Let Us!

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Pete

Psalm 95 seems an appropriate reading as I prepare to head into this Easter weekend . . . gathering with the saints tonight to contemplate Calvary’s dark hill and the sacrifice of a Savior . . . and then meeting together again on Sunday . . . to exalt the risen Christ . . . to feed on His life impacting word . . . and, what a great tradition at LTCC, to enjoy some extended fellowship while feasting over a banquet table filled with sumptuous fare. And as I anticipate the poignancy and joy of this weekend . . . as I anticipate feeding deeply on meditative thought and then snacking on some pretty good food . . . the psalmist reminds me not to forget to “eat my greens” . . . not to forget the “let us.”

1 ¶ Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!
3 For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are His also.
5 The sea is His, for He made it,
and His hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! (Psalm 95:1-6 ESV)

Oh, what an invitation the Spirit of God extends to those who are “the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand” (95:7). Three times I’m asked to come . . . the idea of “come” having a number of different “flavors” . . . come before . . . come meet . . . come to receive . . . come in anticipation . . . come quickly . . . but, thirsting saint, just come! How often do I go to church but never come to the Lord? How often do I enter His building but never enter His presence? How often have I met with His people but not really discerned His Body? Not this weekend, by God’s grace, this weekend I will come.

And this weekend I will come in anticipation of participation . . . come prepared to engage . . . come ready to obey and to be part of the call to “let us!”

Let us sing . . . let us make a joyful noise . . . let us enter His presence with thanksgiving . . . let us lift enraptured hearts with songs of praise . . . let us worship and bow down . . . let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! Talk about your commands to obey. Let us just do it!

If there was ever a weekend to let loose a bit, this is the weekend. If ever a gathering where we say “less starch, please” and instead dance as David did about the ark (2Sam. 6:14) . . . ok . . . . so maybe not dance . . . but could we at least tap our toes? . . . clap our hands? . . . crack a smile, maybe? How do you make a joyful noise without a bit of physical expression? Let us come before the Lord . . . let us bow down and then let us rise up . . . let us kneel and then let us lift our hands (if only in our hearts) . . . let us worship and worship from the inner man. For He is risen!

For the LORD is a great God . . . a great King above all gods. What King has loved His people such that He would take off His crown and enter their world? What King has come not to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom? What King has born the reproach and shame of those He created and came to redeem? What King has held back the army of heavens from rescuing Him as He determines to do the Father’s will? What King has died in perfection in order to become sin for others? What King has risen again, on the third day, just as the Scriptures said? What King is ascended on high, even now at the Father’s right hand . . . making intercession . . . and preparing a place for His people? What King is coming again . . . in all His glory to take His people home? My King.

He is risen! Yes, He is risen indeed!

So come, my soul . . . come before the risen King. Consider afresh His humility and suffering . . . meditate deeply on the sacrifice paid . . . and then, experience “again for the first time” the reality and joy of finding an empty tomb. And then, my soul, let us sing . . . and give thanks . . . and make a joyful noise . . . and bow down . . . and worship. Oh, it’s gonna be a good weekend! Amen?

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He Holds the Sandal!

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Pete

It was the moment of her own resurrection, in a way. She who had been named “my delight” at birth . . . but, crushed by life’s, or rather, death’s cruel blows, she instead had become “bitterness.” On this day, though, delight was restored. The God she thought had forsaken her by allowing her husband and two sons to die premature deaths (in her eyes, not God’s), had visited her with a grandson . . . born of a daughter-in-law who loved her dearly . . . redeemed by a near relative . . . the transaction consummated as was the custom of the day . . . by the passing of a sandal.

Kind of interesting how the book of Ruth winds up pretty much focused on her mother-in-law Naomi (lit. “my delight). While Ruth is the story’s heroine, Naomi is the benefactor. Ruth, a Moabitess, a foreigner, had married into the family . . . and then the family died off . . . her father-in-law, her brother-in-law, and her husband . . . all gone at what appear to be a young age. What to do? For Ruth, there was no going back. She was devoted to her mother-in-law and she determined to devote herself to her mother-in-law’s God . . . the God of Israel . . . the God of redemption . . . the God who takes dead things and makes them alive.

And Naomi, herself, was kind of dead. She returns to Israel, goes home to Bethlehem, with her daughter-in-law and seeks to change her name, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara [literally “bitterness”], for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” (Ruth 1:20-21 ESV) Heavy sigh!

But the Lord wasn’t done with “empty” Naomi. Enter Boaz . . . enter Ruth into Boaz’s field . . . and behold the unmerited favor shown to Ruth on Naomi’s behalf (2:10-11). The relative of Naomi was qualified to be her redeemer . . . to purchase the rights to her husband’s inheritance that it might not leave the tribe . . . to take as a bride her daughter-in-law, that through her he might perpetuate the lineage . . . to pay the price to show God’s abiding care . . . and the deal was sealed with the passing of a sandal.

There was a closer relative who had “first dibs” on purchasing the rights to the land . . . but he wasn’t willing to compromise his own inheritance by taking on the additional responsibilities of extending the family line. Taking Ruth as another wife was a deal breaker. “Pass,” he says, “Boaz, it’s all yours to take on.” And, as “was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel” (4:7). And so, Boaz took the sandal . . . paid the price . . . assumed title to the land . . . took Ruth in marriage . . . and redeemed Naomi.

“Bitterness” was again “delight”. Hopelessness had been crushed and joy restored. A “no future” had been replaced with unimaginable potential. An apparently dead bloodline had become an eternal lineage . . . Naomi’s grandson, Obed, eventually fathering a son named Jesse, who, in turn, would have a bunch of boys around his table, . . . one of them being an upstart shepherd kid named David who would eventually be king . . . through whom would be established an eternal kingdom . . . of his line another Son being born . . . another Redeemer coming on the scene . . . another who would take the sandal.

As we approach this weekend’s Easter celebration, I can’t help but see resurrection in this beautiful love story. I am Naomi . . . once without hope . . . no future beyond whatever was allotted me for “earth time”. In debt due to my sin . . . in certain danger of losing title to my soul . . . my goodness unable to redeem me . . . any attempt at following the law, useless in terms of eternal benefit. But God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son . . . to pay the price as the Lamb of God for the debt I could not pay . . . to redeem that which He had created . . . to give new life to those dead in trespass and sin. And to Him was given the sandal . . . no . . . He took the sandal . . . He took it by force of the cross . . . He wrestled it out of the hands of Satan and death by His resurrection from the dead.

He is alive! He holds the sandal! And I have been redeemed! Price paid in full. Delight restored. To God be the glory!

He is risen indeed!

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We Shall Bear His Image

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Pete

While Christmas is so much a celebration of the past . . . the coming of Immanuel . . . the giving of God’s greatest gift to the world, . . . as I think about it, Easter is so much a celebration of the future. While the consideration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead reminds us again of the surety of the foundation of our faith, it also is intended to cause us to glance heavenward and to consider a time to come when we too will be raised in newness of life.

As believers, we’ve already experienced a foretaste of what awaits us. We have already undergone a spiritual resurrection . . . having been once dead in trespasses and sin but now made alive in Christ (Eph. 2:1,5) . . . having known what it is to be given a new mind . . . a new heart . . . a whole set of new senses attuned to the things of the kingdom of heaven. While we’re still the same people, since being born again, we have been made new creations in Christ . . . old things have passed away . . . behold, the new has come (2Cor. 5:17). And so, as I read the latter part of 1Corinthians 15 this morning, and consider again the resurrection of the Savior . . . and am reminded of the resurrection already experienced by the saved . . . I am also again blown away by the reminder of what is yet to come.

“As was the man of dust [Adam], so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the Man of heaven [Jesus], 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.” (1Corinthians 15:48-49 ESV)

We . . . or, making it personal, I . . . shall bear the image of the Man of heaven. Sit back and chew on that a bit.

Ever wonder, when you were a kid, what you were going to look like when you got older? Well how about giving a thought or two to what we shall be like when we come into the kingdom. Paul says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God . . . that which is perishable can’t move into that which is imperishable. And so, we shall all be changed (15:50-51). We will be raised imperishable . . . we will be raised in glory . . . we will be raised in power . . . we will be raised with a spiritual body (15:42-44) . . . we will be raised to bear the image of the Man of heaven! Go figure!

This morning I also read of the transfiguration in Mark’s gospel. After ascending a high mountain with Peter, James, and John, Jesus is transformed before their eyes. “His clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them,” records Mark (Mark 9:3). Matthew adds that His face shone like the sun (Matt. 17:2). If I am going to bear the image of the Man of heaven, am I going to glow too? Could be!

Think about it . . . not only will we behold Him when we come into His kingdom . . . we shall be like Him! That work has already begun on the inside. The sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit shaping us into the image of God’s beloved Son . . . but there is a physical work yet to be done when the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed (1Cor. 15:52). My mortal body must put on immortality . . . and when this happens, “then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ ” (15:53-55).

Yes, Easter is so much about a victory in the past . . . the greatest of all victories . . . when Jesus conquered sin and death. But it is also about a victory to be anticipated . . . “thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (15:57). In a very real sense, the best is yet to come.

And so, it occurs to me that I can miss some of the mystery and magnificence of the Easter celebration if I only think in historical terms. Yes, He is risen . . . He is risen indeed! Praise God! Hallelujah! But the empty tomb points to a future day . . . a day when those in Him will rise . . . to be sure, we will rise indeed! And we shall bear His image . . . for His pleasure . . . for His glory . . . forever and ever. Amen?

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The Facts of Life

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Pete

I don’t know if it was that they considered themselves realists or what . . . but why would someone who was saved into an “evangelical church” spread the idea that there is no resurrection from the dead? What’s to be gained by such a “non doctrine?” But that’s exactly what was happening in the Corinth church. Established by the gospel preaching of Paul . . . built on the foundation of the teaching of Apollos, “an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures” (Acts 18:24), there were some in the Corinth body of believers who were developing an opinion that this is it . . . 70 years or so under the sun, and then you’re done. I don’t know what seeded such a thought . . . but the apostle Paul was not prepared to let it take root . . . the implications were too great . . . the potential damage too devastating to let such an idea gain momentum . . .

“But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. . . . For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. . . . If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1Corinthian 15:13-19 ESV)

The argument’s pretty simple. The cause and effect . . . or, as the case may be, non-cause and therefore non-effect, isn’t hard to connect. If there’s no resurrection from the dead, then Christ has gone the way of the dust of the earth . . . and if Christ is not raised, then gospel preaching is vanity . . . there’s nothing to believe in . . . the faith is devoid of any truth, or power, or life changing effect . . . sins stain still abides within the soul and forever corrupts the creation . . . and hope? . . . what hope?

“But,” says Paul, “in fact Christ has been raised from the dead the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (15:20) Yes, “In fact!”

Fact . . . Christ died for our sins just as it was written in the Scriptures. Fact . . . Jesus was buried in a rich man’s tomb with a large stone rolled in front of it and a guard placed around it. Fact . . . the tomb was empty on the third day, Jesus had been raised from the dead . . . in accordance with the Scriptures. The ladies who went to the tomb that glorious morning saw it empty . . . the disciples saw it empty . . . the guard knew it was empty. Fact . . . Jesus appeared . . . to Cephas . . . and to the twelve disciples . . . and to a crowd of 500 . . . to James . . . to all the apostles. Not appeared as in “they felt His presence” . . . but appeared as in “put your finger here, and see my hands, and put out your hand and place it in my side” (John 20:27). Appeared as in “let’s do breakfast together” . . . Jesus frying up some fish at the seaside, inviting the disciples to eat with Him (John 21:4-14) . . . appeared as in “let’s walk and talk along this road to Emmaus, and then break bread that you might know me and believe” (Luke 24:13-35).

Those are the facts . . . the facts of life . . . the facts of forever life . . . Christ is risen!

Christ is risen and so the gospel is not vanity, but is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. Christ is risen and so our faith is not futile, but is grounded in truth and power and is bearing fruit that will last literally forever. Christ is risen and so I am no longer a slave to sin . . . the price has been paid by the blood of Christ and the bondage of sin and death destroyed by the power of His resurrected life. Christ is risen and so my hope extends so far beyond this life and this world.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! And because He lives, so shall I. And that’s a fact!

To God be the glory!

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Really Among You

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Pete

Paul reminds me again this morning that the church isn’t a building . . . it isn’t a program . . . it isn’t even just a group of people . . . but that the church is intended to be a dynamic. That, when the church is being the church, stuff is happening below the surface of the fellowship and the singing and the preaching of God’s word. And when this dynamic is at its unhindered best, it conveys the presence and glory of God . . . and people know that “God is really among you!”

I’m reading 1Corinthians 14 this morning. And, in this part of his letter, Paul is putting into perspective the relative value of speaking in tongues versus prophesying. Both are spiritual gifts, but, Paul says, “Desire especially that you may prophesy.” Regardless of where someone lands on the role (or lack thereof) of tongues in the church today, Paul is so clear here — prophesying is better!! And we’re not talking about “predicting the future” . . . what we’re taking about is speaking forth, from divine inspiration, the counsel and mind of God. And that’s what I have in front me — something they didn’t have at Paul’s time — I have the divinely inspired word of God sitting on my desk . . . and to the degree that I can proclaim it’s divine truths, I am prophesying . . . speaking forth the mind of God. And to the degree that the church places a premium and priority on declaring the counsel of God by preaching the word of God in the power of the Spirit of God, Paul says, “That is so ‘way better’ than speaking in a tongue which people don’t understand.”

Ok . . . so that’s the context. And what happens when a body of believers come together and the word of God is proclaimed . . . from the pulpit . . . and through lives lived in obedience to it’s life-changing words? Outsiders know . . . they just know, . . . that something is going on that is deeper than simply a Sunday morning service. They know that “God is really among you.”

“If, therefore, the whole church comes together . . . and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. (1Corinthians 14:23-25 ESV)

Read that again . . . what a dynamic!! The church is together being the church . . . the word of God is faithfully being proclaimed . . . an unbeliever comes in . . . he or she takes it all in . . . the people . . . the practices . . . the powerful word of God . . . and they are convicted of their need for our Savior . . . the reality of the environment they are in combined with the word proclaimed has exposed the sin that possesses them . . and they go facedown . . . and they worship God . . . and they conclude that, “He is here!! . . . God is truly among you!” Oh, that’s the church for me!!!

When the church is really being the church then God is truly among us. When it is real fellowship . . . when it is a real pursuit of the things of God . . . when it is a real “pilgrim’s convention” . . . when the word is really preached . . . then He is really there. God’s desire is that, as His people, we are being formed into a building which is being joined together and rising to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him we are being built together to become a dwelling where God lives by His Spirit. (Eph. 2:21-22) That’s what we should desire Sunday mornings to reflect . . . that this is a dwelling pace of God . . . a place where people know that God is “really among you.”

And when God is “really among you”, then the kingdom dynamics are at work. People are being drawn to Christ . . . believers are being built up in the faith . . . healing is happening . . . encouragement is being received . . . and, every so often, people fall on their faces (at least on the inside) . . . and worship. And they know . . . they just know . . . the Spirit of God interacting with their spirit . . . that God is really among you. Come, Lord Jesus, into our midst . . . and be known . . . and be worshiped . . . for God’s glory . . amen!

If you have a couple of more minutes . . . check this out (click here)  . . . and enjoy . .

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Perfect Vision

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Pete

It’s been a long time since I have had 20/20 vision without the aid of eyeglasses. Without my glasses things get pretty fuzzy pretty fast . . . don’t have to look very far before I can’t see very much. So, for now, I have these spectacles set upon my nose to help me see beyond my nose. But even with them, sometimes things are fuzzy . . . I have to tilt my head up and down in order to look through the right part of my lenses in order to improve the focus. Not complaining . . . with these glasses I see pretty well . . . my failing eyes have all the help they need to see almost perfectly. But as I read the “love chapter” this morning I’m reminded that my spiritual eyes are so far short of 20/20 . . . but that there is coming a day when I will have perfect vision.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1Corinthians 13:12 ESV)

Spiritual eyes work different than my physical eyes. As time has gone by, my physical eyes have deteriorated. I didn’t always need glasses . . . I didn’t always need such powerful glasses. What started out as “for reading only” is now from the time I get up to the time I go to sleep. I know I’m getting older . . . my dimming eyes remind me of that.

Not so with my spiritual eyes. They are getting better . . . by God’s grace. In fact, I’m reminded that I started out blind . . . absolutely insensitive to the things of the kingdom’s light . . . no operational sensors functioning to detect the things “not of this world.” I once was blind . . . but now I see . . . by God’s amazing grace. Didn’t see very much or very clearly at first. Took a while for “my eyes” to adjust. But adjust they did . . . by God’s grace. I started seeing things by faith that I had never seen before. I started recognizing truths from the word of God that I had never recognized before. I started to gain focus on a far away land . . . on a home being prepared for me . . . on a Savior waiting for me. And as I saw more, I wanted to see more. And over time, my spiritual vision has improved . . . through the Word of God . . . by the Spirit of God . . . all because of the grace of God. I see much better now than when I first believed.

But even at that . . . I’m reminded that I “see in a mirror dimly” compared to a future day. The mirrors in New Testament times were made of polished metal . . . good enough to see in . . . not good enough to see really clearly in. And lest I become puffed up concerning how well I think “I see” (did I mention that it’s all by the grace of God?), the reality is that my spiritual vision is so far from being 20/20. No sitting back and thinking that I see well enough. I know that though some things are very clear others are still “dimly” . . . obscure . . . an enigma . . . still mostly a mystery . . . I catch glimpses but have yet to fully behold. Yeah, I see much better now than when I first believed . . . but there is still so much more to take in . . . and take in clearly.

But then . . . face to face! What a glorious phrase! What a joy evoking thought! What a praiseworthy motto! But then, face to face.

There is coming a day when I will have perfect spiritual vision. A day when “I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known”. The things of earth will completely fade away and the glories of the kingdom will come into clear focus. The landscape . . . strike that . . . the heaven-scape, which would overload my physical optic nerve, will be fully taken in and processed by my “face to face” eyes. Things which are today “of faith” will then be “of sight.” Things which are brain-teasers today with then be solved puzzles. Partial knowledge will give way to fully knowing.

Oh, but the best part of having fully functioning eyes in that day will be to behold Jesus. To see Him face to face . . . and then go face to ground in awe and wonder and gratitude and worship. What will it be like to have perfect vision? I can only imagine . . . and I cant’ wait!

“Face to face with Christ, my Savior; Face to face–what will it be? When with rapture I behold Him, Jesus Christ who died for me. Only faintly now, I see Him; With the darkling veil between. But a blessed day is coming, When His glory shall be seen. What rejoicing in His presence, When are banished grief and pain; When the crooked ways are straightened, And the dark things shall be plain. Face to face! O blissful moment! Face to face — to see and know; Face to face with my Redeemer, Jesus Christ who loves me so. Face to face I shall behold Him, Far beyond the starry sky; Face to face in all His glory, I shall see Him by and by!” (Mrs. Frank A. Breck, 1855-1934)

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His Opus

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Pete

Opus. That’s not a word I use in everyday conversation . . . but it’s a word that comes to mind this morning. At its simplest, it means a “work.” Specifically, it most commonly refers to a musical composition. Broadly, it can refer to any creative work. Devotionally, this morning, I see it in God’s magnificent arrangement of the body of Christ, the church.

As Paul continues to address issues within the Corinth church, he comes to the topic of spiritual gifts. These believers were “not lacking in any spiritual gift” (1Cor. 1:7), yet you get the sense that these gifts had become another reason for divisions to develop within the church. And so, Paul reminds them that, while there are different gifts, there is one Spirit, one Lord, one God (1Cor. 12:4-6) . . . that these gifts are given for the common good (12:7) . . . and that it is the Spirit who “apportions to each one individually as He wills” (12:11). Rather than arguing about which gift is greater . . . or who’s more spiritual because of the gift they possess . . . Paul says that the variety of gifting is in accord with the diversity of the members of a body and that it is God who has “arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose” (12:18) . . . that He has “appointed” individual members to play specific roles (12:28) . . . that He has “so composed the body” (12:24). The body of Christ is God’s work . . . His creative work . . . His opus.

That word, “composed”, is found only twice in the New Testament . . . here and in Hebrews 4:2 where it speaks of the need for the gospel to be “mixed” with faith. Literally the word means to “commingle” . . . to mix together . . . in the old King James the translators rendered it to “temper together.” That is the nature of those who are in Christ . . . a mixing together of individuals to create a whole . . . a bringing together of different members to form a body . . . different notes arranged to create a symphony . . . God’s great composition . . . His eternal opus.

Sometimes I think we need to recapture a sense of wonder and awe concerning the church. It is way too easy to get focused on the “works in progress” and not see the masterpiece God is putting together. Too easy to see all the rough edges of the “living stones” still being conformed into the shape of His Son and fail to marvel at the spiritual house God is building (1Peter 2:5). Too easy to fixate on how goofy some of the sheep are (forgetting that we too are but a sheep), and not praise God anew for sending His Son, the Great Shepherd, to gather together the flock.

God has composed the Body . . . He adds new members . . . He determines who plays what role . . . He arranges the pieces as pleases Him . . . He sets in order the individual parts according to His Sovereign wisdom and grace. The Body is His creative work “to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10). The church, consisting of all believers on a global level, and of the “sinners saved by grace” who gather together with me at the building down the road, is God’s creative work . . . a lost world needing to hear the new song we have been given to share . . . the powers in heavenly places watching from on high and beholding the multi-faceted movements of God’s grace and wisdom.

How can we not be a fan of the church? Is the church perfect? Mmmm . . . not right now? But know that one day He will present us to Himself “a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:27) . Know that now He is “mixing us together” as serves His purpose and pleasure . . . know that He has called each one to play a specific part within His eternal song of redemption . . . know that we are His composition . . . His grand symphony . . . His creative work . . . His opus. All for His glory!

You gotta love the church . . .

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A Sad Psalm

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Pete

You say, “Psalm 88,” and it’s not likely to spark any thought of remembrance as it would if you said Psalm 1, or Psalm 23, or Psalm 119, or Psalm 139. Not a lot of doctrine here, just a lot of desperation. No worship or praise, just why’s and prolonged confusion. This is a sad Psalm . . . as my kids might say, a “Debbie Downer” . . . but . . . it is also “breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2Tim. 3:16 ESV). So what am I to take away from this sad Psalm?

The Psalmist has reached the bottom of bottoms. It can’t get any worse. “My soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol (v.3) . . . like one set loose among the dead (v.5) . . . I am shut in so that I cannot escape (v.8) . . . my eye grows dim through sorrow (v.9) . . . I am helpless (v.15) . . . my beloved and my friend shun me (v.18) . . . my companions have become darkness . . . darkness has become my only companion.” (v.18) Heavy sigh! Apparently, there is not a thing that’s going for this guy.

And being devout . . . believing in the Sovereignty and power of God . . . he can’t but help conclude that God’s hand is somehow involved in the psalmist’s plight. “You have put me in the depths of the pit (v.6) . . . Your wrath lies heavy upon me and You overwhelm me with all Your waves (v.7) . . . You have caused my companions to shun me (v.8) . . . I suffer Your terrors (v.15) . . . Your dreadful assaults destroy me (v.16).” How low can you go?

And being man . . . and not understanding the ways of God . . . the questions pour out . . . “Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” (vv. 10-12) And then the why’s . . . “O LORD, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me?” (v.14)

Oh brother! How sad is this psalm! Why keep reading? Why keep hovering?

Because, embedded in this vocabulary of gloom and bitterness, of utter hopelessness, is a lifeline.

“O LORD, God of my salvation I cry out day and night before You (v.1) . . . Every day I call upon you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to You (v.9) . . . But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before You (v. 13).”

Where do you go when there’s no place to go? To the LORD. To whom do you cry when both heaven and earth seem to have shut their ears? To the LORD. When the why questions flood your mind where do you direct them? To the God of your salvation. Maybe sounds too simple or perhaps trite . . . but where do you go but to the LORD?

And sitting here, with God’s precious word in front of me, I know that the psalmists inclination to look to God even when he wasn’t sure God was looking at him, is the right thing to do because I know a few things the psalmist didn’t know. I know that His grace is sufficient (2Cor. 2:9) . . . that I can do all things through Him who strengthens me (Php. 4:13) . . . that there is not a temptation or trial that I may go through that isn’t common to the human experience and, God is faithful . . . He will enable me to stand through the trial . . . and will, with the trial, make a way to endure and eventually escape (1Cor. 10:13). The list of promises of God go on . . . His steadfast love never ceases . . . His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning . . . great is His faithfulness . . . when all else is failing, He is my portion . . . the sustenance for the soul for the day (Lam. 3:22-25).

No happy ending to Psalm 88 . . . at least not that’s written within it’s 18 verses. A sad Psalm. But, a Sovereign God . . . a sufficient grace . . . all within the context of a sure salvation. Mine is to draw near, knowing that He will draw near to me (James 4:8), Blessed be the name of the LORD. Amen?

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Come Together

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Pete

Sometimes I think we’d do better to choose our words more carefully. Case in point . . . is there a difference in meaning between “when you go to church” versus “when you come together?” The whole I idea of “going to church” is sort of inaccurate. We’ve taken a term originally designed to describe the living body of Christ and turned it into a reference for an animate structure constructed by the hands of men. We’ve diluted the wonder associated with a called out people . . . a spiritual house . . . a royal priesthood . . . a chosen generation . . . a holy nation . . . a people for God’s very own possession . . . because we take the word that refers to the Bride of Christ, the church, and use it to talk of a place to go . . . rather than a people to be.

So what’s got me going down this path this morning? I’m reading the latter portion of 1Corinthians 11. And what jumps out at me from the ESV text is the 5-time repeated phrase “when you come together.”

“. . . when you come together it is not for the better, but for the worse . . . when you come together as a church, I hear there are divisions among you . . . when you come together it is not the Lord’s supper you eat . . . so then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another . . . so that when you come together it will not be for judgment.” (1Corinthians 11:17, 18, 20, 33, 34 ESV)

So I’m thinking that God doesn’t see us as “going to church” . . . that the Son doesn’t care a lot about what time we start or finish the program . . . but that there is an interest from the balconies of heaven in what it’s like when we “come together.” When we assemble as the body of Christ, it can be for the better or the worse. It can be in a way that builds up the members of the body of Christ or in a way that tears down some of those for whom Jesus died. It can be all about me and what “I get” from “going to church” or it can be about “one another” and what encouragement I can bring to someone else as we “come together.” And (shudder!) our gathering can be something that brings God’s blessing as He is glorified or, “doing church” can bring God’s judgment as He loves us to much to let us just go through the motions or, worse yet, put on a pretense of piety when in fact we care only about our own body and not the body of Christ.

Paul says that “anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself” (11:29). While it could refer to remembering that the bread of the communion table represents the body of Christ offered for sin, I have understood it to mean that I should recognize that those who are gathered around the table with me are the living body of Christ . . . members for whom Jesus died. That the Lord’s table is not just about me remembering the Lord but it’s about doing so in the context of others . . . fellow sinners saved by grace . . . brothers and sisters in the Lord. That it is about corporate worship . . . and occurs only when we come together.

So, when we come together . . . when we assemble . . . when we gather with each other . . . singing songs of praise to the redeemer . . . receiving the word of God as it is proclaimed from the pulpit . . . taking of the cup and bread at the Lord’s table . . . engaging in fellowship over a cup of coffee before going home . . . when we come together, it is about so much more than going to a place or engaging in routine activities. It should be about “one another”.
The awe of recognizing in one another the church that Christ is building — not of bricks and mortar, but of living stones fashioned into a spiritual dwelling place for God through His Spirit. The joy of reconnecting with one another as we share triumphs and set backs of the week. The refreshing that comes as we encourage one another to keep on keepin’ on by His all sufficient grace and for His all deserving glory.

Yeah, I think words make a difference. Going to church is fine . . . but coming together? . . . that’s when it really happens . . . for our blessing . . . and for His glory.

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A Seat at the Table

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Pete

I’m not really one for fine dining . . . haven’t been to a lot of real fancy restaurants . . . a few, but not very many or very often. Recently though, Sue and I went out for dinner with some friends to a nice restaurant. Not only was it nice because there was nothing on the menu you could “super size”, but because it was located up on bluff overlooking the city. And, while we didn’t reserve any particular table, we were seated at a table near the window . . . a table with a nice view of the cityscape below us. Not all tables had such a view . . . we could have just as easily been seated near the kitchen . . . or near the washrooms at the back of the restaurant. But we weren’t. And wouldn’t it have been kind of dumb to have said, “No” to the table with a view and instead asked to be seated at the back by the washrooms? I’m thinkin’ . . .

“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? . . . You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” (1Corinthians 10:16, 21 ESV)

Talk about your “fine dining” . . . talk about your “best seat in the house” . . . and you’re talking about the Lord’s table. Invited to pull up a seat with the Guest of Honor . . . no back row . . . no observing from afar . . . no hoping for leftovers . . . but given full access to participate in the “cup of blessing” and “the bread that we break.” Brought near, received onto holy ground, as we interact afresh with the life giving blood of the Savior. We, who were once on our own to wage war with sin and death, now made one body, identified eternally with the body of Christ. Oh, how easy it is to take such a seat for granted. How prone I can be to simply “go through the motions” during communion and never look up and behold the view . . . the view of the cross . . . the view of the empty tomb . . . the view of the land that awaits all those love His appearing.

And what’s worse is that not only can we fail to appreciate the table we’ve been called to, but often we’ll ask for a table at the “back of the restaurant.” We’ll chose to sit at the table with one leg shorter than the others . . . the one that’s dirty and not wiped clean after the previous patrons . . . the one that keeps getting bumped by the waiting staff as they rush in and out of the kitchen. And what’s more, we’ll settle for the “cheap meals” . . . we’ll ask to be served scraps with no lasting nutritional value. And, somehow, we’ll think we can jump back and forth between the table the Lord has set for us, and the one the world invites us to dine at.

Why would I give up a seat at the Lord’s table for a seat at the back? Why would I settle for the world’s junk food when I’ve been invited to participate in soul-filling fare of the Lord Himself? I don’t know . . . but sometimes I do . . . “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it . . . Prone to leave the God I love . . . Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, . . . Seal it for Thy courts above.”

Sometimes I need to be reminded of the privilege that is mine to have a seat at the table.

Reminded that the reservation was booked by God Himself, and that the tab was picked up by His Beloved Son. To not forget, when I’m at the table, to sit back and behold the view . . . considering afresh heaven’s love poured out that I might be redeemed . . . knowing again that my Savior lives and that I’m dining with Him . . . discerning the body of the Lord in the believer’s who surround me . . . appreciating anew the wonder of the fellowship that I have been grafted into. And, when I have known again the wonder of being invited to the table . . . and have been fed the food of heaven . . . then, by His grace, I will have no desire for the table set by the enemy . . . no hunger for the greasy offerings of the world.

A seat at the Lord’s table . . . now that’s fine dining . . . amen?

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