Communion Amidst Confusion

Posted on February 14, 2023 by Pete

“My soul is cast down within me” (ESV), sounds so poetic. “I am deeply depressed” (CSB), seems so much more connective. To speak of having a cast down soul sounds somewhat dramatic (cue the back of the hand to the forehead). To confessing to being deeply depressed seems more pragmatic (think unable to get out of bed in the morning).

I’m hovering over Psalm 42 this morning, a song written and composed by the sons of Korah. A song about dealing with depression.

It starts off familiar enough.

As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so I long for you, God.

(Psalm 42:1 CSB)

Singing about a deer that panteth for water back in the mid-80’s evokes pleasant memories. One of the praise choruses (as we called them) that warmed the heart, closed the eyes, and turned the face toward heaven. Rarely, if ever, do I recall singing the song as a response to being depressed. But according to the sons of Korah, it’s a salve appropriately applied in depths of sorrow.

When tears have been your food day and night (v.3); when memories of happier times with God’s people break open your heart (v.4); when the voices of your enemies are oppressively amplified (v.10); when the only conclusion your dejected soul can muster is that God, my rock has forgotten me (v.9); then is the time for faith to offset the sense of failure that sweeps over you as “breakers” and “billows” in a deep, deep sea (v.7).

Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.

(Psalm 42:5b and 11b CSB)

Twice this is the songwriters’ command to the dejected soul. Twice this is wielded as the weapon of what you know to be true against the debilitating weariness of what you feel to be true. I will still praise Him, for He is a saving God. He is a delivering God. He is an unchanging, promise-keeping, able to rescue God. Thus, I will hope in God. Still, I will praise Him.

Arid seasons have a way of creating a thirst for God. Tears day and night have a way of opening up a whole new appreciation for God’s 24/7 provision.

The Lord will send His faithful love by day;
His song will be with me in the night—
a prayer to the God of my life.

(Psalm 42:8 CSB)

By day, awareness of mercies that are new every morning. At night, the assurance of His goodness from the songs that run through your head after the lights are out. This, available through faith’s determination, is the fruit of communion amidst confusion. It’s the evidence that God has not forgotten me but is, in fact, the God of my life. All of my life — the seasons of soaring and the seasons of sorrow.

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Dead Man Alive

Posted on February 13, 2023 by Pete

Felix, the Roman governor of Judea, was well informed about had become known as “the Way” (Acts 24:22). His successor, Festus, not so much. Though he would not release Paul for fear of the Jews, Felix would hear Paul repeatedly (24:26b) on matters concerning “the subject of faith in Christ Jesus” (24:24). Two years later, Festus would also hear Paul because, though Felix was gone, Paul was still there in prison. And so, Festus himself heard the case against Paul presented again by his accusers. And, at the end of the day, he was “at a loss” as to what to do with “a dispute over such things” (Acts 25:20). A dispute over what kind of things?

. . . they [the chief priests and elders of the Jews] had some disagreements with him [Paul] about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, a dead man Paul claimed to be alive.

(Acts 25:19 ESV)

Jesus, a dead man alive. No wonder poor Festus was at such a loss.

For all the legitimate and eloquent ways we might present the gospel, doesn’t it sort of come down to this — Jesus was a dead man who now is alive? At the root of the good news is a promised Messiah, a substitutionary and atoning death, and an empty burial spot. Empty not because He was moved to another spot where His body returned to the earth, but empty because He rose from the grave, is alive, and has ascended to heaven.

Sounds crazy if you step back. But isn’t it the core?

. .  and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.. . . if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

(1Corinthians 15:14, 17 CSB)

A dead man alive. The foundation of our faith. If that is true, then He is to be believed and the Scriptures which testify of Him are to be received.

Chewing on the wonder of the resurrection this morning. He is alive!

And because He is alive, when He says that the atoning work sufficient to save my soul is finished (Jn. 19:30), it is! Because He is alive, when He says that I will live too (Jn. 14:19), I will. Because He is alive, when He says that He will live in me and through me (Gal. 2:20), He will. All because a dead man — the man Christ Jesus, Immanuel, God come in flesh — is alive.

Oh, what a Savior!

What grace to not be at a loss over such things, but in wonder and worship over such things.

To God be the glory!

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He Spoke

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Pete

He had become “the taunt of fools” (v.8). And he knew it was best to keep his mouth shut (v.1). Yet, his “pain intensified” (v.2). His “heart grew hot” within him as the more he thought about it the more “a fire burned” (v.3). Finally, like a volcano that could contain the pressure of the steam building within it no more, he blew. He spoke. And what I’m chewing on this morning is to whom he spoke and of what he spoke.

David was being scorned by fools. As Peterson puts it he suffered under the “contempt of dunces.” He was hammered by the reproaches of those who, in the original, were nabal (Rings a bell? Check out 1Samuel 25, particularly verse 25, “His name is Nabal and stupidity is all he knows”). But rather than try and deal with their stupidity and foolishness, he kept silent. But when he could keep silent no longer, he spoke. Yet, not to his accusers but to the Lord. How come?

First, by looking into the face of Him who is eternal, it gave him perspective on the temporal.

“Lord, make me aware of my end
and the number of my days
so that I will know how short-lived I am.
In fact, You have made my days just inches long,
and my life span is as nothing to You.
Yes, every human being stands as only a vapor. Selah”

(Psalm 39:4-5 CSB)

His days were short, thus the season of suffering would be short. While the suffering was real, while it was consuming too much of “the vapor” of his life, in terms of eternity it measured just fractions of an inch. While weeping would last for a night, joy would come in the morning (Ps. 30:5). And in the grand scheme of eternity, morning was coming soon.

Second, he knew that while the accusations were from those without sense, he was not without fault himself. In some manner, his fleshly weakness had, it seems, provided fuel for these fools’ fire.

“Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.
Rescue me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the taunt of fools”.

(Psalm 39:7-8 CSB)

He owned his sin. Thus, he looked to the only One who could rescue him, not only from his accusers, but most importantly from himself.

For finally, he knew that whatever was happening to him was happening according to the permissive will of the One in whom He hoped. It was being allowed by the God who works all things — even purifying crucible types of things — together for good for those who love Him (Rom 8:28). That those the Lord loves, He disciplines (Heb. 12:6) and that, while so painful in the season, if he would submit himself to the Lord’s “angry gaze” (v.13) concerning his sin, he would benefit from sharing in the Lord’s holiness as it yielded the fruit of peace and righteousness (Heb. 12:10-11).

“I am speechless; I do not open my mouth
because of what You have done.
Remove Your torment from me.
Because of the force of Your hand I am finished.
You discipline a person with punishment for iniquity,
consuming like a moth what is precious to him;
yes, every human being is only a vapor. Selah”

(Psalm 39:9-11 CSB)

The spark that ignited his suffering was struck by fools. Yet the fire that was lit made him aware of his own sin. And so, when words could be contained no longer, he turned to the One in whom was his hope. And, he spoke.

“Hear my prayer, Lord,
and listen to my cry for help;
do not be silent at my tears.”

(Psalm 39:12a CSB)

By God’s grace. For the psalmist’s good. For God’s glory.

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He Had a Family

Posted on February 9, 2023 by Pete

Paul had a sister. Who knew? We do, because God wants us to know. All Scripture is God-breathed.

But the son of Paul’s sister, hearing about their ambush, came and entered the barracks and reported it to Paul.

(Acts 23:16 CSB)

Paul had a sister. And his sister had a son. And somehow this son was in Jerusalem. Maybe he lived there with his mom and dad or, as some have speculated, maybe he was following in his uncle’s footsteps and was in Jerusalem for religious instruction. This young man may have been tagged as a potential up-and-comer in the ranks of the Pharisee as, like his uncle, he too was known to be “zealous for God” and thus was being “educated according to the strict view of the patriarchal law” (Acts 22:3). That might explain how he had become aware of the plot to ambush and kill Paul by some within the Sanhedrin, the counsel of elite Jewish priests, scribes, and other leaders.

So, talk about your right person in the right place at the right time. Access to the Sanhedrin grapevine because of his pedigree, access to Paul because of his genealogy, and under the radar because of his immaturity (that this young man was perhaps more of a young boy is indicated in verse 19 where the Spirit records that the Roman commander “took him by the hand” to lead him to a private space to talk).

But it isn’t the “serendipitous” nature of what was obviously orchestrated by a sovereign God that causes me to pause. Rather, I’m chewing on the fact that Paul had a sister. Paul had a nephew. Paul had a family. And I’m thinking about what it may have been like for them to have Paul as part of their family.

Was he, at first, regarded as that crazy uncle who went off the rails after that trip to Damascus? The one who did the 180? The one who had thrown everything he had worked so hard for away in order to preach a resurrected Jesus as the promised Messiah? The one who started associating regularly with . . . gasp . . . the Gentiles?!? You know, the one who, for the sake of the foolishness of the gospel, had accepted rejection from his community, even to the point of beatings, lashings, and once a stoning (2Cor. 11:23-25)? Yeah, what were they thinking about what he seemed to be thinking?

Paul had a family. Those on the periphery of his life who watched his life. Relatives who, though they had relatively little to do with his day-to-day itinerary, were nevertheless impacted by it. Watching from the wings, they drew conclusions about the way he walked. Paul, while a witness to many throughout the known world at that time by what he preached from the pulpit, was also a witness to his sister, and to her son, by what he preached through his life. He had a family.

Not sure I’m going anywhere with it, but somehow seems right to be chewing on it.

Word of God speak.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Just As the Lord Commanded

Posted on February 8, 2023 by Pete

Think of those who walked out of Egypt behind Moses and, most often, you think of those who stumbled in the wilderness. Not much to show from that generation when they entered the promised land. In fact, not much of that generation to show as only two of those twenty years and older would cross the finish line (or the starting line, depending on how you look at it) into Canaan.

But as I wrap up Exodus this morning, a phrase repeated again and again reminds me that what they did get right was the tabernacle.

The Israelites had done all the work according to everything the Lord had commanded Moses.  Moses inspected all the work they had accomplished. They had done just as the Lord commanded. Then Moses blessed them.

(Exodus 39:42-43 CSB)

Just as the Lord commanded. Or, just as the Lord had commanded. It rings out 17 times in the closing chapters of Exodus. A ton of gold, 7.5 tons of silver, over 5 tons of bronze, all fashioned into a portable dwelling where the glory of God would be seen. Specially woven garments fit not just for a king, but for the priests of heaven’s King, fashioned according to spec so that set apart men might be arrayed in holy garments befitting their holy duty.

While they may have missed the mark in so many other ways, when it came to the tabernacle and the priestly garments, if there’s anything the Spirit wants us to know, it’s that they had done just as the Lord commanded.

How come? To offset all the times and all the ways they didn’t do as the Lord commanded? So that they might have some lasting legacy from their wilderness experience? So they had something to boast in? I don’t think so.

I’m thinking it might have something to do with how important the tabernacle would become in atoning for their failure. How vital that a man could enter the holy of holies and spread the blood needed to cleanse a people of their transgressions. How essential it would be that God would have a place set apart in order to be the holy, holy, holy God who could dwell in their unholy midst. Getting this right, would, quite literally, cover a multitude of sin. Not because they did the work of building it, but because, by God’s grace, it would be used of God to do the work of redeeming them.

And most importantly, because it would point to something greater that would provide a greater redemption.

A better tabernacle in which God would be with us. A better High Priest to go before God for us. A better sacrifice to be offered, once forever, to God in place of us.

Jesus came, just as the Lord commanded.

God knew the wilderness provision could never be the final provision, but He wanted it to point to the One who would be.

“Moses finished the work” (Ex. 40:33), just as God had commanded, and it provided a picture of something to come. Christ, the better Moses, Himself became the fulfillment of that picture in the wilderness. And He too, through the cross of Calvary, would finish a work, just as God had commanded. Making the way of redemption and eternal life available for all you believe.

And believe we must in order to be saved. Just as the Lord commanded.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Keep It Cool

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Pete

Up until this morning, I would have said it was one of my favorite psalms. But a light goes on as I hover over David’s song and I realize that it’s more like a psalm that contains some of my favorite verses.

Trust in the Lord and do what is good;
dwell in the land and live securely.
Take delight in the Lord,
and He will give you your heart’s desires.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in Him, and He will act . . .
Be silent before the Lord 
and wait expectantly for Him . . .
Wait for the Lord and keep His way,
and He will exalt you to inherit the land.

(Psalm 37:3-5, 7a, 34a CSB)

Trust, delight, commit, be silent, and wait. A set of verses that have been familiar since they were first brought before me in a sermon I heard decades ago as a young man. Favorite verses. Yet, as I realize this morning, most often plucked out of context and applied as needed (especially the “delight yourself” one).

So what turned the light on this morning? Again, a rendering of the original unique to the CSB. A thrice-repeated command that I think I have usually overlooked in the past. Whereas previously I might have skimmed past “fret”, this morning I’m arrested by “agitated.”

Do not be agitated by evildoers
do not envy those who do wrong. . .
do not be agitated by one
who prospers in his way . . .
Refrain from anger and give up your rage:
do not be agitated — it can only bring harm.

(Psalm 37:1, 7b, 8 CSB)

Agitated. Seems more intense than “fret”, the rendering in the ESV, NASB, NIV, and NKJV. Literally, “don’t get yourself all heated up.” Don’t “glow”, don’t “burn”, don’t be vexed unto anger. Or, perhaps putting it another way, do the opposite, keep it cool.

A command to obey. Repeated three times — that’s like shouting in Scripture. So obey it. Don’t be agitated. Keep it cool.

The context? That’s what makes the difference between favorite verses and a most helpful psalm, the context. And the context is instruction on how to respond to an injustice. Not the sort of injustice that finds you getting the short end of the stick, but the kind of injustice when someone pokes you in the eye with the stick. You’ve been wronged with a grievous wrong. Slandered with reckless slander. Disgraced at large with disinformation. So, what are you gonna do?

Well, start first with what you’re not gonna do. Do not be agitated. Do not fret. Do not get all worked up and, if you do, don’t stay all worked up. And how are you not gonna do that? Keep it cool. And just how you supposed to do that? Cue my favorite verses.

Trust in the Lord. Delight yourself in the Lord. Commit your way to the Lord. Be silent (or still) before the Lord. Wait for the Lord. These, it seems to me, are the “to do’s” when you’ve been wronged. Your focus rather than brooding over the injustice. Your conscious actions instead of thinking you can somehow bring about justice.

Keeping it cool happens when I trust, delight, commit, be still and wait for the One who ensures justice to bring about justice. In His time, even when it’s not fast enough for me. And, in His way, even if that way involves the pouring out of grace and love where grace and love aren’t deserved. (Thank God, for grace and love being poured out on those who don’t deserve it . . . of whom I am chief).

Hmm . . . Do not be agitated. Perhaps easier said than done. But I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Php. 4:13). Yes?

Keep it cool.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Cripple-Con

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Pete

Not much to look at, really. Nothing much to behold — unless it was because of some morbid fascination — just the lame, the blind, the crippled, along with those unable to speak. Cripple-Con, a gathering of the needy, the marginalized, those voted least to succeed at anything. And at the center of their gathering? Jesus.

They put them at His feet, and He healed them. So the crowd was amazed when they saw those unable to speak talking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they gave glory to the God of Israel.

(Matthew 15:30b-31 CSB)

A large crowd came to Jesus. A diverse set of people, yet a common desire. To see their children, their parents, their friends, and loved ones healed by the hand of Jesus.

And see it they did. Mute people talking. Lame people walking. Blind people seeing. Crippled people made sound in body. And what did they do besides talking, walking, seeing, and trying out their newly restored faculties? They gave glory to the God of Israel.

Being made whole has a way of doing that to you, it seems. Remember the response of the man who was lame from birth after his encounter with Peter and John in Acts 3?

But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong.  So he jumped up and started to walk, and he entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.

(Acts 3:6-8 CSB)

I too go regularly to my own kind of Cripple-Con. A Sunday morning assembly of those who themselves were once blind, deaf, mute, and crippled in heart and spirit. Blind people seeing the Word as it is displayed on the screen. Deaf people hearing the Word as it is proclaimed from the pulpit. People once unable to utter the language of the kingdom calling out to the God of heaven knowing He hears their voice. Those who were once darkness, crippled to their core by sin, now people of light, born again of sound soul, spirit, and mind. And, along with everything else, at this Cripple-Con they come together to give glory to God.

If for no other reason than as a reminder of whence we came, the people of God should frequently jump up and use once lame legs to enter the temple of God to be with those who have also known the healing touch of Jesus. We should gather, if no other reason than to be reminded through the preaching of the word and the proclamation of the gospel that we too were once deaf but now we hear, were once blind but now we see. If no other reason — though can there be any better reason? — than to give glory to God and praise His wonderful name, we should raise our once muted voices together in worship and praise His name.

Those who gather little I fear may have come to appreciate little the privilege of being made whole through the finished work of the cross. May have come to take for granted eyes that now see, ears that now hear, and a voice that now speaks. May have become discouraged by others who, like them, are still a work in progress, being made fully whole when faith in Jesus gives way to being face-to-face with Jesus.

Cripple-Con. For the blind who see and are yet to see perfectly. For the deaf who hear and will one day hear perfectly. For the lame who walk and will soon and very soon walk perfectly.

For sinners made whole only His by grace. Who come together longing foremost only to give Him glory.

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Account Settled

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Pete

They had “acted corruptly” (v.7), had “turned away” from the way the LORD God had commanded them (v.8). They had bowed down to a golden idol of their own making and declared it to be the god who had delivered them from Egypt (v.8). The LORD indicts them as “stiff-necked” people (v.9), Aaron confesses they are a people “intent on evil” (v.22), and Moses three times calls out their behavior for what it is, “a grave sin” (v. 21, 30, 31). Bottom line? When Moses came down off the mount they were “out of control” (v.25).

Chew on Exodus 32 for a bit and it sends shivers down your back. Only 40 days earlier, at the base of Sinai, they had declared, “We will do and obey all that the LORD has commanded” (Ex. 24:7). Forty days later they danced around a “god besides Me” that God had commanded them not to have. They partied before an idol they were commanded not to make for themselves, for the LORD their God was “a jealous God” (Ex. 20:3-4).

But the shivers running down your back turn icy cold as you come to the end of the chapter and read about “the day”.

The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me I will erase from My book. Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about; see, My angel will go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will hold them accountable for their sin.”

(Exodus 32:33-34 CSB)

The latter part of verse 34 pops, partly because the CSB wording is different than the ESV I’m accustomed to. The ESV says it’s the day “when I visit.” A little more subtle than the day “I settle accounts.” In the ESV, on that day God will “visit their sin upon them” as, according to the CSB, He holds them accountable for their sin.

Settling accounts. That’s what I’m chewing on. Every person accountable for every action. A day when God visits and says let’s talk about your life and how you lived it in light of what you knew about your Creator. (Did I mention shivers down the spine?)

Moses knew their only hope was if he could perhaps atone for their sin (v.30). If he could find a way that a just and holy God could in holiness and justice declare their transgression paid for in full by someone other than themselves. If it was left to themselves to settle accounts, it wasn’t going to turn out well. Their debt was more than they could pay.

So, I meditate on the stiff necks and hard hearts at the core of a people making and worshiping a golden calf; and I linger in the shivers of imagining out of control, grave sin; and I dread the thought of anyone standing before God on a day when the accounts are settled. Not to wallow in the woe they deserve, but to wonder afresh in the reality that, while I have been more like them than perhaps I’d care to admit, my account has been settled.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

(Romans 8:1-4 CSB)

No condemnation. God intervening to do what the law, because of the weakness of my flesh, could not. The Father sending the Son as my once forever sin offering, and not just for me but for all who believe. My accountability eternally dealt with. The law’s requirement forever met. Account settled.

Hallelujah! What a Savior.

Only by His amazing grace. Only for His all-deserving glory.

Amen?

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Our Personal Purpose Statement

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Pete

He was on his way to Jerusalem. How come? He was compelled by the Spirit. That’s a good thing, yes? Hmm . . . depends how you wanna define good.

While he knew that he was bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, he didn’t know what he would encounter there. Okay, so at least that’s a benign thing . . . a 50/50, could be good or bad thing . . . an it-might-work-out-okay thing? Hmm . . . probably not.

Because what the Spirit had also made clear to Paul was that “in every town . . . chains and afflictions are waiting for me” (Acts 20:22-23). Okay . . . now that’s definitely NOT a good thing, right? Hmm . . . not necessarily. Depends, apparently, on your purpose.

“But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.”

(Acts 20:24 CSB)

This morning, I’m chewing on Paul’s personal “purpose statement.” Wanna know how Paul viewed his life’s mission? Want insight as to how Paul defined success? Want a bit of inspiration through some divine illumination? Want a bit of conviction on the sort of scales one should be using to measure what’s ultimately good or bad in life? Acts 20:24 probably isn’t a bad spot over which to hover and meditate.

In an age where our culture says our goal in life should be to find ourselves and express ourselves in order to fully realize ourselves, Paul — whose been known to be counter-cultural at times — would indicate that our life’s mission might best be found in losing ourselves in being faithful stewards of what the Lord Jesus has given us to do. Even if it means going to Jerusalem knowing that what awaits us are chains and afflictions.

Could it be that flourishing in life really is found by forsaking our lives? Yeah, could be . . . if you believe Jesus.

“Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.” ~ Jesus

(John 12:25 NLT)

Paul valued his life, after all he was an image-bearer of God. But the value was not in how it was ultimately invested in himself, but in how it was stewarded in the context of the ministry Jesus had given him. His mission was not to fully cater to himself, but to faithfully consecrate himself to Jesus.

Sure, we don’t all have the same Damascus Road experience that Paul did, clearly defining the course (and consequences) Jesus had purposed for him (Acts 9:1-15), but we do all have a course. Each of us has a ministry from the Lord Jesus. It’s found as we give ourselves to the Scriptures instruction. It’s formed as we yield ourselves to the Spirit’s leading. It’s realized as, by faith and through His enabling, we too aspire to a personal purpose statement to finish the course we’ve received from the Lord Jesus.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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Clothes Make the Man

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Pete

According to a blog I came across, its origins go back to the 1500’s. Apparently a theologian, Catholic priest was the first to note, “vestis virum facit” meaning “clothes make the man.” Mark Twain would expand on it some 400 years later in his short story, The Czar’s Soliloquy: “[One] realizes that without his clothes a man would be nothing at all; that the clothes do not merely make the man, the clothes are the man; that without them he is a cipher, a vacancy, a nobody, a nothing . . . There is no power without clothes.”

There is no power without clothes. True, apparently, according to Twain who was known towards the end of his career for his white suits, but true also according to Moses who was known during the latter part of his life for speaking for God.

“Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and beauty. You are to instruct all the skilled artisans, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make Aaron’s garments for consecrating him to serve me as priest. These are the garments that they must make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a specially woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons so that they may serve Me as priests.”

(Exodus 28:2-24 CSB)

The priesthood was going to be a pretty big deal for post-exilic Israel. When it came to representing God to the people and bringing the people before God, it was not something that just anyone could do, nor was it a role that could be fulfilled in just any way. What’s more, it certainly couldn’t be done with just any old clothes on. For Aaron and those who would follow in his footsteps, they could only serve as priests on earth before God in heaven if they were clothed in holy garments. In a sense, they too had no power without the right clothes.

This morning, I’m chewing on what the LORD had Moses record concerning priestly garments. And I’m doing so through the filter that I too am a member of a holy priesthood foreshadowed by Aaron & Sons (1Peter 2:5). So, if they needed special garments in order to enter where they were to enter and do what they were to do, and that without dying (Ex. 28:35), then I’m reminded that I too need to be clothed with holy garments in order to access my privilege and fulfill my calling. Reminded that for me too, the clothes make the man.

Not clothes I can manufacture. Not garments that I merit. Nevertheless, gifted with holy garments for glory and beauty.

I rejoice greatly in the Lord,
I exult in my God;
for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation
and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness,
as a groom wears a turban
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

(Isaiah 61:10 CSB)

Garments of salvation and a robe of righteousness provided by the Father Himself through the finished work of His Son. The glory and beauty of Christ covering my redeemed, yet still being renewed self. Clothes fitting for a new man in Christ which I can put on each day even as I battle to put off the filthy rags of the flesh clinging to the old man. The holiness of Christ credited to my account, draped upon my shoulders, adorning me so that I might too enter the holy of holies and fulfill my calling as part of the priesthood of believers.

Worthy of such clothes? Nope. But am I wearing the right clothes? Do I have the clothes needed to make this man? You bet!

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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