Death, Resurrection, and Baptism

 Remembering our baptism is graciously intended by God to remind us who we are. In order to remember who we are, we must remember where we are. This is the message of Romans 6. God’s grace has super-abounded (Rom 5.20) to destroy the chains that bound us to Adam, Sin, and Death. This liberation was secured by Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection and our baptism narrates that story of freedom. Just like the Hebrew slaves were set free from Egypt by the death of a firstborn and unblemished lamb, so we have been redeemed by the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Just like the Hebrew slaves passed through water on their way to the Promised Land, so we pass through the waters of baptism as our journey toward the New Jerusalem begins. Just like like the Hebrew slaves wandered and suffered in the wilderness before arriving in Canaan, so we groan and suffer by the Spirit until we are resurrected in the new creation (Rom. 8.18-25). Just like the Hebrew slaves, we forget that we have been set free from Egypt and we even want to go back sometimes (Numbers 11.4-6). With this idea of liberation and location in mind, it seems the prepositions in Romans 6.1-4 are quite important. 

What shall we say then? Are we to [remain] in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1–4, ESV)

We aren’t in Egypt anymore. We aren’t slaves anymore. Death and sin no longer make demands of us that we are obliged to obey. Brooks Hatlen was released from Shawshank Prison after a 30 year prison sentence. The slavery of Shawshank was so engrained in him that he could not tolerate the freedom of life on the outside. Brooks took his own life and this is the note he left behind. 

Dear fellas, I can't believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile once when I was a kid, but now they're everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big [blasted] hurry. The parole board got me into this halfway house called "The Brewer" and a job bagging groceries at the Foodway. It's hard work and I try to keep up, but my hands hurt most of the time. I don't think the store manager likes me very much. Sometimes after work, I go to the park and feed the birds. I keep thinking Jake (Brooks’

 pet crow from prison) might just show up and say hello, but he never does. I hope wherever he is, he's doin' okay and makin' new friends. I have trouble sleepin' at night. I have bad dreams like I'm falling. I wake up scared. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember where I am. Maybe I should get me a gun and rob the Foodway so they'd send me home. I could shoot the manager while I was at it, sort of like a bonus. I guess I'm too old for that sort of nonsense any more. I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided not to stay. I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me. 

Sometimes it takes me a while to remember where I am. May the Spirit of God graciously lead us to recall who we are and where we are. We have been crucified with Christ and life we now live, we live by the faithfulness of the Son of God who loves us and gave himself for us. Thanks be to God. 

Click here to listen to yesterday’s sermon, Death, Resurrection, and Baptism.

The Third Sunday of Lent: A Story of Self-Denial

Two texts demanded our attention yesterday and both of them told the same story of self-denial. The stories of Psalm 31 and Mark 8.31-38 are told in such a way that self-denial makes sense and is almost expected. In fact, all stories worth remembering pivot in some way around the theme of self-denial. No one tells a story, makes a film, or describes a worthy character that is not distinguished by self-denial. No one makes a war movie about a coward who refuses to risk his life for the cause. I can’t recall a good sports film about athletes who are lazy and refuse to work and sacrifice for their goals. No fairy tale tells the story of a prince who doesn’t love the girl enough to fight for her. Indeed, every good story revolves around the sacrifice and subsequent transformation of the characters. Sacrifice. Self-denial. Costly love. These are what make a story beautiful. Furthermore, these are what make a life beautiful. Donald Miller puts it like this. “If what we choose to do with our lives won't make a story meaningful, it won’t make a life meaningful either.” Brothers and sisters, the Almighty can accomplish great things through lives of sacrificial love. The Austrian Philosopher Ivan Illich was once asked about the most powerful way to change a society. His answer acknowledges the power of a life/story. 

Neither revolution nor reformation can ultimately change a society, rather you must tell a new powerful tale, one so persuasive that it sweeps away the old myths and becomes the preferred story, one so inclusive that it gathers all the bits of our past and our present into a coherent whole, one that even shines some light into our future so that we can take the next step... If you want to change a society, then you have to tell an alternative story  

The narratives of Psalm 31 and Mark 8.31-38 invite us into a transformative story in which self-denial makes sense. 

Into your hand I commit my spirit;    you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. (Psalm 31.5, ESV) 

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8.34-38, ESV)

As Jesus quotes Psalm 31.5 from the cross and as he invites us to the path of self-denial, King Jesus describes a radical trust of our Father in Heaven such that we will continue to obey even if things aren’t going our way. He narrates a life of sacrifice.  

What kind of story does your manner of life tell? Do our lifestyles narrate an ethic of self-guardedness or self-denial? Are our choices characterized by demanding our way, getting what we want, and pursuing our agenda? Or, do we confess with the Psalmist, “I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God. My times are in your hand.”

In every good story the main character is transformed through difficulty. No one remembers a story in which the protagonist gets everything she wants. Rather, we remember and want to emulate those characters who, somehow in loss and in sacrifice their story becomes beautiful and they are glorified. Through love that sacrifices our lives can tell such a beautiful story. Through not demanding our own way our lives can tell such a beautiful story. Through faithfully persevering with our loved ones, not as we wish they were but as they are, our lives can tell such a beautiful story.  By God’s Spirit may each of us tell a better story, so that on the last day we will hear our Savior say, “Well done. That was a good and faithful story.” 

Here you can listen to yesterday’s message, Entrust My Spirit.   

The Second Sunday of Lent: God on the Cross

What did God experience on the Cross and why does it matter? This question immediately brings two texts to mind. The first words come from the mouth of the Crucified One himself.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.” … And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (John 17.1, 5, ESV)

When Jesus prays to the Father, “the hour has come,” he means that it is time for the cross. What’s more, Jesus describes his bloody, excruciating, and scandalous death as his glorification. This means that as Jesus’ body was broken, as his blood spilled onto the sandy soil outside Jerusalem, as his very life departed from him, the glory of God was being manifested. This is why Paul, quoting an early Christian hymn, proclaims to the Philippians,

Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.
Instead he emptied himself
by assuming the form of a servant,
taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death —
even to death on a cross (Philippians 2.5-8, CSB). 

Why did Jesus empty himself? Why did Jesus assume the form of a servant? Why did Jesus, having assumed full humanity, humble himself to the point of death - even death on a cross? Paul’s answer - He existed in the form of God. In other words, to empty oneself in loving sacrifice for sinners is what it means to be in the form of God. It is not the form of God to exploit. It is the form of God to be poured out. It is not the form of God to demand service. It is the form to God to serve. While it should remain to us a mystery that the Immortal One become for us the Crucified One, it is important for us to grasp that on the cross each person of the Trinity is united in loving sacrifice for sinners.

Why does it matter? It matters because we are often tempted to sacrifice the glorious reality of a loving Triune God, on the altar of understanding “what is not meant to be understood.” In Western Culture we have a lot of sensible stories of angry kings demanding payment for crimes committed. That narrative then becomes the lens through which we understand the cross as Jesus, the faithful and loving Son, pacifying the wrath of the angry tyrannical Father. With these images in mind many of us nurture a hidden suspicion about the Father because on Good Friday he resembles Myra Gulch from the Wizard of Oz who demands Toto be destroyed, much like the Father in our minds who demands his Son be destroyed? Everyone loves Uncle Henry and Auntie Em, but we feel nothing but disdain for Myra Gulch because she’s angry, spiteful, and uses the law to get her way. Are these images true? Is God like Myra Gulch? Brothers and sisters, the Bible explicitly teaches that the already established love of God is what motivated the cross and is what is on display at the cross. The cross is not what made it possible for God to love us. The cross happened because God already loved us. Does the Bible teach that on the cross the Father turned his face away? No. Do the Scriptures teach that the Trinity was broken on the cross? Absolutely not! The cross is the place where God himself in love and sacrifice forgives sin. Thanks be to God.

Click here to stream Sunday’s sermon, Forsaken.

At the beginning of Sunday’s message, I referenced a line from a new song by Andrew Peterson. The line is: “As we try to believe what is not meant to be understood.” In fact, that song, Always Good, and another, Well Done, Good and Faithful, fed my soul full while I was writing the sermon. Both songs can be listened to below.            

Always Good

Well Done, Good and Faithful

Several of you also asked for the Brennan Manning quote that I shared as we explored Psalm 22.8.

If you could honestly say that God likes you, not only loves you, if you could say, “The Father is very fond of me,” there would come a relaxedness, a serenity, and a compassionate attitude toward yourself that is a reflection of God’s own tenderness (Brennan Manning).

Thanks be to God!

The First Sunday of Lent: Takes Up Residence (Psalm 51)

When we take ownership of our sin, God takes up residence with us. This is counterintuitive because when I face my sin, it often feels that distance is created between God and me. When I hide my sin, it seems that I can at least pretend everything is alright. The plain teaching of Psalm 51 however, is that God will not despise a broken and contrite heart. In fact, facing our sin in the presence of our merciful God, invites God to face us with love. Psalm 51 promises that God refuses to condemn those who come to him for mercy - those who come to him in humility - those who come to him asking him to undo what they have done - those who come to him taking responsibility for their sin. Notice the bold request David offers after God has made atonement for and forgiven David’s sin. 

Do good to Zion in your good please;

build up the walls of Jerusalem;

then you will delight in right sacrifices, 

in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;

then bulls will be offered on your altar (Psalm 51.18-19, ESV) 

Brothers and sisters these are words of residence. These words describe the glorious promise that God dwells among penitent sinners. Indeed, Isaiah the prophet exclaims,  

Thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite (Isaiah 57.15, ESV). 

Beloved, God longs to dwell with sinners in order that his presence may give them life. This should be the only motivation we need for regularly owning our sins through our own personal prayers of confession and also ancient prayers such as these. 

Most merciful God,

we confess that we have sinned against you

in thought, word, and deed,

by what we have done,

and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. 

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

have mercy on us and forgive us;

that we may delight in your will,

and walk in your ways,

to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. 

Click here to download and listen to part one of our Lenten Journey Through the Psalms, Takes Up Residence. 

Self-Denial

This is how I work it out. The sufferings we go through in the present time are not worth putting in the scale alongside the glory that is going to be unveiled for us. Yes: creation itself is on tiptoe with expectation, eagerly awaiting the moment when God’s children will be revealed. … Let me explain. We know that the entire creation is groaning together, and going through labour pains together, up until the present time. Not only so: we too, we who have the first fruits of the spirit’s life within us, are groaning within ourselves, as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our body. We were saved, you see, in hope. But hope isn’t hope if you can see it! Who hopes for what they can see? But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it eagerly – but also patiently (Romans 8.18-19, 22-25, N.T. Wright, TKNT).

This helpful translation from N.T. Wright’s, The Kingdom New Testament, highlights a couple truths we touched on yesterday in our message, from Luke 9.18-27. 

Truth #1: Suffering is part of this present age. There is no denying that suffering is part of the deal. Indeed, much suffering comes our way because of our inability to grasp that presently, part of being human will involve unpleasant things. All creation groans because things are not as they should be. What’s more, the life of the Spirit within us leads us to groan with all creation for God to set things right. 

Truth #2: This present age of suffering will not last forever. This groaning that characterizes we who have the life of the Spirit, is a hopeful groaning. It is a groaning that pulls us into the future, toward our adoption, that is, the redemption of our bodies. That for which we groan is not a body-less existence in heaven. Rather, we long by the Spirit, for resurrection, and when that glory is restored to us, all creation will rejoice. The trees of the field will clap their hands (Isaiah 55.12), because the glory and knowledge of the Lord will cover the EARTH as the water covers the sea (Isaiah 11.9)!

Truth #3: The suffering of this present age is not meaningless. Paul describes our groaning with all creation as labor pains. This means faithful suffering will produce life in the age to come. Beloved, the faithful suffering of this present age has glorious results to be enjoyed in the age to come. The sufferings of this age “are not worth putting in the scale alongside the glory” for which we wait! Amen! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!! 

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him (Romans 8.16-17, ESV). 

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

    like streams in the Negeb!

Those who sow in tears

    shall reap with shouts of joy!

He who goes out weeping,

    bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

    bringing his sheaves with him (Psalm 126.4-6, ESV).

Click here to listen to yesterday’s message, Self-Denial.

Weekly Communion: An Ancient Path to the Future

Jesus desires an active encounter with us through the weekly breaking of bread. In fact the first thing Jesus wants to do if the church in Laodicea will welcome him back into their gathering, is to come in and eat (see Revelation 3.20). Most of us are familiar with the idea that King Jesus is active among us when the Scriptures are proclaimed. However, in our tradition we have often failed to recognize that the Holy Scriptures teach that Jesus is also made known to us through the breaking of bread. 

When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24.30–35, ESV)

Brothers and sisters, our prayer is for Jesus to be made known to us more and more so that he will be made known more and more in Somonauk, Sandwich, and the surrounding communities. We believe one of the primary ways he is made known is through our weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper. This is the first reason to come to the Lord’s Table at our regular worship gathering - because the breaking of bread is one of the ways Jesus is present to his people. Secondly, all New Testament churches received the Lord’s Supper weekly. This is established in passages such as 1 Corinthians 11.17-20 as well many references in the book of Acts (2.42-46; 20.7-11). What’s more, not celebrating weekly not only puts a church out of step with New Testament congregations, but also with the church of the first five centuries of the Christian Era. This is established by documents such as the Didache. The Didache was a first century document some historians argue was produced by the Apostles to help leaders establish congregations that are faithful to the instructions of Jesus and the Apostles. In the section titled, “On the Lord’s Day,” These simple instructions from around the time John wrote his Gospel are given. 

On the Lord’s day, gather yourselves together and break bread, give thanks (Gk: eucharisteo), but first confess your sins that your sacrifice may be pure (Didache, 14.1). 

Beloved, the society in which we live is changing even more rapidly than we are able to recognize. This means the message our congregation proclaims to our community must be fresh. That is, our gospel must address questions and issues that our culture is raising. Not only must our message be fresh, even more importantly our message must be faithful. As we move into the challenges of the future, we are wise to make sure our faith is rooted in the same faith of those who have gone before us. As we move toward a worship gathering that more faithfully reflects the gatherings of the early church, our prayer is that we will find the good way into the future and and the life promised by the Prophet Jeremiah. 

Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, and look,  and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it,  and find rest for your souls (Jeremiah 6.16, ESV)

Take to heart this encouragement from the late Robert Webber. 

How do you deliver the authentic faith and great wisdom of the past into the new cultural situation of the twenty-first century? The way into the future, I argue, is not an innovative new start for the church; rather, the road to the future runs through the past.

Click here to listen to yesterday’s message, A Meal.

Jesus' Table

David Fitch writes these helpful words regarding the role Jesus' table is intended to play in our broken world:

We are a mass of disconnected souls with too many tasks to do and too much stress to do them. Nonetheless, our world starves for presence. After work is over, after we arrive home on the train, we swarm to restaurants and bars just to share a beverage or a meal in hope of making contact. Whole train cars on the Chicago Metro commuter train are segregated for those who want to bring a beverage and share a conversation at the end of a long day. It's not much but it's something. People everywhere long to be known. Our culture bears the signs of people wanting to share life meaningfully with one another. The world longs for Eucharist.

In our exploration of Jesus' Table in Luke 5.27-39, we learned that one of the things that got Jesus in trouble with the religious authorities was his table habits. It wasn't only his preaching that led to Jesus' crucifixion, it was also his eating. More specifically, the cast of characters with whom he chose to eat. Tables, you see, tell stories. They tell the story of who's in and who's out - of who belongs with whom - and the basis of our mutual acceptance. Think for a moment about the cafeteria tables in high school. The jocks sit with the jocks, the cheerleaders with the cheerleaders, the FFA students with the FFA students, the preps with the preps, the gothic with the gothic, etc. Jesus' table tells quite a different story. "For Jesus the table was to be a place of fellowship and inclusion and acceptance" (Scot McKnight). According to Jesus, if you have recognized your ultimate need, forgiveness and restoration to God and others, and have turned to him to meet that need, then you belong to Jesus, to God, and to all who have likewise turned to Jesus. This means that Jesus doesn't require purity or certain earthly identity markers before he will share a meal with us. Rather, when we share a meal with Jesus, the meal has a mysterious way of creating purity within us, of shaping us into the image of what God created us to be.

Indeed, "we are a mass of disconnected souls," What evidence of disconnection do you see in your life? Are you feeling disconnected in your relationship with God. What human relationships fee disconnected? Jesus responds to disconnection by inviting us to a meal. Most often that meal is what we call communion - bread and wine shared by Christians after the Word of God has been proclaimed. If you sense a disconnect in your relationship with God, Jesus is inviting you to this sacred meal that he longs to share with you (Luke 22.14-16). If you feel a disconnect in relationships with others, Jesus is inviting you to share a meal with those persons so that his healing touch can restore connection to those relationships. At both tables Jesus is present to forgive, heal, and restore. What's more, it is at these tables we learn to sense where Jesus is present elsewhere in this world. Be encouraged to perceive the restoring presence of Jesus among this mass of disconnected souls.

The next time you walk down the street, take a good look at every face you pass and in your mind say, "Christ died for thee." That girl. That slob. That phony. That crook. That saint. That damned fool. “Christ died for thee.” Take and eat this in remembrance that “Christ died for thee” (Frederick Buechner)

Click here to download and listen to our message, Jesus' Table. 

        

   

Gentleness Rules the World

Jesus was a gentle king.

In our text this past Sunday, Luke emphasized the authority of King Jesus who came into the world and through words wrestled this world back to God. As Jesus proclaims the reign of God in the synagogues of Nazareth and Capernaum, Luke reports again and again that the people were "amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority" (Luke 4.31-32). For our purposes it is important to note that in the same context Luke records that Jesus' authoritative words - words that can exorcise demons and restore life to an older woman on the verge of death - are also words that are full of grace (Luke 4.22). Brothers and sisters, Jesus' words changed the world. His life and ministry divide history into B.C. and A.D. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. And he was gentle. 

In the second half of Isaiah's ministry he promises a Spirit-anointed Servant who will bring justice to the nations in a quite unexpected way. Listen to the prophet's promise. 

He will not shout or cry out,
    or raise his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
    he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
    In his teaching the islands will put their hope (Isaiah 42.2-4, NIV). 

Did you catch that? This King who will bring justice to nations like Assyria, Babylon, Persia, North Korea, and the United States, will do so through gentleness. In Matthew 12, this chosen and Spirit-anointed King is being chased down by religious leaders who want him dead (See Matthew 12.15-21). What does Jesus do in response to this threat? He withdraws. Why? In order to fulfill Isaiah's promise recorded above. 

Each of us inhabits a certain sphere of authority. Maybe in home, or school, or work, or a baseball diamond, each of us is blessed with the opportunity to influence others from a place of power. As followers of Jesus we are called to inhabit this place of power with gentleness. And that doesn't mean less influence. In fact, it means more, better, stronger, and more lasting influence. Dallas Willard helpfully writes: 

Is gentleness an absence of power or a power born through the spirit and found in wisdom? Matthew 12.20 says Jesus would not even break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick, and yet his gentleness launched a worldwide revolution. In many ways, Jesus' impact seems to be not in spite of his gentleness, but because of it.

May each of one us gently influence each one we encounter today.

Click here to download and listen to our message, "Words That Heal."

 

Deep Compassion for the Poor

Good News for the Poor

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. 

- Jesus Christ 

How do we feel toward people we would label as poor? I am not asking do we give to the poor or whether or not we have ever dropped a quarter into someone's metal coffee cup. I am not wondering whether or not we have purchased a Big Mac for someone who told us they needed money for food. How do we feel towards them? What emotion rises up within us as we encounter the beggar outside Wrigley Field, when we have just spent several hundred dollars to watch millionaires compete in a sport? If we are honest, we often feel a strange mixture of fear, judgment, and disdain. To be a bit more specific, we sometimes feel thankful - thankful that "we are not like such men" (See Luke 18.11). These feelings reveal that we still have parts of us that need to be transformed by the Gospel. When we are being transformed by the Gospel, we will begin to notice the Spirit of God working within us a deep compassion toward all people, especially the poor. Jesus himself reveals God's heart of deep compassion for the poor. In fact, Jesus' entire message can be summarized in the text he chose for his first sermon - a text he proclaimed was being fulfilled through him.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4.18–19, NIV)

How can we follow Jesus in proclaiming a message and embodying a lifestyle that is "good news to the poor?"

Remember that in the most important sense each of us is poor.

In 2 Corinthians 8-9, Paul is exhorting his readers to show generosity to the church in Jerusalem. Before he makes his request, Paul leverages the Gospel so the Corinthians will be generous to the poor. 

I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:8–9, NIV)

Instead of resorting to guilt (Look at all the food you have and let me show you a picture of a hungry little boy from Jerusalem.), Paul leans heavily on the Gospel. Jesus, who in the most important sense was "rich," set those pleasures aside that he might come to us in our poverty to raise us up with him to enjoy the utmost pleasure, communion with the Triune God. So we can find compassion toward the poor when we remember our impoverished state were it not for Jesus.

Fellowship with those in need. 

In Philippians 4, Paul is joyfully thanking his readers for the generosity they have shown him through the gifts sent to him through Epaphroditus. 

Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only. (Philippians 4:14–15, NIV)

When Paul says it was good of the Philippians to "share in his troubles," he uses the word koinonia; a word we normally translate fellowship, deep communion, or even, kinship. Many of the friendships we developed in Seminary were some of the most significant we have ever known. I am convinced the quality of our connection with those people was due to the fact that we were all struggling together toward the same goal. Likewise, the Philippians were so committed to partnering with Paul for the spread of the Gospel, that they were willing to enter into suffering with Paul, if it meant relief for him that enabled him to spread the Good News of Jesus around the Mediterranean world. While there is nothing wrong with many of the ways we share resources with the poor (relief funds like the Salvation Army, Compassion International, and Operation Christmas Child), Paul is calling us here to a kinship with the poor. He describes a willingness to give to the point of suffering, so that the poor's burden can be relieved, and the Gospel can be proclaimed.

Worship Jesus who always showed compassion to the poor.

Finally, because we become like the God we worship, we must remember that King Jesus always showed compassion to the poor. In the writings of Luke, Jesus and the Church always have a compassionate posture toward beggars. In Luke 16.19-31 Jesus tells the story of a rich man and a beggar named, Lazarus. Of the many things this parable teaches, one of the most important is that when the reign of Jesus finally comes in its fullness, the wealthy who abused the poor in this life will be judged. Furthermore, the poor will finally enjoy the healing this world never provided. What's more in Luke 18.35-43 Jesus encounters a blind beggar. Notice that Jesus doesn't try to get the man to leave him alone - something we all have done along as did Jesus' disciples. Instead, Jesus has the man brought to him, and after a conversation, Jesus, full of mercy, heals the man. Furthermore, the early church continued to approach the poor with the same merciful heart of Jesus. See Acts 3. 

Jesus is calling the church to proclaim and embody a message that is good news to the poor. Paul wrote to the Galatians: "All they asked was that we continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do" (Galatians 2.10, NIV). Are we eager to remember the poor? If we remember the poor, we will encounter the presence of Jesus. Did Jesus not say that when we show compassion to the least of these, his brothers and sisters, we are showing compassion to him (Matthew 25.31-46)? Speaking of Jesus' parable of the sheep and goats, we conclude with a compelling commentary from Gary Anderson in his book, Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition.  

If almsgiving funds a heavenly treasury, then the hand of the poor provides a privileged port of entry to the realm and, ultimately, the being of God. In short, there is a deeply sacramental character to the act. The poor become a necessary and indeed nonnegotiable point of access to the kingdom of God (Gary Anderson).

Will you remember the poor?

Click here to download to listen to our message, Good News for the Poor.

Easter 2017

 

Did Easter Let You Down?

How was your Easter? On Easter, Pastors often feel like the manager of a Pizza Hut on Super Bowl Sunday. And if each of us "clergy type" is honest we feel a self-imposed pressure to make Easter "better than ever." What's more, as our kids search for Easter eggs on Easter afternoon, that not even those who hid them can find, we all feel a little disappointed. The service didn't live up to our expectations, or the perceived expectations of others. Brothers and sisters, the point of Easter is not dresses and suits, eggs and chocolate, or special music and knock it out of the park sermons! The point of Easter is not even the worship gathering that celebrates it (although, Christians should make gathering to worship a priority). Brothers and sisters, the point of Easter is that Jesus was crucified and buried for our sins and was raised to life three days later! This cannot be improved upon. This cannot be leveraged for the purpose of increasing attendance at a local church. Jesus really was dead and now he really is alive. If this is really true, whatever disappointed you this past Sunday DOES NOT MATTER, because the implication of Easter is this. God is not disappointed with you. Paul puts it this way. 

The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:23–25, NIV)

You are not a let down. You are accepted.

This is one implication of Jesus' resurrection. He was raised to life that we might be justified. What does Paul mean by the word, "justified?" Of the many things this word means, let's emphasize two. First, when Paul says believers are justified he means we are considered faithful members of the covenant family. Throughout the New Testament, the problem facing local congregations is the relationship between Jewish and Gentile believers. Who are the true people of God? "Who are the true children of Abraham? Paul's answer is that membership belongs to all who believe the gospel of Jesus, whatever their racial or moral background" (N.T. Wright).  Among the people God is saving there are no disappointments. No lesser-than or greater- than. We are all one in Jesus Christ. God has rendered the verdict of faithful over everyone who believes the good news concerning Jesus. Second, the foundation of God's verdict of faithfulness is Jesus' death for sinners and his resurrection from the dead. In other words, Jesus exhausted the curse that was in the way of his promised blessing (Galatians 3.10-14), and with the curse no longer operative, Jesus' resurrection paves the way for all who are united to him to be welcomed by the Father (Romans 4.23-25).

What is causing you disappointment post-Easter? What is making you feel like a disappointment? Believe the truth of Easter that Jesus was raised to life that you might have your disappointments buried and hear the welcoming and loving and life-giving voice of your Heavenly Father! Brothers and sisters this is a message that cannot be improved!

Click here to download and listen to our Easter message at Somonauk Baptist Church.

The Reversal of Adam's Sin and the Cross

One Theory of Atonement

During this Lenten Season we have been exploring different aspects of the atonement. We have been examining images from Scripture that help us understand Jesus' death for sin. Over the past 6 weeks we have learned from the cross that the heart of God is full of justice for the oppressed: the heart of God overflows with forgiveness: and that the cross of Christ defeats evil. These are all aspects, motifs, or theories of atonement. To understand Jesus' death we must seek to grasp these essentials. During our final message we wrestled with this question: Is there one theme that captures all the essential aspects of the Cross? Do the Scriptures present one grand summary of atonement? I would say the recapitulation theory of atonement summarizes as good as any other theory, all that Jesus did to make atonement for sin. The doctrine of recapitulation teaches that Jesus came to earth to reverse the sin of Adam and its consequences.

Jesus and Adam

Romans 5.12-21 describes recapitulation by comparing and contrasting Adam's disobedience and Jesus' obedience. In other words, this text teaches that Jesus comes behind Adam to restore what the sin of Adam destroyed. In every place where Adam disobeyed, Jesus obeys. In the Garden of Eden, Adam says to God, "Not your will, but mine be done." In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus says to God, "Not my will, but yours be done." It is this kind of contrast between the first and second Adams that Paul is emphasizing. Permit me to point out this contrast.  

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. (Romans 5:15–16, NIV)

In these verses Paul highlights how the first Adam and the second Adam are different with respect to their disobedience and obedience. Adam's one act of disobedience led to condemnation. God's gift, on the other hand, followed many acts of disobedience, but led to justification.

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! (Romans 5:17, NIV)

Paul is teaching here that Adam's trespass resulted in the reign of death. The grace of Christ, however, produced the reign of life.

Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. (Romans 5:18, NIV)

Finally, Paul summarizes Jesus' work of atonement by showing that just as Adam's one trespass led to condemnation for all, so Jesus' act of righteousness leads to life and justification for all.

Brothers and sisters, Adam's disobedience resulted in death. Jesus' obedience resulted in life. Adam's trespass resulted in condemnation and exile. Jesus' righteousness resulted in justification and homecoming. Jesus' work of atonement is best summarized as undoing all that Adam did. Furthermore, when the Spirit unites us to Jesus as the second Adam, all that he accomplished is ours by grace.

Jesus and Adam and Us

Up to this point atonement theories can remain impersonal. We can confess that Jesus "undid" all that Adam did and carry on with our day. In Romans 5.1-11 Paul is describing how we, who were God's enemies have become reconciled to God. What's more in Romans 5.12 Paul says that in dealing with Adam's sin, he was also addressing our sin problem. Therefore, Jesus obedience unto death was not only the undoing of Adam's sin, it was also the undoing of my sin and yours. We no longer have to be defined by our trespasses. We were born united to Adam and his/our sins defined us. By faith we have been united to Christ by the Spirit and have been given a new identity. Each of us has an element of our story that we are tempted to receive as an over-arching identity. What painful scene from your story threatens to define your life? In Jesus, this doesn't have to be the case! When we are united to Christ we become those "who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness" and "who will reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." Thanks be to God.

Listen to our final message from our Lenten Journey, Understanding Jesus' Death, The Last Adam and the Cross.

The Cross and the Defeat of Evil

What need does Jesus death on the cross address? One of the most significant summaries of what the cross accomplishes is called Christus Victor. This understanding of Jesus' death emphasizes that on the cross God was working to defeat evil. The Scriptures address this theme in many places. Here are two of the more common texts. 

**And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered (Mark 3.26-27).

Indeed, these verses describe Jesus as the Stronger Man who came to bind up Satan, the strong man, and plunder his property! 

**The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3.8b). 

So the Scriptures are clear. Jesus came to defeat Satan and rescue the world from his evil grasp. The question is, how did Jesus defeat the enemy? Take a listen to our most recent messages that describe how God defeated Satan and his domain through Jesus' death and resurrection. Thanks be to God. 

How is Satan defeated by Jesus on the Cross? Click here to download and listen to our message, The Defeat of Satan and the Cross. 

Was Jesus' death a descent into hell? Click here to download and listen to our message, The Defeat of Hell and the Cross. 

Jesus, Our Older Brother

Relationships between siblings have the potential for incredible grace and extraordinary pain. This is why there are so many many stories in Scripture that revolve around the relationship between brothers and sisters. Think about it. If we were to remove all the sibling stories from the Bible, some of our most favorite moments would disappear. Indeed, a Bible without Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus would be no Bible at all. What's more, the person and work of Jesus would be described in a much different way, if not totally meaningless without the theme of Jesus as the older brother coming to rescue his younger siblings and restoring them to the Father. Because sin has powerfully dominated the sibling relationship, Christ had to come to us that our sibling relationship with him might be healed along with all other sibling relationships. Paul Zahl is helpful in this regard.

Almost all sibling problems have to do with a child's feeling that the affection of his parents was unevenly distributed. The middle child thinks the eldest is favored, but the youngest is really the favored one. The youngest basks in the affection of his less-uptight parents, who have become wiser in their child-rearing. ... Grace demolishes this idea of proportional loving, It demolishes it ... because God's love is one-way, removed from any relation with the receiver, there is no "rivalry." This grace of Christ is the first stage of the healing of siblings who are furious at one another.

Is it not maddening when an author we don't even know seems to describe our reality as if he is a member of our family? Brother and sisters, our sibling relationships are unparalleled in how they reveal the reality of the fall. The good news is Jesus came into the mess of our sibling relationships as our good and loving and rescuing older brother (Hebrews 2.11-13).

In the early 90s, Robert Redford directed and narrated the well-known film, A River Runs Through It. More than being a film about fly fishing with amazing scenes of trout fishing in the rivers that run through the Montana Mountains, this was film about family. More specifically about the love and pain that brothers often share. Norman and Paul Maclean are brothers whose father is a stern Presbyterian minister. Norman is the firstborn son who does nothing but satisfy the cold expectations of Reverend Maclean. Paul, on the other hand, is the younger rebellious son who abuses alcohol, gets into bar fights, and becomes "overly involved" with too many women. Nonetheless, Norman has deep and abiding affection for Paul. He wants to help his brother, but is unable, because he fails to understand his brother. Norman explains this loving struggle to want to help Paul, even though he is unable.  

Each one of us here today will at one time in our lives look upon a loved one who is in need and ask the same question: We are willing to help, Lord, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don't know what part of ourselves to give or, more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted. And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us. But we can still love them - we can love completely without complete understanding. 

Paul's life ends after being brutally beaten and left for dead in a back alley. This devastates Norman and he responds by doing what he and Paul used to always do together, fly fish. To return to the river without his brother was more loneliness than Norman could bear.

In the loneliness of the canyon I knew there were others like me who had brothers they did not understand, but wanted to help. We are probably those referred to as "our brother's keepers," possessed of one of the oldest and possibly one of the most futile and certainly one of the most haunting instincts. It will not let us go. 

The good news is that Jesus as a faithful older brother is willing and able to come and save us because he does understand our plight. He is the true brother's Keeper. This is why Hebrews says: "he had to be made like [his brothers,] fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people (Heb 2.17, NIV). As N.T. Wright says,  

Jesus is the older brother of a much larger family and he did come to where his siblings were. He wallowed in the land of sin and death. He identified with them, shared their fate, and thereby rescued them from it (N.T. Wright). 

Click below to download and listen to our exposition of Hebrews 2.10-18.

Sin, Substitution, Sacrifice, and the Cross

The Justice of the Cross

Why were Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden of Eden? When God responds to our sin we often only think of him in terms of punishment. We are therefore led to believe that God was punishing our first parents by casting them out of the Garden because he couldn't stand the sight of them. He couldn't tolerate their presence as sinners, so they had to go! Is that what the text says? No! Instead, God's Word describes God as seeking them out, even in their state of sin and shame. Furthermore, Genesis 3.22 describes why they were exiled.

Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. (Gen 3:22–23, ESV)

Love for Adam and Eve motivated the LORD God to send them out from the garden of Eden because if they were to eat from the tree of life, they would remain forever trapped in their sinful state. God's love would not allow this. This is why God exiled Adam and Eve. Furthermore, God knew what this exile would cost him and that costly sacrifice is what we encounter in Isaiah 53. As this second full week of Lent begins let's meditate on one truth from this text.

On the cross God suffers with us.

Often the cross is described as Jesus suffering something instead of us. It goes something like, "Jesus endured the cross so we wouldn't have to." While themes of substitution are apparent in other texts, this is not the emphasis of Isaiah 53. Instead of suffering in our place, Yahweh's servant suffers with us in the place of exile we have created. "He poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors" (Isa 53.12, ESV). The suffering of Yahweh's servant described in Isaiah 53 fulfills the promise of Isaiah 43.3-7.

For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, "Give them up!" and to the south, "Do not hold them back." Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. (Isaiah 43:3–7, NIV)

In Isaiah 53 Yahweh has sent his servant to every place you and I can imagine in order to bring us home. Specifically he must enter into our place suffering in order to rescue us from it. Indeed, Jesus' suffering is why God can say:

But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." (Isaiah 43:1–2, NIV)

N.T. Wright summarizes well the way some have misunderstood the cross in a unique paraphrase of John 3.16. "For God so hated the world that he killed his one and only Son." N.T. Wright rightly identifies this as a misunderstanding of Jesus' work of atonement on the cross. Instead of this distortion the Word of God reveals that the suffering love of God sent the Son of God to the cross that we might bring us home. Thanks be to God!

Click here to download and listen to "The Justice of the Cross," our second message in our Lenten Series, Understanding Jesus' Death.  

    

  

 

The Weakness of God

"The weakness of God is stronger than human strength" (1 Cor 1.25b, NIV). What does that mean? One of the truths we meditated upon yesterday was this. It was in weakness that God was mighty to save. For the Apostle Paul, the cross of Jesus calls us to a wholesale  transformation. Jesus' cross must transform our understanding of God. A more literal translation of 1 Corinthians 1.25 would go like this: "For the foolish thing of God is wiser than humans, and the weak thing of God is stronger than humans." What is the foolish thing? What is this weak thing? The foolishness of God and the weakness of God is the cross. This is why Richard Hays writes: "This foolish and weak thing is the event of the cross itself. The cross is the key to understanding reality in God's new age. Consequently, to enter the symbolic world of the gospel is to undergo a conversion of the imagination, to see all values transformed by the foolish and weak death of Jesus on the cross." Have we been converted by the cross? What does it look like to be converted by the cross?

A Transformed View of God

To be converted by the cross is to have our understanding of God transformed. Most of us seem to be born into this world with a theology that goes a bit like this. God is very big and very powerful and very high up on something like a mountain. His natural mood is disappointed and I must summon as much strength as I can to neutralize his opinion of me. I firmly believe Jesus came to destroy this idolatrous understanding of what God is like. Indeed, Jesus reveals a God who humbles himself in order to save his enemies! John 17 defines for us what the one true God is really like. Before his betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion, John records Jesus' final prayer. Listen to how Jesus' prayer begins and ends.  

Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, ... Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world's foundation. Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me. I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them (John 17.1, 24-26, CSB).

In this passage Jesus uses words like glory, know, and name, so we may understand him to be speaking of what is essentially true about God. He prays the Father will glorify him, the Son, so that the Son can in turn, glorify the Father. In other words, the glory of the Father and the Son will be made visible through what is about to happen. Furthermore, Jesus declares that as the Son, the one who knows the Father, he has come to make the Father known and will continue to make him known, so that the love the Father has loved the Son with, may be in us! How will this sharing of love happen? What will be the means by which the Father is made known and the love of the Father and the Son is shared with us? The cross is how. Yes! As the blood and water flowed from the wounds of the Son, the love of the Trinity was being shared with the world. Jesus opens his prayer with these words: "Father, the hour has come." Throughout John's gospel it has been declared that the hour has not yet come (See, John 2.4, 7.30; 8.20). But now, Jesus knows the hour has come for him to leave this world and return to Father (See John 13.1). This means, "the hour has come," means it is now time for the crucifixion. You see it is through the weakness and foolishness of Jesus' death that we learn of the inner love of God and it's through the cross that love the Father and Son have shared for eternity is poured out for us. This means that our understanding of what God is like must be shaped by the cross. This is why Paul argues in Philippians that because Jesus existed in the form of God, "he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death - even to death on a cross" (Phil 2.7-8, CSB).

What does the "god" in our heads look like? According to Christianity the one true God looks like Jesus pouring himself out for his enemies on the Cross. Let us confess with the Roman soldier one of the most essential truths of our faith.

When the centurion, who was standing opposite him, saw the way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God" (Mark 15.39, CSB)! 

It is Jesus' dying breath that reveals Jesus' true identity. The cross calls us to a transformed understanding of God. Not just Jesus, but God! God is like Jesus dying on the cross. There is no other God behind the cross. God was in Christ on the cross reconciling the world to himself. This is summarized well by Plantinga.

“The Son of God just does what he sees his Father doing. He empties himself and takes the form of a servant because that’s the way they do it in his family” (Cornelius Plantinga Jr.). 

Click here to download and listen to yesterday's sermon, The Curse of the Cross.