Beam Surgery

Posted on June 22, 2023 by Pete

It seems easy enough, but I’m thinking that plucking a beam out of your own eye is a lot harder than it sounds. In fact, as I noodle on Jesus’ parable, I’m wondering if the beam, even if we’re looking for it, is most often perceived (if perceived at all) first as a splinter. And removing a splinter from your own eye? Well, that’s gonna take some light, some intention, and probably some exacting surgery.

“Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye, but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,’ when you yourself don’t see the beam of wood in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the splinter in your brother’s eye.” ~ Jesus

(Luke 6:41-42 CSB)

Who wants to be labeled a “hypocrite”? Especially by the Lord of the universe? Not this guy. But that’s the verdict. If we are not prepared to do beam surgery on ourselves — even if we are also called to aid our brothers and sisters with splinter surgery (and we are) — then we’re just acting, a pious player on a self-made stage, pretending to be something we’re not and thinking we are caring about someone we don’t. So, says Jesus, first do the beam surgery.

But my experience is that sometimes beam surgery is a lot like splinter surgery. Because the beam causes this huge blind spot, it’s hard to see it. What’s more, it’s not visible if I just look in a glass mirror. Instead, because it’s hidden in the heart it requires a different type of mirror. A 200-watt bulb is not gonna help detect it, only the light of God’s word and the illumination of God’s Spirit, as directed by God’s kindness which wants to lead me to repentance (Rom. 2:4).

Beam hunting can be hard hunting. I think that’s why David prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Ps. 139:23-24).

And once you find it? Even when you see it? Even though it really is a beam which doesn’t require tweezers to extract but just some holy hands? Don’t be surprised if it’s barbed. That no matter how much you want it out and try and pull it out, it doesn’t want to come out. Or, don’t be surprised if it’s magnetic. That after extracting it, if you’re not careful to destroy it or at least keep a heavy hand on it, it has a way of finding its way back into your eye. Can I suggest beams are nasty, persistent things?

But can I also suggest that beam extraction isn’t just for our own benefit? It’s not just a “me” thing. The very act of beam surgery in our own eyes prepares us for splinter surgery in someone else’s. The process of dealing with our beam in the light of God’s word, recognizing it as sin against God’s way, realizing afresh our need for the cross according to God’s provision, and reapplying again the abounding grace of God through the love of God’s Son readies us to be instruments in the hands of the Redeemer (thanx Paul Tripp) who wants to use us to help deal with the splinter in our brother’s eye. Calling out the sin, but without throwing stones of condemnation (Jn. 8:7). Instead, applying the balm of the gospel as we work in the light of the finished work of Christ.

Beam surgery or splinter surgery; seems to me both are hard, seems to me both are necessary. First on ourselves, and then, by God’s gracious leading, carefully for the benefit of others.

If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(1John 1:8-9 CSB)

Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted.

(Galatians 6:1 CSB)

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

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Starting Point Matters

Posted on June 21, 2023 by Pete

Two different starting points. Same practices. Two different assessments. That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

Reading in 2Kings 17 this morning. Israel, the northern kingdom, is done. Operation “Assyrian Occupation” is complete. After 200 years of worshiping golden calves as God rather than God as God, God “removed them from His presence” (2Ki. 17:18). After conquering Israel, the Assyrians import foreigners from other conquered regions into the land so that “the settlers took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities” (2Ki. 17:24). So, in the land were two types of people with two different starting points — those who had been brought out of Egypt by God and those who had been brought out of other lands by the king of Assyria.

And it starts out pretty rough for the newcomers to Samaria.

When they first lived there, they did not fear the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. The settlers said to the king of Assyria, “The nations that you have deported and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the god of the land. Therefore He has sent lions among them that are killing them because the people don’t know the requirements of the god of the land.”

(2Kings 17:25-26 CSB)

Lions with insatiable appetites. That’s a big problem! Solution? Send back one of Israel’s priests and have him teach the newcomers “how they should fear the LORD” (2Ki. 17:27-28). And so, it would seem worship according to the law was re-introduced to the land. Thus, one land, two different types of people with two different starting points, both engaged in the same practices — both “worshiping” God and worshiping gods. The Israelites having done so for the past couple of centuries, the pagans in the land doing so since becoming lion food.

Two different starting points. Same practices. Yet, I read, two different assessments.

They feared the Lord, but they also worshiped their own gods according to the practice of the nations from which they had been deported. . . . None of them fear the Lord or observe the statutes and ordinances, the law and commandments that the Lord had commanded the descendants of Jacob, whom He had given the name Israel.

(2Kings 17:33-34 CSB)

They feared the Lord . . . none of them fear the Lord. “They” refers to the settlers imported from foreign lands who began to worship the God of heaven in addition to worshiping their gods of earth. “Them” are those who were in covenant relationship with the God of heaven, those who knew God’s deliverance, those who were privy to God’s will and ways and were commanded, “Do not fear other gods; do not bow in worship to them; do not serve them; do not sacrifice to them — Instead fear the Lord” (2Ki. 17:35-36a). Both practicing the same practices. Yet two different assessments. They feared the Lord . . . none of them fear the Lord.

Hmm . . .

What comes to mind? How do I make sense of math that can add the same things together and yet come up with two different answers? That the pagans added God to their program was at least a starting point, it indicated they made the connection between the lions and the Lord and that they feared the Lord. And the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10, Prov. 9:10). But to those of Abraham, to whom much is given, much is required, and from those to whom much is entrusted, more will be demanded (Lk. 12:48). That the Israelites knew God yet unfaithfully gave themselves to the world indicates that none of them feared the Lord. Claiming to be wise, they became fools (Rom. 1:22). Like I said, hmm . . .

Seems starting point matters.

Something to chew on I think.

In light of His grace. Desiring His glory.

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Give Us Life

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Pete

A couple of weeks ago I got to listen in on a Q&A session. The Qs were coming from a group of pastors who all serve faithfully in small communities and churches in rural Southwest America. The A’s were humbly provided by two of their peers who had just retired from rural ministry. One of those A’s came to mind this morning as I read and hovered over the twentieth stanza of Psalm 119.

Consider my affliction and rescue me,
for I have not forgotten Your instruction.
Champion my cause and redeem me;
give me life as You promised. . . .

Your compassions are many, Lord;
give me life according to Your judgments. . . .

Consider how I love Your precepts;
Lord, give me life according to Your faithful love. . . .

(Psalms 119:153-154, 156, 159 CSB)

Give me life . . . Give me life . . . Give me life.

Quicken Thou me (AV). Revive me (NASB, NLT). Preserve my life (NIV). Give me life (CSB, ESV).

Repeated three times in these eight verses. The last three times of nine times found throughout the psalm. Each translation quoted above picking up something of the original intent.

So, the repetition grabs my attention as the psalmist cries:

Give me life as You promised. . . .
Give me life according to Your judgments. . . .
Give me life according to Your faithful love. . . .

Give me life, Lord — preserve and revive me — according to Your intent, Your instruction, and Your intrinsic nature.

Help me to keep on keepin’ on just as You’ve promised to complete the work You’ve begun in me (Php. 1:6). Help me not to “lose heart” but renew me in the inner man (2Cor. 4:16 ESV) as I purpose to feed on Your word even in a barren land. “Get me on my feet again . . . invigorate me” (MSG); not because of who I am, but because of who You are — God is love (1Jn. 4:16).

Don’t know the season of struggle the songwriter specifically had in mind as he penned this verse, but which of us doesn’t know the type of season? In fact, can I suggest that such seasons are inevitable for those determined to follow Christ, to serve Christ, and to even pour themselves out for Christ? Kind of like missionary pastors in small, rural communities.

And that’s what sparked the remembrance of a brother’s words from a couple of weeks ago.

I won’t burn out,
I won’t rust out,
But, I will wear out.

We need to be wise and self-attuned to steward the right amount of self-care to avoid running out of gas as we run the race God’s given us to run. We need to also be on guard against self-reliance, coasting, and effectively burying in the ground what the Lord’s given us to steward for Him. Yet shouldn’t our desire be to wear out for Jesus? Paul said he’d consider it “success” if in following Jesus he were to be “poured out” as a drink offering in serving others for Jesus (Php. 2:17, 2Tim. 4:6-7).

Inevitably then, in our desire to wear out for Jesus, we should also expect that there’s gonna be seasons where we’ll need some reviving, we’ll need some preserving, we’ll need a little invigorating here and there.

So, Lord even as we wear out give us life. As You promised You would; through the Word You breathed-out; and, according to the love You abundantly and faithfully source.

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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People Like Him

Posted on June 15, 2023 by Pete

Wrapped up Philippians 2 this morning. The chapter begins with a call to humility and ends with a command to honor. (Hmm . . . humility to honor . . . sounds like opposite ends of a spectrum to me.) And who should we honor? People like him.

Therefore, welcome him in the Lord with great joy and hold people like him in honor, because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up what was lacking in your ministry to me.

(Philippians 2:29-30 CSB)

Hold people like him in honor. That’s the command to obey that I’m chewing on this morning. Paul shifts from the specific to the general, from focusing on a single person to calling out a type of person. And people like him, says Paul, hold them in honor.

Okay, so who’s him? (Hint: it’s not Jesus). Him is Epaphroditus (2:25). He was a lovely person . . . literally. That’s what Epaphroditus means; lovely. But that’s not the reason Paul says to honor him. It’s easy to honor the lovely people, easy to prize the pretty and esteem the extraordinary. Our culture has wired us to fawn over the famous. We honor those who are in the spotlight just because they made it to the spotlight. We regard those who seem head and shoulders above everyone else. That’s not the people like him Paul’s talking about.

Instead, people like him are described as workers, and soldiers, and ministers, oh my (2:25). Known more for their servanthood than their celebrity status. Noticed because of their demonstrated sacrifice rather than their self-assured swagger. Those whose heart is for others, even at the expense of themselves. Those who are willing to come “close to death for the work of Christ.” That’s the people like him we are to hold in high regard.

People like Epaphroditus who brought a much-needed gift from the church at Philippi to Paul in Rome. Who pressed on despite becoming gravely ill. Who was distressed at hearing how distressed his brothers and sisters in the church were at hearing he had nearly died (2:26). A person marked by looking not to his own interests but the interests of others. A person who considered others more important than themselves. Hey! Wait a minute! Isn’t chapter 2’s ending sounding a lot like it’s beginning (2:3-4)? Seems we’re still on the humility side of the spectrum even as we talk honor.

So, people like Him are people like Jesus who came not to be served but to serve and to give His life away for others (Mk. 10:45). Wanna know what adopting “the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus” (2:5) looks like for people who aren’t Christ Jesus? It looks like people like him. Honor them, says Paul.

We are to honor those who humble themselves. After all, God does.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

(James 4:10 CSB)

Oh, that people like us would be more like people like him.

Only by God’s grace. Always for God’s glory.

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Work It Out

Posted on June 14, 2023 by Pete

Some work we retire from. Other work, never.

Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

(Philippians 2:12 CSB)

Work it out, says Paul. While it’s the Holy Spirit who works salvation in us, we are the ones to work it out.

Not that we in any way contribute to, or somehow earn God’s redeeming favor. But our efforts are integral to realizing the fruit of having been “predestined to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glorious grace that He lavished on us in the Beloved One” (Eph. 1:5).

He first brings us into His kingdom, then by His enabling we bring out the kingdom in us. He makes a way of escape from the tyranny of sin; we make every effort to put to death the old man still allured by sin. By our faith, we’re gifted with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places; through our determination, we then build on what He has given us. He credits righteousness to our account; we respond in Christ by endeavoring to live out that righteousness on His account. It is finished through His work; we complete it according to His will by our work. Did I mention it’s a work we never retire from?

What’s more, working out our salvation is the visible, tangible evidence that God is actually working in us.

For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to His good purpose.

(Philippians 2:13 CSB)

I don’t think we see anything in Scripture of coasting with our salvation. If God is active in our lives, then we’ll be active. While we may grow weary, while we might wish for it to get easier sometimes, we’ll always be working out what God has worked in. When we cease, it’s a warning sign that we may have suppressed the Spirit. If we are not pressing on, we are likely falling back. If we are not growing, we’re probably atrophying.

This work is the way of Christ. The way that reminds us of our 24/7 dependence on Him. The way that reminds us of our ever-present need for His all-sufficient grace. It is what makes His invitation to put on His yoke, learn from Him, and find rest for our souls so inviting. It is the holy determination that makes real the dynamic of the Holy Spirit working in us.

Work it out, says Paul. No retirement . . . at least this side of heaven.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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You Know It When You See It

Posted on June 13, 2023 by Pete

Hovering over the first part of Philippians 2 this morning. Noodling on the One who existed in the form of God but did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped. The One who emptied Himself, taking on the likeness of humanity and the essence of a servant. The One who humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death — even to death on a cross. The One who lowered Himself so that the Father might exalt Him (2:6-11).

Meditate on those verses, and they are a source of awe and wonder. But consider them also in their context and they are to be received as a sobering example. For they describe an attitude to be desired and adopted by the follower of Christ (2:5). And at the heart of such an attitude is humility.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.

(Philippians 2:3-4 CSB)

In humility . . .

That’s the operative mindset of the attitude of Christ, humility.

But defining humility can be somewhat evasive. Spelling out exactly what is humility can be a bit of challenge (and, as some have pointed out, whatever you think it is, when you think you have it, at that moment you are in danger of losing it).

Paul would seem to indicate it’s the opposite of “selfish ambition or conceit.” Webster’s kind of in line with that as he defines humility as “freedom from pride or arrogance.” Oxford renders it, “a modest or low view of one’s own importance.” My Greek lexicon breaks it down as: “1) having a humble opinion of one’s self; 2) a deep sense of one’s (moral) littleness; 3) modesty or lowliness of mind.” Perhaps one of the most famous non-technical definitions is the one given us by C.S. Lewis: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”

But as I chew on these verses this morning, it hits me that the Spirit may want me to recognize that humility is less something to be defined and more something to be displayed.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look . . . to the interests of others.

(Philippians 2:3-4 CSB)

Consider others as more important. Look to the interest of others. While I may not know exactly how to explain humility, scriptures are pretty clear on how to recognize it. While I may not be satisfied fully with what it sounds like as defined, it’s pretty clear as to what it looks like when it’s displayed.

I don’t need to make a big deal about going to the back of the line, I just need to let people in in front of me. I don’t need to stop having desires and wants, I just need to count other’s desires and wants as greater than mine. If I let others increase, then by default I’m gonna decrease. Isn’t that why Jesus said the way of the kingdom is to be a servant of all (Mk. 9:35)? I’m thinkin’ . . .

The mind of Christ will be at work in me when, by the sanctifying work and power of the Spirit, the actions of Christ are coming out of me.

So, maybe I fret less about defining humility and ask that the Spirit’s Christ-imaging work in me would lead me to consider others more important than myself, look out for their interests above my own, thus displaying humility.

‘Cause you know it when you see it.

True?

By His grace. For His glory.

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Windows In Heaven (2015 Remix)

Posted on June 12, 2023 by Pete

Gone last week. Was hanging out with some missionaries and shepherds who serve under the banner of Village Missions. They were gathered for a few days of rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation at a mountain-top conference center (aka sketchy wi-fi and no bars on the phone). Together we also remembered God’s faithfulness as we celebrated VM’s 75 years of taking the gospel to, and caring for the local church in rural America. A good week, to be sure.

This morning, after my readings in 2Kings I went back into my journal to see what thoughts I may have jotted down about “windows in heaven” in the past. Could Calvary be a more open window? Thinking not. Here’s a slightly reworked post from 2015.

The situation was desperate. Samaria had been besieged by the king of Syria (2Kings 6:24). Nobody gets out of the city. Nobody gets in. More importantly, nothing gets in. Not food . . . not water . . . nor anything else necessary for sustaining life. What’s more, the siege had occurred during a time of famine in the land so that hyperinflation also seized the city because of lack of supply –“a donkey’s head sold for thirty-four ounces of silver, and a cup of dove’s dung sold for two ounces of silver” (6:25). So, the situation inside the walls went from bad to worse really fast — so much so that mothers were even eating their children (6:28-29). Dark, difficult times. Hopeless times. But it’s in such times, that we’re reminded God can create windows in heaven.

Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says: ‘About this time tomorrow at Samaria’s gate, six quarts of fine flour will sell for a half ounce of silver and twelve quarts of barley will sell for a half ounce of silver.'”

Then the captain, the king’s right-hand man, responded to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?”

(2Kings 7:1-2 CSB)

Twenty-four hours. That’s all it would take, prophecies Elisha. Twenty-four hours for the siege to be lifted and for the supply of food to so outweigh the demand that buying in bulk would only cost shekels. And the king’s captain says, “Really? Impossible! Even if the LORD Himself should make windows in heaven, how could it be?”

Cue the windows. Draw the curtains. Throw open the shutters. Open wide! And watch the glory of God come down!

Bottom line is the LORD spooks the marauding Syrian army. They hear sounds in the night and, thinking them to be mercenary armies somehow hired by Israel, they flee leaving everything behind. Literally, everything is left behind! Horses, donkeys, and tents filled with enough food, clothing, and silver and gold, so that an army could outwait a city (7:6-8). And it’s there for the taking. More than anyone could have imagined. Easier to get than anyone could have thought just twenty-four hours earlier. All because there are windows in heaven.

Incredible story. Unbelievable. Abundance available to everyone who had been in captivity. Nothing they needed to do but leave the safety of the city walls and venture out into the abandoned camp and reap the spoils. How could this be? Windows in heaven.

Sounds like another incredible story. A story of those besieged by sin. Held captive by the lust of their flesh and the darkness of their world. Though unaware of their desperate plight, people trapped and without any means to free themselves — even feeding on themselves, and on others, in order to satisfy a soul hunger that can only be satisfied through windows in heaven.

“I am the bread of life. . . This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

(John 6:48-51 CSB)

The windows of heaven opened. The King of Heaven Himself enters into the famine. So that people might be freed from the siege of sin. And that they might drink of living water in abundance. And feed on the food of eternal life without measure. All without cost to the captive, accessible to all who believe and who, by faith, leave the death-sentence of their “safe city” and wander out to see the LORD’s provision. Provision not found in tents filled with food and money but found in a blood stained cross. Death’s specter removed by an empty tomb. Living bread and living water supplied by a risen, ascended and living Redeemer. Heaven’s best given for sinners such as I. All through windows in heaven.

Oh, what a Savior!

Windows of God’s grace. Windows for God’s glory.

Amen?

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Three Principles for When I Feel Like I Don’t Wanna Get Out of Bed Ever

Posted on June 5, 2023 by Pete

I know, from reading James before in the KJV, that Elijah was “subject to like passions as we are” (James 5:17). I know, from reading James before in the ESV, that Elijah was “a man with a nature like ours.” I know that the great prophet who stood up to King Ahab, the one who took on 450 prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel with a pyrotechnics performance never before seen on earth, that, from reading James before, he was just a human being, a guy wired much like me. And I know, from reading 1Kings this morning, that Elijah was done!

When [Elijah] came to Beer-sheba that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there, but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! LORD, take my life, for I’m no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree.

(1Kings 19:3b-5a CSB)

I’ve had enough! Take me home, Lord! My accomplishments count for nothing. I don’t have it in me to try again. I’m just going to lay here and sleep the sleep of the depressed. Not getting out of bed until forever.

Heavy sigh! A man subject to like passions as we are. In a word, relatable.

So, I take note of three commands found in this passage. Not commands like “The Big Ten” from Mt. Sinai, but more down to earth commands for those subject to like passions. And in noting those commands, they form some principles which I think could apply to the rest of us with a nature like Elijah’s who was “human just like us” (MSG).

Suddenly, an angel touched him. The angel told him, “Get up and eat.” Then he looked, and there at his head was a loaf of bread baked over hot stones, and a jug of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the LORD returned for a second time and touched him. He said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” So he got up, ate, and drank. Then on the strength from that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. He entered a cave there and spent the night. . . .

Then [the LORD] said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the LORD’s presence.” At that moment, the Lord passed by . . .

Then the LORD said to him, “Go and return by the way you came.” . . .

(1Kings 19:5b-9, 11a, 15a CSB)

Get up and eat. Go out and stand. Go and return. A three-course meal this morning.

Depression is not a sin nor a shameful weakness . . . it’s what comes with being “subject to like passions.” It is the frailty of the flesh encountering the immensity of life. And sometimes, you’re just done. Wanna call it a day. Crawl into bed and tell everyone to wake you up never.

But if there’s something in this passage to help with how to combat that inevitability (and I think there is), then it’s worth noting for the next time I can’t seem to get out of bed.

Not to be overly simplistic with a complex issue, but at the heart of what’s here, could the principles at play here be: 1) give attention to your physical self — Get Up and Eat; 2) then attend to your spiritual self — Go Out and Stand; 3) and do so with the intent to trust God again with all yourself — Go and Return? I’m thinkin’ there could be.

There’s a lot that can be invoked to make sure we are seeking to be healthy physically. Everything from enough water, a proper diet, and a daily walk, to addressing chemical imbalances through some sort of supplements. Equally, go out and stand in the presence of God might engage everything from solitude and prayer to crowded fellowship around the word. And going and returning? Well, only as we discern the will of God, and trust the will of God, will we know what those paths look like.

Again, so cautious about being too simplistic. Just some high-level, simple principles here while recognizing that the deeper we are in “being done” the more complex the details for addressing the physical and spiritual needs so that eventually we become “undone.”

But for this morning, Get up and eat; Go out and stand; and Go and return are the principles of encouragement I’m taking into the day.

Glad I got out of bed.

And that, by God’s grace. And that, for God’s glory.

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Give Me Understanding

Posted on June 2, 2023 by Pete

The songwriter appeals to the One who made him to help him. Give me understanding, he pleads, help me figure this out and to trust you as I do.

Your hands made me and formed me;
give me understanding
so that I can learn Your commands.

(Psalm 119:73 CSB)

In this section of David’s ode of love to the word of God, stanza 10 of 22, I wonder if his opening plea isn’t so much about understanding the meaning of God’s word but rather understanding how to apply God’s word. For, he also asks God to “comfort me” (v.76) and beckons, “May Your compassion come to me” (v.77), even as he declares “for I put my hope in Your word” (v.74b). So, what’s going down that’s causing the psalmist to look up?

Let the arrogant be put to shame
for slandering me with lies;
I will meditate on Your precepts.

(Psalms 119:78 CSB)

Slandered. Lied about. Put to shame. I listened to an audiobook last year, For Shame: Rediscovering the Virtue of a Maligned Emotion, where the author, Greg Ten Elshof, defines shame as the loss of social capital within a community you care about. Because of what had been said about him, the psalmist seems to have lost the esteem of the community he refers to as “those who fear You” and “those who know Your decrees”, so he longs that they would again see him and rejoice with him and turn to him (v.74, v.79). But while that is his hope, it does not appear to be his reality as he pens this stanza. And so, he pleads to the One who made him, “Give me understanding.”

Shamed. Disregarded, at least by some. And what does the songwriter do? Turns to the word. “I put my hope in Your word” (v.74). “Your instruction is my delight” (v. 77). “I will meditate on Your precepts” (v.78). What does the songwriter desire? “May my heart be blameless regarding Your statutes” (v.80).

So, what drives someone slandered falsely to cast themselves into God’s word unreservedly? A desire to understand, it would seem. But what is it he wants to make sense of? I’m thinking it’s centered on the verse I’m particularly chewing on this morning.

I know, Lord, that Your judgments are just
and that You have afflicted me fairly.

(Psalms 119:75 CSB)

Slandered by liars, yet believing he has also been afflicted fairly by the Lord. Noodle on that for a bit. No wonder his cry is, “Give me understanding!”

God was not the author of the slander, nor did He evoke the lies, but He would permit the hardship and harness it for His purposes. He would allow the shame in order to sanctify His saint. And the remedy for the injustice suffered by the songwriter? God’s justice. The balm for the shame? The Word illuminated by the Spirit.

So, give me understanding.

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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Beware the Hospitality of Bethel

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Pete

1Kings 13 is a head-scratcher.

A prophet from Judah, “a man of God”, is told to go to Bethel and cry out against the altar, the idolatry, and the man-made religion established there by Jeroboam, king of the northern kingdom, Israel. The prophet does so. And, he does so faithfully and fearlessly. So confident is he that he has acted in obedience to the word of the Lord that he refuses any attempt by the rogue king to compromise him by offering him some hospitality and a taste of the fruits of Bethel’s corrupt culture.

Then the king declared to the man of God, “Come home with me, refresh yourself, and I’ll give you a reward.”

But the man of God replied, “If you were to give me half your house, I still wouldn’t go with you, and I wouldn’t eat food or drink water in this place, for this is what I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat food or drink water or go back the way you came.’ ” So he went another way; he did not go back by the way he had come to Bethel.

(1Kings 13:7-10 CSB)

So far, so good.

Until a certain old prophet living in Bethel (aka a corrupted citizen of Bethel himself) intercepts the prophet from Judah as he’s leaving and says, “Come to my house for dinner.” The prophet from Judah stands his ground, “No way! God told me to not eat or drink of this place and to leave in a way different from how I came. That’s what I’m doing.” But the old prophet from Bethel deceives God’s man from Judah.

He said to him, “I am also a prophet like you. An angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat food and drink water.’ ” The old prophet deceived him, and the man of God went back with him, ate food in his house, and drank water.

(1Kings 13:18-19 CSB)

And here’s where it get’s hard for the reader. As they are eating together at the table, (aka the “smoking gun” is in the prophet from Judah’s hands) the old man really does get a word from the Lord.

. . . and the prophet cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because you rebelled against the Lord’s command and did not keep the command that the Lord your God commanded you ​— ​but you went back and ate food and drank water in the place that he said to you, “Do not eat food and do not drink water” — your corpse will never reach the grave of your ancestors.’ ”

(1 Kings 13:21-22 CSB)

And his corpse didn’t. After leaving the old man’s house, the prophet from Judah is attacked and killed by a lion on his way back to Judah, and his dead body, though divinely protected (aka not eaten by the lion but instead guarded by the lion), is buried in Bethel.

Crazy! How harsh! He was lied to, after all! So, what’s the lesson to be learned (1Cor. 10:6)?

I don’t know exactly. Bottom line though, is that the prophet from Judah did disobey, he did rebel against what the Lord had expressly told him not to do. Yes, he was deceived. Yet, I guess he got what he deserved.

But did the deception only serve to reveal something of his heart’s desire? While he decried Bethel, he still partook of the fruits of Bethel. His was a tale as old as time itself — Bethel was his tree in the garden (Gen. 2:15-16, 3:1-7). While he knew the word of the Lord, he then listened to a deceiver, ate of the fruit, and he died.

Even if you know Bethel is corrupt, even if you stand up and say Bethel is idolatrous, beware the temptation of the hospitality of Bethel. Heed the word of the Lord you have received and stand fast upon it.

And thank God we don’t get what we deserve. Thank God that Jesus paid the price for our desire to dabble in the idolatry and the corruption of Bethel even when we seek to stand against it. Thank God that if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins (1Jn. 1:9).

Only by God’s grace. Always for God’s glory.

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