Greetings in Christ Jesus, fellow soldiers.
When we think of marriage, we often start with the bad news, which makes sense in this day and age. Close to half of marriages become statistics. Much of the other half avoid becoming statistics, but still become simply survivors--those who marriages last a lifetime, but often lacking in the beauty that comes with marital love and fidelity.
For those looking to get married, they must avoid both of these pitfalls. We are not meant to merely survive in our marriages, but thrive. And as we aim for this goal, here are two things we need to remember in order to get there: (1) We are sinners, and (2) We need grace.
First, we are sinners. This is an incredibly tough truth to grasp, and the reality is, we can often avoid thinking upon it. We can adopt a superficial, "I'm fine, you're fine" persona with most people. For those who require more intimacy, like dear friends and family, we always avoid being confront regarding our sinful nature by simply leaving at the end of the day. We are not bound to them in any enduring way.
But we do not have this option in marriage. We are laying our cards on the table. We are letting the barriers to our sinful hearts come down for the sake of greater intimacy. We do all of this, even though it's incredibly painful...at least we should do this. Yet, as often happens, when our spouse--who acts as a mirror of sin upon our own heart--exposes the ugly and painful things buried deep within us, we fight or flee. We fight, in that we turn the pain upon our spouse in order to keep them away. We flee, in that we'll retreat into silence, or behind a slammed door, or in divorce.
But the reality of sin does not need to lead down these dark avenues, if only we combine the reality of sin with the reality of grace. This leads to our second point, we need grace.
All sinners do. We need it from the outset and in the homestretch. We need it over and over and over again. We need it when we're being ugly and unlovable, we especially need when we think we're doing okay. Grace pardons sin. It creates a secure environment, where sinners can fail, learn, and grow in the safety of unconditional love. But because of our sin, this grace does not come naturally to us.
That is why we do as God instructed through the Apostle Paul, "in view of Christ's mercy, to offer our bodies as living sacrifices." (Rom. 12:1) There is no one more offended by our sin than the holy and just God who reigns over this world, so that, as we are told, "God is justified when He judges." But we are also told that "at just the right time, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." He who rightly judges the world sent forth His own Son to bear that judgment in the place of sinners. In His unconditional love, sinners can now know life secured by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. So Christians live in view of this mercy, and this new life, by His power, transforms relationships, especially marriage.
We are consequently give a charge: To freely confess our sin and to freely extend grace. The humility and security that extends from this basic posture enables marriages to not only survive, but thrive. We are to never use the "D" word or tell our spouse we don't love him or her. We are never to say "He/she needs help but I don't need help." Rather, we cling to cross, and in so doing will also cling to our spouse in love.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Redemption: Its Cost and Its Reward (Ruth 4)
Greetings in Christ Jesus, fellow soldiers.
When we last left off with the historical account of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz, Boaz had left to secure the redemption of these two broken, yet believing, women. By grace through faith, these two women enjoyed the temporary security offered by Boaz, but still needed to be delivered from their perpetual state of bondage. They needed a redeemer--one who, because he was bound to them by blood, would purchase them out of their state of slavery. At the end of ch3, Boaz left to make sure that would be the case. Now the women must rest, trusting in one bound to them by blood to secure their freedom.
Now this redemption would come at a cost, which is made apparent to us in the reaction of the other redeemer, who we'll playfully call "Dude-man." When at first Boaz tells Dude-man about the opportunity to redeem some land, Dude-man, being the wise investor, jumps at the opportunity. But there's a catch, Boaz informs Dude-man, you'll also have to marry the Moabite widow Ruth in order to perpetuate the line of her family. At this point, Dude-man balks and walks out of the pages of Scripture without ever even being given a name.
Why did Dude-man balk? Because he was asked to love, and love comes at a cost. As soldiers, you all know this truth. At least in part, is not love for your country, your families, and your fellow soldiers that you put on the uniform? There is a reason why soldiers often pull pictures of their spouses or children from their pockets (or now, on their phones) when they find the sacrifice difficult. They remember in the faces of their loved ones that "love is stronger than death."
The cost to Dude-man would be that of his inheritance. By purchasing the land and making the widow Ruth his wife, he would in a sense be agreeing to spend money on a land that will not even remain in his immediate family. Rather, it will pass on to Ruth's children. At the end of the day, such a redemption would only truly benefit the two widows and cost Dude-man greatly.
This is what makes Boaz pursuit of the redemption of Ruth and Naomi so remarkable. There is nothing in it for him. It will come at great cost. Yet he will not rest until it is accomplished. For a man who looks upon these two outcasts with compassion and love, he feels the call of his bond of blood to redeem them out of their state of misery and death and deliver them into a state of redemption and hope.
Is this not a beautiful reflection of what God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--did for His people through the redemptive work of Christ? Out of the Father's eternal love for His people, He sent His Son to purchase His people from their wretched state by His own blood. Only by His wounds would you be healed. You could offer nothing to the equation, except resting and waiting upon Him. And it was not like you were inherently lovable. Paul tells us in Rom. 6:7-8 that you would scarcely die for a righteous man, though perhaps you might for a good man. But God demonstrates His love for us in this--while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And our sin is what created the cost for Jesus Christ. He would have to bear the sufferings of our sin-stricken world and bear the curse and just wrath of God upon our sins in His own body. Yet, in redeeming us through this blood-bond, Christ has purchased us from death and delivered us unto life--a life cloaked in His own righteousness.
This is the cost of redemption. Paid in a small earthly part by Boaz; paid on behalf of God for a sinful people by Jesus. Yet the cost of this redemption also comes with great reward. Look at how things change for Ruth and Naomi. On the surface, the change is obvious--Boaz unites himself to Ruth and together live life anew. There is also a deeper change, and for this, we have to take another look at the book as a whole within the larger, historical, redemptive purposes of God.
There is a larger problem coming out of the book of Judges and into the book of Ruth than simply the fact that "everyone was doing what was right in his own eyes." More than simple idolatry and immorality, the rampant, widespread evil seemed to threaten the very promise of God that one day, Eve's seed would crush the head of that serpent--a seed who would come from Abraham and would bless the nations. This promised seed, linking Eve to Christ throughout human history, was now under attack from Satan and the wickedness of the human heart. What of the chosen line?
This is why the camera zooms in from the book of Judges to this small, pitiful family in the book of Ruth. While the world, including God's people, seemed to be going to Hell in a handbasket, God would silently continuing His saving purposes through a chosen line to Christ through a small, insignificant family. In His ordinary providence through ordinary people, God would working out his extraordinary, eternal rescue plan for His people.
This plan seemed to again come under threat in the beginning of Ruth, when there seemed to be no hope of another generation springing forth from Naomi (as she readily confessed in ch1!). This is why it is so important to "perpetuate the name of the dead" (v5, 10). God would use the earthly redemption of these women to continue His line of promise. In sync with this overarching plan, the people bless Boaz "for the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman" (v12). And, indeed, it was the LORD who made it happen. We are told in v13 that using Ruth's previously dead womb, the LORD gave her conception. What we have here is a continuing theme from the OT of God raising life from dead wombs to continue His line of promise.
And in light of this overarching plan, notice the subtle but startling shift in v14. and 15. The women bless Naomi, who has not been left this day without a redeemer. They praise Ruth, a worldly-weak instrument of God's grace who turned out be much more than the greatest of man's strength. But pay particular attention to who is highlighted as Naomi's redeemer in v15--"for your daughter...has given birth to him." What? Naomi's redeemer is the product of Ruth's womb?
Indeed He is. Look at the genealogy that closes this book. It was not put there by accident (nor is any genealogy for that matter). Step by step here, we are shown how the chaos of Judges, through God's grace to this one, humble family, will give rise to the mighty king, David. David would be used to perpetuate this promised line to Christ, of which he was told that he would have an offspring who reign eternally over an everlasting kingdom (2 Sam. 7). Thus, the genealogy doesn't stop with David.
In Matthew 1, we watch the genealogy leading up to David (including Boaz and Ruth!) and then watch it continue to unfold up until our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yet the genealogy would not even stop with the Son of God, for in being given the name Jesus ("he saves"), He will save His people from their sins (v21). Thus, a vast multitude, gathered throughout time and from all the world, would become the fruits of the promises made--and now fulfilled-by Jesus Christ.
What does this mean for us? It means that like Ruth and Naomi, we are not without a redeemer. And with the Son of God as our Redeemer, we need not fear the trials and suffering endured by Ruth and Naomi, nor need we ever lack hope. For Christ has paid the wages for our sins by His own death and life to the full has been given to us. So now, like Ruth, we walk by faith into whatever perils and dangers await us, not only sustained by the love of our precious families, but secured for all time in the love of God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ and poured upon us by the Holy Spirit. Amen.
When we last left off with the historical account of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz, Boaz had left to secure the redemption of these two broken, yet believing, women. By grace through faith, these two women enjoyed the temporary security offered by Boaz, but still needed to be delivered from their perpetual state of bondage. They needed a redeemer--one who, because he was bound to them by blood, would purchase them out of their state of slavery. At the end of ch3, Boaz left to make sure that would be the case. Now the women must rest, trusting in one bound to them by blood to secure their freedom.
Now this redemption would come at a cost, which is made apparent to us in the reaction of the other redeemer, who we'll playfully call "Dude-man." When at first Boaz tells Dude-man about the opportunity to redeem some land, Dude-man, being the wise investor, jumps at the opportunity. But there's a catch, Boaz informs Dude-man, you'll also have to marry the Moabite widow Ruth in order to perpetuate the line of her family. At this point, Dude-man balks and walks out of the pages of Scripture without ever even being given a name.
Why did Dude-man balk? Because he was asked to love, and love comes at a cost. As soldiers, you all know this truth. At least in part, is not love for your country, your families, and your fellow soldiers that you put on the uniform? There is a reason why soldiers often pull pictures of their spouses or children from their pockets (or now, on their phones) when they find the sacrifice difficult. They remember in the faces of their loved ones that "love is stronger than death."
The cost to Dude-man would be that of his inheritance. By purchasing the land and making the widow Ruth his wife, he would in a sense be agreeing to spend money on a land that will not even remain in his immediate family. Rather, it will pass on to Ruth's children. At the end of the day, such a redemption would only truly benefit the two widows and cost Dude-man greatly.
This is what makes Boaz pursuit of the redemption of Ruth and Naomi so remarkable. There is nothing in it for him. It will come at great cost. Yet he will not rest until it is accomplished. For a man who looks upon these two outcasts with compassion and love, he feels the call of his bond of blood to redeem them out of their state of misery and death and deliver them into a state of redemption and hope.
Is this not a beautiful reflection of what God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--did for His people through the redemptive work of Christ? Out of the Father's eternal love for His people, He sent His Son to purchase His people from their wretched state by His own blood. Only by His wounds would you be healed. You could offer nothing to the equation, except resting and waiting upon Him. And it was not like you were inherently lovable. Paul tells us in Rom. 6:7-8 that you would scarcely die for a righteous man, though perhaps you might for a good man. But God demonstrates His love for us in this--while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And our sin is what created the cost for Jesus Christ. He would have to bear the sufferings of our sin-stricken world and bear the curse and just wrath of God upon our sins in His own body. Yet, in redeeming us through this blood-bond, Christ has purchased us from death and delivered us unto life--a life cloaked in His own righteousness.
This is the cost of redemption. Paid in a small earthly part by Boaz; paid on behalf of God for a sinful people by Jesus. Yet the cost of this redemption also comes with great reward. Look at how things change for Ruth and Naomi. On the surface, the change is obvious--Boaz unites himself to Ruth and together live life anew. There is also a deeper change, and for this, we have to take another look at the book as a whole within the larger, historical, redemptive purposes of God.
There is a larger problem coming out of the book of Judges and into the book of Ruth than simply the fact that "everyone was doing what was right in his own eyes." More than simple idolatry and immorality, the rampant, widespread evil seemed to threaten the very promise of God that one day, Eve's seed would crush the head of that serpent--a seed who would come from Abraham and would bless the nations. This promised seed, linking Eve to Christ throughout human history, was now under attack from Satan and the wickedness of the human heart. What of the chosen line?
This is why the camera zooms in from the book of Judges to this small, pitiful family in the book of Ruth. While the world, including God's people, seemed to be going to Hell in a handbasket, God would silently continuing His saving purposes through a chosen line to Christ through a small, insignificant family. In His ordinary providence through ordinary people, God would working out his extraordinary, eternal rescue plan for His people.
This plan seemed to again come under threat in the beginning of Ruth, when there seemed to be no hope of another generation springing forth from Naomi (as she readily confessed in ch1!). This is why it is so important to "perpetuate the name of the dead" (v5, 10). God would use the earthly redemption of these women to continue His line of promise. In sync with this overarching plan, the people bless Boaz "for the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman" (v12). And, indeed, it was the LORD who made it happen. We are told in v13 that using Ruth's previously dead womb, the LORD gave her conception. What we have here is a continuing theme from the OT of God raising life from dead wombs to continue His line of promise.
And in light of this overarching plan, notice the subtle but startling shift in v14. and 15. The women bless Naomi, who has not been left this day without a redeemer. They praise Ruth, a worldly-weak instrument of God's grace who turned out be much more than the greatest of man's strength. But pay particular attention to who is highlighted as Naomi's redeemer in v15--"for your daughter...has given birth to him." What? Naomi's redeemer is the product of Ruth's womb?
Indeed He is. Look at the genealogy that closes this book. It was not put there by accident (nor is any genealogy for that matter). Step by step here, we are shown how the chaos of Judges, through God's grace to this one, humble family, will give rise to the mighty king, David. David would be used to perpetuate this promised line to Christ, of which he was told that he would have an offspring who reign eternally over an everlasting kingdom (2 Sam. 7). Thus, the genealogy doesn't stop with David.
In Matthew 1, we watch the genealogy leading up to David (including Boaz and Ruth!) and then watch it continue to unfold up until our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yet the genealogy would not even stop with the Son of God, for in being given the name Jesus ("he saves"), He will save His people from their sins (v21). Thus, a vast multitude, gathered throughout time and from all the world, would become the fruits of the promises made--and now fulfilled-by Jesus Christ.
What does this mean for us? It means that like Ruth and Naomi, we are not without a redeemer. And with the Son of God as our Redeemer, we need not fear the trials and suffering endured by Ruth and Naomi, nor need we ever lack hope. For Christ has paid the wages for our sins by His own death and life to the full has been given to us. So now, like Ruth, we walk by faith into whatever perils and dangers await us, not only sustained by the love of our precious families, but secured for all time in the love of God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ and poured upon us by the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Inspiration
Greetings in Christ Jesus, fellow soldiers.
What inspires you? More and more today, people are being told to "believe in themselves" in order to succeed. They are being told that, somehow, there is something about you worth striving for, or in the context of the military, perhaps even dying for.
But is that what drove soldiers across the beachhead at Normandy? Were the Rangers on D-Day so inspired by themselves that they climbed up sheer rock walls under direct enemy fire?
Nope. They were inspired by things greater than themselves. That is what enables men and women to do great things, which always entail sacrifice. Those who sacrifice of themselves do if for a larger goal--perhaps their country or their ideals. For many of you, as I've asked you about your greatest accomplishment, you've answered your marriage, family, and kids. They inspire you to step up when you country calls on you, even though it costs you that precious time with them.
Self-esteem doesn't drive us, self-sacrifice does. It is a pitiable thing when our lives become greater than our purpose in life.
Yet I would go a step further. The Apostle Paul, by God's Spirit, once wrote "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the race and complete the task given me by the Lord Jesus Christ, the task of testifying to the Gospel of God's grace" (Acts 20:24). He wrote this as he walked that lonely road toward his eventual death, in the footsteps of his Savior.
What truly animates a man is knowing that his life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:1-4). That man is untouchable, in that "nothing can separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8), and that man is free, in that he can be a "living sacrifice" in view of Christ's mercy, with no ultimate care for himself. He lives to bear the Gospel, with his eyes fixed upon the glory of God.
Are your eyes affixed to Heaven, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God (Col. 3:1-4)?
What inspires you? More and more today, people are being told to "believe in themselves" in order to succeed. They are being told that, somehow, there is something about you worth striving for, or in the context of the military, perhaps even dying for.
But is that what drove soldiers across the beachhead at Normandy? Were the Rangers on D-Day so inspired by themselves that they climbed up sheer rock walls under direct enemy fire?
Nope. They were inspired by things greater than themselves. That is what enables men and women to do great things, which always entail sacrifice. Those who sacrifice of themselves do if for a larger goal--perhaps their country or their ideals. For many of you, as I've asked you about your greatest accomplishment, you've answered your marriage, family, and kids. They inspire you to step up when you country calls on you, even though it costs you that precious time with them.
Self-esteem doesn't drive us, self-sacrifice does. It is a pitiable thing when our lives become greater than our purpose in life.
Yet I would go a step further. The Apostle Paul, by God's Spirit, once wrote "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the race and complete the task given me by the Lord Jesus Christ, the task of testifying to the Gospel of God's grace" (Acts 20:24). He wrote this as he walked that lonely road toward his eventual death, in the footsteps of his Savior.
What truly animates a man is knowing that his life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:1-4). That man is untouchable, in that "nothing can separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8), and that man is free, in that he can be a "living sacrifice" in view of Christ's mercy, with no ultimate care for himself. He lives to bear the Gospel, with his eyes fixed upon the glory of God.
Are your eyes affixed to Heaven, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God (Col. 3:1-4)?
Saturday, June 15, 2013
No BS BS (Bible Study): To Be A Prodigal Son
Greetings in Christ Jesus, fellow soldiers.
When studying a passage of Scripture, it is always important to study its surrounding context. Based on that context, what it the point of this particular passage? How does it fit into the larger picture/argument of the book? Where does it stand in history with relation to the cross?
In Luke 15, when Jesus tells us the parable of the Prodigal Son, He does not do so in a vacuum. First, we need to ask "What is a parable and what is a parable's purpose?" It is not a simple story or a good moral lesson--it is a difficult saying meant to impart truth as to the person and work of Jesus Christ, often in the face of some fundamentally flawed belief. Jesus uses parables to address these flawed beliefs with difficult sayings that will further enlighten those with the eyes to see and ears to hear (by the Holy Spirit), but serve to condemn those who are blind and deaf in their unbelief (Mark 4:10-12).
Next, we must ask where this parable is historically situated, as this will show us the problem that Jesus is addressing. The problem is shown in verses 1-2, where Jesus sits and dines with sinners while the religious leaders grumble. So we know that the problem revolves around two distinct hearts toward sinners: the heart of God in Jesus Christ and the heart of those who are wise in the eyes of the world.
Finally, we also need to understand this parable in connection with the string of parables to which it is connected. There are two other parables preceding this one: one of a lost sheep and one of a lost coin. What are the key themes of these two parables?
1) Something is lost--and this thing, whether sheep or coin, is unable to help itself.
2) Rescue--the one with power in each parable, whether shepherd or woman, finds and retrieves the lost.
3) Rejoicing--joined by friends and neighbors, the rescuer rejoices over the recovery of the lost things.
4) Explanation--in both cases, Jesus explains that there is joy in heaven over the one sinner who repents (as opposed to the deafening silence that greets the ninety-nine who are "righteous"--v7).
Putting all of these pieces together: Jesus is addressing a fundamental difference between the heart of God and the heart of man toward "sinners" by showing God's heart toward the broken and helpless, as well as toward those who rebelliously refuse to acknowledge their need for divine rescue.
What about you? Are you the recipient of divine grace by the hand of Jesus Christ, or are you one who grumbles at that grace? Do the angels of heaven rejoice at your rescue or stand in judgment at your rebellion?
Study Ahead: In verses 11 and 12, Jesus begins to tell the story of the "Prodigal Son." Who does this son represent in the real world? Who does the father represent? What transpires between the two? As a result of what transpires, what happens to the son (verses 13-16)?
When studying a passage of Scripture, it is always important to study its surrounding context. Based on that context, what it the point of this particular passage? How does it fit into the larger picture/argument of the book? Where does it stand in history with relation to the cross?
In Luke 15, when Jesus tells us the parable of the Prodigal Son, He does not do so in a vacuum. First, we need to ask "What is a parable and what is a parable's purpose?" It is not a simple story or a good moral lesson--it is a difficult saying meant to impart truth as to the person and work of Jesus Christ, often in the face of some fundamentally flawed belief. Jesus uses parables to address these flawed beliefs with difficult sayings that will further enlighten those with the eyes to see and ears to hear (by the Holy Spirit), but serve to condemn those who are blind and deaf in their unbelief (Mark 4:10-12).
Next, we must ask where this parable is historically situated, as this will show us the problem that Jesus is addressing. The problem is shown in verses 1-2, where Jesus sits and dines with sinners while the religious leaders grumble. So we know that the problem revolves around two distinct hearts toward sinners: the heart of God in Jesus Christ and the heart of those who are wise in the eyes of the world.
Finally, we also need to understand this parable in connection with the string of parables to which it is connected. There are two other parables preceding this one: one of a lost sheep and one of a lost coin. What are the key themes of these two parables?
1) Something is lost--and this thing, whether sheep or coin, is unable to help itself.
2) Rescue--the one with power in each parable, whether shepherd or woman, finds and retrieves the lost.
3) Rejoicing--joined by friends and neighbors, the rescuer rejoices over the recovery of the lost things.
4) Explanation--in both cases, Jesus explains that there is joy in heaven over the one sinner who repents (as opposed to the deafening silence that greets the ninety-nine who are "righteous"--v7).
Putting all of these pieces together: Jesus is addressing a fundamental difference between the heart of God and the heart of man toward "sinners" by showing God's heart toward the broken and helpless, as well as toward those who rebelliously refuse to acknowledge their need for divine rescue.
What about you? Are you the recipient of divine grace by the hand of Jesus Christ, or are you one who grumbles at that grace? Do the angels of heaven rejoice at your rescue or stand in judgment at your rebellion?
Study Ahead: In verses 11 and 12, Jesus begins to tell the story of the "Prodigal Son." Who does this son represent in the real world? Who does the father represent? What transpires between the two? As a result of what transpires, what happens to the son (verses 13-16)?
Love for Broken People (Ruth 3)
While Naomi's story is largely tied up at this point, Ruth's is really just getting started. The story of Ruth began in the tear-soaked loneliness of being a believer amongst unbelievers, as well as mingled grief and hope as Ruth walks through unbelievable suffering (the loss of husband and relatives, no child, etc.) and is sustained by God-given faith. This faith is rewarded by Boaz, standing as a representative of God, in securing Ruth in a heaven-like home where she finally finds comfort and a family. But while Ruth is now secured in the household of Boaz, she is not yet beloved. It is one thing to be embraced; another to be loved to the very core of our brokenness.
In Ruth 3, we see Noami, now walking by faith as well, hatch a plan for Ruth to become the bride of Boaz. Ruth has to carry out the plan and Boaz has to successfully see God's hand in these events. In other words, in order for Ruth to come away as a beloved bride in this precious tale, the mind of Naomi, the heart of Ruth, and the eyes of Boaz must all be equipped by God in His providence in such a way as to perfectly sync up. Only if God's providence is perfectly executed through these three ordinary actors will Ruth come away as one thoroughly beloved.
But there is a HUGE problem lying in the way of this desired outcome. In order to be beloved as a bride, Ruth must portray herself as a prostitute. Already, there are points weighing against Ruth in this encounter. She is still a Moabitess, and until this chapter, has often been referred to as such. She still is largely known by her identity as a woman belonging to a people known to lead God's people into spiritual adultery. Now, she is not shying away from this reputation. She dolls herself up for the encounter (v3) and goes to the threshing floor, where she will uncover the feet of Boaz and lie upon him (v4).
Let's zoom in a little more of what Ruth plans to do. Remember, this is the time of the Judges where "everyone does what is right in his own eyes." It is an incredibly immoral culture at this time. Much of this activity occurred during the harvest season, when men are on the threshing floors and not with their wives. Thus, for Ruth the Moabitess to go to the threshing floor at this time would definitely convey that she's looking for a little something-something. On top of all of this, she will uncover the feet of Boaz once he's good and inebriated. The term for "feet" in the Hebrew was often used as a euphemism for a man's private parts. While it may be too far to assume a sexual act here, we should at least notice that Ruth is uncovering part of the body of Boaz and lying upon it--an incredibly intimate act.
Boaz will have too look past all of this and see a bride rather than a prostitute. That night, Boaz awakes and is startled to find Ruth lying over part of his body. "Who are you," he asks. To this point, Ruth may have spoken in the same way she did in ch.2, "I am your servant, though I am not one of your servants." But in a great moment of faith, Ruth declares "I am Ruth, your servant" (v8). She is no longer an outsider, but a woman with a name! She then repeats the words of Boaz back to him. In ch.2, he praised Ruth for taking refuge under God's wings. Now, she is essence tells Boaz to take those wings of God and wrap them around Ruth himself. She also reveals that Boaz is her redeemer, which means that he is bound by blood to rescue her from her desperate and broken state.
This is the moment of decision. Will Boaz cast out the prostitute, or embrace the bride? We all know the answer. He looks past the seductive garments and sees the pure heart. He sees the risk she took in faith (v10) and calls this foreigner a "worthy woman" (v11). There is a big wrinkle that now arises--there is another family redeemer who is closer in relation to Naomi and Ruth, and thus has the right to redeem them before Boaz (v12). But, if this man does not choose to do so, Boaz pledges to be that redeemer (v13).
Continuing to play on the prostitute image, Boaz warns Ruth the next morning not to tell anyone she was there (v14). He then gives her six measures of barley seed and sends her home. When Naomi hears what happened, she tells Ruth to wait. This dear daughter has walked in faith until this point. Now is the time to rest and and accept that her life is in the hands of another. Next week, we will see if Boaz secures his bride.
In the meantime, notice that Boaz told Ruth that there is a redeemer closer than himself (v12). This is one of the overriding themes of the book--that this true historical story is actually a reflection of God's redemptive purposes for His people. Ultimately, the lives of these two dear women are not in the hands of Boaz, but the hands of God. And this God is the one who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to secure His prostitute people to Himself and treat them as the bride. Like the adulteress, Jesus does not condemn us in our sin--as ugly as it is--but cleanses us in His own blood and dresses us in His righteousness. May we savor this love and not besmirch it with our own insecurities. We are His bride, which means that we are beautiful in His eyes.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Loving the Outsider
When I was first put on the deployment roster and arrived at the March BA, I gravitated toward a group of soldiers I didn't know--mostly from Ohio. Especially as a chaplain, there is something about not knowing some of your soldiers that gets under your skin.
But there is also a broader principle at stake when we think of the "outsider" who is unfamiliar to us. The principle goes something like this: A community's (or unit's) cohesion is maintained by the integrating those at the margins.
From the biblical viewpoint, this need is highlighted in the New Testament be references to "the body" (the church), of which Christ is the head. Every part of the body has a unique and essential function to be performed, and must be accorded the full dignity of that position. To use the language of the soldier's creed, "I will not leave a fallen comrade." Every part is vital.
Of course, from the biblical perspective, the value of each part of the body of believers is ultimately derived from the Head of the body, Jesus Christ. It is from Him and through Him and to Him that each part of that body is knitted together. And the unity that comes through faith in Christ is beyond comprehension, as Jesus draws people of every possible background to Himself and to one another. The most diverse group imaginable becomes the most unified, by grace through faith in Christ.
Back to the normal plane--what are you doing to make sure no one slips through the cracks?
But there is also a broader principle at stake when we think of the "outsider" who is unfamiliar to us. The principle goes something like this: A community's (or unit's) cohesion is maintained by the integrating those at the margins.
From the biblical viewpoint, this need is highlighted in the New Testament be references to "the body" (the church), of which Christ is the head. Every part of the body has a unique and essential function to be performed, and must be accorded the full dignity of that position. To use the language of the soldier's creed, "I will not leave a fallen comrade." Every part is vital.
Of course, from the biblical perspective, the value of each part of the body of believers is ultimately derived from the Head of the body, Jesus Christ. It is from Him and through Him and to Him that each part of that body is knitted together. And the unity that comes through faith in Christ is beyond comprehension, as Jesus draws people of every possible background to Himself and to one another. The most diverse group imaginable becomes the most unified, by grace through faith in Christ.
Back to the normal plane--what are you doing to make sure no one slips through the cracks?
Monday, June 10, 2013
Thought of the Day: Power of Memories
Greetings, my friends.
In times of struggle, suffering, or even crisis, we often reflect upon those safe places that bring us joy. We think of home, family, friends, church, etc. The beautiful images sustain us in times when the dominant landscape is incredibly ugly.
That is why, as many of you ask, I cannot carry a weapon. When the siren blares, indicating indirect fire, and you beeline for the bunker, you do not to have your chaplain packing heat. Instead, I am your symbol of order, peace, and those precious memories amidst the chaos. When you look at me, you should remember your child jumping into your arms, the neighbor who talks to you over the fence, the church elder who gave you a place to stay when your money ran tight. I am only as useful to you as I am a conduit to these happy places.
Yet, there is one memory that must overpower all others when you are searching for hope and peace: that Christ, and your trespasses with Him, was nailed to a cross, rose from the dead, and now rules over you until He comes again. This spiritual memory, which belongs to us by our God-given faith, enables us to stay strong through the chaos and orient on our future dwelling place with Christ.
Think over the precious memories that sustain you. And think foremost of Christ, your Savior from sin and Lord of your life.
In times of struggle, suffering, or even crisis, we often reflect upon those safe places that bring us joy. We think of home, family, friends, church, etc. The beautiful images sustain us in times when the dominant landscape is incredibly ugly.
That is why, as many of you ask, I cannot carry a weapon. When the siren blares, indicating indirect fire, and you beeline for the bunker, you do not to have your chaplain packing heat. Instead, I am your symbol of order, peace, and those precious memories amidst the chaos. When you look at me, you should remember your child jumping into your arms, the neighbor who talks to you over the fence, the church elder who gave you a place to stay when your money ran tight. I am only as useful to you as I am a conduit to these happy places.
Yet, there is one memory that must overpower all others when you are searching for hope and peace: that Christ, and your trespasses with Him, was nailed to a cross, rose from the dead, and now rules over you until He comes again. This spiritual memory, which belongs to us by our God-given faith, enables us to stay strong through the chaos and orient on our future dwelling place with Christ.
Think over the precious memories that sustain you. And think foremost of Christ, your Savior from sin and Lord of your life.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Ruth 1-2: Homeward Bound
Greetings in Christ Jesus, fellow soldiers.
To this point in our study of the book of Ruth, we have focused upon Naomi, a broken sufferer and sinner who was blind to the real source of her emptiness, as well as the grace that God had provided in the person of Ruth. Naomi's eyes were finally opened on the day that Ruth brought home Naomi's unearned blessing, crediting the blessing to Boaz, Naomi's kinsman-redeemer (a person morally bound by blood to deliver their family from a state of poverty and/or slavery). Naomi's eyes were opened to the reality that in all the hardships she had endured, the living God was working FOR her, not against her. In all of this, Ruth pointed forward to Jesus Christ in her willingness to suffer to the point of death for her beloved, as well as do the necessary work that would sustain her mother's life.
Now, we look at these first two chapters through the eyes of Ruth. While she is a Christ-like figure to Naomi, she is certainly not Jesus Christ. She struggled mightily in her own right. Consider the circumstances working against her from the passage: She was married ten years without having a child; her husband died; she was turned away from her mother-in-law when returning to Bethlehem. Consider other ways in which she might have suffered as well. IF Ruth is a believer (and we can assume from many of her remarks that she is), then she has endured a lonely existence as a baby Christian (knowing the term "Christian" wasn't used then).
The likely scenario goes something like this: Although Naomi and her family are not believers, they are "cultural Christians," who talk about the traditions of their people. They talk about things like Eden, the flood, exodus, and Passover. And while they are not speaking from a point of faith, Ruth hears the Word of God through them nonetheless and becomes a believer. But is it all sunshine and roses from there on out? There were no temples around her for worship, teachers to share the Word of God, fellow believers with which to fellowship and be encouraged. For years, this baby Christian has been trapped in a lonely existence. Then her husband, brother-in-law, and father-in-law all die. Her mother-in-law decides to go back to Bethlehem, but turns Ruth and her sister-in-law away.
In this moment, we see Ruth, the lonely young believer, take a giant step in faith. She clings to her mother-in-law, even as her mother-in-law casts her away. Her land is no longer her land; her people no longer her people; her gods no longer her God. She pours out her heart to Naomi, stating emphatically "Your people, my people; Your God, my God." In other words, Ruth knows where her home truly is and she is not turning back. Naomi's response? Simply to ignore this great display of faith and vulnerability. She didn't speak to her. Instead, when they get back to Bethlehem, with Ruth standing by her side, Naomi describes her life as "empty." If Ruth could have leaned into a doorframe to hide herself or sit in a house and have time to think, maybe this would be easier. But she had nowhere to go. Her one human lifeline has just disavowed her.
Friends, I think we can all relate to Ruth in this story. I think of friends who have become believers in Jesus Christ, but then go into a church that bears the name "Christian" but doesn't believe in the Gospel, or go to a church that is self-righteous and unloving and makes them feel like an outcast, or the friend who led them to Christ later abandons the faith. In all of these scenarios, the desire for a home with God's people has been thwarted and people come away incredibly hurt. There is a reason why so many rail against the church today. But friends, Christ loved His ugly bride (the church) so much that He died for her, and we should love her too. And we should know that the church is not our ultimate home, but a foretaste of our heavenly home. It is a hospital for souls until the day when we our finally healed and whole in Christ Jesus.
With that in mind, let us join Ruth once more as she searches desperately for a home with God's people. In another incredible display of faith, Ruth makes the dangerous journey out to the field in order to provide for her mother-in-law. As we are in the time of the Judges, Ruth puts herself in great danger in that age of lawlessness. She could be harrassed, beaten, raped, or killed. Yet she goes, expressing the hope that perhaps "she will find favor" in someone's eyes. Enter Boaz, a man who is clearly godly from his interaction with his workers. What is the first thing Boaz does when he comes to the field? He notices Ruth.
At this point, it is worth mentioning that just as Ruth was a Christ-like figure to Naomi, Boaz depicts the heart of God in his care for Ruth. His interactions with Ruth here in ch.2 are precious. He tells her to stay on his land and follow his women--he will not let his men accost her. He tells her to drink of the water that others draw when she is thirsty. He then gives her more food than she could possibly want. In other words, for Ruth, there is "no more hunger, no more thirst, no more tears." This earthly home that Ruth has finally found should naturally point us forward to our heavenly home, when those same realities are made ours.
Ruth is in awe, as the man (and ultimately, God) who could have beaten and disowned her was the man who embraced her as his own. This is what Ruth is getting at with her reply "You have treated me as one of your servants, though I am not one of your servants." She recognizes that though she doesn't naturally belong to this man (God) or this people, she has been adopted into this family and loved. And how did this incredible homecoming occur? We find the answer in what Boaz says in v.12: "The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”
Ruth's difficult walk to this point was a walk of faith, sheltered under the wings of the true God. Because the true God was her God, Ruth was able to endure unimaginable pain in her journey. Though she has just now made Naomi's people her people, we can say that, sheltered in the wings of God, she had already made Naomi's God her God long before now. And the God who gave her faith and sustained her faith is the same God who granted her the (partial) fulfillment of her faith. Ultimately, the same God of grace does this for us in Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. Ruth may not have known Christ in the flesh as we do now, but she knew the promises, and walked with the vision of Christ before her on that shadowy horizon.
As a final gift to Ruth, God blesses her with a mother-in-law who now believes. Naomi's eyes are opened that night and she finally treats Ruth as her beloved daughter, looking out for her well being. By the close of the second chapter of Ruth, two dear, broken women have been enfolded into the love of God and a believing family. And so it shall one day be for all of us who walk by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.
Friends, if you do not walk by faith, then your wanderings though the wilderness of this wasting world are pointless. As your days draw to a close, your life will bear the bitterness of Naomi, knowing nothing of the beauty of a life sustained by the true God. Knowing what lies behind the curtain for God's people, today is the day to embrace Christ, who after living and dying for us, is now preparing a place for His people in glory. If you are a believer, know that your steps are not in vain. You will never "arrive" this side of heaven, but you know when Christ appears, so you will appear with Him in glory (Col. 3). On that day, our Father in Heaven will wipe every tear from our sin-wearied eyes.
To this point in our study of the book of Ruth, we have focused upon Naomi, a broken sufferer and sinner who was blind to the real source of her emptiness, as well as the grace that God had provided in the person of Ruth. Naomi's eyes were finally opened on the day that Ruth brought home Naomi's unearned blessing, crediting the blessing to Boaz, Naomi's kinsman-redeemer (a person morally bound by blood to deliver their family from a state of poverty and/or slavery). Naomi's eyes were opened to the reality that in all the hardships she had endured, the living God was working FOR her, not against her. In all of this, Ruth pointed forward to Jesus Christ in her willingness to suffer to the point of death for her beloved, as well as do the necessary work that would sustain her mother's life.
Now, we look at these first two chapters through the eyes of Ruth. While she is a Christ-like figure to Naomi, she is certainly not Jesus Christ. She struggled mightily in her own right. Consider the circumstances working against her from the passage: She was married ten years without having a child; her husband died; she was turned away from her mother-in-law when returning to Bethlehem. Consider other ways in which she might have suffered as well. IF Ruth is a believer (and we can assume from many of her remarks that she is), then she has endured a lonely existence as a baby Christian (knowing the term "Christian" wasn't used then).
The likely scenario goes something like this: Although Naomi and her family are not believers, they are "cultural Christians," who talk about the traditions of their people. They talk about things like Eden, the flood, exodus, and Passover. And while they are not speaking from a point of faith, Ruth hears the Word of God through them nonetheless and becomes a believer. But is it all sunshine and roses from there on out? There were no temples around her for worship, teachers to share the Word of God, fellow believers with which to fellowship and be encouraged. For years, this baby Christian has been trapped in a lonely existence. Then her husband, brother-in-law, and father-in-law all die. Her mother-in-law decides to go back to Bethlehem, but turns Ruth and her sister-in-law away.
In this moment, we see Ruth, the lonely young believer, take a giant step in faith. She clings to her mother-in-law, even as her mother-in-law casts her away. Her land is no longer her land; her people no longer her people; her gods no longer her God. She pours out her heart to Naomi, stating emphatically "Your people, my people; Your God, my God." In other words, Ruth knows where her home truly is and she is not turning back. Naomi's response? Simply to ignore this great display of faith and vulnerability. She didn't speak to her. Instead, when they get back to Bethlehem, with Ruth standing by her side, Naomi describes her life as "empty." If Ruth could have leaned into a doorframe to hide herself or sit in a house and have time to think, maybe this would be easier. But she had nowhere to go. Her one human lifeline has just disavowed her.
Friends, I think we can all relate to Ruth in this story. I think of friends who have become believers in Jesus Christ, but then go into a church that bears the name "Christian" but doesn't believe in the Gospel, or go to a church that is self-righteous and unloving and makes them feel like an outcast, or the friend who led them to Christ later abandons the faith. In all of these scenarios, the desire for a home with God's people has been thwarted and people come away incredibly hurt. There is a reason why so many rail against the church today. But friends, Christ loved His ugly bride (the church) so much that He died for her, and we should love her too. And we should know that the church is not our ultimate home, but a foretaste of our heavenly home. It is a hospital for souls until the day when we our finally healed and whole in Christ Jesus.
With that in mind, let us join Ruth once more as she searches desperately for a home with God's people. In another incredible display of faith, Ruth makes the dangerous journey out to the field in order to provide for her mother-in-law. As we are in the time of the Judges, Ruth puts herself in great danger in that age of lawlessness. She could be harrassed, beaten, raped, or killed. Yet she goes, expressing the hope that perhaps "she will find favor" in someone's eyes. Enter Boaz, a man who is clearly godly from his interaction with his workers. What is the first thing Boaz does when he comes to the field? He notices Ruth.
At this point, it is worth mentioning that just as Ruth was a Christ-like figure to Naomi, Boaz depicts the heart of God in his care for Ruth. His interactions with Ruth here in ch.2 are precious. He tells her to stay on his land and follow his women--he will not let his men accost her. He tells her to drink of the water that others draw when she is thirsty. He then gives her more food than she could possibly want. In other words, for Ruth, there is "no more hunger, no more thirst, no more tears." This earthly home that Ruth has finally found should naturally point us forward to our heavenly home, when those same realities are made ours.
Ruth is in awe, as the man (and ultimately, God) who could have beaten and disowned her was the man who embraced her as his own. This is what Ruth is getting at with her reply "You have treated me as one of your servants, though I am not one of your servants." She recognizes that though she doesn't naturally belong to this man (God) or this people, she has been adopted into this family and loved. And how did this incredible homecoming occur? We find the answer in what Boaz says in v.12: "The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”
Ruth's difficult walk to this point was a walk of faith, sheltered under the wings of the true God. Because the true God was her God, Ruth was able to endure unimaginable pain in her journey. Though she has just now made Naomi's people her people, we can say that, sheltered in the wings of God, she had already made Naomi's God her God long before now. And the God who gave her faith and sustained her faith is the same God who granted her the (partial) fulfillment of her faith. Ultimately, the same God of grace does this for us in Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. Ruth may not have known Christ in the flesh as we do now, but she knew the promises, and walked with the vision of Christ before her on that shadowy horizon.
As a final gift to Ruth, God blesses her with a mother-in-law who now believes. Naomi's eyes are opened that night and she finally treats Ruth as her beloved daughter, looking out for her well being. By the close of the second chapter of Ruth, two dear, broken women have been enfolded into the love of God and a believing family. And so it shall one day be for all of us who walk by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.
Friends, if you do not walk by faith, then your wanderings though the wilderness of this wasting world are pointless. As your days draw to a close, your life will bear the bitterness of Naomi, knowing nothing of the beauty of a life sustained by the true God. Knowing what lies behind the curtain for God's people, today is the day to embrace Christ, who after living and dying for us, is now preparing a place for His people in glory. If you are a believer, know that your steps are not in vain. You will never "arrive" this side of heaven, but you know when Christ appears, so you will appear with Him in glory (Col. 3). On that day, our Father in Heaven will wipe every tear from our sin-wearied eyes.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
Thought of the Day: A Higher Calling
Yesterday marked the anniversary of D-Day. It also marked the anniversary of a great speech in memory of the tremendous sacrifice on that day.
As part of his speech on "the boys of Pointe du Hoc" (the Rangers who scaled sheer face cliffs on the beaches of Normandy against withering direct fire), President Reagan made these poignant remarks:
Recently, I talked with our battle staff about "extra-personal identity." In the past century we have seen two corresponding trends: the decline of the "spiritual furniture" that previous generations leaned upon, and the rise of the self-esteem movement, which made each of us the center of our own universe, and the world around us exists to serve our needs. How have these two trends worked out? Well, we each left the seclusion of our childhood and entered the real world, finding it unable to fulfill our needs and our own psyche damaged because we weren't ready for reality.
It is time to go back to hanging our identity on something beyond our own experiences and feelings of self-worth. Our feelings will inevitably betray us. We must look beyond ourselves. President Reagan rolled out some of the old "furniture" in this speech--ideals, country, God. These are things that stand over and above and call us to self-denying sacrifice when we'd otherwise simply cater to our own needs.
With Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin, we have the opportunity to be "new creations" with "our lives hidden with Christ in God." Is it time to take that vacant space in your life and roll in the furniture?
As part of his speech on "the boys of Pointe du Hoc" (the Rangers who scaled sheer face cliffs on the beaches of Normandy against withering direct fire), President Reagan made these poignant remarks:
Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief. It was loyalty and love.
The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead, or on the next. It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.
You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.
Read more: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/06/06/the_boys_of_pointe_du_hoc_96877.html#ixzz2VXa8ONRn Recently, I talked with our battle staff about "extra-personal identity." In the past century we have seen two corresponding trends: the decline of the "spiritual furniture" that previous generations leaned upon, and the rise of the self-esteem movement, which made each of us the center of our own universe, and the world around us exists to serve our needs. How have these two trends worked out? Well, we each left the seclusion of our childhood and entered the real world, finding it unable to fulfill our needs and our own psyche damaged because we weren't ready for reality.
It is time to go back to hanging our identity on something beyond our own experiences and feelings of self-worth. Our feelings will inevitably betray us. We must look beyond ourselves. President Reagan rolled out some of the old "furniture" in this speech--ideals, country, God. These are things that stand over and above and call us to self-denying sacrifice when we'd otherwise simply cater to our own needs.
With Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin, we have the opportunity to be "new creations" with "our lives hidden with Christ in God." Is it time to take that vacant space in your life and roll in the furniture?
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Time to Think
My Friends,
It is easy to get swept up in the hamster wheel of Army life. We move from one thing to the next (or several things at once), and will wind down with an online conversation with our family, followed perhaps by time listening to music or watching a movie. During which of these times do we stop to think? To feel?
We need to create time, even if it's walking from one event to another, to lay our hearts and minds bare before God. This is part of what it means to walk coram Deo (before the face of God). Take a few minutes today to sort through your thoughts and feelings and lift them up to God, who hears you and tends to you for the sake of Jesus Christ, who had you and His Father's glory upon His heart on His way to the cross.
Ps. 139: 23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
It is easy to get swept up in the hamster wheel of Army life. We move from one thing to the next (or several things at once), and will wind down with an online conversation with our family, followed perhaps by time listening to music or watching a movie. During which of these times do we stop to think? To feel?
We need to create time, even if it's walking from one event to another, to lay our hearts and minds bare before God. This is part of what it means to walk coram Deo (before the face of God). Take a few minutes today to sort through your thoughts and feelings and lift them up to God, who hears you and tends to you for the sake of Jesus Christ, who had you and His Father's glory upon His heart on His way to the cross.
Ps. 139: 23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Thought of the Day: Self-Consciousness as Pride
Greetings in Christ Jesus, fellow soldiers.
Have you found yourself saying "I don't belong here" or "I am not good enough for this mission" or "If only others truly knew me, they'd know I'm a fraud"? It is common for people to have these thoughts at various times in their lives and throughout a variety of experiences. We often call label such thoughts with terms like "self-conscious" or "insecure."
Yet, for those of us who believe in the living God, these thoughts don't reveal are doubts about ourselves but pride in ourselves and doubts about our God. We ascribe our stations in life to mere accident rather than God's purposes and ascribe our successes and failures to our own character, though it is God who calls us to and equips us for various tasks. In fact, He'll often place us in positions in weakness in order to demonstrate His great strength and glory. Who are we to question His purposes with petty thoughts about ourselves?
Remember, Jesus came for the sick, not the healthy; the sinners, not the righteous. When asked why a certain man was born blind in John 9--whether it was this man's sin or the sin of his parents--Jesus said that it was neither: He was blind so that the works of God might be displayed. Jesus then healed the man. May we embrace our weaknesses, the gracious strength of our God, and see our lives as directed toward His glory, not directed toward our perceived failures.
Have you found yourself saying "I don't belong here" or "I am not good enough for this mission" or "If only others truly knew me, they'd know I'm a fraud"? It is common for people to have these thoughts at various times in their lives and throughout a variety of experiences. We often call label such thoughts with terms like "self-conscious" or "insecure."
Yet, for those of us who believe in the living God, these thoughts don't reveal are doubts about ourselves but pride in ourselves and doubts about our God. We ascribe our stations in life to mere accident rather than God's purposes and ascribe our successes and failures to our own character, though it is God who calls us to and equips us for various tasks. In fact, He'll often place us in positions in weakness in order to demonstrate His great strength and glory. Who are we to question His purposes with petty thoughts about ourselves?
Remember, Jesus came for the sick, not the healthy; the sinners, not the righteous. When asked why a certain man was born blind in John 9--whether it was this man's sin or the sin of his parents--Jesus said that it was neither: He was blind so that the works of God might be displayed. Jesus then healed the man. May we embrace our weaknesses, the gracious strength of our God, and see our lives as directed toward His glory, not directed toward our perceived failures.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
The Heart of the Matter
Greetings in Christ Jesus, fellow soldiers.
Have you ever been chewed out by a higher-ranking soldier and left the scene saying "Wow, he/she is an a**?" When we have that sort of response, we are really just dehumanizing that person in order to cope with our own pain and embarrassment. SSG Gumby may have a family who knows him to be a very different person than the one you just dismissed. He may be having a particularly bad day. Perhaps he is going through the death of a family member, or a divorce, or financial ruin.
Ultimately, we must look to the heart of a person--a person created in the image of God with dignity, hopes, dreams, and the struggle of living with a broken heart in a broken world. And how can we do any less? Our hearts are laid bare before our omniscient (all-knowing) God. He created us and knows our hearts even better than we do. This would mean our death, as the deepest inclinations of our hearts are to rebel against God, but in Jesus Christ, we are not only known down to our deepest thoughts, but our loved to that extent as well. In Christ, God looks to the rebel heart with love, and as Christians, we can do no less.
Psalm 139 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
Have you ever been chewed out by a higher-ranking soldier and left the scene saying "Wow, he/she is an a**?" When we have that sort of response, we are really just dehumanizing that person in order to cope with our own pain and embarrassment. SSG Gumby may have a family who knows him to be a very different person than the one you just dismissed. He may be having a particularly bad day. Perhaps he is going through the death of a family member, or a divorce, or financial ruin.
Ultimately, we must look to the heart of a person--a person created in the image of God with dignity, hopes, dreams, and the struggle of living with a broken heart in a broken world. And how can we do any less? Our hearts are laid bare before our omniscient (all-knowing) God. He created us and knows our hearts even better than we do. This would mean our death, as the deepest inclinations of our hearts are to rebel against God, but in Jesus Christ, we are not only known down to our deepest thoughts, but our loved to that extent as well. In Christ, God looks to the rebel heart with love, and as Christians, we can do no less.
Psalm 139 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Thought of the Day: Restraint
Greetings in Christ Jesus, fellow soldiers.
Soldiers are often tossed about in circumstances that are outside of their control. They are given contradictory orders, undefined roles and responsibilities, missions that lack purpose or the possibility of a successful outcome, and are often dressed down for failures that may belong to someone else.
In all of these things, we are tempted to complain, ridicule others, and engage in gossip. Yet Scripture speaks clearly about "taming the tongue" (James 3). Our tongues, wielding the poison of resentment in our hearts, become a small spark with the potential to destroy a great deal. With our tongues, we can harm unit morale, breed insubordination, and ruin Army careers.
Remember how Jesus handled His ridiculous circumstances. He was put on a farce of a trial and condemned to suffer and die, though he was clearly innocent. He was the recipient of mankind's cruelty and hatred, though He only engaged in good deeds and carried love for sinners upon His heart. The victim of such insane hatred, He did not open his mouth (Is. 53). Instead, at His last, He prayer "Father, forgive them."
Let us bless those who curse us, knowing that the God-man, Jesus Christ, bore the cursed cross for sinners (like us!) without speaking an ill word.
Soldiers are often tossed about in circumstances that are outside of their control. They are given contradictory orders, undefined roles and responsibilities, missions that lack purpose or the possibility of a successful outcome, and are often dressed down for failures that may belong to someone else.
In all of these things, we are tempted to complain, ridicule others, and engage in gossip. Yet Scripture speaks clearly about "taming the tongue" (James 3). Our tongues, wielding the poison of resentment in our hearts, become a small spark with the potential to destroy a great deal. With our tongues, we can harm unit morale, breed insubordination, and ruin Army careers.
Remember how Jesus handled His ridiculous circumstances. He was put on a farce of a trial and condemned to suffer and die, though he was clearly innocent. He was the recipient of mankind's cruelty and hatred, though He only engaged in good deeds and carried love for sinners upon His heart. The victim of such insane hatred, He did not open his mouth (Is. 53). Instead, at His last, He prayer "Father, forgive them."
Let us bless those who curse us, knowing that the God-man, Jesus Christ, bore the cursed cross for sinners (like us!) without speaking an ill word.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
The Strength to Speak (The Story of Stephen--Acts 6-7)
Greetings in Christ Jesus, fellow soldiers.
People often dream of being heroes, which isn't a necessarily a bad thing--if it's for a purpose greater than oneself. The problem is that our heroic dreams are often tainted by selfishness and the desire for praise and adoration and gratitude. As a result, we often read ourselves into stories of heroism and turn heroes into projections of ourselves. This happens, for example, when we turn Jesus into simply a moral man, not God. A Jesus who is good, but not God, is a Jesus we can be like. We do the same thing when we strive to be strong like Samson, a man after God's own heart like David, dare to be a Daniel, or desire the heroic martyrdom of Stephen.
Yet these men never thought of themselves as heroes. The one true hero of Scripture and of all of human history is Jesus Christ, and his heroism is utterly unique--only God can rescue sinners from the just penalty of their sin: death and damnation. Thus, we must never look to figures in Scripture primarily as heroes to imitate, but as ordinary men empowered by an extraordinary God.
That is what we find in the book of Acts. This book has historically been known as the "Acts of the Apostles," but it is perhaps better understood as the "Acts of Christ through His Word and Spirit." It was written alongside the book of Luke. In the first book (Luke), we read of Christ redeeming His Church. In the second book (Acts), we read of Christ building His Church. In the beginning of the book of Acts, Christ promises to give the Holy Spirit to equip His people in sharing the Word with the world. Over and over again throughout the book, we don't see great men, but a great Lord sending people by His Spirit and spreading His Word to the nations.
It is this great Lord who now strengthens Stephen in Acts 6 and 7. In 6:5, Stephen is singled out from his fellow deacons, in that he is full of "faith and the Holy Spirit." This is told to us not as much to highlight any special gifting of Stephen, but of the fact that these God-given gifts would soon be necessary and put to use. And as is the pattern, where the Spirit is spoken of, the Word is spoken of soon after as spreading to more people (v7).
In v8, we're told the Stephen was full of "grace and power" and was doing "great wonders and signs." Again, these things are not being told us so that we can replicate them. While we do have grace and power, we cannot do wonders and signs. Just like in Stephen's martyrdom to come, while we have the same Holy Spirit guiding us through this life, we will not glow like an angel or see heaven open up before us. These extraordinary acts were displayed in this time to show the church of that time and all ages (through God's Word) that this is the power of Christ over His Church.
In the remaining verses of ch6, we see that Stephen's opponents, who "could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking," conspired against him, drew up false charges, and got him thrown into a farce of trial. Notice what Stephen didn't do in the face of the lies told against him: He didn't become defensive, assert his rights, proclaim his innocence, rebut the charges, attack the character of his opponents, etc.
Rather, Stephen turned the tables. Just as the farce of trial put on for Jesus was really the trial of mankind and their heart toward God, so Stephen used this opportunity to put his prosecutors on trial for the crime of rebelling against God (7:1-50). Throughout his defense (really, prosecution) he showed how God's people had rejected God, persecuted those entrusted with God's Word, and rejected those truths to which God's Word testified. The irony behind all of this is that Stephen's trial is proof of all of these things in the here and now!
Finally, Stephen lays them out with his closing statement: 51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
The book of Acts is about Christ building His Church through Word and Spirit. Stephen, speaking God's Word by the power of His Spirit, has shown that God's people to the present day have engaged in a few acts of their own--the act of resisting the Spirit who gives life, the act of killing those entrusted with God's Word, the act of killing the very Son of God who was sent by the Father to call His people to account. The rebel heart of this group of "religious leaders" was thoroughly exposed and condemned, and in order to suppress this truth, they condemned Stephen and murdered him.
My friends, Stephen was an ordinary man empowered by an extraordinary God, much as we are today. He went, not with great words of eloquence, impeccable logic, or crocodile tears, but with the power of the Holy Spirit and Holy Word. We have this same power. And like Stephen, by these appointed means given us by Christ, we have the strength to speak.
Yet I fear that we do not often realize the power given us because we absorbed in our own supposed power. We desire the intelligence, eloquence, and emotional fervor needed to save sinners. The problem is, we have none of those things in a supply sufficient to save ourselves, let alone others. These things will neither suffice anyway, even in the great of supply, because sinners are not suppressing the truth because of intellectual objections or emotional struggles, but in unrighteousness. The hand of man cannot compete with the hand of Satan.
Ultimately, the only way to attack this spiritual rebellion is to be saved and equipped by Jesus Christ to go forth with His Spirit and Word. In Christ alone we find the strength to stand and only in the tools that He gives us are we able to wage war for the hearts and minds of a hostile world and the demonic forces operating behind them (Eph. 6). The man who was used by God to pen these words in Scripture was one who was saved in part by the spiritual tools wielded by Stephen on that great day of his martyrdom. If we desire to be useful to our Lord and Savior, let us not forsake the weapons He has given us--the ones He first used to save us.
People often dream of being heroes, which isn't a necessarily a bad thing--if it's for a purpose greater than oneself. The problem is that our heroic dreams are often tainted by selfishness and the desire for praise and adoration and gratitude. As a result, we often read ourselves into stories of heroism and turn heroes into projections of ourselves. This happens, for example, when we turn Jesus into simply a moral man, not God. A Jesus who is good, but not God, is a Jesus we can be like. We do the same thing when we strive to be strong like Samson, a man after God's own heart like David, dare to be a Daniel, or desire the heroic martyrdom of Stephen.
Yet these men never thought of themselves as heroes. The one true hero of Scripture and of all of human history is Jesus Christ, and his heroism is utterly unique--only God can rescue sinners from the just penalty of their sin: death and damnation. Thus, we must never look to figures in Scripture primarily as heroes to imitate, but as ordinary men empowered by an extraordinary God.
That is what we find in the book of Acts. This book has historically been known as the "Acts of the Apostles," but it is perhaps better understood as the "Acts of Christ through His Word and Spirit." It was written alongside the book of Luke. In the first book (Luke), we read of Christ redeeming His Church. In the second book (Acts), we read of Christ building His Church. In the beginning of the book of Acts, Christ promises to give the Holy Spirit to equip His people in sharing the Word with the world. Over and over again throughout the book, we don't see great men, but a great Lord sending people by His Spirit and spreading His Word to the nations.
It is this great Lord who now strengthens Stephen in Acts 6 and 7. In 6:5, Stephen is singled out from his fellow deacons, in that he is full of "faith and the Holy Spirit." This is told to us not as much to highlight any special gifting of Stephen, but of the fact that these God-given gifts would soon be necessary and put to use. And as is the pattern, where the Spirit is spoken of, the Word is spoken of soon after as spreading to more people (v7).
In v8, we're told the Stephen was full of "grace and power" and was doing "great wonders and signs." Again, these things are not being told us so that we can replicate them. While we do have grace and power, we cannot do wonders and signs. Just like in Stephen's martyrdom to come, while we have the same Holy Spirit guiding us through this life, we will not glow like an angel or see heaven open up before us. These extraordinary acts were displayed in this time to show the church of that time and all ages (through God's Word) that this is the power of Christ over His Church.
In the remaining verses of ch6, we see that Stephen's opponents, who "could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking," conspired against him, drew up false charges, and got him thrown into a farce of trial. Notice what Stephen didn't do in the face of the lies told against him: He didn't become defensive, assert his rights, proclaim his innocence, rebut the charges, attack the character of his opponents, etc.
Rather, Stephen turned the tables. Just as the farce of trial put on for Jesus was really the trial of mankind and their heart toward God, so Stephen used this opportunity to put his prosecutors on trial for the crime of rebelling against God (7:1-50). Throughout his defense (really, prosecution) he showed how God's people had rejected God, persecuted those entrusted with God's Word, and rejected those truths to which God's Word testified. The irony behind all of this is that Stephen's trial is proof of all of these things in the here and now!
Finally, Stephen lays them out with his closing statement: 51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
The book of Acts is about Christ building His Church through Word and Spirit. Stephen, speaking God's Word by the power of His Spirit, has shown that God's people to the present day have engaged in a few acts of their own--the act of resisting the Spirit who gives life, the act of killing those entrusted with God's Word, the act of killing the very Son of God who was sent by the Father to call His people to account. The rebel heart of this group of "religious leaders" was thoroughly exposed and condemned, and in order to suppress this truth, they condemned Stephen and murdered him.
My friends, Stephen was an ordinary man empowered by an extraordinary God, much as we are today. He went, not with great words of eloquence, impeccable logic, or crocodile tears, but with the power of the Holy Spirit and Holy Word. We have this same power. And like Stephen, by these appointed means given us by Christ, we have the strength to speak.
Yet I fear that we do not often realize the power given us because we absorbed in our own supposed power. We desire the intelligence, eloquence, and emotional fervor needed to save sinners. The problem is, we have none of those things in a supply sufficient to save ourselves, let alone others. These things will neither suffice anyway, even in the great of supply, because sinners are not suppressing the truth because of intellectual objections or emotional struggles, but in unrighteousness. The hand of man cannot compete with the hand of Satan.
Ultimately, the only way to attack this spiritual rebellion is to be saved and equipped by Jesus Christ to go forth with His Spirit and Word. In Christ alone we find the strength to stand and only in the tools that He gives us are we able to wage war for the hearts and minds of a hostile world and the demonic forces operating behind them (Eph. 6). The man who was used by God to pen these words in Scripture was one who was saved in part by the spiritual tools wielded by Stephen on that great day of his martyrdom. If we desire to be useful to our Lord and Savior, let us not forsake the weapons He has given us--the ones He first used to save us.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Eyes Opened (read Ruth 2)
Greetings in Christ Jesus, my fellow soldiers.
Last week, we looked at Ruth 1 and asked the question "Am I alone?" Remember, the chapter came to a close with Naomi saying, in essence "I left full but have returned empty because of God." If she was right, then we as believers in a God who callously abandons His people amidst their misery are most to be pitied.
But we investigated Naomi's claims and discovered that God was for her, not against her. Blinded by her own sin, she (and her family) refused to repent to the Lord in their time of famine and left the "house of bread" (Bethlehem) and the God who gave manna for the land of Moab--a people specifically condemned by God for not giving His people bread in the wilderness. And Naomi's family suffered the fruit of their sin (the wages of which is death). Naomi wasn't only a sinner, however, but a sufferer. Her pain must have been so great! But the fact remains, she didn't leave full.
Nor did she return empty. In her time of greatest need, hardened to the God who alone is our provider, Naomi received an outpouring of His grace in fleshly form. She had Ruth, the great great great great great great great grandmother of Jesus, identifying with Naomi in her suffering and pledging herself to suffer for Naomi even to the point of death. Ultimately, this is what a sinner like me needs, grace in fleshly form (Jesus Christ) to live and die for me. Friends, we are not alone.
This week, we will witness the conversion/transformation of Naomi. With Ruth by her side, she arrives back in Bethlehem at the time of the barley harvest--a sign both of God relenting from His judgment (the famine is over) and of Naomi's new life (time of the first fruits). We see God moving the final chess pieces into place for His beloved child when we learn about her relative in v1, Boaz. He is her kinsman-redeemer, which basically means that he will be able to purchase her, at cost to himself, from her pitiful state (we'll learn more about in a later week).
For whatever reason (physical? psychological?), Naomi is unable to work. She is helpless. And again, Ruth comes to rescue. She offers to work on her mother's behalf--though she is an unfamiliar and potentially dangerous area for a foreign woman--and Naomi lets her go. We'll skip what happens to Ruth in the field and save that for our retelling of her story.
That night, a hurt, hardened Naomi finally had the walls of her heart collapse. Ruth came in, bearing an incredible load of food and barley. As Naomi notes, somebody must have looked upon Ruth's work with favor. She couldn't have been more right. That day, a helpless Naomi sent out the God-ordained suffering servant who was willing to die for her. That servant's work received favor, and as a result of that servant's work, a helpless Naomi found herself blessed.
When Naomi learned that the favorable man was Boaz, the tongue which had so recently cursed God now poured forth with blessing. She praised God's kindness through Boaz, and the fact that he (either God or God through Boaz) had not forsaken the living or dead. The God who she believed had abandoned her had never truly forsaken her. She was blind to His tender hand, but by His grace, she had a suffering servant, pledged to death, who did the work on her behalf for her life and blessing.
My friends, that is what we have in Christ Jesus. Like Ruth, He came at "just the right time" and "died for sinners." He not only identified with our suffering, but He also offered to God the perfect life and substitutionary death that we couldn't possibly offer, and which, at the end of the day, brought us life and blessing. Remember, "the wages of sin is death." This is what we had earned on our own accord. Yet Christ put in the wages of a perfect life, holy and pleasing to God, and then bore our wages. "He who knew no sin became sin, so we might be the righteousness of God."
Whether you are a believer or not, today is the day to drop the act--the vain attempts at self-righteousness, the pitiful belief in your own goodness. Today is the day to acknowledge that apart from the life and death of the God-man, Jesus Christ, you are lost. But praise be to God, "anyone who is in Christ Jesus in a new creation." Like Naomi, today is the day of new beginnings for those who in their helplessness have embraced the cross of Christ. And if we cling to that cross, today must be the day when our words of bitterness are transformed into songs of praise, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Last week, we looked at Ruth 1 and asked the question "Am I alone?" Remember, the chapter came to a close with Naomi saying, in essence "I left full but have returned empty because of God." If she was right, then we as believers in a God who callously abandons His people amidst their misery are most to be pitied.
But we investigated Naomi's claims and discovered that God was for her, not against her. Blinded by her own sin, she (and her family) refused to repent to the Lord in their time of famine and left the "house of bread" (Bethlehem) and the God who gave manna for the land of Moab--a people specifically condemned by God for not giving His people bread in the wilderness. And Naomi's family suffered the fruit of their sin (the wages of which is death). Naomi wasn't only a sinner, however, but a sufferer. Her pain must have been so great! But the fact remains, she didn't leave full.
Nor did she return empty. In her time of greatest need, hardened to the God who alone is our provider, Naomi received an outpouring of His grace in fleshly form. She had Ruth, the great great great great great great great grandmother of Jesus, identifying with Naomi in her suffering and pledging herself to suffer for Naomi even to the point of death. Ultimately, this is what a sinner like me needs, grace in fleshly form (Jesus Christ) to live and die for me. Friends, we are not alone.
This week, we will witness the conversion/transformation of Naomi. With Ruth by her side, she arrives back in Bethlehem at the time of the barley harvest--a sign both of God relenting from His judgment (the famine is over) and of Naomi's new life (time of the first fruits). We see God moving the final chess pieces into place for His beloved child when we learn about her relative in v1, Boaz. He is her kinsman-redeemer, which basically means that he will be able to purchase her, at cost to himself, from her pitiful state (we'll learn more about in a later week).
For whatever reason (physical? psychological?), Naomi is unable to work. She is helpless. And again, Ruth comes to rescue. She offers to work on her mother's behalf--though she is an unfamiliar and potentially dangerous area for a foreign woman--and Naomi lets her go. We'll skip what happens to Ruth in the field and save that for our retelling of her story.
That night, a hurt, hardened Naomi finally had the walls of her heart collapse. Ruth came in, bearing an incredible load of food and barley. As Naomi notes, somebody must have looked upon Ruth's work with favor. She couldn't have been more right. That day, a helpless Naomi sent out the God-ordained suffering servant who was willing to die for her. That servant's work received favor, and as a result of that servant's work, a helpless Naomi found herself blessed.
When Naomi learned that the favorable man was Boaz, the tongue which had so recently cursed God now poured forth with blessing. She praised God's kindness through Boaz, and the fact that he (either God or God through Boaz) had not forsaken the living or dead. The God who she believed had abandoned her had never truly forsaken her. She was blind to His tender hand, but by His grace, she had a suffering servant, pledged to death, who did the work on her behalf for her life and blessing.
My friends, that is what we have in Christ Jesus. Like Ruth, He came at "just the right time" and "died for sinners." He not only identified with our suffering, but He also offered to God the perfect life and substitutionary death that we couldn't possibly offer, and which, at the end of the day, brought us life and blessing. Remember, "the wages of sin is death." This is what we had earned on our own accord. Yet Christ put in the wages of a perfect life, holy and pleasing to God, and then bore our wages. "He who knew no sin became sin, so we might be the righteousness of God."
Whether you are a believer or not, today is the day to drop the act--the vain attempts at self-righteousness, the pitiful belief in your own goodness. Today is the day to acknowledge that apart from the life and death of the God-man, Jesus Christ, you are lost. But praise be to God, "anyone who is in Christ Jesus in a new creation." Like Naomi, today is the day of new beginnings for those who in their helplessness have embraced the cross of Christ. And if we cling to that cross, today must be the day when our words of bitterness are transformed into songs of praise, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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