Sometimes portions of scripture seem elusive. Remember, it is translated from an ancient language, often using illustrations and metaphors from an ancient time, from an ancient culture. Not all portions of scripture are like this, but some certainly are. These verses in Romans can be confusing, especially verses 5 through 8. Here is re-write I feel captures the essence of the truth God conveys.
People, all of us included, have a terrible habit of arrogance. We even try to tell God what is best, and worse, we become deeply offended when the sovereign God of all creation reminds us that He has everything under control...and that while He loves us deeply, He doesn't need our help. On the contrary, we are the ones desperate for His help.
Each of us are born with a curse, human nature. Our natural inclination is selfishness and while we may have commendable moments, we are sure to slip back into our self-centeredness. We think that if we just try harder, make a stronger effort, we can change. That too is part of the curse of our humanity, the arrogance of total self-reliance.
There is only one hope for humanity and that hope is Jesus. He came from heaven to earth to live a perfect life, never once a moment of selfishness, and then submitted Himself, voluntarily, to a physical death from which, He rose from the dead. In doing all this, He broke the power of the curse over mankind. Even if you discover some power, a power that no one in all of human history has yet to discover, to begin living a perfect life...and you should know that God says no such power exists apart from Him...but just for the sake of argument you discover such a power...you still are left with the pressing question, "What about all the wrong, all the mistakes, all the hurt, all the sorrow I've caused already?"
Jesus' death on the cross stands as the greatest act of courage in history, never to be surpassed as long as the human race endures. He took the punishment for every selfish act ever committed by every human being ever to live and who will ever live in the tomorrows of history. There is only one way to be forgiven and that is to give Jesus our complete devotion and in that moment, we become the benefactor of His death, we stand forgiven.
But there's more, Jesus doesn't just offer forgiveness, He promises true power to change, to be transformed, to begin to break free from our natural inclination for self-centeredness. In the moment of our giving complete devotion to Jesus, in that moment of being forgiven by God because He sees we've accepted Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf, something miraculous occurs. God comes and fills us with His Spirit, amazing isn't it! And now, with His power at work in us, the same power that created the Universe in all its splendor, the same power that raised Christ from the dead, we can begin to learn how live a life free from the curse of our humanity. We still won't get all the way to perfection, but we'll make it farther than we could have ever dreamed possible, and we'll make it into eternity with God because of the forgiveness we have now received. And oh yeah, by the way, this promise is for anyone, I mean anyone who would only believe.
Believe!
Pastor Fred
Monday, December 22, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Help...I'm biased!
Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
I love reading several chapters of scripture in sequence when I have the time. I remembering waking up one morning at 5:30am, on my day off, couldn't fall back to sleep, it was ugly. At our house, we have a special name for that hour of the day, especially on your day off. Some call it the "crack of dawn." We call it "the butt crack of dawn" because being up at that hour, on your day of rest, is ugly, uglier than plumber's pants.
So, I love reading several chapters in sequence because it affords us the opportunity to discover themes and truths that are born out of the connectedness of the text as opposed to themes and truths that you find in the context of a few verses. Let me share one that came into focus from reading the first several chapters in the Gospel of John.
All of us have biases and assumptions that we carry. They are a part of us. They affect the way we think, the conclusions we reach, the judgments we make, and they even give us expectations. They result from our spiritual gifts, passions, personalities, life experiences, teaching we have embraced, and even cultural practices. Often, they are valid, justified, they make sense and in these instances, the worst that can happen is that we might be surprised if our expectations aren't met. But when they wrong, when our biases are incorrect. They mislead us, like a guide that pretends to know the way and in our following him, we too become lost.
(Read John 2:1-3, 8-10)
During such feasts, one would always serve the best wine first, just as the text stated. When so much wine is being consumed, the guests' palettes become numb with intoxication. The more they drink, the less they are able to appreciate the complexities of finer wines. Thus, the better wines are served first. Because this was everyone's practice, it became a cultural norm. In becoming a cultural norm, it created assumptions in people, assumptions that led to expectations. When people attended a wedding feast, no one had to explain that the first wine would be the best wine. It was their expectation and thus the surprise of the master of the feast in John 2. God is putting this truth into play here in John 2 in a culturally relevant way because He wants us to understand the impact biases and assumptions have on our lives, on our ability to make sound judgments, especially when those judgments have spiritual implications.
As one continues to read in the Gospel of John, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6, this theme of biases and assumptions continues to confront us. Nicodemus in John 3 questioned, "how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" His limiting bias was that the physical realm always had to be considered, even in dealing with spiritual matters. In John 4, the Samaritan woman upon realizing that she was in the presence of a prophet, a holy man of God, proceeds to ask Him a question of doctrine! What was her bias, that the primary purpose of religion is to solve our doctrinal and political conundrums. Isn't it interesting that she was willing to engage Him in a conversation about her deepest needs, her physical needs, her emotional needs, until she realized He was prophet. And then, it became about doctrine and politics. Then, there is the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda in John 5. Who told him that he had to lie and wait for the angel to stir the water for his healing? It was the cultural practice of his day. The text tells us this in verse 6, "When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" Jesus was saying to him, shed your bias, you never had to wait for an angel, you just had to come to the Father in faith, and if it was His will to heal you, it would have been done. John 6, "…where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" The biases and assumptions that we carry often blind us to the true realities of life with God. Thus, one of Jesus' greatest ministries on this earth was to expose the biases and assumptions of people's hearts, just as we have seen in these 6 chapters.
Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
One of the great ministries that we find, that we experience, that we receive in the community of the church is that people, in assembling together, exhort one another, continuing the work of Christ, speaking the truth in love, helping one another see the biases and assumptions in our lives that blind us to the realities of life with God.
Be seen by others, expose yourself...well you know what I mean...let someone show you your biases!
Pastor Fred
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
I love reading several chapters of scripture in sequence when I have the time. I remembering waking up one morning at 5:30am, on my day off, couldn't fall back to sleep, it was ugly. At our house, we have a special name for that hour of the day, especially on your day off. Some call it the "crack of dawn." We call it "the butt crack of dawn" because being up at that hour, on your day of rest, is ugly, uglier than plumber's pants.
So, I love reading several chapters in sequence because it affords us the opportunity to discover themes and truths that are born out of the connectedness of the text as opposed to themes and truths that you find in the context of a few verses. Let me share one that came into focus from reading the first several chapters in the Gospel of John.
All of us have biases and assumptions that we carry. They are a part of us. They affect the way we think, the conclusions we reach, the judgments we make, and they even give us expectations. They result from our spiritual gifts, passions, personalities, life experiences, teaching we have embraced, and even cultural practices. Often, they are valid, justified, they make sense and in these instances, the worst that can happen is that we might be surprised if our expectations aren't met. But when they wrong, when our biases are incorrect. They mislead us, like a guide that pretends to know the way and in our following him, we too become lost.
(Read John 2:1-3, 8-10)
During such feasts, one would always serve the best wine first, just as the text stated. When so much wine is being consumed, the guests' palettes become numb with intoxication. The more they drink, the less they are able to appreciate the complexities of finer wines. Thus, the better wines are served first. Because this was everyone's practice, it became a cultural norm. In becoming a cultural norm, it created assumptions in people, assumptions that led to expectations. When people attended a wedding feast, no one had to explain that the first wine would be the best wine. It was their expectation and thus the surprise of the master of the feast in John 2. God is putting this truth into play here in John 2 in a culturally relevant way because He wants us to understand the impact biases and assumptions have on our lives, on our ability to make sound judgments, especially when those judgments have spiritual implications.
As one continues to read in the Gospel of John, chapter 3, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6, this theme of biases and assumptions continues to confront us. Nicodemus in John 3 questioned, "how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" His limiting bias was that the physical realm always had to be considered, even in dealing with spiritual matters. In John 4, the Samaritan woman upon realizing that she was in the presence of a prophet, a holy man of God, proceeds to ask Him a question of doctrine! What was her bias, that the primary purpose of religion is to solve our doctrinal and political conundrums. Isn't it interesting that she was willing to engage Him in a conversation about her deepest needs, her physical needs, her emotional needs, until she realized He was prophet. And then, it became about doctrine and politics. Then, there is the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda in John 5. Who told him that he had to lie and wait for the angel to stir the water for his healing? It was the cultural practice of his day. The text tells us this in verse 6, "When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" Jesus was saying to him, shed your bias, you never had to wait for an angel, you just had to come to the Father in faith, and if it was His will to heal you, it would have been done. John 6, "…where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" The biases and assumptions that we carry often blind us to the true realities of life with God. Thus, one of Jesus' greatest ministries on this earth was to expose the biases and assumptions of people's hearts, just as we have seen in these 6 chapters.
Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
One of the great ministries that we find, that we experience, that we receive in the community of the church is that people, in assembling together, exhort one another, continuing the work of Christ, speaking the truth in love, helping one another see the biases and assumptions in our lives that blind us to the realities of life with God.
Be seen by others, expose yourself...well you know what I mean...let someone show you your biases!
Pastor Fred
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