ONE LEADER, ONE LOAF, ONE BODY

Nehemiah 11:1-12:26; 1 Corinthians 10:14-33; Psalm 34:11-22; Proverbs 21:14-16

“A record of the family leaders of the Levites was kept during the years when Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua served as high priest. Another record of the priests was kept during the reign of Darius the Persian.”

“When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.”

“But the Lord will redeem those who serve him. No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.”

“Justice is a joy to the godly, but it terrifies evildoers. The person who strays from common sense will end up in the company of the dead.”

I always thought Communion a personal act by which we remind ourselves individually of the gifts of grace and forgiveness represented by the Bread and the Wine (or juice, as it may be). It is certainly all that. But in looking at Paul’s description with fresh eyes today, that seems too restrictive a view. Most biblical scholars believe Paul was the first to actually refer to Communion in writing; the Gospel accounts came after his Epistles. It is worth noting, then, that this first reference says little about forgiveness or grace. Clearly, Paul’s theme is on unity:

Think about the people of Israel. Weren’t they united by eating the sacrifices at the altar?

Paul sees Communion as something that does not just bind us to Christ as we partake of His Body and Blood. Communion also binds us irrevocably to each other. Our sharing of the elements joins us to each other as brothers and sisters every bit as much as it reconnects us to God through the sacrifice of Christ. Communion is the way the Creator has chosen to bring His family all back together again. It’s the ultimate family reunion!

Paul stresses over and over again in his writings that one of the greatest blessings of being a Christian is that we know our siblings in the faith have got our backs. We are to care for the widows and orphans among us without expecting payback. Those of us with abundance are to share with those who have little. In a word, the freedom and power we find in Communion are the very same forces that enable us to love each other as we love ourselves. Having taken on Christ, we are free to share Him – and all that He is – with others without risking our own well-being. In fact, as we share Christ with others, we actually grow outside ourselves by growing into others. This is a heady thought, that all who call Christ Savior really are a spiritual part of others who do the same, but that is how the Bride of Christ is created, after all.

So, why do dissonance and conflict still exist in the Body? Perhaps it’s because we do not know who our leaders should be. Any time leadership is an open-ended question, there will be those not qualified to lead who insist on having more than their share of the say. Likewise, there will be unhealthy competition among those who are qualified. The Body will be torn apart. Jesus understood this problem as well as anyone. That’s why He counseled His followers to lead through service. Those who would be greatest must be willing to be the least. Ultimately, we have only one Leader. We are free not to compete.  There is no need to compete with our brothers and sisters for preeminence in the Body. One Man calls the shots for all Christians.

The next time we are tempted to rush in and claim leadership for ourselves, let us stop first and ask ourselves who we intend to be serving. The answer to that question will do as much as anything to determine whether or not we are qualified to lead. One Body, one loaf. Godly leaders are committed to bringing everything together under One Head. Godly leaders lead to Christ.

TEMPTED TO TURN AWAY

Nehemiah 9:22-10:39; 1 Corinthians 9:19-10:13; Psalm 34:1-10; Proverbs 21:13

“They took over houses full of good things, with cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings. But despite all this, they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They turned their backs on your Law, they killed your prophets who warned them to return to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies.”

“If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”

“I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
 In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles.”

For Holy Week, Newsweek’s cover story was entitled, “The Decline and Fall of Christian America.” The story’s major point was that a smaller percentage of America’s population than ever identify themselves as “Christian.” It went on to add, however, that about the same number of people overall still claim to be “spiritual” - despite a complete lack of any recognizable faith. Two wrongs do not make a right. That’s just another way of saying that more Americans than ever before are resisting any form of recognized spiritual commitment. The verse from Revelation comes to mind: “Because you are neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” It appears Americans are not yet ready to give up altogether on God; they just want to keep all options option. What a cowardly and intellectually dishonest way to live that is! Rather than being content to float in the cesspool of indecision, we ought to at least have the moral integrity to declare allegiance to something, or not. Get real. There is no such thing as a multi-faith (or non-faith) spirituality. Spirituality without faith in God is just wishful dreaming. It has no rational basis or foundation. In fact, we cannot hedge our bets. Aim at nothing and we’ll surely hit it (as I believe I’ve mentioned before). Consistent with that idea, the article concluded, somewhat depressingly for those “spiritual” beings among us, that America’s situation mirrors the prelude to the affirmative non-spirituality found in Europe today. It did not come out and say that religion is passé, but it got right up to it.

If one had no memory or history, it might, in fact, be tempting to believe there is no God or, at least, no divine plan for good. At this precise moment, one need only look to CNN to know the few bright spots are mostly manufactured. However, what has become painfully obvious in the last nine months is that they are no more manufactured than was the supposed “prosperity” of the first half of this decade. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that God had little to do either with yesterday’s prosperity or today’s recession. We need to take responsibility for our own actions (and omissions). When are we going to grow up and quit forcing credit and blame (take your pick) on God for things over which we allow Him no control? That kind of “spirituality” is nothing more than hypocrisy. Yet still, many are quick to deny the existence of God and the potency of the Holy Spirit when things don’t go according to human desires, even as they happily “praise” Him for any perceived blessings, however mundane or secular they are.

The simple fact is that those who reject any long term perspective or delayed gratification have been claiming disillusionment for generations upon generations. Their story is pretty much the same now as it was in Old Testament times. As long as things are going their way, nebulous spiritists are happy to accept the concept of a benevolent and loving God. But let times get tough and require anything that resembles self-denial, and faith is among the first of the “baggage” to be jettisoned.

Let us be clear. Present times need to be viewed in the guise of the temptation that they are. Adversity is, at its worst, a temptation not to believe in Christ (or a God of any sort, for that matter). It may equally be a temptation to give up on ourselves. Either reaction is misguided and inappropriate, and we do well to remember that.

We do not have to fall to adversity any more than we have to grow fat and inconsiderate from abundance. The temptation to turn away from God can be resisted from either end of the spectrum. More importantly, it should be resisted from every point on the spectrum. In the end, only God makes sense, and only Christ can reunite us with Him despite our sin. Ever since Adam and Eve ate the apple in the Garden, humans have been trying to fix what is wrong with them, right down to manipulating our belief systems when it suits us. However, what is wrong with us is that we consistently deny the Holy Spirit the opportunity to cure what ails us. Satan’s plan is insidious in its simplicity: just keep us from any real reliance on the Spirit. If we never allow ourselves to experience His Power, eventually, more likely than not, we will convince ourselves there’s no reason to even believe in His Power. Instead of whining about God’s failure to act, then, what about initiating a strategy that will test whether He can act or not? Give Christ a chance. At least, we will then have a basis for our lack of belief. Or not.

THE GIFT OF IDENTITY

Nehemiah 7:61-9:21; 1 Corinthians 9:1-18; Psalm 33:12-22; Proverbs 21:11-12

“Three families of priests—Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai—also returned…. They searched for their names in the genealogical records, but they were not found, so they were disqualified from serving as priests. The governor told them not to eat the priests’ share of food from the sacrifices until a priest could consult the Lord about the matter by using the Urim and Thummim—the sacred lots.”

“Am I not as free as anyone else? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes? Isn’t it because of my work that you belong to the Lord? Even if others think I am not an apostle, I certainly am to you. You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord’s apostle.”

“But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love.
 He rescues them from death and keeps them alive in times of famine. We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield.”

One of the most fundamental human questions we get asked is “Who are you?” The question may be put in a variety of ways, e.g., “What’s your name;” “What do you do;” or “Aren’t you Fred’s daughter” – but it all amounts to the same thing. People have a basic need to identify themselves and be identified by others. We each have separate names, but we also are known by the company we keep, our lineage and our generation.  In fact, who we say we are ultimately carries far less weight than the identification that comes from what we do and other external indications of personality. We may claim to be honest, but if we are recognized as liars, we will not be trusted or seen as trustworthy. We may claim to be Christian, but if we live as pagans, our self-depiction means nothing. However, actions alone do not determine identity, either. None of us, save Christ, are consistent enough to say our acts and thoughts mirror our identity all the time.

Identity goes deeper than name or actions. It also is subject to change. Who we are is not necessarily who we will be. (Think Jacob/Israel, for example.) Given that we can change identities, it follows that we run the risk of losing our very selves if we do not live consistently in a way that both claims and supports our character as children of God. 

How sad it would be, for example, to be a priest and not be able to prove our status! That’s exactly what happened to the Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai families. Unable to establish their credentials from genealogical records, they were banned from the ministry to which they were called until others (actually, God, through the use of sacred lots) established their identities for them. We have no need to look back thousands of years, however, to find relevant examples of lost identities destroying ministries. The world is full of those who claim special spiritual standing but live in such a way as to lose all credibility. More personally, we are all members of the priesthood of all believers. Many of us go so far as to call ourselves disciples. But if we were pressed, could we prove it? Do we claim Him? Are we doing what we were made to do? How can we really know who we are?

While our claims and/or actions may provide definite clues to our identity, and can certainly reveal character or lack of it, we are not just what we say or do. The fact is, we are neither Christian nor disciples simply because we give lip service to the Gospel, go to church, or do or say other spiritual things. Like Israel, we are who God says we are. Otherwise, we are lost. Period. We may fool ourselves into believing we are on the right track, but our self-identification without the Holy Spirit’s input is the rough spiritual equivalent of trying to smash a square peg into a round hole. We don’t really fit. Our highest and best use is never discovered. We go through life with a vague sense of discontent, not always sure of what it is we are supposed to be doing. We talk of “finding ourselves” but wonder on the inside what we are looking for. Here’s a flash. The Lord gives us our identity. God knew us before we were even born, and He knew the plans He has for us before we exited the womb. Denying such things does not make them any less true. It just makes us far more likely to exhaust ourselves swimming upstream against the current of our Creator’s intent. My personal suspicion is we would all avoid a lot of conflict and personality problems if we stopped trying to be what we are not and were never created to be.

It’s an interesting thing to ask oneself who we think we are. As I ponder that personally, a number of answers come to mind (in no particular order): father; attorney; teacher; Christian; spouse; friend; and so forth. These are all ways I identify myself, and I admit they are driven, in large measure, by context. I am not likely to claim Christ before a jury in the middle of making a closing argument, for instance. (In that situation, I’m all lawyer.) If that is the case, though, do I have the right to claim Christ at all? Do I lose my identity as a Christian when I leave it unclaimed at the door to the courthouse, or in any other circumstance? One thing does seem certain: if my words and actions are not consistent with who I believe myself to be, I clearly give others no reason to accept or even understand my self-image. They cannot know me as I think I know myself. They may, however, know me better than I know myself. Conversely, though, just because I am vocal about my character does not prove it, any more than calling myself a moon pie will make me one.

I’m left with this. Instead of worrying about who I am, or who I think I may be, it’s time to change the question. I need to be a lot more intentional about asking God who He made me to be. Life is confusing enough without adding my opinions to the mix. We can make all the judgment calls we want about our lives’ ambitions and goals, but if they are not what we were created to do, we will never be fulfilled. If we do not know who we are in the Creator’s eyes, we will never reach our potential. I have no clear recipe for discerning either identity or purpose. That’s not the point of today’s blog. The point today is that I think I’ve been asking the wrong person who and what I am. I need to go to my Source. I need to ask my heavenly Father who He made me to be. And I have to get over my fear of the answer, and just make sure I’m doing my best, in His power, to live as He intended.

ALL WE NEED TO KNOW

Nehemiah 5:14-7:60; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Psalm 33:1-11; Proverbs 21:8-10

“So on October 2, the wall was finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God…. They kept telling me about Tobiah’s good deeds, and then they told him everything I said. And Tobiah kept sending threatening letters to intimidate me.”

“…We know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.”

“For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does.
He loves whatever is just and good; the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth.”

What do we know about what just happened, really? Easter can be overwhelming. Separate and apart from family gatherings and other diversions of the “holiday weekend,” in thinking honestly about the causes and effects of Easter, one can get lost in the theology pretty quickly. Add to that, for this Monday, the inevitable post-Easter emotional letdown, and many may well be wondering in retrospect what all the fuss was about. Sadly, everything still feels and looks pretty much the same as it did on last Monday. The Lord has not come down from the sky riding on a cloud to clean up all the mess. Evil has not been smitten. So it is today, in the cold rationality of another Monday, that we face the ultimate question. It is today, not Easter Sunday, that we will truly decide what we believe, who we are, and who we will follow in the trenches of our day-to-day lives and work. Oh, and just to make things interesting, we should perpare ourselves for some opposition along the way. Nothing like a little religion mixed in with the world to get folks stirred up.

Nehemiah may be God’s ultimate example of taking religion to work. As the king’s cupbearer, it is difficult to see what Nehemiah knew about rebuilding cities or, specifically, reconstructing Jerusalem’s border walls and defenses. However, God chose him and Artaxerxes sent him, so there you go: yet another example of God equipping those He calls. But let us not rush by the obvious question quite so glibly. What did Nehemiah know about rebuilding or fortifying cities? What schooling did he have in architecture or, more importantly, military strategy that would insure he would be able to preserve and protect the work of his hands as and after it was constructed? For that matter, what did he know of theology, with which to defend his God against all the pagan influences to be faced in his homeland? I’ve read no biographies on Nehemiah but am intrigued by the answer Scripture provides: “nothing.” Apparently, he did know enough to get the job done. He knew two things: 1) love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and 2) love your neighbor as yourself. Humankind did not need a book in the Bible about the construction of fortified walls. It never hurts, tough, to have another lesson on what it looks like to live out the Great Commandment.

Specifically, Nehemiah rejected any temptation to treat himself any better than one of his workers. Consider Nehemiah 5:18: “The provisions I paid for each day included one ox, six choice sheep or goats, and a large number of poultry. And every ten days we needed a large supply of all kinds of wine. Yet I refused to claim the governor’s food allowance because the people already carried a heavy burden.”  (It is impossible not to comment on modern application of this verse. What if the leaders and CEOs of today had a similar perspective? Alas….) Not once in the twelve years of governance did Nehemiah claim the extraordinary benefits of leadership to which he was entitled. Instead, as governor of Judah, Nehemiah fed his people out of his own pocket. Impressive.

Amazing happens when one looks at Nehemiah’s response to political challenges. Mainly, he ignored them. When things got too intense, he prayed. That’s pretty much it. Yet the wall got built. However idyllic and unrealistic the story sounds, there’s no arguing with the facts. Jerusalem was rebuilt by a man with no obvious talents or qualifications for the job, and in spite of significant opposition. I guess, in a phrase, the message is that Nehemiah knew all he needed to know, and he lived a fulfilled life just based on those two principles. Distilling things even further, one could also say Nehemiah simply acted out of love, and it was enough to get the job done.

I will freely admit that I do not trust love that much. I don’t trust love to take me where I want or need to go professionally. I do not trust love to put food on the table or a roof over my head. Nor do I trust love to overcome all the obstacles in my life. I’m just not there yet. Worse, I have a hard time even really wanting to get there. “Love Is All You Need” sounds as impractically utopian today as it did decades ago when the Beatles coined the phrase. And yet….

Paul is pretty specific. Love, not knowledge, should be our first goal. Love gives knowledge flesh and blood. More to the point, love gives knowledge a heart and a greater power than mere intelligence. Love opens the door to everything that is the Holy Spirit. Anyone can learn, but not everyone can love. Yet it is Love – and only Love - that raised Christ, and it is Love that overcomes the world. What do any of us really know about the world or how to make it work? Precious little, obviously, or it would work better than it does. But Scripture says we know what we need to know. Put the theology and religion away. Philosophical musings and economic theories won’t get us any closer to where we need to be than we are now. We know what we need to know. We just need to accept it and put it into practice.

LOVE REDEEMS

Nehemiah 3:15-5:13; 1 Corinthians 7:25-40; Psalm 32:1-11; Proverbs 21:5-7

“‘At the meeting I said to them, ‘We are doing all we can to redeem our Jewish relatives who have had to sell themselves to pagan foreigners, but you are selling them back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them?’ And they had nothing to say in their defense. Then I pressed further, ‘What you are doing is not right! Should you not walk in the fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations? I myself, as well as my brothers and my workers, have been lending the people money and grain, but now let us stop this business of charging interest. You must restore their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes to them this very day. And repay the interest you charged when you lent them money, grain, new wine, and olive oil.’ They replied, ‘We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say.’”

“Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
 For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory.”

The tomb is open. The Body is gone. The anguish and pain of Friday’s loss and Saturday’s mourning have been magnificently transformed into joyous celebration! He lives! Christ is alive! The price for our sins has been paid, and our Lord has redeemed us. By His blood, He has brought us back into the family of God. With His stripes, we have been healed. We can be sure of our eternal redemption because Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!

Of the many things love does and is capable of doing, none can hold a candle to love’s work of redemption. Nothing, save love, would or even could take a wretched sinner bound up in frustration and failure and transform her into a new, spotlessly clean saint free to live in victory. Nothing, besides love, can get past the pain to forgive the injury. Nothing, other than love, is capable of seeing beyond the twisted emptiness of a tortured heart and mind, and only love can free the enslaved soul that cries for release within. Love redeems because love forgives; love redeems because love does not judge; and love redeems because love protects and surrounds others with victory. But mainly, love redeems because there is no debt or obligation associated with it. Everything love does is freely given without cost to us, because the price of our redemption has already been paid by the Great Redeemer Himself, Jesus Christ.

Love also redeems because it changes people. We are given new hearts and, sometimes, new visions, missions and/or goals to go with them. It is just not possible to truly experience love and not be transformed in some way. When we are loved, we cannot remain the same individuals we were before love entered our lives. Consider, for example, how “the two shall become one” as a result of marriage the way God intended it. Remember this: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, the new has come.” What love touches, love changes and so redeems. Love does not change by way of guilt, but because of opportunity. Love searches tirelessly for ways to build up and fulfill lives, and when the chance comes, love never hesitates. It transforms. Sometimes, the change love works is as dramatic as re-creation. Sometimes, it’s the equivalent of a minor adjustment. However it happens, nothing touched by love is ever quite the same. We are all at least left with at least a bit of those who love us to carry around. Those bits become a part of who we are. If a wife can so change a husband or a child a parent – and believe me, they can! – then the change to be wrought by the Holy Spirit’s touch on our lives really is awesome.

Most of us can only imagine what it might be like to live a guilt-free life. We do not appreciate our need to be redeemed, or to be set free from guilt’s prison. Probably, we do not recognize how thoroughly guilt has riddled our lives and undermined our self-image. We have become accustomed to living with guilt as an unavoidable burden, so we try manfully to just grin and bear it.

Oh, brothers and sisters, Christ desires so much more for us! There is a more excellent way to live, and today it is offered without condition or price. All we need do is accept the invitation of our Lord to literally live in love with Him, now and for eternity. He will graciously do to us and through us things we could never do on our own. He will redeem us from our very selves! No more need self-interest define the limits of our relationships. We have something far greater to share, something that actually allows us to grow outside ourselves! Because Christ lives, we have love. Because we have love, we can share ourselves and our Savior with others. We, too, have the ability and opportunity to redeem our brothers and sisters through the Holy Spirit’s power, Christ’s sacrifice and God’s grace.

Why is anyone still sitting around reading this? Go into the world and make all persons His disciples! We have been transformed by the power of His redeeming love and grace. And we, the redeemed ones, are God’s Plan A for bringing all His children Home. There’s a world of Good News today. The world could use it! Let us be quick to share.

LOVE ENDURES

Nehemiah 1:1-3:14; 1 Corinthians 7:1-24; Psalm 31:19-24; Proverbs 21:4

“‘Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.’ When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. Then I said, ‘O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel.’”

“And remember, if you were a slave when the Lord called you, you are now free in the Lord. And if you were free when the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ. God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world. Each of you, dear brothers and sisters, should remain as you were when God first called you.”

“In panic I cried out, ‘I am cut off from the Lord!’ But you heard my cry for mercy and answered my call for help.”

The sun rises on a desolate scene. Against the dawn’s backdrop, Calgary’s silhouette is marred by three naked spires. Arms down, these remnants of Roman crosses point upward in seeming mockery of Heaven itself. The sky is a heavy, damp gray. A few feeble rays of sunlight pierce the clouds, but their presence only adds to the sense of overwhelming futility engulfing the land. An occasional priest can be seen from just outside the Temple quietly sweeping up debris from yesterday’s earthquake. Most inhabitants of Jerusalem have retreated into the dankness of homes which this day seem more like cells than houses. Numbness and bewilderment permeate every wall. Eye contact is seldom made; each man and woman fears the despair and desolation their neighbors’ faces convey. All the hysteria and emotion of the day before has drained the earth. Roman guards shiver in the early morning hours from a chill they do not fully understand as they maintain a senseless watch over a sealed tomb. Everyone knows dead is dead. It is finished, truly. Hope has died a bloody, violent death.

What does love do with a scene like this Saturday morning? No words of consolation are sufficient. No magic wand can make the situation any better. No compass points in a meaningful direction. No meaning can be drawn this day from the tragedy of Good Friday. Everything is just too close. There are times when loss and devastation threaten to overwhelm us, no matter who or Whose we are. After the funeral, the donated meals will, at some point, have been eaten and the dishes returned. The phone will no longer ring, and the mailman will go back to delivering just the usual bills and ads. We may find ourselves alone, and feelings of abandonment and betrayal can become very, dangerously real. What does love do when “It is finished?”

When life comes to a dead end and joy to a dead stop, what can love do? In times of tragedy and despair, even love may have limited options. Certainly, neither feelings nor emotions can masquerade any longer as the real thing. All the dross of life is burned away. We are either left desolate or…. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves today, even though the temptation to rush past Saturday is strong. We need to consider our situation. We need to take a day to examine what faith means. Most of all, we need to consider love’s options.

In the darkest hour of the night, even faith and hope may pass away. Love endures. When we are down to our final option, love endures. The crucible of flame through which it passes may change love (more accurately, it may change our perception of love), but love nevertheless endures. It cannot be extinguished. Our pain may be great, yet love’s power to weather the storm is greater. Love endures because, in times of trial, true love will mature and return to its Essence, transforming from a sentiment to a state of being. In other words, the Holy Spirit (God) really is Love, and His love abides and endures all things. It sticks around, living inside us. Our part is just to cling to it. Reach inside and grab hold, particularly when there is nothing else to hold onto. Learn to really rely on Christ’s transforming power, even when it can’t be seen or felt.

Comfort ye, people. Love endures. Love cannot be destroyed, even by crosses and whips and chains. Nor can we, with the Spirit at our center. Today is a day for retreat and reflection. Even Jesus spent one full day in the tomb. We should not feel we are immune from tragedy or disappointment, nor should we rush to escape, however uncomfortable our situation may be. For today, let’s just stay put, and endure, experiencing the love of our Father in a different, somewhat counterintuitive way. Strange and wonderful things sometimes happen inside a tomb. Let’s not be in such a hurry to leave that we miss the blessings of a Love that endures all things. Let’s give Love the time it needs to transform for us from a mere feeling into the Constant Companion that is the Holy Spirit.

LOVE SUFFERS

Ezra 10:1-44; 1 Corinthians 6:1-20; Psalm 31:9-18; Proverbs 21:3

“While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and lying face down on the ground in front of the Temple of God, a very large crowd of people from Israel—men, women, and children—gathered and wept bitterly with him.”

“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”

“Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress. Tears blur my eyes. 
My body and soul are withering away. I am dying from grief; my years are shortened by sadness. Sin has drained my strength; I am wasting away from within.”

“The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices.”

Here is some hard truth. Love hurts. Love grieves. In short, love suffers. Not all the time, of course, but if love is really love, it must be willing to suffer any time suffering is required. A love not willing to sacrifice to save another is not worthy of the name. No emotional attachment that starts packing when the going gets tough bears any resemblance to what happened on Calgary. No, when the road is rocky, love toughs it out. Even Love may stumble, to be sure, against the onslaughts of the Evil One. However, in spite of the pain, love suffers through. Love does not turn back. Most important, love is not afraid to be love for fear of love’s inevitable pain. Love looks for opportunities to triumph through the pain.

I’m not sure I ever fully understood how truly painful love can be in this life until I watched my wife suffer through the death of her father. His loss was a shock to us all, but for my wife, it was more than personal. It was a full frontal spiritual and emotional attack by the one enemy who cannot be denied on human terms. Moreover, her service as Executrix prevented her from grieving fully as her heart longed to do. Through the entire year plus aftermath of clearing the Estate and doing her best to keep all the heirs happy, my wife kept a stiff upper lip and suffered more or less in silence. Still, suffer she did. Fundamentally unequipped to handle the technical legalities that tied up the Estate and everyone’s emotions, she had to face stinging criticism from those who felt slighted by the Will or when unforeseen delays caused stress or suspicions to raise their ugly heads. More than once, we discussed her resignation. At times, I was pretty forceful in virtually insisting on it. She stuck it out for one reason and one reason only: her Daddy had asked her to do it, even if from beyond the grave. Her obedience to her father’s Will was a living metaphor for what Love compels us to do in accord with our heavenly Father’s Will. Stick it out. Period. Love suffers. If we are to claim the role of true disciple, we’d best get used to the idea.

That love - and Love, for that matter - suffer has never been any secret or surprise. Love suffers because love makes itself vulnerable, even as it strives to be inexhaustible. From the very start in the Garden, our Creator understood and accepted the price of loving His Creation. We broke Abba’s heart by choosing to be like Him instead of choosing to live with Him. (It was, for sure, The Great Divorce, and there was nothing good about it.) After the flood, and at Mount Sinai, God surely wept for those who turned their backs on Him and had to face the necessary and unavoidable consequences of their sin. As His children were swept away to Babylon, how difficult it must have been for Him to walk alongside yet be unable to touch their stubborn, cold and defeated hearts. I am told (fortunately, having never experienced either) that even more difficult than losing a spouse is the loss of a child. Yet, throughout history, our Father has continued to suffer that unspeakable pain, because He continues to love us. Because that’s what love does. Love suffers.

Even more disturbingly, I have come to believe there is a point of suffering beyond which human love simply cannot go. Questions about commitment aside, I know some marriages break up just because a spouse’s love is simply spent.  A common question – expressed or unexpressed – in many human relationships where love is cherished remains, “How do I love through THAT?!?” Whatever “THAT” may be, we are fools to think we can love through it on our own. Again, I found my answer through my wife’s example. She essentially made it through by giving up. In desperation and exhaustion, she just collapsed into the waiting, loving arms of her Savior. She let Christ take the slings and arrows as He compassionately protected her with His own Body (to the shame of her husband, I should honestly add). Then, curiously, at some point, she almost was literally resurrected. She was given a strength and peace that did indeed pass all understanding, and she developed a reliance on the Holy Spirit I find hard to fathom, even these years later. Her sacrifice and suffering made her a better lover of everyone she comes in contact with today. In submitting herself to the fire, she found virtually all of whatever was not of Love in her (there were few problems to begin with) burned away. She had no choice but to rely on Christ’s love working through her. It was a very worthwhile sacrifice and one that continues to stand as an example for her husband, especially.

So, today, Good Friday, let us confront the Cross with Christ, not as a mere bystander. See how Love really suffers. Look at the price that was paid for our souls, up close and personal. We could run away, afraid to witness the death of Love. We could turn our heads and just pretend to experience His ultimate Passion for us, but it would be a shallow thing. Or, we can accept His invitation to come near. Touch His broken body. Hear His anguish. Even let His Blood rain down on us, covering us in its crimson stain. Wince at the sound of the spear piercing His side. Sympathize with His parched throat and slow suffocation. Reach for the hammer that drove the nails through His bones and cartilage into the wood. But above all, stay to the end. Claim His strength to do so. Only then will we hear His final Words. “Father… forgive them…. It is finished.” See, love’s suffering will not last forever. There is hope. But for today, let each of us just stand at His bleeding feet and ask an age-old question. What wondrous love is this?

LOVE ENCOURAGES

Ezra 8:21-9:15; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; Psalm 31:1-8; Proverbs 21:1-2

“From the days of our ancestors until now, we have been steeped in sin. That is why we and our kings and our priests have been at the mercy of the pagan kings of the land. We have been killed, captured, robbed, and disgraced, just as we are today. But now we have been given a brief moment of grace, for the Lord our God has allowed a few of us to survive as a remnant. He has given us security in this holy place. Our God has brightened our eyes and granted us some relief from our slavery. For we were slaves, but in his unfailing love our God did not abandon us in our slavery. Instead, he caused the kings of Persia to treat us favorably. He revived us so we could rebuild the Temple of our God and repair its ruins. He has given us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem.”

“So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.”

“I trust in the Lord. I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul. You have not handed me over to my enemies but have set me in a safe place.”

“People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.”

Love encourages, even (maybe especially) in the midst of its own travail. This is not the Maundy Thursday message I expected to receive. Not at all. I was considering something about humility, maybe how to deal with betrayal. But encouragement? Hardly. This is not a happy time. It’s a dark time; at best, a reflective time. Still, as we all know by now, the Holy Spirit rarely thinks like I do, and it showed me something new I had never put together before. In His Last Supper discourse, Jesus certainly had His heavy moments, but consider also these other statements He made:

“Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.... Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

“In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.”

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth…. You know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

Blessing. Sanctuary. Power. Comfort and wisdom. These are not the words of a man obsessed with His own death. These are the words of a Savior deliberately choosing life in the face of death. They are words passing on transcendent love despite the grief He personally felt and the pain He knew He would soon feel. These are not the words of a dying man at all! They are words of abundant life from quite possibly the only fully alive Man the world has ever known. They are the most stellar example of loving encouragement in Scripture this side of the Cross. Jesus is not a man beset by his own frailty and mortality. He is a Man using His frailty and mortality as a foundation for those who will soon be more lost than He. The Father’s focus in this scene is not gloom and doom at all. The Last Supper’s ultimate message is one of encouragement! Loving encouragement of others should be the goal of every Christian, particularly when facing their own adversity and apparent defeat. It’s a strange formula, I know, but it may just help us withstand the storms of depression when they threaten to swallow us. Because, of course, encouraging others allows the Holy Spirit to flow more fully through us and not just to us.

Ezra no doubt would have appreciated the irony. He was faced with some serious disappointment himself. The flock with which he had been entrusted by God soon returned to their old, sinful ways and abandoned that which would save them. Mortified, Ezra hit his knees and cried out to God. Hidden within his lament, however, was the encouragement of history, which Ezra shared with his people: a Light still exists in the darkness. Sin may mask or make us forget blessings, but it does not eliminate them or their Giver. Nothing is impossible with God; even enemies can become allies. Pretty encouraging stuff.

Paul saw the benefits of using encouragement in spite of despair, too. Awash in a misguided tolerance of sexual depravity, the Corinthian church was in serious danger of going the way of Ezra’s Hebrew leaders. Make no mistake. Paul did not spare his anger and frustration that they would fall so far so fast. But he added into his diatribe a word of encouragement as well. He called for a celebration, a feast where the menu would include sincerity and truth.

Here’s my takeaway. Love encourages in the midst of its own travail because love encourages to spite its own travail. The word choice – “spite” – is again unfamiliar in context but nonetheless true. We lovingly encourage others in spite of our own difficulties to release their grip on our souls. The ability to keep encouraging others when our worlds are crashing in may be the best evidence we have that the Holy Spirit is still living in us and doing His work. Where else could selflessness come from when pain envelopes us? Encouragement of others reminds us we still have the ability and the God-given Power to see and act outside and beyond our own personal limitations. Alleluia!

It may not take a great deal of Spirit-generated, shared encouragement to get others over rough spots, either. Just this afternoon, I unexpectedly ran into a friend in the elevator. I had been feeling blue all morning. A discussion with an out-of-work attorney the day before had brought back to mind the tenuousness of everyone’s position in this economy, and my heart was troubled. I know, for a fact, my friend had bigger worries, but he is as compassionate and caring a man as I have ever met. He could easily have been consumed by the challenges and difficult decisions he faces, yet in just a sentence or two, he removed the gray cloud over my head. Specific words don’t matter much when the sentiment is that we are valued and blessed, and that was the message he shared with me today.

There is no greater gift of love than the gift of encouragement. Christians, particularly, need to show a little more audacity in the presence of disappointment, disillusion and despair. We have the power to act in spite of those emotions and to deny them the power to affect our reality. Let’s do it. Maybe, if we force ourselves to live just a bit more outside ourselves and in reliance on the promised Counselor, we will not only encourage others. We may also encourage ourselves!

LOVE SPEAKS PLAINLY

Ezra 7:1-8:20; 1 Corinthians 4:1-21; Psalm 30:1-12; Proverbs 20:28-30

“And you, Ezra, are to use the wisdom your God has given you to appoint magistrates and judges who know your God’s laws to govern all the people in the province west of the Euphrates River. Teach the law to anyone who does not know it. Anyone who refuses to obey the law of your God and the law of the king will be punished immediately, either by death, banishment, confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.”

“For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?”

“When I was prosperous, I said, ‘Nothing can stop me now!’ Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered. I cried out to you, O Lord. I begged the Lord for mercy, saying, ‘What will you gain if I die, if I sink into the grave? Can my dust praise you? Can it tell of your faithfulness? Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me. Help me, O Lord.’ You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy….”

“The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old. Physical punishment cleanses away evil; such discipline purifies the heart.”

There have been relatively few times I have gotten into trouble when the communication was clear about expectations and performance. Similarly, most of my problems with personal relationships have come up when I have wrongly assumed what another was thinking, or vice versa. Plain talk is not universally appreciated by those on the receiving end of it. But like bad tasting, effective medicine, plain talk is always the best way to address a problem. Of greater moment, there are times in everyone’s life where it is absolutely imperative that there be no misunderstanding. Some thoughts are so important miscommunication cannot be risked. Legacies and marriages, for example, should never be entrusted to guess work. In short, if we do not love others enough to “speak the truth in love,” and to be honest about relevant circumstances and/or emotions, it’s a clear sign God is not finished with us yet.

Ignorance is never blessed. It’s ignorant. Those who allow or promote it are never acting out of love. We do no favors for our family, friends or colleagues when we allow them to drift in a sea of unawareness or confusion. Knowledge may or may not equate to power, but the lack of knowledge almost always translates to impotence and frustration. These can ripen into feelings of outright betrayal when the light finally dawns. And it almost always does, eventually.

John 14-16, the Last Supper discourse, contains Jesus’ most plain spoken words in all of Scripture. No more parables, no more symbolism, He was down to His final hours and wanted to be sure His Word and message were clear to those who would carry them to the world after Him. It was not a time for political correctness or for worrying about hurt feelings. It was a time for Truth.

Ezra, charged with the responsibility of rebuilding the Hebrew faith in Jerusalem, required clear and unambiguous directions from King Artaxerxes, just as did those along the way whom Artaxerxes charged with the responsibility of supporting Ezra in his mission. It was too important a ministry to be left to fate or chance. Ezra and the people both needed to fully understand the magnitude of the responsibility and opportunity being thrust upon them. The Hebrews also, in all probability, needed to be convinced Artaxerxes’ professed support would not collapse after they once more uprooted themselves and returned to Jerusalem. (Who has not faced similar uncertainty when asked by the Boss to transfer to another state? The first, almost instinctive question is, “Will it last?”)

Paul likewise shared plain talk with the Corinthians. He was not afraid to fuss when a fussing was deserved. He unapologetically corrected when correction was needed. He praised when encouragement was appropriate. But in all these things, he spoke out of a foundational love. He did not deny his flock the truth out of any misguided concern for personal feelings. He certainly never, ever fudged the truth to cover or protect himself or so he could benefit at others’ expense.

So, today’s point is deceptively simple: love never denies another the blessings of the Truth or the truth. There are no exceptions. Nor should we go to such great lengths to make the truth more palatable that we dilute or confuse its message. Truth is truth, and if it is watered down in any way, it necessarily becomes something else, and something less. Since only the truth will set us free, we can be fairly certain that anything less than the unadulterated truth will have the opposite effect. When we manipulate the truth for our own purposes – however well-intentioned we may be – we leave those affected by it ensnared in ignorance and misunderstanding. While soft peddling the truth may save us from personal hurt, awkwardness or ill-will, we are never acting out of true love when we misrepresent it.

Two things remain. First, no matter how hard the truth may be, that is no excuse for brutality. Just as love never denies the truth, neither does love ever take advantage of it. “This hurts me more than it hurts you” is nonsensical hogwash, and we do well to ban the thought from our lexicon. Whenever the truth is spoken or the Truth shared, we need to be certain we are acting in love, not out of judgment or spite. If we cannot trust ourselves to speak out of love, in all probability, we need to take a closer look at what we are calling the “truth” before we speak at all. Second, love speaks in complete sentences and finishes every thought. The end point of all loving communication should be that there can always be forgiveness, and that redemption is always possible. This goes for sinners as well as victims. The Holy Spirit redeems circumstances as well as individuals, and love’s thoughts are never finished unless they conclude with that message. After all, isn’t that the plain meaning of the Cross? Jesus forgave and restored the criminal who died beside Him the moment that man opened his heart to the Truth of God. Christ also used the opportunity of the Crucifixion (unfamiliar terminology, perhaps, but nonetheless truthful) to redeem and resurrect the whole circumstance of humanity. By His sacrifice, failure went from being a certainty to being a decision. We are once more able to share in the eternal perspective – we can think with the mind of Christ. Redemption is possible. We also remain able to reject the Truth. We do not love those with whom we will not share that black and white truth.

Christians have nothing to fear from the Truth or the truth. Neither should we fear repercussions of the truth in any iteration. We have the Lord’s promise that as long as we are willing to accept and share truth, no matter how difficult or uncomfortable it may be, joy and redemption will follow. That’s what love says, and that’s what love does.

LOVE GIVES... LOVE

Ezra 4:24-6:22; 1 Corinthians 3:5-23; Psalm 29:1-11; Proverbs 20:26-27

“Moreover, I hereby decree that you are to help these elders of the Jews as they rebuild this Temple of God. You must pay the full construction costs, without delay, from my taxes collected in the province west of the Euphrates River so that the work will not be interrupted. …And without fail, provide them with as much wheat, salt, wine, and olive oil as they need each day. Then they will be able to offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the welfare of me and my sons.”

“I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.”

“The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace.”

“The Lord’s light penetrates the human spirit….”

This has been an interesting season. Last year, I got involved with a number of charitable organizations and foundations, and it seems they all had their annual fundraising campaigns in the last four weeks or so. Each is needy, especially this year. But the entire process brought to mind another reality. Simply, the world’s needs are never going to be solved with money. Even Jesus understood this when He remarked to Judas that the poor will always be with us. There is so much need and only so much any human (or all humans) can do. I was happy to play my part but a bit dismayed that my proverbial “drops in the bucket” lacked any real significance in the overall scheme of things. With each check, I found myself wanting to convey a more significant and lasting gift than money to these worthy organizations.

That’s when I was reminded of Peter’s response to the beggar in Acts. “I give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” Give what matters. Frequently, this requires gifts of self or time much more precious to us than cash. So be it. Take time, for instance, to buy the bread that strengthens the stranger. Don’t just buy the paint. Put it on the house. And as giving becomes more personal, expect some conflict with recipients over the appropriateness or value of the gift. Not every beggar wants to eat; not every cripple wants to walk. Charity for charity’s sake may be a moral standard, but that is not to say it has any eternal value. Gifts of eternal value are those that build the Kingdom.

We need to own that just throwing money at a perceived problem does not reflect the giving modeled by Christ. At best, it represents mere “charity” even the Enemy can potentially twist to his purposes. By way of example, this weekend, two people were talking directly behind me. I wish I could have ignored them, but I could not help overhearing. One fellow was telling his buddy about a friend who had graduated from George Washington University and still spent roughly four to five months a year literally living in a box under the Potomac River bridge in Washington, D.C. Then the other shoe dropped. The young man spent the rest of his year traveling the world on the roughly $150,000 to $200,000 a year he made begging. Now, that seems hard to swallow, but as it raises an important spiritual truth, let’s just get to the point. Christians need to be about a lot more than charity. They need to be about changing the world into the Bride of Christ. And that, dear friends, takes a lot more than money. As Jesus lived our example, sometimes, it takes sweat, tears and even blood. It requires actual engagement in the cause, not just peripheral participation. Most of all, it takes love.

How fundamentally might the world be changed if the gifts we gave actually had eternal, spiritual and physical significance not subject to the effects of inflation or recession? The answer to our giving problem is not really money at all. It’s value. Some of us don’t give anything at all. That’s not good. But some of us give things of lesser value just so we can protect and horde that which we more highly prize. That’s just as bad and perhaps worse, if we are fooling ourselves in the process. We give donations to support others’ work so we can still make Saturday’s golf game. We send e-mails so we can avoid the awkwardness of an actual hospital visit, and our own feelings of inadequacy (protecting our self-image). When we do these things, we really aren’t giving at all. We’re “obliging.” The Lord calls on us to make gifts of our time and talents, as well as our finances. But mainly, He equips us to make gifts that matter.  We must be willing to share.

Somewhere deep down, most of us understand the best gifts permanently change someone’s world for the better. At a deeper level, a few even understand the most valuable gifts cost more than money. The Holy Spirit gives us love, but He gives us that love to share as Jesus did. References to Jesus’ monetary situation are few and very far between. That’s because His best gifts had nothing to do with financial security or tangible assets. It seems pretty clear He relied on others for His material needs. What He was able to give others as a result of that support, however, always dwarfed the original gift. It seems to me Jesus’ life provides a pretty decent standard.

First, let’s be clear: “receiving” itself is not a sinful concept. Receiving without multiplying or sharing may be. Jesus did not scorn the rich simply based on their material blessings. He had no problem with the use of a year’s wages to anoint Him before His final days. He challenged wealth only when it got in the way of faith or was symptomatic of miserliness. Wealth is not, in and of itself, a sin. But it certainly can be a hard to control blessing.

Second, Jesus never encouraged indiscriminate giving or giving based on guilt. Christ Himself condemned casting our pearls before pigs. We have no obligation whatsoever to give to every allegedly charitable cause that calls or comes knocking, and we should not feel guilty about it, either. The Lord went out of His way to remove guilt as a motivation for much of anything, yet it still may be the single most emphasized or capitalized upon reason people give. How sad. Guilty giving robs the gift of joy and blinds us to the blessings that made the gift possible in the first place.

Finally, Jesus was willing to risk everything He had, when it mattered. He did not just put His financial security on the line. He gave Himself to lift others up. In fact, He gave at a depth that made money superfluous. He gave Love, until He was completely poured out.

I’m no Christ, but I am called to be a re-presentation of Christ. As long as I am trying to hold onto things lesser than Him, I can never fairly re-present Him or effectively build the Kingdom in His power. I know what I’m supposed to do. I’m supposed to risk it all so He can fill me up. I’m not sure I’m up to that challenge. But at least today, I can stop kidding myself that my problem is simply a financial one.