Scripture: Exodus 19
Today we begin a 6 week series on preparing for a life in Christ. After all, what’s Lent about if not preparation? But the question for us today isn’t so much “Why should we prepare?”, but rather what is involved in preparing to receive Jesus into our lives? What do we need to do? What do we need to give up? What do we need to learn? And why do we need 6 weeks? Wouldn’t a week of focused effort be a lot more efficient?
The truth is that preparation for living and walking with Jesus can’t be minimized and it can’t be rushed! It needs to be a deliberate, intentional, and serious effort if it is to be faithful.
Hal Brady [of Hal Brady Ministries in Dallas, Texas], tells the story of a young man who came to a pastor and said he wanted to be a Christian. The pastor advised him to read the Book of Acts as preparation for this important decision. Weeks passed, but the young man did not return. The pastor began to think he had made a serious mistake in his suggestion.
Finally, almost a year later, the young man appeared. When the surprised pastor asked where he had been, the man said, 'you told me to read the Book of Acts. Every time I started to read it, it told me to do something. So, I stopped reading and went and did it. I have just been too busy to get back.'
Brady adds: That's the idea – learning and thinking and acting like Jesus!
-Brady, “No Markdowns Here!”, 10 March 1991.
Preparation to receive and process God’s word for our lives can take a while, and may involve a number of issues. During this Lenten season, we are going to look at a number of these concerns, several areas that need our attention, and today, we take a look at the issues involved when we prepare to receive the word of God for our lives. We begin by considering Israel’s preparation to receive God’s commandments at Mount Sinai.
Read Exodus 19:1-8
Receiving God’s call on our life is nothing to take lightly. If we aren’t committed to understanding the Lord’s plan for us, then we will never be willing to take even the first step in hearing about his great design. The first step in receiving the Word is in our acknowledging who God is, who we are, and what our relationship is all about.
In Genesis 15:1-6, God promises Abram that his descendants will be more numerous than all the stars in the sky, and that he would provide for their every need. This was God’s promise to him – not because Abram deserved this gift, but because the Lord wanted it to be. You see, it’s always about God!
- Yahweh reminds the people of what he has just done for them – that he is the reason that they have been freed from slavery, and he is the one who carried them out of Egypt.
He tells them that now that they are free to follow him, that if they listen and heed his call on their lives, that they will be his beloved nation – his “treasured possession”. Notice that God doesn’t become their possession – it’s the other way around!
They will hold an exalted position in his creation – they, and they alone, will be his priests and holy ones. This means that they will be the ones who will have the responsibility of bringing the Holy Word of God to the rest of the world. That’s what priests do – they are God’s representative to those who wish to draw near to the Almighty!
And how do the children of Israel respond to this call? “We will do everything the Lord has said.” How well do you think they did with this promise? Obviously, not so well – they couldn’t even wait to get the word before they would begin to celebrate in a decidedly un-Godly way! (Exodus 32)
And over and over, Israel would make this same commitment to God, only to promptly disregard their promise. But before we condemn those people too severely, how well do we do with our commitment?
You may have heard this prayer before, but hear it again:
So far today, God, I’ve done all right. I haven’t gossiped, haven’t lost my temper, haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or over-indulgent. I’m really glad about that.
But in a few minutes, Lord, I’m going to get out of bed and from then on I’m probably going to need a lot more help. Amen.
- Homiletics Online
Are we smugly satisfied with how we are doing?
Are we overly confident that God must be pleased with us – pleased with the things we have been doing?
Israel was, at least, until now. But what comes next?
Read Exodus 19:9-13
“We’ve been right there with you Lord, but what’s this about 3 more days? We’re ready now!” So, how ready do you have to be before coming into the Lord’s presence? Perfectly! Not half way, not “good enough”, not to our own satisfaction, but perfectly – to God’s standard!
God tells Moses to “consecrate” the people through washing and setting limits and establishing boundaries for them. Washing signifies ritual cleansing – ridding our lives of those things that are not of God – our sinful ways. Only the spiritually clean can even begin to approach the Almighty.
They were told to stay away from the mountain until they were called by a long blast on a ram’s horn. They needed to exercise restraint – they had to wait until the Lord told them to come. And if they did as they were told, they would hear God’s voice speaking to Moses. The people were not to speak; they were to only hear what God had to say. No questions were allowed, no requests for clarification, no suggestions for improvements
– they were to come prepared - consecrated and bounded - with ears to hear and nothing else.
Read Exodus 19:14-19
Be consecrated (set apart), be washed (purified), and now they must also set aside the routine things in their day, represented by sexual relations. And on the 3rd day, when the people were fully prepared, the Lord begins his arrival.
Let’s think about this arrival for a moment. The people will hear the Lord speaking to Moses, but only after they have been suitably prepared to hear. And the preparations would take 3 days to complete. Is there any wonder that the people were shaking in their sandals when the mountain began to shake and smoke and trumpet the Lord’s coming?
- Regardless of the extent and quality of the preparations, how can anyone be ready for something like this? How can anyone be ready to receive the word of God? How can anyone be ready to stand in the presence of the Almighty Lord? In truth, no one can!
But we are called to hear his personal word for our lives all the time, and most folks manage to avoid hearing it altogether! There’s no shaking, no smoking, no trumpets – just that “still small voice” that Elijah heard on Horeb, and the din of our lives usually drowns it out! So what is the difference between Moses and his people, and the people of today?
The difference is that no matter who we are or how prepared we may think we are, we still fall far short of being who God needs us to be. The only way we can hear that Divine Voice, the only way we can come close to the Holy Mountain, the only way we can approach the heavenly throne, the only way we can ever hear and know the word of God, is by allowing Christ to be our preparation – our consecration, our purification, our call.
In Christ, we desire the word, we know that we need the word, but we also must understand that when we receive the word, we have to be ready to submit our lives and follow the word.
Read Exodus 19:24
Without proper preparation, if we try to force our way into God’s presence, the “Lord will break out against” us – or in other words, we will be destroyed. We cannot come to the Lord by our own means or by our own desires. We must come either perfectly prepared in the law, which no one has done yet, or through the grace and glory of Jesus Christ. That’s it! No other options! And in reality, we know that the law always fails us, so we have no other choice than to come to Christ with open lives and open hearts. And we must come to Almighty God through a relationship in Christ. There is no other option, no other way.
From Homiletics:
The culture in which we live, while honoring the Bible in all kinds of superficial ways, would really rather have the Bible remain closed.
A closed Bible has certain advantages.
You can place your hand on a closed Bible and swear the Presidential oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”. [On a closed Bible!]
You can place your palm on a closed Bible and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God. [On a closed Bible!]
You can position a closed Bible in the center of your coffee table as a token of God’s presence in your life - and, as you dust around it, you can feel like you have something to believe in. [For our closed minds and hearts!]
A closed Bible will never challenge us, nor cause us to ask questions, nor make us think.
It will confirm us prejudices, and it will allow us to believe pretty much whatever we want to believe.
- Anonymous (Homiletics Online
The third part of the great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 is that we must learn to obey the commandments that came from Christ. And we can only begin to understand the commandments when we open our Bible. Prepare to receive the word of God for your life – not by displaying it, but by knowing it and living it. Prepare for a life in Christ, not by trying to attain perfection on your own, but by leaning completely on his perfect sacrifice.
A life in the word of God must always be a life in the Son of God. Any other way will only lead to disappointment, and ultimately to destruction! And that's no way at all!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
“Prepare!” (Ash Wednesday)
Scripture: Ephesians 4:7-13
1 Peter 1:13-16
Malachi 3:1-4
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of our time of preparation for Easter. But in all reality, preparation to live the Christian life must be much more than just that. Preparing for a life in Christ can not be a once a year event – it is a lifelong effort and a whole life commitment. And the call to prepare is not a new thing – it did not begin with Jesus.
Preparation was an integral part of Judaism throughout all of their history.
As abrupt as the beginning of the Exodus was for the people, their preparation was in the 10 miracles, concluding with the passing over of death. Did they miss the significance of those events – that God will go to incredibly great lengths to gain his people’s freedom, including releasing them from death?
After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, which came about because of their failure to learn from all that the great Jehovah had done for them, and after experiencing the power of God in two miraculous water crossings, they found themselves standing before the gates of Jericho. The strongly defended city was blocking their way into the new land, but once again, God prepared the people to see his great power at work. The nation was told to parade around the walls once each day for 6 days, and on the 7th, they were to circle it 7 times, and when they finished, they were to raise up a tremendous shout – and we know the rest of that story - the city was theirs.
But even with one miracle coming after another, the people still struggled in their relationship with the Lord God Almighty. God sent messenger after messenger, prophet after prophet, and still the people tried to do it their own way, until the day came when their time of decision came to an end, and they were carried off into slavery – some to Assyria, and some to Babylon.
But the prophets were given a second message that the people also missed. The Lord knew that they were totally inadequate in faith, so the message was that he would soon send another to be His voice and grace and sacrifice and forgiveness and salvation for the people – if they would only listen to this One!
And still, they wouldn’t! And through the centuries, the message has been given over and over – Prepare for the coming of the Lord! And now the time to prepare has come to us.
Lent is a time to prepare our lives, not only for Easter, but for Christ’s return. But will we have the same problem in listening and following that the others have had for thousands of years? What is the lesson that we need to learn from them?
I don’t think that the issue is so much of unbelief as it is of not enough trust. I think that the vast majority of people believe that there is a God, at least in one form or another, but the depth of their faith is just too shallow and too restricted. They have listened to too many false prophets and have been lead away from the Divine Presence, and they have spent too much time doing “stuff” that they think will please God, and nowhere near enough time in preparing to meet him and welcome him in this life.
Read Ephesians 4:7-13
“become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” That’s the crux of the problem – we only want little bit of Jesus, we don’t want his fullness – we want just enough to get us by, but not so much as to make it inconvenient! And the gifts that Paul writes about are not for our benefit - they are to prepare us to be his witnesses, his messengers to the world.
The story is told of the man who got a permit to open the first tavern in a small town. The members of a local church were strongly opposed to the bar, so they began to pray that God would intervene. A few days before the tavern’s grand opening, lightning hit the structure, and it burned to the ground.
The people of the church were surprised, but pleased -- until they received notice that the would-be tavern owner was suing them. He contended that their prayers were responsible for the burning of the building. In a strongly-worded deposition the church denied the charge.
There was a hearing on the suit, all positions on the matter were given voice, and at the conclusion, the judge observantly remarked, “At this point I don't know what my decision will be, but there is one thing that I’ve learned: The owner of the tavern believes in the power of prayer, and these church people don't.”
--From The Prairie Rambler, June 1993, 6.
The church was prepared to pray, but not for the results! Their preparation was shallow and even hollow, and their faith suffered. They didn’t have enough of Jesus in their lives!
The Lord does all that is necessary to prepare us for a life in him, but it’s up to us to learn and grow from it! 40 years ago, rock operas became very popular, and one that tried to capture an inkling of faith was “Godspell”. Personally, it did a lousy job of faith expression, but it had a couple of song that speaks to our worship this evening. The first song is “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord”. Anyone remember that? The John the Baptist character begins singing it, and the people begin to come dancing for joy, and as those words are repeated over and over, and it becomes a great big splash party in a public fountain – supposedly representing baptism.
The message was right on, but the people still didn’t understand what it meant because they were never told what it meant! That’s what shallow preparation is all about – it’s unrealistic and has nothing to do with the depth of faith that Christ is calling us to. Listen to what the Apostle Peter had to say about this:
Read 1 Peter 1:13-16
Is this about a faith that is shallow?
Is this about living in a “feel good - party mode”?
Does it have anything to do with self-determination or self-expression?
Certainly not! It’s about preparing ourselves for a “Christ Life” by surrendering all that we ever were, in favor of becoming all that we could ever be!
“Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord”, but prepare for him in depth and in truth!
Are we truly prepared for Action?
Are we fully prepared to accept Christ’s holiness for ourselves?
Are we willing to reject the “evil desires” of the world that once controlled our lives, and may even still have some control?
Satan would have us believe that this “preparation talk” is extreme overkill and totally unnecessary. Why in the world would a loving God expect so much from the people he loves? Why would he die for our sins, if he intends to condemn us anyway? Why would a powerful God have to destroy all that he created just to recreate it all over again? Why didn’t he do it right the first time?
It’s just too much! Satan would have us believe that “good enough” and “just enough”, that it’s plenty. Why put so much effort into something that is totally unnecessary?
But you know and I know that it is never enough, that it is only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ that it becomes enough!
Three apprentice demons were preparing to take their final exams on Earth. Satan appears before them, gives them his famous pep talk, and questions them about their plans to wreak havoc on the earth and ruin the people.
The first said, “I will tell people that there is no God.” Satan answered, “You will deceive only a few that way because deep down, people sense that there must be a God.”
The second apprentice spoke up and said, “I will tell them that there is no hell.” “ You will fool only a few that way,” replied Satan, “because deep down people know one day they will have to answer for their misdeeds.”
Finally, the third apprentice declared, “I will tell people that there is no hurry.” With that, Satan burst out with a laugh that rocked the foundations of creation. “You”, he predicted, “will ruin them by the millions.”
--As quoted in Paul J. Wharton, Stories and Parables for Preachers and Teachers (Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press), 48.
“Good enough” is good enough, and you have plenty of time for all the rest of that “faith stuff”. Take your time. It’ll be OK.
My friends, preparation for a life in Christ – either for the life that we live in the here and now, or in that new life that awaits us in eternity – can never be put off, and it is never “good enough”! We need to begin spreading the word now, today, tonight, that Jesus Christ is Lord and is Master of All! He will have the final judgment, the final say over our lives, and ignoring his call won’t even begin to be “good enough”.
The world will have us believe that the word of God is no more than an interesting collection of stories, myths, and fables, and while it is a good guideline for our physical lives, its message that a life in Jesus Christ is the only pathway to eternity is full of holes.
It doesn’t make sense – to the world
It is too restrictive – for the world
It is intolerant of what others believe – in the world order
There is no more validity in the Bible than there is in any other work of faith – as far as the world is concerned!
The Prophet Isaiah said to “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord”, not “Immerse yourself in the way of the world”!
The prophets have carried this message forever, but the people of the earth still don’t want to listen. Hear these words from the Prophet Malachi:
Read Malachi 3:1-4
How many messengers does our world need? Prophet after prophet, servant after servant, witness after witness – even the Son of God himself has come to share the Father’s Word and Grace for the people.
And this world still isn’t prepared – not for the Lord’s first coming, not to learn from his teaching, not for his mercy, not for his death and resurrection, and definitely not for the day when he returns to judge the earth and all that is in it!
The prophet proclaimed “Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come”. Suddenly! No warning, no more 2nd chances, and the time of delay has passed. “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire” The only one who can endure, the only one who can stand in the presence of Almighty God will be the one who has already been refined by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so the question must be asked tonight - Are we prepared? Have we accepted Christ’s refining redemption for our own life? Are we truly disciples of Jesus Christ? Or do some of us still think that there is no reason to hurry?
Remember that I told you that there are two songs from Godspell that have a purpose for our worship this evening?
“Day by day, day by day,
O dear Lord, 3 things I pray.
To see thee more clearly
To love thee more dearly
To follow thee more nearly,
Day by day. “
If you still believe that you have no need of Jesus in your life right now, that there is no reason to hurry, please just sit quietly for a moment, but I’m going to ask that the rest of this assembly, all who believe that we must be constantly in preparation for the Lord’s coming, on a “day by day” basis, to join me in singing this simple song as either your first time commitment to Christ, or your recommitment to Him.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord – day by day by day!
1 Peter 1:13-16
Malachi 3:1-4
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of our time of preparation for Easter. But in all reality, preparation to live the Christian life must be much more than just that. Preparing for a life in Christ can not be a once a year event – it is a lifelong effort and a whole life commitment. And the call to prepare is not a new thing – it did not begin with Jesus.
Preparation was an integral part of Judaism throughout all of their history.
As abrupt as the beginning of the Exodus was for the people, their preparation was in the 10 miracles, concluding with the passing over of death. Did they miss the significance of those events – that God will go to incredibly great lengths to gain his people’s freedom, including releasing them from death?
After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, which came about because of their failure to learn from all that the great Jehovah had done for them, and after experiencing the power of God in two miraculous water crossings, they found themselves standing before the gates of Jericho. The strongly defended city was blocking their way into the new land, but once again, God prepared the people to see his great power at work. The nation was told to parade around the walls once each day for 6 days, and on the 7th, they were to circle it 7 times, and when they finished, they were to raise up a tremendous shout – and we know the rest of that story - the city was theirs.
But even with one miracle coming after another, the people still struggled in their relationship with the Lord God Almighty. God sent messenger after messenger, prophet after prophet, and still the people tried to do it their own way, until the day came when their time of decision came to an end, and they were carried off into slavery – some to Assyria, and some to Babylon.
But the prophets were given a second message that the people also missed. The Lord knew that they were totally inadequate in faith, so the message was that he would soon send another to be His voice and grace and sacrifice and forgiveness and salvation for the people – if they would only listen to this One!
And still, they wouldn’t! And through the centuries, the message has been given over and over – Prepare for the coming of the Lord! And now the time to prepare has come to us.
Lent is a time to prepare our lives, not only for Easter, but for Christ’s return. But will we have the same problem in listening and following that the others have had for thousands of years? What is the lesson that we need to learn from them?
I don’t think that the issue is so much of unbelief as it is of not enough trust. I think that the vast majority of people believe that there is a God, at least in one form or another, but the depth of their faith is just too shallow and too restricted. They have listened to too many false prophets and have been lead away from the Divine Presence, and they have spent too much time doing “stuff” that they think will please God, and nowhere near enough time in preparing to meet him and welcome him in this life.
Read Ephesians 4:7-13
“become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” That’s the crux of the problem – we only want little bit of Jesus, we don’t want his fullness – we want just enough to get us by, but not so much as to make it inconvenient! And the gifts that Paul writes about are not for our benefit - they are to prepare us to be his witnesses, his messengers to the world.
The story is told of the man who got a permit to open the first tavern in a small town. The members of a local church were strongly opposed to the bar, so they began to pray that God would intervene. A few days before the tavern’s grand opening, lightning hit the structure, and it burned to the ground.
The people of the church were surprised, but pleased -- until they received notice that the would-be tavern owner was suing them. He contended that their prayers were responsible for the burning of the building. In a strongly-worded deposition the church denied the charge.
There was a hearing on the suit, all positions on the matter were given voice, and at the conclusion, the judge observantly remarked, “At this point I don't know what my decision will be, but there is one thing that I’ve learned: The owner of the tavern believes in the power of prayer, and these church people don't.”
--From The Prairie Rambler, June 1993, 6.
The church was prepared to pray, but not for the results! Their preparation was shallow and even hollow, and their faith suffered. They didn’t have enough of Jesus in their lives!
The Lord does all that is necessary to prepare us for a life in him, but it’s up to us to learn and grow from it! 40 years ago, rock operas became very popular, and one that tried to capture an inkling of faith was “Godspell”. Personally, it did a lousy job of faith expression, but it had a couple of song that speaks to our worship this evening. The first song is “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord”. Anyone remember that? The John the Baptist character begins singing it, and the people begin to come dancing for joy, and as those words are repeated over and over, and it becomes a great big splash party in a public fountain – supposedly representing baptism.
The message was right on, but the people still didn’t understand what it meant because they were never told what it meant! That’s what shallow preparation is all about – it’s unrealistic and has nothing to do with the depth of faith that Christ is calling us to. Listen to what the Apostle Peter had to say about this:
Read 1 Peter 1:13-16
Is this about a faith that is shallow?
Is this about living in a “feel good - party mode”?
Does it have anything to do with self-determination or self-expression?
Certainly not! It’s about preparing ourselves for a “Christ Life” by surrendering all that we ever were, in favor of becoming all that we could ever be!
“Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord”, but prepare for him in depth and in truth!
Are we truly prepared for Action?
Are we fully prepared to accept Christ’s holiness for ourselves?
Are we willing to reject the “evil desires” of the world that once controlled our lives, and may even still have some control?
Satan would have us believe that this “preparation talk” is extreme overkill and totally unnecessary. Why in the world would a loving God expect so much from the people he loves? Why would he die for our sins, if he intends to condemn us anyway? Why would a powerful God have to destroy all that he created just to recreate it all over again? Why didn’t he do it right the first time?
It’s just too much! Satan would have us believe that “good enough” and “just enough”, that it’s plenty. Why put so much effort into something that is totally unnecessary?
But you know and I know that it is never enough, that it is only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ that it becomes enough!
Three apprentice demons were preparing to take their final exams on Earth. Satan appears before them, gives them his famous pep talk, and questions them about their plans to wreak havoc on the earth and ruin the people.
The first said, “I will tell people that there is no God.” Satan answered, “You will deceive only a few that way because deep down, people sense that there must be a God.”
The second apprentice spoke up and said, “I will tell them that there is no hell.” “ You will fool only a few that way,” replied Satan, “because deep down people know one day they will have to answer for their misdeeds.”
Finally, the third apprentice declared, “I will tell people that there is no hurry.” With that, Satan burst out with a laugh that rocked the foundations of creation. “You”, he predicted, “will ruin them by the millions.”
--As quoted in Paul J. Wharton, Stories and Parables for Preachers and Teachers (Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press), 48.
“Good enough” is good enough, and you have plenty of time for all the rest of that “faith stuff”. Take your time. It’ll be OK.
My friends, preparation for a life in Christ – either for the life that we live in the here and now, or in that new life that awaits us in eternity – can never be put off, and it is never “good enough”! We need to begin spreading the word now, today, tonight, that Jesus Christ is Lord and is Master of All! He will have the final judgment, the final say over our lives, and ignoring his call won’t even begin to be “good enough”.
The world will have us believe that the word of God is no more than an interesting collection of stories, myths, and fables, and while it is a good guideline for our physical lives, its message that a life in Jesus Christ is the only pathway to eternity is full of holes.
It doesn’t make sense – to the world
It is too restrictive – for the world
It is intolerant of what others believe – in the world order
There is no more validity in the Bible than there is in any other work of faith – as far as the world is concerned!
The Prophet Isaiah said to “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord”, not “Immerse yourself in the way of the world”!
The prophets have carried this message forever, but the people of the earth still don’t want to listen. Hear these words from the Prophet Malachi:
Read Malachi 3:1-4
How many messengers does our world need? Prophet after prophet, servant after servant, witness after witness – even the Son of God himself has come to share the Father’s Word and Grace for the people.
And this world still isn’t prepared – not for the Lord’s first coming, not to learn from his teaching, not for his mercy, not for his death and resurrection, and definitely not for the day when he returns to judge the earth and all that is in it!
The prophet proclaimed “Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come”. Suddenly! No warning, no more 2nd chances, and the time of delay has passed. “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire” The only one who can endure, the only one who can stand in the presence of Almighty God will be the one who has already been refined by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so the question must be asked tonight - Are we prepared? Have we accepted Christ’s refining redemption for our own life? Are we truly disciples of Jesus Christ? Or do some of us still think that there is no reason to hurry?
Remember that I told you that there are two songs from Godspell that have a purpose for our worship this evening?
“Day by day, day by day,
O dear Lord, 3 things I pray.
To see thee more clearly
To love thee more dearly
To follow thee more nearly,
Day by day. “
If you still believe that you have no need of Jesus in your life right now, that there is no reason to hurry, please just sit quietly for a moment, but I’m going to ask that the rest of this assembly, all who believe that we must be constantly in preparation for the Lord’s coming, on a “day by day” basis, to join me in singing this simple song as either your first time commitment to Christ, or your recommitment to Him.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord – day by day by day!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
“Renewed in the Glory”
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:13-18
The trials that we experience in this life will, quite often, try our faith to the extreme. The death of loved ones, damage to our closest relationships, loss of financial security including our jobs, destruction of our homes and personal property, serious illness, and the list can go on and on. For many, the question that is asked is never “How will the Lord work his will within my struggle?”, but rather “Why, Lord, are you letting this happen to me?” Pain, hardships, a sense of loss and helplessness, struggles of every ilk seem to turn our focus inward toward ourselves, instead of outward toward faith in Jesus Christ.
Yes, I said “outward”. All too often, we talk about our faith as though it was something that we own, when it would be more accurate to refer to it as the “gift of faith that God has blessed me with”. When we turn inward, our center becomes “my life”, but when we look beyond ourselves - beyond our pain - our focus can then become “my life that comes from Christ”.
In Psalm 116, we read the words of one who knows that the power we need for this life is not in the life that we live – it is in and of and from the Lord who gives beyond all reason and expectation.
Read Psalm 116:8-12
And with that thought in our hearts and minds, we turn to our text for today.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:13-15
For the past 3 weeks, we have considered the task of allowing Christ to lift the veil off darkness from our sightless eyes. Today we consider those words of faith that come when the veil is finally lifted - “How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?”
That incredible gift from God – the faith to believe in that which we have never seen, and to praise God for his goodness in the midst of our trials – can only be expressed by a believer. And Paul takes that thought to an even higher level – he says that it is faith that allows us to believe, and only then to proclaim God’s goodness. It all comes back to a new vision – the vision of both the ability to see in a new way, and the gift to see that which is new.
And why is this gift given to us? Paul tells us that the vision and vista isn’t for our benefit – it is for God’s! Isn’t that interesting? New sight brings grace into the lives of more and more people so that glory – thanksgiving and praise in the name of Jesus Christ – can overflow from our lives and into the Glory of God! The grace that comes in that first moment of new vision – John Wesley would call that moment Justifying Grace – will continue to grow within us and bring us closer and closer to God, which brings him more and more glory –Wesley sees this as Sanctifying Grace. Grace lived in our life is transformed into glory for God’s.
So if anyone ever asks you what can we ever give to the God who has everything, tells them to give him Glory! That should make them think for at least a few minutes!
But back to the Psalmist for a moment – verse 10 – “I believed; therefore I said, ‘I am greatly afflicted.’” Because he believed, the writer could tell the Lord what he was going through. In faith, we are able to keep our lines of communication open with God regardless of what may be going on in our life. That doesn’t necessarily mean that God is going to immediately resolve the situation to our liking, but he will give us the strength and presence to continue this life in him until the trial finally comes to an end.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
“Therefore, we do not lose heart.” In other words “Don’t let the veil drop back down!!!”
Jim Wallis, Editor of Sojourners, writes:
Hope is believing in spite of the evidence and [then] watching the evidence change.
--Theologian and Sojourners Editor, Jim Wallis
There will always be those times when all the evidence, all the rationale, all common sense, all of reality would have us believe that there is no hope. But Romans 5 tells us something different.
Read Romans 5:1-5
We don’t lose heart, because we have an undying, undefeatable hope in Christ – even in those “times that try men’s souls”, that hope is still at work! When Thomas Payne first penned those words in December 1776 in a piece titled “The Crisis”, he was describing the current situation in our country’s early struggle for independence. He wrote of efforts to take a stand against tyranny, and how a few courageous troops were fighting without fear, because they believed in the cause that had called them. Their situation was not in the best of shape, but he had faith that the days to come would shine brighter and fairer.
And Christians do not lose heart, either! Because we are so strong and able? Hardly! It’s because of our faith in the one who has called us to walk in his way! But there will always be those who will try to dis-hearten us. You may have heard the quotation:
We are living in an age, not of faith versus doubt, but of faith versus belief. People are believing anything and everything. But they have faith in very little.
- Homiletics On Line
If we are to remain faithful in spite of the trials that besiege us, if the Divine power is going to continue to sustain us in the face of outward attacks, we need to keep our life centered, in faith, on Jesus Christ. “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.” Bishop Fulton Sheen writes:
A Christ-centered life does not mean a life in which one sings hymns, reads Scripture, and edifies his neighbors by hanging texts on the walls. One does not become a Christian by doing a good deed a day, nor by go-getting for religion, nor by engaging in economic and political reform movements, even though these things are done from the noblest of human motives. A Christian is one who, believing that Christ is the Son of God, has that Christ-life in his soul.
- Fulton J. Sheen, Lift Up Your Heart (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1955), 214.
A life in faith is never about the tangible, the visible, the physical. It isn’t about the things we read or the things we say and do. It isn’t about our strength or our abilities or anything else that is ours. A life in faith is gained and exhibited by walking in the light of Christ and being renewed, day by day by day, in his glory and grace.
I would like to leave you with a story that probably speaks more eloquently to our passage for today than all of my words put together. It is from World War II, and from my point of view, it is one of the greatest examples of fixing our eyes on the unseen and not the seen, of speaking out, not because of personal ability, but because of faith.
On October 13, 1946, after his release from a Japanese prisoner- of-war camp, the Bishop of Singapore, Leonard Wilson broadcast these remarks:
I remember Archbishop Temple, in one of his books, writing that if you pray for any particular virtue, whether it be patience or courage or love, one of the answers that God gives to us is an opportunity for exercising that virtue. After my first beating [at the hands of the Japanese], I was almost afraid to pray for courage lest I should have another opportunity of exercising it; but my unspoken prayer was there, and without God's help I doubt whether I would have come through.
Long hours of ignoble pain were a severe test. In the middle of torture they asked me if I still believed in God. When, by God's help, I said, 'I do,' they asked me why God did not save me. By the help of his Holy Spirit, I said, 'God does save me. He does not save me by freeing me from pain or punishment, but he saves me by giving me the Spirit to bear it.'
And when they asked me why I did not curse them, I told them that it was because I was a follower of Jesus Christ, who taught us that we were all brethren. By the end of the war, Bishop Wilson had made several converts to Christianity, including some of his Japanese captors.
In 1953, Wilson became Bishop of Birmingham. One Sunday he found himself confirming some candidates in a church and laying his hands on someone he recognized from his past. It turned out to be his principal torturer to whom he had spoken the above words.
--As referenced by John Andrew, St. Thomas Church, New York City.
Had the “veil of darkness” been lifted from the Bishop eyes? You had better believe that it had!! In spite of the unimaginable abuse and pain and terror that he had to endure in faith, he continued to witness to the power of God that filled his life. Renewed in the Glory of Christ, over and over again!
“We rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” [Romans 5:3-5]
That is God’s promise to us. That is our life in him.
The trials that we experience in this life will, quite often, try our faith to the extreme. The death of loved ones, damage to our closest relationships, loss of financial security including our jobs, destruction of our homes and personal property, serious illness, and the list can go on and on. For many, the question that is asked is never “How will the Lord work his will within my struggle?”, but rather “Why, Lord, are you letting this happen to me?” Pain, hardships, a sense of loss and helplessness, struggles of every ilk seem to turn our focus inward toward ourselves, instead of outward toward faith in Jesus Christ.
Yes, I said “outward”. All too often, we talk about our faith as though it was something that we own, when it would be more accurate to refer to it as the “gift of faith that God has blessed me with”. When we turn inward, our center becomes “my life”, but when we look beyond ourselves - beyond our pain - our focus can then become “my life that comes from Christ”.
In Psalm 116, we read the words of one who knows that the power we need for this life is not in the life that we live – it is in and of and from the Lord who gives beyond all reason and expectation.
Read Psalm 116:8-12
And with that thought in our hearts and minds, we turn to our text for today.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:13-15
For the past 3 weeks, we have considered the task of allowing Christ to lift the veil off darkness from our sightless eyes. Today we consider those words of faith that come when the veil is finally lifted - “How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?”
That incredible gift from God – the faith to believe in that which we have never seen, and to praise God for his goodness in the midst of our trials – can only be expressed by a believer. And Paul takes that thought to an even higher level – he says that it is faith that allows us to believe, and only then to proclaim God’s goodness. It all comes back to a new vision – the vision of both the ability to see in a new way, and the gift to see that which is new.
And why is this gift given to us? Paul tells us that the vision and vista isn’t for our benefit – it is for God’s! Isn’t that interesting? New sight brings grace into the lives of more and more people so that glory – thanksgiving and praise in the name of Jesus Christ – can overflow from our lives and into the Glory of God! The grace that comes in that first moment of new vision – John Wesley would call that moment Justifying Grace – will continue to grow within us and bring us closer and closer to God, which brings him more and more glory –Wesley sees this as Sanctifying Grace. Grace lived in our life is transformed into glory for God’s.
So if anyone ever asks you what can we ever give to the God who has everything, tells them to give him Glory! That should make them think for at least a few minutes!
But back to the Psalmist for a moment – verse 10 – “I believed; therefore I said, ‘I am greatly afflicted.’” Because he believed, the writer could tell the Lord what he was going through. In faith, we are able to keep our lines of communication open with God regardless of what may be going on in our life. That doesn’t necessarily mean that God is going to immediately resolve the situation to our liking, but he will give us the strength and presence to continue this life in him until the trial finally comes to an end.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
“Therefore, we do not lose heart.” In other words “Don’t let the veil drop back down!!!”
Jim Wallis, Editor of Sojourners, writes:
Hope is believing in spite of the evidence and [then] watching the evidence change.
--Theologian and Sojourners Editor, Jim Wallis
There will always be those times when all the evidence, all the rationale, all common sense, all of reality would have us believe that there is no hope. But Romans 5 tells us something different.
Read Romans 5:1-5
We don’t lose heart, because we have an undying, undefeatable hope in Christ – even in those “times that try men’s souls”, that hope is still at work! When Thomas Payne first penned those words in December 1776 in a piece titled “The Crisis”, he was describing the current situation in our country’s early struggle for independence. He wrote of efforts to take a stand against tyranny, and how a few courageous troops were fighting without fear, because they believed in the cause that had called them. Their situation was not in the best of shape, but he had faith that the days to come would shine brighter and fairer.
And Christians do not lose heart, either! Because we are so strong and able? Hardly! It’s because of our faith in the one who has called us to walk in his way! But there will always be those who will try to dis-hearten us. You may have heard the quotation:
We are living in an age, not of faith versus doubt, but of faith versus belief. People are believing anything and everything. But they have faith in very little.
- Homiletics On Line
If we are to remain faithful in spite of the trials that besiege us, if the Divine power is going to continue to sustain us in the face of outward attacks, we need to keep our life centered, in faith, on Jesus Christ. “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.” Bishop Fulton Sheen writes:
A Christ-centered life does not mean a life in which one sings hymns, reads Scripture, and edifies his neighbors by hanging texts on the walls. One does not become a Christian by doing a good deed a day, nor by go-getting for religion, nor by engaging in economic and political reform movements, even though these things are done from the noblest of human motives. A Christian is one who, believing that Christ is the Son of God, has that Christ-life in his soul.
- Fulton J. Sheen, Lift Up Your Heart (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1955), 214.
A life in faith is never about the tangible, the visible, the physical. It isn’t about the things we read or the things we say and do. It isn’t about our strength or our abilities or anything else that is ours. A life in faith is gained and exhibited by walking in the light of Christ and being renewed, day by day by day, in his glory and grace.
I would like to leave you with a story that probably speaks more eloquently to our passage for today than all of my words put together. It is from World War II, and from my point of view, it is one of the greatest examples of fixing our eyes on the unseen and not the seen, of speaking out, not because of personal ability, but because of faith.
On October 13, 1946, after his release from a Japanese prisoner- of-war camp, the Bishop of Singapore, Leonard Wilson broadcast these remarks:
I remember Archbishop Temple, in one of his books, writing that if you pray for any particular virtue, whether it be patience or courage or love, one of the answers that God gives to us is an opportunity for exercising that virtue. After my first beating [at the hands of the Japanese], I was almost afraid to pray for courage lest I should have another opportunity of exercising it; but my unspoken prayer was there, and without God's help I doubt whether I would have come through.
Long hours of ignoble pain were a severe test. In the middle of torture they asked me if I still believed in God. When, by God's help, I said, 'I do,' they asked me why God did not save me. By the help of his Holy Spirit, I said, 'God does save me. He does not save me by freeing me from pain or punishment, but he saves me by giving me the Spirit to bear it.'
And when they asked me why I did not curse them, I told them that it was because I was a follower of Jesus Christ, who taught us that we were all brethren. By the end of the war, Bishop Wilson had made several converts to Christianity, including some of his Japanese captors.
In 1953, Wilson became Bishop of Birmingham. One Sunday he found himself confirming some candidates in a church and laying his hands on someone he recognized from his past. It turned out to be his principal torturer to whom he had spoken the above words.
--As referenced by John Andrew, St. Thomas Church, New York City.
Had the “veil of darkness” been lifted from the Bishop eyes? You had better believe that it had!! In spite of the unimaginable abuse and pain and terror that he had to endure in faith, he continued to witness to the power of God that filled his life. Renewed in the Glory of Christ, over and over again!
“We rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” [Romans 5:3-5]
That is God’s promise to us. That is our life in him.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
“Share the Plain and True Gospel”
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:1-12
Have you heard that truth is no longer an absolute? Society tells us that there is no reason as to why one person’s truth is any more valid than another. We’re told that Christians need to be accepting – not just tolerant, but accepting – of other people’s beliefs, with no expectation that they will be equally accepting of ours. We even hear that truth is an abstract concept – that it really doesn’t exist!
In his book “When Tolerance is No Virtue”, which addresses the issue of societal and political correctness, Professor Stan Gaede writes:
Having pretty much decided that truth is not attainable, we have made tolerance of a plurality of truths a virtue. Having no truths worth defending, we have made non-defensiveness a mark of distinction.
--S. D. Gaede, “When Tolerance Is No Virtue: Political Correctness, Multiculturalism & the Future of Truth and Justice”, (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 27.
In other words, not only does every “truth” have equal validity in the eyes of the world, but we have apparently come to the crossroads where there are no “truths” that are worth taking a stand for! Take your own truth and live it if you must, but don’t try to convince anyone else that it should be their truth! And unfortunately, many, even in the church today, have fallen for this delusional thought. But praise God that many others have not, and that the writers of scripture, including the apostle Paul, did not.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:1-4
Paul says that the truth of God is the pure truth – that in the word of God, there is no deception, no secrets, nothing that he, or we, should ever be embarrassed or ashamed about. He doesn’t twist the meaning around to suit some personal agenda or to make someone comfortable when hearing the word – he just offers the Lord’s plain and simple truth.
And how will others respond to the plain truth? Paul says that we will be commended to those who hear – that is, we will be admired for the things we say, and if we remain in the light of God, then the Lord will be praised regardless of what others may think! But there will always be those who don’t want to hear the gospel proclaimed, and they will shut their ears to the word. Paul uses the concept of the veil that we discussed last week – he tells us that “the god of this age” – that is, Satan – has blinded the minds of those who will not accept Christ. And when one is unable to hear the message of good news that Jesus himself has brought to their heart and mind, all hope in the truth is lost, and the Godly light will be replaced with worldly darkness.
What a great loss of a soul! But that doesn’t mean we must willingly surrender that person to Satan! Never give up! Never, ever give up!! Continue to live a Christian life and to live Jesus Christ in a way that one day, their veil can be lifted and their sight returned. Remember our reading last week – when a brother or sister turns to Christ, the veil will be lifted – not by us, but by Christ. And when the sight is restored, the light of Christ can shine once more in our friend. But it’s up to us whether we continue to work on behalf of our friend or not. A month or two ago, you may remember that I offered a challenge to each of us to invite one un-churched friend to join you in worship each week. How are you doing with that? I haven’t noticed too many takers on the invite! This is one way that we can offer a witness to those who are closest to us. Prayer is good, too, but prayer has the effect of taking us out of the loop and putting the onus on God for changing hearts and minds. The Lord can certainly do it that way, but his desire is that we, too, be involved in the salvation process. We are to be witnesses to the world, not just Jesus! So we need to change our prayers from “Lord, change my friend’s heart.” to “Lord, use me to change my friend’s heart.”
But that isn’t easy, I will admit. William Coffin writes:
Fear distorts truth, not by exaggerating the ills of the world . . . but by underestimating our ability to deal with them . . . while love seeks truth, fear seeks safety.
--William Sloane Coffin, “The Courage to Love” (New York: Harper and Row, 1982), 60.
Our fear of taking a stand for Jesus fills our life when we underestimate our inherent ability to show the love of Christ to the world. It has been fully within us since the moment we invited Jesus to take control of our life. But when we put the veil of darkness back on, our love for Christ is hidden from view, and when we do, the world will never see and the world will never know.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:5-6
In John 8:12, Jesus tells us “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jesus is the light that brings us up into the morning and puts the night behind us. Light opens up all kinds of new sights and visions and vistas for our life. His light shines in our hearts and minds, and gives us the knowledge of Christ that can lift any veil, no matter how heavy it may be, or how long it has hung in place. And very soon, that Divine Light becomes our light.
In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus says that we will carry the message of Christ, the message that is of salt and light and a city – those things that many are seeking after. The “salt” will give the gospel a personal flavor and will preserve the truth that it brings. The “light” will provide a clear vision for the direction that faith must travel. The “city on a hill” will be seen as a haven by all who come hurting and beaten and lost.
A life in Christ is no longer about us.
A life in Christ can no longer be seen in the world’s view.
A life in Christ is no longer about our perspective.
Think of it this way:
A father awakens in the night and realizes that his teenage daughter's boyfriend is still in the living room downstairs. He calls down the stairs to the boyfriend: “Do you realize it is 2 a.m.? Do you think you can stay here all night?“
The teenager pauses for a moment and then replies: “Gee, I don't know. I'll have to call home to see.”
A parent's truth is not always a child's truth.
- Homiletics OnLine
God’s truth is never the world’s truth!
In Christ, we discover an entirely new way of life and being.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-12
A life in Christ, as glorious as it is, will never be easy. It takes a dedicated effort, and a commitment to a way of life, that the world will never understand. There will be persecution; there will be concerted opposition; there will be lies told about us and the Church; there will be humiliation; there will be great trials; even friends will turn against us. But the truth of Christ can never be compromised. He suffered the same things that we will, and was shown a hatred that is far greater than anything we will experience. And yet, Jesus was never moved from the path that the Father called him to walk, and the path that he had accepted.
We have been called to be Christ to the world, even though the veil of darkness that they have chosen is heavy and dense. Our work is in darkness, in death, in the blindness that the world has chosen, but we carry the light and life of Christ with us. It’s been said that “We may think that we are at the end of our rope, but we are never at the end of our hope!” Remember that when life is at its darkest, a little glimmer of light can make all the difference in the world.
There will be days when we find ourselves completely surrounded with worldly darkness and death, but in Christ, it is life eternal that is at work in us. We carry his light within us. We carry the hope of Christ within us. We serve with the glory of God that is within us, and with that, we can never fail.
We may be tempted to rewrite the gospel message to spare ourselves from the assaults that will come, but know that the plain and simple gospel is the only true gospel. Give them the real and complete Jesus!
Have you heard that truth is no longer an absolute? Society tells us that there is no reason as to why one person’s truth is any more valid than another. We’re told that Christians need to be accepting – not just tolerant, but accepting – of other people’s beliefs, with no expectation that they will be equally accepting of ours. We even hear that truth is an abstract concept – that it really doesn’t exist!
In his book “When Tolerance is No Virtue”, which addresses the issue of societal and political correctness, Professor Stan Gaede writes:
Having pretty much decided that truth is not attainable, we have made tolerance of a plurality of truths a virtue. Having no truths worth defending, we have made non-defensiveness a mark of distinction.
--S. D. Gaede, “When Tolerance Is No Virtue: Political Correctness, Multiculturalism & the Future of Truth and Justice”, (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 27.
In other words, not only does every “truth” have equal validity in the eyes of the world, but we have apparently come to the crossroads where there are no “truths” that are worth taking a stand for! Take your own truth and live it if you must, but don’t try to convince anyone else that it should be their truth! And unfortunately, many, even in the church today, have fallen for this delusional thought. But praise God that many others have not, and that the writers of scripture, including the apostle Paul, did not.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:1-4
Paul says that the truth of God is the pure truth – that in the word of God, there is no deception, no secrets, nothing that he, or we, should ever be embarrassed or ashamed about. He doesn’t twist the meaning around to suit some personal agenda or to make someone comfortable when hearing the word – he just offers the Lord’s plain and simple truth.
And how will others respond to the plain truth? Paul says that we will be commended to those who hear – that is, we will be admired for the things we say, and if we remain in the light of God, then the Lord will be praised regardless of what others may think! But there will always be those who don’t want to hear the gospel proclaimed, and they will shut their ears to the word. Paul uses the concept of the veil that we discussed last week – he tells us that “the god of this age” – that is, Satan – has blinded the minds of those who will not accept Christ. And when one is unable to hear the message of good news that Jesus himself has brought to their heart and mind, all hope in the truth is lost, and the Godly light will be replaced with worldly darkness.
What a great loss of a soul! But that doesn’t mean we must willingly surrender that person to Satan! Never give up! Never, ever give up!! Continue to live a Christian life and to live Jesus Christ in a way that one day, their veil can be lifted and their sight returned. Remember our reading last week – when a brother or sister turns to Christ, the veil will be lifted – not by us, but by Christ. And when the sight is restored, the light of Christ can shine once more in our friend. But it’s up to us whether we continue to work on behalf of our friend or not. A month or two ago, you may remember that I offered a challenge to each of us to invite one un-churched friend to join you in worship each week. How are you doing with that? I haven’t noticed too many takers on the invite! This is one way that we can offer a witness to those who are closest to us. Prayer is good, too, but prayer has the effect of taking us out of the loop and putting the onus on God for changing hearts and minds. The Lord can certainly do it that way, but his desire is that we, too, be involved in the salvation process. We are to be witnesses to the world, not just Jesus! So we need to change our prayers from “Lord, change my friend’s heart.” to “Lord, use me to change my friend’s heart.”
But that isn’t easy, I will admit. William Coffin writes:
Fear distorts truth, not by exaggerating the ills of the world . . . but by underestimating our ability to deal with them . . . while love seeks truth, fear seeks safety.
--William Sloane Coffin, “The Courage to Love” (New York: Harper and Row, 1982), 60.
Our fear of taking a stand for Jesus fills our life when we underestimate our inherent ability to show the love of Christ to the world. It has been fully within us since the moment we invited Jesus to take control of our life. But when we put the veil of darkness back on, our love for Christ is hidden from view, and when we do, the world will never see and the world will never know.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:5-6
In John 8:12, Jesus tells us “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jesus is the light that brings us up into the morning and puts the night behind us. Light opens up all kinds of new sights and visions and vistas for our life. His light shines in our hearts and minds, and gives us the knowledge of Christ that can lift any veil, no matter how heavy it may be, or how long it has hung in place. And very soon, that Divine Light becomes our light.
In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus says that we will carry the message of Christ, the message that is of salt and light and a city – those things that many are seeking after. The “salt” will give the gospel a personal flavor and will preserve the truth that it brings. The “light” will provide a clear vision for the direction that faith must travel. The “city on a hill” will be seen as a haven by all who come hurting and beaten and lost.
A life in Christ is no longer about us.
A life in Christ can no longer be seen in the world’s view.
A life in Christ is no longer about our perspective.
Think of it this way:
A father awakens in the night and realizes that his teenage daughter's boyfriend is still in the living room downstairs. He calls down the stairs to the boyfriend: “Do you realize it is 2 a.m.? Do you think you can stay here all night?“
The teenager pauses for a moment and then replies: “Gee, I don't know. I'll have to call home to see.”
A parent's truth is not always a child's truth.
- Homiletics OnLine
God’s truth is never the world’s truth!
In Christ, we discover an entirely new way of life and being.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-12
A life in Christ, as glorious as it is, will never be easy. It takes a dedicated effort, and a commitment to a way of life, that the world will never understand. There will be persecution; there will be concerted opposition; there will be lies told about us and the Church; there will be humiliation; there will be great trials; even friends will turn against us. But the truth of Christ can never be compromised. He suffered the same things that we will, and was shown a hatred that is far greater than anything we will experience. And yet, Jesus was never moved from the path that the Father called him to walk, and the path that he had accepted.
We have been called to be Christ to the world, even though the veil of darkness that they have chosen is heavy and dense. Our work is in darkness, in death, in the blindness that the world has chosen, but we carry the light and life of Christ with us. It’s been said that “We may think that we are at the end of our rope, but we are never at the end of our hope!” Remember that when life is at its darkest, a little glimmer of light can make all the difference in the world.
There will be days when we find ourselves completely surrounded with worldly darkness and death, but in Christ, it is life eternal that is at work in us. We carry his light within us. We carry the hope of Christ within us. We serve with the glory of God that is within us, and with that, we can never fail.
We may be tempted to rewrite the gospel message to spare ourselves from the assaults that will come, but know that the plain and simple gospel is the only true gospel. Give them the real and complete Jesus!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
“Don’t Hide the Glory!”
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18
Note: As a point of interest, beginning last week, I will be doing a 4 week series on 2 Corinthians 3 & 4, which will take us up to the beginning of Lent.
God’s covenant with humanity has always been a conundrum, a real puzzle for us. What did God actually mean when he told the people “I will be your God, and you will be my people.”? (Exodus 6:7; Jeremiah 7:23, 30:22; Ezekiel 36:28) What did Jesus mean when, at the Last Supper, he told his closest friends “This cup is the new covenant in my blood ….” (Luke 22:20)?
It means that the covenant – both the old one and the new - is sure and unbreakable – but it is up to each of us to claim and accept that covenant for ourselves. God doesn’t force it upon us, Jesus’ blood doesn’t evaporate after so many years, there is no expiration date on grace – it is always there for us to experience, and one day, to accept and receive.
When Diane and I were in Israel, we went to Nazareth and walked up on the hill that is believed to be the place where the people tried to throw Jesus off (Luke 4:14-30). As we stood there – looking one way toward the city, then turning around and looking off into a deep valley – I was reminded that as much as the world may want to throw Jesus off the cliff because they don’t like his message, they can’t. As much as they want to get rid of that new covenant that they mistakenly see as restrictive and demeaning, they can’t. As much as folks want to hide from that glorious gift, they can’t. Their only option is to either accept it or to reject it, but they can never get rid of it.
Someone once asked a rabbi if it’s necessary to follow all the traditions of Judaism in order to affirm the Jewish faith. The rabbi took a glass of water and poured part of it out on the ground. “The water in the glass and the water on the ground”, he explained, “are identical. But for me to drink the water, I need to have it in the glass.”
How many people do you know who are trying to nourish themselves spiritually by squeezing a drop or two of moisture out of the dirt on the ground, instead of simply accepting the glass of Living Water that Jesus holds out to them – the glass that will never run dry?
The covenant can be denied and the glory can be ignored, but what good would that do? It might make us more comfortable with the life we are living, but we can never make it go away. Francis Thompson wrote a poem named “The Hound of Heaven”. The premise is that God pursues us relentlessly, and never tires or gives up. And the pursuit will continue until we either stop running and surrender our lives to Jesus, or we die and pass away from the earth.
Hide the covenant? Avoid the God given glory? Not likely! We can only deny them.
Read 2 Corinthians 3:12-14
The veil, for me, is symbolic of our feeble and wholly inadequate attempts to hide from God. We don’t understand him, we don’t appreciate him, we don’t seek him out, we’re afraid of what discipleship might mean for our life. In Exodus 34:29-35, Moses’ face gains an incredible glow – a radiance – that emanates from his face after he meets God and receives the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. The people were afraid to come near him, so he put a veil on his head to shelter them from the sight. God’s glory was just too much for them to look at.
And Paul tells us that the veil that shields the world from the Glory is still in place today, and that it is only when we come to Jesus Christ that it will be lifted. Isn’t it a shame that people would prefer to be blindfolded than to be the reflection of Divine Grace? Hearts are hard, lives are governed by personal pride, and there is no sense of the need for repentance – there is only the veil of oblivion.
And he says that the veil remains in place against the old covenant, and only is lifted when we accept the new covenant in Jesus. The old covenant was based in the law, but the new one in grace. The old covenant was about being righteous, but the new one is about receiving righteousness. The old covenant was impossible to live up to, but the new one makes all things new, including the life that is the “old, sinful me”! Is it any wonder that the veil remains against the old covenant? But in Christ Jesus, the Lord God Almighty has provided us with a way to experience the glory once again.
Read 2 Corinthians 3:15-18
The lifting of the veil has never been dependent on our own ability. As in all matters of faith, God does it for us. Accept Christ and see. Accept Christ and know. Accept Christ and live. Accept Christ and be! Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away, and life begins anew.
Romans 8:1-2 tells us “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” In this, the law of Moses seems to be the veil that blinds us. And isn’t that true? When we lean wholly on the law, we are lead to believe that we can actually attain glory all on our own. If we can just live that right life, if we can just get our focus on following all that has been prescribed, if we can just live a life that is good enough, if we can just …., well, then we will have made it! But unfortunately, no one can possibly live a life that is “good enough” for God!
And the Romans passage continues – “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.” Because we are sinful, the law is made powerless to save us. Usually, we think of the law as being the object that leads us through our sinful state, but it isn’t. Think about our own secular laws. If we commit a crime, it isn’t the law that sets us free – the law can only condemn! It is only by the mercy of the court, of the Judge, which I don’t believe is evident very often, that we can be set free.
The law punishes, the law convicts, the law is in place to prove just how terrible we are. And it does that very well. But Jesus came to bring glory into our miserable and completely inadequate lives. No condemnation, no conviction, no chastising – only forgiveness and restoration and glory for those who turn back to Jesus. And the veil is lifted from our faces – not for our benefit it seems, but for the benefit of others. Remember that Moses put the veil on because of the adverse reaction of the people to the glory that was on him. The veil went on for the benefit of the people, and when it comes off, it is for their benefit, too.
Are you prepared to wear the glory of God so that the world might come to know Jesus Christ? The Christian’s veil has been lifted, but the world is still blinded by theirs. They have no vision, no hope, and they are still condemned by “the law of sin and death”. They have no way out but through Christ, and if no one tells them, shows them, how will they ever know? We read in Romans 10:14-15 – “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”. Trade in the blinding veil for beautiful feet! What a deal! For when we hide the glory of God deep within our own life, it is no different than replacing the veil that Christ has lifted! We will never be the witness who shows Jesus to another; we will never be the means through which another will hear about the love that Jesus hold for them; and we will never be the means by which another will come to believe, and then can call on the only Name that can lift the veil of darkness from their eyes.
We can never take it away, and they can never take it away. Only Jesus can.
Don’t hide the glory as Moses did – even if others want you to. And they will try as hard as they can to get that radiance in you covered up! But we aren’t called to obey the world – we are called to obedience in the Lord Jesus Christ. “Unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, [and] are being transformed … with an ever increasing glory” Every time we share Jesus with another person, every time that we reflect the grace and mercy of Christ to the world, every time that another begins to see Jesus because of our witness, the law of sin and death loses another round, and the law of the Spirit wins another one! And the glory that surrounds us increases one more step in intensity.
Be on Jesus’ winning team. Show his glory to the world! Reflect his grace to those who are still in darkness.
Note: As a point of interest, beginning last week, I will be doing a 4 week series on 2 Corinthians 3 & 4, which will take us up to the beginning of Lent.
God’s covenant with humanity has always been a conundrum, a real puzzle for us. What did God actually mean when he told the people “I will be your God, and you will be my people.”? (Exodus 6:7; Jeremiah 7:23, 30:22; Ezekiel 36:28) What did Jesus mean when, at the Last Supper, he told his closest friends “This cup is the new covenant in my blood ….” (Luke 22:20)?
It means that the covenant – both the old one and the new - is sure and unbreakable – but it is up to each of us to claim and accept that covenant for ourselves. God doesn’t force it upon us, Jesus’ blood doesn’t evaporate after so many years, there is no expiration date on grace – it is always there for us to experience, and one day, to accept and receive.
When Diane and I were in Israel, we went to Nazareth and walked up on the hill that is believed to be the place where the people tried to throw Jesus off (Luke 4:14-30). As we stood there – looking one way toward the city, then turning around and looking off into a deep valley – I was reminded that as much as the world may want to throw Jesus off the cliff because they don’t like his message, they can’t. As much as they want to get rid of that new covenant that they mistakenly see as restrictive and demeaning, they can’t. As much as folks want to hide from that glorious gift, they can’t. Their only option is to either accept it or to reject it, but they can never get rid of it.
Someone once asked a rabbi if it’s necessary to follow all the traditions of Judaism in order to affirm the Jewish faith. The rabbi took a glass of water and poured part of it out on the ground. “The water in the glass and the water on the ground”, he explained, “are identical. But for me to drink the water, I need to have it in the glass.”
How many people do you know who are trying to nourish themselves spiritually by squeezing a drop or two of moisture out of the dirt on the ground, instead of simply accepting the glass of Living Water that Jesus holds out to them – the glass that will never run dry?
The covenant can be denied and the glory can be ignored, but what good would that do? It might make us more comfortable with the life we are living, but we can never make it go away. Francis Thompson wrote a poem named “The Hound of Heaven”. The premise is that God pursues us relentlessly, and never tires or gives up. And the pursuit will continue until we either stop running and surrender our lives to Jesus, or we die and pass away from the earth.
Hide the covenant? Avoid the God given glory? Not likely! We can only deny them.
Read 2 Corinthians 3:12-14
The veil, for me, is symbolic of our feeble and wholly inadequate attempts to hide from God. We don’t understand him, we don’t appreciate him, we don’t seek him out, we’re afraid of what discipleship might mean for our life. In Exodus 34:29-35, Moses’ face gains an incredible glow – a radiance – that emanates from his face after he meets God and receives the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. The people were afraid to come near him, so he put a veil on his head to shelter them from the sight. God’s glory was just too much for them to look at.
And Paul tells us that the veil that shields the world from the Glory is still in place today, and that it is only when we come to Jesus Christ that it will be lifted. Isn’t it a shame that people would prefer to be blindfolded than to be the reflection of Divine Grace? Hearts are hard, lives are governed by personal pride, and there is no sense of the need for repentance – there is only the veil of oblivion.
And he says that the veil remains in place against the old covenant, and only is lifted when we accept the new covenant in Jesus. The old covenant was based in the law, but the new one in grace. The old covenant was about being righteous, but the new one is about receiving righteousness. The old covenant was impossible to live up to, but the new one makes all things new, including the life that is the “old, sinful me”! Is it any wonder that the veil remains against the old covenant? But in Christ Jesus, the Lord God Almighty has provided us with a way to experience the glory once again.
Read 2 Corinthians 3:15-18
The lifting of the veil has never been dependent on our own ability. As in all matters of faith, God does it for us. Accept Christ and see. Accept Christ and know. Accept Christ and live. Accept Christ and be! Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away, and life begins anew.
Romans 8:1-2 tells us “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” In this, the law of Moses seems to be the veil that blinds us. And isn’t that true? When we lean wholly on the law, we are lead to believe that we can actually attain glory all on our own. If we can just live that right life, if we can just get our focus on following all that has been prescribed, if we can just live a life that is good enough, if we can just …., well, then we will have made it! But unfortunately, no one can possibly live a life that is “good enough” for God!
And the Romans passage continues – “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.” Because we are sinful, the law is made powerless to save us. Usually, we think of the law as being the object that leads us through our sinful state, but it isn’t. Think about our own secular laws. If we commit a crime, it isn’t the law that sets us free – the law can only condemn! It is only by the mercy of the court, of the Judge, which I don’t believe is evident very often, that we can be set free.
The law punishes, the law convicts, the law is in place to prove just how terrible we are. And it does that very well. But Jesus came to bring glory into our miserable and completely inadequate lives. No condemnation, no conviction, no chastising – only forgiveness and restoration and glory for those who turn back to Jesus. And the veil is lifted from our faces – not for our benefit it seems, but for the benefit of others. Remember that Moses put the veil on because of the adverse reaction of the people to the glory that was on him. The veil went on for the benefit of the people, and when it comes off, it is for their benefit, too.
Are you prepared to wear the glory of God so that the world might come to know Jesus Christ? The Christian’s veil has been lifted, but the world is still blinded by theirs. They have no vision, no hope, and they are still condemned by “the law of sin and death”. They have no way out but through Christ, and if no one tells them, shows them, how will they ever know? We read in Romans 10:14-15 – “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”. Trade in the blinding veil for beautiful feet! What a deal! For when we hide the glory of God deep within our own life, it is no different than replacing the veil that Christ has lifted! We will never be the witness who shows Jesus to another; we will never be the means through which another will hear about the love that Jesus hold for them; and we will never be the means by which another will come to believe, and then can call on the only Name that can lift the veil of darkness from their eyes.
We can never take it away, and they can never take it away. Only Jesus can.
Don’t hide the glory as Moses did – even if others want you to. And they will try as hard as they can to get that radiance in you covered up! But we aren’t called to obey the world – we are called to obedience in the Lord Jesus Christ. “Unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, [and] are being transformed … with an ever increasing glory” Every time we share Jesus with another person, every time that we reflect the grace and mercy of Christ to the world, every time that another begins to see Jesus because of our witness, the law of sin and death loses another round, and the law of the Spirit wins another one! And the glory that surrounds us increases one more step in intensity.
Be on Jesus’ winning team. Show his glory to the world! Reflect his grace to those who are still in darkness.
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