As it was last night

To fulfill his covenant promise of salvation to a dying world God gave his Son as a real sacrifice for sin. He gave him, incarnate, to the world that he might bear that sin in a real human body on a real Roman cross. We need to remember this, that the suffering of Christ for us was a real, intense suffering, one that tried his soul beyond the limits of ordinary human experience. His was a suffering as man, as God, in the flesh and spirit, in the fullness of his being and to the depths of his soul. No part of Christ was untouched by the agony of his being “made to be sin” for us. (II Corinthians 5.21).

There is never a time for the believer to speak casually or dismissively of Christ’ suffering, especially if one is living in real union with the risen Christ, partaking of his daily mediation in our behalf. The ‘blood of the covenant’ that justifies and sanctifies the believer in Christ should always, daily, hourly, be accounted a precious thing to us.

Such an experience, such an accounting, of the blood of Christ is possible as long as we remember what our condition before God is without the merits of Christ mediation in blood. It is when we silence the Spirit’s witness in our heart and forget the weakness of our natures, our propensities toward sin and away from God, when we dismiss our transgressions as minor and without serious consequences, it is then that we are in our greatest danger and least likely to apply to the “throne of grace” in preparation for the inevitable “hour of need”.

How often I’ve wondered alone in the dark, enduring the numbing shame of my sins, feeling lonely, outcast, humiliated! All because I had tried to live in the world without a Savior. I know myself to be in continual need of the righteousness of God, one that is more than justice, but one that is given me as a free gift in Christ by his gracious act of dying the death that was mine so I could have the life that is his. I have that life as God’s response to my heartfelt, sorrowful, confession of sin.

I’m not speaking of just those acts that are clearly recognized on the surface of my life, but of that sin of pride and self-seeking which seems to infect everything I have done or try to do. When I want to do good, as the apostle Paul said, sin lies close at hand. The wanting, the willing of my mind to do good is not the righteousness of God in me. I can desire the good but not do it, not without the mediation of Christ and his indwelling Spirit.

I join those two things intentionally and in that order, the mediation of Christ and his indwelling by the Holy Spirit. I need, I must have both, if I am to glorify God in this body of flesh. Only as I receive by faith the mediation of Christ’ own blood in his present high-priestly ministry for me, only as I then receive his abiding Spirit to make effective that mediation for sin in me, only in this union with Christ in his work outside of and inside of me do I find the thing called salvation from sin.

He is my righteousness. I have none I would call my own on any day of clear spiritual awareness (I am often extremely self-righteous). And this righteousness is indeed a real deliverance from the power of the law of sin and death that still works in my flesh. I can be kept from telling lies, at least in any conscious way, when I abide in the righteousness of Christ. I do not have to lust in my heart, hate my neighbor, or fear even the smile of a child when I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave himself for me. I have hope in Christ yet none in myself, that is, I have this when I confess my sinful nature, my sinful acts and throw all of the weight of my existence on him.

I cannot bear being myself without Christ. I cannot bear living in this world without him. The thought of doing either is a nightmare for me. Who I am without Christ for me and in me is so remote, so dark I cannot even see myself for who that would be. Self is too shrouded to peer beneath the unconscious part of my mind. Only when the Spirit brings me to conviction and confession do I glimpse even the faint hem of the inner robe I so often imagine as my self-righteousness. That brief view creates a suicidal despair without the tempering whispers of his grace, without the blood of his grace pouring from his heart to mine.

I need those moments, as it was last night, to bring me back to a healthier faith. I need it to repudiate the self-righteousness I so often indulge. I thank God for the painful crucifixion of self, and because I can trust him, I ask for it to continue unabated until my final, full redemption along with the rest of his creation.  

On N.T. Wright's book, "Justification"

I’ve spent several hours digesting the opening chapters of N.T. Wright’s book, Justification. At this point I can only make a brief observation.

He misunderstands the nature of the covenant. Christ, not Israel, is the “linchpin” of the covenant.

Having said that, his emphasis on the teleos (goal) of God, that it is not “merely” the salvation of man, but the restoration of an entire world, is good if not limited from an Adventist perspective. (He misses the larger theme of the controversy between Christ and Satan and the vindication of God in judgment.)

His reading is vast in quantity but limited in scope. He seems unconcerned- he can hardly be unaware- of theological threads outside of the Lutheran / Calvinist tradition. Of course, this book is a direct reply to the Reformed scholar and pastor, John Piper, and other popular Reformed critics of his work. That does focus and understandably limit the discussion.

Yet considering the theological nature of the subject and Wright’s emphasis and inclusion of extra-biblical literature, one would think he would be as broad in his efforts toward a contemporary theological context. Adventist theology and the larger concerns of Arminian theology are absent members at the table, at least in is opening, repetitive salvo of the preface and first two chapters. 

One other point, more important than the above, one that applies generally to most theology I read. Few academic works on Scripture taste anything like it. They lack what is called “doxology”. Seldom do contemporary theologians, those who pride themselves on objective scholarship, break out into humble anthems of worship as did the prophets and apostles. They write as if unmoved by what God has done in Christ for the salvation of their own sin-stricken, judgment-bound souls. I can’t help believing this is a telling sign of their conformity to a method that is often removed from Jesus Christ himself. (John 5.39).

We’ll see how this critique fairs when I come to his exegesis of specific N.T. passages relating to Justification. Perhaps he has begun with strong generalizations that will be modified later. I have my doubts, considering the nature of his polemical method, but I’m willing to wait and see.

Exceeding Righteousness

“For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will be no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5.20)

The righteousness Jesus speaks of in this verse, as he will soon reveal in the rest of his sermon on the mount, is not a righteousness of achievement that comes some time in the future of a persons life. That was the kind of righteousness he condemned, the type exemplified by the scribes and Pharisees.

The righteousness of God is always and forever a “present” righteousness. It is a righteousness of the heart in those who receive the living Word of Christ into their hearts. The superficial righteousness that is practiced to gain acceptance or to be seen by others is foreign to the kingdom of God. Those who are deluded by this type will not enter God’s kingdom.

The reason we require a “present” righteousness, one in the here and now, is because the kingdom of God we long to enter is “present”. Jesus came preaching, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand”. All that needs to concern us is our present righteousness with God. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not ours. All we have is the present moment of our life and it is in this very moment that righteousness is required in the kingdom of God.

What is this righteousness? It is strict, single-minded obedience to the revealed will of God. It is loving my enemy instead of hating him, it is suffering the humiliation of being struck on the cheek then turning the other, it is having pure thoughts instead of lusting after someone else’s mate. It is not judging others by our own sinful standards of superficial righteousness, but a willingness to examine our own hearts instead. It is trusting God rather than indulge doubts about his loving care for us. It is seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness as we patiently wait for these “other things” to be given us.

At the end of his sermon Jesus said this kind of righteousness is expected by him in the present, when we hear this word of his we are asked to do it, to take it into our hearts as the foundation of all we will build on in the coming moments, hours, and days of our life.

What if I do not have this righteousness in my heart? Jesus began the sermon on the mount by saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. When we confess our spiritual poverty, our complete lack of righteousness in the heart, Jesus promises to give us the riches of his own, the very kingdom of heaven. For that is what the kingdom of heaven is, the righteousness of God. He goes on to promise comfort to those who mourn their loss. Then for those who in meekness renounce their striving after power over others and rest alone in his strength, he promises the very earth itself. And of course, those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness” are satisfied. Satisfied with what? With the righteousness of God.

Righteousness in the heart is a real, living righteousness given us by the real, living Christ, the “Word of God made flesh”. Those who confess their moral and spiritual poverty have met the necessary condition for receiving this righteousness of God in Christ.

Take a few minutes in the “present” to ask yourself about the state of your heart. Are you righteous? Do you have the righteousness of God that comes freely, the one that cannot be bought by anything less than the blood of Christ given for the forgiveness of our sins?

The righteousness that “exceeds” the superficial righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees is nothing less than the righteousness of Christ and this he will give to all who hunger and thirst for the kingdom of heaven, which is the righteousness of God, even Christ himself.

Taliban Attack Adventist Seminary in Pakistan

From the British Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventist News: Pakistan Adventist Seminary Attacked by Six Taliban fighters  http://bit.ly/hZytd

According to the article, staff and students had prior warning and evacuated safely.

Crucifixion, the Normal Christian Life

The apostle Paul did not say he “wished” he was crucified with Christ, but that he already was. By faith Paul made the crucifixion of Christ his own death to sin, which preceded his participation in the Spirit, receiving the indwelling presence of God in Christ. This experience is not merely offered to us, but is that which makes and keeps one a Christian.

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20 ESV)

As I said in the previous post, this is the normal Christian life. It was not something reserved for the supposedly spiritual elite. Being crucified and risen with Christ through faith was a real, tangible, identifiable, recognizable experience in the life of every Christian. We see this clearly in the consciousness of their union with the Spirit. Frequently in the book of Acts we are reminded of this great truth. I agree with James Dunn, the single most important sign of New Testament Christianity was the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The church was the group who could say “God with Us” (Barth). Church was and is to be now the body of Christ on earth through the indwelling of the Spirit by faith. “Christ and him crucified” is to be the living reality of daily life for both the individual Christian and the corporate body of believers. And it will be so if we place all of our faith in the person and work of Christ for us at Calvary.

Disappointed With God

The cross of Christ is reproduced daily in the heart of his disciples. This is what discipleship means, it is the experience that defines Christian discipleship. Any experience less than this is a deception and such deception has sadly become common in Christianity.

Because the cross of Christ within the heart is rare today, the power of the resurrection is also rare. And the consequent power of influence through a daily dying with Christ is equally rare. Hence the labored, never-ending discussions about plans and methods while the deeper need for crucified selves goes wanting.

Pentecost showed us that the Man is the method. When the heart is full of Christ and him crucified, when the crucified Christ becomes the “image of God” in a soul, then the powerful witness of a a resurrected life is revealed. This is what it means for Jesus to be lifted up, drawing all men unto himself.

Every aspect of Jesus’ historical crucifixion is to be reproduced in the resisting, alienated human heart. Conformation to the cross is not an ideal to be reached but a reality to be experienced and lived on a daily basis. The cross defines what it means to be a Christian. We see at Calvary that to be rightly identified as a Christian one is seen baring with the sin of others, enduring shameful humiliation for their sake. We see one who suffers in silence, a silence that speaks without boasting or self-justification.

There is more than enough room for humanity at Calvary, but not a cell of space for vanity. All penitents are welcome at the cross but the casual onlooker will only despise it, feeling the condemnation that comes to those who attend merely to squabble over the blessings of a robe without seam.

Only two classes of people exist at the cross of Christ. One refuses to repent. Instead they offer Jesus the sour wine of their accusations and doubts. They curse him in their self-appointed suffering, demanding he deliver them from the justice they have never truly acknowledged in their heart. The others are penitents who, finding themselves in the presence of the prince of sufferers, can only see their own sinful rejection of suffering. Reflecting on who they are next to his crucified form they realize in a moment that their whole life has been tainted by selfishness. No imagined good deeds are offered to appease him. Hope in the efficacious blood pouring from the wounds they made are their only refuge.

Such scenes take place everyday yet seldom known to the soul. Most recognize Calvary merely as a parade of virtue, a pompous, self-indulging Easter event; few see and meet the cross in the shadows of their Roman heart. Who will acknowledge their murmured complaints, their wagging tongues wet with the gossip, their coveting greed, their ghoulishly self-defensive life? Who feel in their hands the hammer and nail of their disappointment with God? 

Pray for a Crucified Heart

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
 (Jer 17:9-10 ESV)

Hard truths and painful prayers are best for the soul. Instead, we naturally prefer comfort over conviction. Therefore, sin in the heart more often than not controls our words and actions and does so with the gloss of self-righteousness.

It takes time for the healing work of self-examination that will expose the selfish motives we imagine as holiness and love. Time is what we often hoard as we protect ourselves from the counselling voice of God. No time to listen in our busy lives means we won’t have to face the deeper call for repentance that God knows we need.

Yet if we will let a vision of the Cross of Christ dominate our heart we will slowly, painfully (as in crucifixion) begin to understand what it means to love in the midst of suffering, to have faith in the darkness, to lovingly embrace those who humiliate us, and to offer salvation to the ones suffering at our side.

Our great need forever remains the heart of Christ, the crucified heart that is daily resurrected in the image of God.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”
 (Psa 139:23-24 ESV)

Obama's Peace Prize

President Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Many, including the White House, claim total surprise though the U.K. newspaper, The Independent, saw his name on the list as early as February, 2009. Some applaud the choice, others, like Democratic supporter and academic Robert Reich, question it as premature and wonder about his supposed or possible achievements so early into his presidency.

Nobel Prizes, like other awards, are never limited to a recognition of achievement. It isn’t merely about what a person did. They say as much about the presenters aspirations as they do the recipients work. Whether you agree or not (and I’m very apolitical), Obama is heard as a voice of hope in a world of political uncertainty and fear. Our world sees salvation in political terms and it therefore sees Obama as the closest thing to a messiah. In a world that puts it’s trust in Princes, no other leader on the political stage even comes close to being a paradigm of hope. 

According to CNN, Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Nobel committee, said “the decision was “unanimous” and came with ease….He rejected the notion that Obama had been recognized prematurely for his efforts and said the committee wanted to promote the president just it had Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990 in his efforts to open up the Soviet Union.”

I’m not surprised at all by the committee’s choice. They openly admit to using their power to promote Obama’s aspirations. They believe they represent the longing of the world as a whole. Whether you like it or not, this presentation is a statement of support for his leadership. It is very much a symbol of the world’s “felt-need” in a time of global crisis.

In times like these, more than any other, humanity looks and longs for leadership. If you hold this in contrast to the previous eight years of controversial (to put in politely) American leadership, President Obama appears to many as King Arthur charging forward on is stallion of salvation, closely followed by his Queen and her children. Not since President Kennedy has a world leader so galvanized the world’s attention with the positive possibility of better things to come.

Do I share this hope? Well, I have hope in better things to come and I wish all the best to those who take up their God-given role’s of leadership. I’m told to pray for them, to not hinder them, to treat them as they are, the appointed rulers of this world’s kingdom.

Yet I serve a different Ruler and live in kingdom “not of this world”. For some that will sound a bit schizophrenic, a bit delusional, a step away from Reality. I suppose in a sense it is. This world is not my home. I am in it but choose not to be of it. I look toward a better country, a new heaven and new earth ruled by the righteousness of God. Should President Obama serve that end, to the degree he acts as a peacemaker and leads us in freedom, to that degree I say Amen, “let it be so”.

Something I Thought Last NIght

Ian and I (Ian is my son) talked until three in the morning. What we talked about is our business. I’m just saying it was good.

One thing that did come out of the conversation was our appreciation for the gift of life that comes from God. I saw a new wonder in the creation of Adam, imagining his first waking moments, his first day when he realized that all he was, all that he saw, all that he experienced as life was the gift of a God who loved him. He had done nothing for it. His entire being and world had been handed to him and all that was required was for him to live for eternity in perfect happiness. I thought of Adam’s gratitude for the life God gave him. I thought of the love that must have existed in their union together.

The same thoughts carry over into what we call ‘redemption’. We use other words that convey other aspects, but the main point is that God has acted in just the same loving way by giving his fallen children another chance at life. It too is a gift unearned, not asked for. The gift of a new creation in Christ calls for even more gratitude than Adam had on his first day of life.

What is God asking of me now? To enjoy my redemption, live in it’s freedom, and share my new life with others.

Catching Up...Again.

Let’s get caught up.

Sharon is still waiting on her final interview with the U.S. Embassy before she can immigrate to America. Why is it taking so long? It’s not, not really. This is just about how long it takes to go the process of getting permission for permanent residency in America. It would take longer, as long as a year, if we tried to do after coming to America. Those in the know all say it is best to do it before entering.

Sharon could come at any time but not with permission to work. That’s what we want, the “green card” that is her right to work here.

For the time being she is staying with good friends and church members, Stan and Carol Wells. They’ve been kind enough to accommodate the birds too. 

What about the birds, our three parrots? We’re waiting on paperwork for them, permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Once we have those we can ship the birds (by plane) to New York where they will be quarantined for 30 days. If no diseases are detected we can then move them on to Louisville.

We haven’t bought a house yet though I’ve looked at a few when I first came over at the end of July. The realtor was right, the woman buys the house. When Sharon arrives we’ll look some more. The same can be said for furniture. Until she is here I’ll continue leasing this apartment and the furniture. I did buy the desk I’m using just now to write this, an office chair to go with it, and a small kitchen table. The rest is leased, an expensive proposition but necessary under the circumstances. If I had the time I could have bought some second hand things then resold them later. In hindsight that would have been the cheaper way to go. As it is, I’m locked into a six month lease. Live and learn.

I also bought a new washing machine when I arrived. I finally added a dyer this past week. The weather is changing, the days not so hot and a little wetter, so the clothes line on the balcony wouldn’t do.

My days are busy with pastoring a two church district. I spent today visiting three different families in the Lawrenceburg area. I enjoyed my time with them and look forward to more visits. Lawrenceburg is a small, very small group, yet I’m convinced we can grow if we move ahead with faith and hope in what Christ can do with us. I’ll be presenting a vision for church growth on October 12th. Please keep that in your prayers.

The last post gave some indication of what is happening in Middletown. I would add that we are making a few changes in church officers, mostly additions along with several “retirements”.

I believe both churches are benefiting from this transition in leadership. The Holy Spirit is speaking to our hearts in our meetings and work together. The time has been right for change and God’s hand can be seen in what we are doing. The work of the previous pastors carries on as I continue to build on the foundation others have laid.

I’m moving ahead in faith, feeling encouraged and hopeful in Christ. I know he is coming soon and has a part for each of us to play in the closing drama of this earth’s history. We have every reason to work hard in hope as we wait for a new heaven and a new earth.