Sword

I'm sure you have heard Psalm 139 before. If not, it will probably be one of the first introduced to you should you choose to explore the Christian realm of thought. Christians love this Psalm. They love it because it speaks directly to them. They love it because it tells them they are loved. They love it because it tells them that there is always someone with them..and that someone is God. I say "they" because to be honest, I have grown numb to Psalm 139. Before I thought it was a classic example of "familiarity breeds contempt", and that I was just way too familiar. Truthfully, it was never the case that the comfort from these words had simply "faded away". Comfort was never there. I never heard these words and felt a sense of safety and peace. I thought maybe they were true for others, but they were never true for me.

The problem with human solutions to human problems is that we can't deal with complexity. We only do what we know how to help ourselves, and the only thing we know how to do is reduce. Athletic trainers and nutritionists will say that proper exercise and a healthy diet will lead to more energy and to a better self-esteem. "Your lack of happiness is a physical issue" they might say. A therapist's advice would be to look within. They would express the importance of feeling and getting to the root of the issue. Christians might assume that it's a spiritual problem and ask the inevitable question "have you prayed and read your Bible lately?" And some others might assume that there is a deep moral issue or unconfessed sin that is dragging you down. "Or is it a relational issue?" another might inquire. None of these ideas are wrong. Oftentimes our realization of these problems and solutions are enough to dull the pain. But there is still something missing. There is still a part of us that feels left out, as though we're wearing a band-aid while still suffering from an open wound that lies beneath it.

I saw the other day that the Bible is the only source that doesn't employ reductionist theories. It does not try to fix us on one or two levels while letting the other aspects of us dwell in the corner (for more on this subject give a listen to Tim Keller's "A Wounded Spirit"). We are told that we are made in the image of the living God including the ability to feel and think and relate and choose.

When God put Adam in the garden he told him to be obedient about the tree... but he failed. When Jesus was in the garden God told him to be obedient about the tree..and he was. But his instruction was a bit more extensive than Adam's. He was told he would be broken emotionally, physically, relationally, spiritually. He would be broken in every way that he could be. On the cross he would not be able to escape his humanness, and it would completely defeat him. Jesus had to mend the wound that Adam caused. He had to stretch out his arms and let himself be beaten and mocked and abandoned by his Father. He had to be crushed in every way. Then, and only then could he make way for man to know the meaning of total redemption. He had to feel pain unto death in order to offer us physical strength. He had to feel the shame of the cross in order to offer us honor. He had to feel totally abandoned in order to offer us relationship. He had to bear the weight of sin in order to offer us forgiveness.

It is through these things that we can realize the meaning of the words "by his wounds, we are healed". God does not reduce us to just emotions, or bodies, or spirits. He does not do this because we are much, much more to him than that. His love for us, a total love can be seen in the fact that he did not reduce the sufferings of Jesus either. To the degree that Jesus was raised and glorified is the degree to which he desires to do the same for us. To those who by faith identify themselves with Christ in his afflictions, he will give the right to become his heirs, his children, his inheritance.

But until then, we are here. We live in the midst of a broken people who do not know how to heal themselves but who constantly try. We so long to be in his presence and to see his face and for our faith to be sight. What a glorious day that will be! But even in the midst of our suffering, and even in the midst of our pain, God wispers some words to us in his word that have more comfort to me now than ever before.

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?..." These words of Psalm 139 are so rich when we consider the depth to which he knows us due to the depth to which he suffered for us. He does not desire to fulfill some parts of us, but the whole thing. In complexity we were created, suffered for, and now are being redeemed. We can utter "you make beautiful things" to God in comfort that these words are true now and will be even more so when we see him face to face.

We will always be living in want for more as long as we live in a world of reductionist theories. It is safe to assume that they are all around us, but let us not carry these assumptions to the Word of God. It truly is a sword, our only sword, and hope of defense.

Rejoice in these truths with me. Let us magnify our great God together.

Blessings.

Hope and War

To say that things here have been busy is an understatement. Although, I cannot deny that my tendency to accept additional opportunities on a day to day basis doesn’t help. And I know that in all honesty, I would not have it any other way.

I have been learning and growing a great deal through my classes and independent studies, and I shall share my findings at a later time. But for now there is a story that I want to pass on that was told to me by one of my friends after an eventful trip on one of Chicago’s inner city trains..

She said that while aboard the train a man, visibly drunk, began talking about himself and his life. His words were often short of comprehensibility, but then he clearly spoke, almost directly to her.  With a certain level of sincerity he said, “Do you know what the level beyond insanity is?  Hopelessness. And that is where I live.” Given his condition this was especially profound.

According to this man, being insane is better than being hopeless, and I believe that our society as a whole would agree. To be insane indicates a lack of normality and a surplus of idiocy. But if hope dwells in the midst of these things, who cares? What classifies being “normal” anyways? A hope-filled fool is still a fool, but somehow he’s a fool that some will be jealous of. Somehow others will still long for the satisfaction that he has despite his folly. The opposite is true for similar reasons. A hopeless rich man is still rich, but somehow none of it matters if at the end of the day his things try to satisfy him in vain. And those who are jealous of these men will pursue their lifestyles, only to be left just as empty handed.

The conclusion that hope trumps insanity and lives of wealth and fame carries very interesting implications. Consider for a moment the questions “what is man’s purpose in life?”, or “why does man exist?” Does not the answer have something to do with hope? Is it a mere coincidence that within mankind all long for it in a certain way? I once heard someone say that all men live as though there is a God. I suppose this universal longing that man wrestles with is just one of the ways in which this quote is proven true. All men want safety and security and perfect fellowship and to be loved and to no longer experience pain…aka they want Heaven. Exactly what God has designed for men is the fulfillment of their every desire. But the devil is very good at what he does. His power to convince people that they can find hope for themselves creates a vicious cycle, and at some point, it always fails to satisfy.

It is more clear to me why Paul would command people to think of things that are true and noble (etc.), for with these thoughts we fight for hope and crush the enemy’s attempts to kill it. The battle for hope is just one of the ways that we participate in the greater Spiritual war that exists. As John Piper would say, “Life is war. That is not all it is, but it is always that.” We have got to fight for hope, because there are a lot more people out there who need it than just the man on the train.

Let’s take 1 Peter 3:15 seriously. But before we can give reason for our hope, we must have it in the first place. Study the implications of the surrounding verese in 1 Peter 3..you'll be amazed.

Blessings.

Psalm 143

"Hear my prayer, O LORD;
give ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your faithfulness answer me,
in your rightousness!
Enter not into judgement with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you.

For the enemy has pursued my soul;
he has crushed my life to the ground;
he has made me sit in darkness
like those long dead.
Therefore my spirit faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.

I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all that you have done;
I ponder the works of your hands.
I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Answer me quickly, O LORD!
My spirit fails!
Hide not your face from me,
lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD!
I have fled to your for refuge!
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God!
Let your good spirit lead me
on level ground!

For your name's sake, O LORD,
preserve my life!
In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies,
and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,
for I am your servant."


"O God, it is amazing that men can talk so much,
about man’s creaturly power and goodness,
when, if thou didst not hold us back every moment,
we should be devils incarnate.
This, by bitter experience, thou hast taught me concerning myself."- Valley of Vision

Amazing grace..how sweet the sound.

Blessings.

A Year Ago Today

I picked up my prayer journal last night and was elated to see an entry from exactly one year ago. I remember the very circumstances of that prayer, as I found myself in a time of unrest and uncertainty. I was still at PBU main campus and knew it wasn’t a fit for me, and I had not yet decided on an alternative. Some of my prayer reads “Lord, teach me what it means to rest and to be at peace in your presence, for it is there that my worship of you is free from ever-consuming thoughts of self.”

If only you knew the things that the Lord has been teaching me the past few weeks..

If you knew these things you would be astounded..as I am. In one of my classes we have been looking at the ministry of Jesus and drawing out principles for our obedience in making disciples. In Mark chapter 6 Jesus sent his disciples out to perform miracles and to proclaim his saving name. Upon their return, Jesus’ words to them are “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (verse 31). Even as other verses in this chapter reveal, Jesus values rest, Jesus values prayer, and Jesus values reflection and thanksgiving. He led his disciples by example and withdrew himself often to pray and to get alone with his Heavenly Father. How much more important then must it be for us to do the same? Not only that, but rest is essential. By it, Jesus was able to jump right back into ministry as he called his disciples to do 6 verses after he called them to rest.

That’s just it, the ministry never stops. Our un-believing friends don’t just disappear. Those we are called to disciple remain in our lives.  Our classes and workplaces and homes and friends will continue to prove to be opportunities for us to minister grace upon the undeserving. And what a gracious thing this is, for we are undeserving ourselves.

May the Body of Christ glean more joy from resting in the goodness of Christ. For it is in the secret of his presence that we find restoration in the deepest sense of the word. We cannot find true rest in theology, Christian fellowship, and the reading of the Scriptures alone. Rather it is through communion in these ways and others that connects us back to our God, our Savior, and the Spirit of truth that reminds us of our rich inheritance in Him- the source of eternal good. May we delight in spending rest-filled time with Him, and in our moments of restlessness such as the one I experienced just a year ago, may He reveal to us the things that we are placing before him and worshipping alongside him. As Augustine would say “He loves Thee too little who loves anything together with Thee which he loves not for Thy sake.”

This year my new prayer becomes thus “In the quiet, in the stillness I know that you are God. In the secret of your presence I know there I am restored. When you call I won’t refuse. Each new day again I’ll choose. There is no one else for me. None but Jesus…”

By grace may these words ring true in my life and in yours.

Blessings.