The Root of Guilt

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves.  The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship.  If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.  But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year.  For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.  Hebrews 10:1-4

Taking away sins is indeed a tricky business.  We can hear the preacher say:  In the name of Christ, you are forgiven…and a nanosecond or two later we are having the same thoughts and desires that got us into the debt of our evil in the first place.  And the guilt starts a new cycle.  Our base problem (sin nature, courtesy of Adam) makes us (as the hymn-writer has it) prone to wander and we can no longer imagine we are forgiven than jump over the moon.

What’s not so tricky is understanding this about me.  Having spent the better part of 8 decades in this human skin of a life examining the insides of Russell, knowing just how crumbly human clay feet can be, and how permanently the scars of our sins can destroy our sense of peace, I have become acutely aware of how successfully guilt can rob us of everything powerfully-good in our daily lives.  The annual sacrifices at the Temple could do nothing to asuage a guilty conscience.  Something greater was required to get at the root of our guilt. 

Paul[1] later described for the Jewish tribes of believers how Jesus’ sacrifce was that something better to root out the assault our arch-enemy, Lucifer makes on our vulnerable conscience:

Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins.  But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time.  Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.  There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet.  For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.  

Hebrews 10:11-14

A careful reading of Paul’s explanation offers the subtle (but sure) difference between a clear conscience and overwhelming unrest in the soul.  It is the enemies of Christ that are destined for humbling punishment, not the friends!

To be a friend of Jesus means trusting him.  When we trust him with our future, our past is included in the forgiveness of all the sins we have done, or ever will do.  Jesus, the flawless friend is the fulfillment of the title, Best Friend Forever

…a real friend sticks closer than a brother.  Proverbs 18:24b

For You Today  

Somewhere during your walk with Christ, the enemy will whisper in your ear an accusation or two about stuff you shouldn’t have done, or stuff you should have done, but didn’t, or maybe the desire for something evil that you just didn’t get around to doing….yet!  Remind the serpent that when you repented of that sin, God forgave you, and God never lies.  Apostle Paul wrote that too:

Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true.  Romans 3:4b

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

A Clean Sweep, But Not Swept-Away  and  Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

Images:  Title Wikimedia Commons   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] Paul was more than likely the author of Hebrews according to many scholars.

When Only an Insult Will Do

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Wednesday, February 20, 2019

As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table.  His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom.  Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness!  Fools!  Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside?  So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.  “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees!  For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God.  You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.  Luke 11:37-42(NLT)

Jesus was wildly popular with the disenfranchised, the common people, poor and meager, but, with the rich and powerful…not so much!  Perhaps one of the reasons a Pharisee would invite Jesus to his home to eat is that he was well aware of the political power-play manual’s cardinal rule:  keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer!  Simon, the Pharisee wanted an up-close and personal look at this guy whose preaching was turning the political status-quo on its ear.  This was dangerous stuff, and he wanted to examine his enemy. 

Pharisees were religious power brokers, and, as such, they were clever in political maneuvering; they were manipulative, ruthless, and focused on winning.  The problem with smart people, however, is the inability to keep one’s mouth shut.  One of the Pharisees tried to bust Jesus for coming to the table without attending to ritual…7 dips in the water pots, or pours over the hands to satisfy the Law, and then you could eat.  Jesus, ever the controversial adversary of control freaks, named the rule-keeper, FOOL!  Sometimes only an insult will do.

The whole point of eating with the Pharisees was to expose their duplicity.  They were experts in keeping the bare minimums of the Laws and traditions of the elders, but when it came to throwing their lives into the spirit of the Law, they came up miserably short.  Jesus pointed out that the Pharisees are careful to tithe on even the tiniest bit of produce but ignore the needs of needy people.  Jesus reminded them God didn’t so much need 10% of the rosemary and thyme their gardens produced, as to see justice and fairness in the Pharisees’ everyday living.  The Pharisees had the responsibility of ruling with righteousness over God’s people; they had a duty to alleviate suffering amongst the poor, but they spent most of their energy on controlling everything to their liking…power, prestige, and wealth for them and their close allies.  Jesus came to drive a wedge between truth and evil.  Sometimes only a shocking insult will awaken dull senses.

One little side note here (at the risk of being called a Pharisee); please note Jesus did NOT say that the tithe is wrong; he said just the opposite – we ought to tithe.  Rather He was making the point that there are more important things than the tithe, and all those important things include better relationships, care for all persons, and honesty before God in everything.  He was saying, your pocketbook issues are important, but they don’t matter, unless your heart is right. 

For You Today

I love the imagery of the old saying, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.  The bath water is used up; a baby is just beginning, so keep the priorities in good order! 

In the same way, while you’re keeping all the rules of your faith, make certain you don’t ignore the purpose of your faith, loving God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength…and live that love by loving the neighbor you’d rather not!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:  via Wikimedia Commons

Building Strength for the Trials - Series #2. COVENANT

[1]

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’  Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.  I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”  At this, Abram fell face down on the ground.  Then God said to him, “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations!  What’s more, I am changing your name.  It will no longer be Abram.  Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations.  I will make you extremely fruitful.  Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!  “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation.  This is the everlasting covenant:  I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 

Then God said to Abraham, “Regarding Sarai, your wife—her name will no longer be Sarai.  From now on her name will be Sarah.  And I will bless her and give you a son from her!  Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations.  Kings of nations will be among her descendants.”  Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law.  He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead.  As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.  Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter.  “Get away from me, Satan!” he said.  “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”  Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.  But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.  And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?  Is anything worth more than your soul?  If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”  Mark 8:31-38^(NLT)

When I was nearing the end of High School my parents wanted to know what plans I had after graduation.  My answer was something of an insignificant, non-committal shrug…I don-know!  (Russell was a very articulate 17 year-old).  Our discussion about college was something like:

Mom & Dad:  We can send you to college, so you can learn something, get a degree and then a good job.

Russell:  Uh….OK.  (Remember…I was articulate)

Mom & Dad:  You’ll have to work hard in college.

Russell:  Yeah…oh, hey, is that cheesecake?  (Add focused to articulate)

Mom & Dad:  We mean it…hard work, study, graduate…grow up.

Russell:  Sure, no problem…is there any whipped cream for that cheesecake?

Articulate, focused, and sincere…what else could parents want?

What I took away from that conversation was that Mom and Dad were going to pay for my tuition, room, board and books, and I was going to go to a strange, exotic faraway destination called Yankton, South Dakota (the only college in America that would have me with my GPA), where I will have a thrilling, fun-filled adventure that will end up in me getting a prestigious and fulfilling job that pays a little more than Donald Trump earned last year.  In sum, all I took away was the stuff I wanted to hear; I ignored the real meaning of that conversation entirely!  College was hard work, and it was a lot of study, and I was unprepared, not equipped to deal with being an adult, and didn’t last past the first semester.  It didn’t help that the most gorgeous girlfriend in the world was back home!

And this is what happens to so many people who carelessly, unthinkingly, and/or frivolously think they’re accepting the covenant our Heavenly Father wants to make with us.  And by covenant we do NOT mean a business transaction, where if you accept God’s terms, you get to keep eternal life.  Rather we understand it is an ongoing conversation with our eternal God, Almighty, El Shaddai!

Today, let’s look at how easy it is to miss the meaning of the God-conversation.  Many people have completely misunderstood this down through the ages.  It begins with Abraham being promised a son who would bless all nations.

The Promise to Abraham

God said to Abram (Abraham), this is my covenant with you.  God’s promise was for eternity, never to be withdrawn.  People who have a problem with the Jews, Jerusalem, or the cherished children of Abraham occupying any part of the whole of Palestine from Egypt’s border to the Euphrates[2] are either not Christian, or need to bone-up on the Biblical promise to Israel.  The so-called “West Bank” is a modern invention; it belongs to God who created it first, and is Abraham’s inheritance in God’s covenant to the Nation of Israel.  Frankly it does not belong to Ishmael’s offspring; Scripture declares they will be wanderers perpetually.

That being said, it’s easier to understand the whole conflict issue between the sons of Isaac and Ishmael (the descendants of Abraham), because they have fought ever since Sarah and Hagar were jealous over each other. 

This contention for the Middle East has always put the covenant in peril.  It’s not that God withdraws his promise; just that, in free will, when we kick against the promise, we prevent the kind of peace God wills.  If you tell a child to stop being a brat to his sister and be happy with each other, it doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t kick her in the shins when you’re not looking.  Isaac and Ishmael have been kicking each other in the shins for a long time.  It’s not the promise of God that is failing in the Middle East, it’s the brat syndrome; some call it human nature.

Something that is critical about the promises of God, whether to Abraham or us, is that God does NOT promise to live it out for us.  God EXPECTS US to live the promise.  God told Abraham he would make him the father of many nations, kings among his and Sarah’s descendants.  You recall that it only takes a moment of passion to BECOME a father biologically; on the other hand it takes a lifetime of caring:  being there, pitching-in, and sacrifices if you want to BE a real father.

The promise of God to Abraham was that God would empower a living covenant; Abraham had to cooperate with God to live out the promise in the covenant.  And that’s where the New Covenant comes in; the Gospel lets us in on the fact that it takes a bit of spiritual discernment and a whole lot of practice with self-discipline in order to do that. 

The Problem with Peter

As a general rule, like the Apostle Peter, we humans have something of a problem with following God’s leading.  Our Gospel text tells us Jesus started talking about what was ahead for him; the cross, tomb and resurrection.  Scripture declares that Jesus didn’t stumble in telling his disciples this plainly.  But Peter (ever the leader of the band with an open mouth and closed mind) takes Jesus off to one side and wants to know what Jesus has been smoking.  After all, if you want to build a movement you don’t do it by scaring potential investors with promises of hardship and execution.  That’s not a strategy, Jesus!  C’mon!

To say Jesus went-off on Peter would be putting it mildly; he called him Satan!  Now, the devil is known by many names, and one of the more common handles Lucifer is known-by is ADVERSARY.  Satan is the opposition…at all times.  Jesus told Peter he was opposing God’s will, and to back-off. 

In the next heartbeat Jesus tells the crowd of onlookers and wannabe disciples that if they’re serious about following him it would mean self-denial, giving up being in charge, picking up a cross with their name on it, and following Jesus.  Now, that’s not a euphemism for going to church every Sunday or giving a tithe into the offering plate, or even visiting nursing homes.  What it is was plain-speak to a crowd who needed to know what covenant was all about:  death!

In Genesis 15 when God made His promises to Abraham it was sealed with the blood of a sacrificed animal.  The animal was cut in two and then Abraham fell into a deep sleep and watched as the presence of God passed through the space between the halves.  It was the ancient customary ritual of making a promise under penalty of death.  God was swearing the promise on his own name:

…there was God’s promise to Abraham.  Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:  “I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.”  Hebrews 6:13b-14^(NLT)

God was actually saying to Abraham, if I break my promise, what has happened to this bull laying in two pieces will be me; I, the author of life will die.

Peter had trouble seeing this.  He, like every other Israelite, and like me, and like you can only imagine the Father as in charge, stern, penalty-imposing – a judge!  But here we have El Shaddai, the Almighty Creator and Sustainer of all which exists making a promise to one of His creation.  It’s no wonder we humankind can’t come up to God’s level; we can’t even admit we have a problem with gambling, or porn, or stealing, greed, lust, or jealousy.  We wouldn’t put our 401K on the line to save a life; God puts his life on the line to save our eternity; and He makes the promise to sinners!

Why Would God Do That?

I’m glad you asked.  God did that because God knows that sinners can’t help themselves.  Sinners do bad things because they’re sinners, and they don’t know how to be righteous.  Sinners are into grabbing, getting, holding-onto what they’ve gotten, and holding others away, or in anger retaliating when they’ve been done wrong.  Sinners are into being like Cain standing behind Abel with a rock.  Do you honestly think it was a righteous, good boy who carried an AR15 into Parkland, Florida’s High School a week ago?

God knew we were like that, Abraham was like that; God knew nobody short of God can save sinners like that.  And so he made a covenant – a promise to save us. 

And that covenant was nailed to a tree on Good Friday.  Frankly, it doesn’t make sense, but it is the only way to bring peace between a righteous God and the unrighteous, the sinners like you and me.  And that peace is something the world does not understand…it is utterly beyond human reason.  It’s like most everything God does, including when He tells us if we want to really find our life, we have to lose it first…in Him. 

That is…

The Profit of Loss

Jesus said if you try to hold onto life and all you can get you will lose everything.  If you release all you have and are to His keeping, you’ll find you have immeasurably more than you could have imagined. 

So…how do I get in on this?  Simple answer:  Become a Jesus person.  Here are three Scripture verses that tell us all about the gain in the profit of loss:

His Light will Overcome My Darkness

No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket.  Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.  Matthew 5:15^(NLT)

If you have a genuine light it will light up other people’s path as well as your own.  If you try to hide a real light you have to work at it.  God’s covenant with us is about spreading the light around; His children will do the same.

His Nearness will Strengthen My Weakness

And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.       1 John 2:28^(NLT)

Sharing covenant with others is a matter of fellowship – Jesus called his disciples friends.  When you are in fellowship with Christ you develop covenant relationship.  That’s why He came; that’s what He sends us to.

His Life is Eternal

All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.  Revelation 3:5^(NLT)

The mere fact that there is a heavenly eraser presupposes that your name can be erased from the Book of Life.  I believe this book, symbolic, or literal, has each human soul registered.  We don’t earn being in that book – it is God’s free grace, His gift to sinners who simply turn to Him in faith.  The eraser is for those who choose to reject the offer of salvation.

The New Covenant was sealed in the blood of Heaven’s Lamb; that covenant is all the strength we need for the trials that come our way.

You can come to this altar and ask God to help you with living the covenant.  That’s what altars are for.  That’s how we build strength for the trials.

Let the church say Amen in the Name of the Father, Because of the Son, Cooperating with the Spirit…Amen!

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[1] Title Image Courtesy Pixabay.com.

[2] Genesis 15:18

Adversary

Title image Illustration for John Milton’s “Paradise Lost“ by Gustave Doré, 1866.via Wikimedia Commons

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again—but Satan blocked our way.   1 Thessalonians 2:18 (NRSV)

It’s not exactly clear what it was that “hindered” Paul from going to Thessalonica; it is abundantly clear who did it – Satan, the adversary.  He uses many tools. 

In this case it might have been the opposition of the Jewish officials.  They were opposed to Paul’s preaching of Christ. 

It may have been Paul’s health, that “thorn in the flesh”. 

Whatever the instrument, we can be certain who was instrumental in causing the hindrance.  Ever since the Garden of Eden Satan’s greatest enemy and target has constantly been those who would spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Satan has always known God would send a deliverer from sin and death; he has always hated man and God…

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15 (NRSV)

The adversary is still doing his best to hinder; sometimes he does quite well!  And that hindrance is still taking its toll on the church because most of us get distracted, and that keeps us from giving our most excellent best to serving where God has planted us.

The antidote for hindrance as you serve Jesus is to keep fighting and leave the scorekeeping to God.  

A fact:  

You don’t really know what the score is anyway – God does!  And as long as He is the One orchestrating the final outcome, you needn’t worry about what others are doing.  Just keep serving!

The early church was a dismal failure in the eyes of the world.  They preached Christ unashamedly, many of them dying for their faith, and the blood of the martyred saints was the seed of the spread of the Gospel.  The score on earth may have been Christians “0” and Lions “many”; but it was the other way around in the Throne room above! 

The Dark Ages saw a reversal.  The church was infiltrated by darkness and evil; a corrupt clergy would not allow the average man to even see a Bible, much less hear the Gospel.  The church was prosperous in gold and silver, but devoid of the Spirit. 

Then, Martin Luther and the Reformation cast the light of holiness to dispel the dark ages; true Christians were once again guerillas, outlaws of an apostate church, hunted and poor, but preaching the true Gospel. 

Today the church is ripe for another “underground takeover”. 

With apostates creeping into every denomination, the adversary, Satan is at work obscuring the truth of the Gospel. 

But we can never tell the score by reading the polls, or who is in the White House, or what programs this or that church uses to draw a large crowd. 

The score is kept in a different set of books that belong to the Lamb. 

For You Today

You keep fighting the good fight – leave the score to the Lamb.