being in the midst of something.  So, if I am going to have fellowship with Jesus, He must be in the midst of me and I must be in the midst of the community established by Him. 

John tells us that Jesus in the midst has special significance for my actions.  If I claim that Jesus is with me, but my behavior doesn’t fully disclose this total involvement in the midst, then something is wrong.  I can’t claim fellowship in the midst and, at the same time, act in ways that deny His authority.  I am either walking in the Way, or I am not.  It’s not possible for me to serve God with a part of me while deliberately withholding some other area from His lordship.  It’s possible for me to be ignorant, but once I know the truth, I must submit to it or else I live without Him.

We agree, don’t we?  We know that consistency is essential to obedience.  We want to have deep fellowship with Jesus.  Nothing could be more thrilling than to walk the road of life with His constant companionship.  It’s possible, but it comes at a price.  The price is submission to criticism.  The Father intends to bring us into conformity with the Son.  To do that, He must enlighten us wherever we are out of harmony with Jesus.  So, wherever our thoughts and deeds do not display the character of the Son, we receive critical correction.  It might come in prayer.  It might come in conversation.  It might come in community.  But it will come, over and over, as long as we live.  The price we must pay is the price of humility and confession.  We must accept what God brings to mind when He calls our attention to a meta failure, confess our fault and fix it.  We pay this price in ego currency.  Each new revelation gives me the opportunity to empty another one of my ego bank accounts.  And each time I empty an ego account, God replaces it with meta fellowship. 

Along the Way, we learn to become more and more sensitive to the prepositions of the Spirit.  In Christ.   Because of Him. With Jesus.  Through Him.  By His power.  Together.  And one day, before the throne, face to face.

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Body and Soul

Monday, October 30th, 2006 | Author:

no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and to the Lord.   Philemon 16

Flesh – Only once.  This verse, in this shortest of Paul’s letters, holds the distinction of being the only place in the entire New Testament where these two circles are connected by the Greek word “and” (kai).  Philemon, the returning Christian convert, is not only a brother in the flesh, he is also a brother in the Lord.  Flesh and Spirit are combined in a unique way right here.

You may say, “So, what’s the big deal?  He’s a brother in his physical body and also a brother in his spiritual adoption.”  Absolutely true.  The impact is not the obvious dual role that Philemon now enjoys.  The impact is that Paul uses the Greek word sarx (flesh) with the same endorsement as kyrios (Lord).  And this is important!

We have been raised in a religious culture where the “flesh” is almost universally seen as something evil.  We think of it as the source of our fight with sin, as the part of us that is the curse of humanity and must be put away if we are to be holy.  This view has so infiltrated our thinking that the NIV routinely translates sarx as “sinful nature” rather than “flesh.”  As far as the translators were concerned, flesh and sinful nature are the same thing.  But this verse erases that idea.  My body is not evil.  I am not a spirit held captive in a sin container.  To think that way is to succumb to a Greek heresy.  And Paul was no Greek.

Paul was a Hebrew.  His concept of human being is based in Hebrew revelation, not Greek philosophy.  Why does this matter to you and me?  Because we are the product of Greeks, not Hebrews.  The Greeks viewed man as the sum of many parts, a microcosm with reason at the center, trapped here in this earthly realm, waiting to escape.  We think in terms of the body, mind and soul (or some such partition).  We believe that the body belongs to the lower part of nature while the soul carries a spark of the higher realm of heaven.  Hebrews do not think like this (and neither does the Bible, by the way).  Hebrews viewed man in terms of relationship, not components.  Man is what he is because of his relationship to God.  Man is a unity, not a divided entity, and when he is not in relation to God, all of what he is, is broken.  He is not a body waiting to be filled with a new spirit, nor is he a spirit longing for a new body.  He is flesh.  That is the way he is related to God in this world.  Even when his relation to God is good, he is still related to God as flesh.  Flesh is the totality of man as he is.  God redeems all of man when He grants mercy and forgiveness.

What does this mean to me?  It means that God redeems me, as flesh.  God does not redeem my soul and then expect me to wage war against myself.  He moves all of me, all at once, into a new relationship with Him so that I can serve Him with all my heart, mind and strength.  That means I put my entire existence in the flesh under His authority.  I cannot serve God with my mind alone.  I must serve Him in the flesh.  At last, I am free to be exactly what I am – sarx serving God.

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At Snail’s Pace?

Sunday, October 29th, 2006 | Author:

I tell you that He will bring about justice for them speedily.   Luke 18:8

Speedily – If it weren’t for this word, we would have no argument with Jesus.  If it weren’t for this word, we would stand beside Martha at the tomb of her brother and acknowledge the last judgment.  If it weren’t for this word, we could understand the death of a child, the rape of the poor, the oppression of the righteous and the destruction  of God’s domain.  But there is no getting around this word.  Jesus said it, so I must come to terms with it.  How is it possible to believe that God will bring justice to His elect speedily?  Abraham waited 400 years.  Isaiah waited 800.  You and I have been waiting 2000.  What is the matter?  Is time so unimportant to God that He claims speed for a snail?

The Greek is from the root tachus.  In English, we see the same root in “tachometer.”  Time in quick succession.  The seconds ticking away.  Rapidly.  Thousands of ticks every day and the sun speeds toward the horizon.  There can be no question that this word, in any context, means fast.  Justice, says Jesus, is only a second away.

But I don’t see it.  I see murder, rape, destitution, persecution, poverty and desperation.  Of course, I can look the other way.  I can pretend that the rest of the world is like my backyard.  I can shield myself from reality in my insulated cocoon of affluence.  But I don’t think Jesus meant that I can speedily look in the other direction.  That is not justice.  Actually, it is sin!

So, what did Jesus mean? 

This word is used only rarely in the New Testament, but three of those occurrences are important.  The first is Romans 16:20.  Satan will soon be crushed.  The second is Revelation 1:1.  These things must shortly come to pass.  The last is Revelation 22:6.  The words are faithful and must shortly take place.  But we still wait for the return of the King and Satan still roams like a roaring lion.  Nevertheless (and it’s a very big “nevertheless”), the battle for justice is over!  We do not see the final act, but the successful end is now inevitable!  We can go on, living in the tension of the “now, but not yet” because “through death He rendered powerless him who had the power of death  . . and delivered those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

Has final justice been served?  No, and yes.  No, the enemy still attacks.  But yes, the enemy has been stripped of his power, for we no longer fear his threat of death.  Justice is served for death has been robbed of its sting.  Now!  Speedily!  You and I need never again fear what might happen to us in a world where the enemy thrashes about as a shark caught on a line.  His day is finished; his end inevitable.  He holds no power over me.

And speedily, all the rest will come to be.

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You Are What You Make

Saturday, October 28th, 2006 | Author:

Those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them.   Psalm 115:8

Like Them – There is an inexorable law of God’s universe found in every creative act.  It applies to everyone.  There are no exceptions.  Put simply, it is “You are what you make.”  The Psalmist summarizes a long description of the creation of idols with this law.   He talks about statues of silver and gold, things that have mouths but cannot speak, ears but cannot hear and eyes but cannot see.  Don’t dismiss the imagery.  It’s worth seriously considering in our cultural manifestations.

What do you make?  If you’re saturated with the culture of the Western world, you make money.  You make a reputation.  You make a legacy.  You make success.  You make empires, technology, houses and castles, families, art, music, achievements.  The list is long.  It is closely associated with that hideous identity question, “What do you do?”  There are some things on the list that we don’t brag about – pleasure and power, for example.  But we might also add, “I make poverty,” when I choose to ignore the plight of others in protection of myself.  The Bible is very clear.  We are never to bow down or serve anything that we make.

The Hebrew puts “like them” (kemohim) first in the sentence.  The emphasis is on the powerlessness and futility of our idols.  None can rescue.  None can provide.  None can guide.  Everyone who trusts in these creations of our own hands will be just as powerless, just as dumb, deaf and blind.  And yet we go right on bowing down and serving, don’t we?

Watchman Nee speaks an incredible truth when he says, “All work to be effective must depend for its continuance upon the power of God alone.”  But that is not what we do.  We use our own resources, ingenuity, creativity and effort to bring about our version of God’s purposes.  We create an idol in the midst of the sanctuary because it is made by human hands, even if we call it the work of God.  We worship our own worship, our spiritual achievement and religious zeal.  We sing the opening words of this Psalm (“Not to us, but to You, be the glory”) and then proceed to push the work with our human effort.  What fools we have become!  What would happen to our lives if we stopped and waited for God to act before we took another step forward?  How much of our lives are really a measure of all that we can do without God?  Our solution is doing something to fill the void.  God’s requirement is doing nothing until He fills the void.

Are you what you make?  Or, are you happy to wait until God makes you what He wants?

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One Condition

Friday, October 27th, 2006 | Author:

No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly  Psalm 84:11

Uprightly – I want tov in my life – all those prosperous, useful, beneficial things that God has designed into my plan and purpose.  Amazingly, God wants to give them to me.  But there are two ends to the delivery chain – send and receive.  God wants to send, but not until I am willing to receive.  He doesn’t waste the good things.  That would defeat the whole purpose of good.  God waits until I sign the acceptance form.  Then He provides “just in time” delivery.

David tells me that acceptance form looks like tamiym, the Hebrew word for blameless, righteous and virtuous.  I walk with tamiym.  God delivers tov.  Simple, right?  All I have to do is pay attention to the right path.  God promises it.  I know it.  So, why do I have so much trouble?

What does tamiym look like?  Honesty, justice, peace, blamelessness, sincerity, genuineness, reliability, purity, faithfulness, forgiveness – sort of a summary of the attributes of the Sender.  You might be able to add a few more.  Making the list is not the critical task.  The critical task is living the list – in every moment.  There are times when I am quite certain that I am living the list.  They are joyful expressions of gratitude to the God Who enables me to enjoy His company and share His character.  Then there are other times, when the delivery of tov is not so obvious because I am not so tamiym.  In order to complete my side of the list, I need to add two more characteristics that belong only on the human end of the equation:  hope and repentance.  God does not have to hope, but I do because I live in a world where I experience the disconnect between desire and fulfillment.  God never has to repent, but I do because I fail to meet the standard of holiness.  Blessed be the Lord, He is willing for me to hope and repent.

If I had no other verse to live by, I would still be refreshed and empowered.  God truly desires to give me everything useful for my purpose.  He wants my life to be in good working condition, properly fitted into the plan.  And He wants me to walk uprightly, so much so that He is willing to help, forgive and restore.

How about you?  Are you tov hungry (Matthew 5:6)?  Then embrace an ancient motto with me:  walk uprightly.

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Spock was Hebrew

Thursday, October 26th, 2006 | Author:

No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly  Psalm 84:11

Good – “Live long and prosper,” is the Vulcan greeting in Star Trek.  Spock might as well have used the Hebrew word tov.  Occurring 738 times in the Old Testament, the general idea of tov is utilitarian.  To be “good” is to be well-suited for the right purpose, to be in proper, working order and to be beneficial to life.  So, when God observes His creative activity in Genesis 1 and proclaims it tov, He is telling us that it is all in proper order, perfectly designed to do what it is supposed to do.  That, by the way, includes how you and I were designed – to fit perfectly into the proper order established by God.

Tov is the ultimate word for serviceable, but unlike the Greek idea of “good”, tov is not about some abstract quality that belongs to the ideal.  For the Hebrew, tov is about my personal assessment of what works for me.  It is subjective personal advantage that qualifies something as “good.”  That is why Ecclesiastes 9:7 can say that eating, drinking and making merry are “good”, without any hint of condemnation.  If it benefits my life and the life of my community, it is “good.”  Of course, since my life and my community are intimately intertwined with the will of God, no good thing will ever oppose Him.  On the other hand, He will provide me with every good thing because doing so accomplishes His purpose for me and my community.

Sound good, doesn’t it?  God designs me to fit in a perfect way and then provides all that I need in order to accomplish that purpose.  Every thing He gives is good because it is for my benefit and is serviceable.  I am satisfied (another nuance of tov) because I am doing and being exactly what I was meant to do and be.  Perfect fit.

There is a flip-side.  To not serve according to the perfect fit of my design is to turn away from the good God gives.  It is essentially the same as rejecting Him and serving other gods.  Let that sink in a minute.  If I am not doing the perfect thing that God has designed me to do, then I am not fitting into the proper, working order of His created universe.  If I am not fitting His universe, then I am trying to make the universe into my own version of creation, and, ipso facto, I am serving and worshipping something other than God.

This sets up the only real question:  Am I doing exactly what God designed me to do?  No good thing will be withheld from me if I am perfectly in alignment.  But if I’m not, well, that’s another story.

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Retirement Planning

Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 | Author:

No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly  Psalm 84:11

Withhold – Start now!  Save.  Watch your resources carefully.  Retirement, the golden age of relaxation, is a big seller these days.  Entire communities are billed as “retirement living.”  The advertisement on the radio says, “Will you outlive your money or will your money outlive you?”  You have to plan ahead, right?  (Of course, even if you have a lot of money when you die, it isn’t yours anymore, is it?)

God has a retirement plan too.  But it’s not heaven.  God’s retirement plan has a slightly shorter focus – tomorrow!  God deals in the reality of life today, not in the mythology of life at some future “retirement” age.  From God’s perspective, retirement is a fiction of the imagination.  Once I become a follower of Jesus, I never retire.  I might move to another location (called heaven), but I will be serving and working forever.  There’s no shuffleboard in heaven (and there aren’t any driving license eye exams either).

This verse tells us everything we need to know about God’s version of retirement.  God withholds nothing from those who walk uprightly.  You don’t have to save for centuries.  You are not required to set up an IRA.  You don’t need a pension.  God gives it all, all the good stuff.  He is the guarantor of goodness. 

To see just how comprehensive God’s control over life really is, we need to look at a few instances of this Hebrew word, mana’ (no, it’s not the same as manna from heaven).  This Hebrew verb means, “to keep away, to withhold, to deny.”  God kept Rachel from becoming pregnant (Genesis 30:2).  He held back rain as a warning of judgment (Amos 4:7).  Wisdom and understanding are withheld from evil people (Job 38:15).  And it is a mistake to withhold discipline from a child (Proverbs 23:13).  There is a lot under the umbrella of good things God does not withhold.  Try making a list sometime.  Actually, today would be a good day to do this.  Start with the fact that you can see this text.  God did not withhold sight from your eyes nor thoughts from your mind.  He was under no obligation to provide any of this, or any of the hundreds of gifts we take for granted each day, but He gave anyway. 

Since God gives every good thing to those who walk uprightly, the only critical issue for retirement is how you walk.  All the of the rest is up to God.  The truth behind God’s version of retirement planning is that you have no control at all over the span of your life.  If you don’t do today what should be done of the Kingdom, there is absolutely no guarantee that you will have tomorrow to do what should have been done today.  Take a look at Proverbs 3:27.  Today is a lo mana day – a day of not withholding.  The day is coming when God will remove the lo (not) in that phrase and suddenly something else will not be withheld – His judgment.  Today, my friend, is the only day of your life.  Today God delivers all good things.

QUESTION:  So, you might be inclined to ask, “Does this mean that I should not be saving for retirement?”  NO, not exactly. What it means is that if I think that my saving for retirement is the solution to my financial needs, I am greatly mistaken. If I think that retirement means vacation from God’s employment, I am mistaken. If I think that my financial nest egg is what life is about, I am mistaken. And if I am planning and saving in order to take care of me, then I have missed what God has in mind. The only purpose of financial retirement is to make myself of more use to the kingdom. If God wants and asks me to plan for financial retirement, then by all means I must do so. But doing so simply because the culture tells me it is the prudent and self-sustaining thing to do is not the right motive.  Motive before action, always!  And motive must be driven my God’s word to me, not by my design for myself.

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What Binds Me

Tuesday, October 24th, 2006 | Author:

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies   Psalm 23:5

Enemies – Who is my enemy?  Is he the one who stands against me with sword in hand?  Is he the one with a bomb concealed in a bag?  Is he the one with a finger on the trigger?  Or the one who threatens my job or my family?  When Jesus prepared His table, was the enemy a man named Judas?  Or does this word point us in another direction?

The Hebrew tsarar is a root word that means “to show hostility toward.”  In one form, it is certainly about an adversary or oppressor.  But it has another form where it takes on the nuance of being bound, distressed, hemmed in, confined and troubled.  In other words, there are enemies outside and there are enemies inside.  Freedom from outside oppressors does not guarantee liberty.  Liberty is freedom from a distressed and bound heart.   Liberty is first a inside job.

When God prepares a table that satisfies, He does it in the presence of those things that prevent my enjoyment of His nourishment.  God does not ask me to help in the preparation because He knows that I am bound, confined and constrained.  I can’t help.  I am tied up by my enemies.  But that doesn’t stop God from inviting me to watch Him work, making a meal fit for a king.  And when it is ready, He invites me to sit and eat with Him, to display His liberating power right where it matters most, in the presence of those enemies that have swallowed me up.

God’s meal is liberty.  God serves up redemption.  His finest wine is the blood of forgiveness.  His greatest entrée is the body of restoration.  Nothing else satisfies like the meal that brings me peace.  When God serves, He unties me and sends my enemies away.

At God’s Table, I discover freedom.  At God’s Table, I experience grace.  At God’s Table, my tongue learns the taste of praise.  I drink favor and eat the fruit of obedience.  I learn to be poured-out wine and broken bread, and in the process I am fed.  All in the presence of my enemies.

There is no other table in the world that satisfies like God’s table.

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Displaying the Obvious

Monday, October 23rd, 2006 | Author:

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies   Psalm 23:5

In the presence of – If you are going to enjoy the feast God is arranging, you will have to give up your microwave mentality.  God is a gourmet chef.  He takes His time.  And when everything is ready, He presents the meal.  Every great chef knows that the food is only part of a successful meal.  The other part is the presentation.  That’s the difference between McDonald’s Big Mac in a cardboard box and Spago’s almond-crusted salmon on a fine china plate with swirls of vodka cream sauce in an artistic display.  When God prepares His invitation-only banquet, He delivers it with the finest presentation in the universe.

David uses the Hebrew word neged.  This is not just any preposition.  This word means ”to place conspicuously or set high on display.”  The table before me can be seen by everyone.  God’s banquet is not hidden from my enemies.  It is deliberately presented so that they cannot miss the sight.  It is a testimony to the glory of the chef, held right in front of them.

Is God egotistical?  Does He flaunt His talent?  Of course not!  God conspicuously presents His meal because I need to learn a great kitchen lesson.  My invitation-only banquet with the Father is entirely His affair.  He determines the time, the place, the decoration, the arrangements and the food.  No enemy has any effect on this occasion.  And neither do I.  I am invited to enjoy it, not to make it.  This is God’s craftsmanship on display.

We have forgotten the gourmet God.  In a culture of speed demons, we want God’s instant oatmeal provisions.  The problem we face is not the lack of God’s provision but rather our lack of patience with the preparation.  We get up and go back to the battle before the meal is served because we think that the goal of life is to win the war.  Not so.  God is quite capable of handling all the enemies without me.  The goal of life is to experience the banquet in unhurried fellowship.  It has always been about feasting with God, not about fighting His foes.  The first order of business given to Man was to eat (see Genesis 2:16 – literally, “in feasting you may feast”).  God is the Great Shepherd King.  He protects (the enemies are powerless) and provides (the meal is prepared). 

A microwave life is a life of stupidity and insult.  Did you think you could leave the table at the end of the first course, just because you heard the enemy’s taunt?  Who made you the knight in shining armor?  Relax and enjoy God forever.  Unplug the microwave.  The real meal is on display.  Where are you going in such a hurry?

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Face Time

Sunday, October 22nd, 2006 | Author:

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies   Psalm 23:5

Before – God knows that the best part of a meal is cooking, not eating.  Of course, it’s wonderful to enjoy the fruits of the chef’s labor.  But it’s far more engaging to be in the kitchen while the meal is being prepared.  Then you get to witness the gathering of the fresh foods, the expertise of the chef, the secrets of his recipes.  You are part of the smells, the tastes and the ambiance.  In fact, in some of the world’s great restaurants, the best table is literally in the kitchen, reserved for those very few, special guests of the chef. 

David wants us to see that God is not a chef behind the scenes.  He doesn’t make the meal hidden from our sight and then invite us to the banquet table.  He prepares the meal in our faces.  That’s the root of this Hebrew word, liphnay.  It comes from panim, the word for “face.”  God’s culinary work in our lives is accomplished right in front of us.  The miracle of God’s kitchen is revelation, not mystery.  Wolfgang Puck might have secret recipes, but God does not (and God’s meals are far more satisfying).  God’s cooking is plainly revealed to all who come to His table because God invites us to watch Him work.

David saw God’s handiwork.  So can you and I.  Everyday, God is busy arranging the meal for us.  Right in front of our faces, and in the presence of our enemies, God cooks up the best life has to offer.  And more than that, He invites us into His presence to enjoy this wonderful feast.  The best meal with the best company – that’s God’s idea of gourmet dining!

Are you watching the work at God’s table?  Do you see that His culinary skill is educating your palette?  Have you noticed that being in His kitchen makes you hungry for food only He can prepare?  It’s all happening right in front of your face, if you take the time to look.  God is not secretly off behind the kitchen door, concocting mysterious morsels that He plans to present without explanation.  He is changing the ordinary into the extraordinary before your face.  He is creating the chef’s delight – something as old as Eden and as new as tomorrow.  He is delivering the only meal that will satisfy your soul.

Come to the table and watch.

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