The Just Shall Live By Faith, #4

The Righteous Person Shall Live By Faith.

“But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.” (Hebrews 10:38–39, NASB95)   The Scripture is not inhabited by superhumans, but by ordinary folk who walk and talk like the rest of we mere mortals. I'm not denying the miraculous. You find that in scripture, but interwoven with the mind-boggling we find the mundane. The angel who caused Peter's chains to fall off of him, and enabled the Apostle to just walk by the guards, told him to put on his own robe and shoes. Jesus fed the 5,000 and the 4,000, but the Disciples had to gather the leftovers. That basic humanness is not only seen on the front side of the Bible, but when you look behind the screen at those to whom the various books are written, you see a motley crew, much like us. One of the similarities is the people wanted something that they could touch and see, and carry in their pocket. The tendency comes out in our first-cousin Thomas--good oldDoubting Thomas. It's a family trait, isn't it? “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). Let's not be too hard on him. The other Apostles had seen the marks. Later Jesus pronounced a blessing on those who believe without seeing. This is a tension that comes through very clearly in the book of Hebrews. The writer of the book, again and again, makes known the superiority of Christianity over Judaism, yet it is clear that the people to whom he is writing were tempted to go back to the old ways, just as their ancestors had turned back to idolatry when they "threw [their gold] into the fire, and out came this calf" (Exodus 32:24). What is the way of life of the Christian? What do we hold on to? What do we look at? For the third time the New Testament quotes from the Prophet Habakkuk. "The just shall live by faith." (Habakkuk 2:4) The writer of Hebrews goes on to tell us a bit about faith.     “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1, NASB95)   I tend to think of faith as an act. There was a point in time when Ibelieved. Faith, though, needs to be a way of life. As I walk in faith, God gives assurance and conviction, but believe, I must. It's a bit like getting out of bed, some days it is harder than others, but it's worth the effort.   It's STTA (Something To Think About).

The Just Shall Live By Faith, #3

The Righteous Person Shall Live By Faith.

“Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.”  (Galatians 3:11) How does one lay hold of this righteousness of God, the only kind of goodness that will enable us to stand before God's holy standard? It is not a task to accomplish or a prize to earn, rather it is a gift to receive. The Apostle Paul confronted the works gospel that was being promoted by the heretics who were seeking to lead the Christians of Galatia astray, this way.   “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” (Galatians 1:6–8, NASB95) The New Testament makes clear that the Gospel is a message of Good News. Yet there is a natural tendency for we people to make it a challenge to work hard. Make no mistake, there is much work to be done, but the labor is  labor of love. It is the Christians response to God's gift of grace, not the means by which salvation is earned.   It's STTA (Something To Think About), and to rejoice in..

THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH, #2

The Righteous Person Shall Live By Faith.

“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17, ESV) Martin Luther worked at being righteous. He confessed his sins until he wore out the patience of his confessors. He performed acts of penance. He had given himself to a life of monasticism. He studied and taught the Bible on the highest level. Yet he knew that he was not righteous. It was as he studied and thought about the message of Romans 1:17 that he saw the truth that liberated him, and millions in who followed behind him. The righteousness that Luther sought and that we all need is not something that we produce or earn, rather it is a gift from God that we must receive (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is received by faith. It has been said that there are two kinds of religion in the world, the kind where we bring something in our hands to trade for favor with God and the kind where we come empty handed as beggars. It is wonderful that God gives us what we need, because we can never earn it. Five-hundred years ago a troubled German Monk found piece based on that truth. Have you found it?   “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:16–18, ESV)   It's STTA (Something To Think About), and to rejoice in..

THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH, #1

The Righteous Person Shall Live By Faith.

The words come out differently, depending on what translation you read. They are probably best known from the King James Version of Romans 1:17, "The just shall live by faith." Those words figure prominently in the life of Martin Luther. It was his interaction with those words and the truth they expressed, that led to the Protestant Reformation. This month marks the 500th anniversary of Luther nailing the ninty-five theses to the church door (it was OK to do that, by the way). The words, found three times in the New Testament, are take from the book of Habakkuk.    “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4, NASB95)   Ronald Blue comments, "The key clause “the righteous will live by his faith” sparkles like a diamond in a pile of soot. In the midst of God’s unrelenting condemnations of Babylon stands a bright revelation of God’s favor."* In our world we could use some truth that sparkles, couldn't we? When Luther came to truth of God granting righteousness from His grace, to all who trust Him, the theologian/monk was in a time of dark despair. He was acutely aware of his sin. When he came to the truth expressed in these words, he said he felt like he had been born again and entered paradise. When I look at the end of the little of book of Habakkuk, I see the same kind of Joy in the prophet.    “Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.” (Habakkuk 3:18–19, NASB95) We tend to think of the Reformation as something for scholars, dull and dour. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Reformation is about looking to the scripture, and the Bible gives joy, even in hard times. I encourage you to stay tuned. We'll talk about this some more.   It's STTA (Something To Think About).  *Blue, J. R. (1985). Habakkuk. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1513). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books

It's none of your business.

Not, "Why Me?" But, "What do You want me to do, Lord?"

One of the privileges I have, that goes along with hanging out at Pacific Islands University, is I get to go to Chapel every Tuesdayand Friday. Recently a colleague shared about Moses encounter with the Lord at the burning bush. In order for you to get the full impact of Iotaka's words, I need to tell you a bit about him. Iotaka is Chuukese. His is a culture that is far different than my individualistic American way of life. Chuukese look out for one another, they share. Their lives tend to be much more intertwined with family--and everyone is family--than we in America are. Also, Iotaka is not only a gentleman, he is a gentle man. By that I don't, at all, mean that he is weak. Rather he exhibits the meekness that is the fruit of the Spirit. Iotaka posed the question, "Why did God call Moses and not Aaron for the task of delivering the people of Israel." After giving time for the question to sink in and germinate, Iotaka pronounced in a forceful voice, "It's none of my business." And, indeed it isn't. Most days I ask a question similar to the one my friend posed. My question generally begins with, "Why." and it's not a request for an explanation as much as it is the lodging of a complaint. It's like the adolescent whine of "It's not faaaiirr!" And, indeed, often times it isn't equitable, at least by the standard that I would use. I wear a number of hats, teacher, preacher, administrator, P.R. guy, counselor, but nowhere in my collection of head-gear is one labeled, "Chief Auditor of Cosmic Equity." That job is taken. I have scrapes, bruises, and sore muscles from wrestling that one to the ground. There is only one I AM THAT I AM in the universe. Sometimes, in His grace, He tells me why, but not always. Other times, It's none of my business   ““The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29, NASB95)   It's STTA. (Since I'm living in Micronesia, I'll adopt a more Micronesian, communal, spirit for a moment. We just released a fundraising campaign, with the goal of expanding the base of support at PIU. If you would like to find out whether it is your business to be involved, watch this video and/or read this blog post. Thanks)

The Good News Reconciles

The Good News of Jesus Brings Folk Together.

There are some things that once they are said, are hard to get over. In my role as pastor, I've been to court rooms on several occasions. I've often been to jail. I'm always struck with the power and finality of words given from the "bench." When the judge says, "I sentence you . . ." she/he speaks as the representative of civilization. "You have done something that we cannot allow in our community. I'm doing what I'm doing because your actions have harmed others. We cannot allow such things to go on without consequences--severe consequences." Usually, unless there is a need for some other hearing, the judge and the person sentenced never meet again. In fact, we provide judges with protection because we know that if the two do meet it could be ugly.  Let me ask you, "Does this picture look ugly?" Wallace, a retired US military technician, is an incredibly kind man who is a member of the same small-group as Kathy and me. The group is a ministry of our church and meets at the home of some friends. Susan is another member of the small-group. She is a judge. Wallace taught the lesson in our last two small group meetings. We are going throughBecoming a Contagious Christian, and Wallace took two weeks to teach the lesson on "telling my story." As part of the presentation, he told his story. You wouldn't believe how often people who know Wallace say, "He must have the gift of helps." He constantly goes out of his way to reach out to others with acts of kindness. He regularly brings ice cream treats to our meetings. He says it's because he can get a good deal on them at the military commissary, but we all know that's not the only reason. One would never know, by seeing Wallace today, that his past includes time in jail. As he told his story the other night, he told us a bit about that part of his life. Then, looking at Susan, he said you were the judge who sentenced me to that time in jail. His statement was without the least hint of bitterness or anger. Rather, he went on to speak of how during that time in jail he met others who discipled him and helped him to move forward in his walk with the Lord. Susan replied, "When I first met you at church I thought I remembered your name." Until that moment in small-group, though, she had never put it all together. So here was a man sentenced to serve time for a crime of which he had been convicted, teaching a lesson about the Good News that changes people's hearts and lives, and he was teaching it to the judge who had sentenced him to spend time in jail. What an illustration of the power of the Good News of salvation in Christ. It not only enables us to be right with God--"The wages (consequences) of sin is death (separation from God), but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23)--but beyond that, this same Good News brings people together. Even people who would otherwise be enemies become brothers and sisters in Christ. We live in a world that is divided by nationality, politics, class, skin color, race, and more. God's plan is not only to save us as atomized individuals, but in the person of "Christ Jesus . . . to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds" (Titus2:13–14, emphasis added).  Not many people--former prisoners, judges, black, white, brown, rich, poor, etc. but one people united under the flag of the new life we have in Christ and marching forth to do good deeds in His name. The ice cream at small-group was good, but hearing the story about Susan and Wallace was worth well more than the price of admission. It's STTA (Something To Think About).  Here is a brief video that presents this life-changing message that brought Susan and Wallace into God's Family.

Plumbing, real and metaphorical:

It's nice when it stays in the pipes.

I never lived in a house that lacked running water. I am old enough, though, to remember some relatives who had the kind of water you had to run and get. Much of the world has to deal with unreliable, unsafe water supplies. I am blessed to live in a place, actually places, that have safe water, available at the turn of a faucet handle. It's a great blessing, as long as it works. Curmudgeon alert: I know of few things more aggravating than plumbing that doesn't work. The drip-drip, or worse, spurt-spurt demands immediate attention. Make-shift repairs often don't work, and it seems that no matter how many spare parts one has, a trip to the plumbing supply store is unavoidable--sometimes two or three treks are needed. In its a blessing. When it gets out of its proper channel, running water is a pain in the neck.  Many good things are that way. Praise, when channeled through the discipline of truth, encourages others greatly. When it overflows and becomes flattery it can destroy character. Rebuke when controlled by love helps the person receiving it to grow. When it is polluted with bitterness it eats away a person's self-worth like acid. We need to make sure that our good is controlled so it doesn't degenerate into a curse. Keep it running in the right channels. It's STTA (Something To Think About).