Confrontation In Nazareth (2)

 

 

“Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, ‘You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased’” (Luke 3:21 - 22).

 

In Nazareth Jesus will read the words of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me…” (Luke 4:18).

 

The baptism of Jesus Christ was not only an expression of the Trinity, but it was an ongoing experience in the life of Jesus Christ. The heavens never ceased to be open for Jesus, other than that holy time when darkness covered the land and He cried, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” Yet, they were open even then, for then the holy justice and mercy of God met as they consumed the sacrificial Lamb on the Cross, the Lamb bearing our sins and becoming sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). The heavens were open even then to Jesus on Golgotha, for the Father was accepting His Son’s holy offering of Himself.

 

Have you considered the similarity of Jesus’ baptism and the Creation account in Genesis Chapter One?

 

In both passages we see water, in both passages God speaks, in both passages we see the Holy Spirit, in both passages a new creation comes up from the water, in both passages we see mankind being formed in the image of God, in both passages we see the Son. In Genesis we see the Son “in the Beginning,” as the “light,” and as the speaking Word (see John 1:1 – 5).

 

When I write that “in both passages we see mankind being formed in the image of God,” I mean that in the Incarnation, in Jesus Christ, a new humanity comes forth – Jesus is the “grain of wheat falling into the ground” (John 12:24), He is the Last Adam and the Second Man into whose image we are formed (1 Cor. 15:45 – 49; Eph. 4:24; 2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 8:29).

 

In Genesis we see ourselves in Adam, in the Gospels we see ourselves in Jesus Christ (see also Romans 5:12 – 21).

 

Baptism is an ongoing experience for us in Jesus Christ, replete with mystery, filled with wonder. In Christ we find our identity rooted in baptism (Romans Chapter 6; Colossians 2:9 – 19; 1 Corinthians 12:13), we are buried with Christ, raised with Christ, and ascended with Christ.

 

The association of water and the Holy Spirit continues into and beyond the Day of Pentecost when Peter says, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

 

Baptism set the course for Jesus, does baptism set the course for us?

 

Baptism is more than something that occurs at a definite time and place (though it is indeed that), but rather something that continues as our Way of Life in Jesus Christ. In baptism we “consider ourselves dead to sin but alive to God” (Rom. 6:11), in baptism we become members of Christ’s Body (1 Cor. 12:12 – 13), in baptism we are raised from death to life and enter the covenant community through the circumcision of Christ (Colossians 2:11 – 13).

 

Through baptism we pass from belonging to ourselves to belonging to Jesus Christ, ownership to us passes from self and Satan to Jesus Christ who purchased us with His blood (1 Cor. 6:19 – 20; 1 Pt. 1:18 – 19; Rev. 5:9 – 10).

 

Soldiers enter the Army as they speak the oath of induction, from that point forward their lives are not the same. Brides and grooms say wedding vows, from that time forward their lives are not the same. In the case of brides and grooms, they move from being two people to being one person (a mystery indeed – they do not lose their identity, yet they gain a new one). In the instance of the soldier, he no longer belongs to himself, he now belongs to his country.

 

In baptism we become “bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh” (Eph. 5:22 – 33) and “members of one another” (Rom. 12:5 – 6).

 

The state of being of the soldier, the bride, and the bridegroom changes during the oath of induction and the wedding ceremony; how much more does our state of being change when we go down to death in the waters of baptism and rise in newness of life in Jesus Christ? No wonder we are instructed to think about ourselves differently than we did before, to “consider ourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

 

A new creation does indeed rise from the waters of baptism (2 Cor. 5:17); the Holy Spirit hovers over those waters as He did in Genesis, and He descends upon those rising from those waters as He did with Jesus Christ. No wonder Paul evokes Genesis when he writes, “For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). (In 4:6 Paul anticipates 5:17, and in 5:17 he looks back to 4:6).

 

Well, I suppose we’ve covered a lot of ground, and I hope we are reading these Bible passages and pondering them.  I imagine some of this is new, for we tend to compartmentalize baptism and not think about it very much – it tends to be something we did once upon a time, rather than something we are living today. When we do think about baptism, it is often in terms of what we’ve been taught about it, rather than how baptism is living in us and we are living in it.

 

Some of us can be more concerned about what others believe about baptism, than about its reality in our own lives. Most of our traditions have something valuable to contribute to our understanding and we ought to be careful when we think we know what others believe and why they believe it.

 

My present concern is that we live out our baptism in Jesus Christ, the present is more important to me in Christ than how we got where we are, we must trust Christ for the past.

 

Baptism is an ocean with endless depths and horizons and currents, it simply can’t be measured, it can’t be neatly defined; thankfully it can be experienced in Jesus Christ and its central navigation points entered on our charts.

 

If we return to Nazareth, as Jesus did, we will confront our baptism, our baptism will be there to meet us.

 

How might that be?

 

Confrontation In Nazareth (1)

 

I’ve been pondering Luke 4:14 – 30 for a few weeks. It comes and it goes in my mind; I visit it throughout the week, thinking about it, wondering about it. I see Jesus in the passage, I see myself, and I see us. It seems to me that this is an ongoing confrontation for us, confronting Scripture, confronting the status quo, confronting our own sense of calling in our Father. It almost seems that being thrown off the cliff…or at least coming close to the cliff…is a rite of passage, perhaps a way of life.

 

Do you see yourself in this passage? What role are you playing?

 

I have often played roles that surprised me, roles that I did not think I wanted to play, roles that later disgusted me. This is to say that I need to be careful lest I fall back into those roles; better to follow Jesus, better to emulate His role, His calling, His love…even should it lead to the edge of the cliff.

 

This is a challenge of sonship in our Father, we are called to live in and through and “as” the Firstborn Son, Jesus Christ. We follow Jesus in His baptism (Luke 3:21 – 22), we follow Him in His temptation (4:1 – 13), and we follow Him in His return to Nazareth (4:14 – 30). We also follow Him in His genealogy back to Adam in that we share humanity with Him and with those around us (3:23 – 38).

 

There is also a sense in which John the Baptist precedes us as he precedes Jesus. John cries, “After me is coming one mightier than I,” as he prepares the way of the Messiah.

 

How can this be? How can John the Baptist precede us as he preceded Jesus Christ?

 

To precede Christ is to precede the Body of Christ, it is to proclaim both the Head and the Body, for how can one have a head without a body or a body without a head?

 

When we read the promise of the New Covenant in the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms, when we read of a New People in the Messiah, of a New and Living Temple, are we not reading the proclamation of John the Baptist, since he embodies what we term the Old Testament? When John the Baptist speaks, the Old Testament speaks; when the Old Testament speaks, John the Baptist speaks.

 

Perhaps if we will “see” the unfolding Word of God as it points to Christ and His Body throughout the Old and New Testaments, we will have faith and confidence to fulfill our calling, that we will be People with the Living Word, the life-giving Word in Christ, a Stone cut without hands filling all the earth.

 

As I hope we will see, one of the challenges in Luke 4:14 - 30 is that the passage that Jesus reads in Luke 4:18 – 19 (from Isaiah 61:1 - 2) becomes our own passage in Him, our calling in Him, our proclamation in Him…after all, the Incarnation continues within us. That is, we are to also stand and read Isaiah 61:1 – 2, and not only are we to read it, in Jesus Christ we are to live it as His Body.

 

How are we, how am I and how are you, identified with Jesus in His baptism, His genealogy, His temptation, and His return to Nazareth?

 

What do you think?

 

What do you see? What can you see?

 

How are you challenged?

 

Seeing Stars from Deepest Wells? (2)

 

 

Recently I was reading Revelation Chapter One aloud to Vickie from Peterson’s, The Message. We came to verse 16 and “His mouth a sharp-biting sward, his face a perigee sun.”

 

“What does perigee mean,” I asked? Since neither one of us knew I looked it up.

 

The online Merriam – Webster dictionary informed us that perigee means “the point in the orbit of an object (such as a satellite) orbiting the earth that is nearest to the center of the earth.” This means that while we can speak of perigee moons, we cannot speak of perigee suns since the sun does not orbit the earth. Peterson chose an incorrect word (a check of the online version of The Message shows that this has been corrected).

 

Whether we are writing of seeing stars from the deepest wells, or of perigee suns, we ought to be checking ourselves.

 

We visited a church not long ago which sang a song with the words, “Then You came along and put me back together.” Where does this come from? We are not put “back together” by Jesus, we are made new creations in Him, our old “man” dies with Him, and we are raised in newness of life. We now have a new identity in the Trinity – we are not a Humpty Dumpty miracle. Our modus operandi seems to be, “If it feels good write it and sing it.” We no longer care about the truth of our lyrics, any more than we care about the truth of our books.

 

I still recall the reaction of a leader in the church association I was with when The Shack was published, all he cared about was that it touched people. When I circulated a paper to pastors demonstrating the error of the book and its attack on the Atonement, he wondered what my “problem” was. Apparently touching people is all that matters, it does not matter whether we touch them with truth or error, with light or with darkness.

 

Of course, error is often subtle and looks good, even looks great, and so people are attracted to it – as Paul writes, Satan transforms himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).

  

I recall my reaction to Stephen Ambrose’s Nothing Like It In the Word, an account of the building of the transcontinental railroad – it was that it contained implausible error after error, common sense errors. How could people read the book and not see that the railroad could have never been completed at the daily rate (often in inches when blasting through rock as I recall) that Ambrose was using. The public loved the book, at least until wiser eyes critiqued it. As one online writer observes, “The book was rife with factual errors, misquotes, contradictions, demonstrably misleading and/or inaccurate statements, and unsupported conclusions.”

 

But why allow facts to ruin a good story?

 

My reaction to a biography about Bonhoeffer was similar, the difference being that my reaction was on two levels, one was literary and the other historical and theological. On a literary level the writing was, at times, juvenile. On an historical and theological level, it was often inaccurate, error filled, and failed to comprehend, even in a rudimentary fashion, Bonhoeffer’s thinking. When two historians, one from Grove City College and the other from Wheaton, took issue with the author’s inaccuracies, he accused them of nitpicking. Many people loved the book, once again, why allow facts (and in this case poor writing) to ruin what we think is a good story?

 

The same is true of our fascination with Biblical prophecy, which is seldom Biblical, but sure is entertaining. I have a friend who has been a member of his Presbyterian denomination for decades and yet who goes along with popular teachers on prophecy – teaching which his denomination and tradition do not support. When I send him examples of what his denomination teaches (from the denomination’s website), when I suggest that he talk to his pastor, he will have none of it – it is better to go with the crowd and the popular franchise prophecy industry and money generating teachers and preachers than to take the time to thoughtfully consider what his denomination teaches, what his pastor believes, and to actually read the Bible.

 

If it feels good, believe it. If it sounds good, it must be true.

 

Well, I really just wanted to write about seeing stars from deepest wells, which I consider a somewhat innocent offender in this lineup of inaccuracies, for I think Arthur Bennett simply used something he’d assumed for decades was true – a warning to us all. Other offenders are more serious because they can hurt people.

 

The problem isn’t really with the authors and speakers; it is with the readers and listeners. If we knew how to read and how to listen, if we didn’t allow ourselves to be led by rings in our noses, we would ask, “Is this true?” Then we might say, “Enough of this nonsense!”

 

If we don’t know the Scriptures, what can we expect? If Jesus isn’t our North Star, if He isn’t the heartbeat of our lives, if we aren’t loving Him with all that we have and all that we are…then we will surely be led astray…and it will be on us, not on the traducers who feed us poison. Yes, they will have their Day before the Throne, but so will we.

 

Despite of Bennett’s mistake in his prayer, The Valley of Vision is a wonderful compilation of prayers, with Christ at its center. As for Peterson and Revelation 1:16, he really should have known better, another warning to us all.

 

Stephen Ambrose is a sad example of someone who once performed exemplary work becoming an example of the slovenly.

 

The above song lyrics, The Shack, the Bonhoeffer biography, the prophecy teaching industry which has seduced so many and picked their pockets; they are all another matter. They are not a matter of seeing the stars from the deepest wells, but rather of descending into the darkness of the wells and taking others with them.

 

Seeing Stars from Deepest Wells?

 

C. S. Lewis mused that one benefit of praying written prayers is that they’ve been vetted. In other words, when we pray from the Book of Common Prayer (and other resources) we don’t have to critique what we are praying to determine their validity, their conformity to Scripture, but we can freely use them as a vehicle of communion with God.

 

The qualification is that, other than those in Scripture, there is a possibility that some prayers, or elements of some prayers, may be misinformed and off course, so I don’t know that we can ever dispense with a measure of vetting, as cumbersome as that might be. Some prayers may simply not “fit” us in a season of life, others may have ill-informed thinking – which may or not be material...aren’t we all in a process of growth? I consider the centrality of Jesus Christ, the Father, and the Holy Spirit to be the musical key that we want to hear in all prayer – when God is the center other elements tend to fall into place.

 

Due to the authoritative nature of written prayer, it seems to me that vetting is important, after all, we’re using it as a model for our communion with God, informing our minds and hearts, our souls and spirits. Yet, I think this critique requires charity, lest our hearts become judgmental when we think some elements of a prayer problematic; once again, aren’t we all in the process of growing in Christ? Isn’t the centrality of Christ paramount? Is not communion with God our desire? As we commune with God, God is well able to mature our understanding.

 

This also means that when we write prayers to be shared with others, we ought to write them in the light of Scripture and general truth, this includes verifying statements of fact. This practice should not differ from other writing or from public speaking (including sermons), for the sake of our audience and the glory of God we should verify what we write and speak.

 

There are enemies to this process. One enemy is time, and another is familiarity.  The enemy of time convinces us that we don’t have time to look up a word or verify a fact – so we accept as true what we think is true, without verifying it. The enemy of familiarity is more subtle, it assures us that what we’ve been told for decades is true, we accept as fact something that is false.

 

As I have grown older with increasing experience, I am more likely to quality a statement with, “I have not read primary material on the subject.” I want the listener or reader to know that I am only sharing what I’ve been told, without doing my own spadework. In my reading of authors who I highly respect, I have seen occasional instances in which they haven’t done their own research and therefore make statements that have no foundation, they are repeating what they heard from others. These are occasional instances, otherwise I’d not be reading the authors.

 

As a pastor I’m sure I frustrated many a parishioner with the question, “But is what so-and-so popular preacher says actually true?” I learned that we generally don’t care whether a statement is true, or whether a teaching aligns with the Gospel, or whether Jesus Christ is the center…I’ve seen this in congregational life, I’ve seen it in interdenominational small groups, I encounter it in conversations. 

 

We don’t want to be bothered with seeing life in the light of Jesus Christ and His Word…. after all, it would mean that we’d have to read and know Scripture, and that our hearts would have to be wedded to Jesus and to Jesus alone. It might even mean that we’d realize that some of our practices and other “distinctives” are not as grounded in the Bible as we’ve been led to think. I’m reminded of a point that Eugene Peterson made, we think that if we are told what’s in the Bible then we don’t need to read the Bible.

 

What does all this have to do with “stars from deepest wells”?

 

As some of you know, I appreciate The Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett, Banner of Truth Trust. There are some beautiful prayers in this volume, and there are gems to be found even in those that I think are problematic.

 

Bennet begins the volume with a prayer of his own, appropriately titled, The Valley of Vision. The penultimate stanza reads:

 

“Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine.”

 

I’ve heard this about seeing stars from wells for decades and never thought much about it until I read what Bennett wrote. Then I wondered, “Is this true?”

 

If you didn’t know the answer to my question before you read this, you know it now. Arthur Bennett neglected to verify his statement, he relied on what he had been told, no doubt for decades…well, we probably all do it…but we should know better, and I imagine Aruthur Bennett knew better (where were his editors?).

 

This isn’t to say that there may not be “truth” in the illustration, which is why Bennett used it, but wanting an illustration to be true when it isn’t true introduces a crack in the foundation, it is an invitation to a slippery slope (not that Bennett was doing this, not at all, he simply failed to verify).

 

Unlike Bennett, I’ve seen many a popular contemporary “Christian” teacher, pastor, and author create “truth” out of nothing and sell it to others (including pastors) who will be offended should you ask, “But is this true?”

 

I recall some years ago a popular author and teacher created a story of Adam that portrayed him as being “wild.” This author launched a major religious franchise within the professing church, with many pastors falling for it and inducing their people to fall for it.

 

A parishioner of mine “fell” for it, and after I read the book and then asked him to compare its storyline with the Bible’s, it didn’t make any difference to him, he’d go with the false storyline, he liked it better. He preferred the heart of the book to the heart of Jesus. This attitude is often the case within the professing church.

 

To be continued…

 

Unfinished Thoughts on the Soul – Continued

 

 

“Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by” (Psalm 57:1).

 

What does it mean for a soul to take refuge?

 

This is not as mysterious as it might seem, for our inner person is always being conformed into one image or another, perhaps even into multiple images, fractured images, unstable images. This gives the lie to the idea that we are autonomous and can choose our destinies for ourselves, rather than exalting free will it reminds us that we are either the slaves of sin or of righteousness, either of life or of death, either of Christ or of His enemy.

 

Our souls can live in various places, they can inhabit “constructs” which cannot be seen, and yet they can be seen. Our souls can, and most certainly will, worship, and they will be conformed to the image of what they worship. The images we worship are molds for our souls.

 

The constructs we worship and live within can be seen in our behavior, our language, our decisions, how we spend our time and our resources. Show me your calendar and your bank account and I’ll show you the images you worship, I’ll paint a picture of your soul. Show me what you watch, what you listen to, what you read, and I’ll show you your soul.

 

Our souls are molded into the image of what we worship, they are molded into the form of that in which we take refuge. What our eyes behold, our souls become.

 

Do our souls take refuge in Jesus Christ? Or do we take refuge in economic or political or national or racial or ethnic or social or even religious identity? If our souls take refuge in Jesus, then they will be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29), if they take refuge elsewhere, they will bear those other images.

 

If our eye is single, we will be filled with light, otherwise we will be filled with darkness and confusion (Matthew 6:22 – 23).

 

Ephesians 4:17-19 (J.B. Philipps), “This is my instruction, then, which I give you from God. Do not live any longer as the Gentiles live. For they live blindfold in a world of illusion, and cut off from the life of God through ignorance and insensitiveness. They have stifled their consciences and then surrendered themselves to sensuality, practising any form of impurity which lust can suggest.”

 

Are we not living in a “world of illusion” when our souls seek refuge in other than Jesus?

 

I am reminded of a line in The Valley of Vision to the effect that, “What our souls trust in, from that we expect happiness.” We can tell where our trust is by the way we react to news…all is good when the financial markets are up, all is bad when they are down. All is good when our political party prevails, all is gloom when it fails. This is illusion, this is living in a false construct, a false refuge. Yet, we offer our souls to these illusions and allow our souls to bear their image.

 

Do not Daniel Chapter 2 and Psalm 2 and Hebrews 12:25 – 29 (indeed the entire Bible) teach us that our Father is bringing the kingdoms and systems of this world to an end? Are we saying to God, it is all well and good that you are bringing the kingdoms of this world to an end, and that Your Kingdom will fill the entire earth, but please don’t do it while I am still here. Do what you want after I am gone.

 

Are we taking our cues from Christ and His Word, or from the world? What is molding our souls? It seems to me that we are being transformed into the image of “man,” of “666” in its myriad forms as we imbibe media, talking heads, images of leaders from across the spectrum – I see the effects of this worship as I listen to folks – they are surrendering their souls to other than Jesus Christ. The fruit of idol worship is anxiety, vitriol, anger, hatred, callousness; this is contrary to the “peaceable fruit of righteousness” (James 3:13 – 18).

 

Let us learn to take refuge in Jesus, in Him and in Him alone will our souls find their purpose and destiny. Let us be molded into the image of Jesus, only Jesus, always Jesus, forever Jesus.

 

Living On the Cusp of Eternity (5)

 

 

“My own plans are made. While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan’s country, or shot over the edge of the world in some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise.” (Reepicheep in The Chronicles of Narnia, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Page 524, one volume edition).

 

“Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth” (Psalm 73:25).

 

This morning I have a doctor’s appointment. I seldom saw doctors for much of my life, then in 2009 I experienced a significant medical event and saw more doctors and medical technicians over the course of a few weeks than I care to think about. Then my health settled down until about 2020 when I crossed a kind of health threshold, since then I’ve gone from taking no meds to having a pill box, and from hardly seeing doctors to having a group of specialists. Thankfully, more than once I’ve seen health problems reversed or mitigated – in one instance my specialist was surprised at test results – what had been a significant problem that was possibly leading toward surgery was reversed.

 

It amazes me that I’ve lived in this body for 75 years without knowing much about it. I’ve talked to other folks my age who think the same thing. If we’d known more about our bodies we hopefully would not have eaten all the toxic and unhealthy food we and our parents were conditioned to purchase. Now we are doing the same thing to our kids and grandkids, the difference is that they are experiencing the toxic effects quicker than my generation – for example, obesity and diabetes.

 

I tell my doctors that I don’t expect to live without pain or limitations, I just want to understand how to manage them. Knowing Jesus means that I am not alone in this, I sense His presence with me in my health, after all, He made the package that is “me.” I am also deeply thankful for my dear wife and her love and care as we support each other in this season of life.

 

An element of living in the cusp of eternity is realizing that your body is nearing the finish line, that your tent is closer to being dissolved today than it was yesterday (2 Corinthians 5:1 – 5). For some of us, our tents will be taken down in an instant; for others it is a process…we just don’t know, we just don’t know. However, for those who know Jesus Christ, we do know that we can trust our dear Lord and Savior Jesus to care for us in whatever we may experience as eternity engulfs life as we have known it.

 

When our desire is to be with Jesus and the saints, the departure terminal is a place of expectation, no matter what else it may be. This is not to say that there is no sorrow and pain and even confusion; it is not even to say that there are no questions and doubts and fears; but it is to say that Jesus is with us, that He calls us to Himself, and that the rising of the Sun envelops us with His warmth and love and care (Malachi 4:2). After all, our God is the God of the Resurrection. “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:25 – 26).

 

Not long ago Vickie and I were discussing what character from the Chronicles of Narnia we would choose to be like. We were reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, working our way through the chronicles. I said, “Reepicheep, not because of his overall personality, but rather because of his desire to see Aslan’s Country.”

 

All of the ship’s company sailed from Cair Paravel with the expectation of returning, except for Reepicheep; he left determined to sail east to Aslan’s Country, never to return. “If I have not reached Aslan’s country, or shot over the edge of the world in some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise.”

 

This is the way I want to live, and this is the way I want to die…for as Paul writes, God made us for this purpose, He placed His Spirit within us to draw us out of this world into His Kingdom, to draw us from earth to heaven and beyond (2 Cor. 5:5). As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23). This, my friends, is not escapism, anymore than it is escapism to desire to see the lights of home after being on a long journey, this is the fulfillment of all that we’ve ever desired and of all that we should have desired.

 

“This,” said Reepicheep, “is where I go on alone.”

 

“Then he bade them goodbye, trying to be sad for their sakes, but he was quivering with happiness…Then hastily he got into his coracle and took his paddle, and the current caught it and away he went, very black against the lilies. But no lilies grew on the wave; it was a smooth green slope. The coracle went more and more quickly, and beautifully it rushed up the wave’s side. For one split second they saw its shape and Reepicheep’s on the very top. Then it vanished, and since that moment no one can truly claim to have seen Reepicheep the Mouse. But my belief is that he came safe to Aslan’s country and is alive there to this day” (pp. 539 - 540).

 

O dear friends, when others have said, “You can be so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good,” they have lied to us. The only way to be of any earthly good is to first be heavenly minded – then, and only then, can we be of lasting earthly good, for only then can we be the Presence of Christ in this broken world, a world so blinded that most of us in the departure terminal don’t know what plane we are boarding nor are we aware of our destination. Only as we are heavenly minded can we have the courage to help others, to point them to Christ, to ask why they are carrying the baggage of the world with them, to ask why they have spent their lives on purchasing tourist junk which they can’t take with them. Shall we call it “fool’s gold”?

 

If someone in the departure terminal asks us, “Where is your baggage? Aren’t you taking your treasure with you?” We can reply, “My treasure is with my King Jesus, He is keeping it for me until I arrive in His Presence.”

 

We don’t really need to possess anything…as long as Jesus possess us.

 

So here I am, living on the cusp of eternity…sensing that City pressing upon me, calling me…coming to engulf me with waves that dwarf those of Nazare, Portugal…and on the other side of those waves?

 

Joy!

 

(And perhaps Reepicheep).

 

Living On the Cusp of Eternity (4)

 

 

“I have a longing for the world above where multitudes sing the great song, for my soul was never created to love the dust of earth” (Valley of Vision, page 315).

 

“Let my heart leap towards the eternal sabbath, where the work of redemption, sanctification, preservation, glorification is finished and perfected forever” (Valley of Vision, page 293).

 

Could it be that the orientation we’ve practiced during our time on earth molds our orientation in the departure terminal?

 

Paul writes that we are to “keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:1 – 2).

 

“We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).

 

If we have lived life with our minds on the earth, on the here and now, on the temporal; if we have sought to amass treasures on earth (Matthew 6:19 -21), then it is not likely we will see beyond the departure terminal into the vast and measureless realm of eternity. It is also entirely possible that we either won’t realize we are in the departure terminal, or that if we do realize it that we will deny it, after all, everything we’ve lived for is in temporal, in the here and now.  

 

On the other hand, if we’ve lived seeking Jesus Christ and the things above, if we have grown in our vision of the unseen, of the eternals; if we have learned to look beyond and through and above appearances, if we have made deposits of treasure in heaven, then the departure terminal is a place of anticipation and expectation and celebration.

 

Then we will resonate with, “I have a longing for the world above where multitudes sing the great song, for my soul was never created to love the dust of earth.”

 

The Celts have a term, “a thin place.” It means that the barrier between the seen and the unseen is palpably thin, even permeable. Elisha lived in such a place, and when it thickened, such as when the Shunammite’s son died, he was shocked (2 Kings 4:27).

 

If we have learned to breathe the air of heaven while on earth, the closer we get to heaven’s atmosphere the sweeter the air, the brighter the sun, the more glorious the music.

 

Are we not children of another world? Was not Abraham, Ruth, Deborah, Isaiah, the saints of Hebrews 11 and beyond children of another world?  We are children of another world on our way home from a far country – home to the Father, home to be with the Son, home on the wings of the Holy Spirit.

 

Those in Christ do not take baggage on the plane, for all is provided for them in Christ. Thankfully, the baggage we may have is left behind; no burdens, no weights; all sins forgiven and forgotten, cast into the sea of forgetfulness – His mercy is overwhelming. A life without guilt and regret awaits us in the Celestial City, no sorrow, no pain, no tears – for we will be in the arms of our Father (Revelation 21:3 – 7).

 

There are moments when I sense eternity pressing upon me. It is like being on the beach before sunrise without light pollution; I cannot see the ocean, I cannot see the crashing surf, but I can smell the ocean and I can hear the surf…I know it is there, I know it, I know it, I know it. Then there is the first hint of light…and the sun begins its rising…and I begin to see…and I cannot speak, I do not want to speak, I want to see and smell and be still…and I see Him…His warmth begins to envelop me…and I know that what I have waited for has come…has come for me.

 

How is your pilgrimage today?

 

Can you hear the surf?

Living On the Cusp of Eternity (3)

 

While we don’t live in a retirement community, most of the people in our neighborhood are retired. The greater Myrtle Beach region not only receives around 20 million visitors each year, but it is also a permanent retirement destination; residential building cannot keep up with demand. This is like living in a mega airport terminal, heavy with one – way departures. What I mean is that most of the older folks who move here will die here. As a member of our homeowners’ association governing board observed, “Most of the people who live here will not sell their homes, they will be carried out of their homes.”

 

What people talk about interests me; people talk about what is important to them. Older people talk about what they’ve always talked about, and what they value today tends to be what they’ve always valued – possessions, prestige, pleasure, appearance, power. They live as they’ve always lived, seemingly ignoring the fact that not only is the death rate 100%, but that they are getting closer to the experience every day, with every breath. This makes no sense to me.

 

Suppose you went to an airport’s departure terminal and asked the people, “Where are you going? What flight will you be boarding?”

 

What would you think if the overwhelming response was, “I don’t know where I am going. When I’m called, I’m called, that’s all I know. I guess I’ll see what happens. In the meantime, life goes on and I’m going to enjoy as much as I can.”

 

While we may not think that people would arrive at an airport and not know where they are going, this is the way we live regarding the greatest departure flight we’ll ever make. Those of us who have made it to senior citizen status generally have no idea where we are going when our flight is called. We have no idea how to dress for our destination, no idea of the airline we will be flying. This is also true for many professing Christians who have not lived as disciples of Jesus Christ, but as spectators – thinking that watching the game is equivalent to actually playing the game.

 

Yet, there are people in the airport terminal who are looking forward to their flight being called, because they are looking forward to seeing their dear Lord Jesus, they are looking forward to seeing the saints, both those they have known, and those they will come to know.

 

I love the description of Christiana preparing for heaven in Part 2 of The Pilgrim’s Progress, for she waits with expectation. Here is an excerpt:

 

“After this, I beheld until they were come into the land of Beulah, where the sun shineth night and day. Here, because they were weary, they betook themselves a while to rest. And because this country was common for pilgrims, and because the orchards and vineyards that were here belonged to the King of the Celestial country, therefore they were licensed to make bold with any of his things. But a little while soon refreshed them here; for the bells did so ring, and the trumpets continually sound so melodiously, that they could not sleep, and yet they received as much refreshing as if they had slept their sleep ever so soundly. Here also all the noise of them that walked the streets was, More pilgrims are come to town! And another would answer, saying, And so many went over the water, and were let in at the golden gates to-day! 

They would cry again, There is now a legion of shining ones just come to town, by which we know that there are more pilgrims upon the road; for here they come to wait for them, and to comfort them after all their sorrow. Then the pilgrims got up, and walked to and fro. But how were their ears now filled with heavenly noises, and their eyes delighted with celestial visions! In this land they heard nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing, smelt nothing, tasted nothing that was offensive to their stomach or mind; only when they tasted of the water of the river over which they were to go, they thought that it tasted a little bitterish to the palate; but it proved sweeter when it was down.”

 

Then Christiana gets her boarding call:

 

“Now, while they lay [remained] here, and waited for the good hour, there was a noise in the town that there was a post come from the Celestial City, with matter of great importance to one Christiana, the wife of Christian the pilgrim. So inquiry was made for her, and the house was found out where she was. So the post presented her with a letter. The contents were, Hail, good woman; I bring thee tidings that the Master calleth for thee, and expecteth that thou shouldst stand in his presence in clothes of immortality within these ten days.

 

“When he had read this letter to her, he gave her therewith a sure token that he was a true messenger, and was come to bid her make haste to be gone. The token was, an arrow with a point sharpened with love, let easily into her heart, which by degrees wrought so effectually with her, that at the time appointed she must be gone.”

 

(In case you’re wondering, there are contemporary English versions of The Pilgrim’s Progress, but I do love the original. Among other things, it slows me down and helps me think about what I’m reading.)

 

In 2 Corinthians 5:1 – 5, Paul writes that he and his friends are looking forward to their flight to see Jesus, they are listening for the boarding call, they are “longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven.” He writes that God has prepared us for this experience, that God placed His Holy Spirit in us as a foretaste of eternity. This means that we are living in a measure of eternity now, right now.

 

A friend once asked me, “Why would you want to stay here any longer than you have to?” The only reason I can think of is to help others, to share Jesus with others (Philippians 1:21 – 26).

 

Eternity is now, but then it will be fully now, and who can grasp what it all means. We have Biblical imagery to help us “see,” such as Revelation chapters 21 – 22, and we can live in that imagery in a measure now, for our God is I AM THAT I AM.

 

Living on the cusp of eternity means, I hope, that we are living as citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20), that we are sharing Jesus with others, living above the chaos of the world and our own nation, and living beneath the Cross and serving “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40).

 

Whether you are old or young, your flight could be called at any moment.

 

“Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:9 – 10).

 

O dear friends, Paul is writing to Christians, we shall all be held accountable.

 

Are we ready to board our flight?

A Lesson on Play from Lady Jane (2)

 

 

Watching Lady Jane’s transition from being an outdoor cat to an indoor cat is fascinating. For example, she eats differently now than she did outside.

 

When she was outside, Lady Jane was consistently looking around when she ate. She’d eat a few bites and look around, eat a few more bites and look around, always aware of her surroundings. After all, she was responsible for finding her own food day after day, meal after meal, nothing was predictable – other than uncertainty. Outdoor cats need to be aware of their surroundings, they need to protect themselves, and since their next meal isn’t promised they need to protect their food. Elsewhere I’ve written about Socks, who was a threat to Lady Jane’s food.

 

While still outside, as Lady Jane became comfortable with us, she relaxed somewhat in her eating, if we were on the deck she didn’t check her surroundings as frequently though she never complexly let down her guard. After we brought her indoors permanently and she realized that she was safe, it wasn’t long before she stopped eating a few bites and looking around, eating a few bites and looking around.

 

During the weeks after coming inside to live with us, Lady Jane slept beneath a bed or a table. Now she sleeps in the open for she has nothing to fear, she is in a safe place and she is protected by us.

 

One of the first things we did after bringing her inside was to buy our cat some toys, including some stuffed mice and a wand to which toys are attached, such as feathers. While I could induce Lady Jane to play with me using the wand and feather, she had no interest in the mice. For the first few weeks Lady Jane would play with me and the wand, but she ignored the toys, such a “mouse,” that she could play with by herself.

 

Then, about three weeks ago, a change happened with Lady Jane; she began playing with “mouse,” batting it here and there, throwing it around, rolling with it in her paws, it was so sweet to see her playing. Lady Jane had learned to play! Lady Jane was feeling secure, she was safe, and she could play…she had nothing to fear.

 

Playing with mouse is now part of Lady Jane’s life and she gives us such joy as we watch her, yesterday she spent all day playing. Lady Jane now knows rest, love, security, and the joy of play. (Yes, yes, I realize some might say I’m overdoing it, that she is a cat. But she is our cat and we are her people – and since Vickie and I are children of our Father, we will rejoice in God’s gift of Lady Jane as life comes naturally to us.)

 

When we are safe we can play, when we aren’t safe, even when we try to play, we’ve got to be careful, we can’t really let go and play. When we are secure we can play, when we aren’t secure our play is constrained and cautious.

 

Paul writes that we are to rejoice in the Lord always, he is emphatic about this (Philippians 4:4), “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”

 

Jesus wants our joy to be full, in fact, He wants His very joy to be poured into us and us to be filled with it – imagine, the joy of Jesus overflowing within us (John 15:11; 17:13).

 

When we know rest in Christ, we stop living by our works, our own wisdom, our own agenda…and we can play…and ever better, we can invite others to play! (Psalm 127:1; John 15:1 – 5; Hebrews 4:9 – 10). 

We don’t need to be outdoor Christians any longer, we can live securely in our Father’s House. We can stop sleeping and hiding under religious furniture, we can stop hiding the way the world hides, we need no longer look this way and that as we dine at our Father’s Table…we can enjoy our meals (especially with one another).

 

“Cease striving [relax, let go] and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

 

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28 – 29, The Message, Peterson).

 

Are we outdoor or indoor Christians?

Living On the Cusp of Eternity (2)

 

 

When I write that Joe and I talk about dying, I should make clear that we are talking about life beyond death, death is a portal through which we pass, it is putting off our temporal tent so that we may be clothed with our eternal tent in Christ.

 

Hebrews Chapter 11 plays a big role in my anticipation and vision of eternity. I see myself as a fellow pilgrim, along with Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, looking for that City whose Builder and Maker is God. Hebrews 11 and Revelation 21 and 22 are melded together in my heart and mind, I “see” them, I sense them, I often feel them pressing upon me and enveloping me. There are those I have known, and still know in a mystical fashion, who have gone before me, yet they are still with me in a way which can’t be described, I think any attempt at description might be profane and unlawful – too holy.

I am reminded that in The Pilgrim’s Progress Christian and Hopeful crossed the river together, and that Hopeful was encouraging to Christian through the transition. I don’t know who will be with me when I enter that river, but I am assured that should there be no one on this earth who can be with me, that our dear Lord Jesus will ensure that I am not alone, no doubt friends who have gone before, who are now numbered with that great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1), will walk with me through the transition…and to those who doubt, I simply say, “Why not?”

 

Do we not look forward to being with friends? Especially friends who we have not seen for many years? Do we not desire to share good news with our friends? What greater news could we share than the news of that City and of our dear Lord Jesus and Father who are the light of that City? Do not our friends who have gone before us yearn to share with us the riches of glory which we all have in our Lord Jesus? If those who have gone before were good friends in this life, how much greater friends will they be in our eternal home? Can we begin to imagine the glory of friendship that is unencumbered by the frailty and sin which we have endured in these earthly bodies?

 

Here are excerpts from The Pilgrim’s Progress, this occurs after Christan and Hopeful have crossed the river:

 

“There came out also at this time to meet them several of the King’s trumpeters, clothed in white and shining raiment, who, with melodious noises and loud, made even the heavens to echo with their sound. These trumpeters saluted Christian and his fellow with ten thousand welcomes from the world; and this they did with shouting and sound of trumpet.

 

“This done, they compassed them round on every side; some went before, some behind, and some on the right hand, and some on the left, (as it were to guard them through the upper regions,) continually sounding as they went, with melodious noise, in notes on high; so that the very sight was to them that could behold it as if heaven itself was come down to meet them.

 

“Thus, therefore, they walked on together; and, as they walked, ever and anon these trumpeters, even with joyful sound, would, by mixing their music with looks and gestures, still signify to Christian and his brother how welcome they were into their company, and with what gladness they came to meet them. And now were these two men, as it were, in heaven, before they came to it, being swallowed up with the sight of angels, and with hearing of their melodious notes. Here also they had the city itself in view; and they thought they heard all the bells therein to ring, to welcome them thereto. But, above all, the warm and joyful thoughts that they had about their own dwelling there with such company, and that for ever and ever; oh, by what tongue or pen can their glorious joy be expressed! Thus they came up to the gate.”

 

“Now I saw in my dream, that these two men went in at the gate; and lo, as they entered, they were transfigured; and they had raiment put on that shone like gold. There were also that met them with harps and crowns, and gave them to them; the harps to praise withal, and the crowns in token of honor. Then I heard in my dream, that all the bells in the city rang again for joy, and that it was said unto them, “enter ye into the joy of your lord.”

 

 I am looking forward to that City…what about you?

 

A Lesson on Play from Lady Jane (1)

  

On numerous occasions I took care of Zorba and Zelda when their “parents” were out of town. Taking care of them meant letting them out of the house to go potty, giving them food and water, and keeping an eye on their wellbeing. Zorba was a bloodhound, and Zelda a midsize mixed breed full of energy. Zorba was a senior citizen, Zelda an adolescent. While their spacious yard did not have a physical fence, they were on an invisible fence system and were trained to respect it.

 

During my first time watching Zorba and Zelda for a weekend, I planned to spend some playtime with them on my visits, giving them exercise and attention. After all, we were always playing with our puppies (they are always puppies) and ensured that they had plenty of toys. Playing with our dogs was a natural element of daily life for us.

 

Since “fetch” is Play Time 101, I assumed I’d use one of their toys and that I’d give them some good exercise. The first problem was that they had no toys. Really? No toys? How could this be? How could dogs not have toys?

 

Well, I thought, okay, we’ll play “stick.” After all, all dogs know how to play “stick.” I’ll find right-sized sticks for Zorba and Zelda and throw them. Zelda will fetch hers and bring it to me for another throw, and Zorba will do likewise. This will be good exercise for them since they are inside the house more than usual while their family is away. The three of us will have fun.

 

With woods on three sides of their house it didn’t take me long, with my practiced eye, to select two sticks which any Golden Retriever would be proud of; certain they would meet with their approval I called both dogs to me. Then, in anticipation of a rousing good time of throwing and chasing and retrieving and throwing again, in expectation of tiring both dogs out so that they’d be ready for a good dog nap, I heaved first one stick and then the other across their yard. They were beautiful long and high arching throws, giving Zorba and Zelda time to be off and running, tracking their sticks in dogful joy, perhaps even eliciting barks and howls. I envisioned Michael Jordan and Scottie Pipen racing in tandem down the court to the basket.

 

Instead, they both looked up at me, as if to say, “Why did you do that?”

 

“Stick!” I said. “Go get stick!”

 

I ran to where both sticks were, thinking they would follow me. I’d demonstrate what I wanted them to do. I clapped my hands, I encouraged them in my sweetest and most excited doggy voice, I picked both sticks up and threw them again. I waited, no movement, the dogs were exactly where they were when I made my first two throws.

 

I fetched both sticks again and went back to Zelda and Zorba.

 

“Stick, when I throw stick run and get it. It’s fun. Let’s play stick. One, two, three, GO!”

 

Again, I gave both sticks heaves that an Olympic javelin thrower would be proud of, certain the dogs would be tearing after them.

 

Again, I…not the dogs…ran after the sticks. (What were the neighbors thinking?)

 

I am slow, sometimes I can be very slow, very very s-l-o-w; it finally dawned on me that Zorba and Zelda did not know how to play.

 

When I returned home after that first visit, I said to Vickie, “They don’t know how to play. They don’t have toys, but beyond that, they don’t even know how to play “stick.” How can this be? How can dogs not know how to play?”

 

C.S. Lewis wrote somewhere that “Joy is the business of heaven.” Paul exhorts us to “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.” Joy and rejoicing and “play” are gifts from God, they are distinct experiences, yet they often overlap. Many of the Bible’s psalms are exuberant, loud, boisterous, and demonstrative. John’s Revelation portrays heaven and the Throne Room as a place of loud noises and thunderous activity, yet these noises do not offend our senses, they inspire us, they awe us, they give glory to God and draw us into worship. (Yes, there are also times of silence and rest in Revelation and in Psalms.)

 

We can only play when we are secure. We can only play when we are at peace. We can only play when we are at rest, and we can only rest when we have played. Play is fun, it is joyful.

 

A wealthy man once boasted to me, “I have never even thrown a ball with any of my children.”

 

Now for sure it was sad that Zorba and Zelda did not know the doggy joy of playing fetch, but it was even sadder to hear this man, who took pride in his wealth, boast about not playing with his children.

 

Someone once said that you can measure a congregation’s health by the laughter you hear. I think that’s a fair observation. While it is obviously not the only vital sign, for sure its absence is a warning sign.

 

Lady Jane, our calico, has been with us indoors for a little over two months now and she is teaching us a lesson on play.

 

To be continued…

Living On the Cusp of Eternity (1)

 

My friend Joe and I talk about dying, we’re both looking forward to it. This isn’t to say that we are trying to accelerate the process, nor are we trying to force ourselves into the front of the line, but it is a glorious thought, to behold our Savior’s face. We both want to remain here for our wives, our families and friends, and those who are not yet our friends. Yet, there is a Divine pull that calls us onward and upward and inward and ever deeper into our Lord Jesus and the communion of the saints.

 

When Joe and I speak of dying we often recite 2 Corinthians 5:1 – 5. Here is Peterson’s paraphrase of the passage:

 

“We know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven – God-made, not handmade – and we’ll never have to relocate our ‘tents’ again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move – and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.”

 

While I love the “attitude” and sense of desire embedded in Peterson’s work, I also love the precision of traditional translations, they capture the depth and complexity of our calling and life in Christ, here is the NASB:

 

“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.”

 

God our Father has given us a desire in Christ to be with Him for eternity. God Himself, the Holy Spirit, has come to live within us, He has pledged Himself to us (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:14; Rom. 8:15 – 23) – to draw us to Himself for eternity, giving us a mysterious and glorious resurrection tent (see also 1 Corinthians 15).

 

Some folks might think that it is crazy to want to leave this tent, this body; but for the man or woman in Christ (at least according to the Bible), it is crazy not to want to! This is not escapism, it is acknowledging our destiny in Jesus Christ, it is affirming that we are “looking for a City whose Builder and Maker is God” (Hebrews 11:8 – 16), it is living as “citizens of heaven” (Phil. 3:20).

 

Yes, we can struggle with the timing of our departure (Phil. 1:21 – 26), for we want to serve others here, and yet we want to be in the Presence and with the saints “there.”

 

Living on the cusp of eternity entails, for me, a sense of transition, a passing of the baton as best I can…completion and new beginning…within our Author and Finisher…our Finisher and Author. There isn’t a day in which I don’t sense and don’t see Revelation chapters 21 – 22…some days and moments are clearer than others…I see the Light of that City…and even when there is fog…I know that the City is there…my Father and the Lamb are there.

 

And to think they are looking for me! Even as I desire to be with God, God even more so desires to be with me…with us! After all, God paid the price for me, I could not pay the price for God. God purchased me, I did not purchase God.

 

God loves you so much that He gave His only begotten Son! You may want God; God most certainly wants you! You may love God; God deeply loves you! You may want to be with God for eternity; God has pledged Himself to you, to ensure that you will be with Him!

 

How are you seeing eternity today?

 

Do you feel the pull of that City?