The Good News – two parts

June 29, 2011

Maria 1 Peter, Gospel , Leave a comment

How do you share the Gospel?  It’s a very intimidating subject.  Maybe I should ask, “Do you share the Gospel?” and if so, what do you say?  I’ve been obsessed with this question for a while.  I feel both a conviction and desire to be out and about giving real hope in a fragile, fleeting world, yet I am afraid of both rejection and falling on my face.

I grew up in the Episcopal Church.  Their approach to sharing the Gospel, at least during the ‘so called’ Decade of Evangelism (the 1990s) was meant to take away any fear or threat of pushback.  They taught “All you have to do is tell your story – no one can criticize you for telling your story!”

It took me years finally to realize that while one’s story might interest SOME people, that’s actually NOT the gospel.  Your story features and highlights YOU as the main character.  On the other hand, the Gospel is God’s story; His rescue operation of lost sinners unable to save themselves. That’s why it’s good news for everyone. And it’s not just wishful thinking.  We can point to a particular historical event as a basis for this saving operation.

So for the past two years, having studied the content of the good news as objective historical fact – what Christ accomplished on our behalf, I have stayed away from including anything personal.  But recently I’ve been reading that it is perfectly legitimate to add a personal dimension, the details of how that ‘good’ news has changed your life.

These two aspects of the Gospel – the objective side and the affective side seem like they would make for a much more complete presentation.  Taking two weeks, I will first pick up and look at the content of the actual gospel.  And next week, God-willing, I will write about how that event has changed my life.  In doing so, I think that my readiness to share the full story will be honed.  Maybe this will prompt you to practice articulating what the Gospel is.  After all, we are charged to be ready always to give a defense, an apologia for what and why we believe (1 Pet 3:15).

The good news, the Gospel, is an account of something that took place outside of us.  It’s anchored in an historical event, the crucifixion.   God the Son came into our world as a human to reconcile us to God the Father by accomplishing two goals.  The first goal was to pay off our debt against God.  The second goal was to transfer a perfectly obedient life to our account.  By doing both, we are then counted and considered as adopted sons of the Father, having full rights of inheritance with our older brother Jesus.  It’s an incredible accomplishment given our status beforehand.

As always, in order to understand why this is GOOD news, we have to acknowledge reality before Jesus.  Yes, God did create us in His image and He was pleased with His handiwork.  But in the interests of creating us with the capacity to love as free agents, part of our nature included the ability to reject God.  And right from the beginning our Uncle Adam and Aunt Eve did that.

We all know that no man is an island unto himself and that our actions do indeed impact others.  Well Adam and Eve’s desire to be autonomous, to be their own gods and decision makers got transferred to us.  And that default has been wired into our very nature, to our harm.

Every time we decide to make much of ourselves or of something in creation, we rob God of His rightful glory.  Those actions add up to a staggering record against us.  They prevent us from having a peaceable relationship with God our Father.  We are out of sorts with Him because of all this wrongdoing lying between us.  The record is huge, because it keeps accumulating each day, day after day.  It is an insurmountable obstacle to a loving relationship with God.  In fact because of this mountain of sin, we deserve death.

Yet God…..!!! (Great words)  Because He is just and righteous, He doesn’t turn a blind eye to sin. But because His loving-kindness is beyond our imagining, He doesn’t leave us without hope. Instead, He provided a way to pay off that debt forever. He chose to die in our place.  Had WE been writing the story, never in a million years would we have imagined that ending.  But the Trinity in a Holy Plan created this very rescue mission.  God as Father, Holy Spirit and Son decided to save a group of humans to be His children forever.  Jesus, the son, left His privileged place in the family God-head to face the eventual separation when He took on our sins.

All this glorious work and inheritance gets to be ours when we face the fact that without God’s active intervention, we would have no way out. We can’t save ourselves. But oh, what a savior!  We can humbly and gratefully accept His offer of pardon and full restitution. That’s it – we open our hands and accept the gift and our status is immediately changed.  We no longer face eternal condemnation and a horrible future.

Instead we can look forward to a mind-boggling, staggering inheritance, packed with an infinity of implications.  But why do I hesitate to let others in on this amazing plan?   Why do I stall, dreaming up ‘easy’ ways to approach people?   I hold imaginary conversations

  • So, are you a spiritual person?
  • Do you ever feel guilty?
  • What are you going to do with your guilt when you die?
  • Do you ever think about life after death?
  • What do you think happens to people when they die?

I think I have the content down.  I just am afraid to open up, unless someone asks me a leading question.

What about you?  What has your experience been like?  How do you communicate God’s story?

(**Next week, I’ll post about why being rescued by God has changed my life in the here and now.)

Forgiveness and freedom from guilt

June 22, 2011

Maria Forgiveness, Guilt, Hebrews, Psalm 103 , , Leave a comment

The other day I saw a distinction that was new to me.  The word ‘to forgive’ and the French word ‘pardonner’ both have the root or meaning to GIVE (French – donner, like donate).  God gives us a way back to a restored, right relationship with Him after we have violated one of His laws.  It’s 100 % from Him. We do nothing on our own.  Contrariwise, the sacrificial system of the Hebrews was built on the action of the sinner.  You broke God’s law, YOU gave up a valuable, unblemished part of your wealth & sustenance (livestock) and your relationship with God was restored.

Therefore, when God says in the letter to the Hebrews in Chapter 10, “….’their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more’.  And when these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Therefore brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus (17-19)….having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience (22b)…”

What does this have to do with how you and I live and what we do with our sin?  If you and I are in Christ, that is, if we are part of those called and offered “….the promised eternal inheritance – now that he(Christ) has died as a ransom to set (us)  free from the sins committed under the first covenant” (Hebr 9:15), then there is nothing left for us to DO.

If we were still under the rules of the Mosaic Covenant, we would have to give up goods and perform sacrifices to cover our sins.  But now, as members of the new covenant, we exercise the privilege of heirs. We still sin, but we claim the covering effect of the paid ransom.  More meaningful to me is the freedom from guilt.

If we accept as FACT what God’s word says, then per verse 22b in Hebrews 10, we have been cleansed from a guilty conscience.  When did that happen?  When the Son was killed as a ransom to set us free from the penalty of all our sins (past, present and future) guilt was also removed.

So how does this work out?  My struggle with guilt comes more often from not living up to my standards for myself.  Over the years, I have come more and more to bring those standards in line with God’s law.  When I overeat, when I break a confidence, when I say something negative about another family member or brother and sister in Christ, when I choose to be selfish instead of following the prompting of the Holy Spirit, I feel guilty.  And I can wallow in guilt which turns me in on myself, away from God, away from others.  But face to face with the truth that my guilt has been removed, it is getting easier to talk to myself and say,

“Maria, you don’t have to stew in guilty feelings.  They are not necessary.  Guilt has been removed. So stop it!  Remember, there is NOW NO condemnation from God because I am an heir of the eternal inheritance along with my older brother Jesus. In fact He suffered so I don’t have to feel guilty.  Are you saying, by wallowing in your self-indulgent guilt, that it wasn’t ENOUGH for your older brother Jesus, son of the Living God, to willingly be punished for you, for THIS sin?”

I do listen to myself.  And the other day, it only took about 2 hours of stewing and self-talk for me to release myself from the prison of artificial guilt.

How about you?  Are you ignoring such a great benefit?  “Oh bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits, He forgives all your sins!” (Psalm 103: 1a, 2-3a)

 

What about Adam?

June 13, 2011

Maria Faith, Genesis , , , , 5 Comments

The June 2011 issue of “Christianity Today” features a provocative report about the churn among Christians over whether Adam & Eve were historical individuals as portrayed in the Bible.  Francis Collins who currently is director of a Senate-approved agency (National Institutes of Health) considers himself Christian and favors theistic evolution.  As director of the Human Genome Project (completed in 2003) Collins and colleagues mapped out gene sequencing in humans.  Collins has concluded from this study, as reported in a book he recently co-authored (The Language of Science and Faith), that “Adam & Eve as the literal first couple and ancestors of all humans do not fit the evidence”.

This assumption is disturbing on two accounts: First of all, those who support the findings and support theistic evolution minimize the impact of their assertions.  Second and more fraught with potential harm, is the implication for much of Biblical Theology and directly the trustworthiness of the Bible.  I will address the second of these issues.

The author of the “Christianity Today” article, Richard Ostling, correctly articulates what is at stake:

–      Humans’ unique status as image bearers of God

–      The doctrine of original sin and the fall

–      The genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3

–      Jesus’ teaching that all of the Old Testament points to Him (Luke 24)

–      Paul’s teaching that links the historical Adam with redemption through Christ

This issue is different from the debate among evangelical Christians who argue Old Earth vs. Young Earth.  In that arena, it is clearer that there are at least two possible interpretations.  The Bible refers to days (yowm) spent in creating the world.  In Hebrew ‘yowm/Strongs H3117’ can mean 24 hours, a year or a long period of time.  So the creation account is open to discussion without raising the trustworthiness of the Bible as an issue.

But if there is not a literal and historical Adam, then here are the implications:

-God did NOT decide as a Trinitarian unit to make man in His image, male and female (Gen 1:27)

-God did NOT have a conversation with Adam in Gen 2:16-17

-Eve did NOT talk with Satan as serpent in Gen 3:1-5

-Eve did NOT sin in Gen 3:6

-No sudden guilt, shame and cover-up happened in Gen 3:7

-No face-to-face encounter between God and the first couple took place in Gen 3:8-9

-Adam & Eve did not try to pass the buck, playing the blame game in Gen 3:11-13

-Gospel Hope was not first preached in Gen 3:15

-No penalty for sin was announced in Gen 3:16-19, thereby explaining what is wrong with our world

Given the above, I spent a sleepless night this past weekend.  I had to contemplate what it would mean NOT to trust that every word of the Bible is sovereignly breathed out by God. For 12-15 hours, I floated in a nightmarish free-for-all.  In that land, Jesus is no longer my living Rock (Psalm 18:46), no longer my reliable/faithful/true shield and bulwark/defending fortress that protects me (Psalm 91:4)   If I can’t count on God’s word as true, there is no truth.

But wishing doesn’t make it so.

How do we determine that the Bible is reliable and trustworthy as it is written?  What about scientific discoveries that seem to point to other conclusions?  I have no scientific background, but I am a bit more equipped to reason philosophically.  And that is the approach I want briefly to try out.  It is not enough to just say, “The Bible claims to be the true word of God, so it must be so.” That is circular reasoning.  We are trying to prove why the Bible is trustworthy.

For the purposes of this discussion, I am starting with the pre-supposition that God exists. Here is how it goes from there:

For God to be God, He has to be supernatural.  He has to be all-powerful and all-knowing.  And from everything I have witnessed in life, He is also all-good. What is my evidence? : my life, the lives of Christian friends, the accounts of dead ‘saints’ and the historical events of Biblical characters.  In all of these, there is evidence of God working through ‘bad’ circumstances in lives to bring about amazing results.  Having established that He is supernaturally all-good, He also has to be completely truthful and dependable. For someone who is good cannot lie or be wishy-washy.

So, if a transcendent god with these qualities were to ordain that a document be written for the benefit of his creation, would it not follow that this document would be a reflection of his character?   In our everyday life, what we say and do springs from who we are. It is only logical that the same would pertain to this god.   It is therefore ‘reasonable’ ( in the true sense of the word, i.e. logical) to assume that the Bible reflects the character of God.  If God is trustworthy and faithful and true, then so is His Word.  At this point, we can then add what the Bible says about itself.  There are many verses, but here are two that come to mind:

–      Psalm 19: 7-9 gives many adjectives about God’s written word.  It is PERFECT, SURE, RIGHT, PURE, ENDURING, TRUE and RIGHTEOUS

–      Hebrews 4:12 says that God’s word is ALIVE, ACTIVE, EFFECTUAL and FULL OF POWER.

Finally, Jesus who is God, Himself validated the entire Old Testament when He explicitly taught some of the disciples who had been walking to Emmaus.  Over a meal, He showed them how the Pentateuch (includes Genesis) and the Prophets all pointed to Him. (Luke 24:27)

Thinking this through settles the issue for me.  God’s Word IS true and reliable and worth centering my life on.  What about the Human Genome Project?  I don’t know.  I will trust God to sort that out.  I don’t dismiss scientific inquiry. Neither do I default to submitting to science.  I don’t have to have all the answers to trust God, to rely on the Bible completely. I can take my concerns to God and lay them at His feet and trust that He will instruct me.  God is my lodestar.  That is the decision I have to make daily, hourly.

PS:   bereft of my bedrock for those few hours has had the sweet benefit of making me love the Bible all the more.  How precious are its words!  May we taste and see that He who is the Word is good.

What about grace?

June 10, 2011

Maria Ephesians, Grace , , Leave a comment

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.  Ephesians 2:8, 9

Have you noticed that ‘grace’ is a hot topic these days?  Everyone is talking about it.  I’m so glad.  Grace is life-giving in a way that the non-grace is not.  How do we recognize non-grace?  Non-grace has 2 versions: either your Works, that is to say what you do yourself to earn favor, or the Law, an evaluation of what you are doing wrong.  What this means is this:  if it’s not about grace, then it’s about your being good or your being bad.  Grace bypasses that distinction in a way that seems almost too good to be true.

What’s wrong with Law?  Law IS helpful, because it shows us that we can’t measure up (but we already know that, right?).  Law shows us HOW to love.  But Law lies.  It leads us to think that we can ‘do love’ correctly…… if we are just instructed well enough in the law.  Law SEEMS legitimate, but Law lets us down.  Under Law, we labor because we know we are losers.  The dirty little secret is that we can never succeed.  Law is endless performance and never measuring up.  It is life-sucking.

Grace, on the other hand, is God’s way.  It produces gratitude.  It gives us the POWER to love.  We are free.  We are safe to acknowledge that we can’t ‘do love’ on our own.  Fortunately we are not expected to.  Grace is a gift from God.  It is life-affirming.  It is gratuitous, extravagant.  It almost makes us feel guilty, because it seems too good to be true.  It is nothing short of freedom, pure oxygen for us humans.

I’m going to recommend a book. (My school year ended two weeks ago and I am enjoying a richer and fuller reading schedule.  Each morning I ‘allow’ myself the pleasure of reading until 10 a.m. or so).  Steve Lawson has written the first 2 of a five-volume opus about grace.  I’ve been reading volume one – his Foundations of Grace.   Every page is life-giving. By spotlighting the doctrines of grace, starting with the Pentateuch, he feeds the thirsty soul.  The act of calling pagan Abram out of Ur is one such example.  There was nothing to commend Abram to God.  His election is totally God’s doing.   Moses is another example to be found early in scripture.  God chose and favored him, causing Pharaoh’s daughter to rescue him.  Even Adam & Eve irresistibly answered God’s call and were saved.  As Lawson illumines the many Old and New Testament examples of radical depravity, sovereign calling, specific and limited atonement (i.e. Jesus’ death on the cross) for the elect, irresistible grace and the security of those called, my love for God is growing.  I can’t get enough of grace!!!

I mentioned that Grace seems to be the doctrine du jour (not to slight it – it is certainly THE biblical underpinning of Christianity).  Tullian Tchividjian (Billy Graham’s grandson) preaches nothing but grace.  And he is well-qualified.  He was a modern day prodigal before being regenerated by God at the age of 18.  Then he erred on the legalism slide before burning out. Now he preaches grace.  As a dad of 2 teenage boys and a precocious pre-teen girl, he has lots of lab time to practice grace at home and report back to his congregation whether ‘this grace thing’ really works.

Yes, grace is counter-intuitive.  We are all much more comfortable with works and law and having to earn our gold star.  That is predictable….and SAFE!!!  But as CS Lewis brings out in The Last Battle, Jesus is not necessarily “safe”, but he is good.

As a final point, I would like to mention Dan Franklin of ‘GroupThinkRescue’.  Dan, a pastor who is married to Karina, Randy Alcorn’s daughter, podcasted a helpful illustration of how to look for grace in the Bible.  He worked through the David & Goliath story, first acknowledging the traditional interpretation and then sharing the grace grid.  Who hasn’t heard a sermon emphasizing the fact that we all have giants in our lives and that with God’s help we can face and conquer them?  Grace tells a different story.  Grace shows up when the Hebrews, stewing in paralysis, have no hope of any rescue.  They are helpless in the face of the overwhelming specter of Goliath.  David (the type) prefigures Jesus (the anti-type) when he saves the Hebrews.  So the story of David and Goliath is not about what WE should do.  Instead it’s a story about what God has DONE.  And that is the whole gospel message of grace.

Revel in this good news.  We don’t have to DO anything.  God already DID it.  Jesus announces on the cross that IT IS FINISHED.   May God help us daily, hourly to soak up that message of hope.

PS:  Buy the Steve Lawson books!

Daily C-Rations and Getting the CAR in gear – a metaphor

May 31, 2011

Maria 1 John, 1 Peter, Deuteronomy, Ephesians, Guilt, John , , , , Leave a comment

I like to simplify doctrine down to mnemonic devices I can easily recall.

The other day I was thinking about what I need to remember, to feed on each morning to reorient myself for the day.  There is something perverse about a night’s sleep.  I tend to lose a correct theology somewhere in the wee hours of the night. I can go to bed being thankful to God and conscious of Him and then wake up in the morning a ‘worldling’ again, living as a functional atheist.  So each morning, I have to RECALL deliberately what is true about God and about me.

The other day, as I was walking and reflecting about how to be more automatic in God-thoughts, the picture of C-rations sprang to mind.  These days, the prepared meals for an Army in the field are called something else, but you know what I mean. I thought about how a soldier might draw his daily C-rats, enough calories and nutrition to provide him with energy for his 24 hour duty period.  Jacob prayed for spiritual C-Rats for his son Asher:

As your days — so shall your strength be.” Deuteronomy 33:26

Being consistent with Moses, I imagined what spiritual C-rations we should draw.  For fun, I came up with lots of C-words to illustrate God’s gifts.  As I ran through some of these God-given daily provisions, I was reminded of what Paul says.

The apostle emphasizes in his letter to the Ephesians that we have been given every spiritual blessing in Christ.  What are some of these daily spiritual ‘C-rats’ issued to us and available for our sustenance?   As His covenantal children, we are entitled to help ourselves to gifts such as Charity, Compassion, Courage, Character, Control over self, Companionship of Christ….you get the idea…think of your own C words.  What is key is that God provides what we will need for the trials and tasks of the day, not more, not less, but just what is necessary.  (Remember how the Hebrews tried to stash some away, “just in case”, but it rotted?)

But life is more than drawing food or getting equipped for the day.  As I was ruminating about my C-rats plan, it dawned on me that there were some daily actions I could embark on first thing in the morning and then with God’s help sustain.  I came up with three and they too begin with the letter C J.  Here’s an acronym – CAR.  C stands for CASTING all my CARES on Jesus, not only as an act of humility (so Peter exhorts us) but also so I don’t have to carry them around.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due     time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Pet 5: 6-7

If I heave them onto Jesus, He can handle them, fix them, and imbue them with grace.

The A stands for ABIDE.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  John 15: 4-5

Now I must admit, the How-To of abiding is a challenge.  But I heard Andrée Seu (columnist from World magazine) give a simple tip on how to abide.  She recommends thanking God as a method for keeping one’s mind on Christ.  Now that makes sense.  If all of a sudden I ‘wake up’ and realize I haven’t been abiding in Christ, I can look around and thank Him for something right at hand.

Today, I caught myself not even aware of God while on a walk with my husband.  It was Mike’s birthday AND Memorial Day, so we were out enjoying a 5-mile wooded trail.  When I startled and it dawned on me that I wasn’t abiding in (i.e. thinking about) Christ, I looked at the textured bark on the trees and thanked God for His design and creativity (another C word!)   That one observation led to other delights and all of a sudden I was abiding.  My momentary appreciation and love for God grew.

What about guilt for the hours that had passed without thinking of God?  The 3rd letter of CAR reminds us that we get to REPENT each time we catch ourselves distracted about worldly concerns with no thought toward God.  I’m so grateful for the gift of frequent repentance:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Now applying the CAR metaphor a bit further, I imagine an engine with pistons that operates on a continuous 3 stroke cycle (we have to S-T-R-E-T-C-H the analogy a bit, I know! My husband has explained that cars have either 2 or 4 cycles).  I cast my cares on Christ, I abide in Him and when I FORGET about Him I come to my senses. Then I get to repent and thank Him for gently bringing me back to my senses. And so it goes.  The car engine won’t function unless the pistons are moving up and down.  Neither will I function well as a Christian unless I am continually Casting, Abiding, and Repenting.

So what’s the plan when you wake up tomorrow morning? We’ll draw our C-Rats for the day and put the CAR in gear.  Let me know what other C blessings make a difference in your day.

Exploring the gifts of Grace

May 25, 2011

Maria Anxiety, Grace, Joy, Peace, Romans , , , , Leave a comment

You & I live our life in the “you must DO this and DO that” world in order to “be X, Y or Z.”  I get tired of ‘DO’ing, don’t you?  Whether it is at work or church or in relationships, it’s all exhausting and unceasing.

Christianity is different.  Christianity is the only religion that proclaims DONE, not DO!  What other religion has its God seek out his creation?  What other God died for his people?

Consider Romans 14:17, one of my new favorite verses:  For the Kingdom of God is not (religious rules governing) eating and drinking, but RIGHTEOUSNESS and PEACE and JOY in (by means of) the Holy Spirit.

This verse explains the essence of Christianity.  Living as a son or daughter in the Kingdom of God is not about following rules.  Instead it’s about treasuring what accrues to us as children of God.  By grace, (read: ‘a gift’) we are given:

  • Righteousness.  This is the Greek word ‘dika-ios-oo-nay’ (phonetic – # G1343).  It means that since we have been justified by God, we have right standing with our judge, God the Father.  When we become a Christian, we are made a new creation; we are united with Christ. The most eternally significant benefit is that our sins have been transferred over to Christ and paid for, so justice is done.  And we also have had transmitted to us Christ’s perfect life, as a credit.

Righteousness that belongs to someone else (but given to us) is not just a New Testament concept.  Consider Jeremiah 23:6. God is called Jehovah Tsedeq – the Lord our Righteousness.  We are not told to seek our own righteousness; we already have his if we belong to Him.

What follows from being ‘right’ with God?  Peace!  Remember Paul’s opening in Romans 5?  “Since we have been justified….let us grasp the fact that we have PEACE with God..”

  • Peace.  This is the Greek word, ‘ei-re-ne’ (#G1515).  Irene is the lovely name derived from this concept.  Here’s how the Blue Letter Bible website describes this peace, “the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.”  If we have peace with God, we can reason from the greater to the lesser.  That is, if God has taken care of our biggest and eternal problem, we can rest assured that He will work temporary peace in our earthly relations to the extent that we trust Him and yield to His will.

Finally, the 2nd benefit of being made ‘right’ with God through what Jesus has done for us, is JOY by means of the Holy Spirit.

  • Joy.  ‘Chara’ is the Greek word (# G5479) The world attempts to sell us temporary happiness based on obtaining  ‘stuff’, ‘achievements’ or ‘experiences’.  But happiness is fleeting.  What we are starved for is permanent Joy.  We are wired for Joy; that is why happiness seems so desirable.  But happiness is the cheap version of joy.  Think about what a great God we have.  He desires our joy.  He could have said, “the Kingdom of God is about RULES or PLEASING ME or BEING BEST in the Kingdom or SACRIFICE or any other depressing version of DO THIS IN ORDER TO”.  But God wants our true joy.  When our answers to prayer result in NO and our happiness seems threatened, let us remember that our Heavenly Father desires something far better than what we can ask or imagine.

The last few words of our verse, “…in the Holy Spirit”, are important.  We need to remember that we cannot go after righteousness, peace & joy in our own strength.  But the good news assures us that if we are born-again believers, we have had our nature changed.  Our essence is different, we are united to Christ.  This change is passive in the sense that we do NOT do anything actively to bring it about.  We receive NEWS of what God himself has done.  If we respond to this news by executing an about-face and trust (‘receive’) what He says, then this new nature is ours. What follows is the family right to have fullness of peace and joy.

A caveat as I end: the joy and peace that are available to us, given both our right standing with God and our new nature IN Christ, won’t come to our awareness automatically.  We have to RE-CALL them frequently. We have to remind ourselves of our RIGHTS, our current inheritance.  But what a small effort for such a marvelous gift!  Each time we succumb to anxiety or internal churn, we can repent (think of the military command to make an About Face) and return our thoughts to the truth of who we are, whose we are and what belongs to us as beloved children of God.

The blessing of guilt

May 19, 2011

Maria 1 Peter, Sin, Witnessing Leave a comment

I just heard, via my French news podcast, the sad tale of a mid-wife trainee who administered the medication for a D&C to the wrong patient.  A baby died because of this error.  The reporter talked about the mother’s shock and grief.  But my heart wrenched not only for her but also for the poor young mid-wife trainee whose mistake cost the baby’s life.  What does she do with her guilt?  How can she live with herself?

A day later, the political world was rocked with the public accusation of sexual assault.  The French head of the International Monetary Fund apparently forced himself on his hotel maid.  Barely 48 hours after this news we learned of a child, fathered (outside of his marriage) by movie icon and former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

What do these three people have in common?  They are burdened with guilt.  They, like us, have to face the question:  What do you do with your guilt? That is a question that has both eternal significance as well as a day-to-day impact on the quality of our life here on Earth.  In their circumstances as well as in ours Jesus is the only answer that can bring healing, justice and freedom for both victim and victimizer.

Guilt is part of the human condition ever since we turned our backs on God in the Garden.  There are two aspects to guilt and I think we fixate on one more than the other.  There is objective guilt – we fail to meet a standard, we are judged lacking.  (That is actually easier to address).  But there is the affective side of guilt, the feelings that plague us even after our objective guilt has been handled.

If I were the midwife, my instincts would kick in and I would be saying to myself, “What can I EVER due to make up for the life I took?”  Without the knowledge that Jesus paid for her culpability in that baby’s death, no matter what or how much she does , she will be haunted until she dies.  The French justice system will evaluate how much she should ‘pay’ given the circumstances and motives.   But unless she has a way to handle her feelings of guilt, she will be miserable.  The fact that Jesus took on all our punishment & guilt, the fact that he died means that we don’t have to be punished more than the State deems.  A forgiven, redeemed Christian lives in the land of “No Condemnation!” Sweet words!

And Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the Frenchman?  And Arnold?  I pray that God uses the publicity of these egregious & wicked actions to bring them face to face with their need for a Savior.  Pride goes before a fall.  It is a temptation to be rich, famous and powerful.  Those people need our prayers.  But God is sovereign.  As they say, if we don’t humble ourselves, God will.  The two women who are victims (and everyone else caught in the webs of pain these men have generated) need Jesus.   They need to know that perfect justice will be had: both Arnold and Dominique will pay for their crimes when they face God as their judge, OR, the punishment has already been borne by Jesus on the cross (if they accept the gift of Jesus as a stand-in for them by repenting and putting their trust in Christ).  In this latter case Jesus has been declared ‘guilty’ and has suffered for the crime.  Either way, perfect justice is guaranteed.  The crimes do not go unpunished in the cosmic court.  God knows and sees everything.

Two ‘take-aways’:

(1)  – instead of gloating when the haughty proud fall, instead of hopelessly lamenting the loss of a baby, we need to pray that this severe mercy bear fruit and all involved come to a saving faith in Jesus.

(2)  – remember that we have an opening with which we can share the Gospel.  A question that pertains to everyone we meet, “What do YOU do with your guilt?” might just be the words to cause your neighbor to think about God and to ‘fear’ Him properly.

Implication?  Let us always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have!  (1 Peter 3:15b)

Are you a member of the ‘ Pure Joy Club’?

May 10, 2011

Maria James, Joy, Romans , Leave a comment

What do disappointments, setbacks, problems, disasters and overall trouble have in common?  God sovereignly uses them ALL to conform us to the image of our brother and savior Jesus Christ.  Knowing that the apostle James exhorts us to count all these trials as ‘pure joy’, I invite you to embrace your status and learn with me as members of the Pure Joy Club.

  • Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:2-4
  • …. We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Romans 5: 3-4

Recently my dear husband had a disappointing setback, and this added to an on-going unpleasant situation.  On top of that, he came down with a case of impacted sinuses that he can’t shake.  It’s enough to make one not want to get out of bed some mornings!

But even though it is totally normal and legitimate to mourn frustrating and painful turn of events, Christians have to look to God’s Word to draw correct conclusions and know how to live.  Therefore, Mike and I are in the midst of encouraging one another with several truths that pertain to his situation.  He would be the first to admit that this is hard.  That’s why Christian community and prayer support from friends and family who know their Bible really helps.

Our pastor’s sermon Sunday was helpful.  He stressed that NOTHING is out of God’s control and that whatever happens IS the will of God.  The disciples were sad and bewildered to hear Jesus talk about his imminent departure.  But he encouraged their confidence by reassuring them that since He knew what was going to happen, they could trust him and ‘rest’.  Strengthening their faith, Jesus explained, “I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe” John 14:29

Relying on the fact that our Father not only knows but sovereignly controls what happens in our life is hugely reassuring. Other advice can also help us develop a right perspective.  For example, John Piper exhorts, “Don’t waste your cancer”!  By this he means that we can learn from our suffering and grow from the shocking jolt of tragedies.  As one of my colleagues quipped this morning,  “Our ‘crap’ makes good ‘compost’ for growing some very lush & hardy plants later on down the road.”

Tullian Tchividjian (pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church) suggests another use for our trials:

“In the crucible of pain, you discover what you really worship.  How is your present trial, suffering, disappointment a window on what has captured your heart?  What do you use to invest your life with meaning?  What you build your life on is your idol.”

Finally, remember we are not alone.  The spirit world watches how we react to life’s trials.  Remember Job?  When God boasted of him, Satan suggested that it was only for the ‘goodies’ from God that Job worshipped Him.  The demons certainly watched closely how Job reacted.  Would he curse God and die as ‘Mrs. Job’ bitingly suggested?  And don’t you think all the members of Job’s community watched him as well?  Our suffering is always more than just about us.  Much is a stake.  We can make it holy, if we offer up our suffering to God as a sacrifice.  Most assuredly this is impossible in our own strength. But we can count on Christ to bear this burden with us.  To God be all the glory!

Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop

May 5, 2011

Maria Fear, John , , , Leave a comment

The other day a dear friend was sharing how happy he feels since becoming engaged to a wonderful woman.  But he admitted to a bit of anxiety, waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak.  It seems that he lives with a fair amount of cognitive dissonance that comes from maintaining a public persona.  As a PK (pastor’s kid) he perfected his public performance as a charming, considerate and gracious son, in contrast (per his mom’s repeated messages) to his ‘normal’ behavior at home.  What does his not uncommon childhood have to do with his current happiness?

In his mind, I think, he has made his current blessing from God conditional on his maintaining his ‘good’ self. After all, we are trained to work for rewards.   Deep down inside he feels unworthy and he knows he is not the good person he projects.  What if he can’t keep up his performance?  Will the rewards be taken away?   Besides this fundamental unworthiness, there is also fear; fear that if people REALLY knew him, they would reject him.  So fear of losing what makes him happy and fear of possible shame create a small lurking cloud of potential suffering.

Jesus says that if we know the truth, the truth will set us free. (Romans 8:32) To my friend and all of us who feel guilty, hear the good news:  We ARE guilty…we ARE bad….far worse than we admit.  This suspicion that we are truly bad is based on truth. And God doesn’t worry about our self-image.  He tells us straight up. He glances at all the good stuff we do and says through Isaiah (64:6) that our best deeds are like filthy rags to him.  How’s THAT for not mincing words!!!

But God (2 great words) loves us anyway.  He is willing to cover us (remember Adam & Eve when they felt ashamed because of their sin?).  And in order to protect our dignity as image-bearers, He is willing to shed another’s blood (an animal in the Garden; his son on a hill).

How is that truth freeing to us?  Because we no longer have to pretend to ourselves that we are good.  And since EVERY other human on this planet is just as guilty and evil as we are, why pretend with OTHERS?   Think of the energy freed up by not having to maintain two Selves?

Now what about the blessings?  Fear of losing someone we love is natural.  One becomes vulnerable when one loves.  Just get a pet or have a baby; you know what I mean!  So suffering is inevitable.  We can’t prevent it.  But we CAN know that it is not random.  All suffering is filtered through God’s hands.  And He promises to be with us in the midst of suffering.

I’ll leave you with a thought about how to view suffering.  Tim Keller quoted a Jonathan Edwards sermon on contentment.  Summarizing Edwards, Keller wrote that contentment or peace depend on knowing deep down inside three things:

  1. All the bad stuff in our life God uses and brings good out of it for us
  2. All the truly good stuff in our life, we can never lose, such as…

a)   The fact our names are written in God’s book of life

b)   The fact that we’re justified and have been adopted by Him and have a huge inheritance that we  can draw on even now

c)    The fact of Christ’s intercession for us at God’s right hand

3. The best is yet to come!

So dear friend and to all of us…fear not!

When God says ‘No!’

May 2, 2011

Maria Hope, Luke, Prayer , , Leave a comment

God just closed a door.  The job at Scott AFB (near St Louis) to which Mike had applied posted a change in status on Friday – the job itself has been withdrawn.  (Perhaps funding to fill it was pulled??)  Mike’s West Point classmate was in charge and had actually asked Mike to apply.  Mike had made the first cut and was told that he was in the top 5-6 being considered for interviews.  The activity at Scott was his old agency that had moved from Newport News to Illinois four years ago. Not only was he very familiar with the work and the people, but he was qualified for the job.  We had not moved with his former agency when it was ‘BRAC’ed because at the time, my dying father was still living in Williamsburg.  It was at that point that Mike was hired to work at JFCOM, all so we could stay in the area for my Dad.

Since applying for this other position 9 weeks ago, we had been patiently living in limbo.  At least now, we know that we aren’t moving.  This job was his last iron in the fire. Other jobs he had applied for (Ft Monroe, Charlottesville, and Huntsville) have all come back as NOs.

Mike and I are trusting that God will give him energy to continue on in the dysfunctional remnant of JFCOM for the next two years until he can retire from the government and seek something else.  The expectation for the same amount of work and projects continues but the command has been stripped of contractors.  So whereas Mike was division chief with people who supported him, now he is on his own, but expected to do the same work.

We will continue to look to Him who richly provides.  Circumstances have no power over us, only God.  I had asked God to help me encourage and support Mike if and when the door shut.  And God is faithfully meeting that need.

At least it looks like I will still be at Summit Christian Academy, teaching French 1-4 and Logic to 8th graders next year.  There are other good reasons to stay. Our church is a blessing.  I have signed up to be trained this summer to teach ESL, a new ministry at Calvary.  Mike continues to teach Sunday School.  And we have many friends here – it would have been hard to leave.

I am praying that God would provide hope to Mike.  He does have hope for life eternal with Jesus, but would like something tangible and earthly to enjoy, to look forward to.  Work does not provide this kind of satisfaction.  Yes, I know, men are meant to toil. And because of the Fall, work is more frustrating since Adam.  But I would really love for him to know that he makes a difference each day and receive that kind of satisfaction.  Nothing is too small to ask God about.  Jesus explicitly taught us to pray expectantly, boldly, with intensity and fervor as a little child bugging her daddy.  Think about the widow who kept at the unjust judge or the man who woke up his neighbor to outrageously ask for food in the middle of the night.

So please join with me in praying for a man who wants to make a difference in his work.  I admire him.  He has integrity.  He is a man who daily seeks to provide value to his bosses and peers and subordinates.

Let’s see what God will do, with us living expectantly, our eyes on Him.  Just a few minutes ago as we were processing this news, he shared one of the ‘take-aways’ he has gotten from BSF and the study of Isaiah – that God is a god who acts.

May the God who does creatively more than we can ask or envision receive much glory in this situation.  And may we learn and display the truth that Jesus is SO gratifying, that despite a trying job, Jesus is enough.  Oh Lord, help us to be the kind of sons and daughters who make you proud.

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