A Painful Message

 

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while.  Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways.  It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way.  For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation.  There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow.  But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.  Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you!  Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong.  You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right.  My purpose, then, was not to write about who did the wrong or who was wronged. I wrote to you so that in the sight of God you could see for yourselves how loyal you are to us.  2 Corinthians 7:8-12

In Paul’s first letter to the believers at Corinth, the tone was rebuking; he called them out on their gross sins and made it clear they were making him wonder if he’d made a mistake even considering them as believers.  It was a painful message.  Every preacher of the Gospel delivers a painful message, and more often than imagined.  Just ask any of the apostles.  Each of them suffered greatly because they didn’t hold back from declaring the truth.  Most were martyred, along with Old Testament prophets who declared thus saith the LORD.

In today’s passage, Paul is writing a follow-up letter to Corinth, a festival of joy over the report he’d just gotten about the response to his first letter.  True to character, Paul writes of how he sent the letter in sorrow, but, because of the Corinthian disciples’ repentance, and heaven’s approval, his sorrow over the pain his message brought, had turned into rejoicing and overwhelming happiness.

I met Alese Nixon in a nursing home in Asheboro, North Carolina.  She was the first visit I made to a church member as pastor at Bethany in 2005.  After introducing myself as the new pastor and chatting for a while, I began to inquire about her salvation – how she came to know Christ.  She talked of conviction as a young girl, decades before, and how she placed her faith in Jesus during a youth meeting.  I responded by saying how good it was to have that blessed assurance of God’s closeness and the assurance of Heaven.  She shot right back:  That’s right, young man, and if you want to go to Heaven too, you’d better change your ways! 

I conducted Alese’s funeral some months after that “pastoral visit” (and I’m not entirely certain exactly who was the pastor that day).  Her message about changing my ways stuck in my head, and has served this last decade-and-a-half to keep me from any kind of self-righteousness.  In my mind Alese is known as Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church…painful, effective, and able to leap tall buildings when it comes to cutting past any clergy arrogance, right to the critical issue:  Nobody is above rebuke; we all need it from time to time.

For You Today

If you tend to bristle over someone pointing out a rusty spot in your spiritual armor, my prayer for you is that you’ll meet one of Alese’s people.  It’s not that I’m hoping for a little pain in your life…unless, of course, that means it’s the one thing that will bring restoration of your relationship with God and his family.

So, the next time your pastor, or that nursing home resident gets your hackles up, think of Alese, and Paul’s joy.  The sermon is meant to bring all of it.

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

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©    

 

The Sign of Jonah

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.”  But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.  “The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah.  Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.  The queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon.  Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen.         Matthew 12:38-42

To understand the sign of Jonah (a metaphor comparing the resurrection of Jesus with Jonah’s three-day ride inside God’s fish-taxi) we must understand to whom Jesus was talking.  Matthew tells us the group that came seeking a sign were teachers of the law and Pharisees; these were the religious professionals (clergy) of Israel.  The teachers of the law (rabbis) did just that, taught each jot and tittle of Scripture’s laws.  Their entire focus was zoomed-in on legal correctness, making certain no law was forgotten.  The Pharisees were more interested in living-out [applying] the law daily.  They took what the rabbis taught and tried to walk the tightrope of never crossing the line of transgression.  This group was made up of teachers of the law and keepers of the law.  Their tribe is legion to this day.

I recently had a conversation with a young man who had been raised in church but hadn’t been for some time.  It was a conversation that lasted awhile, and eventually turned to faith.  He explained that his main life’s goal was to treat other people like he wanted to be treated.  It was a golden rule approach of which the Pharisees would be proud.

This group of teachers and keepers of the law were also inspectors of anyone who infringed on their domain.  They came to Jesus looking for proof; they wanted a look at Christ’s credentials.  And so, Jesus held up Jonah and the queen of Sheba.  One was a Jewish prophet who had trouble obeying God’s command, but eventually had to repent and obey; the other was a non-Jew, and a woman, hardly representative of authority to rabbis and Pharisees, but displaying the utmost of wisdom when she came to sit at the feet of Solomon.

By holding up Jonah and Ethiopia’s queen as righteousness, juxtaposed to the rabbis and Pharisees who prided themselves on self-righteousness, Jesus turned everything upside-down.  And, the teaching for us is that the humility of repentance trumps the pride of righteousness every time.

Veiled [thinly] in Jesus’ teaching is the sign; the Lord is telling the teachers and Pharisees to watch for the humility of the grave to be overthrown with the power of God on the third day.  He was saying to them, you’re like little children if you don’t understand…you think you’ll be done with me if you put me in a grave…but you can’t keep God in a grave!

Here’s the apostle Paul’s commentary on the rabbis and Pharisees:

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction!  But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.  As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”                                             1 Corinthians 1:18-19

For You Today

If you’re like my young friend, trying to keep the Golden Rule, but forgetting the humility of worshipping the God of that Golden Rule, you’re missing true wisdom and the power of God.  Start looking at the third day’s empty tomb.

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

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com      Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on 1 Corinthians 15 see Signs

Preaching to the Hard-Hearted and Stubborn

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Thursday, May 16, 2019

Son of man, listen to what I say to you.  Do not join them in their rebellion. Open your mouth, and eat what I give you.”  Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me. It held a scroll, which he unrolled.  And I saw that both sides were covered with funeral songs, words of sorrow, and pronouncements of doom.  The voice said to me, “Son of man, eat what I am giving you—eat this scroll!  Then go and give its message to the people of Israel.”  So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll.  “Fill your stomach with this,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.  Then he said, “Son of man, go to the people of Israel and give them my messages.  I am not sending you to a foreign people whose language you cannot understand.  No, I am not sending you to people with strange and difficult speech.  If I did, they would listen!  But the people of Israel won’t listen to you any more than they listen to me!  For the whole lot of them are hard-hearted and stubborn.  But look, I have made you as obstinate and hard-hearted as they are.  I have made your forehead as hard as the hardest rock!  So don’t be afraid of them or fear their angry looks, even though they are rebels.”  Then he added, “Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first.  Listen to them carefully for yourself.  Then go to your people in exile and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’  Do this whether they listen to you or not.”  Ezekiel 2:8-11

One of the biggest mistakes a preacher of the Gospel can make is thinking that a call to preach somehow places one above the path of the message, rather than a target of the message…just like everyone else.

There is a temptation for a pastor or evangelist to seize on a juicy passage that promises heart-stopping retribution to hard-hearted and stubborn people and prepare to blister the paint on the sanctuary walls with a sermon that will be remembered for decades.  But, if the preacher is honest, that passage will break his own heart before the choir sings the opening song.  

It’s the reality of that old proverb:  when I point a finger at you, I’ve got three pointing back at me!

When Jesus went to his hometown he knew the local wags were going to pull out that proverb about getting your own house in order before you tell me how to clean mine, so He trotted it out first.

Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’  Luke 4:23

It’s easy to look at our world and imagine all the fault for the violence, dishonesty, backstabbing and greed is somehow out there…the result of those people, the ones who are not like us.  Well, as God told Ezekiel, the preacher, let that juicy message to hard-hearted and stubborn people hit your own heart of stone before you break the news to those people.

There are some pretty tough messages that come to us from God’s Word.  The next time your preacher gives one, do the right thing and cut him a little slack.  Like Ezekiel, who’s just had God tell him he’s as hard-hearted and stubborn as the people to whom he preaches…your preacher’s dealing with enough!

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

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[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com  
             Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

Four Confession Booths; No Waiting!

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Friday, October 13, 2017

Praise the Lord!  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!  His faithful love endures forever.  Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord?  Who can ever praise him enough?  There is joy for those who deal justly with others and always do what is right.  Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people; come near and rescue me.  Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones.  Let me rejoice in the joy of your people; let me praise you with those who are your heritage.  Like our ancestors, we have sinned.  We have done wrong!  We have acted wickedly! 

Psalm 106:1-6^(NLT)

Scripture records how, in the Garden of Eden God held Adam and Eve accountable for their actions of disobedience.  In the entirety of the rest of Scripture there is an unmistakable pattern of:

·       God’s ways being clearly laid-out,

·       followed by humankind’s disobedience and rebellion,

·       and that followed by God’s invitation to return to fellowship. 

The Psalmist’s pattern is no different. 

When we read Psalm 106 we can stop short with praise the Lord and thanking Him for his good and faithful love.  We can be mesmerized by his glorious miracles.  We can (and do) spend much time in asking to be remembered in his favor and rescue (including tons of prayers for Aunt Susie’s toenail infection, heart procedures and gastric problem relief).  We pray heartily for participating in the prosperity of the chosen ones.  We want to take part in the joy of [God’s] people.  We want all of that!

But too often we forget the final verse of that praiseworthy litany:

Like our ancestors, we have sinned.  We have done wrong!  We have acted wickedly!  Psalm 106:1-6^(NLT)

I was having a discussion with other pastors on a Facebook page this week about the Matthew 22 passage where Jesus is teaching about the kingdom gathering for the celebration of the Bride (church) being married to the Bridegroom (Jesus, the Son).  One man shows up without a robe, and is kicked out of the party.  The discussion centered around why the man wasn’t accepted; obvious (and orthodox) theology tells us it was because the robe is required.  That robe represents righteousness, and it is only available through faith in Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection.  The man without the robe sauntered into the banquet hall in his own costume (self-righteousness), and God, the Father of Christ the Bridegroom, had the arrogant one ejected. 

This is a picturesque and common teaching method to get across the point – we aren’t connected to God or His salvation in any other way than the way God has proscribed.  We come to Him on HIS terms, not ours.

And that way is still the cross, by way of humble confession of our sins

For You Today

The title of this devotion is somewhat misleading, or under-stated; there are more than four confession booths…there’s one for each human who has ever lived.  Yours is in the same place mine can be found…in our hearts and minds.  When you confess Christ as Lord and Savior, he dresses you in a robe fit for the wedding feast of the ages!

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

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of:  Pixabay.com

New Branches; Old Trees

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Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Notice how God is both kind and severe.  He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness.  But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off.  And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree.  You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree.  So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong.  

Romans 11:22-24^(NLT)

The metaphor of garden goes back to the creation.  Adam and Eve were placed in Eden and instructed to be fruitful.  The whole point of being part of God’s creation is to be productive as God himself watches over everything He created:

The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.  

Genesis 2:15^(NLT)

Paul called himself the Apostle to the Gentiles.  An “apostle” is literally a messenger, one who speaks for God.  In writing to the believers at Rome he took care to explain that they needed to keep a watch on their attitude.  The apostle pointed to God’s chosen nation, Israel, and how their disobedience and arrogance caused them to be outside of God’s will.  The Gentiles were considered a new branch grafted into the old tree.  This was a warning that just as an old olive tree in a grove can become unproductive, and is removed by the gardener, in the same way a disobedient and unproductive new branch of people can be removed from God’s vineyard.   

The New Testament church is coming up on its 2,000^th birthday.  That is about the same age Israel boasted during the time Paul lived and warned the Gentiles about becoming stodgy and full of themselves with pride.  That makes this warning is as poignant today as it was then!  The whole issue is of trust.  Paul’s warning was about how God will cut off those who stop trusting Him, but be very kind to all who trust Him fully.  So, it’s never a matter of past tense (what you have done for God); it’s a matter of present tense – whether you are trusting Him or not.

One of my acts of 4 year-old childish disobedience was the zipper on my jacket.  I could never get that thing right.  It frustrated me to no end!  Mom knew it and would get the zipper untangled and start it over again.  As soon as I saw her get it right I would reach out and grab the zipper to finish the job.  Now, a child needs to learn to operate zippers and other everyday functions in life…but with respect due his teacher.  In the same way a Christian must understand that whatever we accomplish is really not because of our power; it is Christ in us.  We are like gloves, totally useless unless the hand is placed inside, moving the fingers to the will of the body.  The gloved hand, having grasped, lifted, and placed an object in the right place, that glove can no sooner take credit for the accomplishment than a wolf baying at the moon can claim he caused the sun to rise.

But we are like that as soon as we begin to think we can get along without abject, worshipful humility before God.  And it shows in places like Charlottesville when, instead of unity in the Spirit there is hatred in the heart; that is the inevitable result when people become bored with being servants of God and begin to imagine themselves being god. 

The branch imagines itself the Gardener.

For You Today

Let’s hear the last word today from Paul:

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.  Romans 12:3^(NLT)

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

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy Pixabay.com

Righteous or Boastful?

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Monday, August 7, 2017

O Lord, hear my plea for justice.  Listen to my cry for help.  Pay attention to my prayer, for it comes from honest lips.  Declare me innocent, for you see those who do right.  You have tested my thoughts and examined my heart in the night.  You have scrutinized me and found nothing wrong.  I am determined not to sin in what I say.  I have followed your commands, which keep me from following cruel and evil people.  My steps have stayed on your path; I have not wavered from following you.

Because I am righteous, I will see you.  When I awake, I will see you face to face and be satisfied.  Psalm 17:1-5, 15^(NLT)

King David – did he have too high an opinion of himself, or was he just being forgetful?  This prayer for God’s help almost begs the question whether David was ordering God around.  In the space of a few sentences David calls himself honest, innocent, obedient, and righteous, as opposed to being like the cruel and evil people who oppress others. 

It is difficult to separate this attitude from that of the New Testament image Jesus paints of a Pharisee going to pray in the Temple.  A despised tax collector stood nearby:

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer:  ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers.  I’m certainly not like that tax collector!  I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’  Luke 18:11-12^(NLT)

If this Psalm was written while David was being hounded by King Saul, who has gone off the deep end in paranoiac fear that David wants his throne, we can almost forgive David’s wailing; he was trying to serve the king…and his thanks is a death sentence?

David is somewhat naïve at best, and short-sighted about his own (or any human’s) character; who – as Jesus asked – is without sin?

But lurking in the background of the Psalmist’s prayer is an unseen New Testament hope of resurrection.  Notice once again the last phrase:

Because I am righteous, I will see you.  When I awake, I will see you face to face and be satisfied.  Psalm 17:1-5, 15^(NLT)

In the post-crucifixion/resurrection sense, righteousness is imputed, or given by God to those who trust in Christ’s righteousness; it is not an earned or deserved achievement.  No human being can pile up enough goodness to be righteous in God’s eyes. 

Yet David claims righteousness…and eagerly looks forward to seeing God face to face.  In this sense, David was way ahead of his time in theological understanding!  What he was claiming was not self-righteousness, but the promise of God to cleanse him from the penalties of all his unrighteousness.

And that makes all the difference!

For You Today

The difference between those sinners who are forgiven, and those who have never trusted Christ for forgiveness and salvation, is that forward-look, that eagerness to see God face to face. 

The forgiven are fearless; the unforgiven, not so much!       

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

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NOTES

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[i] Title Image: By Jastrow (Own work (own picture)) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Falling From Grace - Part 1

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Thursday, June 29, 2017

Listen! I, Paul, tell you this:  If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you.  I’ll say it again.  If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses.  For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ!  You have fallen away from God’s grace.  But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us.  For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised.  What is important is faith expressing itself in love.  Galatians 5:2-6^(NLT)

The Christ-followers of Galatia had made an error that traps so many believers; they started their journey with Jesus by grace, in faith, trusting God for their forgiveness.  However, somewhere along the way they slipped into taking credit for their own salvation.  They began to believe that, by being good, they were keeping themselves saved.  Paul said it very clearly…they were thinking that all their good deeds, and their kind, unselfish, even Godly sacrifices were good enough to replace grace; they had actually moved away from trusting God by faith and fallen away from God’s grace!

The Galatian believers had crossed a vital line of understanding that God’s grace stands alone; when God forgives, He does not need any help!

Now that being said, our good deeds, clean living, and kind interaction with others is not valueless; in fact, just the opposite is true.  God actually demands that we work on that holy lifestyle.  We just cannot forget our self-righteousness cannot replace God’s grace.

By the way, this has nothing to do with eternal security – you know – that argument about whether you can lose your salvation or not.  Rather, this is a reminder that coming to faith in Jesus Christ is a matter of accepting God’s forgiveness, not earning it! 

And the offer is eternal; grace has no expiration date.  When we begin the life in Christ by faith, it is just that – a beginning.  From there we continue in faith, growing into the likeness of Jesus.  To somehow change the equation that, although we were saved by the blood of Christ, the gift of God’s grace…but now we are enlightened, and sin is merely our history, and we are good enough to somehow be above grace – this is the opposite of a disciple’s heart, and more like what Satan thinks.

For You Today

Grace is the dividing line between Heaven and Hell.  Drawing that line is way above my pay grade.  Let’s let today be governed by grace…believe, receive and walk in it again:

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!

Yonder on Calvary’s mount out-poured, there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin![ii]

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

NOTES

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[i] Title Image: Pixabay.com

[ii] Grace Greater than Our Sin, Words Julia H. Johnston, Music Daniel B. Towner