“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for He Who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. - Luke 1:46b-49 (ESV) Mary, the mother of Jesus, is one of the most fascinating characters in the Bible. Indeed, a few religious groups even worship her as diety - wrongly, but her role in God's plan certainly was very important. To give birth to and to raise the Son of God had to be quite the intimidating task.
Mary surely had plenty of questions when her dreams one night were suddenly interrupted by the news that she would carry the Child of God within her. She must not have been much older than a young teenager; she was unmarried, betrothed to an understandably shocked and hurt Joseph (until he received the same news from Gabriel the angel, of course). Scared, and full of questions, she responded nonetheless with obedience: "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38, ESV) Surely she faced ostracizing from her community. She likely faced disbelief, hurt, and disappointment from her family. She could have faced criminal charges leading to death by Joseph, had he not been already set to walk away from her silently before being told the good news himself. Yet, just as God began working out His plan and all the questions still lingered, she visited Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, and penned one of the most beautiful and insightful songs in Scripture. Mary understood two things - and likely only two things - about the situation: she was unworthy to be blessed so richly by God, and that He was more than deserving of all her praise because of that blessing. Even facing the judgmental attitudes of her community and possible persecution, she felt nothing but gladness and honor - instead of trepidation and fear - for being chosen to be the mother of Jesus. It is entirely possible that we tend to fall on one side of the fence or the other when considering God's gift of Jesus in our lives. We can take the negative side - focusing on our unworthiness to such a degree that our supposed humility becomes guilt and we feel the need to constantly be appeasing a God we see as disappointed in and angry at us. This can lead us to fear God in an unhealthy manner and turn to legalism or false piety as means of gaining favor with God. Mary instead understood and believed the angel that she had already found favor with God, but also knew that it was not because of anything that she had done or that she was especially worthy or prepared to face the challenges ahead. We can also do the opposite: fail to see our sin and our lowly estate and look to God as little more than a gift-giver Who owes us a showering of blessings because of our own self-righteousness. This can lead us to try to shoehorn God into our own selfish wills and to become angry and embittered when trials and trouble come our way. Mary instead never forgot that she was just a humble Israelite girl that did not deserve exaltation, but instead faced the trials ahead with a sense of gratefulness that she would be chosen. The gift of Christ Jesus - His birth, His death, His resurrection, His Holy Spirit, His grace, His mercy, His forgiveness - is one that should fill us with a sense of joy and thankfulness, and yet it should also fill us with humility and wonderment. Joy that we have received grace; humility that God has shown us mercy. Thankfulness that we have been richly blessed; wonderment that God would provide His blessings to us. Mary did not just exhibit humility in her life; she experienced exaltation through her obedience to God. She had a balance that allowed her to carry on with a sense of gladness and joy in her heart without losing a very real sense of position before God and before others. Pray today that we never forget that Jesus' love and forgiveness is both sufficient and complete, and that we also never forget that we do not deserve it. Pray that God gives us humility when we are tempted to become prideful and arrogant, and pray that God allows us to see how He - not us - has exalted us before Himself when we are tempted to succumb to the accusations and unrighteous guilt of Satan. Pray that we, like Mary, are always able to face the troubles ahead with gratefulness in our hearts and God's provision in our minds. Most of all, thank God for the mighty things He has done for us, and praise His holy Name.
0 Comments
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. - Phillipians 4:12-13 (ESV) It's a busy time for most Alabamians this year. Thanksgiving signals the beginning of the "holidays" for many, the Black Friday is the biggest (and most intense) shopping day of the year, and Iron Bowl Saturday is, by several orders of magnitude, the largest and most important sports event in the state. But while most of us are guilty of having eaten far too much turkey, browsing the Black Friday ads, setting up the Christmas tree, and preparing for our Tide vs. Tigers parties, many of us (myself included) have all but forgotten to really think about what we're truly thankful for.
Thanksgiving Day for the U.S. has always been a national day of prayer, feasting, and celebration for God's many provisions for us and the country's prosperity. However, are we only able to give thanks to God in times of plenty and in times of abundance? After all, being grateful to God should be more than a casual gesture of appreciation after we manage to nab a new television for a less than half price or for the victory of our preferred team. It is not something we should only feel when we experience excess in our lives. It should be a constant, never ceasing, motivating element of our Christian walks despite our circumstances, good or bad. Paul started with thanksgiving in his letter to the Philippian believers: "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.... for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel."(Philippians 1:3-5; 7b , ESV) You see, Paul was experiencing some serious trials in his life. He was imprisoned. He was on his way to Rome to await trial and execution at the hands of one of the empire's most violent and dangerous leaders in its history. And yet, Paul was thankful. He was thankful that he had come this far, and that other believers were still supporting him and encouraging him to continue. He was thankful he had partners who were willing to put him above themselves for the sake of the spread of the gospel. Paul was not thankful because he had an excess of material wealth or perfect physical health. He was thankful because he had learned to be content in all circumstances. He wrote further to them: "I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need." (Philippians 4:12, ESV). What was his secret? "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13, ESV). God's grace was enough for him to endure everything that came his way, and it gave him the joy necessary to give thanks to God despite trying times. That second verse is one of the most oft-misquoted verses in the Bible, as if it it means that God will bless our every endeavor as long as we try really hard at it. This verse is no promise or guarantee of success. It doesn't mean that prosperity and wealth and excess will be ours if we only trust that God will give it to us. It means that whatever circumstances may come our way, even if it may be want, pain, suffering, or loss, we have the power through Christ to overcome it and have joy. Thanksgiving is the natural overflow of joy in our hearts. If we have joy, we will give thanks. We will begin to look beyond the troubles and the heartache of the here and now and begin to see the many blessings that God has bestowed on us. Maybe this holiday season is tough for you. Maybe you've struggled with being laid off, or you've lost a loved one, or you've had a physical ailment, or you've just experienced great uncertainty in your relationships with God and with others. But maybe you have close family that grieves with you, or a church that loves and supports you, or maybe just a friend who has been praying for you or with you. With God's grace giving you the strength to carry on through whatever hardship you may be facing, you can find something to be thankful for. Perhaps, on the other hand, you are experiencing great prosperity and excellent health. Or maybe you've experienced a raise or promotion. Or maybe something positive has unexpectedly come up in your life. That's fine, enjoy it! Give cheerfully out of your excess to others, but enjoy the material blessings you've received. Give thanks to God for the many things He's given to you, and do not take those things for granted. Just don't let things distract you from giving thanks for the spiritual blessings so richly provided to you or let things be the source of your hope and security. Whether in abundance or plenty, or in need or want; this holiday season, give thanks that our Lord Jesus Christ is in control. He loves us and cares for us and will give us everything we need to successfully overcome life's hardships and be effective witnesses and servants for Him, if we only allow His joy and peace to fill our lives and His Holy Spirit to guide us in His will. You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. - Matthew 5:43-45 (ESV) When I was in nursing school, I hated a specific type of multiple choice question commonly found on exams: the "choose the most correct answer" question. Often when a patient presents in visible distress, critical thinking is necessary to drill down and determine two things: what, exactly, is going on, and what is the fastest and most effective method of correcting the problem before it gets worse. These questions did not merely test my ability to recall a simple one-step solution to a simple problem. Instead, they tested my ability to critically think through a complex problem or a series of problems and determine the very first, most important, step among many possible solutions. These types of questions were tough - but necessary.
In lieu of the recent tragedies that have occurred in Paris, France - a series of heinous crimes I do not intend nor want to diminish in any way - I implore my fellow Christians to critically think about the problems affecting our world today and to consider what I believe to be the most correct solution to the issues at hand. Across the entire spectrum of social and political views, there have been many solutions posited. One would suggest bombing. Another, invasion. Another, diplomacy and negotiation. Another, taking in refugees from Syria. Yet another, refusing refugees from Syria. All of these are, in fact, possible solutions, each with their own distinct set of pros and cons. Indeed, taking some of these actions might become inevitable as the ISIS threat continues to rise. But I see a more correct solution. See, the core problem is sin. And that sin, specifically, is in the delusion that one can reach a higher state of eternal luxury if one can only destroy those that belong to other faiths. The sin is the belief that waging violent, cowardly war against Jews, against Christians, against "infidels," and against Western culture brings a person closer to enjoying the material and sexual riches of a false diety, called "Allah," that appeals to man's basest and most degenerate desires. This is not a sin that Jesus is incapable of forgiving. Paul writes in Romans 10:13 (ESV), "For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'" Everyone means everyone. It means the Jew. It means the American. It means the Frenchman. It also means the Syrian terrorist. Paul goes on to say in Romans 10:14-15 (ESV), "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'” You see, it's not enough for us to pray for Paris - although that is important. I certainly pray that God provides comfort and healing to the survivors and the loved ones of those that were involved in this terrible tragedy. It's not enough that we simply feel for the hurting in France. We should not experience and internalize this tragedy and convert those feelings into anger and hatred and vengeance against the members of ISIS. They should instead break our hearts and our souls to see people so entrenched in selfishness and in sin that they sacrifice their lives willingly to a cause that sends them straight to eternal torment and anguish in hell. Under no circumstances do I suggest that we do nothing militarily. Sometimes, we must defend ourselves and our allies. Sometimes, that sadly results in war, and war results in lost lives and, often, civilian casualties. But a physical war should not be our ultimate solution - the measure that we desire to see put in place. We should instead be taking up arms in a spiritual war, taking the good news of the Gospel to the hurting Muslim people, and offering them the unmerited grace and mercy and love that Yahweh, God, extends to everyone. We are to "put on the whole armor of God" (Ephesians 6:11, ESV) in our quest to conquer Satan's delusions to the Muslim people. We are to equip ourselves with truth, righteousness, faith, and salvation. We are to be ready to carry the gospel of peace to the world. We are to be given offensive power against the forces of darkness with the Holy Spirit living through us. We should not forget that "Allah" cannot be more powerful than Yahweh. Just as the statue of the ancient Philistine god Dagon fell and broke into pieces before the presence of the Lord in the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel 5:1-12), so must the delusion of Islam fall before the eternal power of the gospel of Christ. We have been given, through the Holy Spirit, the most powerful and most effective weapon against ISIS: not warheads, not guns, not diplomacy; but Jesus Christ. Christ is the most correct answer to the problem of ISIS. I realize what I am saying is not easy. I realize that I am calling for the evangelism of a people who want nothing more than to put us to death in their search for spiritual enlightenment. But God is stronger than Islam. God may call you to take the gospel boldly to these people. God may call me to take the gospel boldly to these people. In whatever case, God is most definitely calling His people to rise up and proclaim the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to a coalition of religious extremists who desperately need God's grace and mercy now more than ever. Are we as Christians prepared to be sent to evangelize the world? I mean the whole world, not just the parts that are mostly or relatively tolerant towards Christianity? There are likely only a select few that will be called by God and will obey and carry out this mission. But for those of us who are called elsewhere or are unable to do this, we need to pray for our enemies in Syria. We need to love them. We need to ask God that He equip and send His Church and give them victory over the darkness of radical Islam. He will allow the sun to rise on them tomorrow, just as He will allow the sun to rise on us tomorrow; He wants to love them as His people, and He graciously gives us the duty - no, the privilege - of carrying His Holy Word to them. Only two questions remain: Will you pray? Will you go? Jesus stood up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.' - John 8:10-11 (ESV) The story of the adulteress forgiven before the scribes and Pharisees is one that succinctly summarizes a number of theological truths about the life-changing act of experiencing Jesus' forgiveness. Though the story has a troubled written history (missing from the earliest manuscripts and transposed to other gospels in later ones), theologians mostly agree that the story corroborates with the whole of scripture and is rich with imagery of Christ's love for people.
The story goes as such: the religious leaders drag in a woman in adultery, "caught in the act" (curiously absent: the other guilty party, who must have been present at the time). Seeing an opportunity to test Jesus and potentially charge Him with blasphemy or subverting the law, they asked Him whether they should stone her. He gives no response for a time before instructing them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her" (John 8:7b, ESV). They slowly leave, one by one, before Jesus forgives her and instructs her to sin no more. That last verse is an interesting chunk of theology often missed by those who are enamored with the "Jesus" that's mystical and all-inclusive and universally loving and never judgmental. After all, here's a woman caught in sexual sin, condemned to death by the religious system of the day. Jesus doesn't stone her. Jesus doesn't even make any negative remarks toward her. He simply forgives. But He doesn't stop there. He does not offer forgiveness and say "From now on, you are forgiven, so indulge in whatever passions you see fit and I will be totally okay with it." He tells her bluntly to "sin no more." He acknowledges it. He recognizes the grasp of adultery's enslaving power and offers her freedom. He erases the debt of sin and is already working the kind of faith in her that it takes to free her from lifestyle of sin. It's not hard to see the potential for this woman's testimony to others: here is a woman, once deviant and enslaved to adultery, now alive and free and satisfied in Christ; changed forever by His power and His love. To those ensnared by a sense of self-righteousness and false piety, it may also be easy to miss the order in which forgiveness and the instruction to sin no more are given. Jesus did not instruct her to "first, find this guy you were with, go down to the courthouse, sign a marriage license, go through a twenty-step church-funded program about how to combat lust and adultery, then successfully work through this marriage faithfully for two years, and then join the church membership roster and I will extend to you the offer to walk down and accept Me as your Lord." There's no extra requirement that Jesus gives before offering forgiveness. Jesus sees the person - a sinful, wretched person - and offers spiritual, emotional, and psychological healing because of His sacrifice and ability to forgive, not because of a person's preemptive repentance and self-motivated move toward righteousness. Romans 3:10 (ESV) says, "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God." Paul follows up in Romans 5:8 (ESV): "But God shows His love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Again, he writes in Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV): "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." These are all oft-quoted verses when laying out salvation for someone, but they all echo a key truth of salvation often lost on us: God loves and died for the ungodly, the sinners, the unrighteous. We should never impose a rigid, religious moral standard on the unbeliever before seeing them as somehow more worthy or more deserving of experiencing Christ. Indeed, Christ died for the murderer; Christ died for the thief; Christ died for the liar; Christ died for the adulteress. Christ wants us to look beyond a person's faults and failures and see the true potential of a Spirit-led life and share His love and His forgiveness openly with them. Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) goes on to say this: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Like Jesus commands the adulteress to go and sin no more, Jesus commands us to no longer lead a life of sin but instead a life of righteousness and obedience to Him. He has forgiven us, and He has given us His Word and His Holy Spirit to equip us and change us into the kind of God-fearing, God-serving people He wants us to be. He is continually sanctifying us and using us as His representatives to the world around us. He has, in His perfect will, created for us every opportunity to do good works for Him - and as believers who have tasted the grace of God and found it to be of utmost value, we will, out of gratitude and thankfulness, walk happily in His will. We will be overjoyed to cast off sin and follow Him and serve Him. It is impossible that the adulteress in the John 8 story experienced the kind of forgiveness that Jesus offers and went immediately back to her sinful lifestyle, finding the kind of contentment and satisfaction in repenting of sin and following Jesus to be wanting in comparison to the cold, transient pleasure of an illicit sexual relationship. No, she entered into the courts ready to be stoned as an adulteress, but instead was offered grace and forgiveness at her lowest, most undeserving point, and walked away alive and free as a child of God. Pray today that God would prevent us from using His awesome gift of grace as a cover for immoral, sinful purposes. Pray also that we would not withhold the message of the gospel of Christ from others out of a self-righteous and judgmental attitude. Pray that God would use us to make manifest His amazing power of forgiveness and sanctification to everyone - from the most altruistic to the most vile. Finally, pray that God would bring salvation and grace to these people, give them the faith to walk in the good works He has prepared for them, and let their inevitable sanctification be a beacon of hope to the transformative power of the grace and mercy of our Lord Christ Jesus. In our country of religious freedom, it's easy to get caught up in the here and now of an increasingly disgruntled political atmosphere towards Christians. We see coaches being suspended for praying on the football field, bakers' doors being closed for refusing to bake homosexual wedding cakes, and businesses refused government benefits for refusing to include abortions in mandatory health insurance. While these things do, in fact, indicate that America is increasingly becoming hostile towards Christians, we cannot forget that we should be eternally grateful for the freedoms that we do still enjoy - to congregate openly, to worship together, to share our faith, and to have nearly limitless access to Christ-focused and theologically sound resources to help grow us in our spiritual walk and in our evangelistic mission. The truth we must not forget is that many Christians around the world risk their livelihoods, their families, their health, and even their lives just to meet together to pray and to read the Scriptures. The suffering and martyrdom of Christians around the world continues to increase each year. It is more than our duty to pray for these brothers and sisters. No, it is our privilege to pray for these brothers and sisters. There are roughly 40 countries where any form of Christianity is prohibited and actively persecuted by the government, and over 10 more where Christians are persecuted openly despite supposed government protection. The top 50 most dangerous nations, according to The OpenDoors World Watch list, include: Image courtesy Christianity Today, 1/7/2015. Accessed 11/1/2015. Retrieved from http://www.christianitytoday.com/images/52588.jpg. “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. - John 15:18-19 (ESV) It should come as no surprise to us that the church will endure persecution until Jesus' return. It should not catch us off guard. It should not be cause for us to re-think our commitment to Christ. Instead, it should sober us up and make us look to our home in heaven as our permanent residence - and how we can share Christ even when surrounded by those that hate us here on earth. Moreover, it should compel us to be in earnest and unceasing prayer for the Christians around the world who are being ostracized from their families, banned from the markets, thrown into prison, and condemned to death around the world. These are the true heroes of the faith; these effectively demonstrate "the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:8b, ESV). We should pray for their strength to never fail, for God our Father to comfort them and give them an all-surpassing peace, and for their witness and testimony to be effective in bringing a lost world into the light of Christ. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. - Matthew 5:44 (ESV) But I encourage the church to go further than merely praying for persecuted Christians. We should be in prayer for their persecutors. We should pray that they see the love, the grace, the mercy, and the forgiveness of Christ at work in their captives. We should hope that the commitment and long-suffering of these Christians convicts their captors and gives them an opportunity to plant the seed of truth in them. We should earnestly long to see the Holy Spirit at work in these people and their sins be washed away and be replaced with zeal and fervor for the Gospel of Christ.
So pray. Pray first that God remove the distractions of comfortable living from our eyes and open them to the suffering around. Pray for these persecuted Christians' strengths. Pray for the world to see the light of the Gospel through their testimonies. Finally, pray that God would build in us the same kind of faith and give us the same kind of eternal perspective that He is building in them. It is far past time that we stop closing our eyes to the world around. We should join hands as God's bride and begin to support and pray for and encourage each other more every day. Join proverbial hands with me as we pray for God's Kingdom today. |
Clifton J. Gardner lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, Courtney. He is a Registered Nurse, musician, and writer, as well as an active member of Ezra Baptist Church in Oak Grove, Alabama. Archives
January 2017
Categories |