Palm Sunday Thoughts

Approaching Jerusalem, Jesus tells His disciples to go on ahead and find a donkey and colt, untie them, and bring them to Him (Matthew 21:2; Mark 11:2; Luke 19:30). Reading this, I'm reminded of Peter finding the coin in the fish's mouth (Matthew 17:27), and I realize something. It's not at all that Jesus "knew these things would be there" (especially in the case of the coin). Yes, He was prophetic (John 4:18-19), but He was so much more than that. The coin and donkey scenarios unfolded just as He said simply because He said so. He spoke them there. See the difference? It was another opportunity, for those who could or would grasp it, to see that He was in fact God. He didn't know these things would be true. He made them true.

How safe we are, as believers in Christ, in the hands of a good God who makes truth.

Some could possibly argue that Jesus just called for the donkey because Zechariah the prophet had predicted the Christ's entry in this way (Zechariah 9:9), and of course Jesus knew the Scriptures. But if they're hoping for evidence against Jesus as Messiah, they overlook that only the Messiah could have obtained the donkey the way He did. First, the donkey and colt were where He said they'd be. Second, when told "The Lord needs them," the bystanders made no objection. An unspoken witness.

Jesus was always, always, telling us by words and actions Who He was. Just as there were messages in every parable for those who would hear, there were clues in virtually every step He took and thing He did, for those who had spiritual eyes to see.

When He rode the donkey down the road, amid the coats and palm branches, the crowd cried, "Hosanna!" This word is variously rendered as "save," "save now," or "save us, please." I believe people are often highly prophetic without even knowing it. What the crowd wanted, of course, was salvation from Rome. (What they failed to grasp, perhaps, was that when their Old Testament showed Israel in rebellion against God, He always allowed them to be conquered by another nation. Being ruled by another country should have been a big clue to return to God in heart, not just by rote.) 

We humans think so small. We want political relief--not a bad thing, certainly, but so very temporal. We concern ourselves with earthly conditions in every area of life. Jesus was here to give the people spiritual liberty now and for all eternity. And by the end of the week they would kill Him. His death and resurrection, of course, being the very means of victory--payment for sin for those who will receive Him, and defeat not only of His contemporary earthly enemies, but of death itself. Period.

You can't make this stuff up. God is only, and exactly, the One Who can. 

Musings and Aphorisms

Unequal yoking with unbelievers also refers to staying in a church that teaches contrary to the essentials of Jesus and the gospel in any way. 

Maybe the reason we'll give account for every idle word we speak is that we are to be perfect as He is perfect, and every single word He speaks counts. 

If believers didn't still struggle with sin, you know what we'd do? We'd start thinking maybe the cross hadn't been all that necessary. 

Yes--more tolerable judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah than for those who reject Messiah, because in so doing you reject the remedy for all the rest.

We can't scientifically prove God, because (a) do we really think our theories, experiments, and equipment could ever wrap around the vastness of any God worthy of the title (regardless of how good and God-given science is), (b) science by definition studies the physical and natural world, not the spiritual, and (c) if we could have this kind of proof, wouldn't it undermine the faith God requires? 

IOW, if we can prove "God," we may have hold of something else entirely, PLUS proof is not in our best interest. 

OTOH, mathematicians have tried to prove Him and say they have come astoundingly close. For certain it can be said they have not disproved Him, and--though I have not delved into this yet--have apparently demonstrated extreme likeliness that He exists. Fair enough. The Scripture says we can seek and find Him, and that He speaks to us through His creation. The Heavens, though physical and natural, do declare the glory of God. 

The Fear of the Lord is the Alphabet of Wisdom

 

A couple weeks ago I posted here about being a poet (one of the meanings of the Greek for doer) of the word. I recently found a line in my Amplified Bible that thrilled me just as much, and the unexpected meaning of a word was included right in the Bible's parenthetical additions to the verse. Quoting Psalm 111:10a--

The [reverent] fear of the Lord is the beginning (the prerequisite, the absolute essential, the alphabet) of wisdom..."

A note about brackets and parentheses: The Amplified 2015 version uses brackets in roman type to include shades of meaning that are present in the Hebrew word but lost in the English translation. Thus, we fear the Lord in awe and reverence, not as scared or afraid. It uses parentheses in roman type to refine the meaning of the preceding word in context of the whole. For example, "beginning" is used here in the sense of "prerequisite" rather than, say, a mere start to something. I'd guess most of us aren't surprised by "prerequisite" or "absolute essential" used as enrichment words here, but alphabet? Amazing!

I love that. It's like saying, "Reverence for God is the ABC's of wisdom." Like "How do you spell wisdom? F-E-A-R  O-F  G-O-D." Like "You can't begin to get a handle on wisdom until you learn and assemble its most basic of basic elements." 

It doesn't matter who thinks they know what. If they're an individual without reverence for God, they don't know the first thing about wisdom. They don't even have the alphabet for it. And if they speak long enough, those who do have the alphabet, and His word, will begin to hear the difference. 

Just Jesus

I've written a lot of words in my life, and am still writing them. This is not a bad thing. Especially if I'm called.

But which word is really important?

Jesus

The more I say, the more my focus is I, I, I. Even if not using the pronoun. 

"I" started this blog saying the focus would be on Jesus. 

Today, think about Jesus. Talk to Him all day long. Repent to Him of anything the Holy Spirit points out. Thank Him for His blood. Thank Him for saving you from an unspeakably awful eternal future. Fix your spiritual eyes on Jesus. Whisper His name on your breath. "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."

Just Jesus. 

Questionable Quotes

Usually, when we come across quotes by well-known Christians, we either nod and agree, or we react with some form of, "Hmm, never thought about that." Sometimes, though, the quote hits our brain with a clank, and we think, "Hmm, not too sure about that." Consider the following from A. W. Tozer:

"The unbelieving mind would not be convinced by any proof, and the worshiping heart needs none."

My response: "Naw, we have to do better than that." 

It's lazy (oops, did I say that?) to imply that everyone should just believe and that's all the proof you need, and it's snooty to say in a veiled way that if you don't "just believe" first, you can't join the club. This is how cults and secret societies get started. This is the path to drinking the Kool-Aid.

What does the Bible say? "And Paul entered the synagogue, as was his custom, and for three Sabbaths he engaged in discussion and friendly debate with them from the Scriptures, explaining and pointing out [Scriptural evidence] that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I am proclaiming to you, is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)" (Acts 17:2-3 AMP 2015, emphasis mine). Some translations say he "reasoned" from Scripture and "proved" Jesus was the Christ. This was in Thessalonica. He did the same in Berea, Iconium, Corinth, and Ephesus. In some locations, such as Athens and Troas, he spoke in places other than synagogues. He didn't expect anyone to believe without being convinced through the Old Testament writings. 

There's a well-known verse about the Bereans. "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true" (Acts 17:11 NIV). The Amplified adds that in addition to being of noble character they were open-minded. This is Luke writing, so he is the one using the words "noble character" to describe people who look (at the Bible for spiritual truth) before they leap. We're always reminded that the Bereans studied Scripture to verify what Paul was preaching (and may I say too too too many Christians today just accept the words of celebrity preachers without critical thinking?), but we seldom notice that they also "received the message with eagerness." They balanced faith and discernment, excelling in both without letting either fall by the wayside. 

C. S. Lewis became a Christian because his friend J. R. R. Tolkien, both of them scholars, challenged Lewis's view that Christianity was a myth (myth used here to equate to false). Over time, Lewis became convinced by this and other collegial discussions. At first, Lewis didn't even want to be converted, but reluctantly conceded that intellectual honesty required it. 

Quotes like the one from Tozer are why people think faith is blind or that you need to check your brains at the church door. As we grow in relationship with Jesus, and learn how faithful and trustworthy He actually is, we can come to a "just trust Him" place, as the apostle Thomas perhaps should have been able to do. But for those who don't yet know, Peter writes in his first letter that we need to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have.

Random Questions from a Bible Student (Questions #3)

Sometimes questions are just lovely in themselves. It occurs to me that some are to be pondered, some enjoyed, some even perhaps forgotten, and others pursued to answers. But not necessarily rushed to answers. How wonderful, even luxurious, is time given to think, research, pray, and "wisdom" them through, those that call to us. For example:

• Is grace always "unmerited favor" if the Bible says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble?
• Why don't people get that if we could prove God, He wouldn't be God? And if He ever allowed us to prove Him, He'd be diluting the very faith He requires of us; i.e., He'd contradict Himself?
• One verse says not to judge, other verses says to judge, and everybody takes the first one (especially) out of context as a license to do as they please. How do we untangle judging?
• Why can't the devil (and fallen angels) be saved?

The third one sounds like a future post, but I have comments about the fourth one today. It came up in one of my classes. Why can't the devil (and other fallen angels) be saved? 

The entire thrust of the Bible regarding celestial beings is that once they sin, they are permanently evil. There is no evidence to the contrary. I suggest that for God's own reasons they have been created in such a way that they are not capable of repentance or eligible for redemption. It's possible that when we resist this sort of thinking, it's because we consider angels as "closer to human" than to other beings (animals) who also can't repent and for whom Jesus didn't die. But is that valid? Angels, though certainly a different class of beings, are no more human than my cat is. 

I further suggest this different treatment of angels is tied in with the fact that only human beings are made in God's image. Our position as His image-bearers makes us different before God than the rest of His creation. Obviously, this doesn't mean no one will be eternally lost, but it does mean His love kept Him from wiping the human race out entirely and that He always has a remnant (Romans 11; Isaiah 10:22; Zephaniah 3:12). Jesus died for those created in His image. 

There's a school of thought that says (to oversimplify) angels and living creatures know God primarily as holy and humans know Him as love, and this is why the creatures cry, "Holy, holy, holy," day and night (Revelation 4:8). This seems plausible enough; perhaps it's the case and sheds light on God's use of judgment versus mercy, respectively. Another thought that struck me: We know Hebrews 1:14 defines angels as ministering spirits sent to assist those who will inherit salvation (implying, of course, they don't inherit salvation). What if it were possible that the angels sent to assist us sinned now and then? Could we know and trust what they were leading us into? (Would we, along with claiming "The devil made me do it" say "Angels made me do it"?) Isn't it a relief and reassurance to us that these ministering spirits, the ones God sends to help us, haven't sinned? That their "help" is guaranteed help? I think so! 

Be a Poet of the Word

Reason #23,689 to love Bible college: WORDS.

You may have heard the verse "Be doers of the word and not hearers only." This is James 1:22, and the Amplified renders it as, "But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God's precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth]." The Amplified study note goes on to explain that this means receiving the word with a teachable spirit, actively applying it to daily life, and that hearing without applying is self-deception. But here's something I didn't know until a class session a month ago and may never have thought to look up for myself: The little word "doers" is the Greek poietes, which Strong's says signifies a performer, a maker, or a poet. 

Be a poet of the word. Now that's an idea I can get behind. 

I'm sure we usually interpret "be doers of the word" as "follow Jesus' teachings." And fair enough, but not complete enough. What do performers, makers, and poets do? They write. Recite. Declaim. Present. Post. Craft. Create. Poets distill truth into a potent, compressed form that "gets in and gets out" in relatively few words. They aphorize. They write the word on the doorposts, the gates, and the hearts. 

So let's do the word in the sense of service and obedience, of course. But when we perform the word, let's remember the dual meaning as well. We can act and present the word. We can stitch it on our samplers, write it on our blogs, speak it, preach it, paint it, calligraphy it, sing it, and explain it in our own words. All of these expressions are encompassed in being doers of the word.   

Religion vs. Myth (Disparate Things #4)

I enjoy drawing parallels between seemingly disparate things, so here's a question for today. What's the relationship between myth and religion?

I have a feeling many might say either "nothing" or "everything." By this they mean, respectively, "Myths are false and religion is true" or "Religion is fake so they're the same." But we can't answer the question unless we define terms.

What is religion? To start off, I'll be upfront and say I seldom use this word. Why? Because to me it's usually shorthand for "human attempts to appease God using ritual or good works." And Christianity, at least, doesn't fall into this category, because it's top down not bottom up: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. He initiates; we don't. To be clear, the foregoing isn't my "serious" definition of religion. But I do think it's what many people picture when they hear the word, so I'm reticent to say the word. 

Is religion a set of beliefs about God? No, because this doesn't encompass all world religions either; Buddhism and Taoism, to name two examples, don't believe in a god. Is it belief in the supernatural? No, because that doesn't define, for example, Hinduism. Well then, what even is religion? 

I think it's this: Religion is your master narrative about the meaning of life. Your religion explains who and what human beings are, what business we should be about, and why any of it matters. By the way, this is why it's impossible to extract religion from the public square. Everybody not only has a religion, but it's the most basic thing about them. Religion--something a lot of people think is an optional add-on to life at most--is far more central than we normally consider. Does secular life even exist, really? Or is it something people accept by faith without realizing they do so?

Okay, then, what is myth? This word is even more misunderstood than religion. We think the core definition of "myth" is "false." But this too is a shorthand definition that evolved because most myths are false. It may help to think of the Greek mythology you learned in middle school. Were these gods and goddesses real? Of course not. But what purpose did such characters serve in Greek (and Roman) culture? A mythology is a collection of stories (myths) a society tells to explain natural phenomenon or human relations, often including supernatural elements or characters. The word "myth" does have a secondary meaning as "popular false belief," but again, that derived from the knowledge that most myths aren't factual. So what have we arrived at?

Religion is your master narrative about the meaning of life. Your religion explains who and what human beings are, what business we should be about, and why any of it matters. 

Myths are stories (narrative) a culture tells to explain the world around them and how it works. 

What's the relationship between religion and myth? They are basically the same. 

This is why J. R. R. Tolkien told C. S. Lewis, "Christianity is the only true myth." Christianity is the true narrative about how the world works. We have this one true myth about who and what human beings are, what business we should be about, and why any of it matters. And--oh yes--about Who is God. 

Prayer for March

Father, death gives way to life in the month of March; while snow still encroaches, maybe even rages, it's gone as soon as it comes, anger spent. Though sorrow lasts for a night, joy comes in the morning, and though death has a sting, it's swallowed up in victory because life always, always wins. In the first green shoots it wins, the first hint of warmth in the breeze, the first trickle of water in the downspouts. May we see in these every reminder that the stone was rolled away, that the grave was not robbed--and yet it was. 

Lord, as the first quarter of the year completes, help us move into the prime of the year in earnest, with faith in Your goodness as we face whatever it brings. As the year speeds along, because it will, help us to never just mark time but move outward in your purposes and downward in our rootedness in You. Help us remember that each and every day is both one day more that we have and one day less, to make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. And they are short. From sunup to sundown, they are short. From now until our eternity, they are short. 

In March, our northern-hemisphere, four-season world is bittersweet, snow and sprouts together not unlike wheat and tares, in a way. But in March, the old has gone; the new has come. If we go out early, we can catch it peeking, see the life. Not unlike how the Marys went to the tomb at sunrise and Jesus was already risen. Father, apart from the promise March always brings, even if it postures and blusters before it gives way, bless each of us with the unique month you have for us, and if we come in like a lamb may we go out like a sheep, hearing your voice and following you anywhere and everywhere. Amen.