It Takes All Kinds

 

God does not judge by external appearance.

—Galatians 2:6

I remember Cordelia as a woman from my childhood who attended my little country church. Cordelia stood out among the farm women in the congregation. As she sat in the pew, Sunday after Sunday, her trim figure displayed showy, colorful clothing, topped off with large stylish hats. Cordelia’s husband wasn’t a farmer like most of the men of the congregation either. They lived in a tidy little ranch house at the edge of the small nearby town. Cordelia painted in oils, and she had quite a reputation for her artistry. Yet, here she sat with her red fingernails, in her mink stoles that intrigued me with the mink’s beady eyes, and her “just-so” demeanor.

I wonder if the Early Church, described in the Book of Acts, had characters like Cordelia—just a little out of place style-wise, but perfectly at home in God’s house. I think I’ve found such a woman in Acts 16. Her name was Lydia. She was a Gentile from Thyatira in Asia. She was known as a “seller of purple.” She apparently had means, influence, and a large enough house to serve as the church meeting place in Philippi.

This woman, if not the very first, must have been one of the first converts to Christianity in the continent of Europe. As soon as the Lord opened her heart, she and her household were baptized, and immediately she offered hospitality to the evangelistic team who had come to their region. Her life had been changed by her coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ, through the ministry of the Apostle Paul.

Sometimes Christians pre-judge others by their outward appearance, by how they “fit in and look the part.” Writing in Galatians 2:6, the Apostle Paul makes it clear:

God does not judge by external appearance.

Also, in 1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord said to Samuel:

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

Wouldn’t it be fun to find a “Lydia” right smack-dab in the middle of our church who doesn’t “look” like we might expect her to look? Be alert! There probably is a one-of-a-kind, genuine, disciple there, who doesn’t look the part—at least as we would see it. God may have some wonderful surprises ahead. We must remember that God doesn’t see things the same way we do.

 

 

Space to Grow

 

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

—Philippians 1:6

I laugh about it now, but when I was five, having to wear high top black PF Flyers for gym class embarrassed me to death. Since I was the oldest child in the family, and my mother had no knowledge of what “gym shoes” should look like for little girls, she drove me to the country store and picked out a pair that would fit me for two or three years. I could “grow into them.” Remember, too, that in the 1950s little girls never wore slacks to school. So, my sporty look—offset by these odd gym shoes—while it might be very “in” today, mortified me then.

My mom expected me to grow. She never questioned whether my feet would eventually fit properly in those shoes. In fact, if I hadn’t matured appropriately by age seven or eight, my parents would have spent all the money they had to find me a doctor to help me develop like normal children.

God expects us to grow, too. In fact, Paul wrote the following in Philippians 1:6:

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

God will provide opportunities for our growth. And, He will help us along. In 2 Peter 3:18, the Apostle Peter instructed believers to:

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Similarly, in Luke 2:52, Jesus, Himself, was said to have grown:

… in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. …

Spiritual growth, then, is a normal expectation for believers. Yet, there seems to be many people who claim to be Christians, but lack the evidence that they have grown into their own spiritual “PF Flyers.” If we find ourselves in this group, we must understand that some of the onus falls on us for this lack of growth. The author of the Book of Hebrews scolded Christians in his day by stating in Hebrews 5:12-14:

Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!…Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

What better evidence of a healthy child are growing feet? What better evidence of a healthy Christian is step-by-step growth into mature faith?

If we feel in need of a “growth hormone,” we should start by setting a regular time for reading the Bible and for daily prayer. We should determine to make it a habit to be in church for both Christian Education class and for the Worship Service every week. These steps are critically important because while God provides the means for growth, we remain responsible to take full advantage of what He provides for us.

 

 

The Wail

 

“And he [Joseph] wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.”

—Genesis 45:2

“With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.”

—Mark 15:37

Other-earthly; prolonged and deathly; loud and terror-ridden—this sound came from Joseph’s body, up from the depths of his soul, when he revealed himself to his brothers. This unnatural act of forgiveness came with a terrible cost: months and years of heratbreaking turmoil.

Philip Yancey perfectly expresses this occasion: ¹

The brothers Joseph struggled to forgive were the very ones who had bullied him, had cooked up schemes to murder him, had sold him into slavery. Because of them he had spent the best years of his youth moldering in an Egyptian dungeon. Though he went on to triumph over adversity and though with all his heart he now wanted to forgive these brothers, he could not bring himself to that point, not yet. The wound still hurt too much.

I view Genesis 42 - 45 as Joseph’s way of saying, “I think it’s pretty amazing that I forgive you for the dastardly things you’ve done!” When grace finally broke through to Joseph, the sound of his grief and loved echoed throughout the palace. What is that wail? Is the king’s minister sick? No, Joseph’s health is fine. It was the sound of a man forgiving.

Now, change the scene. In your mind, see Jesus during the last twenty-four hours of His life. During Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane, He fought in prayer with His Father:

“Would You possibly take this dreadful task away from me? If not, I will bow to Your will.”

Jesus prayed until He could agree with the Father’s will. This pain had to run its course. This death had to take place. There was no other way. In order to fully love us, Jesus willingly agreed to the Father’s plan. On the cross, in tortuous agony, Jesus gave Himself for the sins of all the people who had ever lived, all the people who were currently alive, and all the people who would ever live on the earth.

What is that wail? Listen! Hear that horrible sound! The terror of Jesus’ outcry graphically illustrates that He was born, would live, and willingly died for us all. The wail revealed the sound of the only Son of God, this perfect Man, forgiving—forgiving us!

Jesus asks us to forgive others as He forgave. We bow in prayer during this day after the celebration of Christ’s resurrection to ask for His grace that will allow us the healing that comes from His wail and from our own.

______________________

1 Yancey, Philip. What’s So Amazing About Grace? Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997. Pp. 84-85. Citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

What Will We Do?

 

	“Leave her alone.” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me …  She did what she could. She poured perfume for my burial.”
	—Mark 14:6, 8

Jesus reprimanded those who complained about this woman’s gesture and told them that what she had done in anointing His body for burial would be remembered wherever the Gospel is preached. This passage of Scripture makes it clear that: “She did what she could.”

In John 19:23-24, we find these words:

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

We don’t know the source of that seamless garment, but it must have been the finest of all of Jesus’ possessions. Jewish tradition called for a mother to make a robe like this for a son just before the time when he left home. Did Jesus’ mother, Mary, make it for Him? Indeed, if she did: “She did what she could.”

In Luke 23:50-53, the Scripture records:

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.

This man had come at the risk of his own life and and at the risk of his credibility with the Jewish leaders. With determination and without fear: “He did what he could.”

In the events of this momentous week—Holy Week—we also read in Mark 16:1-2:

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb.

They rose early in the morning. Ministering the rite of burial to Jesus’ body was the foremost thing on their minds. It could most certainly be said of these women that, out of deep love for Christ: “They did what they could.”

Just as Jesus gave Mary from Bethany the honor of being remembered wherever the Gospel is preached, so Joseph of Arimathea and the women at the tomb are honored with their stories that will cause them to be remembered for all eternity. At the time, they probably thought each gift they gave was an insignificant part of the story. But, we can be certain that God saw and rewarded each one of them.

Out of love for Christ and for His sacrifice for us, what gift of obedience, time, talent, and treasure will we give? Will it be said of us: “We did what we could”?

 

 

Access

 

“He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”

—Ephesians 2:17-18

It’s not much of a perk, but I have security access at the hospital where I volunteer. Yes, my badge will get me into wings of the building where visitors cannot go. Similarly, those who have business in highly secured government buildings must go through lengthy security clearances, so that they can have access to all areas where they must enter. They must show a badge or other certified proof of their right to enter.

When Jesus died on the cross and cried in a loud voice His final words, Matthew 27:51 records:

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

But what did the tearing of the temple curtain have to do with Jesus’ death? D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains: ¹

The temple at Jerusalem was divided into different places or courts. The most important place was the “holiest of all,” the innermost sanctuary, where the presence of God was revealed in the Shekinah glory over the mercy seat. And into that “holiest of all,” into the very presence of God, only one man was allowed to go. That was the high priest, and he only went in once a year.

Then there were the courts. The outermost court of all was called the “Court of the Gentiles.” They were the furthest away from God! They were not even allowed into the “Court of the People,” the Court of the Jews. The ordinary Jews were not allowed to go where the high priest went … They who were furthest away have been brought in, have been made nigh, in a most amazing manner … This is the position of all who are Christian.

For us who have been born anew into God’s Kingdom, what does this statement above mean? We now, by the gift of God’s grace, have an “access code” to the Father without any human intermediary. Jesus Himself became the eternal intermediary, in His role as our very own High Priest.

Hebrews 10:19-22 gives us this good news:

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.

Jesus, by way of the cross, changed His “Throne of Judgment” into a “Throne of Grace.” We may, at any time—along with any Jews or Gentiles who claim Christ’s clearance—go to the Father directly in prayer. We no longer are treated as strangers, but rather we are welcomed as sons and daughters. We have access into the Holy of Holies, and have fellowship with God. What a wonderful Easter gift!

______________________

1 Lloyd-Jones, D.Martyn. God’s Way of Reconciliation. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1972. p. 182. Citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

The Cup

 

“This is what your Sovereign Lord says, your God, who defends his people: See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again.”

—Isaiah 51:22

Often in our culture, we lift a cup in celebration. That use of a cup signifies light-hearted camaraderie. Not so the cup in Scripture. Here, most often, the cup represents suffering arising from the wrath of God. In Matthew 20:20-22, the mother of Zebedee’s sons, James and John, came to Jesus, asking if He would grant her the honor of having her sons sit on either side of Him in His Kingdom. His response:

“You don’t know what you are asking.” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, we read in Matthew 26:39:

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

The cup indicates the retribution for sin that God needed to “pour out” on Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. He, the perfect and sinless Lamb, obeyed God’s plan and drank that cup for us.

In our Christian tradition, we pass the cup to one another during the celebration of the Lord’s Supper—the Sacrament of Holy Communion. We are part of the Body of Christ, and we need each other in the suffering of discipleship.

From Seek Treasures in Small Fields by Joan Puls, ¹ I read the following:

Draining the cup of suffering is the final test of our sincerity in claiming discipleship. We can expect no right or left hand seats of honor, no prerogatives of power or monopoly on truth, no thrones, no outsiders. But we can have the privilege of holding one another, broken and bruised, in the embrace of our circle, of keeping watch with the dying or keeping vigil with the condemned, of walking alongside the exiled and the weary, of standing at the foot of the cross, not in despair or in bitterness, but open to the miracle of the pending resurrection.

Because Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath for us, in the presence of our community of faith, we can drink our own cup of suffering that connects us to Him.

This Lenten season, when you take the cup, as part of the Lord’s Supper, feast upon His obedience for our sake, and commit yourself to accept the cup He has given you, as part of the fellowship of His sufferings. May we be able to say with Paul, as he wrote in Philippians 3:10:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

______________________

1 Quoted in Shawchuck, Norman and Rueben P. Job. A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God. Nashville, TN: Upper Room Books, 2003. Citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

All Will Be Well

 

“Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever.”

—Deuteronomy 5:2

When everything seems to go wrong, when life gets really hard, when disappointment and pain accompany us every day, do we, as adults, just wish our loving parent would come and soothe our worries by taking over and making things right? We long for these words: “Everything will be okay.”

When my younger sister learned she had a very aggressive cancer that might take her life, she said to her weeping grandchildren, “I’ll be okay. And, even if I’m not, everything will still be okay.” In other words, God will work everything out as we hope. Or, He will work out everything to go well, just as He has planned.

We read in Isaiah 3 about the judgment God was about to bring on Jerusalem and Judah. He warned them that supplies of food and water would dry up, the military, legal, and governmental supports would become destroyed. He warned about oppression and disaster. Yet, He tells His people this in verse ten:

“Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.”

Even when all seems hopeless, we can trust God to bring good out of any evil. In His goodness, He rewards our faith with joy and peace. Our Heavenly Father comes and assures us that He has everything under His control. And, because this is so, it will be well.

Let us allow this hymn text to encourage our faith today, no matter what our circumstances might be: ¹

Through the love of God, our Savior,
All will be well;
Free and changeless is His favor,
All, all is well.
Precious is the blood that healed us,
Perfect is the grace that sealed us,
Strong the hand stretched out to shield us,
All must be well.

Though we pass through tribulation,
All will be well;
Ours is such a full salvation,
All, all is well.
Happy when in God confiding,
Fruitful if in Christ abiding,
Holy through the Spirit’s guiding,
All must be well.

We expect a bright tomorrow,
All will be well;
Faith can sing through days of sorrow,
All, all is well.
On our Father’s love relying,
Jesus ev’ry need supplying,
Or in living or in dying,
All must be well.

______________________

1 Peters, Mary. Through the Love of God, Our Savior. Public Domain. Though this citation is noted to be in the Public Domain, in the case of someone claiming Copyright protection of this material, citation of any Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.