My Morning Meal

Paul is pleading with the Corinthians not to hamstring themselves. He knows that an unequal yoke is, at the least, inefficient . . . at its worst, disastrous. To place a pack of rocks on your back is counter-productive to wanting to run the race . . . righteousness and lawlessness make lousy partners . . . light and darkness have problems co-existing . . . Christ and Belial just don’t get along in a room. And in his plea to these believers . . . to these saints who were playing around with idols, the world’s gods, he reminds them of who they are . . . of what God has done . . . and, of the promises they possess.

For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make My dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty.”   (2Corinthians 16b-18 ESV)

I read this a second time . . . and then a third . . . it’s like drinking out of a fire hose! Church, check out who we are! We are the temple of the living God . . . the Most Holy Place . . . the place on earth where the presence and glory of God has chosen to dwell. Look at that face in the mirror . . . and see the temple of the living God. Look around at those in the pews (or chairs) around you . . . see the Most Holy Place. What’s more, we are sons and daughters to God. Adopted with full rights of children . . . made heirs and joint heirs with Christ . . . made brothers and sisters in God’s family . . . loved, as only children can be loved by their parents.

That’s who we are. And not because of what we are . . . or what we’ve done . . . but because of what He has purposed to do . . .

“I will make My dwelling among them” . . . “I will walk among them” . . . “I will be their God” . . . “I will welcome you” . . . “I will be a Father to you” . . .

I will . . . I will . . . I will, says the Lord Almighty. Pause and take note of all that God purposes to do in the life of a believer . . . of all that God wants to be in the midst of the church. How amazing is grace? How mind-bending is our position in Christ? How unfathomable are God’s desires for His people? Pretty amazing . . . totally mind-bending . . . so unfathomable. And we have these promises . . .

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.   (2Corinthians 7:1 ESV)

Knowing who we are . . . being reminded of what God has done . . . brought again to the promises that are ours . . . it has a way of motivating us to shed the yoke . . . to lay aside every weight that so easily besets us.

Sometimes I get distracted . . . forget I’m in a race . . . lose sight of the prize. It’s then that I do dumb things like mixing the sugar-water of the world with the high-octane fuel of heaven and thinking the car’s going to run just as well. But to be re-focused . . . to be reminded of the calling . . . to be shown again the promises . . . is to be motivated to clean myself up — by the grace of God and through the blood of Christ . . . is to be inspired to renew the pursuit holiness — by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We have these promises . . .

Paul was thinking about his upgrade. His earthly home, his body, he considered but a tent . . . the temporary residence of a pilgrim . . . suited well for it’s terrestrial purpose . . . but not made to last. And so, Paul, as he was prone to do from time to time, reflects on his “heavenly dwelling” . . . “a building from God” . . . “a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2Cor. 5:1-2).

To reflect on “what will be” encouraged Paul as he dealt with “what is.” Though afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down (4:8-9), yet Paul could say, “We are always of good courage” (5:6a, 8a), reminded that mortality would be “swallowed up by life” . . . that God had promised a new dwelling . . . having given the Spirit “as a guarantee” (5:4-5).

But while the thought of the upgrade was glorious . . . as much as anticipating trading in his earthly tent for a heavenly house was motivating . . . it was the neighborhood he’d be moving into which, I think, really jazzed Paul.

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him.   (2Corinthians 5:6-9 ESV)

Away from the body, at home with the Lord . . . absent from the body, present with the Lord (NKJV). As glorious as “the upgrade” would be, it was where that new home would be located that served to encourage Paul. Not just being “at home” in a heavenly dwelling . . . . but being at home “with the Lord.”

The walk of faith one day giving way to sight . . . the hope of promise eventually realized in the glory of His presence . . . the magnificence of resurrected bodies paling in comparison to the majesty of Him who sits on the throne, and of the Lamb in His midst.

With the Lord . . . that’s the prize. Dwelling in His presence . . . that’s the end game.

The upgrade will be amazing . . . the new home will be beyond imagination . . . but that which will ultimately define eternal life will be being with the Lord!

Amen?

I’ve got to admit . . . I have it pretty good. I call Sue as I’m leaving work at night . . . drive 25 minutes . . . and, on most nights, when I walk in the door I smell supper ready to be served. Sometimes, I know what’s for dinner the moment I enter the house . . . other times, I get to play with the smell from the kitchen and try and guess what Sue’s cooked up for our evening meal as I walk down the hall. It’s a blessing to walk in the door after work and smell supper on the stove. But I’m reminded by Paul that it’s a greater blessing to bring an “aroma” into a place yourself . . .

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
(2Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV)

The fragrance of the knowledge of Christ . . . that was the air about Paul. There was a sweet odor that wafted around Paul as he shared the gospel . . . as he told of the good news of a Savior who died for men’s sins . . . of a Shepherd who sought lost sheep . . . of a Sovereign who was establishing a heavenly kingdom. It was more than the words from His mouth . . . it was the Word living in and through Him. Less about his oratory . . . more about his awe-atory.

Paul viewed himself as “the aroma of Christ to God” . . . a reference, I think, to the sweet-smelling aromas of the Old Testament sacrifices. Paul, offering his body as a living sacrifice, emitted a pleasing savor which rose to the portals of heaven . . . a fragrance of life, for those who had ears to hear (or, perhaps, noses to smell) . . . but a fragrance of death to those who would have an allergic reaction to the things of grace and truth.

And while I know that Paul writes specifically of his unique calling as the apostle to the Gentiles, I can’t help but make application to the guy sitting in this chair. How am I smelling? What’s the nature of the odor that fills a room when I enter? What scent is being diffused with my presence? What bouquet do I possess that others pick up?

And the question is so not about me in many ways. For “who is sufficient for these things?” Implied answer, “No one!” I can’t manufacture the perfume . . . I can’t fake the fragrance . . . but as Christ lives in me, so His precious scent is diffused from me. As I yield to the Spirit’s work in me . . . so the savor of Christ’s tender compassions emit from me. As God’s Word is taken in . . . so the sweet savor of God’s grace is poured out.

Who is sufficient for these things? God alone.

But shouldn’t we desire to “smell” a bit? Shouldn’t we want to bring an aroma into the room . . . the aroma of Christ? I’m thinkin’ . . .

By His grace . . . for His glory.

Boasting, for the most part, is not considered cool in Christian circles. But it really depends on what you’re boasting, or glorying, in. Paul was a boaster . . . though not concerning himself. He would boast in the cross (Gal. 6:14) . . . glorying in the work of redemption . . . pointing to the wonder of a God who so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. He would boast of others (2Thess. 1:4) . . . bragging about the reality of new creations in Christ as their faith grew and their love abounded, evidence of the Spirit’s working in them. When it came to himself, he would boast of his weakness . . . as it became a platform from which to display the sufficiency of the enabling power of Christ that was resting on him (2Cor. 12:9). And this morning, as I’m reading 2Corinthians 1, I read of Paul boasting in something else . . .

For our boast is this: the testimony of our conscience that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.   (2Corinthians 1:12 ESV)

Conducting oneself in simplicity . . . and godly sincerity . . . not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God . . . this is conduct worthy of glorying in . . . you might say these are “boastful behaviors.”

The world throws a lot at us. Maze like paths to navigate . . . obstacles to overcome . . . people cutting us off . . . a riptide of popular opinion and approach seeking to suck us in . . . all demanding we react . . . all requiring that we make decisions. And there’s a way to do it that is “walking in a manner worthy of our calling” (Eph. 4:1) . . . and a way, not so much.

As I noodle on it this morning, Paul lays out some pretty basic principles for walking the talk.

Simplicity . . . singleness of mind . . . mental honesty . . . just being who we are in Christ. Admitting we’re jars of clay . . . but jars of clay that hold a treasure. Knowing that we are weak . . . but also confident that He is strong. Aware of the presence of the flesh . . . but seeking to walk in the Spirit. So aware we don’t have all the answers . . . so sure that His Word does. Not over complicating or over engineering things . . . just pilgrims walking the pilgrim path on our way home. Simplicity is a boastful behavior.

Godly sincerity . . . a holy clearness as to who we are in Christ . . . a purity of purpose in desiring to be imitators of Christ. Doing life in the power of His risen life . . . with integrity . . . with consistency. Not getting fancy . . . not putting on a show . . . just sheep seeking to hear the Shepherd’s voice and follow faithfully . . . just members of the Body trying to find their place . . . brothers and sisters in the family of God wanting to love one another . . . living stones in the temple of the living God longing to be a place where His glory dwells. Godly sincerity is a boastful behavior.

Finally, behaving ourselves by the grace of God. Aware that any desire to follow in the Way . . . that any degree to which we walk in a manner that’s worthy . . . is not because of who we are . . . or how wise we are . . . but solely because of the unmerited favor He has poured into and over our lives. Those who have known God’s amazing grace desiring to conduct their lives in the context of grace. Forsaking the world’s filters and scorecards and, instead, increasingly experiencing a view of the world shaped by the mind and heart of Christ. Living in and by the grace of God . . . this is boastful behavior.

Boastful behavior . . . conduct worthy of boasting in . . . a manner of life fit to be gloried in . . . knowing that the glorying isn’t in ourselves . . . so aware that credit is not ours to claim . . .

. . . It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.   (Galatians 2:20b ESV)

O’ that I would be more characterized by these “boastful behaviors” . . . by His grace . . . for His glory.

His name means “crowned.” Amongst the first converts in Achia, he and his family were among the few who had been baptized by the apostle Paul himself. They were long standing members of the church of Corinth. And what grabs me each time I come across them when reading Paul’s concluding comments in 1Corinthians, is that they were a family in the Family business.

Now I urge you, brothers–you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints–be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.    (1Corinthians 16:15-16 ESV)

Stephanas and his household devoted themselves to the service of the saints.

The saints . . . set apart ones . . . those redeemed through faith by the blood of Christ . . . given the Spirit of adoption . . . sons & daughters of the Father . . . joint heirs with Christ . . . the Family of God. And Stephanas, and his house, had set their hearts and energies, as a family, to serve the Family . . . the old King James says that they had “addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.”

And I can think of families that I have run across over the course of my life who served the Family. Most often, in my case, it was through hospitality . . . an open home . . . hanging out with parents and their kids . . . enjoying a meal . . . and, just as much if not more so, enjoying the atmosphere of a household united in Christ. Actually, it was such a house . . . over such a meal . . . that the Lord used to initiate a hunger and thirst within me for the kingdom. I wouldn’t have said it that way at the time . . . or even understood it if someone else had said it. But the Lord used the time spent in the home of that family to produce in me the feeble prayer, “Lord, what they have, I want.”

I have been in homes that were a refuge. A place where a weary saint could lay their head as they were passing through . . . a safe place where, in addition to meals being served up, healthy amounts of encouragement were also on the menu . . . homes that were homes to strangers as well as to the saints. Such homes come to mind when I think of a household that is “spending their lives in service to God’s people” (NLT).

And while we may not all be called to be like “Crowned” and his family and their specific appointment to serving the church, I do think there’s something modeled here for all those who have been crowned with grace . . . something that the church is desperately in need of . . . families focused on Family business. Households that recognize their call to “do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10). Dads and moms, brothers and sisters, with an eye towards refreshing their brothers and sisters in the faith.

That’s when the church is really being the church.

O that we’d be about Family business . . . by His grace . . . for His glory.

One day at a time . . . there’s a lot of merit in approaching life that way. When it comes to “keep on keepin’ on”, often you just need to focus on navigating what’s in front you. But, if you want to get somewhere, you also need to look up every so often and refocus on the destination . . . remind yourself of where you’re headed . . . make sure that where you’re stepping is consistent with where you’re going. So, while there’s benefit in a “one day at a time” approach . . . I’m thinking you also need a “one day at the end of time” mindset.

As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the Man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed . . .   (1Corinthians 15:48-51 ESV)

This morning, I’ve been reading Paul’s wonderful treatise on the implications of resurrection. “If the dead are not raised,” he writes, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (15:32b) . . . if the end of our time, is the end of our time, then go for it! . . . but if the end of our time, is day one of the rest of our time . . . mmmm . . . different implications.

If there is coming a time of resurrection, as Paul says there is, . . . a time when what is raised is imperishable . . . and raised in glory . . . and raised in power . . . raised a spiritual body (15:42-45) . . . if that’s what awaits me, . . . then what does it mean for how I do life now?

If I am no longer “of this earth” . . . but am among those “who are of heaven” . . . if my final destination is beyond time and space and the third planet from the sun . . . then I’d do well to look up every so often . . . catch a glimpse of the finish line . . . and, as needed, reset my internal GPS.

If I am to bear the image of the Man of heaven . . . then to avail myself of the grace and power to start putting on that image now, as I do one day at a time, seems to be pretty good preparation for that one day at the end of time.

If I really will be inheriting the kingdom of God . . . probably not a bad idea to check out it’s “Home Page” and become familiar with the sights, sounds, and experiences . .. if it will radiate the glory of God’s holiness, then to start acclimating to holiness is good preparation.

If it’s true that “we shall all be changed” . . . then getting ready now seems to make some sense.

There’s something about considering that “one day at the end of time” which enables us to do “one day at a time.”

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.   (Matthew 6:33-34 ESV)

Believer, look up! We shall bear the image of the Man of heaven . . . we shall all be changed . . . one day!

By His grace . . . for His glory . . . Amen!