When you don't do well, well

**Disclaimer: What I'm about to describe is unusual. 80-90% of my life is lived on the more familiar highway that connects my frequent guilt to God's amazing grace.

This one starts like a success story, but don't worry, it doesn't last long. Welcoming into our home for the weekend a child whose mother has a terminal disease, praying with and for church members who are struggling, opening up our home to bless and pray for missionaries, encouraging others with God's truth. "Yes, this is the Christian life I want to live. It's been a pretty good weekend." Can you see it coming? I don't always do well, well. Subtly (in fact, only looking back can I see the thought process) I think to myself: "Yeah, God's pretty satisfied with me." And He is, but not with my so-called good performance.

I encounter on Tuesday morning this prayer from the Psalmist of Psalm 119 (v.149):

Hear my voice according to your steadfast love;                                                            O LORD, according to your justice give me life.

Have you ever had that experience when, looking at your life compared with someone whose skill, work ethic, or morality exceeds yours and yet that person finds themselves in a dire straits? My friend Brian was a year ahead of me in Seminary. Brian was smarter than me, godlier than me, more gifted than me. Yet he struggled to get a job upon graduating. I remember secretly fretting for weeks: "Wait, if he can't land a job, what will I do?" The psalmist loves and almost certainly does the commands of God like perhaps none other East of Eden and West of Nazareth. He never feels embarrassed talking about God's law (Ps. 119:46); God's commands are like best friends (Ps. 119:24); His most extreme emotions well up inside of Him when others forsake His commands (Ps. 119:53; Ps. 119:136); He organizes his daily schedule around God's commands (Ps. 119:164). 

Yet, such a lover and doer of God's Word feels he must cry out and appeal to God's promised covenant love, for God to hear him. This law-keeper pleads with God to give him life. He is something less than secure with God's saving love - "I hope for your salvation, O LORD" (Ps. 119:166). If the ultimate do-gooder is insecure, what about me? Sure, I've done pretty well recently so I feel a little self-satisfied and a largely self-secure - but it's a mirage. Here's a man who spent His life (not to mention the longest psalm of 176 verses) dedicated to the loving, singing, cherishing and doing God's commandments - he's pleading, crying out, and hoping God will come through with love, life, & salvation. 

So what now? People usually don't read blogs or articles when they've done well.  So in addition to preaching to myself, I might only be speaking to a few of you. If you feel pretty good about your performance and self-satisfied in your deeds, I hope the above has you a bit worried. The Bible suggests three ways to regain genuine peace & move forward with a proper perspective. 

1. Take another look at your deeds (what motivates you). During the time of the prophet Isaiah, religion was flourishing in Israel. Sacrifices, fasting, temple-attendance. Everyone assumed God would never impose on them the curses of covenant such as deportation or death. "We are God's people and we are pretty good (or at least better than our neighbors)." The problem was God knew their hearts. They did good deeds not in response to God's love for them but to either achieve a sense of relief (ie. tick that box, God is off-my-back, I'll now do what I want) or a sense of self-satisfaction (ie. I'm one of the do-gooders and I'll impose my do-gooding on others). The LORD God gives a "word" to Isaiah for these actually quite insecure, soon-to-be-deported people: "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like polluted garments" (Isaiah 64:6).

Did I just read that correctly - "righteous deeds" are like "polluted garments"? Yes. And those "polluted garments" refers to some very real thing for women that I can't even say on this blog. You also read correctly - Isaiah (the prophet) doesn't exclude himself from God's divine message: "We have all become like one who is unclean..."

Jesus challenges our conception of good with his own measuring stick (see the rich young ruler - "No one is good but God alone" (Mark 10:20). There is a germ of corruption behind every good thing and deed in this fallen world. As the wise J.C. Ryle once said in his 19th century context: "Our best things are stained and tainted with imperfection! They are more or less incomplete, wrong in the motive, or defective in the performance."

When you find yourself self-satisfied and largely self-secure (you can tell when you are looking for a little pat-on-the-back or are looking down on others), it might be a sign that your righteous deeds are polluted, stained, tainted. Perhaps you've done well to satisfy God sufficiently to get Him off your back or to build yourself up when God's free but invisible love doesn't seem to be doing the trick. Run to the cross and confess this to God. He gets out stains! "He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). 

2. Take another look at your salvation  (who changes you). In verse 149, the psalmist cries out for two things - life and a relationship with God. "Life according to justice"; "hear me (relationship!) according to your steadfast love." At the cross of Jesus Christ, love and justice meet to give us life forever and a relationship with God. Jesus lived the perfect life to satisfy on the cross God's just punishment toward sin (Hebrews 7:26; Hebrews 9:14; 1 John 4:10). Jesus got up on that cross because He loves us and would get to be with those of us who trust Him forever (Romans 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:10). The psalmist didn't yet know this Jesus who offered the most airtight and secure salvation by living the very perfect life he knew he couldn't. The psalmist looked forward to the day of the Good Shepherd who chases down lost sheep: "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant" (Psalm 119:176; cf. Luke 15:4). For you who do good to justify yourself, Jesus already has!

This Good Shepherd continues to save us also. He changes us. There is a word for the transformation of our minds - metanoia, which is translated in the New Testament as "repentance." Listen to who is behind this change of mind and how you view the world: 

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4).

So now that you're justified before God, it's easy to "presume" your pretty good behavior deserves God's kindness and it's your innate goodness that produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control. But it's God's active kindness at work in your life (GRACE!) that produces good, profitable, and lasting fruit translated as good deeds.

We can do well, well by even now offering honor, praise, and glory to God for even the impulse to want to do good - it comes not from me but from Thee! 

3. Read and listen to challenging words (what moves you). I once heard Sinclair Ferguson, a pastor and theologian I respect, say that in the many of years of his pastoral ministry he counseled two kinds of people: Those overly comforted and those overly discomforted. His job, thus, was simple: Comfort the discomforted and discomfort the comfortable. 

Isn't this what Jesus did depending on the person before him?! Most often I need words of comfort because the Holy Spirit is quick to show me my obvious sin and resulting guilt (cf. John 16:8). But for that other 10-20% of the time, when we are rolling well - I need to hear and read hard truths that grabs and shakes me toward a deeper reliance upon Jesus.

For instance, get yourself in front of the Luke chapter 14, where you will be confronted about storing up riches, counting the cost of following Jesus, and your willingness to forsake anything to follow him. Click on links with thoughtful biblical content like this one (for all Christians) or this one (for those married and/or with kids). Follow the lifestyle of some of the missionaries we support like our friends Terrill and Amber Schrock. Sing not only modern praise music meant to console and comfort, but also hymns meant to instruct and reorient us to truth we may need to hear. Listen to sermons by gentleman like Matt Chandler, who confronts my comfort with a reorientation toward the sufficiency of God's grace, or to devotionals like Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, which provides for me a healthy mix of comfort and discomfort (I use this version, which employs the ESV as opposed to the KJV translation - available for just $10 on kindle).  

We need not fear divine discomfort! One of the most important verses in my life is Hosea 6:1.

Come, let us return to the Lord!                                                                                He has torn us, that He may heal us.                                                                             He has struck us down, and He will bind us up.

This verse aptly summarizes God's activity in a Christian's life as both Lion of Judah and Lamb of God. Lamb to comfort us when we are full of guilt and shame, when our sin and weakness lies exposed, visibly naked before us. Lion when we our self-satisfaction and self-assuredness needs to be torn down - so we might be bound up to once again do well, well. 

I deserve anything...

When I ponder the grace of God, I often do so in terms of: "I deserve nothing...yet I've

been given every good gift" (cf. Romans 8:32). This is the passive reception of grace. There is another side of grace, which Tim Keller calls, the threat of grace. It says: "I deserve anything that is asked of me." This is the active response of grace. While re-reading Keller's The Reason for God I was reminded of this side of grace:

Some years ago I met with a woman who began coming to church at Redeemer. She said that she had gone to church growing up and had never before heard a distinction between the gospel and religion. She had always heard that God accepts us only if we are good enough. She said that the new message was scary. I asked her why it was scary, and she replied: "If I was saved by my good works then there would be a limit to what God could ask of me or put me through. I would be a like a taxpayer with 'rights' -- I would have done my duty and now I would deserve a certain quality of life. But if I am a sinner saved by sheer grace - then there is nothing he cannot ask of me."

Here's a woman whose first response to the gospel of grace isn't sheer awe or wonder (as is/was the case for many of us) but: "I'll take any assignment!" I immediately think of Mary accepting her assignment of carrying then raising the Messiah under scandalous glances and rumors (Luke 1:38) or God's arduous assignment to Paul (then Saul) after rescuing him from his bondage to hate (Acts 9:16). 

Yet it is really no threat at all as we are increasingly gripped by what grace has done - you've been chosen! Not because of how good you are on the inside or out, but simply because you are undeservedly loved. A Bridegroom has chosen to wed you (Rev. 19:7) whilst a Father has chosen to adopt you (Ephesians 1:5). A friend of mine, who was adopted around the age of 10, can recall after putting a few of his things into his new home happily declaring: "I'm ready for my first assignment."

Are you ready to receive any assignment He might give you? Your answer will almost certainly depend on whether your heart has yet been gripped by the grace of God.

Matthew 5: Jesus says, Jesus does

The majority of Community Groups in Sunrise are following up outreach through the Christianity Explored course & dinners by imparting a very simple and memorable discipleship strategy to new/young believers. We are engaging with the major events and teachings of God's Word (from Genesis to Revelation) while learning together how to feed ourselves with God's Word and how to teach others to do likewise.

Last week the five guys within our larger group were working through sharing a 'lightbulb' moment that God gave each of us as we read Matthew 5. As we did so, God opened my eyes to something I had never before seen.

Jesus, in the wisdom that typified his every parable and pericope, is teaching at 2 levels here and we'd do well to pay attention at both levels. Jesus speaks to his disciples many high ethical standards for them to live out or embody - but (lightbulb!) he speaks of himself doing just one thing. 

Level 1: Jesus speaks - high heart standards. "And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying" (v.2) is how Jesus begins and this continues for 9 Beatitudes (happy promises), 2 lofty embodiments (salt of the earth & light of the world), and 6 of the loftiest moral standards I've ever heard - all of which begin with the formula: "You have heard that it was said...but I say to you." As we discussed anger tantamount to murder, living through unhappy marriages, looking at a woman that second time with the wrong intent, loving those you feel you should probably just avoid because they press all your buttons - the consensus amongst these 5 men in our little group: "They must have shook their heads in defeat as Jesus went through each of these one by one." On the one hand, each of these ratcheted-up standards are for our good. For example, When we allow anger to fester and grow at the heart level, the other person becomes, in effect, dead to us (Mt. 5:21-22) so it is worth leaving even a worship service to do the hard and humbling work of reconciliation (Mt. 5:23-24). On the other hand, the further Jesus goes up the list, the more one feels his/her inability - not striking back when struck, given more than what a mooch might ask for, love and pray for those who wish you ill?!

Then the kicker - Jesus teaches we are to do and not relax any of these commandments (Mt. 5:19), our righteousness must exceed a group of persons who had spent their lives and quit their jobs (in some cases) to dedicate themselves to meticulous obedience to every law and every possible way to obey it (Mt. 5:20), and he concludes: "You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt. 5:48). Jesus means for us at this point, I believe, to feel our utter inability. 

So to re-cap so far, Level 1: Each of these individual "doing what's right" would serve us and others well - while brining great glory to God. The bridge: We are meant to feel the impossibility of actually doing them.

Level 2: Jesus does. Did you ever notice that for all the speaking, teaching, and "but I say to you's" from Jesus in Matthew 5, there is only 1 thing he says he will do? And it's the one thing we absolutely need!  "Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets (ie. the entire Old Testament); I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished" (Mt. 5:17-18).

The word translated "fulfill" (pleroo) really does give a sense of "fills full." Imagine the Old Testament as a large bucket not yet filled to the brim. Jesus fills full the entire Old Testament where it lacks: (a) All the Messianic prophecies that are left open; (b) All the types of leaders/deliverers who didn't quite live up to God's standard (Moses, David, Aaron, Joshua, and every prophet-priest-king); (c) All of the Law and commandments -- moral law: Jesus does it; ceremonial law: Jesus becomes the sacrifice; civil law: Jesus is exalted as the ruling king worth submitting to.

For our immediate purposes, Jesus perfect living fills full the bucket of where we fall woefully short (cf. Matthew 3:15). So he offers to credit to us his filled-full righteousness by simple trust in Him.

To the one who works [to be perfect & fill full his own bucket of right-living], his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trusts in Jesus who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (Romans 4:4-5).

So here in Matthew 5, Jesus is giving us a high-heart ethical standard that is meant to be lived out for our good and the good of our neighbor; yet, he's also purposely set the standard so high that we are meant to feel our inability - so he hints here at one thing he  will do: Fill full all righteousness and right-living that we could not - including willingly becoming the right sacrifice to fulfill the Law and becoming our rightful king by way of resurrection to fulfill the Law.

Jesus Level 2 fulfillment then empowers us to live out his Level 1 standard. When we trust in Him, He causes us to be born again (John 3:7-8), giving us a new and tender heart that wishes to please our Father (Ezekiel 36:26), so tender that the high-heart standards will be permanently etched onto our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). The great 20th century German theologian (and martyr) Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it well in The Cost of Discipleship in which he examines Jesus' sermon on the mount. He says with respect to chapter 5 of Matthew's gospel:

God is the [the Law's] giver and its Lord, and only in personal communion with God is the law fulfilled. There is no fulfillment of the law apart from communion with God, and no communion with God apart from the fulfillment of the law. To forget the first condition was the mistake of the Jews, and to forget the second the temptation of the disciples. Jesus, the Son of God, who alone lives in perfect communion with him, vindicates the law of the old covenant by coming to fulfill it...It is Jesus himself who comes between the disciples and the law, not the law which comes between Jesus and the disciples. They find their way to the law through the cross of Christ. Thus by pointing his disciples to the law which he alone fulfills, he forges a further bond between himself and them.

If on your own or with a group, you are studying Jesus' wise and lofty teaching on this mount and finish feeling defeated. Do not worry yourself further: You are meant to! Look to Him who fills full the life you cannot on your own. He bonds you to himself through a relationship of simple trust and He will walk you through each step of obedience.

Leaders that Lead, willing 'followers' and everyone in between

Let me immediately open by saying, one, the concept of leadership in the Christian setting has been exploited for so many ill-gotten purposes that we should first remember that the greatest leader is the greatest servant (see Mark 10:43). Second, any good leader is a good follower. As the apostle Paul exhorted one church: "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1). The best leaders are those who follow Jesus while happening to be in the midst of others. To put it another way, you can't be a good shepherd until you're a good sheep.


But I ran across a verse and chapter in Scripture yesterday that made me grateful for both faithful leaders and equally as faithful non-leaders amongst the people of God, in families, and especially in local churches. I wanted to share it. It's from the Book of Judges. Deborah - the acting judge - and Barak - Israel's acting military leader - have just been used by God to achieve a great victory over the Canaanites in this new land. Having won, Deborah & Barak release a patriotic duet on LP and the following is the opening line:

That the leaders took the lead in Israel,                                                                    that people offered themselves willingly,                                                               bless the LORD!   (Judges 5:2).

Grateful for the faithfulness of "non-leaders." Remember, at this point, God's people have just inhabited this new land and really began to identify with this "each tribe gets a piece of the pie" thing. Was like everybody being in a new little clubs with fancy rights & privileges and then left to figure out how not to be "clique-ish." Isn't this so easy to do as a Christian? We throw around terms like "child of God" because we are through trust in Christ. Also terms like "heir," "priest," "gifted" because we are in Christ. However, we begin to worship the status, prize it above all possessions to the point where we can, frankly, act like spoiled brats (yours truly included). We don't just want the privileges of being part of a family (and its primary expression through the local church) but we want to receive the privileges the way we want (most preferable, most comfortable) and without cost. Many, however, take time to grapple with a leader's vision and, most importantly, take time to look to Christ - the leader - and are thus able to recall the burden and responsibility of leadership that stems from Him. That's what happens here in Judges. Many among the tribes band together to ally & defeat a force and culture which perniciously threatened their faithfulness to Yahweh. How easy it would've have been to stay home playing with their new toy! To take their gift and stay home. I'm so grateful to God for Sunrise Community Church where, for the most part, people have by-and-large taken the time to listen to, grapple with, & get excited about the vision God has imparted for our context and look to Christ, whereby they are able to sympathetically pray and support myself and other leaders. People rarely ask: "Why should I serve?" but, "Where can I be most helpful?" So willing! 


Grateful for leaders who lead. Bless Yahweh for leaders who take the lead! That seems obvious, right? Leaders lead. But reality is that there are many who call themselves "leaders" but don't step out to make the hard choices and endure pain as well as criticism along the way. They issue their informal version of a "gallup poll" & each time take the path of the prevailing tide. I remember Stuart Briscoe once saying, "Every pastor needs to have the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of an elephant." It's true. I'm grateful for leaders who keep plodding along especially in the midst of pain and, at best, partial success (as all ministry is - not everyone will trust Christ, not all marriages will be saved, not everyone will get 'on board' in love & unity, and, for families, not every child will soon respond in faith & obedience). Deborah and Barak endured this. There were some tribes who decided to play with their new gift and stay home when their brothers were at war. Deborah & Barak wonder: What happened, Reuben? Where were you? (see vv.15-16). They pine: Gilead, Dan, Asher, what gives?! (see v.17). I can't tell you how many times as a leader where significant persons didn't show up - yes, I've been tempted to text/call the person: "where are you?" and have even given into this temptation. But, oh, for the leader who carries the pain as a response to Christ's carrying his pain and keeps moving forward and then encourages those present who do step up (as Deborah/Barak do - see especially v.9: "My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people"). 


Response. The threat for Israel both grave and obvious. The Cannanites had wealth, cities, politics, art which were far superior to the Israelites all of which was under the guise of worship that promoted materialism and sensuality. What's the grave & obvious threat in your context? To your church? To your family? Let's be grateful for, pray for, and plan for (what do I need to do/change?) leaders & faithful people who exemplify the first line of Deborah and Barak's hit track:

That the leaders took the lead in Israel,                                                                    that people offered themselves willingly,                                                               bless the LORD!   (Judges 5:2).

A few quotes on Sanctification

This past Sunday we looked at Romans 6: 15-23 & Sanctification. In a nutshell, I argued that: "Through sanctification, God helps us become who we are."

We are sons & daughters of the King. But it takes a while for the 'family resemblance' to show up. We are God's workmanship, but when we first start following Jesus, we look at our lives and think, "I don't work like the Bible says I should." God growing us toward His resemblance and toward working right is sanctification.

Here are a few fun quotes on sanctification & our responsibility in it (obedience) that I had jotted down but was unable to share in the sermon:

"The more often [man] feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel." - C.S. Lewis

"Only the devil has an answer for our moral difficulties, and he says, 'Keep on posing problems, and you will escape the necessity of obedience." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Our sanctification does not depend as much on changing our activities as it does doing them for God rather than ourselves." - Brother Lawrence

"Holiness is not an experience; it is the re-integration of our character, the rebuilding of a ruin. It is a skilled labor, a long-term project, demanding everything God has given us for life and godliness." - Sinclair Ferguson

'My child,' 'my child,' When fathers say 'my child,'

'Tis easier to conceive the universe,

And life's transitions down the steps of law. - Elizabeth Barret Browning

Comfort & Butt-kicking from the School of Prayer

I read something early this Summer that was brief yet powerful enough to get my rear end into gear:

History Belongs to the Intercessors. -Walter Wink

When I read that, I winced because I knew if the above rang true as I suspected it did, my history read about as long as a one of those "World's Largest _____" Attraction leaflets you pick up at a Holiday Inn. Intercession is a weakness in my life. I'm so thankful that I get to meet with the elders every Tuesday morning to pray for specific persons & requests in the church -- because doing this on my own is more of struggle.

Thankfully, the Lord brought to my attention a devotional book I had long heard of but never before read. The book is called With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray. Murray was a South African pastor in the mid-18th century & passionate champion of global missions. This Summer I spent a couple mornings each week working & praying through this rich devotional material. I want to share just three of my favorite selections and pray they might provide some comfort or needed sanctified butt-kicking as they did for me.

"But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you" (Matthew 6:6). Christians often complain that private prayer is not what it should be. They feel weak and sinful, the heart is cold and dark; it is as if they have so little to pray, and in that no faith or joy. They are discouraged and kept from prayer by the thought that they cannot come to the Father as they ought or as they wish. Child of God! Listen to your Teacher. He tells you that when you go to private prayer, your first thought must be: The Father is in secret, the Father waits for me there. Just because your heart is cold and prayerless , get yourself into the presence of the loving Father. As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth you. Do not be thinking of how little you have to bring to God but of how much He wants to give you (Excerpt from Lesson 3)

One of the great benefits of many of these less if the inspiring images or word-pictures Murray gives us in applying Scripture to prayer. My Father is waiting for me in secret -- so what am I doing here?!

Ask and it shall be given you (Matthew 7:7). If no answer comes, we are not to sit down in sloth that calls itself resignation and suppose that it is not God's will to give an answer. No; there must be something in the prayer that is not as God would have it, childlike and believing; we must seek for grace to pray so that they answer may come. It is far easier to the flesh to submit without the answer than to yield itself to be searched and purified by the Spirit, until it has learnt to pray the prayer of faith (Excerpt from Lesson 5).

Granted, Murray starts treading down a slippery slope as he nears the claim that it is the effort of our prayers that will make all the difference. No, Jesus is the great Intercessor who ultimately makes all the difference and often works without our prayers. Nevertheless, our tendency in prayer is to pray something once, let it fly heavenward without giving it a second thought. I remember Bill Shakespeare saying: "Words fly up, thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts, never to heaven go." There is so much about prayer in which God wants to impress His holiness and His image upon us even while we tend to think of prayer making an impression upon Him. We learn perseverance in faith, how to discern His voice and listen to Him, how to 'be still and know that He is God,' to joyfully drink in his presence in long quaffs. It's far easier for the flesh to submit content with a 5-second prayer and move on. Oh but to go deeper, be refined, have our senses grow more acute, and unite ourselves with the very will of God!

"Truly, Truly, I say unto you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these he will do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John 14:12-13). And now the second lesson: he who would pray must work ... we find that [Christ] no less than six times (14:13; 14:14; 15:7; 15:16; 16:23; 16:24) repeats those unlimited prayer promises which have so often awakened our anxious questionings as to the real meaning: 'whatsoever,' 'anything,' 'what ye will,' 'ask and ye shall receive.' How many a believer has read these over with joy and hope, and in deep earnestness of soul has sought to plead them for his own need. And he has come out disappointed. The simple reason was this: he had rent away the promise from its surrounding. The Lord gave the promise of the free use of His Name with the Father in connection with the doing of his works...Prayer not only teaches and strengthens to work: work teaches and strengthens to pray" (Excerpt from Lesson 19).

If you attend SCC, you can find With Christ in the School of Prayer available at the Sunday AM Book table for $6 or $8 (can't recall which). Until next time, may the Spirit use this to give you comfort & perhaps a needed butt-kicking so you may be part of changing history & become more like Jesus along the way.