Naked

I suppose the timing might be appropriate to make some observations about Job’s naked in – naked out comments when confronted with the fact that he had just lost everything. And I do mean everything. Of course, that situation sets the stage for the on-going discourse between the sufferer and his three well-intentioned “friends”. The gist of the discussion is simply this; Job must have done something – committed some kind of sin – to deserve the punishment he was enduring. Job’s position was basically, I am innocent and he desperately cries out to have his day in court with God.

Being financially bankrupt is one thing. Being spiritually bankrupt is something entirely different. Job’s buddies were trying to convince him that he was both. If he would just acknowledge that, confess his sin, and seek God, than everything would be restored and he would find a renewed harmony with God. Seems easy enough. Then again, it was far removed from the actual situation that Job found himself in. However, it is not unlike contemporary Christianity, where sin is the root cause and confession is the cure. If it were  that simple, fine, but it’s not.

I am a sinner. There is absolutely no doubt about that. I continue to sin, there is little question about that. I suspect I will always be a sinner, struggling to do what is right and always falling short. Naturally, some would say that Christ’s death and resurrection took care of that malady, but there is something about that panacea that seems a bit off kilter. There is no doubt that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross paid the penalty for my sin. Nevertheless, that does not free me from the struggle of sin and its consequences. If it did, than “cheap grace” is indeed the way to happiness. However, the responsibility I bear as a child of God does not end with the resurrection of Christ. If anything, that is the beginning. That event, in some sense, throws me smack dab in the middle of my sinfulness and keeps me mindful of my inability to live in a way that glorifies Christ.

Job was experiencing what he was experiencing at the very suggestion and acquiescence of God. He had done nothing other than to be “…blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil (Job 1:1).” So when the Adversary, Satan, implied that Job was in that condition simply because God protected him and blessed him and given the opportunity would denounce him, God basically said, “Give it your best shot.”

Satan’s observation is profound. More than that, it was insightful regarding the human condition. Do we love and serve God because of what we receive or because he is God? The answer of many, including myself, wants to be “We serve God simply because he is God.” However, were you to peel back the layers, the discovery might be that many serve God because of what they expect he will do for them.  That is the naked truth.

Yes, I am in that camp often. I suppose I should be ashamed to admit it but actually it is rather freeing. That does not imply that I like that type of awareness, it simply means that knowing it allows me the opportunity to deal with it.

There are days when I, like Job, wish that death would remove me from this dilemma, or times when I regret the day of my birth. Then again, there is something about Job’s inner man that is attractive and strong. An example that says there is hope for folks like me. Job lived in such a way that allowed him to confront that which seemed beyond confrontation. A wholeness that said, like Yogi Berra, “It ain’t over til it’s over.” One more day, give it one more day was Job’s position in spite of his awareness – naked in, naked out. My goal is to make it one more day.

Mind This

The other evening, a friend and I were discussing, for lack of a better term, discipleship. Our focus was centered on the shema(Deut. 6:4-5). When we were talking about it, I was quoting the OT verses and he was quoting Jesus’ statement which includes the word “mind”. (A word not in the original Shema, but apparently added in the Septuagint. “Mind” is included in both Luke and Mark’s account of Jesus’ statement but not in Matthew’s.)  Our conversation centered on what it meant to love God with your mind.

This is a hard thing. Naturally, when “mind” is introduced to the concept of discipleship, the focus is rightly centered on knowledge/understanding. That does not mean “emotions” are left hanging, it simply means the focus is not on “I know that I know” because I have experienced it and am emotionally vested, rather I know that I know because I have sought it out and have concluded that it can be no other way.  The critical piece to employ in both camps is that similar to the Boreans, they were set to examine the Scriptures daily to see if what they heard was so (Acts 17:11). Often, however, emotion and experience take precedence and knowledge becomes at best, a nice to have.

An emotional investment in belief and understanding is good and a valuable part of our Christian experience. But it is important to remember Paul’s admonishment to not be “conformed to his world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). That is how we prove, approve, and determine the will of God and establish what is good, acceptable and perfect.  Therefore, it is more than just the “heart, soul, and strength” – there is the “mind” and it is oft left to beg for its share of attention in genuine discipleship.

What does it mean to love the LORD our God with all our mind? As my friend and I  talked about it, some of my thoughts were from a “want to” perspective. To love God with my mind means that I have a deep seated “want to” to know Him, understand His word, and yes, experience His presence. The other side of the conversation was directed to the study, examination, and coming to an understanding of God’s teaching. Both accurate from the standpoint of what the writer of Deuteronomy was attempting to stess regarding the commandments of the Law and the instruction for Israel to teach them diligently, talk of them, bind them, and write them on their heart, “lest (they) forget the LORD (Deut. 6:11).”

In my own pilgrimage, I am learning that knowing the what and why of my belief systems is essential to growing in Christ. That does not mean I divorce myself from the heart side, it simply means that I have chosen not to divorce myself from the mind side. I want the meat of the word, not just milk. I want to understand the scope of God’s involvement in history not just focus on my decision for Christ and think discipleship is listening to sermons and having cookies and juice fellowship. I want to ask the “why” and not simply focus on the “ooh and ah”.  I am also learning that this is hard work, challenging work, and sometimes frustrating work. Nevertheless, as Eliphaz said to Job, “As for me, I would seek God and to God I will commit my cause… (5:8)”

More Kingly Thoughts

There are times when God is good enough to shed a beacon of revelation that allows me to say, “Wow, that sounds just like me!” Those are seldom times of refreshing, although I suspect they should be. Rather, they are times that lead to self examination and a course of internal questions. Questions that lead me down divergent paths attempting to justify behaviors, attitudes, or thought processes. After all,  no one likes to be shown that they are wrong or doing things incorrectly.

I had such an epiphany when reading 2Chronicles and the life of Uzziah, chapter 26.  Uzziah was sixteen years old when he was established as king over Judah. He reigned for fifty-two years. The scripture says that “He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper (v.5).” His reign was plump with rebuilding, establishing armies, and conquering the Philistines. Then we read this part of his biography; “But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the LORD his God….(v.16)” Apparently, the blessings of God resulted in a breach of his trust and became a source of proud and haughty behavior.

When I read those verses, it didn’t take a bolt from the heavens to make me see myself reflected in Uzziah’s story. No, I’ve never been a king. No, I’ve never built an army. No, I’ve never conquered other countries. But I have found myself at times so smug in my relationship to God, that I’ve lost focus and become proud and arrogant. And, as the writer of Proverbs says, “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling (Prov.. 16:18).” 

Pride is an interesting sin. It is not always obvious to the proud, but often very obvious to those looking on. It paves a path that seems smooth and directed, but in reality is rough and characterized by dead ends. It can be draped in haughty words and behavior or disguised in a cloak of false humility. It can present itself with an air of confidence or surround itself with an “I’m right you are wrong” smugness that often remains unspoken. It is a nasty trait however it presents itself.

I suspect that pride is the shield that God finds most impenetrable when seeking to restore His wayward sheep. It is the armor that deflects His words of love and forgiveness and keeps the unbelieving from believing. It is the attitude of the heart that shackles His people from moving forward in victory and grace. Pride is, in a word, nasty!

Often in the chronicles of the Kings of both Israel and Judah, God dealt with pride in a very simple manner. He would bring foreign nations to capture and conquer the people. The people would repent, turn their worship back to Yahweh and once again prosper. Then, often with the changing of the guard, pride would raise its ugly head again and the cycle would repeat itself.  It is interesting to note, that often the people, if left to their own choice, would seem to stay the course. It was mostly when a King, who decided to do “what was evil in the sight of the LORD”, that the nations would suffer.

I would like to say the lesson learned in all of this is that “pride comes before the fall” and that is true. However, there is also another lesson. Pride is a nasty cancer. Once it gains its foothold it is very difficult to remove. It can be brought under remission, but often reappears when we take our eyes off the LORD and serve other gods or self. Perhaps a refreshing source of therapy would be to heed the words of Hezekiah:

For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.  (2Chron. 30:9)

I believe I’ll start there.

Kingly Thoughts

How would you like this on your cemetery monument?: And he departed with no ones regret.

Those were the words used to sum up Jehoram’s reign over the nations of Judah in 2Chronicles 21:20.

It would be safe to say, not many Christians find the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles inviting. They are seldom the books of choice when it comes to daily devotions. In fact, they can be rather distressing at times as the writers bounce from kingdom to kingdom, king to king, battle to battle. However, there is one theme that is consistent. The kings who follow the LORD prosper and those who do not perish. It is a fairly simple formula but one that both kingdoms, Israel and Judah, find hard to sustain for any length of time. The pesky “high places” always seem to be the downfall of both as the chronicles unfold.

One thing that has peeked my interest as I’m walking through these books is the fact that the writers of these histories often note other sources that contain “the rest of the acts” of many of the kings. They can be the “chronicles of Jehu”, the “Book of he Kings of Israel”, the “Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah”, or one of many others. The reason those references are intriguing is the primary question of why were they not preserved somewhere. It seems from what I have been able to gather, none of these resources and there are some twenty of them, have been retained. Many are considered “lost works” and others are considered pseudepigrapha – books falsely attributed to a particular individual. Even though they are referenced frequently, the seem to be shrouded in mystery. It would seem that books of this kind of importance would have been painstakingly preserved.

The second observation about the history of the kings is the continual “if – then” phenomenon. If you obey the LORD and keeps his commandments then you prosper and find victory in battle. If you do not, then you reap punishment or certain peril. In fact, under the reign of Asa (2Chron. 15) “whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman.” Now that’s what I call incentive!

We don’t often think in these terms under a New Testament belief system. But its shadow is still present. You can hear it’s subtle prescription from the pulpit and in many Bible Study programs. Many times it is couched in offering reasons why one is suffering health issues, financial distress, marriage chaos, or the like. If ones life is “right with God” then those things would not happen. The calamity is caused by sin and disobedience.  Even though we speak of “grace as unmerited favor”, on-going grace seems conditioned on doing the right things. At least, that’s how it comes across at times. And I’m not saying that’s wrong, I am simply saying we often attempt to disguise that type of if/then scenario when it comes to NT believers.  The less subtle motivators are those referencing hell, or the avoidance of hell and the threat of the Second Coming of Christ. Although proclaiming the message of the nether world and the new world is often saved for the unsaved – it is also used to keep believers on the straight and narrow.

We can learn a good deal from the “history” books of the Bible. Not just the life of the kings of Judah and Israel, but how they related to God and how God related to them, personally and through the prophets. There are echoes of what went before and what is to come. There are definitive outlines of what it means to be a follower of Yahweh and what it means to struggle under the shadow of the “high places.” At times it seems the kings represent a microcosm of every person seeking to be a true learner/follower/disciple of Christ. At times hopelessly devoted to their God and other times consumed by the confusion of their day and the influence of mistakes in the past. It was never easy. Nor is it easy today to faithfully follow the Christ.

I think sometimes my epitaph may be as I first noted. However my desire is that it would be said I was found “doing what was right in the sight of the LORD.”

Knowing God

As I’ve been reading through the Old Testament again, I keep thinking about what it means to know God. Of course, knowing God as he is, is not possible - I don’t think. However, knowing him as he expresses himself in scripture is a pretty good clue to who and what he is.

There is empirical data that we can gather about God such as his acts, his statements, his revealed nature. Then there is experiential data that we can collect, what I and others claim to experience when it comes to our relationship and understanding of God. Neither of which is complete either alone or collectively. However it does give us a better picture of God.

Simply put, there are three basic positions when it comes to knowing and relating to God. One would be exasperating, this would be the position of the atheist. There is no god so quit promoting that idea. One would be confounding, this would be the position of the agnostic who holds that God is not knowable so pursuing such is an exercise in futility. Then there is the avenue of extolling, this of course would be the route most believers would take. Praising God for who he is and what he has done in their life through Christ.

As a believer, I suspect my approach to God should actually be somewhere between confounding and extolling. I can never really know him as he is, but I can extol him based on what I do know. Furthermore, as I progress in my faith, those avenues may run more parallel to one another rather than becoming divergent paths. As the editor of the Reformation Study Bible  aptly points out, “We should never forget that the purpose of theology is doxology; we study in order to praise (p 594).” The other side of that coin is the more I know about God, the less I really know since he is, for all intents and purposes unknowable. The closest we come is in the person of Christ – “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

It is my thought that we should always pursue the un-pursuable. To seek that which in reality cannot be found and to reach out to the one who is beyond reach. Yes, in Christ there is the presence of the Father, but even in Christ, our knowledge of God is beyond comprehension. After all, anyone who tells me they can understand how an eternal God could sacrifice his only son for the sake of a sinful humanity is not believable.