Cry Out for Justice

Alton Sterling. And Brent Thompson. Philando Castile. And four as yet unnamed Dallas police officers.

We could go on: Thousands trafficked for sexual exploitation. About 2700 unborn babies killed yesterday in the US. In the absence of any effective government, warlords rape and pillage, leading millions to flee their homes in Syria, in Libya, in Congo. Meanwhile, even in this country, the powerful and well-connected get off scot free while the weak are punished to the full extent of the law.

We cry out with the prophet:

How long, LORD, must I cry for help? But you do not listen! I call out to you, “Violence!” But you do not intervene!  Why do you force me to witness injustice? Why do you put up with wrongdoing? Destruction and violence confront me; conflict is present and one must endure strife.  For this reason the law lacks power, and justice is never carried out. Indeed, the wicked intimidate the innocent. For this reason justice is perverted. (Habakkuk 1:2-4 NET)

Or, as a contemporary songwriter puts it:

“I believe you will come, Your justice be done – but how long? . . . How long? How long until this burden is lifted?”

We are right to cry out. We are right to weep. We are right to long for justice, indeed to work for justice.

But Scripture both challenges us and enables us to look at the horrors of this world from God’s perspective.

  • As we ask, “How long must we look at evil?” God asks, “How long will this people despise me?” (Numbers 14:11)
  • As we cry out, “Justice is perverted!” God asks, “How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:22)
  • As we long for God to act, He asks, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?” (Exodus 10:3)

God challenges us to look within – to look at our own hearts, and to examine the hearts of our fellow countrymen. And when we look within, what do we see? Individually and as a nation: We have despised Him. We have mocked Him. We have rejected His revelation. We have arrogantly refused to humble ourselves before Him.

Scripture tells us that all the evil we see around us is the result of this human rebellion against God – a rebellion which we must admit, when we’re honest, is deeply ingrained within us. Indeed, all such evil is the logical consequence of that rebellion.

We can and should take palliative measures as a society that will lessen some of the suffering: Checks and balances in government; proper training for the police; equitable and efficient prosecution of criminals – both of the weak and the powerful; wise voting; holding up examples of honorable men and women. Furthermore, as individuals and as churches we can and must love and care for and assist the broken and hurting around us.

But suffering will continue. Injustice will endure. Violence will rear its head. The poor we will always have with us. Sin will thrive.

Until the Right Government takes over. That is, until the government is on Immanuel’s shoulders. Until God’s Kingdom comes, God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Then His government and His peace will increase forever (Isaiah 9:6-7, Matthew 6:10).

After Habakkuk’s cry, God tells His prophet:

If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. . . . The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. . . . The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him. (Habakkuk 2:3, 12, 20)

And the Apostle Paul assures us:

At the name of Jesus every knee will bow– in heaven and on earth and under the earth – and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11 NET)

So cry out. Weep with those who weep. Help the hurting. Work for justice.

And know: The Lord is indeed in His temple. He offers reconciliation to all rebels through the wiling sacrifice of His Son. He will bring about His Kingdom at exactly the right time. He is King.

 

Three Sunday Conversations

To understand these conversations, a little background is necessary: At Desiring God Church, about 80% of our preaching consists of working our way through books of the Bible. A typical sermon is about 45 minutes long. I have been preaching through Romans for more than a year, and focused on Romans 8:26-27 this last Sunday. During the sermon I mentioned that, prior to studying Romans 8:28 – “God works all things together for good for those who love Him, for those who are called according to His purpose” – we will leave Romans for a few weeks to look at what Scripture teaches about suffering in the book of Job.

Also: Our service begins at 9:30 and ends at 11; our host church begins their service at 11:30. When we first moved to our present facility, I thought the early starting time would be a negative. But we discovered an advantage: Many people are happy to stick around and talk when they don’t have to rush out for lunch. We often have a third of the congregation still at the church 45 minutes after the service ends.

Here are three vignettes from the ten or so conversations I had between 11 and noon on Sunday:

Shortly after the close of the service, I see a couple I have never met before talking with another elder. After introductions, they say, “We have never heard preaching like this. I now feel like I understand what this passage means, and how I can live it out. Thank you so much! Do you preach like this all the time at Desiring God Church?”

A few minutes later, Janey approaches me. A native of Congo, Janey received her citizenship in a ceremony at the US District Court two days previously. She had asked me after that ceremony if she could speak to the congregation following Sunday’s church service, thanking God and those individuals who helped her to get to this point. She now reminds me; I clap hands to get folks’ attention. Janey notices a few people talking outside the Fellowship Hall door, and asks if I can go alert them. When all is arranged, she very graciously thanks those who helped her study, those who drove her to classes, those who loved her and prayed for her – and praises God for taking her from a dangerous situation into this country. As she finishes, everyone claps, and Bruno – also a refugee from Congo – breaks out into a Swahili song, praising God for His goodness.

As the crowd begins to thin out, I sit down next to eight-year-old Rachel. Her family was part of this congregation before her birth, so I had the privilege of holding her when she was a newborn. As part of our service, we always ask for a volunteer to recite the week’s memory verses; this morning, Rachel and her brother had done so. I thank her for that, and we discuss Bible memory for a while. Then Rachel surprises me: “Pastor Coty, I was sad about something you said in the sermon.” “What, sweet girl?” “You said we were leaving Romans. I love Romans! I’m learning so much from it. So I’m sad that you’ll be preaching on something else” It takes me a bit to know what to say. Finally: “I’m so glad you are taking Paul’s message to heart, Rachel. I promise you, we will get back to it – I’ll only preach about five sermons on Job. And you know what? I think Job will help you understand Romans even better!” Then she is satisfied.

Driving home, tears well up in my eyes, praising God, and thanking Him for so much that I don’t deserve: For visitors responding to expository preaching; for those from a number of countries and peoples who grace our church; for a new citizen and spontaneous song; and for a little girl I once held as an infant who loves both the book of Romans and the in-depth preaching that opens up its truths.

Reflections on a New US Citizen

Today Ed Conrad and I accompanied Janey to her being sworn in as a US citizen. Forty-eight others joined her, from thirty different countries of origin, including Congo (Janey’s former country), Vietnam, Iraq, Bhutan, Ghana, Colombia, Ecuador, and Hondurus. Most took new name’s; Janey’s legal name is now Mary Jane Rebecca. All forty-nine new citizens joined together in affirming that they:

absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which [they] have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that [they] will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; . . . that [they] will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; . . . and that [they] take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.

The mood was celebratory. Each new citizen rejoiced in swearing allegiance to the United States of America.

There are great parallels between what happened today in the US District Court of Western North Carolina and what happens in the life of every Christian. We all have been subject to a foreign power. And there is war between this power and the Kingdom of God. Indeed, we have marched in the army of this foreign power, taking up arms against God’s Kingdom. Yet now, pardoned by God’s grace through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we must “absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity” to that foreign power, Satan’s Kingdom of Darkness. We must bear arms against that Satanic Kingdom, putting on the full armor of God and taking up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. We must battle also against the “domestic” enemy within each of us, the rebelliousness that would lead us to revolt against our rightful King and renew our allegiance to Sin. Furthermore, we can’t become citizen’s of the Kingdom of God half-heartedly, or to aim for selfish gain. We must freely offer ourselves “without any mental reservation” to our Lord and Master, for Him to do with us as He sees fit.

Those are wonderful parallels. But there is an important difference between that swearing-in ceremony and our allegiance to the Kingdom of God: Janey was born as a citizen of Congo. There was nothing wrong with that citizenship. She was right to be loyal to her country as long as she was a citizen.

Not so with us. From the creation of mankind, we humans were by right under God’s rule and authority. At Satan’s prompting, we rebelled against our rightful King.

Thus, rather than Janey renouncing her allegiance to Congo, the following would be a closer parallel: A native US citizen leaves this country, joins ISIS, and participates in terrorist acts. He even burns his US passport, and posts a video of that act on the internet. The US government revokes his citizenship. Then, coming to his senses, this terrorist freely gives himself up, accepts just judgment and punishment, and eventually takes the above oath in becoming once again an American citizen.

That’s a closer parallel. But in our case, the rebellion is even more heinous. For our Ruler is perfectly loving, perfectly good, and perfectly just.

And yet, in our case, the just punishment is not administered to us. Jesus became man, and took our punishment on Himself. When we admit our rebellion, absolutely and entirely renouncing all allegiance to Satan’s Kingdom, trusting in Jesus as crucified and risen, we are citizens in the Kingdom for which we were created – the Kingdom of Light – the Kingdom of love, joy and peace.

Praise God that He has “delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13) so that “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). May we live out that right allegiance faithfully.

Have You Tasted That the Lord is Good?

The Apostle Peter writes:

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation– if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 2:2-3)

Babies love their mothers’ milk. They grow by it. So they long for it. They cry for it. They become anxious when they go for lengthy times without it. They know very little else; but babies know they need that precious milk. They know it is good. They know their mother who feeds them is good.

Peter tells us we have been born again through God’s word, God’s Gospel, God’s Good News that endures forever and grants life (1 Peter 1:23-25). This is the pure spiritual milk that feeds and nourishes us. Thus, like little babies, we must long for that Word – if we have really tasted that Jesus is good.

So note: Peter is identifying two events with each other: Our salvation; and our tasting that Jesus is good. There is no salvation without our tasting that Jesus is good, without our tasting that God is for us, that God is supremely valuable. We must hear this word; we must believe it; and we must take it to heart. We must taste.

What, then, does “taste that the Lord is good” mean?

Peter here alludes directly to Psalm 34:8: “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

But hear other Scriptures that say something similar:

I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 31:14)

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. (Psalm 63:5-8)

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103)

The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. (Nahum 1:7-8)

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100)

These Scriptures all maintain God’s goodness. However, from our human perspective, our Lord often does not appear good. We see natural disasters. We see human tragedies. In our own lives we experience hardship, pain, and suffering. How do we taste that the Lord is good when life tastes bitter?

As we will see on Sunday mornings in the weeks ahead, Paul addresses these questions directly in the second half of Romans 8.

But for today consider the answers that come from Psalm 135 and 145:

Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD, give praise, O servants of the LORD,
who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God!
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant!
For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession.
For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods (Psalm 135:1-5)

Why is God’s Name pleasant to us? Because He has chosen His people. Out of all His creation, He has chosen His church as His precious possession, to declare the excellencies of the One who called us (1 Peter 2:9). And since He is above all gods, no power can snatch us out of His hand. We are His. We are guarded and kept by Him. So while suffering and hardship will come, we can taste that He is good, and rejoice in Who He is.

Then from Psalm 145:

I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. . . .
The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.
All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you!
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power,
to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. (Psalm 145:1-5, 8-12)

We taste that He is good in part through reminding ourselves and one another of what He has done. We remember both His mighty acts and His majestic character, and in remembering, meditate on these truths revealed to us through the living and abiding Word of God.

Prompted by those remembrances and meditations, we thank Him – and we make sure those around us know these truths; we make sure they know what we have tasted.

So we taste in part through remembering, reminding, and retelling Who He is and what He has done. We drink in that precious spiritual milk of the Word and, nourished and satisfied, share that milk with others. And that very sharing deepens our experience of tasting that the Lord is good.

So how are your taste buds? Are you tasting each and every day? Do you experience God’s goodness? Do you know Jesus as satisfying and filling?

Taste that He is good!

Runners, To Your Marks; Get Set; Go!

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:13

Think about this verse as a daily exercise: Every day, begin by preparing your minds for action. Then throughout the day, be completely sober-minded. This enables you, thirdly, to set your hope fully on the future grace we will receive when Jesus returns.

Before we elaborate on each step, think over this analogy:

Consider each day of living the Christian life as a 400 meter run. Prior to being called to the start, you need to make sure you’re dressed in running clothes. Your shoes must be tied. Your spikes must be tightened. Then, crouched in the blocks before the race starts, you must prepare your mind for action: You have to get ready to make an extreme effort. You must put aside all other thoughts, all distractions. You must focus on the starter, ready to explode as soon as the gun sounds.

Then, throughout the race, you must be “sober-minded.” That is, you must maintain your focus on running well, even as your body screams out that the sprint is too painful. You must relax your shoulders and your jaw, while maintaining your knee lift and efficient form.

Finally, you set your hope on the coming, certain end. The race will seem interminable. The finish line may appear to recede instead of drawing closer. Your legs may feel like lead. But the end is certain. The race will end, and its end will be glorious.

Prepare Your Mind for Action

The King James Version translates this phrase literally, “Gird up the loins of your minds.” In Peter’s day, men normally wore robes or tunics that draped down to their ankles. Imagine trying to run in such clothing! So any time a man had to move quickly, or to engage in difficult labor, he would tie up the robe around his waist. In this way he prepared himself for action.

Similar ideas occur several times in the Old Testament. For example, God tells the Israelites to eat the Passover “with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand” (Exodus 12:11). They are to be ready to move the minute God gives the command.

How do we fulfill this on a day to day basis? How do we prepare ourselves, so we are ready for whatever action God has in store for us?

  • We must remind ourselves of the truths of the Gospel, of the promises of God, of His character, of the work of Jesus Christ, of the Holy Spirit’s presence.
  • We must reflect on how we failed in the fight of faith yesterday, and determine how to depend on God to fight that fight today.
  • We must pray for ourselves, and pray for others, confident that brothers and sisters are praying for us.
  • We must go to the Word, seeking the Spirit’s insight and encouragement, picking out what we will meditate, learn from, and put into practice this day.

Be Completely Sober-Minded

Having been prepared, we must run today’s race. We must maintain a constant vigilance against the distractions that come our way continually.

Satan sometimes tempts us directly to doubt God’s goodness, to doubt His power, and to doubt our status before Him.  Other times he instead tries to distract us from the task, encouraging us to think of other aspects of life – our jobs, our families, our health, our safety, our entertainment, our education – as more important, more vital, more urgent than Jesus and His Kingdom. One way or another, he tries to envelope us in a fog on unbelief, in which the truths of God seem unreal, immaterial, and unimportant. In that fog, we effectively are drunk, not sober; we’re not thinking clearly about Who God is; we’re not trusting His revelation of the nature of Reality.

So we must maintain our sobriety. We must be completely sober-minded.

Set Your Hope Fully on the Grace That Will Be Brought to You at the Revelation of Jesus Christ

Note that Peter tells us to set our hope on future grace. God has given us great grace already if we are in Christ. We are to reflect on that in preparing our minds for action, and hold on firmly to that truth by being sober-minded. But we are to set our hope fully on the future grace that will be ours when Jesus returns, when the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Revelation 11:15).

What grace will we receive in that day? Peter has already mentioned some aspects of this grace:

  • 1 Peter 1:4: An inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, protected in heaven for us
  • 1 Peter 1:5: The completion of our salvation, which is ready for us, and will be revealed to us in the last time.

From other Scriptures we know: We will know fully, even as we are fully known. We will see Him face to face. He will rejoice over us with loud singing. He will wipe every tear from our eyes. We will receive incorruptible, sinless, eternal bodies. The entire creation will be made new. There will be no more sin, no more sorrow, no more pain. God Himself will be our light.

The glory of the finish line helps the 400 meter runner to endure. Just so, the glories of Jesus’ return help us. But Peter hints that we have another reason to hope in the midst of trials.

Literally, Peter says, “Set your hope fully on the grace that is being brought to you.” That is, the participle Peter uses is in the present tense, not the future. What’s the difference, since Jesus’ return is obviously future?

Had the tense been future, Peter’s emphasis would have been solely on the grace that will be ours on that great day. By using the present tense, Peter emphasizes, in addition, that right now all you experience is bringing about the culmination of God’s Plan. All your pain, all your sorrow, all your difficulties and trials work to bring about this coming grace, this return of Jesus – and with Him, your inheritance of all things.

This is our hope. Day by day, throughout every day, remind yourself: Right now, God is working through all that happens to bring about that Final Day, with its great outpouring of grace.

The Foundation for Peter’s Commands

Consider finally some of the exhortations and commands Peter gives in the remainder of this letter. All are grounded in 1 Peter 1:13:

  • Be holy in all your conduct
  • Abstain from the passions of the flesh, which includes putting away all malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander
  • Long for the spiritual milk of the Word
  • Love one another earnestly, having unity of mind
  • Be subject to authority: everyone to governments, wives to husbands, servants to masters, the younger to elders
  • Husbands, live with your wives in an understanding manner
  • Elders, shepherd the flock eagerly, willingly, setting an example
  • Proclaim the excellencies of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light
  • Be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you
  • In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy
  • Live for the will of God
  • Show hospitality without grumbling
  • Use your gifts to serve one another to God’s glory
  • Rejoice as you share Christ’s sufferings
  • Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another
  • Cast your anxieties on God
  • Resist the devil

So, my friends, today and every day: Prepare your minds for action! Gird up that long robe! Get ready to run! Listen for His command! Be like the Israelites at Passover, all ready to head out at God’s command.

Keep being sober minded. Prepare your minds so that you can avoid the fog of unbelief and maintain your focus.

Hold to the solid hope that even now God is working all things together to bring about that Final Day, when every tribe and tongue will praise the Name of Jesus, when He will wipe all tears from our eyes, when we will see Him face to face.

So: Runners, to your marks. Get set. Go!

Who is Godly?

What is the basis on which you approach God?

How did David approach Him?

Consider Psalm 86:2: “Preserve my life, for I am godly.” It almost sounds as if David is saying, “Look at how good I’ve been! I’ve become like You, Lord! I’ve fulfilled my part of the bargain, now You fulfill Yours – keep me alive! Save me from my enemies!”

But that seems to fly in the face of what Scripture says elsewhere. For example, many of us have memorized Ephesians 2:8-9:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

These and the surrounding verses clearly show that we are saved by God’s grace, not by our works. We are saved through faith in the crucified and risen Christ, not by our efforts. No matter how many good works we may do, no matter how faithful we may be, our status before God depends upon “the great love with which [God] loved us” (v. 5), not upon the “good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (v. 10). Those works, indeed, are the result of God’s love, not the prerequisite for God’s love.

How then do we understand a verse like Psalm 86:2?

To understand this verse rightly, we must understand the word translated “godly.” What does this Hebrew word, hasidim, mean? It is often translated “saints.” But the word shares a root with the important Hebrew word hesed – translated “lovingkindness,” “steadfast love,” “covenant love,” or “unfailing love.. The English translations don’t look very similar. But any Hebrew reader would note the close relation between hasidim and hesed.

The word hesed, appearing more than 250 times in the Old Testament, is commonly used of God’s love for His people. For example, when God proclaims His Name before Moses at Mt Sinai, He says, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in hesed and faithfulness, keeping hesed for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6b-7a). David concludes Psalm 23 by saying, “Surely goodness and hesed will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

The word hasidim, on the other hand, is much less frequent, appearing in its plural and singular forms only 32 times. The link with hesed helps us to see that the hasidim are the people to whom God has shown hesed (see Psalm 18:25 and 2 Samuel 22:26). As one scholar writes, this word “indicates those who were recipients of God’s grace and who as a result show the impact of grace in their lives.” That is, “we love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Thus, the word can be used to refer to God’s people (Psalms 85:8) or God’s servants (Psalm 79:2), since anyone who receives God’s hesed belongs to Him. But the word can also be used to refer to “the faithful ones” (Psalm 12:1), since those loved by God are changed by Him. They become faithful to Him. Those God loves, He transforms into His likeness.

So hasidim does not mean “godly” in the sense of someone who has become like God through his own efforts. Instead, hasidim refers to those to whom God has shown hesed, and thus are made to be godly, made to be saints, by His grace.

This understanding of hasidim gives much opportunity for fruitful reflection on several of the verses in which the word appears. Consider:

  • Psalm 31:23 “Love the LORD, all you his hasidim!” That is, “Love the LORD, all you loved by Him!” In effect, this is 1 John 4:19 in the Old Testament.
  • Psalm 37:28 “For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his hasidim. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.” That is, “The LORD will never forsake those He loves, but will preserve them forever. Those outside His love will be cut off.”
  • Psalm 32:5-6 “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Therefore let the hasidim offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found.”

The translation “godly” is particularly problematical in this last quotation. David says the hasidim are to offer prayers of confession when they sin. Given our usual understanding of “godly”, this makes little sense. Furthermore, near the end of the psalm he writes, “Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but hesed surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.” David draws a contrast not between those who are sinners and those who are godly; rather the contrast is between sinners who confess, and the wicked who do not. Thus, “the wicked” are those who have never been transformed by God’s hesed, and so are not His people. Those who sin and confess are the hasidim, God’s people, those whom He loves. This is the real meaning of “godly” in this verse.

Finally, let’s return to Psalm 86:2: “Preserve my life, for I am one of the hasidim”. David says, “Preserve my life, Lord, not because of my righteous acts, not because of what I have done or accomplished, not because of my sacrifices or religious acts. But preserve my life because You love me! Preserve my life because You have made me Yours, You have made me one of Your people! Preserve my life because You are transforming me into Your likeness!”

This is a precious truth, which will help us fight the fight of faith day by day. God’s people, the hasidim, are those to whom He shows hesed. Thus, the main question for us is not, “How am I performing?” The question is, “Am I one of God’s people, God’s child, loved by Him and transformed by His love into His likeness?” The Lord God will indeed preserve His people. He will keep them in His love. He will complete the good work He has begun in them. Nothing can separate God’s people from the love He has for them in Christ Jesus. Amen.

 

Worship and the Blood of Christ

What impact does the blood of Christ have on those who believe?

Of the many different ways to answer that question biblically, consider the answer provided in Hebrews 9:14: “The blood of Christ . . . [will] purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” What does this mean?

First: Jesus’ blood will “purify our conscience.” “Conscience” here includes what the English word suggests: our sense of right and wrong, especially whether or not we are under God’s judgment for what we have done. See, for example, Hebrews 9:9: Speaking of the rituals ordained for ancient Israel, the author states, “Gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper.” No matter how many animal sacrifices the Israelites offered, they knew that the penalty they deserved was not fully paid. They stood guilty before God. They could not access Him directly. And the regulations restricting access to the Holy of Holies to only the High Priest, and to him only once a year, underlined the inefficacy of the sacrifices. Those worshipping could not enter into the very presence of God. Something more was needed.

But “conscience” in Hebrews is also intimately related to “heart,” all of our inner desires and longings, as well as our will. In Hebrews 10:22, the author writes, “Let us draw near [to God] with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.” The cleansing of our conscience by the blood of Christ leads to full assurance of faith, thereby enabling us to approach God Himself with a true heart – that is, with all our inner being truly focused on Him, delighting in Him, comforted in His love, embraced as His child, and loving Him with all our heart.

So in purifying our conscience, the blood of Christ is changing us thoroughly from the inside out.

With that understanding of “conscience,” consider the next phrase in Hebrews 9:14: Our conscience is purified from “dead works.” Think of these both as “works that are produced by deadness” and “works that can’t produce life.” Apart from Christ we are dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). Apart from Christ, we are impotent; we can do nothing (John 15:5). So whatever deeds we do – whether those are acts that look like worship, or acts that seem to help another person or produce something worthwhile – are all sin-stained, the production of sinful, dead hearts. And such dead works logically cannot produce life. They cannot save us, they cannot make us alive when we are dead in trespasses and sins – no matter how religious those works may appear – nor can they effect life in any other person.

But when the blood of Christ purifies our conscience from such dead works, what happens? What are we now able to do? We are able “to serve the living God.” Note that the same verb translated “serve” in Hebrews 9:14 is translated “worship” in Hebrews 9:9. The blood of Christ enables us to worship the living God.

So now we can summarize the impact that the blood of Christ has on believers, according to Hebrews 9:14: Jesus’ blood cleanses us from the inside out, providing us with a clear conscience and purifying our hearts, so that we no longer offer to God unacceptable worship or sin-stained deeds, but, made holy, we draw near to God, truly worshiping Him in word, in thought, in affections, and in deeds, thereby glorifying His Name.

That is: The blood of Christ enables us to worship God.

Ponder that thought. We so often think of Jesus’ blood as saving us from hell, or as saving us from guilt, or as saving us from the power of sin, and thus saving us from destroying our lives. Praise God, His blood does all that. But it does even more. Jesus’ blood enables us to worship God in the only way He can be worshiped – in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).  The blood of Christ enables us to worship God on Sunday mornings – and indeed every hour of every day, as we display what He is like through our thoughts, our feelings, and our acts.

So, Christian: Jesus’ blood enables you to worship. Do so. Even today. Even now.

 

How to Hold Fast Our Confession

How do you respond when confronted with temptation, sin, and failure in your life?

We often respond in one of three unbiblical ways:

  • “I’m forgiven! Therefore, sin doesn’t matter!”
  • “I’ll overcome this. I’ll fight it and won’t fall into it again!”
  • “Now I’ve blown it. There’s no hope for me. I might as well give up. All is lost.”

How should we respond?

  • Not with indifference.
  • Not with self-confidence and self-effort.
  • Not with despair.

Consider what the book of Hebrews tells us at the end of chapter 4. The author has just explained that a Rest awaits God’s people; as we believe in Him and in His promises, we can rest from our works, from our efforts to cleanse ourselves. Yet we do strive – we strive to enter His rest! We work hard to depend on Him.

And striving to depend on Him instead of striving to make ourselves presentable to Him only makes sense. For we can never fool Him. His Word discerns our thoughts and intentions, opening us up before Him. He knows our every weakness, our every temptation, our every failure. While we may strive to make ourselves worthy of His acceptance, He always knows how far short we fall.

In this context, the author writes:

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

That is: Jesus is our great High Priest. He overcame those very temptations that you face – and, having overcome them, He now is exalted to the right hand of God the Father. So we must hold fast to the truth of the Gospel, confessing it with our mouths, believing it in our hearts, and preaching it and applying it to ourselves every day. For remember what the Gospel tells us:

  • Jesus is indeed the Son of God. He is powerful and mighty, wise and discerning.
  • Jesus experienced weakness. He was tempted in every way even as we are – and He knows the power of temptation more thoroughly than any of us, for He resisted to the end. He understands our struggle.
  • Jesus held fast the confession. He was without sin.
  • Jesus offered the perfect sacrifice, so that you, fallen sinner that you are, might be reconciled to God the Father (Hebrews 7:27).

How, then, do we fight the fight against temptation, against unbelief? How do we follow our Lord and Savior in holding fast to our confession? Hebrews 4:16 tells us:

  • Go to the Father! He sits on the throne, showing that He is the Almighty One! He is far more powerful than the Tempter.
  • Go to the Father! With Him you will find mercy! For Jesus knows your weakness (Hebrews 5:2), and He is the One who offered sacrifices – Himself! – for you.
  • Go to the Father! Do that boldly and confidently, for the Gospel of our confession teaches that Jesus is our mediator! (Hebrews 9:15)
  • Go to the Father! For He will give you both the power to resist temptation and the power to hold fast to your confession. Indeed, He will give you the power to enter His rest, granting (as we could render the last few words of Hebrews 4:16) “grace unto a well-timed help.”

So fight the good fight – by His power. Hold fast your confession – by turning to Him, depending on His grace, actively depending on Him and His promises. Don’t belittle sin. Don’t be self-confident. And don’t despair. We have a great High Priest. Depend on Him. He will never let you down.

How Much is Jesus Worth?

If you could become any one of these four people, which would you choose?

  • (a) The richest, most successful businessman in the world;
  • (b) The most popular, most attractive movie star in the world;
  • (c) The president of the United States;
  • (d) An aids orphan in a slum.

Which do you choose?

Some of us might have a hard time choosing between a, b, and c; but would anyone pick d?

Let me change the question: You now have the same four choices, except: if you choose a, b, or c, you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If you’re the aids orphan, you do.

Which do you choose now?

Is the choice hard?

Do you see what I’m asking? How much is Jesus worth? Is knowing him worth more than all of Bill Gates’ fortune? Is knowing Him worth more than all the fame or power of a movie star or a president?

This is the central theme of Mark 14:1-25: How much do we value Jesus? The passage is like a play: there are four main characters or groups of characters, all revolving around Jesus, all assessing Jesus’ worth. The characters are:

  • The chief priests and their associates
  • An unnamed woman
  • Judas
  • The other disciples

The passage divides itself into five scenes. We’ll briefly clarify or elaborate on a few points in each scene, then compare and contrast some of these characters, drawing out lessons for ourselves.

Scene 1: Mark 14:1-2. The Chief Priests and Associates

At this time, Passover was the most widely-attended Jewish festival. At least a few hundred thousand Jews came from afar to celebrate. The chief priests want to arrest Jesus, but since many of these attendees thought highly of Jesus, they want to move on the sly, stealthily, and to take Him into custody after the feast.

Scene 2: Mark 14:3-9, Jesus, the Disciples, and a Woman

Picture the scene: Jesus and his disciples, possibly with other guests are eating at the home of Simon the Leper — presumably a former leper whom Jesus had healed. This house is in Bethany, a couple of miles outside Jerusalem, where Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, live. As is the custom in this time and place, they are not sitting down to eat but reclining, lying with their feet away from the table, resting on their left arms, using their right hands to eat. The table is short, perhaps a foot high.

During the meal a woman enters the room carrying an incredibly expensive jar of perfume. She not only opens the jar, but breaks it, filling the room with its aroma. Then, rather than putting a small amount on Jesus, she pours the entire jar on him.

John tells us the identity of the woman: Mary, the sister of Lazarus. He also tells us that she does not stop at his head, but pours the perfume on his feet, and wipes those feet with her hair.

The plant that produces nard was grown only in the Himalayas, and so the perfume is very expensive. If the stated value of three hundred denarii is accurate, this would be about $15,000 in the US today. Nard was literally a gift for a king.

Some rebuke Mary for this “waste,” saying the profits from its sale could have been given to the poor. But Jesus accepts this offering, saying it prepares His body for burial.

Scene 3: Mark 14:10-11, Judas and the Chief Priests

Judas goes to the chief priests, and offers to betray Jesus. They are delighted. Judas can help them find Jesus in a private place, so they can arrest Him where there are no crowds to start a riot.

Matthew tells us the amount of money they offered him: 30 pieces of silver, likely worth about $5000 for us. The chief priests pay Judas about one-third of the value of the nard Mary poured out on Jesus.

Scene 4: Mark 14:12-16, Jesus and the Disciples, Preparing for the Last Supper

With all the crowds gathered in Jerusalem for Passover, finding a place to eat the celebratory meal is a real problem. Although they have been in Jerusalem almost a week, the disciples have made no arrangements for a room.

Jesus, however, had graciously prepared details ahead of time. Presumably during His last visit to Jerusalem, Jesus made arrangements for a room to be available for this special meal. He then works miraculously, arranging that when the designated disciples arrive in the city they will see a man carrying a jar of water (an unusual event in these times). They do so, and prepare for the meal.

Scene 5: Mark 14:17-25, Jesus and His Disciples: The Last Supper

Jesus and the disciples wait until they can move under the cover of darkness to the upper room. Here, while they are eating, Jesus breaks the news that one of the twelve disciples will betray Him. Twice before — in Mark 9:31 and 10:33 — Jesus has said that He will be betrayed. But the disciples had not understood, and clearly did not think that one of the twelve would be the betraying agent. They cannot believe this – clearly the eleven have no suspicions of Judas – and each one asks Jesus if he is the betrayer.

In this culture, to be betrayed by one “who is eating with me,” who “dips with me in the bowl” was considered particularly treacherous. To eat with someone implied friendship, trust, and an obligation to help and protect. So by speaking of their eating together, and saying that the betrayer is “one of the twelve,” Jesus is emphasizing the enormity of the evil of what is happening.

Jesus then institutes the Lord’s Supper, saying the bread is His body, and the cup is the blood of the covenant.

The Characters: Jesus

Now let’s turn our attention to the characters. We will look first at Jesus, and then draw some comparisons and contrasts with the others.

Mark clearly presents Jesus as in control of the situation. Jesus is not surprised by anything that happens. The chief priests are trying to move secretly, on the sly, but Jesus knows their plans and arranges matters so that His arrest does not take place until He has finished His other work. Judas thinks he is fooling the others – and he succeeds in fooling his fellow disciples. But Jesus knows of the betrayal, and lets Judas know that He knows. Jesus is well-prepared for this momentous last meal, making arrangements ahead of time.

But most importantly, Jesus presents Himself as precious through the institution of the Lord’s Supper. There are two aspects his preciousness to unpack here. First:

(1) The Lord’s Supper signifies that Jesus pays the penalty for our sins

When offering the cup, Jesus says “this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many.” Jesus here identifies himself Old Testament sacrifices, whose blood, we are told in Leviticus 17:11, was poured out on the altar “to make atonement for your souls.” Paul later makes an explicit parallel between Jesus and the Passover lamb, stating “Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

What does this mean? As the author of the book of Hebrews writes, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” God is a just God; He is the moral authority in the universe. He makes sure that every wrong is paid for, exactly as it deserves. And each of us sins in many ways. Most fundamentally, each of us fails to praise God as we He deserves; instead, we dishonor Him by our actions, our inaction, our thoughts, and our words. But Jesus, the perfect, unblemished lamb, offers His life to pay the penalty for all our sins, enabling us to enter God’s presence spotless and pure. This is what we act out and celebrate when we partake of the Lord’s Supper. This is how precious Jesus is.

But there’s even more:

(2) The Lord’s Supper signifies that Jesus lives within you

Given that Jesus pays the penalty for all our sins, we should respond by living out lives that honor and glorify Him. But how can we do that, since we are so prone to selfishness, self-centeredness, and other forms of evil?

Jesus says the cup is His “blood of the covenant.” Jeremiah prophesied that, in the new covenant, God would put His law within His people, on their heart (Jeremiah 31:33). So God’s law will not be something external, rules that His people will have to live up to. No. His law will be on their heart, within them, and they will have true intimacy with Him.

So Jesus gives us this wonderful picture: We are to eat His flesh, and drink His blood; we are to have His life within us, always. Remember, God had commanded the Israelites not to drink any blood of any kind, and to drain all the blood from an animal prior to cooking its meat. For the life is in the blood, and that serves to make atonement for their souls (Leviticus 17:11). So when Jesus tells us to drink His blood, He tells us to have His life within us. Christ in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). So by the power of the living Christ within us, we not only can stand before God with our sins paid for; we also are transformed eventually into His likeness, as He lives out His life in us.

So we are to drink up Jesus’ life, we are to consume Him, for, as Jesus says in John 6:55, “My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.” This is the lesson for us: Feed on Him, devour Him, get all our sustenance from Him, value Him above all else, desire Him more than anything, glorify Him with our money, our time, all that we are. Jesus is the most precious of all.

Reactions to Jesus by the Other Characters

How do the other characters react to this most precious One? The woman, Mary, is central here. All others are in contrast to her.

Mary vs the Chief Priests

The chief priests pay money to destroy Jesus; Mary gives much more money to anoint Jesus for burial.

Mary vs the Disciples

The disciples have had much more instruction from Jesus than Mary ever had. Jesus had even prophesied to them about His death at least three times. Nevertheless, they act completely unprepared for His death. They do not act as if they expect anything to happen; they don’t even make any preparations for their last Passover meal together.

On the other hand, Mary surely does not understand all that is happening, but knows that she will not have Jesus with her much longer. Despite not having heard Jesus’ prophecies about His death, she knows that He will die, and knows that Jesus is more precious than anything else imaginable. So she gives up what is most valuable to her – this jar of nard, perhaps a family heirloom – to prepare His body for burial. She demeans herself even to the point of rubbing His feet with her hair, knowing that Jesus is the most precious of all.

Mary vs Judas

Judas is one of these disciples, one of the intimate circle that Jesus has loved and taught. Judas has traveled with Jesus for three years, and has heard those prophecies about His death. Judas has even been empowered by Jesus to perform miracles when He sent the disciples out two by two. But now, Judas sells the most precious person in the world. For $5000, Judas gave up the source of all true life.

Mary has had much less contact with Jesus, but values Him above all else. She gives up three times what Judas received for betraying Him, in order to honor Him and acknowledge Him as precious.

But there’s another contrast between Judas and Mary. In Mark 14:21, Jesus says, “Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!” This verse proclaims both God’s sovereignty and man’s accountability. God is sovereign; He foretold Judas’ betrayal 1000 years previously. And He arranged events so that all would take place according to His good, perfect, and wise plan. God is in control.

Yet Judas chooses to betray Jesus, and is responsible for that choice. For what he does, the name “Judas” becomes the name of a traitor.

What is the contrast with Mary? She too was part of God’s plan, acting out the preciousness of Jesus for all the world to see. She too made a choice. Her name too will live for all time: “Wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her” (Mark 14:9).

So why are these scenes together? Why does Mark put the story of Mary’s anointing of Jesus right next to the story of the Last Supper?

Mary lives out the picture of the Lord’s Supper. Mary is feeding on Jesus, showing that she values Him above all else – and this is what Jesus pictures for us in the Lord’s Supper.

Conclusion

Are you sold out to God? Or are you just sold out? Mary was sold out to God. Judas was sold out. Just as Esau sold his inheritance for lentil stew, Judas sold his soul for $5000.

That seems incredible to us — but what’s your price? Do you have a price?

  • Physical punishment for yourself?
  • Physical punishment for your family?

While many of our brothers and sisters around the world and in the history of the church have to ask that question, for us the prospect of physical punishment or death for proclaiming the preciousness of Jesus seems abstract, unreal. So ask yourself this question: Is your price a steady job and a nice income and a nice house and a nice car and college for the kids?

Good things, all: But are you devoting yourself to these goals more than you are devoting yourself to following Jesus? Is the pursuit of these things, is your plan to achieve all these things, standing in the way of your making a radical, life-changing commitment to God? Standing in the way of your expressing you wholehearted devotion to Jesus, like Mary?

Instead, are you more like Simon’s dinner guests: calculating, “Oh, that’s too much to give to Jesus! We’ll give him our worship on Sunday, and a tenth of our income (maybe); that should be enough. But, Hey! What I do with the rest of my money and the rest of my time, that’s up to me.”

Are you sold out to Jesus and the gospel? Or are you only playing at church?

You don’t owe Jesus only a tenth of your income. You don’t owe him only your worship on Sunday. You owe him everything! You owe Him your entire life!

But this is not some onerous debt you have to repay, which hurts each time you make a payment! For when you yield to him, when you give up these pseudo-successes and pseudo-pleasures the world offers, when instead you feed on Him, and drink Him up – you find the real love, joy, and peace the world so much longs for. You get to know the most precious, the most beautiful, the most loving person in the world. And as you get to know Him, and as you see Him and learn more and more of Him, as you drink Him up, you become like Him.

So do that! Drink him up! Feed on him!

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord – and enter in to the joy of His presence.

So, yes, I would rather be a poor aids orphan in a slum – and know Jesus – than the richest man in the world, and not know Him. I know that that’s the right choice. I don’t always act consistently with that knowledge, but I know it’s right.

What about you? Is Jesus more precious to you than anything in this world?

[This devotion is a shortened and edited version of a sermon preached July 30, 2000. You can read the entire sermon here.]

Reflections on the Death of a Cat

Tuesday we put down our 19-year-old cat, Madison.

We got Madison from a shelter when he was a few weeks old. He had big eyes, a cute face, and a playful spirit. Our youngest son, Joel, was two. Over the next few years, Joel regularly would throw Madison over his shoulder and carry him around the house. Madison peered at us, wide-eyed, asking to be saved from this terror of a boy – but not scratching, ever.

At age 3, traumatized and in shock after an attack by a large canine, Madison stayed downstairs in our Massachusetts basement for weeks, recovering. After that, I don’t think he was ever sick for a day.

Until Monday. He was sluggish. He wailed. He vomited – first his food, then clear liquid.

Tuesday, he was in obvious distress. The vet thought he knew what was wrong; he could do a series of procedures for an estimated $1000 that he thought would solve the problem. The prognosis was good, but not definite. The problem might reoccur. Madison might only live a few more months. Or he might live several more years. Beth and I spoke on the phone; we put him down. I stroked Madison’s cheek while the vet injected him with barbiturates.

Now, as encounters with death go, this was quite minor. A cat – even a beloved pet – is a cat. In what follows, I’m not drawing any degree of equivalence between a cat’s death and a person’s death. Nevertheless, Madison’s demise prompted me to reflect more widely on the way our culture – and I myself – speak of and respond to death. So here are some thoughts:

I have little firsthand experience with death. I have never been in the presence of a person when he or she died. A few hours before death, and minutes afterward, yes. But never at the point itself.

I suspect my lack of experience is common for Americans. We live sanitized lives. We know death is certain, but, for many, it is hidden, shrouded, filed away from consciousness – something we encounter in theaters and in television and in books, but not in our day-to-day lives. In this way we fail to come to terms with our own mortality: Unless Jesus returns in the next few decades, I will die. Like Madison, my breathing will cease, my heart will stop.  I will die.

Our sanitized lives extend to the euphemisms we use when referring to death – even of our pets. Did you notice the euphemism I used above? “We put him down.” Well. I “put Madison down” when he was “making biscuits” on my thighs, sticking his claws into me. What happened Tuesday was rather more significant than that. And note the use of the first person plural, deflecting responsibility from myself. I could have said straightforwardly, “I told the vet to kill my cat.” But we almost never use such language. We soften the blow.

Scripture usually is quite straightforward about death. “On the day you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Eight times in Genesis 5, we read, “And he died.” Job’s children all die in a building collapse (Job 1:18-19). The patriarchs all die. David dies. Solomon dies. Most of all, Jesus dies.

Thus, “Because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man” (Romans 5:17). Yet here in the US for so much of the time we can live our lives pretending that death only reigns theoretically, only reigns in films and television and literature. Even the death of a cat can challenge that pretension.

We use euphemisms and fail to speak frankly about death in order to help those encountering death, attempting to be kind and caring. Yet is it really kind and caring to act as if death is not ever-present, not threatening?

For when we downplay death, we inevitably downplay the resurrection.

For the Bible’s answer to the severity of death, to the horror of death, is not to soften the language and to help people to maintain an illusion of safety and immortality in this earthly existence. The Bible’s answer to the threat of death is to look it in the eye, to admit its horrors – and then to show us God’s plan of redemption, through Jesus’ death and resurrection!

For Jesus was dead, really dead. It was painful. It was horrible. His lungs filled with fluid. His breathing stopped. His heart stopped. He was dead.

And yet: God raised Him from the dead.

Imagine my reaction had I gone out early this morning to Madison’s little grave in our backyard, and found the dirt moved away, the hole empty – and imagine I then felt Madison rubbing against my leg! “He’s alive! He’s here! In the flesh! How did that happen? How can this possibly be? Yet here he is – furry and warm and purring and cuddly!”

How incomparably greater the joy and amazement of the disciples upon seeing the risen Jesus!

My friends, God promises to “swallow up death forever” (Isaiah 25:8). Jesus has
“broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10 NET). If we downplay the power of death, if we downplay death as “the last enemy” (1 Corinthians 15:26), we downplay the power of the resurrection and the accomplishment of Jesus.

God did not create us for death. For His people, for those united to His Son, for those who believe in His Name, who walk according to the Spirit, He promises: “The time will come when death will be no more. The old order will pass away. I will wipe every tear from your eyes. Everlasting joy shall be upon your heads” (Revelation 21:4, Isaiah 35:10).

Death entered the world because of sin. It is the last enemy.

But we, in Christ, can look death in the eye. We can acknowledge its power.

And we can know that He who mightily raised Jesus from the dead will give life to our mortal bodies, so that we too might have eternal life (Romans 8:11). Praise God for the Gospel.