Bowling Green Covenant Church

The Traveler’s Advisory

Friday 29 September 2006

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” — Psalm 51.10-12 [ESV]

The Valley of Vision is a collection of prayers expressing the passionate spirituality of the Puritans. The Puritan movement swept through the Church of England in the 17th and 18th centuries producing giants of the faith such as Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, Isaac Watts, composer of hymns such as When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, and John Owen. If you have not read Baxter, Bunyan, or Owen you owe it to yourself to do so. Ditto for singing Watts’ hymns. It is not hyperbole to say that to ignore them is to worship God with an impoverished faith and limited view of His glory.

The Americanized caricature of the Puritans depicts them as funny looking people with oddly shaped hats, big-buckled shoes, carrying blunderbusses and with a strong dislike for anything that might be fun. It is a false image. The Puritans of 17th/18th century England including those who settled in Massachusetts were passionate people. They lived with a passion to bring all of life under the authority of Jesus Christ. They lived with a passion for the sovereignty of God in all things. One outlet for this passion was prayer. You can read this passion in the opening lines of a prayer titled Morning Needs:

O God, the Author of all Good,
I come to Thee for the grace another day will require for its duties and events.
I step out into a wicked world,
I carry about within me an evil heart,
I know that without Thee
I can do nothing that everything with which I shall be concerned,
however harmless in itself,
may prove an occasion of sin or folly
unless I am kept by Thy power.

The first two lines express worship to God as the Author of all Good as well as declaring our dependence upon Him as the giver of all grace. The third line is an honest assessment of the world into which the saints of God live and move and have their being. The fourth line reveals the honest humility of the Puritan conscience: “I carry about within me an evil heart.”

This confession is what prompted David to cry out, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me,” (Psalm 51.10). That he carried about with him an evil heart kindled David’s burning request for God to create in him a clean heart. The LORD declared David to be a man after His own heart, and we see here the proof of that. After confessing his sin of adultery, the Shepherd-King cries out to the Author of all Good to create within him a clean heart.

The apostle Paul expressed his need for a clean heart when he wrote, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me,” (Romans 7.19-20). We do not do the good we want for one simple reason: we carry about within us an evil heart. Unless the Lord changes our heart by creating a new heart in us not only can we not do the good works God has prepared for us, we cannot know the joy of His salvation.

A clean heart will seek God’s guidance in all our endeavors. A clean heart will keep us from sin or folly. A clean heart will direct our worship to its true Creator—God, the Author of all Good. Best of all, a God-given clean heart will keep us from the slow death of a self-righteous spirit. The last lines of Morning Needs express this desire for a clean heart to direct our behavior with typical Puritan passion:

May every creature be made good to me by prayer and Thy will; Teach me how to use the world, and not abuse it, to improve my talents, to redeem my time, to walk in wisdom toward those without, and in kindness toward those within, to do good to all men, and especially my fellow Christians. And to Thee be the glory.

You think about that.

MM

The Traveler’s Advisory

Friday 22 September 2006

“But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him saying, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” —Matthew 14.30-31 [ESV]

Before I saw the film Apollo 13 I had never heard the phrase “a successful failure.” NASA considered the mission of Apollo 13 “a successful failure” in that while the mission failed in its main objective: to land on the moon; the mission succeeded in that all three men were safely returned to earth despite spending several days in a damaged spacecraft.

In an article that appeared in the August 2002 issue of the Harvard Business Review IBM exec Thomas Watson, Sr. was quoted as saying, “the fastest way to succeed is to double your failure rate.” The article went on to say that failure-tolerant leaders know that while success is good, failure is not necessarily all that bad. Failure-tolerant leaders regard failure as a necessary prerequisite of invention, which requires risk taking. Failure also provides insights that cannot normally be gained from success. Failure encourages creativity and innovation.

Some of the greatest people in the Bible have been successful failures. Abraham listened to Sarah and slept with Hagar, when he should have trusted God’s promise that Sarah would give birth to a son. Moses was a murderer. David was an adulterer. Jeremiah faithfully proclaimed the word of the Lord for 40 years with little to show for his effort. All these experienced extraordinary failures, but because God is a failure-tolerant leader His grace helped them become “successful failures.”

In the NT Jesus emerges as the perfect failure-tolerant leader. And the NT has its share of people who experienced extraordinary failure. One of my favorite stories about a successful failure is Peter’s attempt to walk on water to Jesus from Matthew 14.22-33.

When Jesus called Peter out of the boat He gave the fishermen permission to put his passion into practice. He gave Peter permission not only to try the impossible, but also to do the impossible. Jesus gave Peter permission to succeed. He also gave him permission to fail. The good news is that Peter’s failure, as embarrassing as it was is, in retrospect, a successful failure. There is no doubt Peter was passionate in his desire to follow Jesus. However, Peter was about to learn a very important lesson. Passion for Jesus may get you out of the boat, but it is faith in Jesus that gets you all the way to where He is. A successful failure teaches us to put more faith in Christ than in our passion for following Him.

Peter’s failure taught him it was more important to put his faith in Christ than in his passion for Christ. Passion for Jesus may get you out of the boat, but it is faith in Jesus that gets you all the way to Him. Passion for following Jesus is good. However, our faith should always be in Jesus not in our passion for following Him. There is a difference.

When did Peter realize his passion for following Jesus was not enough? The answer is unknown. Perhaps it was when Peter reached the point of no return (PNR). Once Peter reached the PNR he couldn’t turn back. That would be embarrassing. You don’t want to fail in front of your peers. Additionally, Peter doesn’t want to disappoint Jesus. That would be even more embarrassing especially since the whole “walk on water” thing was his idea.

What if Peter succeeded? What if he made it to Jesus and then continued on with Jesus to the other side? Given Peter’s passion and his pride, it is likely success would have ruined him. But he failed and it was the failure that humbled him. It was failure that taught him the put more faith in Jesus than in his passion for following Jesus. Despite his failure, he did not die nor did Christ reject him. To the contrary, Jesus “saved” him. Even Jesus’ question has a more pastoral than judgmental tone.

The success in Peter’s failure comes after he and Jesus get into the boat. It is found in the confession made after the wind and the waves cease. The apostles worship Jesus making this confession, “Truly, You are the Son of God.” Peter’s failure opened his and their eyes to the reality of Jesus—He is the Son of God and our faith is in Him not in our passion for following Him.

May it always be so.

You think about that.

MM

The Traveler’s Advisory

Friday 15 September 2006

“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.”—Joshua 1.7[ESV]

“Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”—Galatians 3.23-24 [ESV]

I was six-years-old when I learned to ride a bicycle without training wheels. My father gave me one cardinal word of counsel before my solo flight, “Keep your head up, Mike.” Then he gave me a push and sent me pedaling down the street toward a future of adventure and discovery. It was a wobbly start, but remembering my father’s counsel I lifted my chin to keep my head up. Instantly, the wobbling stopped and I rode straight down the middle of the street.

I obeyed my father’s counsel for about half a block. At the halfway point, with him jogging beside me, I gave in to temptation and looked down at the front tire. The instant I dropped my head I swerved to the right hit the curb and fell. My maiden voyage, albeit thrilling was brief. I asked my father to put the training wheels back on. He refused. He told me I was too old for training wheels. He told me he believed I could ride without them. “All you have to do, Mike, is keep your head up. No matter what, if you keep your head up, you won’t fall.”

Several falls later, but determined not to give up, the tumblers all fell into place and the combination to my liberation from training wheels was complete. Trusting my father’s advice, I kept my head up and my balance improved. The training wheels gave me confidence to ride a “two-wheeler,” but in the end they were an intermediate step to help with the transition from riding with them to riding without them.

With Israel on the verge of entering the Promised Land, the LORD exhorted Joshua “be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you.” Additionally, the LORD exhorted Joshua, ”Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.” For Joshua to be obedient he had to keep his head up. The Law would act as “training wheels” insuring he would not swerve to the right or to the left.

Careful observance of the Law will keep you on the straight and narrow. The LORD exhorted Joshua to be meticulous about being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, the servant of the LORD commanded him. Ultimately, however, the chief ministry of the Law consists in constantly reminding all who try to keep it that they are following God with training wheels on their heart, their mind and their soul.

Enter Jesus as author and pioneer of the New Covenant. His sinless perfection as the Son of God guaranteed His perfect obedience to the Law. His perfect obedience to the Law guaranteed the perfection of His death as the propitiation for our sin. His obedience to the Law is the basis for our justification by faith (see Ephesians 2.8-10). His resurrection removed the training wheels from our heart, mind and soul. Before Jesus came we were captive to the Law. Now that Jesus has come and fulfilled the Law, keeping it when we could not, He has given us a new law to follow—a new commandment wherein we are to love one another as He has loved us (John 13.34).

In acting as our guardian the Law functioned in a manner similar to the way training wheels work on a bicycle. It is there to keep us balanced. The Law reminds us that we need to keep our head up. Once Jesus comes the training wheels are removed. The risk of failure may be greater than under the Law, but the freedom to discover the depth and the riches of God’s glory make the risk eminently worthwhile. In truth there is no risk since the perfection of Jesus guarantees that our faith will be rewarded. All that we must do can be summed up in the counsel my father gave me, “Keep your head up.”

Keep your head up. Look to Jesus. Pedal hard and ride straight knowing that should we fall His Grace is there to pick us up.

You think about that.

MM

The Traveler’s Advisory

Friday 8 September 2006

“Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.” —Exodus 19.18-19 [NIV]

“At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words ‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” —Hebrews 12.26-28 [NIV]

The earth trembles when the LORD speaks. And human hearts are not immune to the fear induced by His glorious presence and thunderous voice. Someday not only the earth but also the heavens will be shaken. Hence all that is not eternal is not only eternally out of date, but also eternally unreliable. According to the writer of Hebrews the only thing that will survive this second shaking is the kingdom of God.

Lest Israel fell prey to the idolatrous notion that Yahweh, the I AM, was simply a late arrival into the pantheon of tribal or national gods the LORD did two things at once; two things as majestic as they were terrifying: He calls Moses up while at the same time He descends visibly, audibly, and physically to Sinai. He who is eternal holiness invites Moses and the people of Israel to an audience with His glory.

The advent of the LORD at Sinai is unlike the advent of Jesus in Bethlehem. On the night of His Son’s advent, the only light that shone was the star that led the Wise Men to Bethlehem. There was no smoke, no thunder, no quaking of the earth. Few there are who fear the birth of a baby. And few there may have been who stood at the foot of Sinai and feared the LORD even though He had delivered them from Egypt and they passed through the Red Sea on dry land.

In all likelihood the advent of the LORD at Sinai did indeed put the “fear of God” into those present. How could it not? The absence of fear was not the case at Sinai. The air was thick with it. The smoke, fire and trumpet were not intended for theatrical effect. The LORD of all creation is not like the Wizard of Oz. He need not stand behind a curtain to declare His glory. He need only descend and in descending He brings with Him smoke, fire and trumpet. These are the accoutrements of royalty. These are the heralds of intrinsic authority. These are the harbingers of an eternal glory. These are the footmen of the Almighty King.

And yet when the LORD descends to Sinai it is to teach. It is to commune with His people by His word. What the “sermon on Sinai” lacked in beatitude it more than compensated for in sheer majesty and glory. His advent there told Israel that here is a God who is above all gods. Did any of the gods of Egypt so appear? Did any of the gods of the Canaanites so appear? No. Only the LORD descends with smoke, fire, and trumpet. By shaking the earth at His advent on Sinai the LORD intended to convince Israel of His reality by magnifying His transcendence. He is not like the other gods. He is above all gods. In truth, there are no other gods. The LORD, Yahweh, I AM, He alone is God.

The next time the earth will shake with an equivalent force will be when “the desired of all nations will come,” (Haggai 2.6-7). This is the verse from which the writer of Hebrews draws his inspiration.

When God became flesh and Jesus lived for a while among us the glory of God was tempered, but not so tempered that glory was diminished in any way. It was glory that shook the earth with a different kind of otherness. Not different in that God had changed, but different in the way He chose to express His glory.

When the LORD once more shakes the earth all that is not eternal—the consuming fire of His majestic glory will consume including the nations of the earth. Only that which is eternal will stand—the kingdom of God including those who have taken refuge in it.

Let us fear the Lord that we may worship Him in spirit and in truth. For by so doing we will be among those who have made their refuge in that which cannot be shaken.

You think about that.

MM

The Traveler’s Advisory

Friday 1 September 2006

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” — 1 Corinthians 15.58 [ESV]

“We ought not merely to labor in the Lord but to do so abundantly, to overflowing. The labor of man after his expulsion from paradise was punishment for his transgressions, but this labor [enabled only by grace] is the basis for the rewards which are to come.” – John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistles of Paul

In the beginning God created us to work. Genesis 2.15 says, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Ephesians 2.10 recapitulates this from the perspective of the New Covenant and spiritual rebirth through faith in Christ, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” The Old and New Covenants teach that work, before and after the Fall, is part of our calling as men and women created in God’s image.

So then, work is good. By working we support ourselves, our families and, just as importantly, work enables us to build the kingdom of God. Relax. You are not going to be asked to write a check (although if you want to, that’s fine). Work is good because God created us to work. When we work we fulfill God’s calling for our lives.

The Reformation recaptured more than our understanding of salvation. In addition to recapturing the doctrine of justification by faith, the Reformation also recaptured the definition of work as spiritual vocation. Our culture separates work into the categories of spiritual and secular. This is a false dichotomy. For followers of Jesus Christ all work is spiritual work. All work; be it in the Church, in the home, the office or factory, is a spiritual vocation. “Our callings in life, from husband to wife, father to mother, from son to daughter, form farmer to statesman to minister to housewife, flow from God’s call and love for us in Christ. And mysteriously, our work somehow plans a part in the drama of that final day when the entire creation will be set free from its bondage (Romans 8.18ff.),” (Chris Donato, Tabletalk, September 2006, page 18).
It is with that final day in mind that Paul exhorted the Corinthian church “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” As those who know God’s call and have tasted His love for us in Christ, our work, the work He has given us to do, be it inside or outside the Church is an act of worship grounded in hope. Work is an expression of hope—the steadfast, immovable confidence that our labor, as well as our faith, in the Lord is not in vain.

The key, of course, is to know for Whom you are working and why. Addressing this matter elsewhere Paul wrote, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him,” and again, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Jesus Christ,” (Colossians 3.17, 23). Paul’s words, and those of Chrysostom, remind us that when we work for the Lord the pay may not be great, but the benefits are outstanding!

There is more to life because Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly. There is more to work for the same reason and especially because He is coming again bringing His reward with Him. Remember that the next time your boss asks you to work overtime, or a client drops your business, or your child vomits in the middle of the night, or you have to deal with ornery co-workers. Work is hard. But God is good.

To work is to worship. To work is to have hope. Our labor is not in vain. All work is an opportunity to “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

You think about that.

MM