Jubilee!

Image by Sacred Destinations via Flickr

A man noted the other day to a friend, that if we (Christians) experience hardship, it must be by the will of God. Our friend was very disturbed and retorted that it is never God's will that evil be upon us; evil results from the Fall, not God.

I know what she means, and she is 100% right, but I think the fella may have a point. I'm not saying that God does will evil on us, but what I mean is that I can't believe that it's God's will to just magically will Christians happiness and peace and prosperity in spite of others. He wills the good of all people. Yes, indeed, hardship and evil come from the Fall, but God Himself bore the brunt of that evil for us, saving us from death, once again - and Jesus' contemporaries thought in exactly these terms - God rescued His people from Exile and reconciled His people to Him. And here is the point: it is not just for our sake's, nor His, but the whole world's (1).

Jesus proclaimed the year of Jubilee, freedom for all peoples: ending slavery, suffering, canceling debts and redeeming the lost. And this is done by the healing of the blind, curing the sick, and in more earthly, less miraculous terms, the wealthy giving up their wealth, the rich sharing their hoard, and the blessed blessing those less fortunate. Jesus became Israel to the world and did only what God alone could do. You see, Israel was the city on the hill, the light in the darkness and was to be the way of salvation for all, showing the surrounding nations a better way of life - by enduring the suffering of the Fall, trusting in our God, loving amidst the pain and coming out the Red Sea of death and alive on the other side. As the Living Temple of God, and, consequently, the Body of Christ, is this not what we are called to do?

So why are Christians surprised when we find ourselves suffering? We are to rejoice in pain so that the world may see a new way of living. God does not call us to be His people in order simply to bless us. We are blessed so that we may bless others. The only reason God blesses us is so that He may use us. Are we to cry out in our affliction? By all means! What other way to bear our cross but by the strength of God, for we have none of our own. But is it His will we are afflicted? No, but it is His will that we endure as He did. It is His will that we march into the fray right by His side -

As the Father sent Me, so I send you; receive the Holy Spirit; forgive and retain sins.(2)

- as He is present with us in the midst of it, bearing the harshest evil for us, and we for our neighbor and thus the world, God claims every evil as His own victory and thus turns the tide battle by battle – indeed, He has already won the war. These are merely after skirmishes.

It is His will that we be for the world what He was (and is) for us. A suffering servant, bearing our crosses, not because He wills us evil, but because He wills all the greatest good. Lights upon a hill are we. Let us be Christians or die trying.

(1) I'm not talking of universal spiritual salvation, that isn't what John meant when he said that 'Christ died for all' (well, in some sense it was, but that's another post. I speak of more immediate, present Kingdom matters.)
(2) John 20:21-23

Our Salvation!

"You have a such a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your own tradition!" Mark 7:9

It is for absolute certain no man, woman nor child has ever been saved by the hearing of a sermon. We are saved by Jesus Christ. What we, as mainstream Christianity, have dispensed to the masses in the name of Christ often proves itself to be far from what Christ, Himself, called us to. Are we to sit and listen to a monologue once a week and be content to call this the active and living Body of Christ? How many times have you heard the fella behind you snore (or woken yourself up with your own) in church? Christ wasn't crucified because He bored people! Christians should not be passive! This, then, is a call to action.

How often are men and women buried by an avalanche of tradition that started with their great-grandfather's whisper or sneeze? The last five hundred years of Protestant (and a good deal of Catholic) worship has centered its worship service on the sermon but few ask why this is so. Now, the sermon is a fine thing, but I ask, how much of your Christian life is gauged on how this week's sermon spoke to you? Just as we noted in an earlier post on "the Church," I dare you to ask yourself how much of your spiritual life hinges on a place, building or 30 minute sermon given by a man whom many regard as 'God's liaison.' The sermon may be very important but it has its place and cannot be the Christian's staple food. The sermon does a great thing to call in new converts and to educate and edify older ones, but does little for the actual growth of the mature Christian(1). How do we exercise Christ's body if the only organ we use are our ears?

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Martin Luther (whom I almost otherwise admire in every way) said that the only organ of the Christian was the ear(2). Yikes! Did he not read Paul thoroughly enough? Is the eye to say to the foot, I don't need you? Should the hand play the part of the stomach? No! What part of the Body are you? Are you what Luther called you, naught but an ear? I hope not.

As for my remark about 'God's liaison,' I know most pastors and clergy cringe at that idea. I do not mean to speak flippantly nor insult those called by God. I feel "the call" just as most clergy, to give my whole life to Christ. Let us honestly carry out these lines of thought to their Biblical conclusion. As many in Church history have pointed out, the clergy/laity divide has done more damage to the Body of Christ than perhaps any other thing. It reduces God's New Creature to castes, a higher class, where clergy are viewed as "more spiritual," those who perhaps have a bigger inheritance in God's Kingdom than the common and passive pew-a'fixed man or woman. After all, "clergy" comes from "kleros" (a word not in the NT) that means, "a share, portion, inheritance" and laity simply means "the people."

The clergy that we know nowadays is still important, mind you, but only because most Protestant congregations would be wandering the hills without a pastor. There are three reasons for this. One, some have become complacent within the church and want to be spoon feed religion. Whatever. Two, we confuse the difference between what God has given us through the Spirit and the traditions of our father's fathers. Third and most telling, we are afraid of a personal encounter with the Living God - this is a fear as old as the Exodus! Israel cried out to Moses to speak on God's behalf and be their prophet because they feared the very voice of God. That fear still lives on today.
Clearly elders, church planters, teachers, prophets (not telling the future but expounding God's word) are needed and they should be introducing us to Christ and instructing us, yes, but not leading us. That is for Jesus, Himself. I simply ask that we "laymen" (and women!) not look to clergy for our salvation! Our salvation is for Christ alone, and He is the head of us! Be not afraid of the voice of God and His Spirit that indwells you. We must trust in Him.

Has it never struck us that a passive laity means a separated Body? Must we go through a specific person, a pastor or priest in order to connect to our Lord? That is Old Covenant! Christ told us not to call any man, "Father" because we all have One Father, in heaven(3). The clergy was formed for a long list of reasons though none Biblical. But in the modern church, it isn't just the clergy I argue against, it is the laity I would urge to action! We forget that we are all a Royal Priesthood (1 Peter 2; 1 Cor. 12-14) We know what Christ says. That is why Jerome compiled the Bible for us: not to win converts, but to reinforce the apostolic teachings and so we would have the words of our Lord in our hands. The Holy Spirit is to be present in our meetings and Christ is to be the head of us. We stifle the Spirit when we refuse to let Him work and speak and minister to us and to each other.

Ignatius, an elder in the early Church (around 100 - 130) wrote some pretty startling letters to "churches" stating the importance of the Bishops and the roles they were to play. Clearly he was trying to clip heresy in the bud but obviously it didn't work. In fact, most heresies and cults have been started because one man could sway a crowd and drag them down with him to the depths of hell(4). People all too often confuse emotion for spirituality and this leads to the horror of heresy and danger of false prophets. Jonathan Edwards once noted that emotions are transient and cannot be used to measure one's relationship with God. (5) We are too easily swayed when we aren't standing on God's Word. Joseph Smiths and David Koreshes are a plenty, but their voices are drowned out when the rush of the Holy Spirit is truly active and present in the Church gathering! Paul tells us that all are to speak and share and he would that all could prophesy, but that when one speaks, the others should discern. If a brother speaks what is not true, correct him and if he won't accept correction, do not let him in your home. I suggest we all reread 1 Corinthians 12-14. This gives a great example of how the active Church should be seen... and I doubt any of them were sitting on pews.

If only one man speaks and we look to him for our Christian livelihood, we are disobeying Christ! No one is to be above the other, "He who would be first must be last." This doesn't mean that one man should be a servant to many, that is too much! O, the strain we have put on pastors with our naive and immature whinings! No wonder pastors resign at such an alarming rate. (Check out The Barna Group for statistics.)

One man is not to play the part of the whole Body and the rest but listen. Christ would not have this, and if you think He would, you should read your NT again. Matthew 20:25-28 is a great start. Pastors (a word used ONCE in the NT) and elders, shepherds, etc, are not positions but functions. We are all ministers. Get out and work. Live the Body! We are not spiritual pew-potatoes (I can't take credit for that, but I love it) but we are the hands and feet! Hands and feet move and work. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling!

Next (and last in this series): Against the Flow

(1) F.F. Bruce, F. Senn, White, Viola, Barna,to name a few.
(2) Luther's Works 29:224
(3) Matthew 23:9,10
(4) I agree with Grant and Alexander Hay that Rev. 2:6 (Christ's denouncing of the Nicolaitans) refers directly to "lording over a laity" - Nicolaitane literally means "conquering the people" Nikos, "to conquer over" and Laos, "the people."
(5) White, Protestant Worship and Church Architecture, 19)

Grace – what is it?

We’ve been getting a few enquiries lately about grace, and what it really means in laymen’s terms, so I thought I’d have a go at explaining it simply, and it seems to me that the best way to understand what grace is is to understand what it does, so let me detail that quickly.

As the author of Romans says, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23), and the result of this sin is death, both physical and spiritual (Rom 6:23). Because of our crimes against God (our sins) we cannot be permitted into His presence, and so when we face judgement, we are found (rightfully) guilty and cast into the “darkness” (Matt 8: 12; 22;13; 25:30), what most know as hell. What exactly hell is like is a matter of some debate (and maybe another post), but what is not debatable is the absence of the presence of God. If we, in our sin, cannot be permitted to be in God’s holy presence, then our place of punishment must be far from Him. Imagine the pangs of loss we feel when loved one dies, but magnified infinitely! A terrible fate, to be sure!

Nothing we can do will make up for our crimes: no good deeds, no amount of giving to the poor, no level of love for our family or fellow man, nothing! The prophet Isaiah says it right when he says “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (Is 64:6). (Actually, a more literal translation of “filthy rags” is “menstrual rags”. Can you imagine standing before the all holy God clothed in nothing but filthy menstrual rags? Shrivel up like a leaf indeed!)

So what’s to be done, then? How can we be forgiven our sins and allowed into eternal fellowship with the Almighty God? Only through the sacrifice made by Jesus can our sins be covered. Only because Jesus took the punishment that was rightfully due us are we able to enter God’s presence. Only this gift makes that possible! But why did Jesus do that for us? What compelled Him to endure the worst, most excruciating death the ancient world had to offer? Was it something we deserved? Was it something He had to do? No and no. He did this of His own free will, because He loved us and He didn’t want us to be separated from Him for eternity. We were granted this favour, this unmerited favour, not because we deserved it, but because He wanted to give it! And that is grace! A gift beyond compare to people who did not deserve it, to people who He knew would frequently spit it back in His face! You want to know what grace is? Look to the cross. That is the best expression of grace you could ever see!

Taking Christ at His Word

I was chatting with Drew over lunch, which we should all do more of (with each other, and with Drew - he's full of gems that come out over a spread at TGIFs) and the convo went something like, "I prayed for God to open my eyes and show me my sins," says I. "Yeah, didn't think that one through did you? God is faithful to give, remember? Bet He wholloped you one, didn't He?" Oooh, yes, indeedy He did.

The more we talked about it, it kind of occurred to us that seeing our own sins so we can repent of them is good, but staring them down is not repentance. Repentance means turning away and not looking back.
I was getting down because I saw my own filth and realized, I'm still looking at myself and not at the Light!
Jesus came to make us free of our sins, not just to show us better what they were! He opens our eyes not so that we would be more afraid once we knew the bog we were wallowing in, but so that we might see and thank the Man dragging us to safety.
Now I realize its time to stick my hand out to others wallowing as well.

Shane Claiborne said once, "Pastors were telling me to lay my life at the foot of the cross, but not giving me anything to pick up."
So, my big question. How can a man, married with children (brum da daa dum, brum da daa dum (hum along)) like myself give his life up for Christ and yet still take care of his family? My wife sure won't go for moving to Calcutta and living in a shanty with Meg on a dirt floor while we feed the poor. There must be a way for us men to live for Jesus - and take the things He said seriously - and to make a difference here in Tokyo, one of the bigger cities of the world. There is much to do here, the harvest is ripe!