Keeping Our Oaths

pexel marriageAccording to a post on the McKinley-Irvin family law website, based on U.S. Census Bureau statistics

In America there is one divorce approximately every 36 seconds.

41% of all first marriages end in divorce, that number rises to 60% of second marriages, and 73% of third marriages.

People who wait to get married until they are 25 are 24% less likely to get divorced.

Living together before getting married makes you 40% more likely to get divorced

If your parents are happily married then you are 14% less likely to get a divorce

Now these stats are hard to decipher and we don’t know how accurate they really are, but it seems that even within the church the divorce statistics are similar to what they are like outside the church.  Today we are going to talk about divorce, but we are going to dig a little deeper.

Please turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5.  Today we continue on in our sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount.  Last week we looked at a particularly hot topic, lust, today we move on to another somewhat difficult topic, divorce, but we are going to move beyond divorce to an underlying problem with divorce and in general with us.  But let’s begin with what Jesus has to say about divorce. Take a look at Matthew 5, verses 31-32, “31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Notice that this passage begins with Jesus saying, “It is also said,” in the Greek the word “and” is used, so this statement is tied to the preceding passage.  Now remember, this passage comes right on the heels of the passage on lust, where Jesus talked about the command to not commit adultery and then raised the bar to not looking at someone lustfully.  And we talked about how Jesus was moving beyond the act of the adultery and dealing with our hearts. Here he takes on adultery from another perspective and that is in relation to marriage.  Remember, he is raising the bar, like he did in earlier passages.

Let’s first consider where the bar was.  Jesus says, it was said that whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. This comes from Deuteronomy 24:1-4 and speaks specifically of a man divorcing his wife.  The law allowed for a man to divorce his wife, but not for a wife to divorce her husband.  And the grounds for divorce were if he found something indecent about her, which could be open to interpretation. And people did interpret it differently.  Some thought that it referred specifically to sexual immorality, others thought that it referred to basically anything the man found displeasing about his wife. So if we use that loose interpretation, then it would not take much to come up with a reason for divorce.  And to obtain the divorce the man would write a certificate of divorce for his wife and have some witnesses sign it and then it was legal and he would give her the certificate and she could go on her way and could be remarried. Apparently  it sounds like it had become a pretty simple process depending upon the Rabbi you chose to follow and his interpretation of indecent.

Now, like we have talked about the past couple of weeks, in this Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is raising the bar.  He is taking us past legalistically following rules, and getting to our hearts. He is showing us what the kingdom of God is supposed to look like and calling us to live like that, which is something that he can accomplish in our lives.  So here he is taking us past the issue of divorce to the importance of how we view marriage. He is saying here, that in the kingdom of God, divorce is not supposed to be some easy option.  It is meant to be an extreme measure or a last resort.  Ultimately I think this is less about divorce than it is about how we view marriage.

 

What do we know from Scripture about how God views marriage?  Way back in Genesis 2, God said, “24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

Marriage is meant to be for a lifetime.  When two people become one they make a covenant with each other in the sight of God that is meant to be for life.  It is till death do us part. The problem is that somewhere along the way, we made divorce easy.  We made it so that it is simple to get a divorce.

Jesus is calling us to more.  He mentions sexual immorality as legitimate grounds for divorce, but I don’t think he is even saying that if there is sexual immorality that we should get a divorce, he is just allowing for that.  You know, I have had people come to me to talk about divorce and I could tell that they are using this reason of sexual immorality, as a loophole, because they want to get out of their marriage.  And it may be true that they have a case for marital unfaithfulness, but I don’t think that is Jesus’ focus here.  I think he is saying that we ought to be doing everything we can to make marriage work to the point where divorce is not an option except for extreme circumstances and when all options have been exhausted as a last resort. He is not condemning those who have gotten divorced, but calling us to stronger marriages.  I think ultimately this is not so much about divorce, but about marriage, and I think the reason why divorce has become so easy is because we have devalued our marriage vow.

With that in mind look at what Jesus chooses to talk about next. Take a look at verses 33-37 “33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”

So verse 33 begins with the word again, which ties it in with the previous passage.  Which I think is so cool.  I think this passage fits well with what Jesus has just been talking about.  That it is part of the same theme.  He is talking about us being covenant keepers.  He is saying that in His kingdom we are to be people of Truth and faithfulness who keep their word.

Back in Jesus’ time vows or oaths were probably a bit more common than they are today.  There are not a whole lot of oaths that we take anymore. But one oath that we do take is marriage.  Our marriage vows are oaths.  We promise to love honor, and cherish our spouse, in good and bad times, till death do us part.

Now let me give us a little background on these verses before we get back to this point.  At different spots in the Mosaic law we find regulations against swearing falsely in God’s name, against breaking your word or swearing an oath and not keeping it.  It was expected that if they made an oath or swore in God’s name that they would keep that pledge. I think some people in Jesus’ time were trying to use loopholes, like they swore, but not on Jesus’ Name and stuff like that.  But Jesus is saying that it doesn’t really matter if we swear on his name or anything else, no matter what we swear on, Heaven, earth, Jerusalem, our own head, or whatever, we don’t have any power. Only God does.  So all of it would be like swearing on His name anyway. But Jesus is raising the bar when he says that we are simply to let our yes mean yes and our no mean no.  In the kingdom of God there is no swearing on things, there is no need for vows, no oaths, not even promises.  If we say yes, then we mean yes and if we say no we mean no and you ought to be able to take that to the bank, because we are going to stand by our word. Once again He is cutting to our heart, not just what we say or some legally binding oath or some potential loophole, but actually getting to our heart.  Are we men and women of truth and honesty and a willingness to mean what we say and follow through?But in our society today, most people’s word means little to nothing.  We have dropped that idea of standing by your word.  We break promises all the time and it doesn’t seem to matter.  And divorce is one of the biggest culprits.  Everyday, people all across the country are promising to love, honor and cherish one another till death do us part, and yet more than half of all marriages end in divorce.

Maybe our marriage vows should be more along the lines of, “do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, honor and cherish her at least when times are good and as long as you feel like it, and still have that same emotional investment as you have today? Yeah, I guess so? Marriage vows have become a joke, because we have become a society that doesn’t care about keeping our word anymore.  And Jesus is saying, no matter what the world says, that is not the way things are supposed to be in the kingdom of God. I love this point.  And I think it fits so well with what Jesus was saying about marriage.  It is not really about divorce.  It is about being men and women of truth and faithfulness and being covenant keepers.  Remember, we are supposed to becoming more and more like Christ.  And one thing we know about him is that He keeps his covenants.  That should be true of us as we live in His kingdom.

That means when we say yes, or I do, we mean it.  And it means that when times get hard and we don’t feel like keeping our covenant we fight for it and don’t give up.  Part of that means trusting in God to be able to do miraculous things in the midst of circumstances that seem hopeless.  It means trusting that God has a plan for us and believing that he can bring beautiful things out of the ashes of our lives.

God can do amazing things when we submit to doing things his way and not taking the way out that the world so easily offers.  When we choose to let our word and our vows mean something.  When we are willing to fight for them and stay faithful, and submit to God, he can take even terrible circumstances and horrible mistakes and do beautiful things. And it begins with a decision that our yes is going to mean yes and our no is going to mean no.  Whether it is a covenant like marriage, or even a choice to volunteer for something that later on we wish we didn’t commit to.  Let’s be men and women of truth and honesty and faithfulness.  Let’s be covenant keepers recognizing that in God’s kingdom, our yes should mean yes and our no should mean no, and that marriage is meant to be for a lifetime.  And that the covenants we make are meant to be kept and are worth fighting for.

 

Surgical Holiness

pexel surgeryThe movie “127 hours” is based on the story of Aaron Ralston a 27-year-old experienced outdoorsman from Aspen Colorado.  He was hiking in a canyon in Utah on a 13-mile hike, when an 800-pound boulder shifted and pinned his arm.  Knowing that nobody knew where he was, after being stuck there for 5 days, he eventually used a multi-tool to cut off his own arm, and then got himself out of there. It is a tremendous story, but I can’t even imagine what he went through.  But what if I told you that Jesus made the suggestion that maybe cutting off our own arm might be just what we need?

Please turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5. Now in the passage we looked at last week and the passage we are looking at today, Jesus specifically points to the Old Testament law and then raises the bar to what He wants for us. Last week Nathan talked about what that looks like with regard to anger, today we move on to another hot topic.  Lust.

So with that in mind, let’s take a look at what Jesus says in Matthew 5 beginning with verses 27-28: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart”

We find the command against adultery in the 10 commandments. This was a basic commandment. Basically it is saying don’t have sexual relations with anyone who is not your spouse. So at the time that Jesus was saying this, that was seen as the standard.  You could think whatever you wanted, but don’t act on it.  Look, but don’t touch. Here the original standard was not committing adultery, but Jesus raises the bar to not looking lustfully at someone. Lust basically means sexual desire. There is a big difference between lust and adultery and a lot that can happen in between the two.  So we can see how Jesus is raising the bar.

The previous standard was calling us to avoid an act, but here Jesus is addressing our hearts not just our actions.  He wants purity.  He wants us to reign in sinful desires.  That doesn’t mean that we are supposed to not be attracted to the opposite sex anymore, but that natural attraction if left unchecked moves on to lustful desire.  The temptation is not sin, but if we choose to abide in the temptation and allow our minds or eyes to lust, then that is a problem.

Now I will be the first to confess, that I have struggled in this area of my life.  I remember being interested in the opposite sex as early as kindergarten.  And as I grew up I had a very active thought life.  And I basically ignored instruction like this.  I didn’t act on my thoughts, but I thought about a lot.  And those thoughts consumed me and corrupted me.  I was not living in purity.  I felt guilty and unclean.  I knew it was wrong and I struggled to stop it.  I was stuck in pornography and in my own sinful thoughts and images.

I think that this is a story that is true with most men at least at some point in their lives and from all that I have heard it is an ongoing struggle.  God worked in my life in this area in a miraculous way when I called out to Him and asked Him to be the Lord of my life and gradually He began to weed out the pornography and the thoughts and images and over time this became less and less of a struggle.  That does not mean that it is no longer a struggle, or that I am not tempted anymore in this area, but God has done amazing things in my life in this area to bring purity and I want to testify to that today, because I know there might be some here who are stuck in this area and feeling hopeless.  For me it was not an overnight change, but a long process, and I can firmly state that it was Christ in me, making me more like Him, and not some great effort by myself.

And I also want to testify that I am so thankful that God dealt with this in me.  Lust is a trap and if you are struggling with this, I want to let you now that you are not alone; you are not a failure, or a bad person.  God loves you very much and wants purity for you.  We need to understand that God is calling us to a better way of life.  His plan for us is better than adultery and better than lust.  He has wholeness and goodness for us if we will submit to doing things His way.

With that said, I want to point out that Jesus is saying that lust is a big deal and it is not acceptable.  So let’s not kid ourselves and pretend that it is okay to fantasize about someone who is not our spouse as long as we don’t act on it.  Jesus is saying that is not ok.

Jesus then moves on to give this some gravity in the next verses, but I think He is also giving us some really practical direction.  Take a look at verses 29-30: “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”

The phrase causes you to sin includes a word that means something along the lines of building a trap or a snare or a stumbling block.  That’s what this is.  Our lustful desires cause us to trip up and fall.  And we need to recognize that. But those are some strong words.  And it sounds kind of extreme for Jesus to suggest that we cut off our arm or gouge out our eye.  This is a strong statement, but it shows that Jesus treats this as important.

The penalty for adultery in Old testament was death.  Remember the story of the Pharisees bringing the woman caught in adultery before Jesus and they wanted to stone her.  So if the punishment of adultery is death, Jesus is taking it back to the desire behind the sin and dealing with the desire and even going so far as to suggest cutting off that part of you that was leading to the sin.  Which makes sense if cutting off a limb would save our life like with our opening illustration. But is He literally calling us to do this?  Not literally, but figuratively. Jesus is calling us to deal with sin and temptation in a radical way.  Not just being sorry for messing up, but radically dealing with sin.

Jesus emphasizes this by talking about the alternative of being thrown into hell. He actually uses the word Gehenna here.  That is a word that referred to the valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem that was a place of trash and fire and burning and is used to refer to the place of final judgment or eternal punishment.  He wants us to take this seriously.

Too often we treat sin, and particularly lust, casually.  But Jesus uses strong words here to cause us to recognize that we can’t just play around with sin as Christians.  Christianity is not just about saying a prayer that will help us get into heaven, it is about being a part of his kingdom, and that includes us becoming more and more like him.  Living out what kingdom life is supposed to look like. We also need to realize that sin left unchecked in our lives does not draw us toward Christ, but away from Him.  And that leads us in the wrong direction.  We can’t have that.  We can’t just treat sin casually; we need to treat it surgically, even radically.

So my challenge for us is to recognize that Jesus is calling us to get real with sin and not just let it reign in our lives.  And as I was originally thinking about preaching on this passage, I was reminded of another passage, that reminds me a lot of this one, and I think it helps us to consider this idea of cutting off a limb, in a practical maybe figurative way.

Here is what Paul says in Romans 6 about dealing with sin: “12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” I don’t think that practically speaking many of us are going to go out and gouge out an eye or cut off a limb in order to stop sinning, but practically speaking, what about recognizing the importance of literally looking at it like no longer offering that part of our body to sin, and with the recognition that instead we are offering our eyes, our hands, our lives to God.

We don’t have to cut off a limb or gouge out an eye, but lets stop offering those parts of our body to sin.  Let’s recognize that as followers of Christ, we are being called to deal with our hearts.  What I love about this is that Jesus is moving past our actions and wanting to change us from the inside out. He wants us moving toward purity and holiness.  And I know that seems tough when we are in the midst of the battle, but He who began this good work in us will be faithful to complete it.  We can trust in Him.  But we need to let Him work in our lives.  Let’s stop offering our eyes and arms and other parts of our bodies to sin, and instead let Christ have His way in us.  Recognizing that He has so much better for us in His kingdom and radically choosing to follow Him.

 

 

Nativity Story

So throughout this advent season I am trying to tie my sermon in with the advent reading. Last week we looked at Mary’s Magnificat, because that was the passage.  But when looking at the advent reading for today, I was really resistant to preaching a sermon on this passage. Let me tell you why.  You see, the passage for today is Luke 2:1-20.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with that passage.  Actually I love this passage.  It is the traditional nativity passage.  It is the passage that Linus quotes in the Charlie Brown Christmas special.  The one our mind most naturally goes to when we think of the nativity, with the census, and no room at the inn, and the manger, and the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night.

But for that reason, I typically save this passage till the Sunday closest to Christmas.  So when I saw that it was here I didn’t want to preach on it this Sunday, I would have waited until next weekend.  But next weekend the focus is on the visit of the magi and for those of you who have heard me speak during the Christmas season in the past, you probably know that I have a bit of a pet peeve when it comes to the magi and nativity scenes, but we will talk more about that next week.

So with that in mind, today we will take a look at Luke 2 although, I think I am going to only cover the first 7 verses rather than the whole story. “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

So one of the things that I love about Luke is the way that he includes details like the names of people and places that help us understand the events he describes in the overall historical timeline.  Actually in chapter 1 he mentions that he is writing this Gospel because he wants to provide an orderly account, considering all of the other accounts that were being written, so that Theophilus, the guy he is writing it for, could have certainty about these things that he has been taught.  Luke really seems to be approaching his writing of this Gospel from the perspective of a historian and we see that in some of the details he includes.

Now with that also come problems, which we will talk about in just a moment.  First of all, Luke fixes this story in the time period of Caesar Augustus and Quirinius. Naming him here helps us begin to fix a point about when actually this occurred.  He also adds two other names, King Herod and Governor Quirinius.  Those also are historical people, so when we intersect those names, we begin to see a time period for the birth of Jesus.

The information about a census being taken also helps us pinpoint the timing of Jesus’ birth, but actually this is where some of the controversy comes in.  Scholars differ on their thoughts about all of this, but it appears that the census Luke is referring to seems to have been recorded elsewhere as being at a later date, that does not coincide with the period where Herod, Augustus and Quirinius’ rules intersect.  But there are all kinds of theories that help explain this.  And most scholars just pick one of the theories and stick with it.  If you want to study that more, you can always talk with me later. But even if the controversies make it hard for us to pinpoint the exact date that Jesus was born, we have it narrowed down to a pretty specific time range of about 2,000 years ago during the period where King Herod and Caesar Augustus overlap by about 23 years.

This census or registration is different than what we might do today.  We need to remember that at this time, Israel was an occupied country.  It was a province of the Roman Empire.  A census at that time from the Roman Empire was typically taken for one of two reasons, either for taxation purposes or for military service.  The Jews were exempt from military service, but not from taxation, so most likely that is what this was all about.  And Joseph had to travel to the hometown of his family lineage, which was Bethlehem, so that he could register. This helps us understand a little bit of background about the life that Jesus was born into and the mindset of Joseph and Mary as they move forward toward Jesus’ birth.

Bethlehem was about 5 miles outside of Jerusalem.  Scholars disagree on the length of the journey from Nazareth.  I find it interesting that there are some things that are just so hard to pinpoint historically, not with the Bible, but just in general.  Like how far it was from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  Scholars suggest that it was probably anywhere from 70-100 miles? Now for us that does not seem so far.  We would just hop in our car and be there in less than an hour and a half.  But they didn’t have cars. No bullet trains or other public transportation.  Not even a raggedy old bus.  This trip was most likely done on their own two feet.  They might have had a donkey that Mary could occasionally ride, but most likely they were walking for a good portion of this trip.

We do not know how pregnant Mary was at this point, but figuring that after hearing from the angel Gabriel that she was going to have a baby, she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth and was there for 3 months, before going back to Nazareth.  And considering the wording of what we see later in this passage, it seems like she might have been in her third trimester when they made the trip.  I have never been pregnant, but I have been married to a pregnant woman, and I cannot imagine her having to make this long and hard journey in her third trimester of a pregnancy.  As we go through this story, think about the reality of what we are saying.

And then we have the most famous part of the story, for some reason there was no room for them at the inn.  Now first of all, this word translated as inn here is not the traditional Greek word for inn.  Actually later on in this Gospel, in the story of the Good Samaritan, Luke uses the typical Greek word for inn, so if that is the kind of place he was suggesting here, why didn’t he use that word?  This word seems to refer more to something along the lines of a guest room at a home.  Actually later on in Luke 22 when Jesus tells his disciples to go and find this guy who will lead them to the place where they will partake in the last supper, he tells them to ask the guy, “where is the guest room” and he uses this word which here is translated for inn.  Interesting right?

Anyway, some scholars believe that Mary and Joseph may have come to Bethlehem and were staying with family or friends in like a guest room, or a living area, but it was probably pretty crowded, so it was not conducive to giving birth there, so when the time came for the baby to be born, they moved to the only place that was available for them.  The place where the animals were kept. Some scholars believe that during those times the upper area of the home was where the people stayed, and many homes would have a spot in the lower level where they would keep their animals.  So it could be that the room for Mary and Joseph might have been some kind of upper room where they were staying with several other people and that there was not room for them up there when the baby needed to be born, so they moved down to the lower area where animals were kept for the birth. It is interesting that Luke never mentions a stable or even animals.  The only reference we have that causes us to picture it this way is the mention of a manger, which is a common feeding trough for animals.  I read one scholar who suggests that maybe they gave birth more in the family living area of a home and pulled in a manger because it would be a good place to lay the baby.

We don’t know the details, but we have a few things here that help us to form a picture.  Just make sure that the picture you are forming fits with the details we do have.  Notice that there is no innkeeper even mentioned.  And yet people get all up in arms about this nasty innkeeper who did not make room for a pregnant lady about to give birth.  This might have been a much more simple answer that doesn’t really have a bad guy involved.  It just might have made sense for where to have the birth.

But, while it might not be as involved as we sometimes make it out, it still would have been far from ideal.  I think it would have been much nicer for them to have been in Nazareth, in their own home, surrounded by their family and friends, with a more normal delivery.

So that’s the story of the nativity.  It is not long.  Only 7 verses.  Not counting the stuff with the shepherds that comes next.  It’s interesting to see what we have made out of it.  7 verses and yet there are books, songs, movies about this nativity story. I have preached on this passage many times and you have probably heard sermons on this passage many times and even read it for yourself several times as well.

So I have a question for you.  What do you think we are supposed to get out of this?  Is it just the historical account of the birth of the Messiah so that we know a little bit about it or is there some lesson that we are to get out of this story?  Is it supposed to reveal something about God or about us or about life? I was wrestling with that question earlier this week.  I don’t want to just preach a sermon where I give you little fun facts about the nativity or challenge some of the things that you may have always pictured.  So as I was thinking about it, I started thinking specifically about what do I learn about God from this story and it’s details? And I guess one of the things that jump out at me is that I don’t think that God is nearly as concerned as we are about some of the things of this world. He could have easily made this a much easier birth for Mary and Joseph and the baby.  He could have given them a midwife or had a better room somewhere, like Bethlehem General Hospital.  He didn’t have to make them take an 80 mile journey in her third trimester.  He could have stopped Rome from having a census or had it earlier or later.  Some might specifically point to the fact that this is what he chose because this was exactly best.  That’s probably true, but I also think that maybe some of the things that we get so concerned with are not the main concerns for God.

I am not saying that he doesn’t love us or doesn’t care about our lives, I am just saying that he has a different focus than we do.  Sometimes we get so concerned about our comfort or the things of this world, and make those things so important, like God why are things going this way?  And I just think that God has more important things in mind.  And if it means that we have to travel 80 miles in our third trimester and give birth in a stable, then so be it, if that is what accomplishes God’s purposes and plans.

Bucket List

pexel listAs the old year-ends and the New Year begins this is a time when thinking about things we might like to accomplish or experience comes naturally to us.

I don’t have an actual list, but Jacob and I have talked about a few things that we would like to do together sometime as a father and son.  We want to attend a super bowl, a final four, a home run derby, a slam dunk contest, a world cup game, as you can see they pretty much all revolve around sports that we would like to see.

Well, today we are going to take a quick look at a couple of people from Scripture who had maybe a different kind of bucket list. Please turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2.  So over the last few weeks we have been looking at different parts of the traditional nativity story from the Bible.  We looked at Mary’s magnificat, the story of the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus, and then also the visit of the Magi.  I mentioned last week that I have a little bit of a pet peeve when it comes to the presence of the Magi in our traditional nativity scenes, not because I don’t like the story, but because everything that we read in Scripture suggests that they most likely arrived later, potentially when Jesus was closer to two years old.  And yet many nativity scenes include the wise men with the shepherds at the manger with the baby Jesus.

Now as I mentioned last week, it is fine to consider them part of the nativity story, as long as we recognize the actual facts from Scripture compared to what we have made up over time.  But one thing that I find really interesting is that there are a couple of other people who were most likely present much closer to Jesus’ birth when Jesus was still a baby compared to when the Magi showed  up and yet while the Magi are included, these two people are not.

Simeon and Anna.  We find their story in Luke 2 right after the passage on the shepherds.  “22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” 33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” 36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

So like I said, this story is from when Jesus was still a baby, most likely much closer to his actual birth than the story of the Magi.  Take a look at verse 22: “22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord”

So this law is recorded for us in Leviticus 12 where it speaks of what to do after a woman conceives a child.  If the child is a boy, they are to wait 40 days and then bring him to the priest and offer a sacrifice.  The sacrifice is actually to be a lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering, although if they can’t afford the lamb, they can bring two pigeons or two turtledoves, which is what we see Mary and Joseph bringing here.  So this is taking place when Jesus is about six weeks old.  He is still a baby, which is why I think that Simeon and Anna kind of get the raw end of the deal being left out of most of our nativity story pictures.  But that is not my main point.

I have been working through the book of Luke lately in my devotions and I came across this passage, on December 22.  And so I just thought for a short devotional message today before our time of communion and sharing, it would be good to share something from my recent devotions.  The thing that really jumped out at me is the devotion of Simeon and Anna.

Let’s take another look at Simeon “25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples…”

The Holy Spirit has revealed to Simeon that he will not die until he lays eyes on the Messiah.  And he is perfectly content with that.  Then Joseph, Mary and Jesus show up and he has the opportunity to take the baby Messiah and hold him in his arms.  Imagine what that must have been like.  And then he says that now he can die in peace because he has seen God’s salvation.   God has fulfilled his promise and let him see the Messiah.  How cool is that?  He didn’t get to see Jesus grow up.  He never got to hear any of Jesus’ sermons or witness any of Jesus’ miracles.  He didn’t see Him die for the sins of mankind.  All he really got to do was hold a baby.  How did he know that this was the Messiah?  Only because the Holy Spirit inside of him was letting him know.  He was so in tune with God that he knew.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be that in tune with the Holy Spirit inside of me that I know what God is saying and doing without having to see some kind of tangible evidence. Everyone else around them just saw Jesus as a baby, but Simeon recognized the Messiah.  That is pretty cool.  I want to be like Simeon.

There is a lot more we could probably get into here, but since this is just a devotional, I am going to skip over to Anna.  Take a look at verses 36-38: “36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

So Anna is also an amazing character.  She is an elderly lady and has been a widow for quite some time.  We don’t know exactly when she got married, but many girls in that time got married as teenagers so she was probably pretty young when she became a widow.  And for who knows how long she has been basically living at the temple, worshipping, fasting, and praying night and day.

Anna maybe got some strange looks from passersby.  Even other church going passersby probably looked at Anna as pretty extreme.  You know those people in church who are so devout, so focused on God that they are maybe a little out of touch with the rest of the world?  Let’s be honest with ourselves right now.  How many of us have seen or known someone that seemed to be a little extra Jesus freaky in the church?  You know what I am talking about?  Like they seem kind of religiously kooky?  And so maybe sometimes we avoid them a little bit, or look at them a little bit strange? I bet she had many people who avoided her or didn’t know what to think about her.  But look at her now.  We can really see the hand of God with her in this passage.  And it makes me wonder if sometimes there are people that we pass by who seem a little religiously kooky to us and yet maybe we are missing out on their connection with God?

I guess this passage just shows off to me two amazing people who are often overlooked and yet God was at work in their lives in an amazing way.   Probably not very many people at that time noticed what was happening with Simeon and Anna as they met Jesus.  And sometimes even today we skip over their story to get to some more interesting ones.  But there is something really cool about Simeon and Anna.  I don’t think they probably had a bucket list, but I would imagine that if they did, seeing the Messiah would probably have been on the top of the list.  I think that God was more important to them than anything else in their lives.  They lived for him.  And it is great that we get to read their story, and be inspired by their devotion.

 

 

 

Hezekiah’s Prayer Part 1

pexel prayer3Please turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah, chapter 37. So throughout this year we have been having sermons that have come out of your questions. Today we will be addressing a question that someone had on learning how to pray. This is not the typical passage that we might turn to when considering how to pray. Usually when someone asks about prayer we have a tendency to go to a passage like Matthew 6 where we find the Lord’s Prayer. This one is a little bit different, but I think it is a good place for us to spend some time.

Now before we get to the passage itself, let me provide a little background. So the main character in our story today is a guy named Hezekiah. He was king during a time when the nation of Israel had been split in two. Hezekiah was the king of Judah. Shortly before his reign the northern kingdom of Israel was defeated and the people taken away into exile by the mighty Assyrian army, and by the time we arrive in the passage we are going to look at, Hezekiah has been king for about 14 years and now King Sennacherib of Assyria is threatening Judah.

Judah had been paying tribute to Assyria, but Hezekiah decided to stop that and made an alliance with Egypt to help him stand against Assyria. But this did not sit well with King Sennacherib of Assyria and he began making war against some of Judah’s fortified cities and began threatening King Hezekiah.

In chapter 36, verse 2 we find that Sennacherib sent the Rabshakeh, to Hezekiah. This is not a name of a person, but a title. Some have said that it referenced the chief cupbearer, but suggest that he was a high-ranking military official, which seems to make more sense to me.

Anyway, the Rabshakeh goes to Judah and he brings a message, let me share with you a little bit of his message, from verses 4 and 5 of Isaiah : “4 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 5 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me?”

The message goes on from there, but basically he says that they have no chance against the mighty Assyrian army, that they have no allies, that they can’t trust their leaders, that God is not going to defend them, that nobody has been able to stand against Assyria so far, so they should just surrender.

In the midst of that the leaders of Judah actually asked the Rabshekah to stop speaking in a language the people could understand, because they didn’t want the people there to hear this threatening message. But the Rabshekah responded with these words in verses 12-15: “12 “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?” 13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

And he continued to threaten them, trying to get them to be frightened and to doubt God and to give up.

So Hezekiah’s response was to tear his clothes, cover himself with sackcloth and go to the temple where he called for Isaiah the prophet to join him and he called on the people to pray. So Isaiah arrived and gave him some encouraging words from God that he was going to take care of Assyria.

But then Sennahcerib, king of Assyria, sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah, challenging him to not trust in God, because other nations had trusted in their gods to protect them from Assyria but Assyria destroyed them anyway, and so he said trusting in God wasn’t going to work for Judah.

That provides the context for the passage we are going to look at today. I would imagine that he felt a pretty heavy weight on his shoulders, not just fear for his own life, but for his entire kingdom. This was a mighty, scary army and they were making some really serious threats.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what Hezekiah does when he gets this letter. Look at verses 14-15: “14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord:”

So like we said, this was a dangerous, scary, intense situation. It basically was the very real threat of death for himself and many of his people. How he handled it is a beautiful picture of what we are supposed to do in difficult situations.

But it is not just instructions for what to do, it is more like an image to grab hold of as we see Hezekiah going up to the Lord and spreading this letter out before him. It is literally laying our situation out before the Lord and saying will you take care of this. This is a visual image for us of how to pray.

But we have more details, because the following verses contain what he prayed and it is a beautiful example that informs us about what our prayers can be like.

Let’s take a look at how he prays: “16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 17 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”

I want to point out two things that Hezekiah does in this prayer, that I think sometimes we maybe forget. The first thing Hezekiah does is to get his perspective right. Remember, what Hezekiah was facing was a really big deal and while we may not identify with his exact situation, we do know what it is like to face difficult things in our own lives.

When we are faced with tough times, our problems become so large, so consuming that we can’t hardly see anything else and in the midst of that it can be easy to lose sight of God.

Hezekiah begins by getting his perspective right. He starts with a right recognition of who God is and his own complete dependence on Him. He prays, “Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are God alone, the creator of Heaven and earth.” What are some things you might remember about God that would help you get your perspective right? His infinite power. His justice. His mercy? That He hears us?

 

This is the right place to start with prayer. This step helps us take our eyes off of ourselves and our needs and recognize that we are actually praying to a God who can do something about our situation. When we refocus on the Creator of the Universe we are reminded that He is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ever ask and think.

When we take the time to do that, it can help us remember that no matter how big our problem is, God is still bigger. This also involves realizing that He is in control, that He knows what He is doing, that He hears us when we pray, that He knows our needs even before we ask Him, that He loves us and cares about what we are going through, and all the other lessons we have learned about God so far in our lives. Prayer should begin with getting our perspective right.

Then Hezekiah moves on to lay out his problem before the Lord in verses 17-19. He is open and honest and real with God about what is going on. In these verses I see Hezekiah’s concerns, I can imagine his fear and his discouragement.

Second thing that I want to point out is that Hezekiah doesn’t just emotionally barf on God, as if he is complaining about his lot in life. He specifically asks God to intervene and save them in verse 20. God doesn’t want us to just complain or whine about our lives, He wants us to ask Him to work. He wants us to invite Him to get involved in our lives.

It is important for us to take this step and ask for God to work, because we are inviting Him in. And then when God steps in and works, He receives the glory, and we can’t just chalk it up to coincidence. And notice that Hezekiah also sees the bigger picture and that ultimately God wants the whole world to know him

This is a beautiful prayer and a good reminder for how we can pray about the problems we face. I love the image of him laying out the letter before the Lord.

Maybe you are here today and you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. Maybe your future hangs in the balance and this problem you are facing is consuming you completely. I get that. We’ve all been there, and we will be again.

And just as a little further encouragement, let me share with you what happens next. At the end of this chapter in verses 36-38 we read this: “And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. 38 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword.”

I would imagine that as word of this spread, God was indeed glorified.

I want to leave you with one main thing from this sermon today.

Hezekiah laid out his problems before the Lord, and God intervened in a miraculous way. He laid out his problem and the problem was taken care of. Assyria was defeated. But all those other countries had gods too, and their gods did not save them.

The difference is our God is real. All the other countries were destroyed by Assyria. When we pray, we are praying to a God who is really God. He alone is God. And He can do some amazing things. When we pray, we are praying to a God who is actually able to do something about our requests. I think sometimes we forget that. I think sometimes we pray, because we think we are supposed to pray, but we don’t really expect anything to happen. I don’t know if it is because we don’t think God can fix our problem? Or maybe it is that we just don’t think He will? Or maybe we are just scared to get our hopes up? I don’t know.

So overall, I hope you remember the image of Hezekiah laying out his problem before God. And I hope that you are reminded of having a right perspective and inviting God to work in your life. But what I really want to make sure we get today, is that when we have a problem we have the opportunity to pray to a God who is actually able to do something about that problem. He can work miracles. Let’s never forget that. So let’s ask boldly for God to intervene in our lives and work in ways that are beyond our imagination, and then let’s really expect Him to do something.

Nearsighted Faith

pexel nearsightedAccording to Wikipedia, Mr. Magoo was a wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of comical situations as a result of his nearsightedness, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem. However, through uncanny streaks of luck, the situation always seems to work itself out for him, leaving him no worse than before.

I didn’t really remember much, so I went online and looked it up and watched the opening scene which is him driving in his car and he winds up on the railroad track, then crashing through a barn, then knocking over a fire hydrant, then his car is picked up by a crane, and he lands on a roller coaster then drives off of that onto some power lines. Basically he is so nearsighted that he is can’t see anything and it gets him into wacky mishaps.

Well, today we are going to talk about how to not be like a spiritual version of Mr. Magoo. Please turn with me in your Bibles to the book of 2 Peter, chapter 1. So throughout this year we have been looking at passages brought on by questions from people in our congregation. Some of the questions have been with regard to a specific topic, but this question is simply wanting to hear a sermon on 2 Peter 1:3-11.

In this letter Peter seems to be writing to a general audience of believers. He writes about a few things, but one of them is about growing in Christ. With that in mind, let’s break this down, beginning with verses 3-4: “3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

Peter talks about several different ideas in this passage so let’s break it down a little bit. What does he mean when he says “his divine power?” God’s work and His might. God is able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine. That is the power we are talking about.

And by that power, he has given us: all things that pertain to life and godliness. This means that he gives us what we need to know and follow him. So not only salvation itself, but also the power to grow as Christians comes from God. When we become Christians, not only are we brought back to a right relationship with God, we are also empowered to live for him and grow in him, through our knowledge of Christ. He has given us everything we need.

And the knowledge that Peter is talking about here is not just referring to us hearing about Jesus and believing that what we heard is true. This is referring to an intimate knowledge of Christ, where we know him personally as we have encountered him.

Then Peter refers to precious and very great promises, through which we become partakers of the divine nature. He is talking about the things God has done for us. We have been redeemed or bought with a price. We have been adopted as sons and daughters of God. We have received grace and mercy. We have been declared righteous and justified. We have been cleansed or forgiven of our sin and given new life in Christ. We have been made new creations. We have been given the Holy Spirit and look forward to an eternity in Heaven.   All of that happens in us from God through Christ.

And notice Peter points out escaping the corruption of sin. It is interesting that he uses the word escape. For me one of the things that came to mind was like Indiana Jones escaping from that huge rolling rock that was tumbling down after him during the opening part of Raiders of the Lost Ark. But this is talking about how we escape sin and the effects of sin, through Christ and we are reborn, given a new spiritual life in him.

Let’s move on to verses 5-8: “5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 We need to begin with the understanding that the salvation we receive is freely given and that grace is received simply by faith. Peter has just finished talking about these precious and so great promises and that we have been given all things. It is not based on anything we do. God works in us through Christ to accomplish these precious and very great promises. But here we also begin to see that there is something that we participate in after conversion. Notice that Peter says to make every effort.   That suggests that what he is talking about is not just us sitting back and waiting for something to happen, but actually making an effort.

So we could have never earned our salvation, but after coming to know Christ, we are supposed to make an effort to grow. He is calling us to active Christianity. And specifically we see that we are to add things to our faith.

We are supposed to add virtue, which means moral excellence. We are to add knowledge. Then comes self-control, which is mastery over our desires, impulses, and temptation. And steadfastness, which would be like perseverance or patience. Standing in the face of adversity. And then we have godliness which gets back to our devotion to God. Actually it is the main word from which we get the word religion. It means having a right attitude toward God and toward others. And then Peter mentions brotherly affection and then love. Brotherly affection is specifically dealing with family members. It is the word philadephia, which here in America is the city of brotherly love. It is talking about our relationship with one another within the church. But the next word that is translated here, as love is the word agape, which refers to a self sacrificing kind of love.     Seeking the highest good for others, putting others first.

Peter then says that if these qualities are ours in increasing measure then we will be less likely to be ineffective and unfruitful. I want to point out the idea of these things being ours in increasing measure. We are to be continually growing in these things. It is not that we add one of them to our lives and then we are good in that area, we are constantly growing in each of these areas and it suggests that there will always be room for growth.

Coming to know Christ is the beginning of a journey with him. And on that journey we are supposed to be growing. That is what being a disciple is all about. We are to be becoming like Christ.

How we do in these areas is not going to determine our salvation, but if we are not growing in these areas, then it might be indicative of a problem in our Christian walk.

But I am not going to be giving you 10 ways to increase your self-control or things like that today. I think there is something else for us to get out of this passage.

Take a look at verses 9-11: “9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

 Here is where the Mr. Magoo analogy comes into play. Peter calls them nearsighted because they have forgotten that they have been cleansed from their sins.   They forget what had happened to them and so they don’t continue to grow. This tracks back to what we were talking about earlier with all of the great and precious things that have been done for us through Christ and what it means to know him.

So if we flip this around, then it suggests that if we really understand the so great and precious things that God has done for us through Christ, then we will make the effort to grow in Christ.

Now I want to make two extremely important points here. First of all, it is Christ who works in us to help us grow. Remember as we talked about the opening part of this passage, God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. We can’t grow like this on our own. We rely on His work in our lives, like a branch remaining in the vine.

But also notice that we are not just passive either. This suggests an effort made by us. Verse 10 points out a diligence on our part. It means not neglecting our responsibility. We have a role to play in this, even though it is actually Christ at work in us helping us to grow, we are to make the effort.

But my focus today is not even on making the effort; I think there is something that needs to happen first.

There is an amazing reward that is awaiting us in the future; one that has been supplied or provided for us. We didn’t deserve it. It has been freely given.

No wonder someone who misses this is nearsighted and blind. They have failed to recognize how amazing it is that they have been provided for. And they have become stagnant and barren unfruitful Christians, because they have not made any effort to grow in their faith. They have been given this precious gift and rather than tending to it and helping it flourish, they have ignored it and let it just sit there.

So, I want us to realize that we have a part to play. We are to make an effort to grow. It means making the time to build our walk with the Lord. Getting to know Him, seeking Him, and choosing to go His way rather than running after other things.

So my challenge is for us to not be like Mr. Magoo. Let’s not be so nearsighted that we are blind. You know a nearsighted person would be only able to focus on what is right in front of them. It would lead to a very self-centered existence.

I am calling us to lift up our eyes and see the one who has given us these so very great and precious promises. Let’s realize the amazing things that God has given us through Christ and the incredible future we have in store for us. And let’s that move us to action, let that be the motivation we need to put in the effort to grow. All the while, let’s also recognize that even the growth itself is something that Christ will be accomplishing in us.

 

 

Christ Our Coming King Part II


Deb Cherico and her husband John were part of The River for several years before we sent them out two years ago to pastor the church in Arlington, MN. About a week ago Deb lost her battle with cancer and her Memorial service was yesterday. I know that Deb had a big impact on many people in this congregation and she will be dearly missed. This passage is a good reminder for us in the midst of grief over loved ones we have lost.

Continue reading “Christ Our Coming King Part II”

Christ our Coming King: Part I

pexel chickenThere have been many end of the world predictions over the years.  But possibly the most interesting of all doomsday predictions came from a chicken.  Apparently there was a hen in Leeds, England back in 1806 that became known as the prophet hen of Leeds when she began laying eggs with the words “Christ is coming” written on them.  People traveled from far and wide to visit this prophetic hen.  However the whole thing was uncovered as a hoax when it was found out that the owner of the hen was using corrosive ink to write on the eggs and then reinserting them back into the hen, to be laid later.

Many people are interested in talking about the end times.  There are actually many passages in Scripture that deal with this topic.  Acts 1:6-11 is a very familiar passage that contains Christ’s ascension to Heaven and a challenge to be Christ’s witnesses to the ends of the earth.  However, this well-known passage actually begins with a question about the end times.

In Acts 1:6 the disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6b, ESV)  Typically when we look at this passage we tend to gloss over verse 6, but when we recognize this starting question it takes us deeper into the context of what Jesus is saying.

Remember, the disciples had an unclear idea of what exactly the Messiah had come to do.  They had grown up hearing these prophecies of the coming Messiah and the interpretations that suggested that he would be a conquering hero or a political or military leader who would return the kingdom of Israel to prominence.  They then saw firsthand the miracles he was capable of and they gave up their lives to follow him.  But then he was crucified and died and they were probably pretty confused, until he rose again and displayed authority over death.  When you combine what they had seen of Jesus with what they expected of the Messiah, it is easy to see how they might have expected him to establish his kingdom right away now that he had risen.  But they were still missing pieces to the puzzle.

In verse 7 Jesus basically answers their question by telling them that the timing of his kingdom is really none of their business.  That is not what they were supposed to be focused on.  And that is not what we are supposed to focus on either.  Many times we are in such a hurry to get to verse 8 that we miss this important answer.  But this helps provide good context for verse 8, because while Jesus says the timing is not our business, he does tell us what is supposed to be our business.  In verse 8 Jesus says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8, ESV)

Our understanding of verses 6 and 7 doesn’t drastically change our understanding of verse 8, but it does add an extra emphasis.  We may not know when the end is going to come, but we do know what we are supposed to be doing in the meantime.  This is a pivotal verse in the Bible.  It is kind of like an outline for the rest of the book of Acts as we see the disciples basically living out these words in the rest of the book as the Gospel spreads to the world.

After saying these things Jesus then ascended to Heaven and the disciples were left standing there watching him go.  Then all of a sudden a couple of messengers showed up and asked the guys why they were just standing there gazing at heaven.  And then they tell them that Christ is coming back.  It’s like they were implying that the disciples should stop standing around and get busy doing what he had told them to do.

It may seem weird to take a passage that focuses on Christ’s ascension into Heaven and use it to talk about Christ our Coming King, but the context is clear.  Christ’s is coming again.  Ever since he left, we have been living with his imminent return.  We don’t know when he will return, but we do know that he is coming.  We see that stated right here in this passage as well as in many other places in Scripture.

Christ did not just come to earth, live a good life, do all those miracles, die for the sins of mankind, rise again and then just ride off into the sunset at the end of the story.  He left with a plan to return.  He is coming again.  The story is not finished yet.  And when he comes he will be ushering in his kingdom.  So Christ is not only our Savior, and our Sanctifier and our Healer, he is also our Coming King.  We can look forward to his return and to spending eternity with him, but talking about his return should not focus us on standing around watching for him to return, or arguing about when the end of the world is going to come, it should spur us on to do what he wants us to do while he is gone.  All of this provides context for verse 8.  So let’s let the fact that Christ is coming again, spur us on to be his witnesses to a world that desperately needs him.

Christ our Healer, part 2

pexel healingMovies like “Fletch Lives” and “Leap of Faith” poked fun at the stereotypical, televangelist, faith-healing frauds, but for many people the images in those movies are what we picture when we hear someone talk about healing.  There have been a lot of abuses and misuses of healing in the church and on television and for that reason many people have abandoned the idea of healing altogether.

In James 5:13-16 we find a very clear outline of what healing is supposed to look like within the Church. “13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:13-16, ESV)

There are a lot of different responses we might have when we are suffering.  We might whine, complain, grumble worry or get discouraged, but James is suggesting that when we are suffering we should turn it over to God in prayer.

Then James moves on to good times.  So often we are quick to blame God for the bad things in life and yet very slow to give him credit for the good things.  It is almost like we expect things to always be good and so we only really take notice when something goes wrong.  Making a point to give praise to God for the good things helps us maintain a right focus on him.

After talking about times of suffering and times when we are cheerful, James moves on to talk about what we are to do when we are sick. He tells us that we are to call for the elders to pray for us.  Notice that there is a difference between what we are to do when we are suffering compared to when we are sick.  I don’t believe that James is saying that we are to sit and try and deliberate about what our trouble is so that we can decide whether we are to pray for ourselves or call for the elders.  I believe that James is suggesting a next step that we can take.

The word that James uses here to talk about those who are sick can also mean weak.  Regardless of why we are suffering we should bring our needs before God in prayer.  We also might reach out to our relatives and friends or put something on the prayer chain so the church can be praying for us.  But James seems to be suggesting a next step we can take when those problems continue or we need a special touch.  He tells us to call on the elders.  This is not simply referring to those who are older than us, but to those who have been specifically set aside for a position of authority within the church.  These people are called to be overseers who care for the spiritual needs of those within the church.

In this passage James points out a very specific process for seeking Christ for healing.  He says that we are to call the elders to pray for the person and anoint them with oil.  This is not some kind of magical spell or incantation.  There is not some specific maneuver that needs to be done in the right way to bring healing.  Healing does not come from using the right kind of oil, or saying the right words in the prayer, or having the oil applied in the right way or anything like that.  The healing comes from Christ.

Notice how James specifically points out praying and anointing in the Name of the Lord and that it is the Lord who will raise him up.  The Lord is the one who does the work.  Healing should focus us on Christ, not on some person and not even on our own ability to believe strongly enough.  Any healing service that takes the focus off of Christ and puts it on some person or some special process is a problem.  Christ is our healer.

Notice also that confessing our sins is mentioned in this passage.  Sometimes our sickness or suffering is a direct result of our sin.  There are very real consequences for our sin and sometimes God might allow bad things to happen to us as discipline or just as a natural consequence of a wrong we have done.  God also may allow sickness into our lives in order to get our attention and to help us see something in our lives that needs to change.  So if we are refusing to acknowledge our sin and are determined to ignore what God wants for us, then there is no way we should expect his healing.  So it is important to take the time and see if there is some sin that needs to be dealt when we seek healing.

However, sometimes sickness is not related specifically to some sin in our life that has not been dealt with.  Notice that James says if he has sinned he will be forgiven.  That word “if” suggests that we can be sick and not have some sin that needs to be forgiven.  Sometimes we just get sick, because we are living in a broken world.  Even when we are healed from a sickness we will eventually get sick again and eventually we will die.  Sickness, pain and death are a natural part of living in this broken world.  That means that sometimes we just get sick.  But when we are sick it is a good time to pause and seek God and to let him reveal to us anything he might want to reveal to us.

This process for healing includes examining our hearts and confessing sin and having the elders pray for us and anoint us with oil.  That is the process, but notice that it begins with a request from the one who is sick.  This, in and of itself is an act of faith, so let’s not take it lightly.  It is not simply a last ditch effort or a whim, it is a specific decision to trust in Christ as our healer.

James gives us a clear process for approaching Christ for healing and it looks very different from what was pictured in the movies I mentioned at the beginning of this blog.  We do not need to abandon healing because of the abuses we have seen, we simply need to get back to the biblical foundation for healing like we see in this passage.  So my challenge for us is to utilize this process that God has laid out for us.  If we are sick, we should call for the elders of the church to pray over us and anoint us with oil in the name of the Lord.

Christ our Healer

pexel hand outIn the Christian and Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith we find this sentence: “Provision is made in the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ for the healing of the mortal body.”

To understand the Biblical foundation for this belief we turn to Matthew 8 and find a story of healing. “14 And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.” (Matt. 8:14-16, ESV)

Notice that when Jesus touches Peter’s mother-in-law not only is she healed immediately, but she is also healed completely.  Apparently in this area of Israel Malaria was common.  We do not know if that is what she was suffering from or not, but imagine if she did have Malaria.  Even if she had been healed of the fever it still would have taken her some time to recuperate.  But in this story she immediately gets up and starts to serve them.  That is amazing.  Jesus didn’t just take away the sickness, he gave her complete health and rejuvenation and strength to the point where she was immediately able to get up and start serving her guests like a good Jewish mother in law would probably do.

There is a completeness to the healing work of Jesus that is powerfully shown in this example.  Jesus doesn’t just take away what is wrong, he brings life.  And word must have spread because soon a crowd had gathered to seek a healing touch from the Lord.

That is a powerful story, but it also provides important context for verse 17: “17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”  (Matt. 8:17, ESV)

This verse suggests that there is more to this scene than just the healings that are taking place.  This is the fulfillment of a prophecy about the Messiah.  This is a declaration of who Jesus is.  And it is referring to Isaiah 53, which is known as the passage on the suffering servant.

“1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?[a] And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected[b] by men; a man of sorrows,[c] and acquainted with[d] grief;[e] and as one from whom men hide their faces[f] he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:1-6, ESV)

This passage is a prophecy about the coming Messiah and it is easy to see Jesus in these words. Nobody would have looked at Jesus as he was growing up in Nazareth and said, look there is the Messiah.  There was no pomp and circumstance.  He was just the son of a carpenter.  And after he came out and began his ministry he was despised and rejected.  He had his life threatened and he was constantly under attack from the religious leaders of the day.  Eventually he was arrested and unjustly tried and convicted.  Then he was beaten and placed on a cross where they drove nails into his hands and feet and hung him up to die.  And on that cross he took our sins upon himself and died as a sacrifice for the world.

This passage in Isaiah 53 seems to be focusing on what Christ would do on the cross when he was beaten and pierced and killed while carrying the sins of the world on his shoulders.  Even the phrase “bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows” from verse 4, has us picturing the cross.

But if Isaiah 53 is pointing toward Christ’s work on the cross, why is it connected to Matthew 8 which is a story about Jesus’ healing ministry?

When we look at verses 4-5 of Isaiah 53, we see that it is our sicknesses and our pain and our sin and our punishment that he takes upon himself, while he is stricken, smitten, afflicted, pierced, crushed, chastised and wounded.  And it is because he went through what he went through, while carrying all of our stuff that we get to enjoy what we see at the end of verse 5 which says, by his wounds we are healed.  That healing is complete.  Christ died and rose again in victory over sin and the curse that sin brought.

Now let me point out that because of sin, we are living in a broken world.  We treat sickness as if it is the main problem, but sickness is actually a symptom of the brokenness that has come as part of the curse of sin.  Healing sickness is actually like healing a symptom.  In Matthew 8, Jesus healed Peter’s mother in law, but she would have gotten sick again after that and eventually she still died.  Sickness is simply a symptom of the brokenness caused by sin.

While he walked this earth Jesus chose to care for the symptoms of living in a broken world, like hunger, sickness, and evil spirits.  But while he chose to address some of the symptoms he was always moving toward the main focus, which was the victory he would bring through his work on the cross and through the grave.  Things are not going to be perfect until Christ returns and wipes away this broken world and brings a new heaven and new earth.

In Revelation 21 we read: “1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,[b] and God himself will be with them as their God.[c] 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:1-4, ESV)

That is what we look forward to.  One day sickness and death will be no more. But what about today? What do we do with the stuff we face right now in this broken world?  Are we stuck just looking forward to our future in Heaven?

Christ could have just walked this earth, completely focused on the cross, and ignored the symptoms of this broken world that were all around him.  But he didn’t.  He chose to stop and listen and touch and heal those in need.  Even though those healings were just temporary and he was just addressing the symptoms, Jesus still chose to heal.  Why?

Last week I was at a national youth convention for The Christian and Missionary Alliance.  As part of that convention my son Jacob and I attended a seminar led by Ken Castor.  During that seminar Ken asked the audience to shout out some things as volunteers wrote them on a giant white board.  One of the things he asked for them to shout out was things that Christ does for us.  People yelled out: he healed; he forgave; he died; and other things Christ has done.  My son Jacob just quietly said, he stopped.  And I turned to him and asked what he meant by that.  He told me that when people cried out to Jesus as he was passing by, he would stop and listen to their need and touch and heal them.  And I was like, you know what, he’s right.  That’s something that Christ did.  He stopped.  Why did he stop?  He stopped because he loved them.  He had compassion on them.  And that is still true today.  When we cry out to him Christ still stops and listens to us and touches us.

As we continue on through Scripture we see that healing was an active part of the ministry of the early church.  And down through history that has continued.  Sure there have been plenty of abuses and we have gotten off track from what it was intended to be along the way, but Christ is still our healer.

He still stops when we cry out to him.  He listens and cares about what we are going through and he touches us.  I don’t know why he sometimes chooses not to heal.  But I do know that Christ loves us and he is still our healer.  It is not our faith that heals us, it is not some guy in a fancy suit, it is not prayer or oil or the ability we have to believe, it is Christ who heals.  Through the cross he established victory over sin and death and everything that goes with it.  He came to bring us life.  And even though he no longer walks on this earth in flesh and blood, when we cry out to him, he still stops because he loves us.  Christ is still our Healer.