Identity in Christ

Moving through the book of Luke onward to reading the bible in one year, I came across the passage of the ten lepers, Luke 17:11-19.  Have a read of it.  In a nutshell, Jesus passes 10 lepers in a village who call out to him to have mercy on them.  Being the Son of God, he naturally had mercy upon them and healed their physical infirmity.  Only one returned to offer thanks—a Samaritan.  Why should this matter?  On the surface, it is a poke in the eye to the Jews that, not only a non-Jew but a most scoffed at and vilified Samaritan would do the right thing, a la the parable of the Good Samaritan.  But is this all there is?  Naturally not—Jesus would not be so bland.  The story goes deeper.

There are in the account 10 lepers of which one gets singled out as a Samaritan.  This suggests that the other 9 were not.  The note in my ESV bible says that by “placing this statement later in the story also serves to emphasize that the only grateful leper was a Samaritan.”  Who were the others?  Jews? Pagans?  Romans?  Or a mixture of all of the above?  So here is a group of people, ten to be exact, who in their filthy state are willing to live together in the interest of self-preservation.  In other words, it is their miserable state that has brought them together in mutual survival.  But is it enough to keep them together after their cleansing?  Will they stay together out of mutual friendship?   These people have a choice before them, to return to their original state of mutual hatred as dictated by their cultural norms or to maintain their relationship based upon past trials and experiences disregarding their previous situation.  What do you think will happen?  Naturally, we are not told.

As Jesus does so remarkably well, he includes us in part of this story.  As Christians, we have been cleansed from our iniquities, for which we are eternally thankful.  We return to him to offer our thanks, once, twice…daily.  But we do not return to our original state of separation from “those who are not like us”.  The group of lepers, whatever their nationality, ethnicity, or religion, are a new “family” because they have been washed clean from their physical and spiritual iniquity and can demonstrate to those they encounter that their previous differences no longer matter–they in fact were a hindrance to their survival.  So say we.  For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.  For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.  What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” 2Peter 2:20-22

What is this to us?  What is your nationality?  What is your ethnicity?  What is your race?  What is your religion?  What is your sex?  Where do you live?  How much money do you have or don’t have?  What kind of car do you drive?  How many children do you have or not have?  While the things of this world matter a lot because this is where we live, they also matter little in light of our salvation in Christ.  Our family, nations, ethnicity, religion, etc. is in Christ.  Now “rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Pivot Points

This is a concept that I have not completely fleshed out but thought I would put it out there. I played basketball, briefly in my youth, and know pivoting is one of the game’s fundamentals. One foot is cemented to the ground allowing the player to pivot around that one point. Moving the foot that the player establishes as his pivot foot constitutes a foul and he gets called for traveling.

Inhabiting a world run amok, we are faced with numerous decisions to make—work here, work there; live here, live there; say this, say that; believe this, believe that; do this, do that; support this, support that. Shall I go on? These decisions take us one way or another, sometimes in opposite directions, some just slightly different (see Course Corrections blog). In any case there seems to be a pivot point that determines whether we go one way or another and it is this point that I want to discuss.

Given the nature of some of the decisions we make in our lives, colleges, marriages, babies, houses, burial plots, they can be quite momentous and so entirely life altering making the pivot point the difference between one baby or three, or living in Springfield, Virginia or Canberra Australia. Those are big differences. As Christians, what is our pivot point? What is the point that moves us one way or another? Well, the answer is obvious, it is Christ and the cross.

Sometimes, while the pivot point is surely Christ, we are provided lee-way. What I mean is that within the church, for example, there are many ministries where we can put our voices or our hands to good use and God receives the glory, as He surely must. Whether we opt to join the choir which practices on Thursday evenings or work at a homeless shelter on that same evening, sometimes the choice is really ours. God sometimes does not say specifically what He wants us to do because He allows us to choose where we would like to spend that evening, because in the end, He knows that He will be glorified in either case. Sometimes that choice lasts for a season and then He decides it is right for us to do something else. Through prayer and study we “get the message” that He wants us to move on.

At other times these decisions are not ours. When we have the scriptures laid out before us, many decisions are much easier to make. Others, however, not so much. For instance, whether to live in Springfield or Canberra. In one sense, it doesn’t matter in that God can use us where ever we are. In another, it matters tremendously if he doesn’t want us in Springfield, but instead wants us in Canberra to be useful to Him there. So the decision of whether or not to pack up and move to another part of the world pivots on the desires of God and the only way we can know His desires is through prayer and the scriptures (and the occasional sermon smacking us between the eyes).

Now, I have to pick up a thread from another blog, the one entitled Deconstructing Jenga. Followers of Christ have a decision to make as to whether or not to attend same-sex weddings. A friend has invited us to attend his/her wedding to his/her partner. If our pivot point is Christ and the Cross, the decision is rather an easy one—we do not attend because of all the reasons mentioned in the previous blog. If, on the other hand we opt to attend the wedding of a same sex couple our pivot point changes. In the case where our friend decides not to get married, we don’t have a wedding to go to because obviously there is no wedding taking place. If, however, this loved one does decide to get married, and we decide to go, then this friend becomes our pivot point—we don’t go because he/she will not be getting married; we go because he/she has decided to get married. Put simply, whether or not some Christians attend a same-sex wedding is decided by whether or not their friends are having a wedding. Our decision is made based on what our friend does and not upon what Christ has already done. In basketball parlance—we have changed our pivot point, committed a foul, and will get called for traveling.

It does not end well when members of the body of believers choose any pivot point other than Christ and the cross. Our moorings wander and we are like “a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.”  I realize I am mixing my metaphors but this is dangerous stuff and such linguistic fouls are called for to address biblical fouls.  Lost souls bobbing around can get picked up and tossed by any wave that comes along driving them farther away from their proper mooring point, the immutable Christ.

Standing with our friends in their same-sex wedding, will necessitate our standing by when /if they choose to adopt or go through IVF depriving the child/children of a mother or father, by definition.  Standing with our friends in their same-sex marriage will necessitate standing with them when/if they or heterosexual friends want to broaden their family unit to include a third party.  What argument could we possibly give to decline?  And if we stand with our same-sex friends in their wedding, won’t we stand with another friend who wants to marry his sister, or brother, or mother, or father, or aunt, or uncle…?  Surely they want what everyone else has in a committed and loving relationship.  It is their right, certainly. On what basis could we possibly say that their relationship is not suitable?  What pivot point will we choose since we have already moved away from Christ? Where does God receive the glory?  Where is the gospel proclaimed? Where is Christ’s sacrifice celebrated?  Where is repentance? Where is love?  Gone, all gone. And we have stood by to heap sin upon sin and propel this world into greater corruption. We do not deserve Christ–never have, never will. Thankfully, it is not up to us and what we deserve we could not endure.  Christ and Christ alone takes what we justly deserve thereby saving our skins for His service.

Shirts and skins, anyone?

Fools Rush In

Patience…not my long suit. People often pray that the Lord will provide them the patience to see a situation through to the end. Well, it has been my experience that those things that we want to be better at are just the things the Lord gives us many opportunities to practice. Being impatient about patience leaves me chasing my tail and just as impatient as before I started. In other words, be careful what you pray for—the Lord will give you every opportunity to practice it.

A proverb comes to mind, actually a line from a poem by Alexander Pope (An Essay on Criticism) “…fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” This is it in a nutshell. We are foolish to rush headlong into something for many reasons. Do we really know what the situation is? Do we know what was said and in what context? Do we know the people involved? Do we know the history of the circumstances? So much to assess in order to make an informed comment. Internet surfers would do well to temper their thoughts and comments to answer some of these questions before they pound out a missive that will be immortalized on the internet (I know whereof I speak). And of course we know this is all true because the king himself sang of it:

Or if you prefer, a reggae version by UB40:

Or one I particularly like in a bluesy fashion:

The bible is replete with examples of people who rushed headlong into action before knowing the situation. Abram sought to pass off his wife Sarai as his sister thinking it would save his hide while sojourning with Pharaoh. This brought down plagues and afflictions upon the Pharaoh and his household. Not learning the first time he does it again (Genesis 20) to Abimelech. Several hundred years later, Saul, impatient for Samuel to arrive offers sacrifices to God and in so doing loses his kingdom. And, skipping to the New Testament, Peter slashes off the ear of a Roman soldier (how he survived that one, I’ll never know) thinking he might protect Jesus from arrest. A rash act is a presumption or an assumption that God does not know what he is doing. We are admonished to be patient, slow to speak and slow to anger and that ought to be good enough. But in case it is not, let me offer another reason. (I almost forgot one important “rushing in” on the part of Abraham and Sarah that the world is still reeling from.  Impatient with God’s timing and promise of a son in their old age, Abraham and Sarah take matters into their own hands by foisting Hagar upon Abraham to produce Ishmael.)

When we take no pause and act of our own accord without counting the cost—what some would consider our initiative, nosiness to others, or arrogance to many– God steps back. He hands us over to see what our hellish desires and agendas have planned with little to no regard for His infinitely better intentions. Augustine in his Confessions speaks of his adolescence as a time of wanton desire for all things corporeal while God stood by silent. Paul writes in Romans 1 how in the light of the lusts in our hearts, our dishonorable passions, and our debased minds, “God gave them up”– He stood by watching as his people slipped into lives governed not by Him but by themselves.

If this is not bad enough, being left to our own resources, there are further repercussions for our headstrong nature. When we act rashly and without thoughtful prayer, we, in the end, deny ourselves of the one true power (yes, at our disposal!) that can act righteously, lovingly, and mercifully. In assuming our strength is sufficient to the task at hand we deprive ourselves of our true strength which comes from Him, through Him and by Him. We actually become weak when we act on our own because we don’t have a wing man or in actuality we are the wing man with no team leader. That’s a scary place to be but we are clueless.

Not anymore. Consider yourself clued in. When we are weak, we are strong because the Lord is with us leading the way. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I [Paul] will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Rush in where angels fear to tread and risk the silence of God and His handing you over to your desires. Step back to “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song and He has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2

Treasured Pondering

Resolutions? It’s the 13th of January, you say. I am a bit behind my time not unlike Mr. Cratchett, but I am loathe to put to paper, or blog, as this case may be, a new year’s proclamation that I know full well will be cast on the ash heap of previous failed resolutions—lose weight, exercise more, eat less, write more, write less (some of you might be saying), live in the moment, plan for the future, spend more time with family, spend less time with family, read more, read less, etc. All noble goals, possibly…depending…

Often times for me the new year initiates a new bible reading program. Some plans start at the beginning and mover right on to the end; some plot a chronological path; some incorporate a dual attack using one prong from the Old Testament and another from the New. A reading back to front might be interesting—beginning with Revelation and ending with Genesis. This year I have undertaken to use the ESV format in the back of my bible that has 4 readings, one each from Psalms/Wisdom Literature, Pentateuch and History of Israel, Chronicles and Prophets, and Gospels and Epistles. Reading from 4 separate areas of the scriptures creates feelings multiple personality disorder unless I place the cross as a stake in the ground or a pivot point (more on that later) from which to interpret it all. Do you think the Lord did that on purpose? 🙂

Anyway, that is a rather long winded explanation for my first blog of the new year. I have chosen to write about a phrase that packs a sanctified punch and is found within the first gospel reading of the New testament, in my case, the book of Luke. Mary, who by all accounts would have been somewhere between 14 and 17 years old, is said to have “treasured these things in her heart.” Twice in the book of Luke this phrase is used in slightly different verbiage to reveal a maturity beyond her years.

Upon the visitation of the shepherds:
“And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” Luke 2:18-20

When Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, unbeknownst to his family:
And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.” Luke 2:50-51

Even David and Solomon talk of the joys of pondering:
I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God? Psalm 77:11-13

The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. Proverbs 15:28

This congeals well with James’ admonition to “be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (1: 19) But admonitions aren’t admonitions unless we have a penchant for doing the opposite of what we are being admonished to do (or not do). Got it?

In this age of self-assertion, righteous indignation, and causes célèbre and du jour, a suspension of the action threatens our perception of when things need to happen and how since we don’t get what we want when we want it by standing back and treasuring or pondering our thoughts in our hearts. Eventually a time for action is required but discerning the precise moment is a conundrum and well describes our life’s ambition. We lose much when we act rashly and in our own timing (more on that too later). Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time for everything under heaven.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace. 3:1-8
Humanly speaking, I don’t think wiser words were ever spoken. The dilemma, however, is timing—when to speak and when to keep silent, when to mourn and when to dance, etc. But I am convinced that if we (I am assuming there are others like me) could spend more time treasuring and pondering, the time to act and speak will be revealed by He who knows the most perfect time. So that is my resolution, not for 2016 but for the duration of my earthly existence (I am assuming it will be our natural state in eternity)—to treasure and ponder things in my heart.