Liturgy

And He said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.  But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarepath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.  And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”  (Luke 4:24-27)

 

When we contend for the miracle working power of God, we look like fools in the world.  For some answers to prayer, where we would look on the results as an obvious indication of God’s power, the world looks on with rationalizations of one sort or another.  For them it’s not that your God, the only God, answered and intervened and provided the result; for them it’s more that you tapped into a higher power, or you were able to actualize a kind of faith–a faith or belief that is like a force and indistinct to an actual Person of God, or you were able to exercise some kind of science or mystical principle heretofore unknown, or any host of bizarrely inept excuses to say that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had anything personal to do with your “miracle” or answer to prayer.  While with the world we can expect this suspicion and contempt; yet, when you find it closer to home, let’s say amongst other believers, it really is infuriating.

I remember one professional believer years ago, he had degrees and a practice, saying to the effect, “What will you do if God doesn’t come through?  We need a plan for that eventuality.”  On the surface, this sounds wise.  After all having a plan is proactive.  It’s smart.  You can keep some semblance of control and manage the crisis or problem.  Still, this struck me.  There is a kind of faith that’s gotta be all in.  There’s no fall back plan.  See, we Christians have gotten too smart to really depend on God for a miracle.  I’m speaking about us as a Western culture.  Maybe this isn’t true specifically for some; but as a whole, you don’t see God moving in the miraculous.  Yes, we hear of the stories of so and so from some time ago, or some other place, or someone somewhat far removed from us where God did the miraculous.  Of people saved from death, from dire straits, from financial ruin, from all kinds of perils; yet, by and large, you have whole masses of believers in their comfy churches who are engrossed with hearing about worldly matters: psychology, personal happiness, success, prosperity, science, and any other study that doesn’t necessarily depend on an exegetical foundation on the Word of God.

Did God make the world like He said?  Or was it evolutionary process?  Is it OK to accept the teachings of Jesus as among other teachings, like the Quaran, the Upanishads, and so on? Should sermons prepare us for globalism? Encourage marrieds to have better sex?  Does Israel matter anymore?  If your sermon starts with what God says, then the answers are:  God made all creation in seven days and evolution is wrong; no, you will not accept other so-called “holy” texts to be on the same level or equal to what Jesus said–and accepting teachings of Jesus is different than believing in Him for eternal life, so you have to receive Jesus as God or you don’t; the chief aim of biblical sermons are not to prepare us for globalism, so as to be a part, but rather to warn of us of the coming Judgment Day and so help us to be a light in the world, not another cog in the world or a friend of the world.  There will basically be two types of people in the last days: the saved and the damned; better sex speaks of the love affair the pulpit tends to have with the counseling profession to where what should be offered in a counseling session, a home group, a conference setting, or such then is taken up in the pulpit: no, it’s not the purpose of sermonizing to fixate on this point of coitus.  Sing about it: go Song of Solomon.  Mention it: it’s been done in the bible.  But devote an entire sermon to it?  A teaching class, sure, but not your Sunday sermon.  Marital sex is an issue for our life now, while salvation and sanctification proper, while obviously affecting our life now, is really about our life hereafter, i.e. When Jesus comes;  Israel matters and belongs to the Jews: to say otherwise is a betrayal of what Jesus and the bible stands for.  Yet on these points answered on the go here, we in the West differ.  We have gotten very comfortable in our church cultures that we no longer depend soley on what God says to guide our conscience, our lives, or our faith.  As a whole we entertain what’s in vogue.  We’re sophisticated and we seek to be entertained, counseled, comforted, entreated upon, and cajoled.  Services service us and not God.  We want affirmation and validation: not correction and instruction.  The minister is just one of the guys.

In our passage, Jesus basically tells the people that there is something wrong with them.  Jesus did miracles elsewhere, but here the Christ was appreciated as just one of the guys; or even as the hometown hero, so to speak.  Jesus would do no miracle.  Jesus points to them as to the reason why.  This is why He brings up the historical accounts of Elijah and Elisha.  The fact that shortly after being corrected by Jesus the town tried to kill Jesus should tell us that although they were “church goers”, they were so full of themselves to repent for their unbelief and so reacted in primal hatred against the one who exposed their sin.  We in the West are guilty of this sin.  Jesus is our buddy, the object of our love songs, our companion, our principle, even our role model; yet, we don’t revere Him.  He’s an idea to manage, a teaching to discuss, a guide to success, a means to self-actualization, or another “Master” among other “Masters” to which we look to for inspiration and enlightenment.  Is He our God and only Master?  He should be.

So, when the question arises why there aren’t more supernatural healings and miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Western church, it’s because we as a whole by and large are just full of ourselves.  We’re too smart for a miracle and we actually want a holistic therapy or scientific process to do the trick, or even the power of the human spirit, to be honest.  While this is true for the culture, it doesn’t have to be true for you.  When you empty your soulish ego and lay it at the foot the cross, you will find the kind of faith that will believe God for salvation, sanctification, and miracles … if you listen for it.

 

 

 

 

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A Still More Excellent

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”  (1 Cor 12:12)

 

You’re going to find in different places people who love Jesus.  Amongst the Catholics, amongst the Protestants, amongst the Pentecostals, amongst the Charismatics, and so on.  The question arises and says “Why are there so many different churches?”  At face value, it’s a simple enough question, but it can also be a little not simple.  Why shouldn’t there be different churches?  I mean, just in general.  Seriously, why does the supposition exist that there wouldn’t be different and varied faith families?  In the passage above, surrounding it, you’ll find mention of the various different members of the body:  the hand, the eye, and so forth.  The apostle was mentioning this so as to say that not everyone is the same, but, and this is the important thing, that every member of Christ’s body is baptized into the same Holy Spirit.  Now, this isn’t a pass on every group that’s out there, because there are some that say they are members of Christ, but these folks are most definitely not.  It’s to say that there is a diversity in God’s people in the context of unity in the Spirit of God.  Now, returning to the question asked earlier, “Why are there so many different churches?”, it becomes clear then that this question is like asking, “Why are there so many different people?” and then supposing that we all should be the same; and that presumption is a recipe for all kinds of problems.

The better question is “Why aren’t we all unified in the Spirit of God?”  When that question is on the front end, then there is an acceptance of differences and a clear goal for what and where is the basis of collaboration in Jesus Christ.  Will Jesus endorse sinning?  Will he endorse living in sin?  No.  Just NO.  In fact, that’s the kind of thing that merits God’s wrath.  So, “Why aren’t we all unified in the Spirit of God?”  The answer may very well be a simple, “Well, we all don’t have the Spirit of God.”  And then this is what must follow the offended listener, “Some groups just have the spirit of man.”  Or even more brutally, “Some just have the devil in them.”  Since the illustration of the body is used, it’s like some groups have become like cancer; they grow fast, apparently with no regard to the head (Jesus Christ), and look to kill the body.  If you have no taste for truth, then any old group will do.  But, if the Spirit of Christ dwells in you, then you’ll bow to no idol: not of man, or of demon.  In this way, the love of God connects you to anyone who loves God and hates sin.  There is no agreement between a healthy cell and a cancer cell.

Still, “Why are there so many different churches?”  This then is supposed a different way, and keeping with the body illustration in Corinthians; what if we used terms normally applied to the body and living and simply ask two simple questions:  1.  Is there a standard of Church fitness?  and 2.  Is there a standard of Church health?  Question one pertains to work capacity or simply in the ability to engage with the world.  The second with actually living and breathing as Jesus did, where this would apply to the Church as living in the Holy Spirit.  Then with these two questions, of fitness and of health, we can then consider the question of “Why are there so many different churches?” as not only addressing diversity and unity; addressing holy and profane; but, also, of addressing what family of believers are… fit and not… and are healthy and not.  Then, we see that not every group is equal in this regard; because, just as there is a diversity and variety of fitness and health in the general population, then surely one will begin to surmise–and correctly–there is a diversity and variety of fitness and health in the Body of Christ.

Still, supposing for a positive on diversity and unity in Spirit; a positive on being Holy through Christ’s Spirit; and a positive for fitness and health, abiding in Christ through the Holy Spirit; then “Why are there so many different churches?”  Maybe, God just loves people.

 

 

 

 

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Horizon

[T]he word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel.  Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from Me.  If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die.’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand…’  (Ezek 3:16f.)

 

You can be nice or you can be right.  When you try to be both, you can really just fail in getting the point across.  Rude just to be rude is no answer.  Only, there lacks a nicety in telling people the truth that no amount of perfume can fix.  When someone wants to go on in there own way–being right in their own eyes–and you come along and tell them otherwise, if you really bend over backwards to be nice about it, chances are they’ll remark on how nice you were; but care little about changing their ways.  If you come in and just tell them the truth, “Hey mister important so and so; you’re wrong.  You continue the way you’re going and you’re dead for sure.”  Chances are, they might care less about whether you were nice or not, if they’re smart, and consider what you just said if its true.  The focus is on whether or not the message is true.  Of course, if they’re a fool, they’ll be more concerned if whether or not you were sweet about it, what was your decorum, and make it all about that.  Take this: a check up with the doctor and he tells you in really sweet terms a lot of nonsense and then squeezes in there a little warning about how you could possibly be dying; and then smoozes with compliments and distractions and just does a really nice guy kind of thing.  You leave and go on your way remarking what a pleasant experience that visit was!  Or.  How about a visit with a doctor who looks you over and jumps in with a very clear warning: your heart condition is severe; you need real changes or you’ll drop dead from a heart attack.  You may not like this doctor, but he told you the truth and you have to deal with it.  Christians aren’t all doctors, but we all have citizenship with heaven.  We’re all ambassadors.  When God moves on you with the Word–word of advice–just tell it like it is and don’t try making nice with it.  This is how you move prophetically.  The focus is on what God says, not on how whether or not anyone likes you.  The shepherd knows pacing, typically, and so don’t confuse his niceness with weakness; the prophet is more like the doctor, he’s got to tell it to you straight, ’cause if you’re seeing him, then you’re probably already in trouble.  The watchman has a job to do and so do you.

 

 

 

 

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If No Mother Or Sister

“Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.  And he said to his people, ‘Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.  Come, let us deal shrewdly with them. . .”  (Ex 1:8-10)

 

That’s how it can be sometimes.  You go somewhere.  You’re blessed.  And then, somehow, the whole world turns against you.  For the Jews in Egypt, they were where they needed to be.  Joseph, who was basically the right hand of Pharaoh in his day, saved the ancient world and brought his family into blessing.  Now, years later, the very government itself was set to oppress all Israel.  We the church can forget sometimes about the very big picture of salvation history and The Second Coming–when Jesus comes back–that we get cozy with the world and begin to think they’re our friends.  Come on.  Don’t you do it sometimes?  You do good.  You do the company good.  You’re the blessing in the building.  You’re the reason the gears turn, perhaps; or at least you thought you were all that.  Until someone in power remembers who they serve and they don’t serve Jesus.   Then it’s all target practice on the Christian!  Hasn’t it happened here in the U.S.A.?  Weren’t the Founding Fathers good men?  Not perfect men, not without flaws; but, weren’t they basically good men?  Christianity was indispensable to the formation of this nation; and yet, years later, there are those who have risen up in power; those who figured that they must be shrewed with the believer; they must be cunning; so, they can squeeze all Christianity in God blessed America under the grindhouse.  Friend, keep your eyes on Jesus.  Remember where your faith belongs.  The world is the world’s friend and don’t you forget it.  Save who you can.  Keep serving and doing good.  Be the light and the blessing wherever you go, wherever you stay; and at the end of the night, keep waiting for that trumpet call and remember He who calls you is faithful.

 

 

 

 

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Like the Sand

“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”  (2 Cor. 5:1)

 

Having things can be a distraction.  It can be.  It, of course, doesn’t have to be; but, let’s face it, it definitely can be and often is.  Yeah, yeah, we should believe for the blessing.  This is usually about folks wanting more out of life for this life.  Still, what about wanting more for the next life… or for the life that never dies?  The concept, the idea, the notion that getting saved extends well beyond merely becoming a better citizen of this world is truly foreign to the worldly man.  You can be a Christian and be worldly.  You’ve met them.  I don’t know, maybe you’re one of them.  At times, I believe, I act like carnal Christian, especially when I let petty things get to me.  You can be grounded in this life and see the Christian life as a means of advancing your interests, which can be good, no doubt, and becoming a better person; or you can be saved and “grounded” in the heavens, a life beyond this one; and experience and advanced interests with a totally different value system than the world.  It’s been written a friend of the world is an enemy of God; so if you’re friends with God, I surmise, I ponder, I imagine you can find friends even amongst enemies because Jesus did the same.  He was able to reach out to those who want the truth–and these come from all over: from political to religious.  Ask God to keep you focused in truth.  This will keep you a better citizen of heaven and guide you to those who want more than this earthly home.  Pilgrim, friend. Pilgrim.

 

 

 

 

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