Worshipping a Constructed God

“And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them—the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes!” (Romans 1:25, The Message)

Paul describes the descent into sin of those who do not want to be accountable to God the creator.  What to do?  Answer:  Just create a god that can be accountable to you.  They worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them. 

One can see this in our culture, homosexuality comes to mind.  One does not need to search very long to find those who espouse comitting homosexual sin and worshipping God as good and right.  The verses that seem to prove otherwise are conveniently explained away.  This is nothing other than doing away with God the creator and creating one's own god, a god who can be accountable to your own desires and aims.

This created god is used to justify any number of things; marrying an unbeliever, getting an unbiblical divorce, acting as one wants rather than as the Scriptures call one to act, justifying whatever sin seems convenient at the moment, etc. etc.  If we are honest, we all wrestle with this to one degree or another.

The question is not whether or not we all want to act like God ourselves---we do!  The question is whether we reject this desire and become accountable to the God who created us; to his requirements; to his standards.

A Hostage for Hope

“I did it for Israel. I asked you to come and listen to me today to make it clear that I’m on Israel’s side, not against her. I’m a hostage here for hope, not doom.”” (Acts 28:20, The Message)

Paul's explanation to the Jews in Rome as to why he had been brought as a prisoner to Rome to be tried before Caesar.  I'm a hostage here for hope, paraphrases The Message.

The ESV has it as:

“For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.”” (Acts 28:20, ESV)

I think it's a pretty good paraphrase. 

There can be no doubt that Paul's first hope and desire was the salvation of Israel, and that his chains had come because of his devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ which was the hope of Israel (and everyone else) for that matter.

The takeaway point?  Hope comes in the gospel.  Hope is there for Israel; it is there for the Gentiles.  The gospel of Jesus Christ, dead for our sins, risen to new life.  This is the hope of all people; and it is the only hope of all people.

Lazy as an Old Dog

“Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”” (Matthew 26:41, The Message)

The Message uses colorful language in this passage where Christ gently rebukes his disciples for sleeping as they were supposed to be praying.  He goes away to pray by himself again, and the disciples fall asleep again.  This time, Christ doesn't wake them.

I confess to battling with the lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire sometimes, especially when it comes to prayer.  Satan wants us to be lazy as a dog in prayer for that means that we do not have, indeed cannot have, a close vital relationship with Christ and consequently will not understand how important prayer is.

Are you as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire when it comes to prayer?

The Overlooked and Ignored

““He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’” (Matthew 25:45, The Message)

The parable of the sheep and goats.  When the Son of Man comes his concern for the overlooked or ignored will be obvious, because here, the goats; the ones who fail to feed the hungry or thirsty or provide shelter for the homeless, find out that what they missed was that they were not serving the Son of Man himself when they neglected those who needed help.

Strong words.

We need to see that in serving the needy, the overlooked, the ignored; we are serving Christ.

Ending Up in the Dump

““But if that person only looks out for himself, and the minute the Master is away does what he pleases—abusing the help and throwing drunken parties for his friends—the Master is going to show up when he least expects it and make hash of him. He’ll end up in the dump with the hypocrites, out in the cold shivering, teeth chattering.”” (Matthew 24:48–51, The Message)

Vivid imagery from The Message in Matt 28:48-51.  The Master is looking for good and faithful servants, not servants that do what they please the minute the Master is away.  The unfaithful servant will end up in the dump along with the hypocrites, the actors, the ones who are faking things.

We will always be tempted to be unfaithful servants.  "Where is the promise of Christ's coming?  Since the creation of the world things have continued along like they always have been," goes the argument as Peter has the skeptics say it.  Of course even that argument is not correct for Christ has already broken into history, died for our sins and risen from the dead.

The faithful servant stays faithful. He does not end up in the dump.

"Don't You Read Your Bibles?"

“And regarding your speculation on whether the dead are raised or not, don’t you read your Bibles? The grammar is clear: God says,” (Matthew 22:31, The Message)

Christ is jousting with the Sadducees.  He answers their absurd question, and then throws out one of his own, which The Message paraphrases as: "Don't you read your Bibles?" 

Notice that Christ points the Sadducees to the Scriptures.  The Sadducees were very sad you see, because they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.  They were equivalent, I think, to modern day atheists (“Sadducees have nothing to do with a resurrection or angels or even a spirit. If they can’t see it, they don’t believe it. Pharisees believe it all.” (Acts 23:8, The Message))  The implication from Christ is that they should  know the answer to his question, if they would only read the Scriptures. So Christ at once tells them that they are wrong about the resurrection of the dead, and that if they were in the Scriptures they would know they were wrong.

Notice Christ's high view of the Scriptures.  Where the Scriptures speak, they speak correctly, and if you do not believe what the Scriptures say, that is not the Bible's fault, that is your fault!  Strong words.

Is there a resurrection of the dead?  An emphatic yes, from both Christ and the Scriptures.

Conceding a Round to Jesus

“About the baptism of John—who authorized it: heaven or humans?” They were on the spot and knew it. They pulled back into a huddle and whispered, “If we say ‘heaven,’ he’ll ask us why we didn’t believe him; if we say ‘humans,’ we’re up against it with the people because they all hold John up as a prophet.” They decided to concede that round to Jesus. “We don’t know,” they answered. Jesus said, “Then neither will I answer your question.” (Matthew 21:25–27, The Message)

The Message summarizes the leaders' response to Christ's question as: They decided to concede that round to Jesus. I find that a quirky but memorable way to put their response. Christ had them well and surely trapped. They couldn't say that John's baptism was from heaven, because they themselves had not repented of their sins. If they said that it was from humans, the people would turn against them because they certainly understood that John was a prophet.

They punt. We don't know. What was really true was that they were afraid to say because it both condemned them and the people would now be opposed to them.

It would behoove us, when we recognize that God is at work, to admit that he is at work, even when what he is doing doesn't fit into our theological system, else we might find ourselves opposing God, as the Jewish leaders did.

Kingdom of Heaven: Finding Grace, not "Fairness"

Thinking through the implications of the parable of the vineyard workers in Matt. 20:1-16. The ways of the Kingdom of Heaven are exceedingly surprising! The only ones who did not get more than they expected were the laborers who started first, but they didn't get less than they expected either.

The gospel always shocks us because we want it to be about law and works and we do not want it to be about grace. The men who worked the longest saw grace in action, but they didn't like it. They wanted things to go by works.

Again and again the gospel surprises us. Sometimes we do not like the surprise, because if we are looking for fair as we define it, we are not going to find it in the gospel. In the gospel we will find grace, not fair.

The Great Reversal

“And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”” (Matthew 19:29–30, The Message)

Reversal of fortune is a theme which repeats itself over and over again throughout the Scriptures.  In the OT it is a type of the great reversal of fortune to come at the cross, when darkness seems ascendant, when evil appears to have won, but then comes Resurrection Day; the reversal of fortune is complete (as John Piper put it: "Darkness, you get one hour, then you die).

Christ speaks of another great reversal that will take place at the end of the age.  All of the things that his followers have lost and suffered and sacrificed because of their commitment to him; they will get it all back a hundred times over, and they will get eternal life.  This truly is the Great Reversal

One of the things that ought to sustain us in our journey of faith is that what we suffer now is not to be compared with the prize to come. Paul suffered the loss of all things so that he would gain Christ (Phil 3.8).   Paul calls the loss of all things "light, momentary affliction"

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,” (2 Corinthians 4:17, ESV)

There is a reversal of fortune coming for those who are in Christ.

Back to Square One

I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom,(Matt. 18.3, The Message)

The kingdom of God is not about getting high rank, which is what the disciples thought it was.  Christ disabuses them of this notion. The kingdom of God is about going back to square one and starting over like a child.  It's about humility.

Not high rank, but humility; like a little child. Dependent.

Chiseling Gods of Stone

“Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?” (Acts 17:29, The Message)

Paul to the gathered Athenians at the Aeropagus in Athens.  How beautifully The Message captures the irony of the moment.  Paul is informing them about the God-you-don't-know after seeing a shrine to "The Unknown God."  "What you boys worship in ignorance, I will explain to you," said Paul.

I love Paul's conclusion here.  "How much sense can it make, if God created everything [that means YOU, oh polytheistic Athenians!], that you go on chiseling gods out of stone and calling them gods?"

Are we "modern" people any different?  We don't worship gods of stone, but we worship silly gods, inferior gods, useless gods, all the same.  I just read yesterday a short advertisement where Brad Pitt, erstwhile movie star, talks about "religion."

Do you see what he is saying here?  God is not God.  I am God.  Me.  Brad Pitt.  "I had faith that I'm capable enough to handle any situation."  Let me think here.  Did Mr. Pitt create himself?  Did he give himself his own talent.  Did he put him in a place in which his talents could be used (imagine if Mr. Pitt had been born in India or Pakistan)? 

Modern man is, by and large, just like Brad Pitt.  They do not worship gods of stone any more.  They worship themselves.  At least ancient men were smart enough not to worship themselves.

Don't Run from Suffering

You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am


Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. 


Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. 
(Matt 16:24,25, The Message)

Some great examples of how The Message paraphrase strikes with such force sometimes.  "You're not in the driver's seat" an expression with which we are all too familiar.  The one in the driver's seat is the one in control. Christ is in control.  We are not.

What it is normal to do:  Run from suffering.  What Christ calls us to do:  Embrace suffering, after all, he has shown us what it means to live a life of suffering.  We are merely called to emulate him.

Don't listen to the "wisdom" of the world that tells you that you need to love and improve yourself; that there is no higher virtue than self-esteem.  Christ calls you to the opposite:  Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.  And so it is.

The Christian life is a radically different life than what the world finds acceptable.

Trying to out-god God

““So why are you now trying to out-god God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed our ancestors and crushed us, too? Don’t we believe that we are saved because the Master Jesus amazingly and out of sheer generosity moved to save us just as he did those from beyond our nation? So what are we arguing about?”” (Acts 15:10–11, The Message)

The account of the council at Jerusalem when the early Christians were trying to decide the issue of whether or not pagan believers needed to adhere to the law of Moses.  This sets the pattern for church councils of the future when theological issues that are not clear in the Scriptures, are clarified (Christ's nature, for instance). 

Paul is speaking to the council and The Message has him saying, so why are you now trying to out-god God?  Meaning, "God has established a way of salvation, it is through faith in Christ.  Why are you adding to God's way of salvation?"  Thus the attempt to out-god God.

Paul nicely summarizes the Christian message that will shake the whole Roman empire and within less than three centuries supplant all pagan faiths in the empire.

 

 "But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”” (Acts 15:11, ESV)

Salvation does not come by following the Mosaic Law, or by adhering to certain rules and regulations.  Salvation comes through faith in Christ, in his death for our sin, in his resurrection, thus conquering death; or as Tullian Tchavidjian so eloquently puts it: Jesus + Nothing = Everying.

Plenty of Hard Times

“Putting muscle and sinew in the lives of the disciples, urging them to stick with what they had begun to believe and not quit, making it clear to them that it wouldn’t be easy: “Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times.”” (Acts 14:22, The Message)

No one can accuse the apostles of sugar-coating the gospel.  Here Paul and Barnabas pass back through the cities in which they had established churches in order to instruct and encourage (putting muscle and sinew in the lives of the disciples, The Message) the new believers.  Their overall message: Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times.  Interesting message, that.

The Christian life is no easy thing, a life of faith (Rom 1.17) is by definition, hard, because one is going to experience things that one does not understand; that don't make sense; that seem counter-intuitive. There are times when God seems to work against his own purposes.  Of course, he never does this, it just seems that way to our finite minds.  A good example: missionaries getting kicked out of China.  What was God up to there?  Why would he allow that?  How was the gospel going to advance now?  The end result: staggering, phenomenal, supernatural growth of the church--an estimated 1 million evangelicals in 1950, to an estimated 100 million today.  Amazing and totally unexpected.

Are you a believer in Christ? You're going to go through hard times.  Christ said it; Paul and Barnabas also.  Expect it.  Be prepared.

Herod Agrippa: Maggoty Old Man

“That was the last straw. God had had enough of Herod’s arrogance and sent an angel to strike him down. Herod had given God no credit for anything. Down he went. Rotten to the core, a maggoty old man if there ever was one, he died.” (Acts 12:23, The Message)

The Message is particularly eloquent when it comes to the death of Herod Agrippa, son of Herod the Great.  Herod had imprisoned Peter, planning on putting him to death, but Peter had miraculously escaped. Josephus says that he was in the ampitheatre at Caesarea, speaking to a delegation from Tyre and Sidon.  The morning sun shone on his garments, which were streaked with silver, and he shone brightly in all his finery, a perfect metaphor of earthly glory.  While he was still speaking, he was struck with stomach pains.  He suffered greatly for five days and died.  Sic transit gloria mundi - So passes the glory of the world.  Herod was "great" in this life; his greatness died with him.  He went to stand before God in all his pomposity and pride; or, as The Message puts it: Down he went.  Rotten to the core, a maggoty old man if there ever was one, he died.

All of Herod's wealth, power, and position did nothing when he was struck with an illness by God. 

May we be wise to see the temporal nature of life and not be sucked in by passing pleasures of sin and our pride.  It will all pass, and quickly.

The Unforced Rhythms of Grace

“Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.” (Matthew 11:29, The Message)

Christ speaks these words while talking about coming to him for rest.  "Learn from me" ("Learn the unforced rhythms of grace," The Message), he says.

 

In grace striving is useless and unnecessary.  Christ did the work, we can take off the yoke of self-righteousness; the ever present need to redo what Christ already did, and rest in Christ's easy yoke, rest in the rhythms that come from understanding that our doing is only in response to delight in the One who saved us by his blood.  Will the burden be difficult at times?  Certainly.  Will it be inconvenient?  Most of the time.  We have Christ's promise that what he lays us on, as our master, will not be "heavy or ill-fitting."

So we rest in the unforced rhythms of grace.

"Separate Yourselves...from Your Foreign Wives"

“Now make your confession to God, the God of your ancestors, and do what he wants you to do: Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives.”” (Ezra 10:11, The Message)

An exercise in pain here in Ezra 10.  Many of those who returned (although it was a very small percentage) had married foreign wives against God's express command (Deut 7.3,4), and obviously had not learned the lesson of 70 years in exile!  Ezra prays a prayer of community repentance in Ezra 9; then, as the pericope heading states in Ezra 10: "Ezra takes charge." He obviously had a strong personality.

Was it God's will that they take this step?  Ezra prays a prayer of repentance for the sin of the people, however there is never a clear word from the Lord instructing him to take the next step...except what is clearly written in the law of Moses.  One presumes that this was all the "word" that Ezra needed, and it is instructive that the people all agreed with him.

This must have been a very painful scene and aftermath, but that is the nature of clearing out sin.  It is painful and it is costly.  There is no mention of what provision is made for the divorced wives and kids.  One assumes that the fiscal responsibility still rested on the fathers who had married foreign wives, so that they felt the pain of their sin for a long time afterward, but we can't be sure because the text doesn't say.

God takes sin very seriously.  We should also.

Healing Bruised and Hurt Lives

“Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives.” (Matthew 9:35, The Message)

The main business that Christ was in when he ministered on the earth was healing lives; physically,yes, but even more important he came to heal "bruised and hurt lives."  He came to heal the brokenness that lurks inside all of us (and you know that is intrinsically true in your own life, I don't even need to prove it to you).  Fortunately, as God in the flesh, he was a master physician, completely understanding men before psychology was even trendy. 

The thing about brokenness is that we want  to be healed of it.  There is something inside us that cries out to have ourselves "fixed," to be made right, or to be made whole.  This is why I love the way The Message puts this passage.  Christ made a circuit of towns healing bruised and hurt lives.

Has he healed your  brokenness?

Being About the Business of Life

“Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life.” ” (Matthew 8:22, The Message)

This is Christ's paraphrased response to the man who would go and bury his father before he follows Christ.  The statement Your business is life, not death. Follow me resonates.  There was nothing more important than following Christ, not even attending to the dead.  How tragic it would have been if this man skipped the chance of life because he was too worried about the business of death. 

Christ does not tell the man not to bury his father, or that burying his father is not worthy of his attention.  He wants the man to understand the weightiness of the decision, and not to miss what he is seeing.  Christ first.  Everything else, second.

Laying Down a Smoke Screen of Pious Talk

You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, *(Matt 5.24).  Obviously, Petersen takes a little liberty with this passage which in the ESV reads:

“But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,” (Matthew 5:34, ESV)

However, he does get at the point of the passage: "Don't make hasty and needless promises which you are not going to keep."  I suppose Petersen's paraphrase hits close to home because I've told people "I'l pray for you," and then never done it.  If one is going to make a promise, then keep the promise.  Here, Christs' point seems to be: "Don't swear after this or that, just do what you say you're going to do."

Are you a man or woman of your word?

"Beat it, Satan!"

Jesus’ refusal was curt: "Beat it, Satan!" He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: "Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness." (Matt 4.10, The Message).

Eugene Petersen puts the interaction between Christ and Satan into language that makes sense to us today.  Who wonders what the meaning of "Beat it, Satan" is?  Christ is sending Satan off in the clearest most direct terms we can imagine.  Notice that Christ has the power to do just that.  Satan "beats it" with all haste; he must obey the Son of God; he is bound by God's authority.

Is it not a good thing to put one's faith and trust and dependence in the one who can tell Satan to "Beat it!"?

"This is my Son..Delight of my Life."

I'm reading in Matt 3.17, this morning where God's voice speaks, as the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, descends upon Christ after he is baptized.  God says (The Message paraphrase):  This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life. 

I love that.  Christ, the Son, is the delight of God, the Father.  How much more painful then, the passage becomes when Christ cries out at the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"   The one who delighted in him, had to turn his back upon him...and he was innocent.  It was done for us.

This is the depths to which Christ went for us.  Freely.  He became a curse for us, so that God might delight in us.  Ponder the depths of that truth.

Pitching Your Tent in the Land of Hope

I'm reading The Message this year in my devotional time.  What I've read of it, I've really enjoyed.  Eugene Petersen has a real knack for Bible paraphrase.  It's going to be a great year of devotions [sure I missed them yesterday and had to catch up today...].

I was really struck by the paraphrase of Acts 2.26:  I've pitched my tent in the land of hope.  This is Peter's great sermon at Pentecost where he is quoting David.  I love the imagery here, as he essentially invites them to pitch their own tents in the land of hope.  I think it is telling what David says here.  He doesn't say that he has pitched his tent in the land of certainty [ESV - my flesh also will dwell in hope], but in the land of hope.

This, after all, is the lot of the follower of Christ in this life.  We live in hope.  Perhaps the best definition of hope in this context is: a person or thing in which expectations are centered.  We pitch our tents in the land of hope in Christ!  It is a good place to pitch our tents.

Have you pitched your tent in the land of hope?