What would a REAL National Day of Prayer look like?

The 58th chapter of Isaiah really foreshadows the Pharisees of Jesus' day.  And really, 21st century America, as well.  Starting in verse 2: "For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.  They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and You have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves and You have not noticed?' Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.  Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.  Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself?"

Every US President in modern history has ended important addresses with the phrase "God bless America."  Is this an empty phrase, something that we have grown to expect at the end of State of the Union Addresses, but don't really expect too much blessing to follow?  If so, why do we expect it? And why do our politicians continue to say it?

Each time there is a national tragedy, somebody in government calls for a National Day of Prayer.  Yet how much praying will be going on if all the stores are still open, and people have to go to work?  Just once I'd like to see a US President say, "Citizens of America, we will stop business as usual and declare a holiday.  But this will not be like any other holiday, where restaurants and movie theaters and theme parks beckon you to have a great time.  No, today we will all stay home; everyone except essential service workers like police, firefighters, and hospital staff will be urged to truly humble yourselves before your Maker, and to pray.  Today we will proclaim a fast, not just of food, but of television and other entertainment venues; not just of drink, but of all commerce and profit-making."  That would get our attention.  That would get God's attention.

Isaiah goes on to describe the kind of fasting that God would honor:  in verse 7 he says "Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not turn away from your own flesh and blood?"  This makes it personal, not national.  It is not for us to give all our money to the government in taxes so that the government can feed and clothe people.  Rather, it is up to each and every one of us to meet the needs of those around us, especially our families.

Today, we have it all backwards.  The government is responsible for everyone, the families are only responsible to get the kids to the government sponsored schools or to get to the government approved jobs, and the individuals have no responsibility other than to pay taxes to the government.  No, no, a thousand times no!  We must go back to individual responsibility, where each person is responsible for his own upkeep; and where people are not able to care for themselves (e.g. children, the sick, the elderly), then the family is responsible for their care.  Beyond that, the Bible says that the Church should care for the widows and orphans, that is the ones without family to care for them.  And the government only provides what the families and the Church are unable to provide for themselves (e.g. National Defense, a National Currency, and State and National Courts to administer justice.)

In the movie Shenandoah, the patriarch character played by Jimmy Stewart tries to keep his family out of the Civil War.  But when his children are taken prisoner, he leaves his house and family behind to go and get his children back.  Isn't this a picture of our Heavenly Father?  During one scene, a Union officer tries to convince the patriarch of the benefit of a standing army, and how each family should send their sons to serve in the army.  Jimmy Stewart barks back "They don't belong to the state, they belong to ME! When they were babies I never saw the state comin' around here with a spare tit!"  Other movies of that era, like The Grapes of Wrath, stated a nationally shared view that people were honestly embarrassed to receive charity--if they didn't work for it, they didn't want it.  When did this attitude change?  When did we become a nation of victims, a people so hooked on entitlements?  When did we go "through the looking glass", as described by Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland--to a place where Up is Down and Down is Up?  More importantly, why would we want to stay in such a pitiable condition?

But thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

The remainder of Isaiah 58 describes the blessings God wants to give His people if they would just get their hearts right, and start doing right, and stop their hypocrisy.  "Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear.  Then your righteousness will go before you, and the Glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.  Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help and the Lord will say, 'Here am I.'....The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land, and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins, and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called the Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."

The good news is that no matter how bad things get, God still wants to bless us.  He still wants to make us whole, to raise us up to new heights, to prepare a feast like no other for us.  All we have to do is follow Him, and do what He says.  "If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land."  What a wonderful promise!  Why wouldn't anybody want that?  Why don't we do everything we can possibly do to get the most from God? Why dwell in hypocrisy and sin when we can dwell in the House of the Lord forever, Amen!

I'd be so happy if only I had....

Last Sunday I got to serve at the Super Bowl.  Among the VIPs visiting the suites on the floor I work on were journalists, radio personalities, and recording artists.  There were two in particular that were about as close to royalty as can be found in America.  Not the people themselves, but the way they were treated.  I was standing outside one of the suites I was serving in, when from across the hall near the elevators I heard a big, booming voice say, "STEP ASIDE, PLEASE!"  I looked up, and I saw a huge man about six paces ahead of singer/songwriter Stacy Ann Ferguson (AKA Fergie) and a couple of her lieutenants.  Now, Fergie is the female member of the singing group The Black Eyed Peas, and they had just finished doing the half-time show at the Super Bowl.  She was coming to her suite to relax and get something to eat and drink after the show.  But the entourage is what intrigued me--the caller out front, not so much trying to make a way as to call attention to the celebrity behind him; the flunkies behind the celebrity, and the singer herself smiling to the left and the right, nodding toward a fan, winking at another.

The other person I saw with the royal treatment was Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota.  He was accompanied by a State Trooper and an aide, probably a Press Secretary.  He was apparently suite-hopping, because he entered the suite I was attending without a ticket, but the suite owner welcomed him in and introduced him to the other guests.  Governor Dayton shook hands, posed for pictures, and left within a period of ten minutes.

I thought of these two brushes with fame as I read I Samuel chapter 8 this week.  Israel was a fledgling nation, and they had been led by God, with the Priests as God's spokesmen.  Eli had served all of his life, but his sons Hophni and Phinehas desecrated the Temple.  Samuel had been given to God by his mother Hannah, and served as priest all of his life.  His sons Joel and Abijah were being groomed to take their father's place, but they were corrupt--they accepted bribes and perverted justice.  So the people asked for a king.

Now Israel had never had a king before.  They had always followed God, and obeyed his law.  They had let Him lead them into battle, and had seen His mighty hand at work.  So it is not clear why the elders came to Samuel and asked that he appoint a king to rule over them.  Perhaps they were wary of being led by Samuel's corrupt sons.  Maybe they wanted a ruler they could approach, and see, and talk to personally instead of having a priest act as a go-between.  Maybe they were tired of trying to explain to their Philistine friends how their government worked: "God is our king--no, really.  He leads our nation, and writes our laws, and...what? No, I don't know what His handwriting looks like.  But He makes the laws and accepts our tribute, and...what? No, we can't show you His palace, but we have this nifty Temple!  Yes, I know you guys have a temple to your god, too, but ours is really neat."

But seriously, there is similarity to the recent unrest in Egypt and the downfall of Hosni Mubarak, which has left a void in that nation's government.  The people have demanded that he step down, but they have no clue as to who will lead their nation now.  The army has taken over, which is probably not what the demonstrators wanted, but they didn't really think that far in advance, did they?  Who will fill the void? What will the new leader's position be regarding a State religion, or Egypt's relationship with Israel?  The American media has glossed over these questions, saying it paves the way for democracy in the Middle East.  But they are blind to the prophecies in the Bible that predict a world leader rising up from that region and taking on the spirit of Antichrist, demanding that the entire world bow to him.

I digress.  So the elders of Israel come to Samuel and ask for a king.  Samuel is displeased, and prays to God.  God voices His displeasure at this request, and tells Samuel to go back and educate the people on what having a king really means.  In verses 11 through 18, Samuel tells the people why this is a bad idea. "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: he will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.  Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.  He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.  He will take the best from your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.  He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.  Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.  He will take a tenth of your flocks and you yourselves will become his slaves.  When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day."

Samuel's argument to the people is three-fold:  First, the king will get all the things that you are supposed to give to God.  He will take a tenth of your flocks and herds and a tenth of the fruit of the ground; so why is that preferable to giving God a tithe?  Second, the king will take from your family to give to his attendants and servants.  He will take the best of what you earn, the best of what you grow, even the best people among you, and make them his.  How is this better than giving your best to God?  Third, he will take your very souls; he will steal your freedom, and make you subservient to his every whim.  How is this better than serving God, who lets you make your own choices and even your own mistakes so you can learn from them?

I think many of us today have this same mind-set.  We know God wants us to follow Him, but we are tired of waiting for His Blessing.  We'd really be happy if we had something else, anything else.  From a sociological perspective, women are more apt to wish for a relationship, and men are more likely to wish for things.  Women will say, "if I only had a boyfriend," or "if I only had a husband", or "if I only had a baby, then I'd be happy."  Men will say, "if I only had a better job," or "if I only had a faster car", or "if I only had a big house, boat, RV, monster truck, deer lease, motorcycle, lake house, and big-screen high definition TV, then I'd be happy."  God knows that people will let you down, and that new things will lose their luster.  These things cannot make you happy.  Fame and riches cannot make you happy.  Yes, if I were richer, I'd be happier, but not for long--soon, I'd be wanting something else.

Proverbs says "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things will be added to you."  That's what God told Israel through Samuel, but they did not listen.  That's what God is trying to get through to us; are we open to His message?

Father God, let me not be distracted with things or relationships.  Let me go "all in" by serving you with everything I have.  If I am blessed with money or houses or lands, or with a huge family and friends who love me, then let me praise you for giving them to me.  Then let me be wholly devoted to you, lest I lose all my toys, and all my family members quarrel, and my friends forsake me.  You are my King.  You are all I need.

A modern parable of salvation

Once upon a time there was a very wealthy man.  He built a luxurious banquet hall, and always kept it well stocked with delicious food and drink.  But from the time he built it, he noticed fewer and fewer people came in to dine with him.  Most did not want to pay the cost.

So the wealthy man went out and found Abe, and gave him a ticket good for unlimited visits to the banquet hall.  He explained to Abe that all he had to do to keep the ticket was to honor the wealthy man, and treat others fairly.  If Abe failed at any time to honor the wealthy man or to treat others fairly, he could bring a bull, and they would cook it together, and everything would be all right after that.  Abe could share his ticket with other people, and they could have access to the great banquet hall, too, as long as they followed the same rules.  If they broke the rules, they would have to bring a bull, a sheep, a dove--whatever they could afford.  That animal would be cooked and shared between the wealthy man and his friend, and all would be right after that.

As time went on, Abe shared his ticket with his family and friends, and the number of visitors to the great banquet hall grew.  The wealthy man was very happy.  He was hopeful that all men would hear about the banquet hall, and come to get a ticket.  But it was not to be.

Generations passed, and fewer people asked for tickets.  Abe's descendants all felt entitled to the tickets, and hoarded them to themselves.  Some of Abe's descendants didn't follow the rules, and didn't bring any animal to cook before the wealthy man.  Fellowship was lost.

One day, the wealthy man's son came to talk to Abe's family. He said that many of them had stopped honoring the wealthy man in their hearts, and only paid lip service.  He said they were wicked, and in need of a change.  So the son said when he took over the banquet hall, there would be no need to bring animals to cook.  And you didn't have to have a ticket, since the son would stamp their hands for free.  All they had to do was ask him.

Well, the descendants of Abe were shocked.  This was heresy!  Many had passed their tickets down from father to son, from mother to daughter, for generations.  And now this upstart kid says anybody can come to the banquet hall without a ticket?  And no animals had to be cooked any more?  Blasphemy.  They took the Son and put him to death.  They tried to go back to the way things had been.

But the son had a kind of insurance policy that would continue the great banquet hall forever if he died.  He also had a great physician, who brought him back to life.  Soon, all the other people of the world heard about the son.  They were glad that they didn't have to be in Abe's family line to get to eat at the great banquet hall.  They were glad they didn't need a ticket to get in, and they were glad that if they lost their tickets, they didn't have to cook animals to be admitted in again.  Multitudes came to the son and asked him to stamp their hands.  Now the whole world had access to the great banquet hall.  And if they broke the rules, they were forgiven and welcomed in anyway.

Not too long after this, the people stopped getting their hands stamped.  They knew that the son had given them access, and they said in their hearts, "He loves us so much he will let us all into the great banquet hall when we are ready."  Some thought, "I'm a good person.  I don't need a stamp on my hand to prove that I am good."  So it goes that with every generation, some will do what is required, while others scoff, or wait for a better offer, or think they can get in on their own.

Micah 6:8 says "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord desires of you--to know justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before your God."  This was the gospel of the Old Testament, but it was history, and prophecy as well.  The Law was justice; anyone who disobeyed was cast out.  The sacrifice is mercy, leading up to the ultimate sacrifice of God's Son Jesus.  After His death, no other sacrifice was needed.  All have access to God through the death of His Son.  But we must be humble before God.  We cannot think of ourselves as deserving of heaven.  We cannot be so arrogant as to think God will reason with us, will listen to us if we just explain how good a person we are, or how much we have done for other people.  "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

How, then, can we justify ourselves?  We must know that God has given us three gifts.

First, God gave us the Law.  If we follow the Law, and never sin, we can earn heaven.  The Law shows us how great God is, and how far below His standards we have fallen.  The Law is the basis of our justice system, and of our consciences.  We innately know in our hearts when we have done wrong.  It gives us our sense of guilt.  But nobody likes guilt.  Guilt is bad.  We don't want to think about it.  We want to think about good things, not go on a guilt trip.  But the Bible says we must know justice in order to follow God.

Second, God gave us Grace.  He didn't have to do anything after setting up the Law.  If you follow it, you get in.  If not, you're out.  Simple. Elegant.  And deadly.  But because He desires fellowship with us, He gave us mercy.  In the sacrificial law of Moses there was an alter called the Mercy Seat.  He has always shown mercy.  And in the fullness of time, He sent His Son to die a sacrificial death, so that we can enjoy fellowship with Him forever.  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Third, God gave us free will.  This, I think, is the reason He works so hard to redeem us.  He could have made us all robots, or subservient minions who always are at His beck and call.  But because He desires true fellowship, not a false programmed devotion, we have to be able to choose whether we want fellowship with Him or not.  And even though it breaks His heart when we choose our own way, He knows that is the best way, and that He has done everything possible to draw us to Himself.  He has gone to death's door for us, in order to give us life.  He has bent over backwards to broadcast this message clearly to us, so that all may know.  So why haven't we all accepted His offer?

I think the devil has blinded us to responsibility.  We must choose Him.  We cannot assume that we will go to heaven just because we are of a certain race, or or a certain family.  We cannot take half a Gospel, and say "God's will is for no man to perish; I am a man; therefore I will not perish."  This is faulty logic.  God doesn't always get His way.  We must acknowledge Him (know justice); we must accept Him (love mercy); we must ask Him to save us (walk humbly before our God).

Some day the world will end.  The Son will stop stamping people's hands to get into the Great Banquet Hall of Heaven.  Tickets will no longer be honored.  Where will you be when the last Trumpet sounds?

Why does God work so hard to deliver us?

The Exodus of the Israelites was a pretty amazing feat.  First, God had to convince Moses that he was God's spokesman, uniquely suited to the task of delivering His people.  Moses was an Israelite by birth, a man educated by the royalty of Egypt, and a man who knew the land, because he had fled Egypt after murdering the Egyptian taskmaster.

Next, God had to convince Pharoah, the oppressor, to release the nation of Israel, who had over time become the slaves of the Egyptian nation.  God actually hardened Pharoah's heart, so that the superiority of Israel's God over the gods of the Egyptians could be shown and documented for posterity.  Smarter men than me would have to show the correlation of all ten plagues to gods of Egypt, but I do know that the plague on livestock attacked the sacred cows of the Egyptians. (Remember later when Aaron made a golden calf? This was something he had learned in Egypt, as the Egyptians had a god in the shape of a bull.)  The plague of darkness was an attack on Ra, the Egyptian sun god.  The plague of the death of the firstborn attacked the practice of human sacrifice.  So by the time the Israelites were ready to leave, the people of Egypt were glad to see them go--so glad, in fact, that they gave them gifts of gold to take with them.

Finally, God had to convince the Israelites that leaving Egypt was the best thing to do.  The first time that Moses stood before Israel and told them that God wanted them to leave, they all gave a collective shrug.  Ex 6:9 says "Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage."  The bondage that they had grown accustomed to actually became worse after Moses started negotiating with Pharoah.  Some blamed Moses for the extra work--making the same quota of bricks, but without the Egyptians supplying the straw, as they had done before.  But God knew that things had to get worse before His people would move.

So why would God's people refuse to leave without God's prompting?  Why do we fear following God when He asks us to change.  I think there are three reasons:

First, there is the Confidence of the Oppressors.  Pharoah led an army of trained fighters, armed with chariots and swords.  The Israelites had nothing, not even sticks or stones.  How often to we feel helpless in the face of adversity?  If we listen to our fear, God will never be able to deliver us.  But wouldn't He who would deliver us also provide us with a way of escape?  This is what He did for Israel against Pharoah, and it is what He can do for us.

Second, there is the Complacency of the Oppressed.  Somehow, in the space of two generations, Israel had gone from honored guest of Pharoah to a slave nation.  I am sure this happened a little at a time, not all at once.  Otherwise the people would have revolted.  It is like the example of boiling a frog: if you put a live frog in a pot of boiling water, he will immediately jump out; but if you put him in lukewarm water, and gradually increase the temperature, the frog will cook without knowing he is dinner.  Remember later in the story of Moses, when food or water was scarce, the people muttered against Moses and Aaron, saying "didn't we have leeks and onions to eat, and plenty, in Egypt? Why, then, did we leave there?"  But God wanted to give them something better than job security in a foreign land.  He wanted to give them their own homeland, their own land of promise.  I think He wants to do the same for us.

Finally, there is the Coordination of the Observable.  By the time Moses came along, no man alive could see any way possible for him to lead his people out.  Not Moses, not Aaron, not the priests--nobody.  How often do we get discouraged because we can't see any possible way to affect a change?  Thank God nothing is impossible for Him.  In the movie Apollo 13, the character played by Tom Hanks was encouraging a fellow astronaught, who had become despondent.  "What if we have an engine failure? What if we don't make it home?"  Tom Hanks took the other actor by the collar and shook him.  He said, "Like a thousand things have to happen, in order, for us not to make it home.  What you're talking about is number 857." That was a situation in which everyone had a vision, and they had planned out the details to the nth degree.  In Exodus, only God had the vision, and only He knew His plan.  God made it worse before it got better--He hardened Pharoah's heart, he gave the slave nation of Israel more work with less resources, and Moses himself doubted God, even after meeting with Him repeatedly face to face. 

God knows how to work things out for the good of those who love Him.  Somebody once said "without a vision, the people perish."  But the story of Moses is that God can work His will in our lives even when we don't see His vision.

God, please help me seek Your face.  And when I can't see Your face, let me catch Your vision.  And when I can't even envision Your plan, please let me trust Your heart.

A mystery, revealed

With my white, middle class upbringing, a lot of my worldview is rooted in the Protestant work ethic.  If you work hard, you will be rewarded.  If you save and tithe and watch for sales, you can make your money go further.  And if you really get lucky, and God blesses your hard work and determination, you may get rich.

That is the mindset I usually bring to Jesus' parable of the workers.  Matthew 20 says that the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard.  He agreed to pay them a day's wage and sent them into his vineyard.  A coupe-three hours later, he went out again, and saw other men hanging out on the town square.  He told them to go into his vineyard and he would pay them.  The same thing happens six hours after the first men went to work, and again nine hours after.  Finally, at the eleventh hour, just one hour before quitting time, the landowner finds some more unemployed guys, and asks them to also work in his vineyard.

The evening came, and the landowner sets up a booth to pay his laborers.  The ones he hired last, who just worked one hour, get to the table first.  He pays them a day's wage.  The ones who worked 3 hours come next, and he pays them a day's wage.  On and on until the guys who have been there all day long.  Now, they have stood in line and have seen what the other guys got.  They have had time to talk, and let their minds wander.  So they get the idea that, because they have been working the longest, they would get the most pay.  It's only fair, right?  I mean, this is a really cool landowner--if he pays an entire day's wage to those guys who worked less than four hours, imagine what he'll give us, right?  But when their time came, they received the same as all the rest--a day's wage.  Now these guys get really steamed up about this.  "These other men have only worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day?"  But the landowner answers, "Friend, I am not being unfair to you.  Didn't you agree to work for a day's wage?  Take your pay and go.  I want to give the men who were hired last the same as I gave you.  Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?"

This passage has always come to mind when I see people slacking on the job, or hear them complain about their pay.  Sometimes I even think about this parable when the subject of labor unions comes up.  Again, my Protestant work ethic and middle class upbringing comes to bear.  But I realized again today that Jesus was not talking about any of that.  He wasn't talking about contracts, or laborers, or money or anything.  The key to the passage is what Jesus said at the beginning: The Kingdom of Heaven is like this.

That means there is a spiritual dimension, one that a literal reading does not come close to interpreting.  Look in Ephesians 3, starting in verse 4.  "In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets.  This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together with one body, and sharers together in the promise of Christ Jesus."

If I was a Jew, I would have been taught from birth that my people are the chosen ones of God.  I would believe with all my heart that God would work through my people to His glory, and that His power would be revealed through us.  And in the end, God would reward His people, the Jews, and elevate them above all others.  I would remember the hardships Jews endured, the persecutions and the plagues, and I would expect a great reward in Heaven.

Then Jesus came.  He preached a different gospel, a gospel of inclusion.  The Gentiles, who might have thought that if the Jews were God's chosen people, then we might be spiritual outcasts, would love this new gospel.  The Jews, not so much.  Paul says in Ephesians 3. 8-12 says, "Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.  His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence."

So God, like the landowner in Jesus' parable, could do anything He wanted with His heaven.  But by His grace, he has made Heaven accessible to all people, not just the ones He chose at first.  That says a lot about grace.  That says a lot about God.

Paul ends the discussion of this mystery with a prayer.  Beginning in verse 14, he says, "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

Nobody says it like Paul.  He prayed for you and for me.  He prayed that we would come to know Christ, through faith.  And once we accepted Christ in our hearts, he prayed we would realize that God, His Son and His Holy Spirit are bigger than we can know, but that we would be filled with this bigness, this godliness.  And with this realization, we can ask Him for anything we can imagine, and more!  Glory to God!  Not that He is our "genie in a bottle", able to give us whatever we want.  No!  Rather that we are His, and through us He can accomplish things greater than we ourselves can even ask or think.  The glory is His, not ours.

God can discriminate, because He sees the heart.  We can be discriminating, preferring right over wrong, preferring love over hate.  If we know the heart of God, we will be discriminating like He is.  But in our finite knowledge, we cannot damn someone to hell.  We often want to, but we only see the outward stuff--the color of someone's skin, or the way they dress; what they say or the choices they make.  God alone has the right to condemn someone, because He sees the heart.  But He reserves the right to forgive.  So you might see some people in heaven that you never saw in church.  You might see some people there that would surprise you.  But you have to remember His grace, and that those other people there might also be surprised that you made it to heaven, too.

Interceding for us

Today I read something in the Bible that I don't remember ever seeing before.  In Exodus chapter 4, God was meeting with Moses, giving him a job to do.  He showed Himself powerful enough to rescue his people, the children of Israel, from bondage.  He gave Moses the resources to take the message to Israel's captors.  He even said Moses would not be alone--God would be there with him, and so would his brother Aaron.  But Moses' final word on the subject was this: "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." (verse 13.)  "And the Lord's anger burned against Moses." (verse 14.)

All of that I have read before.  And Moses took his family, and did as the Lord commanded.  He left his father-in-law, took his wife and two sons, and went back to Egypt.  But here is the passage that I had not noticed before.  Verses 24 through 26 says: "At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses, and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin, and laid it at Moses' feet. 'Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,' she said.  So the Lord left him alone."

What stands out about this verse?  Well, first we can surmise that Moses had not followed the law of God, as he had not circumcised his son.  That would have disappointed God.  But this was not the first law of God that Moses had broken.  In chapter 3, Moses killed an Egyptian.  He committed murder.  As a result of that sin, Moses left his people in Egypt, and went to Midian, and married a Midianite woman.  God couldn't have been too happy about this, either.  Once Israel had taken the land God had promised to them (later in the book of Exodus), Joshua spoke the word of the Lord to them, and one of the commands was to avoid marrying outside their race, outside their faith.  But the thing that really ticked God off the most is the fact that Moses stood eye to eye with Him and said "no".  Even though Moses repented later, and did what God had told him to do, God was still so displeased with him that He intended to kill him.

In steps Zipporah, Moses' wife.  She was a Midianite, but she knew enough about Hebrew law to make up for her husband's disobedience.  She circumcised her son, and thereby saved Moses' life.  She interceded for him, and God answered her prayer.  He had mercy on Moses because of Zipporah's act of faith.  She called Moses her "bridegroom of blood," because of the tradition of circumcision that his religion had demanded.

This reminds me of another passage later on in Exodus chapter 32 where God got so mad at His people that He was ready to kill them all.  He told Moses to step aside, that He was going to smite them all and make another nation of Moses' children.  But Moses interceded for the people, and God relented.  Apparently, Moses remembered a time when God was so mad at him that He was ready to kill Moses.  And he must have remembered his wife, Zipporah, who performed an act of holiness to make things right between Moses and his God.  It really makes a difference in your life when you have experienced God's grace.

God's word has other examples of intercession for His people, culminating in the death of Jesus, God's Son, to absolve the sins of the world.  He became the Blood Covenant for us, and He is the Bridegroom for the Church, His bride (we are looking forward to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb).  So, just as Zipporah called Moses her Bridegroom of Blood, Jesus became one for us. 

Even later in the New Testament, John talks about Christ Himself interceding for us when we sin (see I John 2).  See, just because Jesus died and was raised to life again, doesn't mean that God will never be angry with us.  I am sure He gets angry enough with me to kill me, to just wipe me off the face of the earth.  But thank God someone intercedes for us, and that someone could be a friend or a relative, a pastor or a teacher, or Jesus Christ Himself.

That is one way we can do the work of the Lord: interceding for someone else.  In other words, the work of God's Son is to intercede for us, to go before the Father and beg His mercy on us.  If we also go to God for another person, we are doing the very same thing that the Son of God sets about to do.  So we are doing the work of God when we pray for one another.  Sometimes our prayers are spoken words, like Moses defending his fellow Israelites. Other times our intercession could be an action, like Zipporah stepping up and obeying God when her husband had failed to do so.

Loving Father, show me a way to stand in for another, to make that person right with You.  I know that each person's salvation is a personal thing, something that must be between each person and You.  But if I can step up for someone and change their circumstances by doing the right thing, perhaps Your anger against them will be appeased, and You will show mercy on them.  Perhaps You will allow them to live, giving them another chance to make You their personal Savior; or maybe You will take away their suffering for a moment, so that they can see clearly and know that You are God. Thank You for showing mercy to me when I do not deserve Your grace.  Please make me worthy of You.

Amen.

Wrestling with God

I found myself in a men's Bible study on Wednesday night.  It was not my choice, my wife made me go.  Okay, true confessions, or full disclosure, or whatever--it is the first time I have been in any church service for weeks.

Anyway, the pastor is introducing a new focus, a specific study that is supposed to last for 13 weeks, not counting the introduction.  But his introduction is more of an admonition to faithfulness than an actual preview of our forthcoming study.  And in his prepared remarks, he recited several verses from many different books of the Bible.  Some were encouraging us to serve, others admonishing us to serve together, to lift one another up, yada, yada, yada.  All stuff we have all heard before, especially if we have grown up in church.

But then something profound happened. God reaches down and grabs me by the scruff of the neck, and lifts me out of the room and into His presence.  See, I'm bored with the lesson, but I'm trying to remain engaged.  I am looking up all of the Bible references he is citing, even those he quotes in passing on his way to another reference.  And when he stops and camps on one particular verse for more than 90 seconds, I start reading the verse before and the verse after.  I look at the study helps at the bottom of the page.  I am gleaning insights that my pastor never even thought about as he was preparing his lesson for that evening.

He cited Hebrews 10:25.  I looked it up and followed as he read his notes.  "Let us not give up meeting together, as some of us are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching."  Nice verse.  What do the study notes have to offer?

"The Greek word translated 'give up' speaks of desertion and abandonment (see Mt 27.46; 2Co 4.9; 2Ti 4:10, 16)."  Cool--a word study.  I looked up Matthew 27.46: "About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?'--which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Okay, but the word study I was following was "abandon", not "forsaken."  "Forsaken" is a good word, a biblical word, but not one we usually use in our daily living.  "Honey, the car ran out of gas.  I had to forsake it on the freeway."  You never hear of people taking their unwanted pets out in the woods and forsaking them.  Or of teenage mothers forsaking their children to a hospital or fire station.  So I re-read the verse, using the words deserted and abandoned.  "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"

Wait, wait, hold up.  Weren't we talking about church attendance?  Wasn't that what Hebrews 10:25 is usually understood to be talking about?  So if I abandon the church by giving up meeting together with them, am I doing the same thing as God did when He allowed His Son to die?  Well, not exactly, because God's purpose was pure--He had to sacrifice His son to save a dying world.  My motivation for missing church is laziness, or being busy about other things, or having different priorities.  But the outcome is the same.  Without God, Jesus bore the full weight of humanity, and the result was His death.  If we all abandon the church, which is the Body of Christ, will it not wither and die as well?

Let's move on.  2Corinthians 4:8-9 speaks of God's power made manifest in our weakness.  "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."  Major Truth No. 1: God never leaves us, never deserts us, never abandons us, even when we are going through really tough times.  Whether those tough times are financial, medical, or really physical (persecution), God is there.  He can help get us through.  Major Truth No. 2: the Church, as the body of baptized believers that it is, will also go through some tough times; but God will not abandon her, and neither should we.  We can complain that the pews are too hard, or the sermons are too long, or that they sing the same songs every Sunday. We can convince ourselves that the church has too much debt to handle, or that the deacons are too worldly, or that this or that is wrong, and we can talk ourselves out of going.  But the Bible says God will never leave His Church, just like He will never leave us.  So why are we always finding fault, as if we need an excuse not to go?

In 2Timothy 4:9-10, Paul talks about his fellow traveller Demas abandoning Paul in prison and going on to Thessalonica on his own, "because he loved this world."  And verse 16 says "At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me.  May it not be held against them."  Is there some man or woman of God, a servant of Christ, who needed your help and did not get it?  Abandoning the Body of Christ (the Church) is just like deserting Christ Himself.  And He will not do that to us.  Ever.

Hebrews 13:5 says "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake (abandon) you'."  This is a direct quotation from Deuteronomy 31:6. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake (abandon) you."  Verse 8 says the same thing: "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake (abandon) you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."  And Joshua 1:5 says "No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life.  As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave (desert) you nor forsake (abandon) you."

Those are comforting thoughts, because God never lies; He never goes back on His word.  We may feel deserted, but God desires fellowship with us.  We may have issues of abandonment, but God's love is abundant and free.  Thank God He does not retaliate against us for the stupid stuff we do, like forgetting to go to church for a while.  He is not like us, and sometimes I think we forget that.

The title of this posting is a reference to Genesis 32:22-30.  Jacob wrestled with God, and would not let Him go until He blessed Jacob.  May all of our encounters with God be that focused and determined; may we all be as tenacious as he was.  But along with the blessing, God also gave him a disability. A little something to remember Him by.  From that day forward, Jacob walked with a limp.  And verse 31 says "Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon."  So not only did Jacob remember his encounter with God, but all of his descendants did as well.

God probably did the same thing to Paul.  On the road to Damascus, a great light blinded him, and God spoke to him out of the light.  Paul was led to Damascus, and a man named Ananias touched his eyes, and allowed him to see again.  But there is indication in some of Paul's letters that he had some persistent "thorn in the flesh" that God would not remove.  This was to remind him of his face to face meeting with God.  Other passages indicate that Paul may have had trouble seeing.  So maybe he was healed of the full blindness, but God left a little astigmatism or near-sightedness as a reminder of His power.

But I digress.  This is a whole different study that I wanted to share today.  The point is that on Wednesday night, God confronted me in my weakness; He showed me evidence of His power; and He encouraged me to support my local church, even when I don't feel like it.