Setting up the Sunrise

It is amazing how God has set up His creation like one extended sermon illustration. The sermon is titled "He is Risen." And maybe the daily experience of sunrise is the point of this illustration of nature. Every day every one of us watches the defeat of darkness, whether we're paying attention or not. Nature's darkness has its beautiful and comforting aspects, but in this illustration it graciously plays the part of a darkness that has no redeeming qualities: our sin. Jesus became this darkness on the cross so that life in Him for every one who trusts in Him alone for it becomes the sunrise. Feeling better from my little sickness puts me in a more grateful place than my busy mind usually is, so this morning I'm grateful for the miracle of the light of a new day. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world."

There's something peculiar about human life under the rule of God. When our eyes see the light, our gratitude extends even to the bitterest struggles of the night before. I would not agree to part with my past, even at its worst, simply because my specific past is the only road to this new moment of life with God. My joy in healing makes me strangely grateful for the sickness, or at least the clear view of His hand in it that the light now helps me see. The coldest, darkest night is a set up for the sunrise.

Near the end of Luke 1, we have the last two verses (78-79) of Zechariah's song, often called Benedictus. He's fresh from a season of muteness, now celebrating the birth of his son, John the Baptist, and the One he will serve, Jesus Christ.

Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, To guide our feet into the way of peace.  

Different Views, One Cross

Think of how it looked that day. There was the Roman soldier who, when it was all done, said, "Surely, this was a righteous man." There was Simeon, the one who actually carried the cross for Christ for a bit. What was life like for him after this life-changing incident? We know his sons became leaders in the church and Rufus, the younger son I think, is the one many think is greeted along with his mom by Paul in Romans 16:13. Simon's sons are mentioned in Mark 15:21. Here are the verses...

Mark 15:21 "And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross."

Romans 16:13 "Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well."

So, one Friday, a family became chosen for Christ. Chances are they all saw what their father or husband was forced to do. No one else had a perspective on the Cross like they did.

Then there's Mary, His mother. She watched the whole thing.

We know about the thieves crucified with Him. They certainly had a unique and powerful perspective on Christ's crucifixion. Their two reactions were so different.

Then there were the people crying things out to him like, "Save yourself!" They knew His claims. What happened? Others rejected His claims. "Serves Him right," they must have thought.

Today too there are countless different views on this one event. Just like with the thieves though, there are only two reactions: believe or don't. I've studied the religions of the world a little. So far I've seen nothing like the Cross of Christ or the Christ of the Cross. In the end, whatever view we have, the Cross forces each of us to make a decision about it. Was it pathetic and senseless or was it my only hope for forgiveness of sins?

Patience in Suffering and the Cross

I've been sick in a minor way for a few days longer than I want to be, which helps me identify with and pray for those in our congregation that are sick in a major way for months or years longer than they had hoped and for others who are straddled with severe health challenges. Getting better sometimes seems to take a long time. And this truth spreads out past physical ailments. Emotional and psychological healing, for example, can also seem long and drawn out. Any Christian in pain, of course, has the Cross as enduring proof of God's empathy. Jesus knows what you're going through. The Cross is an experience that happened within a few hours. All the physical tortures of Christ were well contained within one 24-hour cycle, and yet by their most extreme nature, they seem endless. The type of burden we bear influences how long it feels like we're bearing it. One second of Christ's torture far exceeds a lifetime of pain for any other human being. We learn from Him about endurance.

1) To suffer with purpose is far better than to suffer without. Our purpose may not be tied to our suffering, more often it is tied to our recovery. We have something or someone to get better for, to get through this for.

2) Suffering in this life, even the worst, most protracted form of it, is temporary. It will not last. This is the promise of being in Christ. Whatever I'm going through, if I'm going through it with Christ, I really will go through it; I won't stay like this.

3) Suffering can change me for the better, if I seek this. It can have the opposite effect too. It's up to me.

4) Suffering withstood becomes new strength.  

The Cross for us is the ultimate illustration and proof of Psalm 30:5b (KJV): "... weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

The Cross and Honor

Honor is an underrated power within ourselves and our world. Earlier generations had role models, both authentic and bogus, for honor. Movie stars, war heroes, rock stars, athletes, and certain leaders are the typical fare when it comes to who we as a Western society see as celebrities of honor. Christians speak often, and sometimes understand, that God is the ultimate recipient of honor. To take too much honor on oneself or lavish too much on someone else is idolatry. There are news articles from this last week that suggest that March Madness brings out nothing less than idolatry. The worship of God never rises, some reporters claim, to the worship of a favorite college basketball team.

Though we honor God well before basketball teams or ourselves, we also can be people of honor. The Cross, an event that explains so much and fulfills what nothing else can, is the ultimate example of honor. Jesus Christ was and is a man of honor. How He went about His life is how "honorable" is done. This helps me today. Every day now in my mid-forties I sometimes survey my distant and immediate past with regret and frustration. My age and gender influence this strange experience, but I know that all people of all ages and genders who want their lives to count for something are subject to a similar temptation. If we want to live a good life, we'll tend to examine the life we're living. It can be dangerous emotionally. Honesty is always more dangerous at first, but afterwards it is the safest of all courses. The problem with seeing the problems in my life is that it drains me of the energy to solve the problems in my life if I don't have a compelling vision. The problem with being a little older is that what used to pass for a compelling personal vision has evaporated. The old finish lines got washed away by the rain. This is where honor comes in. To live an honorable life in Christ and for Christ is rare and valuable. It will bless everyone. It exceeds any other success I wanted for myself. In fact, it nicely corrects the vanity behind some of those old dreams. How do I live an honorable life? I look to the Cross. Jesus showed me how. He died that I may live. He died that I may have a compelling vision to orient my life around. I've made public promises (2 vows, marital and vocational, and 1 oath, military). Many fail to keep these. Many minimize these. No need to. Prior to them I prayed to receive Christ. That has made all the difference. If I can represent Him well, even through my failures, I can, only with His help, claim a life of honor. Somehow, these thoughts, inspired simply by looking at the Cross and Christ with the eyes of my heart, transform regret and frustration into... satisfaction.

There's no end to the good Christ does in the life of a man or woman. No end. Again from 1st Corinthians 1:18, "the message of the Cross is the power of God." Amen.

  

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Church is a who, a what, a when, a where, and why, and a how.

Who = Us in Christ glorifying God the Father together through the Holy Spirit.

What = a Formal (yes, formal, not clothing, but cause) Gathering of Us in Christ. Jettison the unscriptural notion that church can be whatever we want it to be, or that it is something we conjure up. It belongs to Christ, not us.

When = Not whenever. Not when we get done with work, shopping, sports, and everything else on our lists. Definitely not whenever we get some free time. A hundred years from now we'll have lots of free time.

Where = Definitely not wherever. Wherever do we find this idea in the Bible? All that stuff about the temple... we can't just dismiss it by misquoting the Bible and saying, "My body, me, I'm the new temple." Lame.

Why = Because of the clear mandate of Scripture not to give up meeting together. Because God loves us and has no interest in our self-styled religious innovation and resulting isolation. That's not of Him, period.

How = Get up in time. Get to worship. Be there with all those other imperfect Christians because it's the only place you and I belong this morning if we have a choice and if we belong to Him. Again, a hundred years from now how well will all our excuses hold up?

Feeling guilty? Well, if you join us for church services we can try to help you with this. :)

I feel a little guilty if I've made you feel guilty, so, if you come, you can help me too!

Yes, you guessed it, we'll point each other to the Cross.
    

The Cross and the Need to be Right

All of us struggle with the positions we've taken that, over time, appear to be wrong or off. We don't want to be wrong or be seen as wrong. Depending on our personality and maturity, we will defend all our positions to some extent, especially those which come into question. What follows? Relationships suffer. People become each other's enemies. Life becomes a means for proving ourselves instead of serving God. Of course, the solution to all this is found only in the Cross of Christ.

Christ teaches me that I don't have to keep the ball rolling. I don't have to fight to the bitter end. I don't have to make my point. I don't have to justify myself. I don't have to work at all on the things He has promised to take care of like my life and my reputation. What I have to do is be His. Not WWJD or "What Would Jesus Do?", but "What Would I Do If I Belonged Solely to Jesus?" Yes, I know that WWIDIIBSTJ doesn't quite have the same ring or look as WWJD, but it is the relevant question. I am not Jesus. WWJD is answered by dying on the Cross for the sins of the world. Only He does that. I am, however, a follower of Jesus. Therefore, I don't need to be right. He is. I don't need to win this one. He did. God has made His point. The only unfading victory there is was won by Christ on his Cross.

I can write the words. You can read them. Let's help each other live them.  

The Obvious Daily Lesson of the Cross

The obvious daily lesson of the Cross is that you have to give up something good to get something better. Even today, each of us faces at least one decision where we'll keep what we have or we'll put it down to get something better. Christ always had gain in mind as He faced the Cross. The loss, the pain, the rejection, the agony... all of it... it was a price to pay. Pleasing His Father, Glory, Salvation for His... all this followed.

Questions:

Am I too busy for God today? What do I have to stop?

Is my spiritual life just another to-do item, important but not urgent? What do I have to give up?

Am I trying to live well in the world and live well for Christ? Is it tearing me apart? What do I have to lose to gain that which I can never lose?

What does it mean to carry our own cross?

The best way to first approach this question is to ask its opposite. What does it not mean? We don't do for ourselves ANYTHING that Jesus did for us when He died for us on the cross. We don't add to His suffering or His sacrifice. We don't cancel or fulfill anything. We don't please God in a saving way. No debts that determine our eternal destiny are paid off. The crosses we carry are ONLY crosses of response to His.

It is symbolism. Unlike Christ, we do not go to death on the cross ourselves, yet death is the point. We are to die to ourselves and our sin, and live to Christ. Look at the fuller context of the verses in Mark 8:31-38...

- He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 
- He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 
- But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” 
- Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 
- For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 
- What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 
- Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 
- If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

What do we know here? We do we learn? Here are some thoughts:

1) Suffering is a part of faith on Christ's end and ours. Any faith that minimizes suffering, especially the suffering of Christ, minimizes salvation and, apparently, maximizes Satan.
2) Christians always did and always will have a problem with the Cross. Every human being has the natural desire to put distance between himself or herself and the Cross and what it means.
3) The only way we can keep our souls is through "taking up our cross." This means that we can't live Godly lives until we die to all that is in competition with the Cross.
4) To gain the whole world is not worth much in the long run.
5) If Christ calls us to "take up our cross," or to suffer, then He must also provide the inner means of fulfilling this.
6) Our adulterous and sinful generation, or our culture, can exert a powerful influence over us, making us want to defy even God in order to gain social approval. Part of carrying our cross is resisting this.
7) Being ashamed of the Cross is being ashamed of Christ is being rejected by Christ. You cannot be a Christian of any kind and reject the work of Christ on the Cross
8) That which preserves our lives in eternity may end our lives here.

So what is following Christ, taking up our cross, and losing our lives for Him and the Gospel? It is to live lives above the influence and values of this world and beneath the shadow of the Cross of Christ. It is to live lives where we endure whatever is necessary to endure in order to maintain our fidelity to the Cross of Christ. It is a choice we make every day of our lives.  

Hollywood vs. Jerusalem

We saw Rango in the theater on Monday. It's an animated film, well reviewed: perfect family fare we thought. Wrong. First of all, pay attention when you see that a children's film is rated PG instead of G. Don't take your five-year-old to Rango, unless you want her to be repeatedly exposed to some entry-level four-letter words.

I had another problem with the film though. The makers were clearly out to besmirch faith in order to elevate human self-salvation. Why? Clever as the movie was, we left feeling the fresh defeat that humanism consistently delivers to the spirit of all in its hearing. You can be your own savior. Terrible news doesn't get better with computer enhanced animation. I got the feeling that the makers of this film required that John Lennon's "Imagine" be played in repeat mode in the background at all phases of the production. Rango is the perfect Hollywood Christ, complete with crucifixion and resurrection. Cute, smart, good, and "lucky," he is the model for all of us. The bad guys were religious and used religion like all of us do, to hurt and oppress the people, taking all their resources from them. Down with selfish, evil Christians, especially Christian businessmen. Up with self-deified saviors. We're all supposed to be our own Jesus Christ!

Meanwhile, two thousand years ago in Jerusalem, the only real Jesus Christ was crucified. "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." says Paul in 1st Corinthians. "For the word of the cross and the power of God are foolishness (or worse), but those of us who are perishing shall save ourselves." says Rango.  

Complaints and the Cross

There are two sides to every complaint. There is the complainer and the complained-to or complained-about or complained-against. Pastors get to be the latter often, but don't think for a moment think they are never the former. All of us, pastors or not, tend to think that our complaints are reasonable, but the complaints of those who complain to us or about us or against us are not. Isaiah 53:10a in the NASB says this:  

"But the LORD was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief..."

"The LORD" is the Father and "Him" is Jesus Christ, His Son. Did Jesus complain? No. Did He suffer? Yes. Did He ask to be spared the suffering? Yes. Really, didn't He complain? I can't find it. "I thirst" doesn't count. He accepted and submitted Himself willingly to His destiny, including His death, not only as God's will, but as God's pleasure. He died to please His Father BEFORE He died to save us. He obeyed. It seems that complaining - what God's people did in the desert so often, for instance - and obeying are different. They can be opposed.

If I complain to, about, or against God, I may not be seeing Him or approaching Him as God. (This may not be true in all cases, but consider it.) I may see Him instead as my Heavenly Customer Service Manager. At worst, I may see Him as my servant. Here's an odd problem. If I have a complaint, this means something is wrong. When something is wrong, I need God to be God for me. If I put my complaint between myself and God, it may block me from getting to God at all. But I'm a Christian. This means I can bring my complaints to the Cross. Jesus connects me to God through His Cross. This is where I bring my sin, my bitterness, my anger, my complaints. This is where I bring myself, with His Holy Spirit's help.

In the garden after their sin God asked Adam, "Where are you?" This is the question of complaint and disappointment. We ask it of God when we are disappointed with Him. Our perspective is skewed by our pain. He's right there and we are circumstantially blind to it. God asks it of us when we truly are lost. His perspective is our way out of the pain and its cause. It is manifest in the Cross of Christ and the Christ of the Cross.

Loneliness and the Cross

I know more people who face loneliness on a daily basis than I've ever known. Chronic loneliness presents many challenges. I remind such people that there are also benefits to loneliness, when it is harnessed, in terms of personal industry and creative output. For the most part, though, the burden seems often to outweigh the blessings. Here's where a good, long gaze at the Cross of Christ can be edifying and encouraging. The Cross of Christ is the home and resting place for all human loneliness. It is the loneliest place and point in history. Lonely Christians, unlike other lonely people, have an incredible advantage in the Cross besides eternal salvation. I know this last sentence seems like a crazy one! Once saved, who cares about the rest? Well, God for one. God has provided, in the Cross of His One and Only Son, an inexhaustible source of fresh hope and energy for those otherwise debilitated by loneliness. The lonely Christian cannot escape or refuse the fellowship of a Christ whose entire Kingdom is built on moments one Friday of excruciating pain and abandonment. In other words, Jesus Christ is the Lord of the lonely. He owns your loneliness. He is the master of it. Faith in Him changes the pain of it. Now, stay on this road called Christ and see where He leads you! Someday soon you'll forget the clouds for the light. In Christ, loneliness is a finite season. It ends. A new day begins.

Sunday again

It is Sunday again. Don't miss the opportunity to worship God in sacred assembly with other imperfect believers. You may not get another chance.

Check back here tomorrow for another full entry.

May God reveal Who He is to you...

There's Hope for Crossless, Christless Ministry

Crossless, Christless ministry sounds like a pretty bad label, but it represents some of what passes for ministry in churches. It's not a new or isolated situation. Anytime we make church about church, or the gathering about the gathering, or about the people or a person in the gathering the point of the gathering, then that gathering has great potential to be Crossless and Christless. It's not hard to spot. If people think they've done something for God by showing up at something for God, it's probably crossless and Christless. "Look what I did. Look at us. We've got a great crowd today. We're going places and doing things. This is where it's at!" Keep in mind that this is not necessarily negative. It's just something where we don't need the Cross or Christ. We'll name Him here or there, but we don't need Him; we've got us. On the other hand, if we gather broken, unimpressed with ourselves, unaware of a crowd or of popularity, then we find ourselves in need. Deep spiritual need is the only hope for Crossless, Christless Christianity. It is the work of the Spirit. When we need more than ourselves, more than a fine program or ministry, more than an inspiring service or great event, more than a song, more than a prayer, more than each other, then we are on track to the Cross of Christ and the Christ of the Cross. As people we seem to try everything else before we reconcile to God through Christ and His Cross. We are desperate to get ourselves to a place where we are not so desperate. Our big efforts and big desires (just like it says in Romans 9:6) never do the trick. We need God Himself to show mercy and show up! We need Christ and His Cross before we need anything else.

A Spiritual Alarm System

Many of us have alarm systems in our homes. They're good for keeping bad people from getting in, but also good in case a child starts to wander out. Even our church has an alarm system as part of its security system. The cross of Christ acts like an alarm system for the Christian's spiritual life. If anything coming into or out of us is counter to the cross, a constant exposure via Scripture to the Christ who died on that cross will cause conviction to rage in our hearts not unlike the racket caused by a building's alarm. Another name for this is our conscience. This is where sins like self-indulgent pride and the worship of money, sex, and power come into conflict with holiness and truth. The conflict is not a nagging question, but a head-on collision. We know evil when we encounter it. The cross shines the light of truth on the evil we choose and love by showing us that it is not a means for life but death. In other words, the cross ruins our sin. It removes whatever deodorant or perfume of self-justification we've attempted to hide sin's stench with. Alarms go off. May the Holy Spirit give us and be for us the means to repent and turn away from sin toward the cross of Christ.

The Patrick Factor

We can read that he isn't an official "saint." We're not sure what he had to do with snakes leaving Ireland. Wearing green and four-leaf clovers don't tell us anything about his life or why we remember it every year. Did he invent green beer? Did he play the bagpipes? No. He was born in Scotland, not Ireland. He was captured at age 14 and brought to Ireland as a slave to tend sheep. Exposed to Druid spirituality, he turned from it to Christ. Released at 20, he went on to become an effective Christian evangelist and discipler. The shamrock, a three-leaf clover, is what he used to explain the Trinity. He was a minister. He is famous for many things, but his life was redeemed by the cross of Christ. He lived to teach people about the cross of Christ. I wonder how many people know this.

Historical Confusion About the Cross

Maybe you heard the story. In the year 300 and something, the Roman emperor Constantine, a "kind of" convert to Christ over the course of his life, changed Christianity by making it legal and official. He is the first to marry state and religion. In the opinion of some, religion has suffered ever since. There are different accounts and opinions of him and his faith. The most famous part of his conversion involved the assurance he felt in the visual image of the cross. He believed that God told him in a dream or vision that he would win a particular battle he was facing if his army bore this cross (with a matching motto) on their shields. They did. They won. Thus began confusion about the cross. We don't have to pass judgment on this event either way. Was God in it or not? The point is that since this battle the visual of the cross (look to the right) has had its own power in people's eyes. Sometimes it is totally removed from the gospel. In an exorcism movie the priest holds it up to the demon to do spiritual battle. People wear crosses around their necks or have them tattooed to their bodies or hung on the walls of their homes. Many do this to garner blessings and protection. Churches better have visual crosses inside and outside of them or their fidelity will be in question. This visual cross, however, is not the cross of Christ. No priest would fare well holding it up in the air at an exorcism. God's power is not in jewelry or symbols. If we think of the cross we wear, hold, hang on our walls, or install on top of our church buildings as more than a meaningful decoration, we can really confuse ourselves. When we speak about getting back to the cross, we are not saying put more visual crosses everywhere. We're saying that the one cross - that brutal instrument of public execution - is the place where death dies and life is redeemed for those who trust in Christ's death on it as payment for their sins.

Talking About Wanting to be Righteous

Talking about it can be awkward. It sounds backwards. Some of us have experienced religiously abusive, position-hungry people who use "righteousness measurement tools" to arrange their world. They need us to need their religious approval. The word "righteousness" often comes out of their mouths, so it doesn't come out of ours. The problem with this is the cross. The cross of Christ, when it becomes more important in one's life than the opinions of people or the opinion of any one person, especially a self-important, self-appointed religious person, demands a truly righteous life. What is this? Few of us know. And, because it feels weird, we don't have productive conversations about it in the church or as the church. Our men's/women's groups or Bible studies feature personality and Scriptural banter, but little real conversation about the nature of temptation and confession. Confession, in Evangelical circles, usually turns into a type of social performance. As evidence of our mishandling it, we tend to applaud after a particularly moving public confession. How cold this is. Such a confession must be edited, dramatic, and end like a 1/2 television show: neatly packaged. There's nothing necessarily wrong with this, except that after all this we haven't talked together about wanting to be righteous; we've talked at each other in ways to reassure each other that we already are. I think this is one of the ways that we as Christians make each other feel so alone sometimes.

I confess that I want to live a righteous life. My attempts at such feel so weak. Even though I'm a pastor with the unbelievable privilege of being able to spend so much time in Scripture and in the things of God, I struggle with how little support we give each other when it comes to this basic response to the cross. The Bible in 1st Corinthians 1:18 says, "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." One of the scariest parts about being a pastor of a Christian church in America in 2011 is that I see how the message of the cross is often foolishness to those of us who say we believe. If we don't start talking about this, how will it change? God wants us to start talking to Him and each other about how to live the cross-inspired, cross-enabled, righteous life His Son died to give us.    

The Cookie and the Cross

Dieting represents what is wrong with this world. I bet that Muammar Gaddafi and Charlie Sheen were both just on diets. Now look at them! So, if I want to eat this cookie I’m holding, I should just be able to eat it. No one has the right to stop me or even make me feel bad about it. I will eat this cookie. I will enjoy it. It is mine to eat. If God didn’t want me to eat it, why is it here in my hand inches from my waiting mouth? He is Sovereign, isn’t He? This cookie is a sign to me that God loves me. The doctors of this world tell me to refrain, but to do so might just be to disobey God Himself. Do I obey the doctors or God? Now, suddenly, I realize, this is a sacred cookie. And there are more where this one came from. So, today I will worship God in spirit and with cookies! Now, it is no longer my pleasure but His that I pursue. These “love handles” cascading over the sides of my belt are to be renamed “God handles!” Praise the Lord and pass the holy cookies! Did Paul Newman get the inspiration for Ginger-O’s straight from Heaven? In this moment, I believe.

The truth is – now after one too many cookies I see the truth – that in this moment of weakness, I will believe whatever my flesh commands me to believe. This is why I need the Cross of Jesus Christ rudely, permanently, unflinchingly installed in the middle of my existence. Simple.   

Not on Sundays

Sundays don't count as part of the 40 days of Lent. Check back tomorrow. Today is a day for open Bibles, honest prayers, heartfelt songs, and imperfect people coming together for the sole purpose of coming together under God. As the world would consider a day wasted, today is a day to be wasted. Avoid shopping. Do not be productive. Do not be too tight about what you do not do. Maintain what's needed, do no more. Do not take care of something. Do not push forward. Do not make plans. The plans that really matter for you and I have already been made.

Gaze on the cross.

Rest.

Front Row Seat for the Tsunami

Shannon, my wife, is with her friend, Leslie Haskin, to speak at a women's retreat in San Luis Obispo, CA. She's in a hotel that overlooks the Pacific ocean. They arrived just in time for the Tsunami. Yesterday we talked about it all over the phone a few times. As I sat back home in NY, the situation intrigued me. Circumstances had been arranged so she could have a front row seat for the Tsunami. Here on the East coast, we listened to the news and watched the extensive footage of the disaster in Japan. Again, let's pray for all involved. The thing that intrigued me, however, was not the Tsunami itself, but the importance of location. If we are close to something geographically, we don't have to imagine its impact, we can experience it. This applies especially to the cross of Jesus Christ. The more distance we put between ourselves and Jesus' death on the cross, the less we feel its power. Sometimes, too, it seems like every activity under the sun, maybe especially religious activity, has as its motivation to put distance between us and Christ's death. The busier we are, the less the cross is on our mind. Lent is designed to interrupt our busyness. More primary than this, Sabbath is ordained to interrupt it. Without these interruptions, without our stopping, without the regular shutting down of our lives, we will only hear about the cross second or third hand. Prayer and fasting and all manner of resting from our flesh are vehicles, like the jets were for Leslie and Shannon, for moving us into place so we have a front row seat to the Tsunami of judgment and grace that is the cross of Jesus Christ.

Those who think they don't need this interruption are the ones who need it the most.

Consequent Absolute Necessity versus Hypothetical Necessity

You may cringe at this blog's title; there's not one cozy word in it. It represents, however, a theological priority. If people claim the Christ of Scripture for salvation, my opinion is that they must hold one of these views and reject the other. John Murray's famous book on the Atonement, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, presents this most powerfully. Consequent Absolute Necessity is the view that God, once He decided, for His own purpose and pleasure only, to save some people, had to do it exactly as Scripture describes it via the Cross. Based on what God has revealed about Himself via Scripture, there were no other options. Hypothetical Necessity says, to sum it up, that God could have done whatever He wanted. He could have waved His God-wand and declared us all saved if He wanted to and avoided the cross altogether, even though He didn't. The problems with this are many, and it is a very popular belief. It trivializes both Scripture and the Cross. The Bible sets up what must be the one way to salvation; it had to be a suffering Savior dying on a cross. It was not possible for the Father to let this cup pass. The sacrifices of the Old Testament are copies of the one sacrifice God required of His Son.  

What does this mean for normal people? It means that anything that lessens or upstages the Cross of Christ is deadly to our souls. It wasn't just "how things turned out in this crazy world." It was the will of the Father to crush His Son as it says in Isaiah 53:10. Forget "prosperity" Christianity, the kind where we earn credit and blessings for our faith and decisions. It's not Christianity at all. It won't save anyone. Nothing that diminishes the cross of Christ can be of Christ. Faith in Him is not about anything we do or anything else but the cross. Credit and blessings are His to give by grace, not ours to take by effort. The cross is not a starting point from which we move on and up to greater spiritual heights. There are no greater spiritual heights; His resurrection confirms and seals this. The cross is the only point. Without the cross of Christ the Bible is gibberish, the gospel is empty, and the church is doomed. With the cross of Christ we have, by faith in Him alone, the Christ who died on the cross for us; we have everything we need and want forever.

"When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of Glory died.
My richest gain I count but loss.
And pour contempt on all my pride."  

Funeral for a Five-Year-Old

Many in our community at Goodwill Church know that yesterday I attended the funeral for a friend and preschool classmate of my daughter, Kelsie. (Join the growing group of us praying for the family.) One of the visually difficult parts of a child's funeral is the size of the casket. To see the small casket, for many of us, is to experience the full rush of turbulence and grief that such a loss produces. Andrew was a little boy with so much in front of him. The happy hope of childhood seems in direct contrast to death. A small casket seems in direct contrast to the exploding universe of life and potential in a little God-loving boy. The emotions are different at a funeral for a much older person. We think that this person had a good chance to live and plenty of time. This, however, is not the case. Life is brief for all of us. We all have earthly lives that end in small caskets. The end is always soon. Dreams and tasks lie undone. Relationships remain broken. Adventures vaporize. Plans evaporate. We think this is out of accord with how life should be. What went wrong? The cross stands in time to correct our perception. After Genesis 3, loss is the rule, not the exception. Even Christ had to die, yet in His death is the death of death. Christian hope is no respecter of circumstances.

Exactly one week before the accident, this boy celebrated my girl's birthday, with two dozen or so other kids, at an elaborate party (at Jumpin' Jakes, for those who know kids' stuff). There was sliding, bouncing, running, balloons, ice cream cake, and pizza. I talked to his mom a bit, and him too. We ate cake together.

It's goodbye... for now, not forever. This last sentence was made possible only by the cross of Jesus Christ.

Ash Wednesday

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." It's not in the Bible. It's from the funeral service in the Book of Common Prayer. We repent "in dust and ashes." We see this in the Bible. The penitent would cover themselves with ashes and dust. We don't do this anymore. A little ashes on the forehead may symbolize it for some, but it is not the same thing. Frankly, the Biblical concept of repentance is obscured by this picture of dust and ashes. Repentance is about change, not sorrow. In fact, sorrow is a poor substitute for change. For some of us, sorrow is a nice compromise, since we don't really want to turn from our sins. We'll apologize for them with great sincerity and then run back to them. It won't matter if we bathe in ashes; it means nothing. God does not care how sorry I am for my sins. This is human religious pretense. If I trust in Christ and turn away from sin and my sins in His power, that's another story. That's the gospel. Repentance is powerful and required. It is connected to salvation. Repentance is not about God punishing me for my sins with guilt and remorse. It is about God punishing His only Son, Jesus, for my sins with His substitutionary death on the cross and His burial in the tomb and me resting on and receiving what He's done as my only hope in this life and the next.

Death by Discounting the Cross

For large tracts of Western Christianity the cross is out. How gauche it is. How primitive and backwards, many say. We, Goodwill Church, are going to shamelessly stare at it for all 40 days of Lent. Cross, cross, cross! No apologies. No sympathy. No "handling with care." This infatuation with Crossless Christianity shows us how bad Christians can be for Christianity. God save Christianity from Christians! This is not a cynical or humorous sentence. It's a real prayer. Thank God for the cross. There we find the truth. There we find hope. There we find the life ambition of our Savior. His Father sent Him to the cross. His birth and life were roads to His cross. Without His cross, His teachings, miracles, and historical presence shatter to nonsense in our hands. We are saved by the Christ of the cross and no other. Together we gratefully shout, "Thank God!"