In Closing…

The Epistle to the Hebrews closes like a letter. Not much else has sounded like a letter, but the ending does. Could the ending have been added to an essay to support Pauline authorship? Probably not, but authorship aside, the content of the wrapping up of this epistle has very interesting elements.

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20-21 NASB

Is it interesting that, while the benediction begins calling on God to equip the disciples, it ends with praise of Jesus specifically? It turns out this is somewhat unique to Hebrews. Although, considering the great length the writer has gone to deify Jesus, it should be expected.

This benediction also contains the only direct reference to Jesus’ resurrection in the entire letter (I had to go back and check that). Which is only true because Jesus’ resurrection is assumed in the many references to His ascension and intercessory work in heaven.

Notice what is prayed for. That the God who raised Jesus, the Good Shepherd, from the dead would equip the writer’s audience. And the equipment would “every good thing”, the purpose of which is the practice of God’s will (or Jesus’ will), and the method of equipping is God Himself “working in us that which is pleasing in His sight”.

Think that through for a moment. Once more, we see that the life we live is less about us than our Savior. It’s our life to live, is it not? Yet it is our Savior “working in us” which equips us to do His will. Like Paul wrote, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”, or, basically, let it happen. Our role is submission, our achievement is the will of another not our own, and our participation is almost passive.

I say “almost” because we are held accountable for our participation. We are, in fact, supposed to participate in the work/will of our Creator. The struggle is to “discover” that work/will. We have so much baggage, so much self, so much we desire that we can barely hear His voice through all the noise.

The most amazing, unimaginable, fantastic, unbelievable opportunity in human history is to participate with the Creator of the universe on His projects. Instead, we choose to consume anything we want that we believe makes us safe, great, and powerful over others. We become about our clothes, our image, our rights, our comfort, our money, our…whatever. And we miss our Creator’s purpose.

When you consider the immense depth of love such a powerful Creator has for rebellious creatures, doesn’t it seem strange that we are so quick to dismiss His eternal powerful projects to focus on our own temporary weak goals? And yet, that describes humanity throughout human history. A world-wide flood resulted from this propensity, and yet, it continues.

Perhaps, on this day where a “world power” celebrates freedom from oppression, we can decide to trade our slavery to ourselves for freedom as slaves to our Creator? We can choose to do that because He is also our Savior. Celebrate submission, even as we celebrate freedom.

So, what’s your view through the knothole this morning?

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation

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Following A Rough Act

Paul says for wives to submit to their husbands.  That’s a tough instruction to follow since we husbands can be so frustratingly human, and some husbands are more human than others.  But what about the husband who really tries, but simply doesn’t get it?  How difficult is it to submit to such a one?  The wife of Manoah works very hard at it.

There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children.  Then the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. (Judges 13:2-3 NASB)

One of the elements to this story that jumps out at me every time is how God goes to the wife first.  He’s willing to deal with Manoah, but He clearly prefers the wife.  And Manoah’s wife dutifully goes to him with the whole story, submitting to his spiritual leadership in the process.

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name.  But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.'” (Judges 13:6-7 NASB)

Manoah’s wife tells him all that the Angel of Yahweh told her, and then adds two strange elements.  First, she didn’t ask where he was from, and second, she didn’t catch his name.  Regardless of how the Angel of Yahweh looked, she still felt compelled to get his name and origin.  This could possibly be because she knew Manoah would want to know, because we see immediately following, that he wants the Angel back to ask Him himself.

God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.  So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me.” (Judges 13:9-10 NASB)

Yahweh answers Manoah’s prayer to resend the messenger, but He still goes to the wife.  She, again, dutifully fetches Manoah.  Manoah then proceeds to ask the Messenger, not about how to raise the boy, but about who or what he will be.  This is the part God already told the wife.  I can’t help but imagine the wife in the background doing a forehead-palm slap (I should of had a V-8!).  Finally, when the Angel of Yahweh ascends in the flame, Manoah realizes Who He is.  But he’s still not thinking straight.

So Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, for we have seen God.”  But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.” (Judges 13:22-23 NASB)

Manoah and wife are quite a pair.  And, if it isn’t obvious already, let me point out that this guy clearly “married up”.  Wives, submit to your husbands, not because we’re brilliant, because we’re not.  Don’t submit because we have somehow earned it, because we haven’t.  Don’t endanger yourself, but don’t despise the fool either.  Our roles are assigned to us by God Himself, and He does so for His glory.  Sometimes He shines brightest through the dimmest people.

That’s my view through this knothole this morning.  What do you see of God through yours?

Life Saving Repentance

 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.  And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’  And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'”  (Luke 13:5-9 NASB)

And so we have a warning from Jesus, to repent or perish.  In a sense it’s like saying life is short, but in another sense it’s like warning someone from a cliff.  The way it’s worded is as a warning that if things continue then the result will be destruction.  This isn’t an usual proclamation for Jesus, He began His teaching with “Repent for the Kingdom of God is near,” and gave that same message to His disciples on both “sending out” events.  Repentance is arguably the core of Jesus’ message.  But what does it mean?

Most of the time I’ve heard repentance described as “turning around and going the other way.”  Yet even this is overly simplistic.  Turn from what to what?  The word for “return” which is where we get this simple definition isn’t even the normal word for “repent”.  The normal word is “after thought” referring to a “change of mind afterwards”.  The mind or pattern of thinking about something changes.  Which is great, but still, from what to what?  And in verses 1-5, Jesus really doesn’t say from what to what.  But I believe He does give us a glimpse of what He wants in this parable.

The fig tree has a problem: It doesn’t produce figs as it should.  The conditions are good, the tree is the right sort, it’s in the right place, it’s just not making figs.  The owner says to cut it down and the gardener says to give it a year of even better treatment.  The question left hanging in the air, leaving us in suspense is, “will the tree produce figs, or will it perish?”.  So what is the change or turning from and to in this case?  Doing what we’re designed to do?  Being what we’re designed to be?

There is much in our culture that fights against design.  But our culture isn’t made up of the “people of God” either.  So it shouldn’t surprise us.  But when the “people of God” struggle against the design of their Creator, then there is a problem.  Jesus is speaking to Jews of the first century.  They considered themselves the “People of God”, and rightly so.  Scripture has declared the same thing in both Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.  Yet, their Messiah shows up, and they rejected Him.  While this was wonderful news for Gentiles like me, it broke Jesus’ heart.  His people were not being what they were designed to be.

Flash forward a few thousand years, and ask the question, are followers of Jesus today being what they were designed to be?  It would be overly simplistic to answer for every church and every believer.  On the other hand, trends in the American culture seem to indicate an anemic influence of biblical values.  And the news seems to have no problem finding examples of those who claim to follow Jesus being better examples of moral evil rather than moral good.  It seems indistinct and difficult to change the course of all believers across the country, so how about me…and you?

Are we being what we’re designed to be?  Are we doing what we’re designed to do?  Are we fig trees bearing figs?  Or are we trying to produce peaches?  Are we trying to be evergreens?  Are we trying to be gazelles?  Are we unhappy with who or what God has designed us to be and are we trying to be “self-made” whatever?  Our culture tells us that we can be whatever we want, “anyone can be anything”.  Disney produced a movie to that effect this year, “Zootopia”.  I love that movie.  It’s about overcoming the confining cultural barriers and being whatever you want.  To an extent, I believe that myself.  But only to the extent that my culture seems very invested in me not being a devoted follower of Jesus.

So what will I do?  Will I resist my Savior’s design and purpose for me?  Will I fight my culture’s design and purpose for me?  Will I relent to my Master, or will I relent to my culture?  Will I choose a path laid out by my King, or the path everyone else is following?  Will I conform?  And if so, to whom or what?  There are plenty of competing philosophical positions out there to choose from, and it would be very “American” of me to decide on a “cafeteria plan” approach to them.  Why not be a reincarnated believer in the natural order established by aliens?  Literal “bear hug”, who’s with me? <cricket, cricket>

As we pursue an understanding of Scripture, and through the lens of Scripture, of God Himself, a very different “philosophy” comes into focus.  What we discover is a philosophy deviant from our culture, and everyone else’s too.  It’s not European, nor Asian, nor African, nor Native American, nor Polynesian. It’s not even some admixture of such cultures, even though that is a common claim.  It’s divine, and it’s different; and if I’m going to change at all, it will be from a human culture to what God describes in Scripture.  So, from my view through this particular “knothole”, repentance is “counter culture”; and therefore cool.

So what do you learn from this parable?

Readiness Part I

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.  Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.  If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!  (Luke 12:35-38 ESV)

No one knows when the appearing of Jesus to close the history of this world will happen.  No one knows.  All Jesus tells us (over and over) is that we won’t know so be ready.  He repeats it a lot.  Passages like this one is where I find my theology of the “last man standing”.  Although in this particular one, Jesus doesn’t mention it; He may allude to it, but it’s not explicit.  What we get from this one is to be ready.

From the context, Jesus is speaking to all His followers.  In the following passage, after Peter asks who Jesus might be meaning this for, Jesus explicitly refers to leaders.  Here it’s everyone.  Every follower of Jesus is supposed to be a ready servant, ready for His return, ready with lamps lit, ready to open the door, ready to serve.  But only here, in Luke, do we find that the Master will then turn about on His servants and serve them.  It’s a statement that had to catch His listeners off guard. What master serves his servants?  Clearly this is no earthly master.

One of the difficult things for me to master in my walk with my Master is submission.  I’m stubborn, selfish, and self-centered.  I am.  I know it.  In a lot of ways I justify it because of the environment I live in.  I’m in America, home of the selfish, land of the narcissist.  If marketing promotes it, it’s only because we respond.  It works so well because we love being selfish.  We consider looking out for number one to be the most pragmatic approach to life.  Even when people talk a good game, care for others, and helping under privileged, and so on; even then there is an agenda.

So, to consider myself a slave is counter-intuitive for me.  Yes, I do live in America, but even so, I know it’s not right and I do it anyway.  I know I’m a slave, either of my Savior or of the enemy of the world.  I don’t get to escape slavery, such thoughts are part of what keeps people enslaved to the enemy.  The thing is, I do get to choose who I serve.

I wish it were that simple though.  It sure should be.  I can choose to serve the Master Who will then serve His faithful servants found ready when He comes.  But more often than not, I find that I’m serving the enemy of my soul who desires my demise and that of all my neighbors, friends, and family.  I know that it’s wrong, but I do it anyway.

I am happy to report that I do this less and less, much less than I used to.  I’m not the same person I was even 5 years ago.  I’ve grown and been stretched much further than I would have imagined.  But I am also very aware of the vastness that separates me from the ideal I see in Scripture.  I know my heart to an extent, and even that limited view reveals some darkness.  But it also reveals some light.  I see that my Master is not leaving me as an orphan, but in spite of my foibles, He continually works to mold more and more into His image.

So, I am confident that one day I will see His face.  I am confident that He will find me faithful (mostly), and I am hopeful that I will be one of those at His table as He serves His servants.  I can’t think of a better choice than to be a slave of One who serves.  I can’t think of a better option than to follow One who loves me and gave Himself up for me.  Who better to be a slave of?  Now to do the work of my Master.

What do you learn from Jesus’ call to be ready?

Who’s Driving This Thing?

      Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:
“‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not cry.’
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ (Luke 7:31-34 NIV)

This statement has the oddest context in Luke.  Jesus finishes with the Centurion, healing his servant from a distance, then raises a widow’s son from the dead right in the midst of the funeral procession.  John’s disciples see it, tell John the Baptist, and he sends them back to ask Jesus if He’s the One?  Jesus replies with a “resume” of stuff these disciples have seen (even as they arrive to ask).  He goes on to describe John (greatest man, but least in the Kingdom of God…perplexing also), and then ropes in the Pharisees and Lawyers into his diatribe.  This is what He has to say about them.

Should We Let Jesus Go?

 When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them.    But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”  So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. (Luke 4:42-44 NASB)

Can we ever have so much of Jesus that we need to ‘let Him go’?  Is there any point in our lives where we are supposed to let Him move on to someone else?  I believe the answers are yes, and no.

Because He Said So

Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath.   They were astonished at His teaching because His message had authority. (Luke 4:31-32 NASB)

Growing up I always hated it when my parents said, “Because I said so.”  It felt like I was being talked down to, like they thought I wasn’t smart enough to understand their reasoning, as if I wasn’t able to be like them.  And I wasn’t.  I wasn’t able to understand, I didn’t know, and I wasn’t experienced enough to get what their reasoning was.  And so, yes, they talked down to me. After all at the time, I was probably four feet shorter than they were.

The Temptation of “Gluttony”?

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” (Luke 4:1-4 ESV)

A couple of descriptors Luke uses are interestingly strung together, which by themselves are not nearly as interesting.  For instance, Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit but hungry.  He was led by the Spirit, but into the wilderness where there was nothing to eat.  It’s an odd juxtaposition of literary elements.  Of course it also sets up nicely an odd event.

Angelic Prejudice or Insight?

 Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.”
The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.  And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” (Luke1:18-20 NASB)

Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.  And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.  For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:34-37 NASB)

These two accounts of an annunciation of good news both end very differently.  On the other hand, they also begin differently.  But the similarities in both are striking.  In both the response is initially fear.  In both there is a question about how such things can become true in the current situation.  Yet in each the response of the messenger is very different.

So why does Gabriel, the messenger of the Almighty, punish the old priest, but coddle the teenage girl?  It’s a mystery, but one that has some lessons for me, possibly us.  Like perhaps angels can do what they want, so don’t upset them.

Punishing the “Old Priest”

It could start out as a joke, “A priest walks into the temple…” but this is a special day for Zachariah.  This event appears to take place as part of the ‘sin offering’ described in Leviticus 16.  In that description, the incense is put on a pan of coals from the sacrifice outside, brought inside to the incense altar before the holy place, before the veil, and the smoke ascends over the mercy seat.  That is where he meets Gabriel.  It is a once in a lifetime event for Zachariah, a tremendous honor.  And anyone else in the temple would be expected to be killed by God.  Yet there stands a man by the altar.

There are a variety of competing emotions that probably flowed through Zachariah, but the fear is what the angel addressed.  The setting (inside the temple at the altar of incense), the situation (another person standing where no one should), and the person (an aged priest of pedigree and experience) all combine together to strengthen the message of this angel.  But it doesn’t seem to be enough for Zachariah.

Sure this is an unexpected place; yes, this guy shouldn’t be here and alive; and of course, he has heard and read of such things in his studies and training.  But still, now?  Now, when he’s too old to toddle after the toddler, now he is to be a father?  Now, after he has had to endure the whispering, the shame, the prejudice, and indirect scorn of his fellows, now he gets to be a father?  Where was God ten or twenty years ago? Still, he should have known better than to ask for another sign, “How will I know this for certain.”  It is the last request he voices for a very long time.

The setting, the situation, and his background indicated he should have faith in what he was told.  Perhaps it was his bitterness and pride that hindered him.  Whatever it was, he was muted until he should finally speak in faith.  That is his only sign.

Coddling the “Teenage Girl”

The teenage girl isn’t in the temple.  She’s not a seasoned religious leader.  She’s not even involved in some religious ceremony.  She’s at home, probably doing chores, which means she’s in her day, daily routine, contributing her part to the family program.  In the midst of just another day, this person appears with a really weird greeting, “Greetings one highly favored of God.”  So, “highly favored of God” is now a euphemism for, “one doing dishes?”  So she ponders, wonders, crunches in her mind, tries to figure out just what this person means.

The angel continues to describe what cannot be since she’s only betrothed, not actually married.  As would be expected, she doesn’t see the connection between her situation (dish washing in dad’s house) and having a divine baby.  It is one of the minute, yet significant, differences that Mary does not ask for a sign, just an explanation.  So the angel explains, and his explanation contains a sign, Elizabeth is pregnant. This is proof that nothing is impossible for God.

Conclusion

Considering the two situations, I would probably fall more closely into the categories of Zachariah.  So unfortunately for me, I get no space for lack of faith.  No asking for a sign for me.  While it is true that I have a daily grind, and I’m not necessarily involved in a religious ceremony on any given day, I still have enough training and experience that I have no excuse for not believing a visitation.  And all that means is that I’m in real danger of being placed on mute.

Which category do you fall into?  Are you the experienced religious person or the young neophyte of faith?  Are you a seasoned veteran of religious life, or a new believer struggling to connect faith with life?  Are you also in danger of being muted until you act in faith, or will you receive an honest answer to an honest question for clarity?  Do you wrestle with pride, or are you willing to admit you ‘don’t get it’?  Jesus would later claim that only a wicked and rebellious generation asks for a sign. Suddenly, I don’t feel so wonderful about my pedigree.

What’s your view through the knothole?