Snow and Forgivensss

Yesterday's snowfall was unexpected and lovely, blanketing the area in a sheet of white. Snow is

How to Get Empty, or Full

This weekend I preached from Mark 16:1-8, about the empty tomb, and the state of mind of the first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, women who were so "shocked ...trembling ...bewildered...frightened" that they couldn't tell anyone, at first, what they had seen.  I compared that to how unstoppable all the disciples of Jesus were, after they had seen the risen Lord and were absolutely sure of his resurrection and filled with the Holy Spirit.  The early church was unstoppable because the people were full of their Savior, and empty of anything else.  Then I challenged everyone to ask God to help them surrender whatever was making them feel empty, or not letting them be emptied of their burdens.  But how do you surrender all that?  Here are a few tools.

1.  Confess it to someone else and ask him or her to pray with you.  James 5:16 tells us "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."  Sin and doubt only have power over you if you keep them secret.  When a loving brother or sister in Christ is praying with you, and encouraging you in times of weakness, the power of the old habit will be broken.  (Simply asking someone to "pray for me" isn't going to get very far, though, because that's still not admitting that you're not perfect, is it?  You'll probably have to get pretty specific.) 

2.  Ask God for clarity on why this doubt, sin, worry, unforgiveness -- or whatever -- has persisted.  (Your prayer partner may be of help here.)  Sometimes we find a false validation of our existence by holding on to anger at someone who has hurt us in the past.  Sometimes we don't want to let go of control because we don't see how much God has provided for us, so we don't trust him to continue to work out the problems in our lives (you know, those problems you can't resolve anyway...).  Clarity helps us let go.   

3.  Forgive other people, and yourself.  Sometimes I "kick myself around the block" because of something I said or did forty years ago -- and God forgave it, in Christ, long ago!  I can't go back and make it right, and I now have a loving relationship with the other person, so what's the point?  And God has forgiven the other person, so as Paul writes, "Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others" (Col. 3:13). Forgiving is a daily, sometimes a moment-by-moment choice, to release the other person to God, who alone can heal and help them; and it frees us to live in God's love. 

4.  Accept God's forgiveness and peace.  This is a form of surrender too.  It includes all the above, plus a deliberate decision to believe that what God has said and done for us is absolutely true, which means all our ideas to the contrary are false.  It can help to keep a list of scriptures that remind you who you truly are in Christ, such as John 1:12, 2 Cor 5:17-19, Eph. 2:10, Eph. 4:24, Col. 1:22, Col. 3:3, 1 Thess. 1:4, 1 Pet. 2:9-10, 1 John 5:18 etc. 

If you're struggling with doubt, fear or any other sin, try using these tools -- with all your might -- for 30 days and see what difference God's power makes.   And let me know how it goes.  I'll be praying for you!

Pictures from the Old Testament: the Levitical System

Most nations around ancient Israel believed that they were ruled by unseen beings in the sky who controlled the weather, the fertility of people, animals and crops (and thus their lives, in an agricultural setting) and many other things.  The nations believed they had to appease those beings by any number of methods including sacrificing animals -- and sometimes humans, sometimes even their own children!  (See for instance 2 Kings 17:31.)  The problem was, one could never be certain of success; the weather might still be against you, your crops might still fail, etc.  You always had a little cloud of doubt hanging over your head.

The system God gave Israel was similar in many respects, at least to the casual observer. They had holy places, priests, altars, sacrifices of animals and grains, and even boxes that represented the presence of their god (that's why the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant in 1 Samuel 4).  But there were differences, and those differences assured the people of the forgiveness and faithfulness of Yahweh.  In addition, the whole Levitical system (the priests were all from the tribe of Levi) points directly to Jesus, our Savior. 

Here are just a few points, to illustrate:

• The 'sin offerings' described in Leviticus 4 and 5 are described as being effective:  "they will be forgiven" is used in 4:20, 4:26, 4:31, 4:35, and 5:10, 5:13, 5:16, 5:18, and in other places. 
• The offering had to be a 'male with no defects' (Lev. 1:3)
• The priest wears, on his turban, a seal engraved with the words "Holy to the LORD" which is taken to mean that he "may take on himself any guilt of the people of Israel when they consecrate their sacred offerings. He must always wear it on his forehead so the Lord will accept the people." (Ex. 28:36-68).
• The priest wears stones such as onyx and emerald, engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel: “In this way, Aaron will carry the names of the tribes of Israel on the sacred chestpiece over his heart when he goes into the Holy Place. This will be a continual reminder that he represents the people when he comes before the Lord." (Ex. 28:29) 

Jesus himself fulfilled all those things: 

• He is our high priest (Heb 9:11) the one bringing the offering, and he was also the offering itself.
• He had no sin of his own but carried our guilt (Heb. 9:14)
• He represented all the people, as did the high priest in Israel; and through his sacrifice on the cross, all sin is taken away for all people, forever (Heb. 9:24-28). 
• That offering is effective, not because of the blood of animals, but the blood of Jesus himself (Heb 10:4-10).

This is one more of those reasons why we say that we read the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, through the lens of Jesus Christ.  The sacrificial system of the Israelite nation did nothing to change peoples' hearts (Heb. 10:1-4) but only looked forward to the One who was to come.  Now, we live under the terms of the New Covenant, not the old one (Heb. 10:9) and are completely forgiven, even to the point of having a clean conscience.  That's what Jesus has given, not only to us, but every human who has ever lived! 

Having it All

Our tortoise-shell cat, Susie, has a food problem.  Everything in her life is about food, or so it seems.  She runs into the kitchen every time we get a glass of water, and begs for food.  You can tell she's begging because she's yowling at us and trying to get up on the counter to see if there's something there for her.  The Lovely Joanne says we should send Susie as a contestant on that new food show, "America's Gut Talent". 

Jesus has better ideas for us as his brothers and sisters than to be ruled by our physical desires.  In Matthew 5, he starts to reveal to us the true heart of God. He tells us not just to avoid murder, divorce and adultery, and not to exact revenge -- even if it's legally available to us -- but to think as the Father thinks, sending out love, grace and forgiveness.  Those are not human motivations.  Our natural drive is self-protection, self-determination, and making sure we'll have enough, even if someone else doesn't.  But Jesus continues, in chapter 6, telling us not to pretend to be righteous in front of others as a way of getting ahead (in our giving, verses 1-4, prayer, verses 5-15, and fasting, verses 16-18).  And he wraps up his teaching of all these different ideas in verses 19-34 by reminding us that our true security comes from God:  "Store your treasures in heaven...You cannot serve both God and money...That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear...These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs."  The only way we can 'have it all' is by trusting in that security!

We can't follow that teaching by simply trying to or determining to; it comes from God within us, from Jesus living in us and we in him (John 15:4, 17:21-23) through the Person of the Holy Spirit in us (John 14:16-18).  Our new life in Christ, as we have been renewed by the Holy Spirit, brings us to understand and follow Jesus' mind in us, which is a mind of giving, not of self-protection, anger and revenge (as he taught in Matthew 5 and 6). 

So if we find ourselves filled with selfish motivations, anger at others, and thoughts of getting ahead or getting even, we can be sure we are off-track, not paying attention to the mind of Jesus in us.  When we awake and realize we've been running in that selfish human way again, we have to sacrifice our own self-will and surrender again to the Holy Spirit's work in us, letting the peace of God rule in our thoughts and emotions (Romans 15:13, Phil. 4:6-8).  Susie the Cat doesn't have any hope of changing her ideas -- but we can live new lives, 'having it all' in the security of our place in Christ and the love of the Father through the Spirit. 

Atonement, Forgiveness and Rest

The book of Leviticus is one that most people avoid reading. It's seen as either boring, confusing, or way too gory -- all those sacrifices and the details of incense and which day of what month meant something.

But chapter 16 is interesting. The priest is told to go through an elaborate cleansing and sacrificial ritual before he can enter the holy place. A bull is slaughtered, and then a goat. Another goat is held while the sins of all the people are 'confessed' over it, then it is sent far away into the wilderness, never to return to the camp. At the end of the chapter, we're told that this is to make atonement (the Hebrew refers to 'covering') for the sins of all the people, once a year.

Lots of very cool parallels to our Savior, and to our salvation here. The high priest had to offer sacrifices for his own sins, so he would be seen as sinless before he could offer a sacrifice for the people. That's a picture, in advance, of Jesus being a sinless 'high priest' for us (see Hebrews 9 and Hebrews 10 for a detailed interpretation). Then the 'azazel' goat -- the 'goat of removal' is a good way of translating it -- carries the sins of the people away. In two different ways, sins are wiped out forever; once by blood sacrifice, again by removing them from the area. Those things are gone, forever, with no chance of return (see Psa. 103:12, "as far as the east is from the west"). Both operations are done by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

One more point is interesting: the people are told to fast from food and water for that day, and commanded not to work. And this one isn't a 'pilgrimage festival' -- the nation stayed at home for the day, not assembling at the central worship place.

What were the meanings of these things? Fasting is a symbol of repentance, which is turning to God and accepting his forgiveness through Jesus. What about not working, and not traveling? Simple: Jesus has done the work. We can add nothing to Jesus' work for our salvation, any more than the people could add to the work of the high priest in Israel.

In fact, we can do nothing to create, earn or qualify for our salvation. That has been a fact since the foundation of the world. Accepting salvation from God by faith isn't a work either; it's faith alone (Eph. 2:8). Salvation is from Jesus, not from our work, our rituals, our energy and enthusiasm, or our obedience. Jesus plus anything is the wrong formula for salvation. "Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone" was the cry of the Reformers 500 years ago. They were right -- and Leviticus 16 shows it.

Your sins are gone, never to return. You don't have to carry that guilt around any longer. Great news, isn't it?

Weeds

I just pulled a few weeds from the cracks in the driveway. That reminded me of the sins -- ideas, habits and reactions -- that creep into our lives when we're not looking.

Yes, our sins are forgiven by Jesus' sacrifice, and we are brought into the loving communion of the Trinity through his work (not ours!). But that's never an excuse to allow sin to come back into our lives and injure us -- and others. It's important for us to keep our eyes open to those things that threaten our relationship with God and with each other.

Hebrews 12:1 says (right after the list of the people of faith in chapter 11) "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." The Greek adjective translated 'trips us up' means anything that would slow us down and take our energy. The metaphor here for Christian life is an endurance race, not a sprint; so it's important not to let sin creep in and take away even a little energy, as that will have serious consequences over 'the long run.'

Later on in Hebrews 12, verse 15 says "Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many." Now, that's interesting: the writer tells us two things -- to not let bitterness come in and poison the relationships between us; also the command to "look after each other." I think one of the most serious 'weeds' that gets into our lives is offense and unforgiveness -- bitterness -- between us.

If we're considering where to find sin our lives -- and we should -- then looking carefully for conflict, or the leftovers of conflict like resentment against someone else, is vital. Too often (really, once is too often) Christians simply withdraw from each other, cutting off contact and communication, rather than working things out. That weed always grows, never dying by itself, and it spreads seeds that also grow, "corrupting many." We have to go after that sin and pull it out by the roots before it affects our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Like weeds, sin is serious stuff. We need to surrender it to God and ask him for the help we need to get rid of it. How about searching your life this week for those 'weeds' that hurt you and those close to you? And how about forgiving -- really, deeply letting go -- of someone else's sin against you?

Mortgage Life Insurance

Well, it's the first of the month again, and time to pay the mortgage. The loan is a lot of money -- there's a comma in the middle, and the rest of the numbers are a little frightening sometimes. And it's hanging over my head for the next 30 years! Sometimes people buy 'mortgage life insurance' so that if they die, the loan is paid off and their surviving family have a place to stay without paying for it.

In 30 years, I'll be (well, never mind how old) but I hope I'm still enjoying living here. In 30 years, some of us will finally be grown up, and some of us won't be here any more. But did you know that Jesus promises us a place to live, forever, with no mortgage payment?

In John 14, Jesus was telling his disciples that he was going to leave them, but 'prepare a place' for them -- and for us, of course, as the disciples of this day. What kind of place was it he planned to prepare? We don't know exactly, but look at what he says next: 'When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.' Wherever and whatever that is, it sounds like a lot of security to me.

One more thing: there's no mortgage. No monthly payments.

See, Jesus had what we might call, in this context, "mortgage life insurance" with you and me as the beneficiaries. In John 19:30, as he was ready to die on the Cross, he said "It is finished." That was a sound of triumph as well as relief; the job was done. But you may also know that the Greek word translated "it is finished" is 'tetelestai' which also has a technical meaning: it was often written at the bottom of loan documents to show the loan had been paid. Your sins, and every other thing against you and God have been taken care of, completely.

Yup, that's the deal. He paid off the loan with his death. He made sure that we don't have to make even the first payment on the new place. It's all done! He invites us to move, rent-free, now and forever, into his Father's house, where there's lots of room, endless love and more enjoyment than we can imagine.

If you haven't yet decided that this is the life for you, now's the time. (Shoot, when will there be a better time?) All you have to do is stop running away, face God through his Son, and start walking forward again. He'll show you the Way (John 14:6) and help you move, step by step. Ready? On three: One, two, ...

Payments

The bills come in the mail every month, asking to be paid on time. (Somebody who used to have my telephone number owes somebody something -- the collections companies keep calling me, looking for him. Sorry, wrong number!)

But there's one debt you'll never have to worry about. It's been paid in full, before you were ever born. In fact, it was paid in full before the stars began burning or this Earth was set spinning in the blackness of space.

That's the debt of your sins. It's already been paid. Before you were born, before the universe was created out of exactly nothing, God had a plan in place to unite the whole universe to himself by one selfless act. The eternal Son of God was made flesh, and in his flesh reconciled all of us -- united the physical creation with its Maker, through and including the resolution of all sin for all time. See Revelation 13:8, John 10:11, John 12:32, Eph 1:3-8, and many other scriptures.

One more: John 19:30 says: 'After Jesus drank the wine, he said, "Everything is done!" He bowed his head and died.' The Greek word for "everything is done" is 'tetelestai' which is a term found on business documents of that time period, to note that a debt was paid or a transaction completed.

It's all done. You can't do anything to pay for your sins or to present yourself clean before God, because he arranged it all, even before you had sinned once. Your repentence doesn't change the truth -- it simply means you've turned around and recognized what is already true. So when the Accuser calls you to hound you about your guilt, you can just hang up. It's already been handled!