The A,B,C’s and Slavery

Posted on May 17, 2022 by Pete

Continuing to work my way through Paul’s letter to the Galatians. He’s frustrated with his children in the faith (4:19). Having been saved by grace they are being persuaded to now rely on their good works. Having known redemption from the bondage of the weakness of their flesh, they are being convinced that external religion is the way to freedom. Instead says Paul, by going back to their religious A,B,C’s they ran the risk of being trapped again in slavery.

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?

(Galatians 4:8-9 ESV)

The weak and worthless elementary principles of the world. That’s what I’m chewing on.

For the Jew in the congregation, the world was the world of the Mosaic law. The elementary principles were practices distinguishing them from the rest of the nations. Yet practices which, though they set them apart as holy, could never produce holiness in them. Practices which, while looking like righteous living, could never justify them through their own righteousness. Practices which, even with their best efforts, showed only that they needed more than practices to walk in freedom. They needed the good news of a Savior come through whom, and in whom, they could be justified by faith.

For the Gentile, their A,B,C’s of spirituality had always been about what they could do to appease their gods and so, they were happy to tack on legalistic lessons from those who preached a gospel of Jesus+. Jesus + circumcision. Jesus + adherence to dietary laws. Jesus + observance of various “days and months and seasons and years” (4:10).

Paul makes clear that resting on the A,B,C’s of religion is no way to grow in your redemption. To settle for pious practices is to settle for a phony freedom.

Instead, freedom is found in the pursuit of growing into our adoption (4:4-7). No longer is it about doing the basics right in order to feel righteous. Instead, it’s about growing in righteousness because we have been made right with God. Adopted as children of God. Deemed coheirs with Christ. Indwelt by the Spirit of Christ so that we could know the practical reality of “Christ formed in you” (4:19).

To settle for the basics, the bare minimum, the A,B,C’s of pious, go-through-the-motions practices is to settle for nothing. Worse yet, it is to surrender to a form of bondage that also blinds us. Thinking we are growing in Christ we are actually atrophying. And that to the point where we are back to where we began. Slaves once more.

Oh, beware the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world.

We have been saved to be saved. Set apart to be sanctified. Deemed holy to be holy. Credited with righteousness to grow in righteousness. Begun by the Spirit, to be completed by the Spirit. Received by faith, finished by faith. And that, a faith which pursues the things of God in the power of God according to the will of God.

All by the grace of God.

All for the glory of God.

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A Pop Quiz

Posted on May 13, 2022 by Pete

Took the pop quiz in Galatians 3 this morning. Here are my answers:

  1. By hearing with faith
  2. No
  3. No
  4. No
  5. By hearing with faith

Here are the questions:

Let me ask you only this:
(1) Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
(2) Are you so foolish?
(3) Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
(4) Did you suffer so many things in vain —  if indeed it was in vain?
(5) Does He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith — just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

(Galatians 3:2-6 ESV)

Okay, I know that Paul meant these as rhetorical questions and wasn’t looking for explicit answers. But this morning, as I’m hovering over this passage, I whisper out loud the answer to each of them. And I’m pretty sure I got them all right.

But the prize isn’t getting 100% on the quiz. Instead, it’s realized in being reminded that not only are those who are justified and declared righteous saved by faith, but that the righteous shall also live by faith (Gal. 3:11).

Full disclosure — I may have aced the test in theory, but my work in the lab classes of life so often results in a less than perfect score. Too often I look to the flesh for what only the Spirit can do. Too often I find my identity tied to how much I can muster up living like a son of God rather than resting in the truth that, because of Christ’s finished work on the cross and Christ’s on-going work inside of me, my “authentic self” is already a done deal. I am a child of God before I ever tried to live like one. I have already been given the Spirit of adoption and that’s why I want to cry, “Abba Father” (Rom. 8:15). And that, see question 1, by faith.

. . . for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

(Galatians 3:26 ESV)

One more question. Two more answers.

Why me?

By God’s grace alone. For God’s glory alone.

Aced it, again!

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Brothers

Posted on May 12, 2022 by Pete

Not sure that what I’m starting will end up being cohesive as there’s a number of thoughts running around in my head as a I chew on the aftermath of David’s sin with Bathsheba in 2Samuel 12.

First, Solomon had an older brother. An innocent baby conceived out of lust, by an abuse of power, followed by a treacherous, murderous cover up. A baby who had been allotted but seven days of life on earth as a consequence of David’s sin. Though literally “brought forth in iniquity” and conceived in sin (Ps. 51:5), while born a sinner by nature as are we all, too young to have done anything himself which deserved the consequence of sin. A reminder that the effects of sin are often felt beyond just the sinner. That in the wake of sin there is often untold damage and destruction.

And yet even in the darkness of sin’s collateral damage, a transcendent reminder of hope.

“While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” ~ David

(2Samuel 12:22-23 ESV)

I shall go to him. David aware that while his son preceded him in death, he would follow. Follow to the grave where his body was. Yet follow also to heaven and eternal happiness, where his son’s soul was. For to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2Cor. 5:8).

But why should a despicable sinner like David have such hope? How could it be right? How could it be just? While the consequence and death destruction were painfully present, so was the promise that David’s sin had been permanently dealt with.

David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”

(2Samuel 12:13 ESV)

The all-knowing, holy, holy, holy God of all mankind didn’t overlook the sin. He didn’t ignore the sin or brush the sin under the carpet. He didn’t arbitrarily decide it wasn’t that big a sin. But neither did God, who in Himself is steadfast love, deem it too big a sin. And that because He had determined to put away the sin.

Literally, He passed over the sin. Just as the angel of death passed over the Israelites on that fateful night when they covered their homes with the blood of an innocent and pure sacrifice, so too God passed over David’s sin as He looked beyond David’s time and place to a time and place yet to come. A time when His Son would come to earth as the once for all eternal sacrifice for sin. A place on a hill outside of Jerusalem where a Roman cross would become heaven’s altar to receive the payment for the debt of David’s sin. And so, a righteous God could declare David justified. Justified by grace as a gift “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” The Father in His “divine forbearance” having “passed over former sins” because of the atoning blood of the Son (Rom. 3:24-25).

One other thing that grabs me. Their’s could have been a forever cursed union. In my world of justice, I can imagine a divine decree that any additional children conceived by David and Bathsheba would continue to suffer the consequences of their illicit union. If not the consequence of death, then at the very least, the consequences of just being inconsequential. But where sin did abound, grace did more abound (Rom. 5:20).

Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the LORD loved him and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.

(2Samuel 12:234-25 ESV)

Jedidiah. Literally, Beloved of the Lord. Same sinning father. Same victimized mother. Yet the second son was by God’s sovereign determination a favored son. A son like no other son. A son who would flourish (though, in his latter days, he would fade).

Brothers. Both caught up in the wake of sin. Both today in the presence of God. Both loved by God.

Because of God’s grace. For God’s glory.

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When It Pleased God

Posted on May 11, 2022 by Pete

Reading Galatians 1 this morning. Reading about the gospel of Christ — about those who seek to distort it, of Paul who would defend it, and of the Galatians who so quickly deserted it. But rather than being caught up with the Christology of the One “who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age”, I’m preoccupied with the chronology of the one who came to faith.

For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.

(Galatians 1:13, 15-16 ESV)

Set apart to be a follower and messenger of Christ “from his mother’s womb” (ESV margin). Called not according to the merits of his character or any good thing he might do, but according to the matchless character of God — the One who is in essence infinite grace — and the works He had purposed to do. The Son was revealed, Paul’s redemption was sealed. And all this “when it pleased God” (3:15 NKJV).

And that’s what I’m chewing on. The when of when it pleased God.

It was on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). After Paul had hit his stride in persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it. Why not before? If God had set apart Paul from before he was born, if God knew the plans He had for him (Jer. 29:11), why wait until after Paul’s murderous rampage against followers of Christ?

Why not save him as a child sitting on his mother’s lap as she read from Psalm 22 or Isaiah 53? Gracing him with the gift of childlike faith in a suffering Savior even before that Savior was revealed as Jesus from Nazareth? Or why not translate him as a young student leaving rabbi school — converting his zeal for the traditions into an equivalent zeal for the truth? If set apart from before he was born and called by God’s grace, then why wait until after he became such a goof? If God always knew Paul was going to be sent, why allow him to rack up so much sin?

I don’t know.

How the will of God and the ways of man intersect is a mystery. How the timing of a God who transcends time works in concert with the toils and transgressions of those bound by time is more than this brain can noodle on.

All I know for sure is that God is God.

And so, when it pleased God, God had His Son intercept Paul on a road. And a persecutor became a proclaimer. Zeal for the ways of men became zeal for the wonder of the gospel. He who once was on a mission to destroy the church did a 180 degree turn and instead went into all the world making disciples adding them to the church. When it pleased God.

Behold our God!

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?”

“Or who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?”

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.

(Romans 11:33-36 ESV)

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For Building Up, Not for Tearing Down

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Pete

Paul had opened his heart to them. He had been gracious towards them. Though many among them questioned his authority and his sincerity, yet Paul was patient with them. He reasoned with them, he reminded them of what was true, he wanted to restore them. Yet, he was coming to them. And, if those who persisted in rejecting him did not repent, he would, with the authority of Christ, deal with them.

His patience should not be regarded as acceptance. His gracious approach, not exploited as general disregard. His reasoning not mistaken as a reason to continue in flirting with “super-apostles” and their corrupt gospel.

Paul, in the way of Christ, had been slow to anger. But Paul, by the authority of Christ, could be severe in his response. And all of it, for building up and not for tearing down.

For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

(2Corinthians 13:9-10 ESV)

Paul did not want to be severe towards the Corinthians when he came to visit them for a third time (13:1). But he makes clear that if things had not changed by the time he arrived, he would change them. He would put a stop to the nonsense being spread by so called super-apostles. He would deal with any “quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder” (12:20) that arose because of those enamored with a gospel of self-power and self-promotion. He would be “sharp” (NKJV), he would be “harsh” (NIV), he would be “abrupt” (literal translation), and would deal with the sin among these believers with “the authority” that the Head of the Church had given him. Severity given for building up, not for tearing down.

We’re not Paul. We don’t carry his apostolic authority. But we are called to bear one another’s burdens and to restore those overtaken in a fault (Gal. 6:1-2). So, like Paul, we should approach such matters with a “spirit of gentleness.” We should be slow to escalate. We should patiently pursue restoration peaceably. We should love one another, comfort one another, be kind to one another, bearing with one another and forgiving one another — all the while praying for one another as we seek to gently restore one another. But it is unloving to give up on one another when those things are not producing the needed outcome. In our “one another tool kit” we are also told to admonish one another (Col. 3:16), exhort one another (Heb. 3:13, 10:25), and even rebuke one another (1Tim. 5:20, Tit. 1:13). Not to tear down, but to build up.

The Lord of the church loves the church and, as part of His purifying work within the church, wants to use the church to restore the church. Brothers and sisters who have one another’s back want to avoid being “severe” but are willing to be “severe” if it is used of the Spirit — even if it means sometimes having to say the hard thing. Not to tear down. But to build up.

By God’s grace. For God’s glory.

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Being Okay with My Weakness

Posted on May 5, 2022 by Pete

It might not be exactly aligned but I think it is applicable.

The “weakness” Paul recounts to the Corinthians in 2Corinthians 11:24-28 had to do with what he endured as a messenger of the gospel. Things which, for those who were cared about building themselves a platform and a following, demonstrated that he was anything but a “super-apostle” (2Cor. 11:5). Forty lashes five times. Three times beaten with rods. Once stoned, three times shipwrecked. In danger from rivers and robbers and relatives. In danger, seemingly, wherever he went. Constant stress, sleepless nights, and “the daily pressure” of his “anxiety for all the churches.” All indicators of weakness in a world that viewed ease, popularity, and power as the signs of winning.

For many of us, our weakness isn’t in what we endure externally as we seek to follow Jesus but more in the “beatings” we take internally. Many times, lashed with doubts. Often beaten with disillusionment. Pelted sometimes with despondency. In danger of being sucked into depression. Resulting in seasons of constant stress, sleepless nights, and a daily pressure even as we seek to serve the church. Like I said, not really the same as Paul. Nevertheless, I think Paul’s view of his weakness can be applicable to ours.

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

(2Corinthians 11:30 ESV)

Paul didn’t want to be braggy. He wasn’t looking for glory. Wasn’t wanting a pat on the back. Yet, he felt cornered into a defense of his ministry by church people who were being attracted to false apostles who were building themselves up by tearing Paul down. And so, “since many boast according to the flesh”, Paul did too (2Cor. 11:18). Yet, boasting in the weakness of the flesh.

I know that in the next chapter Paul will connect the dots between the weakness of his flesh, the all-sufficient grace of His God, and the power made perfect in weakness (2Cor. 12:9), but for now I’m chewing on just being okay with my weakness.

Even though, as I press on to be faithful, I would like to feel like I was doing so more from a position of strength and victory, can I be okay boasting of the things that show my weakness? Less concerned about how “super” I feel in myself, but resting in doing what I think God wants me to do, trusting that He’ll do it through me even as I struggle internally as I do it?

I don’t like operating from a place of weakness. And my “weakness” has no comparison to Paul’s. Yet, I serve a God who’s been known to “chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” so that “no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1Cor. 2:25-29). So, I’ll continue to try and serve faithfully even amidst the awareness of my own frailty.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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On Me Alone

Posted on May 4, 2022 by Pete

They are the words of Christ, spoken 1,000 years before Christ. The cry of the Son of Man expressed by a woman of God.

They’ve popped from the page before. They do so again this morning.

“On me alone, my lord, be the guilt.”

(1Samuel 25:24a ESV)

Or, the fresh twist this morning, the CSB’s rendering, “The guilt is mine . . . “

Still, too often, I am Nabal, “harsh and badly behaved” (25:3b). And I’m David — not David as in the foreshadow of Christ David, but David as in the hungry, cranky, impulsive let-me-take-matters-into-my-own-hands, bull in a china shop David. How I need an Abigail, literally “the father’s joy”, to intervene and intercede on my behalf.

Hovering over three words this morning and thankful for a Savior who spoke similar words on a cross 2,000 years ago for this sinner saved by grace.

Here are my thoughts from four years ago . . . .

Did I just see Jesus? Was He foreshadowed in a no-name, non-descript woman whose name pointed to her father’s joy? A lady who rises up seemingly out of nowhere to redeem an entire household? A gal identified with a worthless man and yet willing to step up to save his skin? A woman of great wisdom? A woman of great compassion? A woman of great resource? A woman who not only saves a house, but also keeps a would be king from bloodguilt? Did I just see Jesus?

Hmmm . . . I’m thinkin’ . . .

When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt.”

(1Samuel 25:23-24a ESV)

On me alone be the guilt. Those are the words that grabbed my mind’s eye this morning to behold Jesus.

Abigail, whose name means “my father is joy,” would have brought her father great joy if he could have seen her willingness to fall on her sword for the sake of her husband, Nabal, the fool. She was ready to bear the guilt for her worthless husband (the Scripture’s assessment, not mine) and for his entire household who, by association, were also under the curse of his guilt because of his greed-driven, bone-headed arrogance.

She sought to atone for their guilt at great cost–” two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs.” She would give of her best for the sake of the worst, in order to redeem from egocentric rebellion.

“On me alone,” she says, “be the guilt.” She who was without guilt was willing to take on the guilt of another.

And He who knew no sin, was made sin for us (2Cor. 5:21). The One in whom even the Roman governor could find no guilt, became a curse for us (Gal. 3:13). Though Jesus was rich, yet for our sake He became poor (2Cor. 8:9). Though the Christ was without blemish, He offered Himself as the spotless Lamb of God, giving His life in exchange for ours as the once-for-all atoning sacrifice (Jn. 1:29, 1Jn. 4:10).

But not only a bearer of guilt. Beyond being an offerer of sacrifice. Also an intercessor on behalf of others.

“And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your servant.” ~ Abigail

(1Samuel 5:27-28a ESV)

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” ~ Jesus

(Luke 23:34 ESV)

Oh, if Nabal could have seen his wife stand before David’s wrath-filled army of judgment. If he could have seen her willingness to bear his guilt. If he could have looked upon the abundant provision she brought as a sin offering. If he could have heard her words, “Please forgive the trespass of your servant.”

Then, might he have said, “How amazing is this lady!”

Oh, that we would consider again our Savior during those hours of darkness upon the cross when He bore the righteous wrath of the Father for our sin–hear afresh His cry, “My God, my God why have You forsaken Me?” That we would know again the guilt He bore for us. Be reminded afresh of the cost of His great sacrifice in order to redeem our lives. And hear once more His cry on our behalf, “Father, forgive them!”

Then would we declare again, “How awesome is our Savior!!!”

Yeah, I think I just saw Jesus.

In all His grace. To Him be all the glory.

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First Things First

Posted on May 3, 2022 by Pete

During a season in which they were trying to keep their heads above water, it’s kind of amazing that they were concerned about keeping others afloat as well.

You don’t necessarily expect “a wealth of generosity” from a group “in a severe test of affliction.” If there’s anybody you’d excuse from getting on board with a giving campaign, it’s those who are going through the ringer themselves. And yet, for the churches of Macedonia, their time of troubles and their “extreme poverty” birthed a joyful generosity. In fact, they begged Paul to participate in gracing the saints in need in Jerusalem by providing them some financial relief.

So how come? What motivated a people in severe need themselves to focus on those in need elsewhere? Short answer: They put first things first.

. . . they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

(2Corinthians 8:5b ESV)

They gave themselves before they gave their money. They presented their bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Rom. 12:1) before they tithed from what little treasure they had. Having given themselves first to the Lord, they then were in a state to be directed by the Lord. Having given themselves to Jesus, Jesus moved them, graced them, and enabled them to give as they could to others.

Their testing compelled them towards Jesus. He was the ultimate prize in their affliction. He is always the prize. Our times of trial are the perfect space to know Jesus and the power of His resurrection even as we share in His sufferings (Php. 3:10). And drawing closer to Jesus, abiding in the shelter of His wing, drawing from the life-giving strength of the vine, these Macedonian believers were able to look beyond their own affliction and show affection to brothers and sisters in similar situations.

We start with giving ourselves continually to the Lord — and that only by His grace. Then, as we abide in Jesus and He lives through us, that same grace abundantly flows, according to His will, as He uses us in the lives of others. Acts of temporal generosity ignited by living into His eternal gift. Doing good because we’ve determined to give ourselves fully to Him, trusting in His goodness. Our works motivated by His moving, even as, despite our circumstance, we rest in His finished work.

First things first.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Worship Work

Posted on April 29, 2022 by Pete

So, who is serving who in a “church service?” Is God serving His people when they gather, or are His people to be serving God when they gather? Certainly, in our consumerist culture we are most naturally wired to thinking we should be served. And to be sure, we are ministered to by God on a Sunday morning as He visits us with His presence when we come together as a living temple of God by His Spirit. We are served by God as He speaks to us through His preached word. But as I chew a bit on Psalm 100 this morning, I’m reminded that we also get to serve God as His people when we gather. We do that with worship work.

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into His presence with singing! now that the LORD, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

(Psalm 100:1-3 ESV)

I think the songwriter is repeating the same thing three times in three different ways.

Make a joyful noise to the LORD = Serve the LORD with gladness = Come into His presence with singing!

When His people gather — those He has made in His own image and redeemed to be His own special possession — they are to make a joyful noise to the LORD. When His sheep come together as a flock, they are to serve the Great Shepherd with gladness and singing in His presence.

It’s service, or work, we can all render to God. And, if I can use the term, it’s kind of a “gimme.”

That portion of our church gatherings where we are called to sing together — regardless of what type of music or how many songs we sing — is a time presented to us when we can serve together. Where we can labor for the Lord as a body. No special gifting or talents required. Sure, if you can sing in key or keep a beat, bonus! But more than once I have been beside a dear saint who embraces “making a joyful noise” even though they know they can’t carry a tune. But hey, they’re not singing to me, they’re serving their Savior.

Full disclosure: I’m naturally a music guy so I am going to have a natural bias towards the music opportunity we have when we gather as a congregation. But Psalm 100 is a supernatural lyric, it’s God-breathed. So, when gathered in His presence, shouldn’t His people have a supernatural bias towards serving Him in song? I’m thinking.

Worship in song shouldn’t be that part of the “church service” that we endure because we’re not “into the music” and so it’s not serving me very well. Nor should it be regarded as just the “prelims” before the “main event” of being fed from the pulpit and so, attendance and participation is optional.

No, when we get a chance to sing as a church, we should embrace the chance to sing as a church. We should enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. With gusto, we should give thanks to Him and bless His name (Ps. 100:4).

We should serve Him. For He is worthy of church service.

For the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.

(Psalm 100:5 ESV)

Worship work. Let’s do it!

Because of grace. For His glory.

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Keep Me from Foolishness

Posted on April 28, 2022 by Pete

It was the pragmatic thing to do. Given the situation, it was the best way forward. There was an enemy army at hand. There was a battle to be fought. And his army was becoming increasingly agitated by waiting to get in the game, some even “scattering from him.” He had to engage his men or he feared losing his men. But before he could do that, there were boxes to be checked. One of those was honoring the LORD and invoking His favor. And though that was to be done by another, given the reality of the situation Saul took matters into his own hands. He offered the burnt offering. And, says the Spirit through Samuel, he had done foolishly.

He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you.”

(1Samuel 13:8-13a ESV)

Who’s gonna argue with Saul’s reasoning? He wanted to see the right thing done. He even knew it should be done in the right way. So, he waited for Samuel — for seven days! But when Samuel didn’t show, and as his men were increasingly going AWOL, it was time to get ‘er done! And so, he did what he thought was the practical thing to do. And the right thing was done, but in the wrong way. And it was foolishness.

The danger of noodling on the compromise of pragmatism is that you get labeled as a legalist. That you’re seen as a “letter of the law” guy and not a “freedom of the Spirit” guy. But despite the “danger”, as I hover over this passage, I can’t help but think there is direct instruction here about obedience. Doing what God says in the way God says it should be done. Not aiming for close enough because it’s good enough given that the circumstances make it seem enough in light of the realities of a situation.

The way of the Spirit is the way of faith. And it would have taken faith, dependence on God, for Saul to have waited for Samuel to arrive and do the right thing in the right way. Saul’s pragmatic reasoning and response was a reflection of a greater trust in himself than in His God. It showed he had a skewed view of the efficacy of burnt offerings — that somehow, they had value in and of themselves rather than as a reflection of the heart of the burnt offering offerer. Obeying God by doing the right thing in the right way is reflection of a heart tuned to God’s heart.

“But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

(1Samuel 13:14 ESV)

A man after God’s own heart is a man who obeys God’s commands. Not to earn favor, but to exhibit faith. Not because it’s necessarily practical, but because it relies on God’s power. Not because it guarantees that things will play out as we think they should, but because we believe it will play out as God has sovereignly determined they should.

There’s a place for pragmatism. A place for discerning reality and determining a logical path forward for success. But not when it comes to matters were God has specifically revealed how to accomplish God’s work in God’s way. Not that the work won’t get done, or the victory won’t be won — for God is faithful and His grace is overflowing. But that, in our pragmatism, in our wisdom concerning how we think the God of heaven should do things given the reality around us, we end up being foolish. The work done, but our efforts wasted. The battle won, but the prize forfeited.

Father, give me clarity on those things I’m called to do in a way which You have determined. Keep me from leaning to my own understanding of how, practically, they can best be accomplished. Create in me a heart after Your own heart that I might walk in Your ways after Your way. Keep me from foolishness.

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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