To Bring Him Glory!

As I stared out at the brilliant October Glory Maple in the back yard, I noticed the different colors of leaves moving in the breeze. Some of its leaves held on tightly to their late summer green. Others had adopted the vibrant orange that gained this tree its name. While others still, had yellow tips with green at the stem. 

Variegated. Diverse. Not every leaf at equal stages. 

And I thought about every individual's journey with (or without) Jesus. No two people are in exactly the same place with regard to their relationship with Christ. Some will, in this life, never bow the knee to Him. Others haven't yet, but --praise God! --one day will. Those who have, those who do bow the knee are each learning and experiencing something new with regard to serving Him, obeying Him, worshiping Him, and proclaiming Him. I would imagine there are countless variables that come into play with regard to timing and transformation; but together, as the body of Christ, we are trained and equipped to bring Him glory with our lives, as one body. How critical it is that we pray for and encourage one another, showing one another grace as we go through the process. Like this tree with marvelous colors I admire year after year, the difference in stages and hues bringing to mind the diversity of Christ's Church, it is that very diversity that is not only part of its transformation, but a wonder to behold!

Only one day later, however, my husband awakened to an orange glow pouring through the windows of our kitchen. The variegated tree I'd so admired the previous afternoon was now covered with vibrant orange leaves. Few remained that had not been fully transformed. This fiery ambassador of autumn had shed almost every vestige of hesitancy or ineptitude in a matter of hours! It had become fully as it was meant to be in this season!

Integrated. Kindred. Every leaf moving toward the same goal.

And I thought again about every individual's journey with (or without) Jesus. Without our Standard, Jesus Christ, there is no goal to which one can move. Those without Christ will never find the wholeness and integration --as individuals or as a group --that is found in Christ alone. Pray for them. Those who have not yet believed unto salvation will --praise God! --one day stand before the throne of our King, whole and perfect, unique persons, but parts of the whole and perfect Bride of Christ. Like the single leaves of a mighty tree unite to proclaim the glory of their Creator, all God's children will be uniquely created individuals, joined in partnership for the purposes of worshipping the One True and Living King; each one dearly loved and highly favored by Him. As His body, we are called to be of one mind; the mind of Christ possessed among many, that He may be fully and perfectly served, receiving the glory He is due, and proclaimed with one accord! But much like the whole tree thrives when its parts are healthy, singlemindedness in the body of Christ is not something we, as a group, can achieve unless we, as individuals, have personally committed to seeking integrity and Christlikeness on our own. 

Someone once said, "Though I value...integrity, I'm not so wild about the costs that sometimes go along with it." Those costs can mean that "leaves" like us can constantly rub up against other leaves; forced to exist on the same tiny branch as leaves that are still fighting to remain in a past season, or leaves that may not be as bright and brilliant as we think we are, or leaves that might be showing signs of some sort of ailment. But integrity, wholeness, purity, moral soundness is worth all of the rubbing. And if we and those "leaves" around us have, as individuals, surrendered to the Holy Spirit's work in us, something beautiful and magnificent and glorious will greet us one day. After all, look at the trees. 

Will You Knock or Will You Tow?

There are signs for a reason! If they'd obeyed them, they wouldn't have to worry about being towed, a friend ranted.

You know overnight parking around here can be tough. Have you tried knocking on the neighbor's door? his wife countered.

I'm not doing all that! The signs say, 'No parking after 7:30 AM.' It's 8:30 now, and there's plenty of parking. They had a right to get up and move them!

Are you trying to spend the morning punishing people or are you trying to get the street cleared for the contractor's vehicles?

Would the Apostle Paul have been just as disheartened by this exchange as he was with the church in Galatia? The believers, a blend of Messianic Jews and Gentiles had come to know the saving grace of Jesus. Somewhere along the line, they had, however, fallen prey to the preaching of a different message, one that declared Gentile believers had to first become Jews and observe Jewish law to be true followers of the Messiah. In fact, it had gotten so bad, Paul wrote:

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! (v. 13-15)

When Jesus came and lived among humanity, He spoke a message of love, forgiveness, grace, and salvation from the judgment we are due outside of God's mercy. In fact, His message earned Him a lot of grief from those who insisted there was more to it than that. No one can be made righteous before God without jumping through a whole lot of hoops. They were wrong; and when Jesus gave His life in our place on Calvary, He not only demonstrated His willingness to practice what He preached, He proved He was the One sufficient to surpass every expectation. Jesus fulfilled the Law. The Galatians aren't the only ones who have lost sight of that over the course of history; we sometimes do as well. Of course, we must continue to keep God's commandments despite their inability to fully restore our relationship with God. Obedience demonstrates love for our Savior (John 14:15). But there is only One Mediator between us and our Creator (1 Timothy 2:5, 6); there is only One Way to approach God (John 14:6). And being a good person isn't it, upholding the Law isn't it. Because of God's love for us and the Son's love for the Father (demonstrated through His obedience), we are redeemed (Romans 5:1, 2, 8). The Law is great, but only love leads to that measure of selflessness, sacrifice, and obedience to the Law. 

So, back to the Galatians (and my friends with the parking problem). Obedience to the Law, to the utmost letter of it, for the purpose of "being" righteous or demanding others be righteous is legalism. When legalism shows up, love leaves. But when the perfect love of God presides by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, the Law is made perfect and humanity thrives. People surrendered to the Holy Spirit are vessels, conduits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control overflowing to others (Galatians 5:22, 23). As I said before, to obey the commands of Jesus is to demonstrate love, so there must be boundaries and rules; but the Law is applied in love and for the purposes of loving rightly. Take for example, the parking problem. If my friends had positioned themselves at the curb anxiously awaiting the wrecker, their neighbor's response would surely have been negative; but a knock on the door at 7:30 AM, while unpleasant, would probably have been more welcome than a bill for towing. And it just might have created an opportunity to talk or discover some way my friends could have poured out the light of Christ upon their neighbor's lives. 

Let me be clear, pouring out Sonlight on another's life is neither reckless indulgence nor ruthless judgment. Help and kindness when delivered with the message of the Gospel is exactly what Jesus modeled; there is structure, purpose, an explicit pointing to God as the Giver all predicated upon love. Sharing the message of Christ's coming to reconcile and restore sinners is by no means delivered with a pointed finger but is, again, predicated upon love, our love for God and our love for our neighbor. A missionary friend once offered her guideline: When we seek to share Jesus with our neighbor, on our first visit we take food. On our second visit, we take clothing. On our third visit, we take our Bibles. Again, not looking to be legalistic; this is not some hard and fast rule. The point being made, however, was a balance: tending to the spiritual needs of our neighbors in tandem with recognizing and addressing their physical needs. 

As much as our nation and our world needs law and order, the laws of men will only ever be imperfect, and men will only respond to them imperfectly. The Law of God is perfect, but it is a law of liberty, given to humanity in love and sealed with the very blood of the Son of God. The Law of God creates doers, lovers of God who go forth in love toward their neighbor and share the joy of obedience to God's Law.

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. ~ James 1:25 

Love does what the Law cannot. Love makes permanent changes to unrighteous behavior. It is love that will draw our neighbors to the Lover of our souls; a knock at the door, not a tow truck.

Midweek: Time for Glory

In a book by Judith Viorst, a young boy named Alexander has a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day." Life seems to mock him either through sins of commission (he wakes up with gum in his hair) or sins of omission (even his mother forgets to give him dessert). As adults, we appreciate the charm of Alexander's innocent belief that, somehow, there is a conspiracy of betrayal. In fact, when my own childish and self-absorbed thoughts get the better of me, I can't honestly deny an even greater immaturity of my own! Perhaps we have all had those moments --or days --when we act as if all the world is against us.

John 13 records Jesus last few hours before He will be falsely tried and convicted, sentenced, beaten almost to death, and executed. Surely, all the world had come against Him; His own countrymen, the government, and even, His friends. Verse 30 records the moment in which Judas headed into the night to betray the very One who loved him to the end. A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing indeed! But how did Jesus respond?

Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. (v. 31)

The glorification of the Son for the glorification of the Father and the good of an entire Kingdom of people had begun! Now! In the betrayal, in the custody of those who desired to silence Him, in the fear that would strike His disciples, in the cowardice of a self-seeking governor, in the bloodthirsty cries of a gathering crowd, in the beating at the hand of those who delighted in inflicting pain on others, in the humiliating execution, in the silence that would follow. This is what victory looked like. This was the glorification of our Savior. But before it would be completed, Jesus made time for a lesson in love.

Lord, where are You going? The words of Peter as Jesus began, once again, to speak His final words to His followers. Have you ever tried teaching a young child about something that is clearly not as interesting to them as the wrinkles on your face or the dog barking three streets away? I imagine Peter this way; so passionate, yet so distracted by what he sees as a need for cold, hard facts. Once he's got them, he's all in; but he's got to have the details first! And imagine Jesus, His heart aching to deliver to them this critical message, the impetus for their work as they established the Church universal. Love one another.  

Lord, I would lay down my life for you! Again, Peter. Where could his friend possibly go that he would not want to follow? And Jesus tells him:

The rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times. (v. 38)

Fear will overtake you. You are not yet strong enough to face your cross. One day you will be, but not before your work on earth has been done. For now, just do this one thing I am asking you to do; for now, just love.

Our pastor laments that we often dream of costly obedience while struggling with, becoming irritated by, even avoiding inconvenient obedience; those things we don't care much to do or are not within our natural inclinations. But the words of Jesus as His glorification began to take shape --Love one another --are the same for us, those who are the Church springing forth out of the disciples' obedience. Not self-absorption, but self-sacrificial love; laying down one's life for another, obedience unto death for the sake of the Body and the glory of our High King in Heaven. Not a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, but a time for glory brought about by obeying the command to simply love.

      

Who Will You Elect to Trust?

As this goes to post, mid-term elections are less than twenty-four hours away. Lots to talk about there, but what happens after the election? Not who is going to remove all of those hideous signs stuck in every median, roadside, and green space --although, if you know whose job it is, be sure to send them to our neighborhood --but what about the inevitable disappointment that comes with "your" candidate losing or "your" candidate not doing as promised? We've all been there. How do we respond to those things? How do we handle the fear that creeps into our minds when we see a moral issue abandoned for immorality? How do we live under policies we're sure will tear our country or county apart? In Daniel 6 we see how Daniel of the Bible responded to some terrible policy making.

Daniel was an Israelite, kidnapped by the Chaldeans and sent to Babylon for something of a social experiment. The king of Babylon took David and some of his exceptional Jewish friends and attempted to make Babylonians out of them; his country could benefit from Israel's "best and brightest." Now, Daniel and his friends made it a habit of obeying God and, so long as God's way did not differ from the king's way, he let them have their fun. In Daniel 6 is where we find that some issues developed. Daniel's success led to some jealousy among the other people in the king's cabinet, so to speak. You see, Daniel had done such a great job, the king, Darius, wanted to make Daniel their boss. They weren't too pleased with that idea and sought a way to find fault with him. Was he cheating the king? taking too long a lunch break? sleeping with one of the king's harem? No, no, and no. But he was praying and serving his God all day, every day. That, they decided, would be their "in." 

They went to the king and, after some grotesque flattery, got him to put his stamp on an edict that made petitioning any "god" other than the king punishable by a trip to the den of lions. He went for it, and they went to spy on Daniel. It didn't take them long. Daniel 6:10 says that when Daniel heard the law had been signed, he went home and prayed at his open window (facing Jerusalem) as he always had. No doubt, Daniel saw this as a cause for great prayer; not a time to abandon it. His enemies had their intel and ran straight to the king with it.

Was Darius so distracted by the weightier issues of his role, he signed his best guy's death sentence simply to get rid of his pesky governors? Did he not consider how this could be used against Daniel who faithfully, visibly prayed to the Hebrew God? Or did the king not know this was Daniel's routine? Did the sycophantic twaddle of Daniel's adversaries make his head swim with grandiose thoughts of his own importance and, well, he deserved that sort of respect? Whatever his motives, the king's edict could not be reversed, and Daniel was cast into the lion's den. The king spent the night without food, entertainment, or sleep. We might even assume Daniel got more sleep that night than the king (!) for when the king got to the den of lions the next morning, his plaintive call was met with the strong shout of his very best guy:        

Oh, king, live forever! (v. 21) May the king who rashly (?) ignorantly (?) pridefully (?) signed an order forbidding me to pray to my God, upheld the villainy of my enemies, and condemned me to ravenous lions live forever! Impressive. To make all of this more extraordinary, this was a pagan king. Daniel had been abducted and sent to this land; this was not his home. But he had submitted to this king's authority. He prayed for his good. Daniel's extreme loyalty to an earthly king, in a place he did not belong did not outweigh or override his loyalty to his God. Rather, it was because of his loyalty to a heavenly King, he could pray for the blessing of the king he served in Babylon. It was because he trusted his God's sovereignty over every kingdom, Daniel could pray for the good of the kingdom of Darius. 

And the same is possible for us today no matter who is our boss or mayor or union rep or teacher or even our president. Every trial, every pressure in life reveals where we have placed our trust. Trust in anything or anyone other than Christ is evidenced by panic and chaos, fear and disappointment, vitriol aimed at others or a withdrawal from the lives of our neighbors. Trust in people or things which cannot ultimately deliver us is often found to be empty and can leave us with feelings of betrayal or apathy. But trust in the One True King, the God who made heaven and earth, who is merciful and faithful and mighty --trust in the Almighty alone is characterized by rest and peace. 

So, when the elections are over, when your candidate is or isn't in office, let's pray. For our country and communities, our leaders and those who would be, for our family and friends who may be struggling with the impact of new policies, those on the "other side of the aisle," and for our own hearts, that Christ might be at the very center and our trust might be in Him. And, if we're out and about, let's help get rid of some of those signs.