Grace by Day . . . Songs at Night

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Pete

I’ve got to think that most people can relate to the overall tone of Psalm 42. It’s the dirge rhythm of a downcast soul. The oppressive feeling of despair. That sinking feeling that breaks like waves over your whole being. Even when you recognize that you’re “going blue” and try to power out of it with reason and logic, the turmoil persists. And, for the believer, . . . for the one who has known relationship with the living God . . . the despair evokes a barrenness . . . the sense of communion and fellowship having dried up like a drought inflicted water bed. And out of such dryness comes a thirst . . .

As a deer pants for flowing streams,
    so pants my soul for You, O God.
 My soul thirsts for God,
    for the living God.
 When shall I come and appear before God?   (Psalm 42:1-2 ESV)

Though the emotion might cloud out its articulation, that’s what the believer’s soul longs for. Living water flowing abundantly from the living God. To enter again into the throne room and know His radiating glory. The psalmist recalls a time when he would lead the processional to the house of God to worship and praise the Rock of his salvation. How he longed for such times again. For weeping in the night to yield to joy in the morning (Ps. 30:5). For mourning to give way to dancing (Ps. 30:11). For the spirit of heaviness to be clothed with garments of praise (Isa. 61:3).

And so the songwriter encourages himself, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him.” Keep on keepin’ on.

And in the midst of this melancholy melody, I take note of a familiar dynamic . . . grace by day and songs at night.

By day the LORD commands His steadfast love,
    and at night His song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life. (Psalm 42:8 ESV)

It is the dynamic of a faithful God . . . a God whose mercies are new every morning . . . and His grace sufficient for the day. That dynamic where the Spirit intercedes with my spirit reminding me that, though He may feel to be distant, my God commands His steadfast love over His children at all times . . . “For I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” Though my spiritual senses may have grown dim, His abiding presence has not changed. And so by day, His steadfast love continues to flow.

And then, there’s that night when the dawn starts to break. Having made it through another day, you recognize His faithful hand through every day. And the thirsty soul starts to drink again from the eternal springs of heaven . . . and a song arises . . . and a conversation is rekindled . . . and worship ascends to “the God of my life.”

To be honest, I’m not crazy about experiencing a downcast soul. Don’t much care for it. But through it, to know afresh my God is faithful is a good thing . . . to have another verse to sing in the new song He has given me (Ps. 40:3) is a blessing.

His abiding faithfulness and His abundant grace by day . . . my songs of gratitude and praise at night.

For His glory . . .

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Over the Top Grace

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Pete

I wonder what prompted Peter’s question? Jesus had just taught on the means of reconciliation between a brother and another brother who had sinned against him. Try and work it out with him yourself . . . if that doesn’t work bring it to the church . . . and if he listens, then you’ve gained a brother (Matt. 18:15-17). So how come Peter goes to Jesus later and asks, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” (18:21)

Was it because Peter imagined a scenario where some dude might “play the system?” Where a brother, knowing that others needed to forgive him, would take advantage of it? Was Peter wondering if there was a “reasonable limit” after which enough is enough? Perhaps. More likely though, I think Peter is picking up what Jesus is laying down. That the way of the kingdom is that of grace and forgiveness. And so, he throws a number out there, not as a limit, but as a measure of generous mercy. Seven times? I got it Lord, I’d forgive . . . even seven times, I’d forgive! Apparently, current rabbinical teaching was that you needed to forgive a transgressing brother three times. Peter doubled it . . . and added one more for good measure. I get it, Lord, forgive, forgive, forgive . . . and then forgive, forgive, forgive . . . and forgive!

And Jesus says, Uh, not quite. You don’t really get it. How about seventy-seven times? How about seventy times seven times? Let me tell you a story . . .

And Jesus tells a parable of a servant who owed a king ten thousand talents (18:23-35). For all intents and purposes, that’s like a gazillion dollars. No idea how a servant could rack up that much debt on what he was making . . . maybe he bet on the Bronco’s for the Super Bowl (that was for you Seakhawks fans). But however he did it, the king demanded payment or he would sell everything, . . . including the servant, his wife and kids, . . . in order to pay off some of the debt. The servant pleads for mercy, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” No way. There was no way the servant could come up with that kind of dough. But the king has pity on the man who’s been backed into a corner with no way out. And so, the king forgives his debt. All of it. Might as well of printed, “PAID IN FULL” on the invoice.

Happy ending goes sour, though. The debt-free servant now goes to a fellow servant who owes him a hundred denarii . . . a little over three months wages. Pretty hefty sum. His buddy asks for some patience and some time to pay him back. But the answer is, No way! That’s the response of the now debt free servant . . . No way, pay me back now . . . pay me back in full, or I’ll exercise my rights to have your thrown in debtor’s prison until you can repay. Word get’s back to the king. And his master is furious, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” And the king throws the unforgiving servant into jail “until he should pay his debt” . . . that’s like forever!

Maybe we think the story’s kind of far fetched. How does some servant get so much in debt? How could a king be so merciful to excuse that much debt? How could the servant be such a doofus and then not extend similar mercy to others in similar circumstance? But, says Jesus, that’s what the kingdom of heaven is like. Showing mercy to others to the measure we have been shown mercy.

Our debt before the King of Kings was beyond paying. The sin with which we had sinned against a holy God . . . the transgression with which we had rebelled against the ways of a loving God . . . resulted in a debt we could not pay. Let every good work we could do (with no demerits for less than good works) be done for eternity and be added to our account and we still could not pay up. And the King in His mercy . . . and through His abundant grace . . . declares, “PAID IN FULL” . . . by my perfect Son . . . through the cruel cross of Calvary. The debt is gone, says the King, what’s more, I no longer call you a servant, but a son. The grace you have known . . . let it be known to others.

Forgiving the same brother or sister seven times sounds pretty generous. But it’s nothing compared to what we have been forgiven. Seventy times seven might sound over the top . . . but isn’t that the grace we have received? Over the top grace? Isn’t that the grace we should, in His power, extend?

I’m thinkin’ . . .

Lord, help me to go and do likewise. Because of Your grace . . . for Your glory . . .

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The Way

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Pete

Had breakfast with a buddy last weekend. During the course of the morning’s conversation we talked about our weight and our attempts to have less of it. Yeah . . . kind of ironic . . . ’cause the breakfast we enjoyed wasn’t exactly part of the solution. But as we talked about solutions (rather than practicing any that morning) we agreed that “crash diets” weren’t really of interest to us . . . instead we both knew it had to be a change in the way we approached eating overall  (and a way that would have to accommodate a certain number breakfasts of the type we were about to enjoy). Not some short term fix . . . but a long term adjustment. Not a quick diet, but a quiet determination to follow a regimen of more healthy eating. Less about immediate weight loss and more about a way of life.

I wonder sometimes if there aren’t those who approach their faith something like a crash diet. Guilt builds, for whatever reason, and it’s back to church . . . or re-start the reading plan . . . or add a little something to next week’s offering. They try and power themselves back to a “right standing” only to return to their normal course of action and eventually “fall off the wagon” again. Short term fix? Maybe, after some manner of thinking. Long term gain? Not so much.

What’s got me thinking along these lines is a little two word phrase that I encountered this morning for the fourth and fifth time as I’ve been reading through Acts. That phrase? “The Way.”

In Acts 9, it says that Saul went to Damascus to persecute those “belonging to the Way.” In Acts 19, the converted Saul, now Paul, is challenged as he preaches to Jews at a synagogue and it says there arose those who were “speaking evil of the Way to the congregation.” Later, in Ephesus, home of the pagan goddess Artemis, Luke records that “there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way” as it was starting to impact the business of the idol makers. And in my Acts 24 reading this morning, Paul is in Roman chains, standing before governor Felix, who had “rather accurate knowledge of the Way”, listening to his Jewish accusers. And Paul responds to their false charges, exposing their real problem with him.

Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me. But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.    (Acts 24:13-15 ESV)

They called The Way a sect . . . Paul called it worship. Paul said it was propelled by belief in the Scriptures and fueled by a future hope. It was less about spouting dogma than about pursuing daily the things of God. Less about acknowledging a distant Jehovah and more about communing with a risen Jesus. Less about periodic good works to stay in good standing, all about a persistent and consistent walk because we have already been seated together with Him in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:6) through His perfect Person and His finished work.

Crash diets don’t sustain weight loss. Neither do “crash good works” sustain the faith. Instead, it’s pursuing The Way . . . it’s The Way enveloping us. Our whole lives an act of worship. Our thoughts filtered by The Way . . . our priorities influenced by The Way . . . our aspirations and goals founded on The Way . . . our greatest desire to be found by Him in The Way.

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

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The Touch of His Hand, The Sound of His Voice

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Pete

Sensory overload . . . that’s what I’m thinking. It simply became too much for their five feeble senses to process and so “they fell on their faces and were terrified.” That’s what I think happened on that mountain. Peter, James, and John didn’t know what was in store for them when they followed Jesus to that place . . . and when they got there, they didn’t know what to do.

It starts with the Master being transfigured before them . . . He lights up . . . literally. His face shines like the sun and His clothes become white as light. Talk about ethereal. And their eyes don’t have a chance to fully adjust to the brightness of Jesus’ exuding glory when “behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah” (17:3). What!?! First, where did they come from? Second, how did they know who these guys were? Did Jesus introduce them? I don’t think so . . . they just knew. Which of their senses enabled that? I’m thinking that an EEG would be lighting up right about now if it were measuring the activity happening between their ears?

Ok, so here Peter, James, and John are . . . Jesus is shining before them with a glory they had never imagined, much less seen, before. What’s more, He’s talking to two of the greatest men in all of Israel’s history . . . Moses the deliverer from Egypt and the mediator of the Law . . . and Elijah the prophet to top all prophets. Does not compute . . . does not compute. And so, not knowing what to do or what to say, Peter offers to set up camp so they can all hang out for awhile. The three disciples brains were exploding . . . didn’t really understand what was going down . . . but whatever it was, Peter thought it shouldn’t end too quickly.

And then . . . BAM!!!

A bright cloud descends . . . anyone else thinking Exodus? The glory of the Majestic, Holy God falls about them . . . and a voice speaks from the enveloping cloud. And that does it!

[Peter] was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.   (Matthew 17:5-6 ESV)

Done! Too much input. A glowing Master . . . visitors from another world . . . encased in a cloud from heaven . . . commanded by the thunderous voice of Almighty God to stop scurrying about. Down they go . . . face to dirt . . . with exceedingly great fear. You think?

And here’s what gets me every time I read this passage. Though it’s Jesus’ time to shine (literally) . . . though He is receiving some of the exaltation He deserves but has known so little of while visiting earth . . . though this is His moment and He might well have paused to receive and enjoy the homage paid Him . . . instead, Matthew records this,

But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.”   (Matthew 17:7 ESV)

Jesus came. He made the first move. He didn’t wait for His subjects to crawl to Him. Instead, He went to them in all their sensory overloaded terror. And then, He touches them. The hand of this transfigured Christ rests upon their mortal bodies. King Jesus, who might well of just lowered His scepter toward them, instead, at that moment, is the Good Shepherd Jesus who gently and physically cares for His sheep. And then, having let them feel the warmth of His touch, this One who had just been speaking with Moses and Elijah, now speaks to them, “It’s ok. Get up. Don’t be afraid.”

It was too much for them. But the touch of His hand . . . and the sound of His voice . . . were such that, when they looked up, “they saw no one, but Jesus only” (17:8).

O blessed Jesus. O gentle Jesus. He who will not break a bruised reed and will not quench a faintly burning wick (Isa. 42:3). Though glorious God, He still comes with the touch of His hand and the sound of His voice to raise up those who are overwhelmed . . . whether by His glory of by their grief.

Feel His touch . . . Hear His voice . . . To Him be all glory!

Amen?

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God of the Comeback

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Pete

I’d like to think there was a sense of anticipation. I want to imagine that there was a keen interest throughout the camp as the pieces were being crafted. It sounds like many had committed themselves to “the project” for the right reason . . . and I’m thinking they may have been anxious to see what their offerings would become . . . that there was an undercurrent of excitement to see how it turned out. And as I think about that, I also think from where they’ve come. From dancing around a golden calf . . . from having sinned a great sin against their God . . . from having experienced the wrath of God and the death of many in their midst. And now, they can’t wait to invite the glory of God into their midst. That’s how grace operates . . . that’s how our God does it . . . He is the God of the comeback.

I’m wrapping up Exodus as part of this morning’s readings. Just as the pattern for the tabernacle delivered to Moses was recorded in painstaking detail, so is its construction. The heartbeat of the “Make the Tabernacle” project is a guy named Bezalel, son of Uri. His name literally means “in the shadow of God.” You think? In more ways than one. First, who knows his name today? Sure we know God the architect . . . we know Moses who drafted up the plan . . . we know of the project, the tabernacle . . . but who knows the name of the guy who built it? Bezalel was in the shadow of God. And second, he literally was in the shadow of God . . . not only has he been filled with the Spirit of God for the task (Ex. 35:30), but the glory of God is also hovering above him awaiting “move in” day.

But what grabs me even more than “shadow man” are the people of Israel and what God, in His grace, had stirred up within them.

After Moses receives the plans for the tabernacle, he assembles the congregation and kicks off the “Gather Materials for the Tabernacle” campaign. No high pressure tactics . . . no pledge cards . . . no easy access to give via a website or with VISA . . . just this simple appeal . . .

Take from among you a contribution to the LORD. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD’s contribution . . .   (Exodus 35:5 ESV)

Absolutely voluntary. Whoever had a generous heart . . . a willing heart . . . a heart inclined towards. And there’s another nuance to the word . . . a heart incited to. My sense is this is not the natural heart . . . not the heart of slaves who had just escaped from Egypt with their lives and with more possessions now then they had ever known . . . not the heart that would, in my mind, most naturally hoard gold, silver, bronze, and the fine materials needed for the project. But the hard hearts of these who had once worshiped a chunk of gold as their god were now incited to give. Yeah . . . my God is the God of the comeback.

And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the LORD’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. . . . All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the LORD had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the LORD.   (Exodus 35:21, 29 ESV)

Their hearts were stirred . . . their spirits were moved . . . and of their free will they gave. And they gave in abundance . . . so much so that Bezalel had to tell Moses to shutdown the campaign and ask the people to stop contributing (36:2-7).

And so, having given so freely, I wonder if, as they waited on Bez &Co. to complete construction, there wasn’t a sense of anticipation. A gladness of heart as they waited to see what their offerings would become. And while I know things are going to go south again . . . that desert time is inevitable . . . at this particular time, I can’t help but sense a joy in the camp.

A joy from giving . . . a joy from having their hearts stirred by the God they recently sinned against . . . a joy from anticipating His presence . . . a joy realized in seeing His glory descend.

Did they deserve such joy? Were they worthy to give to such a high and holy project? Not thinkin’ so. But isn’t that how grace works? . . . isn’t that what the comeback is about? . . . isn’t that so like our God?

Oh, the grace of God . . . to Him be all glory!

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Messing Up Awesome

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Pete

It’s a word that, in my opinion is over used, and should be reserved for only the most extraordinary. In fact, if God is awesome . . . and He is . . . then awesome can’t possibly describe anything else . . . for nothing is equal to Him. But I was struck this morning to observe that God Himself uses the word “awesome.” Don’t know for sure, but I think it might be the only time He does so. God is awesome . . . and the wonders that God intended to do amidst His people would also be awesome.

And He said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.”   (Exodus 34:10 ESV)

Moses had prevailed in pleading God’s favor upon him and a people who had gone sideways, worshiping an image of gold as their deliverer. God has relented and will continue to go before with Moses and the people. And, says the LORD God, in the midst of the people He would do marvelous works through Moses such as had never been seen. What God would do through Moses, among His people, would be awesome.

Such is the favor and grace of God. Restitution having been made for their transgression . . . the people having repented and humbled themselves before God . . . God does not hold back as one might do if he were holding on to a grudge. Instead, He is all in . . . He will do great works that all would see the work of the LORD . . . and it would be awesome.

But, warns the LORD, the people could mess up awesome.

“Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.”    (Exodus 34:11-12 ESV)

Take care, says the LORD, be on guard . . . beware . . . take heed . . . watch out! Lest, when I do awesome and you enter the land of promise, you become ensnared by the ways of the land around you. Tear down their altars, He says, break their pillars and cut down their altars of fake worship. Remove all that might draw you into their world . . . all that might draw your hearts away from the true God and to gods which are no gods at all. Don’t mess with awesome.

Not to take the application too far, but one might say that God’s people today have also witnessed awesome in their midst. That we have known His abundant grace . . . that we have been favored with His abiding presence . . . that we have witnessed His exceeding great power. And, like the children of Israel, we too find ourselves in a foreign land. One with many fake gods . . . a world at enmity with the One True God . . . a system more and more attuned to worshiping the creation rather than the Creator . . . a mindset that says if there is a God, He is here for man, with no thought that, in fact, men and women might exist for their God.

And so the warning is for me. Beware, lest you become ensnared. Be on guard as you seek to be in the world but not of it. Pursue the Kingdom that the world might not encroach. As much as lies within you . . . and by the grace of God . . . don’t mess up awesome.

For His glory . . .

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The Grace Card

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Pete

It is my favorite conversation in all of Scripture. It is an exchange between Moses and the LORD God. This Moses who the LORD used to speak to “face to face, as a man speaks to a friend” (Ex. 33:11). The barefoot Moses who was welcomed onto holy ground and invited into the very presence of God. Moses would enter the tent of meeting, the glory of God would descend as a pillar of cloud, and the two would meet (33:9). And in Exodus 33 we get to, in a sense, eavesdrop. The timing of the meeting is after the people’s “great sin” (32:30-31) . . . their building and worshiping of gods of gold, ascribing to these lifeless idols their deliverance from Egypt. The subject of the meeting concerns how to move forward onto the promised land. The LORD has said that, though He would send an angel to accompany the people, He would not go Himself, “lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people” (33:3). Now, inside the tent, Moses seeks to persuade God otherwise . . . and he plays the grace card.

Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in Your sight, please show me now Your ways, that I may know You in order to find favor in Your sight. Consider too that this nation is Your people.”   (Exodus 33:12-13 ESV)

Five times during this conversation in the tent, “favor” is referenced. The word is translated “grace” in the NKJV. The word has the idea of . . . well . . . of grace or favor. And God has told this shepherd of Midian, this deliverer from Egypt, that He knows him by name and that he has found favor in the sight of the LORD. And, from what I’ve been reading in Exodus, I’m thinking, “True statement!”

And so, in the discussion of how to move forward, Moses appeals to the implications of being known by name by God . . . the implications of being favored of God. And so, Moses plays the grace card.

If I have found favor in Your sight, then show me Your ways, that I might know by experience that favor . . . that I might more learn of it’s ways . . . that I might recognize it’s outworking . . . that I might grow in skill in discerning and recognizing such abundant favor. Show me Your ways.

And God “concedes” that those who have found favor can reasonably expect His presence to go with them and that they would know the rest that comes from abiding in a God who knows them by name. And, as Moses presses the point, arguing that the distinguishing characteristic of those who have been shown favor is God’s accompanying presence, God agrees. In a sense, God is “constrained” by grace to go with this stiff-necked people because He has, in His sovereign purposes, determined to know them by name and to show them His favor (33:14-17).

And then, Moses presses the point a bit farther . . . “Please show me Your glory!” (33:18) Yes!!!

The recipient of grace doesn’t play the grace card just to get their own way. They don’t prevail upon the implications of grace so that they might be successful or exalted. But those who have found favor, seek, by that same grace, the presence of God that they might know the glory of God.

O’ how amazing is God’s grace. We boldly approach the throne of grace and there we are ushered into the very presence of God . . . beholding, as it were, the glory of Him who is enthroned in the Holy of Holies.

The grace card . . . may His people “play it” well . . . may they play it often . . . for His glory!

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Fierce Wolves and Faithful Shepherds

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Pete

It really wasn’t about “if” . . . it was about “when.” Paul warns the elders of the church of Ephesus that it’s going to happen. Men will arise from among their own congregation and put their own spin on the gospel. Their motivation will be less about good news and more about getting disciples. It wasn’t if they would surface with their twisted truth, but when. Paul said they were “fierce wolves” . . . and Paul exhorted the elders to be faithful shepherds.

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert . . .    (Acts 20:28-31a ESV)

Paul had testified to all “of repentance toward God and of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ” (20:21). He had preached abroad “the gospel of the grace of God” (20:24). He did not shrink from declaring “the whole counsel of God” among them (20:27). But, though Paul didn’t know the details, the Spirit had revealed to him that he was about to enter into a “new season” of life . . . can anyone say Roman prison? And so Paul desires to meet with the elders of Ephesus (20:17). He knows this will be his last meeting with these under-shepherds of Ephesus (20:25). And of primary concern to this beloved apostle are God’s beloved people. And so he exhorts the elders concerning their care for the flock.

The flock over which the Spirit had called them to be overseers. The body of believers, bought with the blood of Christ, which had been entrusted to these men called from among the flock . . . men, just like them, sinners saved by grace. And God, through the active agency of His Spirit, had set within their hearts the desire to care for His people (1Tim. 3:1). So, they were to shepherd the flock . . . to feed them . . . to lead them . . . to serve them . . . and, as Paul now encourages, to protect them.

The church needs leaders with a protective mindset. Men who can rightly handle the word of God . . . men who have interacted with the gospel of grace . . . men who are so familiar with the truth that they recognize the counterfeit when it arises. Not if it arises . . . but when. Men who are not snoozing at the wheel but diligently keeping watch over the souls for which they will give account (Heb. 13:17). Men who will be bold enough to address the “slight twists” of error when it surfaces in their midst. Not lording it over the flock (1Peter 5:3) . . . yet dealing decisively with the wolves.

And those who are the “from among you” has grown in these latter days. With the Internet there are many voices contending for the ears of the sheep. Many “celebrities” who have gained quite a following. I was reading a blog from a well known Christian author this week that caused me to ask the Lord, “Wolf?” He’s never attended our gathering . . . never been to our home . . . yet his is a well known voice among many of the sheep. The truth he was selling was concerning. Be alert you who shepherd the flock.

Not that we should see wolves behind every corner . . . nor should we approach every difference of interpretation as heresy. But the shepherds of the flock must “contend for the faith that was once delivered to all saints” (Jude 1:3). The gospel and the essentials of our faith must be defended. It is part of caring for the church of God.

O’ that God would protect His people from fierce wolves . . . that within His church He would raise up faithful shepherds.

By His grace . . . for His glory.

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An All-Nighter

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Pete

Sleeping in church isn’t anything unusual. I’ve observed some of the best. My all-time favorite was a brother who would cross his legs . . . open up his bible upon his knee . . . place his chin in between the thumb and forefinger of one hand . . . steady that same arm with the other arm which crossed his belly and held the elbow . . . tilted his head down as to be reading the scriptures . . . and gone-zo! No embarrassing head dip . . . wasn’t distracting to the preacher . . . in fact, it may have encouraged the brother speaking to look out and see one who seemed so intensely bound to the text. Epic!

Not judging those who sleep in church. I know some extremely hard-working people who max out during the week and who’s greatest desire is to be with God’s people when God’s people gather. Sometimes the two collide and you end up with a snoozer (hopefully not a snorer). And, not unprecedented in the early church. Read of a sleeper this morning. But he crashed (in more ways than one) because the preacher was a bit long winded . . . and God’s people didn’t want it to stop. He fell asleep because they did an all-nighter.

If you’re not familiar with the story, check out Acts 20:7-12. Paul’s in Troas for seven days. On the first day of the week the believers gathered together to break bread. Looks like it was their custom to meet on Sunday to remember the Lord . . . sound familiar? I’m thinking it was an evening meeting . . . they gathered for a “love feast,” an evening meal culminating in the Lord’s table . . . and then Paul’s speaking . . . and he goes on and on . . . and nobody’s leaving. It says “he prolonged his speech until midnight.” And as the night goes on . . . and the midnight candles are burning . . . and the room gets stuffy . . . “a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer.”

The young guy didn’t know my friend’s technique . . . not very stable in the window . . . and he falls out of the third story window to his death. But, in God’s grace, and for God’s purposes, the apostle is given power to raise the young man back to life . . . and they return to the meeting . . . and continue to fellowship together . . . and fellowship and converse yet longer. The Holy Spirit has the author of Acts record that they met until daybreak. They pulled an all-nighter!

So what’s the main event in this story? That God showed Himself powerful in the midst of a gathering of believers by raising one from the dead? Probably. But what has me thinking is perhaps a bit more of the mundane. I’m noodling on the example of a gathering of God’s people who so wanted to be together . . . who so desired to remember the Lord around His table . . . who were so hungry to be taught by God’s gifted teacher . . . who were so jazzed by the fellowship they enjoyed . . . that they hung out all night together . . . even if some just couldn’t keep their eyes open.

When the fellowship is sweet, you just don’t want it to end. When the presence of God is evident, no one’s heading for the door early.

I can think back to all-nighters. Not church meetings per se, but time spent with brothers-in-Christ discussing, wrestling with, and savoring the ways of God and the dynamics of our pilgrim walk. As we chewed on the things of God together, our hunger increased . . . and nobody wanted to call it a night.

O’ that there might be something of that dynamic whenever God’s people come together. Not that we necessarily do all-nighters (I don’t usually make it past 9:30 p.m.) . . . but that we’re so into meeting with the saints under the cover of the presence of God that no one’s rushing for the door after meeting. That we’re not checking our watches as the preacher hits the 25 or 30 minute mark, but that we have a sense of being fed by the Spirit Himself and our response is that of “Please Sir, can I have some more?” That the fellowship is sweet . . . and we have a sweet tooth.

Aspirational? A big unrealistic? Perhaps. But better than falling asleep in a third story window. Amen?

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They Beheld God

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Pete

Apart from the grace of God, how dull is the heart of man? Apart from the illuminating work of His blessed Spirit, how darkened is the mind of man? Apart from the Son’s risen life imparted to those of faith, how dead is the soul of man? These are the questions that come to mind as I read in Exodus of 74 men who encountered God as close as one can encounter God. And yet, for 73 of them, I know that the impact of such an encounter will quickly fade . . . that each of them will play loose with the glory they beheld . . . that for each of them there will be an epic fail. And far from judging them, it is a reminder of the plight of unregenerate man . . . a reminder that there, but for the grace of God, go I.

Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar.” . . . Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under His feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And He did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.   (Exodus 24:1, 9-11 ESV)

I’m captured by the thought that these 74 men beheld God . . . and ate and drank with Him. What must that have been like? To have gazed upon as much of God’s glory as could be revealed without it incinerating them? To have encountered bodily the essence of the divine? To have tried to process through 5 inadequate senses the Majesty of Him who sits on heaven’s throne? What was it like? And then to think that they would eat and drink in His presence . . . that they would know such communion with Almighty God. What was it like?

You’d think it would be absolutely life changing. That with such a close encounter of the divine kind these men would be more attuned with the things of heaven . . . that these men would be super followers of the LORD . . . that these men, who had beheld God, would be so much more in tune with God. Apparently not.

In just 40 days, Aaron, his sons, and the 70 elders will be bowing down to an idol fashioned by their own hands (Exodus 32). Though they had beheld God’s glory, they would trade it in for the “glory” of earthen metal. Though they had communed with the one true God around a table set and hosted by God Himself, they would soon set their hearts on dancing around a fake god, ascribing to it their deliverance. Really? What’s wrong with them?

The same thing that is wrong with all of Adam’s race. When it comes to the ability to grasp the things of the Almighty, we are all stillborn . . . dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1-3) . . . intuitively knowing only how to walk after the course of this fallen world . . . driven by the passions of the flesh . . . subject to our darkened minds. Even should we behold the glory of God . . . sup with Him, as it were, on the mountain . . . apart from a change in our spiritual DNA, we are incapable of processing the impact and implication of such an encounter.

They beheld the glory of God . . . they communed over a meal in His very presence . . . but even that wouldn’t be sufficient for them to know God . . . or to determine to live for God. To know God . . . to live for God . . . is only possible through the grace of God. Grace that atones for sins . . . grace that rescues from judgment . . . grace that imparts a new nature . . . grace that writes His law upon the hearts of the redeemed . . . grace that sends His Spirit to form within His own the image of His Son.

They beheld God . . . they would soon worship a cow. Not judging . . .

Just in awe of the power of the gospel . . . to save men and women . . . to open eyes and unplug ears . . . to take hearts of stone and reconstitute them as hearts of flesh . . . that we too might behold God . . . and believe God . . . and by His continuing grace, seek to live for God.

To Him be all glory . . . now and forevermore. Amen.

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