A Fall to Be Savored

Happy Fall, Ya'll! Okay, it's been a few weeks, but temps are just starting to feel like autumn in our little armpit of the East. I hope you're wrapping yourself in the warmest sweaters and coziest mugs of chocolaty goodness you can find; crunching through golden leaves, gazing at October blue skies, and savoring the smell of bonfires and spice. It's a glorious time to get out and enjoy God's created world and celebrate the changing of seasons. Just a question, though, when you imagine those six days of Creation, do you envision leafy green trees, shady spots in sun-kissed meadows, hills bursting with mountain laurel, plump bumble bees bobbing effortlessly from flower to flower, and Eve, long hair flowing, reaching up to grab a perfectly polished apple? Or do your thoughts go to the THUNK CHUNK BUMP-BUMP of acorns dropping, foliage dried and swirling, honking geese, burrowing frogs, jittery squirrels bustling about with their collecting, and Adam, tall and rugged, gathering his bounty of arugula, turnips, and squash? We have a visualization, don't we? One that doesn't seem to include autumn and its earthy hues. Perhaps that is because of the other fall, the one that cost all of creation dearly. Perhaps we think that autumn is the beginning throes of nature's death, and death, of course, came with the Fall of Mankind. 

So, let's talk about that fall for a bit. Genesis 1: God creates, and it is very good. Genesis 2 provides us with the gift of rest, gives us the details of humanity's creation, describes the naming of the animals, and explains God's provisions and restrictions for the couple in the garden. Genesis 3: The Fall. Verse 1 gets right into it. The serpent was cunning, he talks to Eve, and she responds. Was it strange for this animal to speak? Was she surprised? Did she question it? Did God really say, ‘You are not to eat from any tree in the garden’? Cunning indeed! He perverts God's words from the start and makes His decrees subject to our evaluation. Mankind becomes the authority and God the subject of our scrutiny. Is that really what He said? opens the door to assessing the very character of God. Is God unfair? Does He have too many rules? Even worse, His motives are made open (not really, but in theory) to question: Is He trying to keep you from being all you can be? Is this a power play? Is He threatened by your ability? What does this inquisition imply about God? Eve, who, we assume, received the command from her husband, seems to be forced to face this probing alone. What did He say? Don't you know? Her ignorance giving birth to shame, Eve makes up her own version of "the rule": Don't eat it or touch it, lest you die.

Friends, there is nothing like the Light of Jesus Christ poured out on the shame with which this world would burden us to expunge it completely. Had she remained silent, had she asked her husband, had she humbly said, "I'll get back to you on that", had she asked her Creator and the Giver of the law... had she done anything but pervert the words of God as adeptly as her deceiver... Instead, she overstepped, and knowing she overstepped, the serpent took her words and contradicted them. The word of God is truth; there is no refuting it. But the word of a woman wearing the brazened armor of legalism? Fruit wasn't the only thing ripe for the plucking. She saw the fruit was pleasant and tasted that which had been forbidden to her. 

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! ~ Psalm 34:8 

The desire and doubt in her heart became manifest through indulgence in carnal pleasures rather than relationship with, honor toward, the worship and obedience of her eternal, divine Creator. And the same is true of humanity today. Condemnation and separation are multiplied as we seek to know and become one with the carnal. Grace, peace, and relationship are ours in the spiritual knowledge of our Lord and Creator. Jesus Christ is the Mediator and Redeemer who removes our guilt and restores our relationship with God the Father, and by His Holy Spirit, we are able to walk humbly in step with Him.

I can't say for sure whether Creation looked more like a balmy summer scene or the onset of a slumber season when God first spoke, but I do know the vibrant colors we enjoy as the weather starts to cool are the handiwork of a loving Creator who gave us all things. Through the redeeming work of His Son at Calvary, the curse of the mankind's fall is reversed. We are made ready to serve Him and enjoy Him all year long!

Whoever You Are

I was reading Nehemiah 1 the other morning. (Again, shoutout to Jennifer Lane and her book HIStory in 366 Days; a year of daily devotions centered around our need and God's plan for redemption!) In the first verse of Nehemiah, we discover he is "the son of Hachaliah." Whoever he is. Nehemiah says he is, at the time, in Susa, a capital city of the Persian Empire. He has received word regarding the grievous condition of Jerusalem and its residents and longs for God's mercy. The next several verses --until the end of the chapter --are Nehemiah's confession on behalf of his people and his plea for God's favor: Nehemiah is preparing to go before the Persian king and request permission to return to Jerusalem and restore the city (and Judah's fear of the Lord).

So, what do we know about Nehemiah so far? He is the son of Hachaliah --whoever he is --and a follower of the God of Israel. He is, at the time, a subject of the king of Persia. BUT it is not until the end of chapter one, eleven verses in, and after we are shown that Nehemiah is a faithful servant of the Lord, that this is revealed:

For I was the king's cupbearer. (v. 11)

Nehemiah was not some ordinary exile struggling to adjust to life in a new country, working someone else's land, being daily harassed by soldiers or shunned at the local market. Nehemiah was not a priest without a temple or a politician without a constituency. Nehemiah lived at the palace of the king of Persia! He was in the monarch's presence daily. He tasted rich foods and likely rested his head on --well, more than a stone. His clothes were provided and maintained. He might not have been a royal, but he certainly would have lived like one. What sort of resume' wouldn't lead with that? Nehemiah's. Eleven powerful verses make it pretty clear, his identity was linked to his service --not to a king, but to The King. Sure, he's the son of Hachaliah --whoever he is --but from the very beginning of the account, his focus is on the state of God's people in God's city. His go-to is not his influence before the king or his political connections; his go-to is God. He humbles himself before the One who created the land on which Jerusalem was built. He humbles himself before the One who is sovereign over those who built the gates as well as those who burnt them. He humbles himself before the only One who can forgive and restore. He shares his plight with his employer but humbles himself before his God. He was the king's cupbearer... by the way. It was convenient he could obtain from his boss the right and resources to rebuild the city, but definitely not necessary. 

What if the king had not allowed him to go? Can you see Nehemiah prostrate before his ruler, begging for permission to return to Jerusalem? I can't. God put it on Nehemiah's heart to restore the glory of God's holy city for the glory of God, and God would provide whatever was necessary to carry out that work. Nehemiah was certain of that. He left behind the splendor of service to a king to lead his people in returning to The King. His claim to fame would not be as cupbearer, but as one whose identity was firmly fixed in obeying the God of Israel. 

What would you say is the most important part of your identity? Is it the fact you're a parent? Is it your degree? Is it the family in which you grew up, or even the church you attend? Is the most important part of your identity what you do to pay the bills or what you spend most of your time doing? When your book is closed, your story is written, do you want to be known among the world's arbiters, or do you seek the approval of The Master alone? Will you be recognized by the great sums you managed and the business relationships you developed, or will you be known for laying up treasure that moths and rust cannot destroy? Will your epitaph read "cupbearer"? "Daughter of Fred"? --whoever he is. Or will it boldly proclaim, "servant, laborer, child of God"? 

 

Midweek: The Difficulty of Ezekiel's Calling

Ezekiel, a man in exile, was called by God to speak to his fellow captives. Now, never mind the difficulty of convincing "stiff-necked" people who rebelled so fiercely against the Almighty, they had to be conquered by a fearsome enemy known for cruelty and debauchery --never mind convincing them you were sent by God and are speaking His words; but just imagine seeing some of the things God showed Ezekiel --dried bones in a valley rattling to life --and being ordered to do some of the things Ezekiel was commanded to do --eat a scroll, cut his hair with a sword. Really wild stuff, right? But God was desperately trying to get His message to the people He loved and giving them opportunity to earn the judgment that was coming their way, as well. For Ezekiel, however, his calling got real personal and even more difficult.

In Ezekiel 24:15-17, Ezekiel receives a devastating word from the Lord: God was going to take from him his wife. There's a larger point I want to make so, I'm just going to throw some of my lesser thoughts out there and you can mull them over at your convenience.

    1) Ezekiel was probably about thirty years old when he was called as a prophet. He prophesied for a little over twenty years or so. It seems his wife died shortly before the end of his ministry, making him a bit more than middle-aged. I'm sure they had plans. I'm sure they expected a long life together. But, for the sake of the rebellious people of God, Ezekiel lost the love of his life.

    2) God calls Ezekiel's wife "the desire of his eyes," and says He will remove her with one stroke. Ezekiel loved his wife; they had, apparently, quite a passionate relationship. And in a flash, she was gone. I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died (v.18). The magnitude of Ezekiel's grief is hard to grasp.

    3) And, his grief. Ezkiel was forbidden by God from any sort of public mourning. He was to "sigh in silence." Not only did he lose his wife for the sake of these stiff-necked people, he couldn't even grieve! How hurtful it must have been to have his love for his bride come into question!

And this is where we head back to the point I want to dig into a bit more deeply. In the first chapter of Ezekiel, God shows His prophet some pretty marvelous things, and Ezekiel fell on his face in awe of his God. (We explored this in my first post about Ezekiel two weeks ago, Ezekiel Fell on His Face.) God told Ezekiel to stand. How unworthy he must have felt! How he must have longed to hide himself! What came to me was the account of Adam and Eve in the garden, separated by sin from their relational Father, naked and hiding. God, who once walked with His children in a garden, was now too awesome, too fearsome for them to stand before in confidence. They were painfully aware they missed the mark; they were ashamed and tried desperately to cover themselves.

In thinking of the relationship between Ezekiel and his wife, I'm reminded of that initial freedom of two, meant for one another, made for one another, committed to one another, and being without shame. Our society has so perverted the gift of marriage with promiscuity and lack of commitment that it's almost hard to understand the importance of exclusivity and saving oneself for another. Only because of the covenant of marriage --a covenant made before and with God --are we able to stand unclothed in body and soul without shame before another human being. We stand before our spouse knowing that we are fully loved --not perfectly, but fully --and our most intimate secrets are safely kept with another human being who shares their vulnerability with us. There is no need to protect ourselves. Ezekiel lost the bride of his youth, the desire of his eyes, the one who stood before him unguarded and he before her.

It is only because of Jesus' work on the cross that we can stand before a holy God without shame or condemnation. Our Bridegroom will never leave us of forsake us; He is with us always. And He is the confidence we have. Our relationship with Him is symbolized in the covenant of marriage but will endure forever. As God called out His message to His people Israel through a widowed prophet, He longs for those who have turned away to return to Him now. Unashamed, pardoned, loved, and safe before His throne.  

Adherence to the Law by the Grace of God

Have you ever used one of those fitness apps or devices? This convenient, inflexible program meticulously records health-related details: blood pressure, weight, activity, sleep, etc. There is a not-so-terrible mission behind it all: quantification for the purpose of better health and better living. Take more steps today than you did yesterday! Get more sleep than you did last night! Stay healthy! Good numbers are equated with good health, and good health is, of course, equated with a good life. But there's something of a dark side: Take a day off, grab a treat, and watch your numbers suffer. Nothing like heavy-handed restriction to engage folks in the practice of wellness! The device that sits on the wrists of my family and friends is little more than a legalistic little tyrant. Some are crippled by its judgment, while others have become calloused and ignore it altogether. Neither choice is helpful and its mission goes unaccomplished.     

The law of the Lord has been perverted in much the same way. This is nothing new: God, through Solomon warns, There is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). When the law, the rules become your god; when specifics and boxes checked become the things you worship, perversion has occurred. Going back to the aforementioned gadget, if its numbers are meant to give us a picture or a path to good health with the objective of improving our life, we take those numbers as a part of a whole, the means to an end; not the end itself. Changing these criteria for the better will improve one aspect of my life, but they are not life as a whole. God's people, Israel, looked at the criteria God had given them and made adherence to it their god. Finger pointing and added benchmarks were the result; heavy burdens laid on the people. Others wearied of trying to keep up and simply gave up, following the practices of nearby religions instead or merging the practices of Mosaic law with other ideas in a wholly undefined syncretism. The same is true today. Again, mission unaccomplished. So, why did God write things like the Ten Commandments? Why were there so many laws in the Book of Leviticus? Am I saying we are free from obeying them?

Well, there were laws given that were specific to the circumstances of God's people at the time; laws for living as a nation and laws for living without things like refrigeration and toaster ovens; laws meant for their protection in an ancient agrarian society that was, for a period, nomadic and would eventually be called upon to fight some pretty fierce enemies. I'm not getting into the woods with those things, but the law of God's word is generally viewed as having three purposes: a rule, a mirror, and a curb. 

    A rule: God's laws give the blueprint for the life we are able to live when believers allow themselves to be governed by the Holy Spirit. It shows us how to honor the God we worship and what the standard of being holy as our God is holy looks like. 

    A mirror: When we consider a holy, perfect God, and experience our own inability to achieve that holiness and perfection, we see ourselves more rightly. Without a list of criteria to meet, we can feel pretty good about ourselves. The law is that criteria and our true state is woefully inept (at the least), wicked at its core. This is our need for a perfect Savior.

    A curb: Societies throughout history have thrived when they have obeyed God's laws. Call it pragmatic, but the law of God is good for all of humanity. Obedience to it staves off the reign of darkness across the globe.

So, yes, we should obey God's law. Yes, we should want to obey the commands of our King. No, they did not become obsolete when Jesus paid our debt on the cross. And no, they do not offer us salvation or guarantee a relationship with Jesus Christ. Praise God, His people today are offered the ability to live under the grace of God by the mercy of God poured forth at the cross. By His grace, we receive the Holy Spirit who enables us to obey His precepts and become holy in heart and conduct. Our infractions are no more calculated on some spiritual scale than our good deeds are tallied to establish our worth before Him. His children are freed to delight in His law, giving thanks for perfect boundaries set not by a legalistic tyrant but by a loving God. And His work will be brought to completion. Of that we are assured!