Ultimate Reality

Years ago, I was in complete rebellion towards God. I spent several years in college consumed with parties, drugs and alcohol. At first these experiences were surreal and it felt as though I had escaped into another reality altogether. After a while it moved from what felt like a movie experience to a sort of super-reality. I felt as though I had been given a different perspective on life from the old one. Everything I saw was washed in newness as though I was a child again, seeing the world through fresh eyes where every experience was different and exciting.

For a time this continued and I even began to feel as though I had been shown some perspective on reality that was better than what I could normally see sober. I rationalized that being high was a way of stripping away the guise and seeing the world for what it truly was. I believed that I had been enlightened to the truth of the universe like never before.

Unfortunately this perspective became ordinary, and cold. What was once new and exciting had become little more than a shift in my vantage point on life. I was not witnessing some new reality through a heightened awareness, but the same old thing, only from a slightly different angle. As time wore on the similarities between the two perspectives became much more apparent. My new beautiful landscape had become dingy and grey, and for the first time it felt as though reality was staring back at me reflecting the real truth of what I had become.

In a twist of irony, just when I thought I had discovered some hidden truth in the world around me, reality dealt me a crushing defeat. Nothing was magical, nothing was different, nothing about the world had changed, and I was left with the sobering reality that there was no substance, no party, and no frivolous relationship that could change the world around me.

Enter Christ...

Through the glorious victory over sin in Christ Jesus, I now realize that ultimate reality is in knowing Christ, and serving Him. Jesus has shown me that there is a reality beyond that which I can see with my eyes, and feel with my hands. He has shown me that truth resides in the knowledge of a Holy God who became flesh that we might have triumph over the worldly lusts of the flesh. He is truth and His word is the only reality that matters. Christ is our rock of existence, and in the end all that will ever matter to us is our relationship with Him.

Through salvation in Christ Jesus we do not simply have some new perspective on reality, but reality itself, viewed from all angles simultaneously, beyond personal experience, across space and time to the heart of God in all His Glory forever. Amen.

God's Grace > Your Sin

In James we have a wonderful promise of wisdom from God if we simply ask for it.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (Jam. 1:5)

The Bible is full of God's promises. There are promises of wrath against unbelieving disobedience (Deut. 11:16-17), and there are promises of great blessing for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:28). The amazing thing about the latter group of promises is that they are not based on personal merit or works (Eph. 2:8-9). Unfortunately it is easy to forget this. James goes on to define what a true request is in the verses following.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. (Jam. 1:6-8)

I used to think that these verses referred to someone who was so self absorbed that they only wanted wisdom from God in order to help them get ahead in life. It is true that these verses encompass that type of person; one who is vain and cares more about what God can give them, then what they can do to glorify God. However, there is another type of person here who is equally as self absorbed. I refer to the person who asks without believing that God can fulfil His promise because of their sin. I refer to what I have only just now realized that I have become.

It can be a great temptation of ours to focus on our own sin and wretchedness, and assume that God's grace is not sufficient to cover our transgressions. It is true that our sin is great, but it is also irrelevant. It is true that we are undeserving of God's grace and mercy, but equally as irrelevant. This is a sin of self-righteousness under the guise of humility.

My sin cannot, and will not ever outweigh the infinite Grace that was poured out on Calvary the day that Jesus was crucified. If I have truly been born again, then the price for the promises of God have already been paid for and I have but to ask faithfully to recieve them (John 16:24). Even times of chastisement from God for disobedience are a promise of blessing to Christians (Heb. 12:3-17).

Father God, grant us the wisdom to see you as we should see you. Do not allow us to regard our own hand mightier than yours, or our sin greater than your Grace. Create in us a single mind in our walk with you, focusing on the greatest promise of all that was secured for us by your son Jesus Christ.

Samson

Sunday I'm preaching a sermon on Samson and as of now I am not anywhere close to being prepared. In fact, I've spent all day just trying to get started, which I haven't really succeeded as of now. But I thought it might be helpful for me to write some of my thoughts down as I work through them. So forgive me if this post is a bit scattered and poorly written - it may not make sense or it may just be obvious observations.

I plan on touching on the entire story of Samson's life, but specifically dealing with the most famous section of Samson and Delilah. The first thing to strike me about Samson is just how unheroic he really was. Samson was tremendously violent and vengeful man. He was more or less a sexaholic (why do we tell this story to children?) who especially had a thing for Philistine women (i.e. "non-Christians). He was proud, he completely abandoned God and God's laws. He was shallow in his relationships, and he falsely believed himself to be indestructible. I guess I would put it this way: Samson was trying to be his own savior. This is very apparent in v. 20-22,

And [Delilah] said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison. But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

I mean, Samson had to have known his head had been shaved! Why did he tell Delilah his secret in the first place? Because he thought it wouldn't matter. Samson had already disobeyed all the other Nazarite vows. He had touched the dead carcase of a lion and a donkey's skull. Even though we're not specifically told, we can assume he drank alcohol when he got married to his pagan wife, seeing how marriage ceremonies in that culture would have been 9 parts partying and 1 part ceremony. You see, Samson didn't care if his head was shaved. He didn't think it would make any difference. He truly believed that he could take the Philistines without his hair and without God. And isn't this what sin is? Sin is being your own savior instead of looking to Jesus. It's relying in your own strength to be good and moral to save yourself. Or it's relying in your own strength of being popular and cool and accepted. It's attempting to find acceptance and comfort and happiness on our own, instead of though Christ.

And, isn't it amazing how patient and gracious God is though all of this! Samson breaks every one of God's rules except the hair cutting one, and God stays with him - blessing him through his strength. Then, even when God allows Samson to be captured by the Philistines, he quickly forgives Samson in the end of the chapter. Even God's seeming abandonment of Samson was a gracious act, causing Samson to turn to God in repentance and thus saving his soul.

So the moral of the story is don't be like Samson. Find your strength in God. But even if you mess that up, God is quick to forgive. Wait. No. We can't end it like that. How do we do all that? How do we fight sin and temptation? How do we rely on the Lord instead of our own strengths? Ed Clowney writes,

God had shown that He could deliver Israel with an army of willing volunteers; He had also shown that He could save with as few as three hundred...But when the Spirit of God came upon Samson, the Lord showed that He had no need for even three hundred. He could deliver by one. (The Unfolding Mystery, p.137)

But Samson only delivered Israel from Palestinian rule. Israel's troubles were far from over, even after this victory. But there was a greater Samson to come who like Samson dies alone to save his people.

• Samson dies with the Philistines;
  
• Jesus dies with thieves.

• Samson’s greatest victory came when he was at his weakest - eyes gouged out, a prisoner with all of his strength gone, ridiculed, and surrounded by people who hated him.
  
• And like Samson, Jesus also won through losing - won by becoming despised and rejected.
  

• Samson triumphed over his enemies through his death.
  
• Jesus defeated sin and the devil through physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual death.

• Samson was crushed by the temple because of his iniquities.
  
• Jesus was crushed by God for our iniquities.

• Samson calls out to God to remember him in his time of need and God answers to show that he is with him again.
  
• Jesus calls out on the cross and the Father ignores him, so that we might, like the thief on the cross next to him, be remembered.

The way to stop being my own savior is not trying hard - it's to look to Jesus - the real Samson - the real hero of this story.

Suffering Embraced...

This has been a strange week. Last Saturday, Patty and I discovered that we were going to receive a car from her grandparents for free. I literally wept once we found out. We have been in prayer about our car situation for some time, and God literally dropped one in our lap. I wept because we are so very undeserving of such a gesture, but God is gracious enough to overlook what we deserve in so many aspects of our lives.

The following day at church, we discovered that the preacher's wife has a brain tumor. The pastor preached a difficult sermon about facing trials. I have some idea of what the family is going through as there is terminal illness in my family as well, but I can't begin to imagine how difficult it must be when it is your wife, or mother.

On Monday, I talked to a good friend of mine on the phone who I have not spoken with in almost two months. I am horrible about returning phone calls, and my good friends and family are made to suffer because of my irresponsibility with those relationships. My friends message was sobering as he explained to me the reason for the call. He had been trying to reach me for about a month and a half to ask if I would pray for his fiance. She found out she has skin cancer, and has been receiving treatments for the last month and a half. I had failed my friend, and his wife to be, as a Christian brother.

It doesn't seem fair that God would visit such a blessing on someone so undeserving as me, and such horrible illness on these two very sweet women. A secular philosophy professor once told me that suffering detracted from a meaningful life. He also acknowledged that Christianity was very unique in the way that it viewed suffering.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations... (James 1:2)

You see, whereas most religions on earth are trying to avoid suffering at all costs, Christianity calls it's followers to embrace it.

WHY?

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (James 1:3,4)

Faith and religion tend to go hand in hand, and we sometimes use the word faith as a synonym for an individuals particular religion. In Christianity, faith is the instrument by which we are brought to the saving Grace that comes from Jesus Christ (Eph 2:8,9). But as Tyler mentioned in his previous post, while salvation from Hell may be a one time event, the act of salvation goes on in our lives in the form of sanctification. Sometimes this sanctification comes in the way of suffering.

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:7-9)

Faith continually draws us closer to Christ and away from the comforts of the world as Troy pointed out. In order for us to have that kind of reckless faith, God has to put us into situations where our comforts are stripped away. When we have only that which we cannot see to rely on (Hebrews 11:1), then we have true faith; the kind that moves mountains.

You may think it unfair that I received such a blessing from God, and those two women received such suffering, but God knows what He is doing with His children (Romans 8:28). When the suffering is through, their faith shall be multiplied, and they will have received the greater blessing.

Our Motivation: He rejoices over us with gladness

I, too, want to bounce off the previous posts since we are all writing roughly on the same subject this week. Let me refresh your mind on what the others spoke about:

Troy spoke of the Christian's duty to be transparent within the body of Christ, for the purpose of Christians interceding for one another in prayer. After all, how can we really pray for our friends if we only know about their physical or economic problems? Or better yet, how can our friends - our brothers in Christ - pray for us if they don't know the deep spiritual struggles we wrestle with personally.

Josh continued this theme of "iron sharpening iron" by pointing out that Christian fellowship is rooted in honoring and loving God. If we love God, we will love one another. Josh points out that this isn't some kind of sissy homo-erotic kind of love between two men. It is a serious love - a deep love that confronts and corrects. It is a love that does not fear rejections, but that is concerned about the other's soul - an unselfish love.

Then Scalise nicely ties these two together, saying while it is true that we can never rightly love one another until we love God, we can never love God without the help, encouragement, and accountability of loving friends.

My question is how do we do it? I am Christian man who is currently in seminary, and there are sins and struggles that I have that I, quite frankly, don't want anyone else to know about. How do I over come those fears? How do I get to the point that I want my Christian friends to share my burdens? And in the same way I ask, how do I get to the point that I am willing to confront my friends over their sins? To be perfectly honest, I would much rather not risk my friends being upset with. I would much rather let them deal with their sin and me deal with mine. How, then, do I come to the place that not only am I willing to open up to others, but I am willing to confront others even in fear their disapproval? In other words, how do I love God wholeheartedly? How do I love Him so much that I have no fears of opening up and or being rejected?

We can't. Not without Jesus. You see, I will never have the desire to become transparent - to take off all the different masks I wear which hide the real me - to strip down to the bare naked Drew whose sins are hanging out unless I know that Jesus literally became naked - stripped down bare and hung on a cross for all the world to see - for my sins, so that I could be clothed in the righteousness of God. He became the one who was covered in blood and was naked, and no one pitied. He was the one who was cast into an open field and adored (see Ez. 16:1-5). And He did this for me and for you. He did this so that we could be beautiful in His eyes. He describes it like this,

"I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine. Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God" (Ez. 16:8b-14).

When we know that God looks at us and sees absolute beauty, then, and only then, are we going to have the courage to be transparent. In Zephaniah it says that God, "will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing" (3:17). Do you believe that? Can you even fathom that when God looks at you he so much likes what he sees (because of Christ) that he dances, and he sings with gladness!? To the extent that we see this, and understand this, and believe this, is the extent that we will be willing to become transparent and share our burdens with our fellow Christians.

And in the same way, I am not going to have the courage to confront my brothers and sisters in Christ unless I know that no matter how mad they may get at me, Jesus looks over me and rejoices at what he sees! To have the courage to confront a friend in his sin is the greatest act of humility. It is not me thinking about myself - worried about what my friend will say, or the sins he will find in me - it is be thinking entirely of him and being interested in his life and being concerned about his spiritual wellbeing. The only way we can possess such humility is if we first have our hearts changed by Jesus' ultimate humility: a humility that left the glory of heaven; a humility that lived the life we should have lived and died the death we deserved to die; a humility that left him naked and cursed; a humility that took on our sins and went through the torments of hell; a humility that now shares the glory of the only begotten Son with unworthy servants - with us. May we look to Christ, for it is only when we believe his Gospel with all our being that we can become true friends to one another, true iron that sharpens, does not dull.

The Second Greatest Commandment

Matthew 22:35-40

35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Jesus seemed to invoke trouble no matter where he went during his ministry. Every time Jesus opened his mouth to speak, the "religious leaders" of the times, the pharisees, were trying to find something they could use against him.

The previous passage is no exception, as the pharisees were attempting to corner Jesus and make him say something incriminating. As it turns out, this is remarkably difficult to do when the questioned is omniscient. Jesus lays out two Old Testament passages that beautifully highlight the purpose of the Christian in as few words as possible.

1. Love God wholeheartedly
2. Love others as yourself

Who could possibly argue with that? Even today, those who would find fault with those two teachings are few and far between. With all this talk of love the pharisees must have been feeling pretty good right? You might even think Jesus went over and gave them a big hug and invited them all over for an evening of pleasant, loving conversation with the disciples that night. However, you would be wrong. Jesus goes on to tear them a new one in (Matthew 23). Seriously, I think this is the worst tongue lashing in New Testament.

I say all this to bring about a twofold point in why this Blog exists. First and foremost if we love God then we are going to do what he says.

23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

We cannot say we truly love God unless we obey His Word. Accountability starts at the great commandment to love God with every fiber in your being, every step, every breath, every thought should be to glorify Him. If we do this, then the second greatest commandment just falls into place naturally.

So how does love for fellow man, love for God, and the severe tongue lashing all go together? Christian accountability is about love, and love is messy, not warm and fuzzy. Don't get me wrong love is awesome, and can be warm and fuzzy at times, but for the most part it is down right messy. Christians ought to love each other enough to be willing to get their hands dirty. We need to be willing to help our brothers when they are down yes, but we also need to have the courage to correct, and be corrected in love when necessary. Jesus may look like he is just attacking the pharisees, but he is really giving them a chance to repent. Had they done so, he would have embraced them with compassion.

This kind of accountability makes us uncomfortable, and that is why it is the second greatest commandment. It takes a divine kind of love to pull this off without becoming like one of the pharisees. Jesus' love was never pretentious because he understood the nature of what was at stake (Matthew 16:24-28). We cannot afford to be pretentious or superficial in our relationships toward each other because eternity hangs in the balance. If we do not commit ourselves first to the Lord Jesus Christ wholeheartedly, we can never have the kind of honest fellowship with each other we were meant to have.