DUST ON THE SCALES

Our men meet for Bible study on Friday mornings at 6:30.  This morning I was talking with our patriarch and he was telling me about his grandfather who came to the United States from Holland as a very young man.  He was unchurched and an unbeliever.  By God’s providence there was a connection made with a family in South Dakota and he went to live with and work for them on their farm.  This family was a Christian family and by God’s grace the young Hollander came to faith through their testimony.

In our conversation this morning my friend told me that his grandfather always included in his prayers the phrase, “for we are but dust.”  We decided to look up the passage in Isaiah 40:15-17.

Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

And are accounted as the dust on the scales;

Behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.

Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,

Nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

All the nations are as nothing before him,

They are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

We noticed something.  The text does not say that we are like dust on the scales; it says the nations are like dust!  We began to wonder in awe at the immensity and supremacy of our God!  Entire nations, scores of nations, are like dust on the scales!  What is the significance of the dust on the scales?  We thought back to the days when shopkeepers would have a scales on their counter.  They would weigh their products on one side of the scales and the gold or coins used in payment on the other.  The buyer would want to make certain that the shopkeeper’s side of the scales was completely clean so he would get his full weight in product while the seller wanted to make sure the other side of the scales was tidy so he would receive his full payment.  The scales would be wiped clean.  Perhaps only specks of insignificant dust would remain on the balance.  Insignificant dust.  Dust that meant nothing to either the buyer or the seller.  Entire nations are no more than that insignificant dust which is of no concern to anybody!  In God’s eyes the nations are “less than nothing and emptiness” (v. 17).

Nevertheless, “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men…” (Philippians 2:6, 7).  Can we even begin to imagine the immensity of the step the Son of God took to become a human being residing in one tiny nation, one tiny speck of his own creation?   Why?

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins…We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:9, 10, 19).  Stunning!  Completely and absolutely stunning!  That he should love one who is a single individual, less than a speck of dust!

WISDOM OF THE REVEALING GOD

“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.  None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  But as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him…’” (1 Corinthians 2:7- 9). 

The rulers of this age are the elite of the world but they could not grasp the mystery of God’s wisdom.  They saw the Christ with their own eyes but they did not recognize him as the Lord of glory and they put him to death.  We must stop and realize this truth:  we would be in the same situation as they if God had not decreed (foreordained) glory for us!  We would be right there beside them!  We know that we have not arrived at this blessing that God prepared for us through our own powers or abilities.  We could not have even imagined it on our own!  It is undiscoverable by men!

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ¹⁶ ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ’” (1 Corinthians 2:14-16). 

The “natural person” is the unspiritual person, the one whom the Spirit of God has not “completed.”  He does not accept (or “receive,” same Greek word) the things the Spirit teaches.  He rejects them because they are folly to him.  The Greek word for folly here is literally “moronic.” He rejects them because he “is not able” to understand them.  He does not have the power to grasp them.  He rejects them because they can only be spiritually discerned and he is merely physical, not spiritual!  The truth is all around this man but he has not the power to see it because he has not been illumined by the Spirit.  He lives in spiritual darkness! 

But the spiritual man (pneumatikos) is the exact opposite of the natural person!  He is able to judge all things (same Greek word as “discern”).  He can tell the worldly from the spiritual, truth from falsehood, and even grasp the mysteries of God’s wisdom.  In verse 16 Paul quotes Isaiah 40:13 and anticipates a negative response from his readers.  “Who is able to know the mind of the Lord in his own wisdom?”  No one!  But through the ministry of God’s Spirit we have the mind of Christ!  We have been called into fellowship with Christ.  We are one with Christ.  Therefore, we can be taught spiritual things by God through his Spirit and we can know the mind of God to the degree he has revealed it.

            With this understanding of the nature of salvation there is no reason to glorify man and every reason to glorify God alone.  There is no reason to glorify human wisdom and every reason to glorify God’s wisdom.  There is no place for human pride and every reason for humility.  There is no reason for division in the church and every reason to find our unity in Christ.  We learn that we can know the mind of God as long as we are led by the Spirit.  He communicates God’s truth to us as we study God’s word and pray.  He directs us with God’s wisdom as long as we wait upon him and seek him guidance.  Oh the grace, mercy, and goodness of God, that he should pour out his Spirit upon a sinner like me and grant me a glimpse of his wisdom in Christ Jesus!

MUTUAL ENCOURAGEMENT BY FAITH

For God is my witness…that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.  For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”   Romans 1:9-12

Paul calls upon God to bear witness to his promise to the believers in Rome that he is faithfully praying for them.  He does not only think of them occasionally in his prayer; he prays for them unceasingly!  They are always on his heart and in his mind.  As a pastor, this really strikes at my heart.  Do I understand that prayer for the people who are part of our fellowship is not just part of the work of ministry but a central aspect of pastoral work?  These are the people Jesus died to save and these are the people God has called me to love and serve.  Can I really call myself faithful if I am not bringing them before the Lord in prayer “without ceasing?”  Do I hope that they will grow in their faith simply because I am doing the visible work of a pastor?  Do I hope the church will be strong and healthy because I study and teach and preach regularly?  Do I hope the people will find spiritual strength because I spend time with them and try to encourage them?  That is a very human way of approaching ministry!  If I think that what I do is enough to build a strong church then I don’t understand the church at all!  The very heart of the pastor’s work is unceasing prayer for the people in the church!

One of the things the apostle prayed for was an opportunity to finally get to Rome to be with the people for whom he had been praying so faithfully.  He “longed” to see them and spend time with them.  Why does he want to be with the Roman Christians?  To “impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you…”  He says that he wants to be able to minister to them.  He wants to be able to share spiritual truth with them and strengthen them in their faith.  This is the kind of work most pastors understand and with which they identify.

But Paul goes on…”that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”  Here is a simple truth that seems to be beyond the understanding of most American pastors and congregations.  God designed the body of Christ, the church, to edify and encourage one another.  In other words, the people in the church serve and minister to each other by sharing life experiences and encouraging faith.  Pastors are part of the body.  They not only give but they are meant to receive encouragement and edification from the rest of the body. 

This is something I have understood for a long time.  I love to spend time with the people of the church.  Time without an agenda.  Time without a scheduled start and finish.  Just time.  Why?  Because as they share their lives with me I am encouraged in my faith.  I grow in faith!  I learn from them.  I trust that it works both ways but it will not work unless there is time allowed for it to happen.  Neither will it work unless the pastor is willing to come out of his study and the church members see him as a brother who wants to share life with them.  If the people think they have nothing to offer their pastor he will be left without spiritual encouragement and will find himself drifting away and drying up!

Pastors…there is much important work to be done.  We cannot neglect study.  But that is not all we are to do.  We have to be praying without ceasing for our people.  We have to get out of the study and spend time with the folks.  We should have a right perspective of ourselves, ready to hear and learn from people who share in our fellowship.

Church people…your pastor is a sinner saved by grace just like you.  He needs time with you, not to evaluate you or judge you, but to be encouraged by you, your life, and your faith.  This is the way God designed the body of Christ to function.

GLADDEN MY SOUL...

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
    for I am poor and needy.
² Preserve my life, for I am godly;
    save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
³ Be gracious to me, O Lord,
    for to you do I cry all the day.
⁴ Gladden the soul of your servant,
    for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
⁵ For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
    abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.   Psalm 86:1-5

I am not a sad person.  What I mean is, I have a generally optimistic, positive outlook on life.  Sad things happen but I don’t tend to dwell on them.  I know I’ve had some really difficult things happen in my life.  I have experienced great loss.  I have had people betray me and turn against me.  I have been dealt with unfairly.  And I have had times of real struggle.  But God made me in such a way that none of these things have weighed heavily on my spirit over a long period of time.  Some people might say (and have said) that it is because I am so shallow; that I don’t reflect enough on the seriousness of these things.  Maybe they are right.  I don’t know.

The other day I was praying through Psalm 86 and meditating on it.  (I’m pretty shallow so my meditations aren’t very deep!)  The thought that really struck me is verse 4, “Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.”  I don’t know what David was experiencing when he wrote this psalm.  I can see that he was burdened and downhearted.  I think he was more than just “sad.”  It seems deeper that mere sadness to me.  His soul needs to be lifted up.  So what does he do?  He turns to God.  He calls out to God to gladden his soul.  He bares his heart to God. 

On the surface it seems like someone might say, “Oh, I see.  David was really down so he prayed about it.”  As I reflected on the passage it occurred to me that David was doing something far more important than simply “praying about it.”  I began to think about how people tend to deal with deep sorrow and heavy burdens when the sadness seems to touch even their very souls.  Very often we seek to change our circumstances.  In other words, go do something fun, get some really good friends to spend time with, anything to change the circumstances in which we find ourselves so very sad.  I think David knew that such things would not be able to change the burden on his soul.  There is a spiritual aspect to such deep sorrow and it must be dealt with on a spiritual level.  Only God can touch our souls no matter what the romantics write.  So he turns to the One who can gladden his soul.  My friends can identify with my sad; they can empathize with me; they can weep with me; they can try to comfort me.  But they cannot touch my soul like God can.

So we turn to God to gladden us.  David says in verse 5 that God is “good and forgiving abounding in steadfast love…”  Ah, it begins to become clear!  What my soul needs is goodness because my sorrow may be caused by evil.  I need forgiveness because my sad could be the result of sin in my life.  I need steadfast love because human love can be shallow and fickle.  God is what my soul needs!  I need God himself and all that he is!  It is God who gladdens the soul!

LIVING STONES AND SACRIFICES

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  (1 Peter 2:4, 5)

Peter says that Jesus is a “living stone.”  The purpose of this living stone is shown to us in verse 6, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious.”  Jesus, the living stone, is the cornerstone upon which God will build.  He is the foundation, the rock.  He was rejected by men, Peter says.  Even though he was rejected by his own people, he was chosen of God, a darling and precious stone.  It is man’s nature to reject God and his Son. 

We are not surprised that Jesus was rejected.  What is surprising is that any human being would come to Christ!  That’s the amazing thing we read at the beginning of verse 4, “As you come to him…”  I get the feeling here that Peter is saying, “As you somehow discover that you yourselves are coming to Christ in spite of your own personal desires…”  Can I really read that intent into the text?  Peter speaks to believers as if they have been practically passive in the whole process!  He says, “…you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house…”  That is obviously passive!  We are not building ourselves into the spiritual house; God is the only one who can build a spiritual house upon the cornerstone who is Jesus!  He has made us into the image of Jesus.  He has made us living stones like Jesus!  And we find ourselves being placed into this spiritual house, this temple.  God has taken us from being spiritually dead and made us alive.  I have the picture of Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones in my mind.  He preached to the bones and suddenly they began to come together as God made something that was dead into something alive!

But there is something that is so amazing that it stops me in my tracks.  Why does God build us into this living spiritual temple or house?  “…To be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”  I was dead in trespasses and sins.  Dead.  Unable to do anything of a spiritual nature at all.  Unable to do anything to please God.  As King David wrote, “Can the dead please you, O Lord?”  So God made me alive.  But what is more, he made me a priest who is able to offer spiritual sacrifices to God!  And even more, my sacrifices are acceptable to him!  But they are only acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  Jesus took my sin upon himself and carried it away.  He left me robed in his own righteousness.  It is through the righteousness of Jesus that I am able to offer acceptable sacrifices to God.  What are those sacrifices?  I lay down my life.  I offer praise and worship.  And God accepts these!

How good God is!  How gracious and merciful!  How astonishingly powerful!  He makes what is dead alive and lovingly makes us into priests who offer sacrifices of worship to him…and then he accepts our worship!  Praise be to God!

SURPRISING GRACE

Matthew 1:1-17

Having been in ministry for many, many years now it seems like I have met with almost every kind of problem possible.  Some problems are small and some are really big.  Some make me want to weep and some tempt me to get angry.  Some problems are easily addressed from scripture and others require much prayer and study before they can be discussed.

In this latest chapter of ministry here in the Central Valley of California there has been one issue that has cropped up over and over again as I have served this congregation.  I have encountered this issue in the past but it has taken on a very new dimension in this particular situation.  In short, it goes like this…

I am sitting with someone who has had a very hard life.  Perhaps there has been substance abuse or addiction.  Maybe it has been jail or prison time.  It might be recurring sexual immorality and broken relationships.  I share the good news of freedom and a fresh start through the gospel of Jesus Christ with the person.  And whatever their situation, I have heard this more often than ever before, “Pastor, I don’t think the gospel applies to me.  You really can’t imagine how bad I really am.  I’m not worthy of being saved!”

That is a much more difficult problem than it appears to be on the surface.  I have found that it just doesn’t suffice to say something like, “Oh we are all sinners!  No sinner is too wicked to be saved by God’s grace!  Surely you must understand that there are many Christians who were far worse than you have been!”  Those kinds of statements come across as pastoral platitudes and they almost always fail to move the person.

So I was thinking about Matthew 1:1-17 recently.  You know the passage.  It is the genealogical passage that gives us the ancestors of Jesus, the royal line of Israel.  We find all the famous names of the Old Testament story there.  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  King David and Solomon.  Hezekiah and Josiah.  It is a testimony to the faithfulness of God as he kept his covenant with Abraham and David.

But there are four people mentioned in this genealogy who don’t really seem to belong.  One reason they don’t seem to fit is that they are women.  But that isn’t the main reason for the discomfort.  The thing that stands out is the character and/or the ethnicity of these women. 

Tamar is the woman who deceived her father-in-law, Judah, by playing the part of a prostitute.  She conceived twins, Perez and Zerah, who are both mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.

Rahab was the Canaanite prostitute who was delivered safely from the destruction of Jericho because she hid the Hebrew spies.  She married Salmon and became the mother of Boaz.

Ruth was the Moabite widow who gleaned in the fields of Boaz.  He became her kinsman redeemer, married her, and she bore him a son named Obed who was the grandfather of King David!

Finally, we have Bathsheba, who is not mentioned by name.  The text reads, “And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah…” (Matthew 1:6).  An adulteress, she married David after he had her husband abandoned and killed in battle.

All four of these women received the highest possible honor; they were introduced to the royal line of David and Jesus, the Son of David.  They are examples of grace, as we all are.  No one ever needs to worry that he or she is too great a sinner.  None needs be concerned that they can’t receive grace.  It seems that God has a history of showing us that his grace is sufficient for anyone, including me!