PRESUMING TOMORROW WILL COME

            I’ve been wondering if anyone noticed my failure to discipline myself enough to keep up with my blog.  It’s been four months of sloth!  Finally, a dear friend who is going through a most difficult time in her life asked me if I had quit with Window Reflections.  I guess that’s what I needed.  Time will tell if I can find enough to write about but I’m willing to give it a shot.

            I’ve been preaching through James and last week we came to James 4:13-17.  It was a very good reminder for me and the way I look at the ministry with which God has charged me.  “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will we will live and do this or that.’”

            James is speaking to a specific group of businessmen, the group he identifies when he says, “…you who say…”  We have to recognize that the Bible never condemns business or hard work or honest initiative or even profit making.  James is not condemning businessmen in general.  He addresses the arrogant businessmen who are acting as if nothing could ever interfere with their excellent plans to go and make a lot of money!

            What these men were doing was looking into the future and making specific plans about what they were going to do with their businesses to make money.  It never even entered their minds that something might happen to prevent them from working out their plans.  I remember when I was a child I used to look forward to going on our family vacation.  It never even occurred to me that something might come up that would mess up our plans.  But these men were not children!  They should have known they were not in control of their future!  They completely disregarded God’s plans for their futures and acted as if they were in control.  This is called presumption!  They were like so many of us today.  They simply presumed that tomorrow would come and it would be just like any other day!

            These men had laid out their plans.  They had identified a target area in which to do business and they had determined that they could succeed and make enough money in a year.  Can you identify with this kind of life planning?  I certainly can!  I was like so many other young people who laid out their “life plans.”  Mine looked like this:  go to college and grad school, meet and marry a wife, go to the mission field in South America, become a famous Bible translator, and come back to the States and humbly travel around speaking about my experiences.  We can almost picture these men studying maps with the latest population information and demographics.  We can see them pinpointing the perfect location to set up shop.  And we can hear them finally coming to the conclusion that this can all be done in a year!  James does not condemn their planning.  He condemns their presumption!  He condemns them for acting as if their plans carried the ultimate authority and could not be upset!  James wants his readers to remember they cannot count on tomorrow!  They don’t know if they will be alive tomorrow.  They don’t know if their house will be standing tomorrow!  They don’t even know that their city will be there tomorrow.  What if they had planned to go to Italy, to a city called Pompeii?  When the people of Pompeii went to sleep the night before the volcano’s eruption they had no idea it would be their last night on earth!  Or in our own day, what about those poor folks in Sendai, Japan who were shaken by an earthquake in the afternoon and then struck by a devastating tsunami fifteen minutes later?  When they woke up that morning they had all kinds of plans for their lives!  Before dinner time that day their city was gone!  It appears the businessmen to whom James was writing never took into account the possibility of natural disasters, sickness, or death!  It is this pride and presumption James condemned!

CHOOSING GOD'S WAY

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear.  (The servant’s name was Malchus.)  Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away!  Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”  John 18:10, 11

Peter meant well.  He had told Jesus in the upper room that he was willing to die for him.  This seemed to him to be the moment.  Jesus and the disciples were confronted by a “detachment of soldiers and some officials…They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons” (John 18:3).  Who knows what Peter was thinking?  Did he think he could kill all the soldiers with his sword?  Was he just buying time in the hope that Jesus could escape?  Or was he laying down his life for Jesus?  He thought he was doing the right thing and he must have been stung when Jesus told him to put his sword away!

And the way Jesus said it must have hurt too!  “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”  It sounds like, “Peter!  Do you want me to go against the Father’s will for me?”  Jesus was completely aware of what was happening and that it was God’s plan.  Peter was not as well informed.  How did Jesus know beyond doubt that God’s will was being done?  Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father (John 13:1).  Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God (John 13:3).  Father, the time has come.  Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you (John 17:1).  We cannot forget that Jesus had just finished struggling in prayer in Gethsemane.  And last but not least, when the people who had come to arrest him in the garden said they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus knocked them all to the ground with the words, I am he (John 18:6).  Jesus walked so closely with the Father that he knew his plan and he embraced it.  Even though Peter meant well, he did not have that same insight into God’s plan!

This reminds me so much of how my late wife, Roz, used to speak to some people.  She battled recurring brain tumors for nearly twenty years.  She had many surgeries and progressively lost more and more of what doctors call “quality of life.”  Roz spent a lot of time reading her Bible and praying.  In the last several years of her life she came to understand that it was not God’s will to heal her and give her health back to her.  As she spent time with God she understood that what really mattered was the process he was taking her through.  The important thing was how she walked with him through the entire experience.  There were many people who meant well.  Frequently people would come up to her to tell her they were praying for her.  Roz always expressed appreciation for their prayers.  But there were always some people who would say something like, “I’m claiming healing for you!  I’m rebuking Satan and his demons so you will be healed!”  Roz spoke to them like Jesus spoke to Peter.  She would say something like, “Oh no!  Don’t do that!  God is working in a special way in my life!  I want to walk in the way he has prepared for me!”

Jesus’ words to Peter always remind me how important it is for us to be in close relationship to God.  How important it is for us to spend time listening and waiting on God so we might have insight into what he is doing!  Perhaps then we might not fight so much against the special things he brings into our lives!



Simon of Cyrene



One of the most interesting characters in the account of the crucifixion is Simon of Cyrene.  Cyrene was in North Africa, in what is modern day Libya.  It was over eight hundred miles from Jerusalem.  Simon had come to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage to celebrate Passover.  Perhaps he had worked very hard to save up the money he needed to make this journey.  It might have been a once-in-a-lifetime trip for him.  It could have been the highlight of his life to travel to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover with his Jewish brethren.  Mark says Simon was just coming into the city from the country.  It was very likely that he had never heard of Jesus and didn’t know what was going on in Jerusalem that morning.  Perhaps he had no interest in Jesus whatsoever!  He was just passing by.  Yet, as he tried to make his way through the crowd a Roman soldier seized him and shouted at him over the din of the people, “You there!  This man can carry his cross no farther!  You carry it for him!”

            Try to picture this situation!  Simon had been traveling in a dusty caravan for weeks.  He had probably stayed overnight in an inn not very far from Jerusalem.  When he got up that day he washed himself and probably put on his best clothes, maybe even new clothes, so he would look his best when he arrived at the temple later that morning.  He was so excited to see the great city and to lay his eyes on the magnificent temple!  The noise was confusing.  He didn’t hear happy, celebrating voices.  Instead he heard angry shouting and mocking and he saw a procession of condemned men approaching his position.  Suddenly he felt himself being jerked out of the crowd by a Roman soldier.  He saw a bloodied and beaten man struggling with a cross.  Two soldiers lifted the cross from the man and laid it upon Simon’s own shoulders and before he knew it, Simon was trudging with the cross toward the place of execution.  I doubt he knew at that moment that his name would go down in history and people would still be talking about him two thousand years later!

            Jesus had said, “Anyone who wants to follow me must deny himself and take up his cross” (Luke 9:23).  All of Jesus’ disciples had enthusiastically vowed that they were able to drink from the same cup as Jesus.  They had promised to stay with him even if it meant death.  But where were they now?  They had all disappeared!  Not one of them was nearby to help Jesus.  There was no friend in the crowd to carry the cross so a stranger was drafted to do it!  Jesus calls on his followers to be cross bearers.  When it comes to carrying the cross of Jesus we must be more like Simon than the disciples! 

GOD'S VIEW OF OUR SIN



2 Samuel 12  David and Nathan

2 Samuel 11 gives us the story of David’s adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of David’s soldiers who was away fighting with the army at the time.  When Bathsheba turned up pregnant, David sent to the army to have Uriah brought home so the adultery might be covered up.  To David’s chagrin, Uriah was a loyal soldier who would not consider enjoying the privileges of home while his comrades were in battle.  Uriah would not sleep with his wife so David’s sin would eventually be discovered.  Desperate, David arranged to have Uriah betrayed on the battlefield and Uriah was killed.  David took quickly took Bathsheba as his wife and surely David thought he had gotten away with his treachery.

In 2 Samuel 12 David is confronted by Nathan the prophet who points the finger at the king and reveals his sin.  The conversation that goes on between the prophet and the king is powerful and emotional.  But the thing that strikes me is the strong emphasis that is put on the fact that in killing Uriah and taking Bathsheba for himself David had sinned against God!  Undoubtedly he sinned against both Uriah and Bathsheba but when you read the chapter you see that the clear emphasis is place on his sin against God.  Notice these passages:

12:9  “Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes?”

12:10  The Lord says, “Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me…”

12:13  David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

12:14  Nathan says to David, “By doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt.”

David had seduced Bathsheba into committing adultery.  He had destroyed her marriage to Uriah.  He plotted against Uriah and finally had him killed.  But the thing that stands out above these other things is that David disobeyed God’s word!

This is extremely personal between David and God!  It’s not just that David broke the rules.  He considered the word of God to be insignificant!  He caused God to appear insignificant in the eyes of his enemies who hated him.

What a weak view of sin we have in our American Christian culture!  We really do act as if sin is merely the breaking of rules or the failure to be good.  We see sin as something that is all about us.  Our failure.  Our shame.  Our disobedience.  But sin is so much more than that.  Sin is a personal affront to God and a disregard of his word and his holiness!  As we see things, focus is laid almost solely on the person we hurt when we sin.  God and his word are just left out of it!  It should be just the other way around.  Yes, apologies are necessary when we’ve hurt others with our sin but God is the one we have infinitely offended!

Perhaps if we looked at our sin in this light we might be less likely to treat it so lightly!

WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT?



John 14:7-14

 ⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

 ⁸ Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

 ⁹ Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. ¹² I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

It is the night Jesus was betrayed.  The Lord is saying goodbye to his disciples and they are deeply saddened that he is leaving them and they cannot go with him.

In verse seven Jesus makes this significant statement, “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”  From these words of Jesus we can see the thing that is of greatest importance.  The most important thing in the world is knowing God.  And Jesus has just said the only way to come to the Father is through him.

But we also see the immense conflict between the flesh and the Spirit.  Fallen man cannot discern spiritual things.  This is what causes Philip to stumble.  Jesus is leaving his disciples and they cannot go with him and there is nothing they can do about it.  So how does Philip respond?  “Ok.  If we can’t go with you, at least give us something!  Show us the Father and that will be enough for us.  Show us God.  This one, last, fantastic miracle, and we will be satisfied to be left behind” (v.8).

Jesus gently rebukes Philip.  “Don’t you know me?  Even after I’ve been living with you for over three years?”  Here is evidence of the inability of the flesh.  The visible, tangible world still clings to Philip and pulls at him.  All the teaching of his youth makes it hard for Philip to see spiritual reality even when he is looking right at it.  That is the great struggle in our society and culture.  We are too much of this world.  We are too much of the flesh.  And even after the Holy Spirit has worked upon our souls and given us life, the flesh clings to us and pulls at us.

Jesus continues, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.  The words I say to you are not just my own.  It is the Father living in me who is doing his work.”  Then in verse twelve Jesus shows why this is the most important thing.  “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.”  What does he mean by that?  Does he mean that his followers will go around doing miracles and healing the sick like Jesus did?  To a degree, yes.  But here is the most important thing:  Jesus’ followers will have the Father living in them just as he was living in Jesus!  The Father will be doing his work in and through them just as he did in and through Jesus!  The very Spirit of the very God dwells in us and does the work of the Father.

This is the most important thing; that we know God who lives in us and is doing his work.  If we spend our entire lives learning God who is at work in us then our lives will be well-spent!

A NEW COMMANDMENT

John 13:31-36

 ³¹ When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. ³² If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

   ³³ “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

   ³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 ³⁶ Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”

   Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

I recently read this passage in a different way.  I read it relationally instead of theologically.  I read it emotionally rather than intellectually.  It is so filled with feelings and fear!  Jesus is finally telling his disciples that he is leaving them and they cannot go with him.

But before he goes he has one last commandment to leave with them.  “Love one another.  As I have loved you, so must you love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Jesus connects two messages and it seems they are of equal importance; or, perhaps not!  He moves quickly from saying he is leaving them to what they must begin doing in his absence, loving one another.

But the disciples get stuck on the first statement while they seem to entirely miss the second!  They are hung up on losing Jesus and they fail to grasp the importance of his new commandment.

This is somewhat understandable.  Think about how these men were feeling!  See how emotionally attached they had become to Jesus!  Their lives were completely intertwined with his.  Peter asks, “Where are you going?  Why can’t I follow you?  I will lay down my life for you!”  Thomas says, “We don’t know where you are going; how can we know the way?” 

One thing jumps out at me.  I see their passion to be near Jesus all the time.  I see their total dependence on him.  And I realize how little of that kind of spirit I can see in myself and the Christians around me!  How we love our lives and fail to have a greater longing to be with Jesus!

We dare not miss the second part of Jesus’ command because it explains the importance of the whole thing.  “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  How will all men know?  How can the world know how we feel about one another?  How will feeling love for each other bear witness to the world?

Jesus promises that our mutual love will be a testimony.  Here is more proof that love is not just a feeling!  Love is action!  The world can see our actions, not our feelings!  So we must demonstrate our love by our deeds.  Only then will the world be able to see that we are true followers of Jesus!

DOING IT GOD'S WAY



 2 Samuel 6

The story of David and the ark of the covenant is familiar.  David made king of Israel.  He defeats the Philistines and decides to bring the ark to the City of David.  His first attempt ends in tragedy when Uzzah is struck dead by God for grabbing the ark in an effort to prevent it from falling from the cart on which it was being carried.  David leaves the ark at the home of Obed-Edom for three months before attempting a second time to bring it to Jerusalem.  This time his effort is met with success and the whole house of Israel celebrates with him.

I’m wondering about the nature of the difference between the two attempts which caused one to be successful while the other failed.  The common explanation is undoubtedly correct.  The ark was supposed to be carried with poles by priests, not moved on a cart like common furniture.  Had it been carried properly the first time it would not have been in danger of falling and Uzzah would not have touched it and died.

But I’m wondering about what lay behind the decision to use a cart the first time.  Surely there were priests who knew how the ark was supposed to be transported.  Why didn’t they speak up?  Or perhaps they did speak and David ignored them.  We cannot know what happened.  But I do see this:  There is no reference to David inquiring of the Lord about retrieving the ark.  In chapter 5 David inquires of the Lord twice about whether he should do battle with the Philistines.  When it comes to the ark, no such inquiry is recorded.

Perhaps David was very much like us.  Perhaps he was so sure that he was doing a good thing, a holy thing, that there was no need to seek God’s face.  If he was doing a spiritual thing, surely God would bless it and give him success.  But he didn’t get God’s direction and as a result he did the deed the wrong way and a man died.

I think the lesson is that even when we are trying to serve the Lord we need to seek his face in order to ensure that we’re doing it the way God wants it done.  I know God wants me to plant New Hope Community Church.  I know it is a spiritual and holy employment.  But that doesn’t mean I can just go about it any way I want to.  God has a way he wants this church planted and if I want to obey him and avoid a Uzzah-like disaster, I need to seek his face and wait for him to show me his way!