New Thoughts (6/27/02-6/29/02)
This coming week commemorates a momentous point in our nation's history. It also signals a momentous point in my church's history. In years past, this coming week has been an opportunity to include our God and Savior in the celebration of this nation's birth, as we joined in the local parade. This year will be different, and from what I've heard from co-workers and friends, our participation will be sorely missed. We have become somewhat notorious for being the only parade participants who continue to give our best effort from the start to the finish. May our race for heaven be found likewise!
However, it is no sinister plot or government intervention that keeps us from marching this year. No, it is a wonderful event that supercedes our normal activities, for this year we will be moving from the old warehouse we have worshiped in these last several years, to a synagogue we will share with the present Jewish congregation there! There are many causes to glorify God for this moving. First and foremost, it means that a place set aside as holy unto God will remain so. Had we not been there, seeking a new home for the church, this beautiful temple would have been razed, and another set of hideous condos would have replaced it.
Secondly, we come as the second joint occupants of this temple, and in doing so will have the opportunity to correct any misconceptions that may have come from sharing the place with the previous, Mormon, tenants. If nothing else, our presence should doubtless remove any thought that all Christians are alike!
The move does not come without its concerns. Many find themselves worried that we are perhaps falling into syncretistic habits, falling for the 'all ways lead to God' lie. Far from it! This is not a joining in common worship, nor is it a mutual endorsement of some sort. It is a sharing of the facilities. This alone shall stand as a testimony to our God, that even with such deep-held religious differences, we can yet dwell in peace, retaining our peculiar standing.
In this move, we do nothing else but what God has required of us. He has required, as we have seen in recent studies here in Romans, and in home studies where we've been looking at the Mosaic Law, that God requires that we treat all our fellow people with respect. This remains true no matter how greatly they may err in things of eternal import. Give every man his due. The Jews remain God's special, chosen people. He has not changed. As those special to Him, they should assuredly remain special in our sight, as well.
As this move has drawn near, Paul's comments back in chapter 11 have been on my mind repeatedly, and since they have come up again in this passage, I'll take the opportunity to look at the earlier verses again.
Ro 11:11-14 - The Jews have not fallen from grace forever, but their sins have given cause for God to bring salvation to the Gentiles, so that the Gentiles, being saved, will make the Jews jealous for God once more. If their sins have proven to be of such great benefit to the world, imagine what their fulfillment will be like! Yes, I speak to you Gentiles. Though I am an apostle to Gentiles, I still magnify my ministry if I move my fellow Jews to jealousy and thus save some of them.
We have been saved with a purpose even greater than that of bringing the gospel to our fellow Gentiles. We have been saved with a purpose of drawing God's chosen people back to Him, to open their hearts to the full import of Scripture. We have been placed in this grace so that by our living of God's truth we can make them jealous for all of Him as well. Christianity has made a horrifying mess of this calling in the past. We've tried to force compliance, we've sought out conversion by threat of death. This is not what God told us to do. He told us to make them jealous for Him. He did not say that we should go and rub their faces in the Gospel. He did not tell us to go and bury them in tracts. He told us to make them jealous for Him.
Jealousy comes when we see great love, and we don't feel that we have such a great love in our own lives. How are those we will be sharing this building with to become jealous? By seeing God's great love for us, by seeing how much His love exceeds what they knew or believed. How are they going to see this? They'll see it when we do as Jesus said to do. He told us they will know that God sent Him by our love for each other. They will know Him by the love we show. And, I believe it is not just going to be in the love we show among our own congregation, although that in itself is a strong witness. No. It will include the love we show for them, which is shown in respectful treatment, which is shown in accepting them as Christ accepted us - just as they are, right where they are.
At the same time, it is not impossible that we shall learn something of God from their example as well. If there's one thing His people understand, it is that God is Holy. They have a far greater reverence for the things of God than we have known. We, in our liberty, can become entirely too free and easy. Years ago, I noted that to my mind, the Church will be most powerful when it can combine the liberty and joyous love of the charismatic with the understanding of God's truth and holiness. It takes the combination of the two to truly walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. When I first considered this, I had thought that the likely place of joining was with the higher elements of reformed theology. Yet, here I see another possibility, the possibility of learning respect for His holiness from His chosen people. May we learn well and quickly! As we learn, may our love teach as well as we are taught, that we may soon rejoice together with His people. May we stand as evidence of God's promises being yea and amen in Christ!
Look at the promise that accompanies the quote Paul made of Moses. The first half, that which Paul puts down in this letter, calls all the nations to rejoice with Israel. But Moses continued by laying down a number of reasons to rejoice. God would avenge the wrongs done to His people. What cause would this be for the Gentile nations to rejoice, unless they also became God's people? God would take His revenge upon His enemies. Would we, who were yet His enemies, rejoice to hear such news? That Moses gives such reasons as these as a reason for the Gentiles to rejoice can only indicate that he saw from all he knew of God that God was greater than the tribes of Israel, that He was God of all, and a time must come when all would worship Him.
Look, though, at the final reason Moses gives for rejoicing. Dt 32:43d - He will atone for His land and His people. This is exactly why we rejoice before our God, because He has not only promised such a thing, He has done it! He atoned for the people of His creation by the only means possible, by the shedding of His own blood, by the only sacrifice that could truly satisfy what His justice demanded. This is the reality, this is the grace in which we stand, that God has restored us to righteousness. This is what can make His chosen people jealous, seeing that there truly are those who already know the promised atonement, who no longer walk in fear of God's wrath, but rather walk in the full assurance of His eternal love.
2Corinthians reiterates how our living out our love for Him and for each other will bring about the holy jealousy He seeks. In v13:11, we are instructed to live in peace. Why? Because when we live in peace, the God of love and peace is with us. Nobody is enticed by displays of anger and contention. Nobody will be attracted to a God of conflict and chaos. No. It is the love and the peace that the Christian both experiences and pursues that will recommend his faith to those around him. Yet, it is not the Christian that generates this attraction, but the reality of God with him. Where God is manifest, hungry hearts will be jealous to draw near.
Joy and peace are kingdom concerns. The numerous mentions of joy and peace, the numerous prayers for joy and peace, that are made throughout the Gospel make this clear. They are kingdom concerns because they are not only blessings to those who are of the kingdom, they are the banner of the kingdom. They are the invitation of the kingdom, and the means by which many will be added. They are the indication to those around us of God's invitation, of His offer of a heavenly citizenship.
Such an effective power in joy and peace, however, will not come from surface display. If our love for each other is no more than display, if it is not heartfelt, then it will be a powerless thing. Nobody will be fooled by such a display except, perhaps, ourselves. The call is for affection, not affectation. It's a call to the heart. It's a call for a passionate pursuit of compassionate living. If we will live out the Gospel, if we will do those things that our Lord and Savior teaches us to do, if we will live God rather than simply talking about Him, we will see amazing increase. Not financial increase, not an increase in our position or prestige, but a kingdom increase, an increase in the number who will dwell with Him forever, an increase in the joy of the Bridegroom and those who wait with Him.
If we truly have such a kingdom focus in our lives, we must seek the greatest, most effective means to bring about the kingdom's increase. This doesn't mean we need to turn to hype or showmanship. It means we need to turn to God, and learn His instructions for us. His instructions show us that the most effective means of kingdom increase lies in the unity of the whole body. A body working to one purpose, with one voice, displaying the fruit of God's Spirit upon them will speak volumes where a tract handed out will not even gain a reading. The majority of people are not interested in philosophical niceties. They are interested in real and palpable improvements of their quality of life. The joy and peace that faith brings are a vast improvement over the fear and uncertainty that surround us daily. Yet, we're nothing more than another self-help plan, if all we accomplish is to make folks feel better about their lots.
The body is joined together for a purpose. The Westminster Catechism tells us that our primary purpose is to glorify God. That is what we were created to do. That is what we have been joined together in one body to do. It is in the proper fulfillment of this purpose, in every aspect of our lives, that we will most effectively reach those that remain unreached. To that end, the more effectively we can live out our glorification of God, the more effective we will be for His kingdom. Is this something we wish to pursue? I should hope so. However, we cannot pursue His glory by sniping with each other over every little issue.
God seeks harmony among His body. Note that harmony does not require that each one of us sing precisely the same note. In fact, the very presence of harmony requires more than one note. Nor does the timing and movement need to be precisely in lockstep. Consider a fine symphony. If all the instruments were playing the exact same melody line in the exact same timing, it would be dull as dull can be. The interest of music lies in the intricacies with which notes and timings are combined to create a pleasing whole. This is harmony. Not all notes can be combined harmoniously, though. God has created the body to recognize that there is not only harmony, there is dissonance - discord. Notes that clash are instantly recognized by the listener, generally to his distaste. There is a place in the symphony even for such dissonances, such tensions, but it requires a master's touch to use them to good advantage, to bring a pleasing result. A symphony that was constructed of nothing but such tensions would please nobody.
God looks upon our praises of Him in much the same way. They are our symphonious tribute to His glorious being. For this to be a glorifying, uplifting symphony, we must be single-minded in pursuing a harmonious offering. Single-minded does not mean single-noted. There is room for infinite variety in the praises of our God, as there will be an infinity of time in which to explore those various praises. Yet, if all possible variations were pursued in one moment, it would be not praise, but noise. We must be single-minded so as to contribute to the theme at hand in the moment.
We must also remain within the bounds of our Composer's directions. If we all pursue our own tastes and impressions, we will not only lose the necessary unity, we will not even be performing the correct piece, perhaps not even in the right place! What use the symphony, if they don't follow the Conductor? If we cannot see His baton, we cannot follow His score. It is His role to keep us on the proper bar at every moment of our lives. It is our job to keep His baton clearly in sight by studying His word, knowing the score He has written for us, so that the slightest leading of His baton can be instantly followed. This is the unity of mind and purpose we must have, a unity founded and grounded in Christ alone. Only when we know such a unity of purpose can we offer up prayers in unity. If the body is divided, the mind is divided. If the mind is divided, so, too, the prayers. And such prayers will not be heard in heaven.
This is a tough call. It is hard for us imperfect beings to maintain such a unity with each other. It is hard for us to maintain the faith, joy, and peace we are called to dwell in. No, not hard; impossible. These things are impossible for man, but with God, all things are possible! This is the point of Ps 133. How good and how pleasant it is when we live in unity! How shocking to the world around us when this occurs, for it is as rare as it would be to find the dew of the mountainsides in the midst of the desert places! It requires the power of God to bring us into such unity, and to hold us in such unity. When we allow Him to work that unity amongst us, the world cannot but recognize His hand in it. There can be no other way.
We are told, often enough, that God does not require of us things which are impossible to us. We are told this, but we are told it incorrectly. God almost always seeks from us what is impossible to us. In this way, He constantly leads us back to Himself. In this way, our absolute dependence on Him remains clear in our eyes. In this way, humility is encouraged in us. In this way, prayer becomes a matter of life and death to us. Without His aid, we cannot possibly comply with the least of His requirements. Over and over, Jesus hammered this point home to those who thought they were doing well, who thought their actions would commend them to God's gracious rewards. The Pharisees, the rich young man, the religious of the day, all thought they were doing well, obeying God's word, living Godly lives, and all this without His help, thank you very much. It took Jesus opening up the full scope of a few of the Mosaic Laws to get people to realize the impossibility of obedience. It took such drastic measures to make clear that we all remain guilty before Him unless some other atone for us. Why do you suppose God said way back before even the Law was established that He would atone? No other could. But with God all things, even our salvation, are possible! Thanks and glory be to His name!
So, to prayer we must turn, for only in Him to whom we pray can we find the power necessary to follow Him, to live in righteousness, to live in unity. How, then, shall we pray? Shall we repeat the prayers of Scripture? Shall we nag Him to satisfy all our desires? Shall we harass Him with reminders of His promises? None of these are bad things. In fact, they reflect Scripture's own advise on the matter. Yet Scripture also speaks of a better way, teaching us to seek out the truth of God first in prayer, then to seek His peace. The wisdom of God, James writes, is first pure (true), then peaceable (Jas 3:17). Jesus told us to seek the kingdom first, knowing that our needs would be provided as well (Mt 6:33).
If we will seek His truth first, then His glory must be at the base of every request we make. Self gratification should not enter into our prayers. The focus we are called to have is on the kingdom, not the flesh. Our faith is in the God of all creation. Can we really be concerned that He might forget to take care of what He's made? How is that faith in Him? Let us cry out to Him often and from the heart, but let us cry out to Him for the things that will glorify Him, that will bring an increase to His kingdom. Let us cry out to Him for the power to live a life which will promote His glory in every action and every moment! Nothing less would be fitting for the children of Almighty God.
