Wisdom

 December 8, 2022

The backstory is pretty straightforward. The Israelites had crossed the Jordan. The invasion had begun. Jericho had fallen, the little outpost of Ai was wiped off the map, and Israel was poised to conquer all of Canaan. One day, an envoy from far away visited. Their clothes were in tatters, their provisions were stale, everything about them told the story of a long and difficult journey. They came to sue for peace, explaining that Israel’s reputation had spread like wildfire, and though they were from a distant land, they wanted to make sure there would be peace between them. So the leaders of Israel agreed to a peace treaty.

Joshua 9 tells the story, and the heart of it is in verse 9: “They did not ask counsel of the LORD.” They had examined these strangers’ clothes and provisions; everything seemed reasonable, but not everything is always as it seems. Turns out, this envoy wasn’t from far away; they were near neighbors, and had come with the express purpose of deceiving God’s people, forcing them to compromise God’s purposes.

Not everything is always as it seems, and many are the times I’ve made decisions that seemed reasonable, but turned out to be disastrous. The key is found in that ninth verse: “They didn’t ask counsel of the LORD.” How often do we think things through, weigh the options, and make decisions, while neglecting to ask God’s opinion? Sometimes we use prayer as a bookend, asking for guidance in rote fashion, and thanking God for wisdom in Jesus’ name, but never seriously seeking his face? We end up making decisions based more in our emotional baggage than in the Holy Spirit. 

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that “the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12). The words “division of soul and spirit” point to this reality. The word soul is from the Greek “psuche,” which is where we get the word psychology. It signifies the inner human life we know, the psyche, if you will; the spirit on the other hand, is that part of us that connects with God. It can be hard to tell the difference between the two. Seeking God means prayerfully searching the Scriptures which help us discern between our own motives and those of God.

In addition to reason (thinking things through and weighing the options), if I want to make wiser decisions, I will take the time to inquire of God, giving him space to speak and help me discern between my own motives and God’s best. Jeremiah’s word is still true: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (17:9) Certainly not me. He gives us the answer in the next verse: “I the LORD search the heart…” Trusting in my own wisdom is a sure-fire way to misfire. Instead, the wisdom of Proverbs is a Rock on which we can stand: 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, 

And lean not on your own understanding; 

In all your ways acknowledge Him, 

And He shall direct your paths. 

Do not be wise in your own eyes; 

Fear the Lord and depart from evil. 

It will be health to your flesh, 

And strength to your bones.”

—Proverbs 3:5-8

Revival

December 7, 2022

I don’t know when “revival meetings” became popular in conservative Christian circles. I know that in the latter part of the nineteenth century they were common in the ministry of such men as Charles Finney and Charles H. Spurgeon. Wesley and Whitfield preached to large throngs of people in the eighteenth century, but I don’t know if they called their meetings revivals. In the twentieth century, men such as Billy Sunday and Billy Graham, and women like Aimee Semple McPherson held revival meetings. And to this day, lesser-known preachers continue to host revival meetings to reach the unsaved and minister to the backslidden.

This morning as two of my pastor friends joined me for breakfast and prayer as we have done for years, the Psalm that formed the foundation for our prayers came from 119, and included the following verses asking God to send revival:

    “Plead my cause and redeem me; 

Revive me according to Your word. 

     Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord; 

Revive me according to Your judgments. 

     Consider how I love Your precepts; 

Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.”

—Psalm 119:154, 156, 159 

The revival requested in these verses is somewhat different than that promoted in traditional revival services. First of all, the plea is for personal revival. He doesn’t ask that thousands, hundreds, or even dozens of people get saved or revived. He simply asked God to revive, to renew his own life. That’s always a good place to start. I wonder how many revival meetings have come and gone with little to show for all the time and expense because there was no pleading with God by the revival promoters for a renewal of their own lives. I’ve often wondered how much God’s work through me was limited by the limitation of God’s work in me.

Second, the threefold foundation for revival is stated. We ask for revival because we need redemption, because God is merciful, and because we love God’s Word. If I cannot recognize my own need for renewal, if I don’t see my need for mercy, and if I don’t value God’s Word, I am putting myself in a position where God cannot do his supernatural work in or through me. The one who seeks revival in others must first see the need for it in himself.

Thirdly, that word “according to” seems important; after all, it’s repeated three times. Revival is dependent upon God’s Word. If I neglect the Holy Scriptures, I am depriving God of his voice in my heart. I must be willing for that Word to judge me, to convict me of sin so I can repent and receive the lovingkindness that was demonstrated when my sin was judged in Christ on the cross. Revival only begins as we kneel before the cross in humble confession and contrition. And revival of others must always begin with me. 

Stand

December 5, 2022

I’ve often heard people talking about “making progress” in their Christian walk; I’ve said such things myself. Nearly four centuries ago, John Bunyan used such language in the title of his allegorical book, “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” which at one time was second only to the Bible in popularity in the English-speaking world. But what happens when we get stalled, when there is no discernible progress? What does this mean for the Christian life?

Some have said such things as, “If you aren’t moving ahead, you’re going backwards,” implying that a lack of progress is actually regress because of course, God is always on the move. I wonder about that. God is continually at work; this I believe, but I’m not sure he is always “moving forward.” How else can we explain St. Paul’s words in Ephesians when he tells his readers to

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil…Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore…”  —Ephesians 6:11, 13-14 

Four times in these few verses, Paul tells them simply to stand. Not to move forward, not to “make progress,” but merely to stand. This is comforting to me. Sometimes standing is all you can do. Sometimes life gets so convoluted, so confusing or difficult that it’s all you can do to simply stand your ground. You read your Bible faithfully, but the words seemed lifeless to you. You tried to pray, but words wouldn’t come. You didn’t retaliate when you were goaded or humiliated. You came out of it beaten down and discouraged, but you didn’t quit. 

Some battles are won not by advancing, but by refusing to yield ground to the enemy. It doesn’t look as glorious as an advance, but it may be all you can do right now, and the fact that you haven’t yielded is proof enough of the power of the Holy Spirit and grace of God in your life. Sometimes you look at the battlefield rubble all around you, amazed that you’re even alive. You stood your ground, you didn’t give in or give up, and it took everything you had to stay in the fight, but you did. “Having done all,” you stood. Be encouraged by God’s Word:

“As a father pities his children, 

So the Lord pities those who fear Him. 

For He knows our frame; 

He remembers that we are dust.”

—Psalm 103:13-14 

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

—Hebrews 4:15-16 

God knows you. He understands you. He loves you. If you are still standing, it is enough. 

Who Are You?

 December 4, 2022

In this morning’s sermon, Pastor Joe put together two parts of the story of Jacob. The first part is from Genesis 27 where Jacob cheated his brother out of his blessing. When his father Isaac asked him his name, he lied. “I am Esau, your firstborn” (v. 19). After years of exile, Jacob wrestled with God who asked the very same question, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he replied. Before God could change him,  Jacob had to face who he really was. Pretending he was someone else wasn’t going to work anymore. It is the same for us. Until I am willing to admit and face who I am, God cannot change me. 

We need to stop pretending, stop trying to be someone else, stop scheming to be firstborn, before we can be reborn.

Persistance

 December 3, 2022

Sometimes when I’m reading my Bible, it seems like my brain and spirit are numb. I read the words on the page, but nothing connects. It is tempting at such times to give up and call it a day; “I tried, but God wasn’t speaking today.” Of course, that isn’t true; the problem is never that God isn’t speaking. It’s that I’m not listening. It’s like the radio, TV, or the internet. Signals are constantly in the air all around us. We can’t see them and can’t hear them unless we have the right receiver and have it tuned to whatever signal is there. The messages and images are all around us, but we only benefit from them if we have the equipment and have it tuned to the sender.

The same is true with God. There is no lack of communication on his part; but we must have the equipment to receive and be tuned in. The equipment is the Holy Spirit. Apart from the Holy Spirit living in me, I cannot receive anything God says. And if I don’t stay tuned to his “station” by immersing myself in the Scriptures, I’ll miss what he has to say to me.

Even then, often when I read, nothing seems to be getting through. At such times, two factors come into play. The first is faith. If I don’t believe God is ready to speak to me, I may have the receiver, but I haven’t turned it on. The second is persistence. Just as with a radio or television signal, my connection with God can suffer from interference. Something comes between God and myself, blocking the signal. Persistence is one of the keys to overcoming this blockage. I need to be persistent in self-examination, confession, and repentance. And I must not let the interference keep me from digging deep into the Scriptures. This evening as I was reading, nothing seemed to connect. But I kept reading, and cross-referenced a verse in the New Testament to it’s origin in the Old. I let those Scriptures connect with things I see going on in the world today, and before long, I could hear God speaking in the depths of my heart, reminding me of his sovereignty and his mercy. All this happened because I refused to give up. I am grateful tonight because I know God never gives up on me, and gives me the insight and determination to not give up on him.

By God’s Mercy

 December 2, 2022

“Mercy” is a tricky word. It is devoid of meaning apart from betrayal, guilt, rebellion…sin, if you will. Apart from an offense, there is no need for mercy. So when St. Paul says in Romans 12:1, “I beg you therefore brethren by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service,” I must ask two questions. First, what is the “therefore” there for? And second, what are the mercies to which he refers?

I’ve quoted this verse from memory for decades, but never asked these questions of it, and have subsequently missed an important facet of Paul’s argument. In the first eight chapters of his letter, he lays out the foundations of his theology, of universal sinfulness, the futility of trying to earn our salvation, and the necessity of faith. In chapters 9-11, he digresses, addressing the resistance of official contemporary Judaism to his gospel, and his heart’s desire that “Israel be saved.” He speaks in these chapters of how the sovereignty of God figures into the salvation of his Jewish brothers and sisters. In these three chapters, the word ‘mercy’ appears eight times, four at the beginning of the section, and four at the end. 

He says essentially, that though Israel historically were recalcitrant and rebellious, God in his mercy continued to love and choose them even as he judged their sin, and continues to do so to the present day.

The first verse of chapter twelve taken by itself is almost meaningless apart from the context of God’s mercy to his people. Paul enjoins our giving ourselves, our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, knowing that this God who has been merciful, continues to be merciful, that the sin and rebellion that we would expect to forever distance us from a holy God is negated and forgiven because God has demonstrated his mercy. Therefore, it is reasonable…it makes sense for us to give ourselves to him, and failure to do so is a most grievous offense. 

The beginning of Advent is as good a time as any to remember God’s merciful faithfulness. The coming of his Son into this sinful world is the ultimate declaration and demonstration of his mercy, so it is entirely appropriate for us to sing and rejoice for this most marvelous of gifts.

Old Trains and Old Men

 December 1, 2022

When I was a kid back in the fifties, my brother and I collected old newspapers from homes in our housing tract. We dragged a Western Flyer wagon up and down the sidewalks, gathering the papers from neighbors, bundled them, and on Saturdays, we loaded them into our father’s station wagon to deliver them to the recycling plant where they got us a penny a pound.

With the proceeds, we bought HO trains, tracks, building kits and accessories. We had lots of stuff, but never got around to actually building a layout. We ended up selling everything at a considerable loss. 

I don’t know wherein lies the fascination with model railroads. In the thirties, forties, and fifties, it may have made sense; railroads were still plentiful, and boys could dream about hopping a train to see the world. But today? It’s an old man’s hobby for which I’ve never had the time nor space. But every year at Christmas time, we drag the old wicker suitcase out of the closet and set up under the tree the Lionel that Linda had as a little girl.

In the back of my mind, the idea never completely left me, and a couple months ago as I was sitting in our back room, a plan began to form. Some years ago, the now closed hardware store in Cherry Creek had a train set suspended from the ceiling and running completely around the room. As I looked at our back room, I could see the possibility, and over a couple days, fastened some 4” boards I had around the perimeter of the room. To make it work, I even took a couple old Erector sets that I still had from my boyhood and made a bridge. 

This being an experiment, I wasn’t prepared to spend a fortune on track, so bought some used from our local hobby and train shop, laid it out, and am ready to connect the transformer and test everything for shorts. Taking the transformer to the shop today, I learned that it was manufactured in 1946, and it still works! I was manufactured in 1949, and parts of me don’t work according to the Manufacturer’s specs!

So why write about old trains? There is nothing “spiritual” or significant about an old Lionel; I could legitimately be accused of wandering around in my second childhood, or wasting time on foolishness. But there is one thing that matters: every piece of this layout is old. The train, the track, the transformer. But it still works; though everything has been in storage for years, it still functions. This, along with the Scriptures, gives me renewed hope. Sometimes in retirement, it feels like I’m out to pasture; I’m not in the loop of anything that’s happening at our church, any authority to make decisions was handed over eight years ago. John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer has a bite to it that wasn’t there when I was working: “Let me be employed for Thee, or laid aside for Thee.” The “laying aside” part was once theoretical. For eight years, it’s been somewhat of a grudging reality for me.

But if a sixty-year old locomotive and a seventy-five year old transformer can be put back in service, so can I. As a Cuban pastor told me a few years ago, “You are a Caleb; go claim and conquer your mountain.” In the hands of the Master, this old engine will pull again, and unlike my train which will only go in circles, who knows what freight will find it’s way to it’s eternal destination?