Chariots of Fire

The Sea of Galilee from Mount Arbel

January 13, 2013

This post is just a transcript from a sermon I gave on April 14, 2013 at Calvary Church of Pacific Palisades.  The sermon was called, "No Eye Has Seen".  It should have been called "Chariots of Fire", but I didn't want that song to get stuck in everyone's head.  But now it's stuck in yours and I am sorry.

I pray that something in here blesses you.    

No Eye Has Seen

Modern life is endlessly complex with all its demands and yet the Bible speaks masterfully, perfectly, truthfully to every part of it.    

Tucked in the twisty-turvy book of 2 Kings is the most amazing little story.  It is a short, perfect story, with a huge problem, a few unexpected turns, and a deeply satisfying finish.

I pray this morning that this story awakens our imaginations, and engages our hearts. I pray that we would draw deeply, sincerely from the well of God’s wisdom as we prepare for another week of service in His Kingdom. 

“We need reasoning to lead a moral life, but we need – even more – the capacity to intuit what is important and what is not, to envision alternative possibilities, and to see beyond what sometimes appears to be an impasse.  We need to appreciate not just how other people see things but how they feel about them, and to do this our most potent resource is still the human imagination, awakened by compelling narratives.”
                                                                        Harvey Cox

                                                                        From, When Jesus Came to Harvard 

The story takes place during a time of great civil disturbance.  The Kingdom is divided north and south (Samaria serving as the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel; Jerusalem serving as the capital of the Southern Kingdom of Judah) and is also at war with Syria (synonymous with the Arameans in the story); Elijah the great prophet has recently been taken to heaven by God and has left his important role to his successor, Elisha.  The northern kingdom is under the chaotic leadership of Jehoram, son of Ahab and Jezebel.  The future is uncertain here.

This life of discipleship is abundantly joyful because Jesus was abundantly joyful.  Every act of obedience – no matter how small – brings us joy, and makes us more sturdy for the journey ahead.  Every act of surrender and humility ensures Jesus his rightful place on the throne of our lives.  

And though the Bible repeatedly urges us to fear not, I hope to remind us that the promise of God's nearness is the substance of that mandate.     

So as we read the story I ask you –

Where is the fear?

When an obstacle looms in front of us, does our view of God shrink?  Do the sharp lines around our image of him blur (and the ingenuity, creativity, and kicking and screaming kick in?)  

OR does our view of God enlarge, and does our perception of him come into sharper focus? 

To put it another way, when storms arise, do we become more self-aware or more God-aware?  Watch for the reaction of Elisha’s servant and let’s explore that question.

2 Kings 6:8-23

8 Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel.  [a Syrian force, more of a series of guerilla strikes on towns and borders]  After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”

9 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” 10 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again [several times] Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.

11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”

12 “None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.” [Elisha was a household name, even for the Arameans]

13 “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.”[Dothan was a slopeside city near the entrance to the Jezreel Valley.  The Jezreel valley was a vast, fertile plain, extremely valuable as a food supply and transportation route] 14 Then he sent horses and chariots [chariots were a symbol of wealth and strength – an important literary detail] and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.

16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” [The first eye-opener] Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. [If chariots were a symbol of strength and wealth, fire was the ultimate symbol of divinity and power]

18 As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.”[The eye-closer]  So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

19 Elisha told them, “This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.” [Elisha is using a ruse de guerre – a morally permissible fabrication, designed for the pursuit of a peaceful resolution] And he led them to Samaria. [Samaria was a 10-12 mile walk, straight south, directly into the capital city.  It would have taken them about 4 hours]. 

20 After they entered the city, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.” [This is an almost identical prayer to the one he prayed for his servant in verse 17] Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.

21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?” [the king of Israel, probably Jehoram, was the son of Ahab and Jezebel; Elisha was the successor to Elijah.  Their parents were bitter mortal enemies.]  

22 “Do not kill them,” he answered. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.” 23 So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.  

The Beginning and the End (vv8a, 23c)

The very first phrase in this story says this: “Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel” (8a)

And the very last phrase in the story says this: “So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory” (23c)

In January I visited Israel with a group of fellow pastors.  One of the highlights of our trip was a climb to Mount Arbel, overlooking the Sea of Galilee.  It was a surprisingly tough climb, especially for anyone with a fear of heights.  It required a decent amount of courage and capability.  When we arrived at the summit, though, we were greeted by groups of people who appeared to have neither.  Evidently, our guides had taken us up the proverbial scenic route, concealing the fact that there is smooth paved road for vehicles.  We all saw the same view, but I have to say that ours was a little sweeter.   

THE POINT WAS OUR VIEW OF GOD, even though groups took different ways to get there.   

I think we can all agree that the end goal of the Chariots of Fire story was definitely the peace, just as the point of the Exodus was about arriving in the Promised Land.  But as we have clearly learned, the Christian faith is often more about the journey.  And just as the Israelites could have taken a much more direct route to the Promised Land, so God could have used a much different way to bring about peace between Israel and Aram.   

The Summit (vv15-17)

A few of the many things we fear:

...Purposelessness           

...Loss of Health

...Illness
...Major Life Transitions

...A Wayward Child

...Loss of Future Dream

We tell our children to not be afraid.  But children, upon hearing our desperate, futile attempts at controlling their emotions, probably look up at us and say, “If I could stop crying I would”  “If I could stop fearing I would”.  What, then, is the substantive promise that turns the phrase "don't be afraid" from a moral mandate into a tender expression of comfort?   

We say, “It’s okay, Daddy’s here.”  “It’s okay, Mommy’s here.”  “It’s okay, I'm here.”

When the Bible repeats it again and again, we cannot dismiss our fear as reflexive, uncontrollable.  We can choose, however, to

a) recognize, recognize, recognize his presence, and to

b) remember, remember, remember the chariots of fire.  God’s admonition to “not fear” is not the cold, irritable admonition of a frustrated parent.  It is a substantive, rock-solid promise of his presence in our lives.

This story of Elisha’s servant makes our souls sing because it reminds us of Jesus.  The servant is given the greatest, lavish, most extravagant gift: the unshakeable ASSURANCE of the nearness of God.  You and I, through Jesus, are given the greatest gift: the gift of nearness with God.  

Two possible objections that this story raises:

1)    I am not Elisha, a prophet of God.  I’ve never seen a chariot of fire.  I’ve never even seen a chariot.  I don’t have the power to blind my enemies.  It would be much easier to trust God if I had the power that Elisha had.

A possible solution?

-Baby Steps… Just keep building those bricks of obedience.  Read deeply into God’s word, read, then read again, then memorize, then meditate… Develop a view so clear of God that trial, doubt, and pain will not muddy the lines around your vision of him.  Pray deeply, evenly, specifically, faithfully, and incessantly.  Seek his face and his glory in all circumstances, good and bad. 

-And Baby Chariots…And think smaller about our chariots of fire…Patricia Raybon, whose husband had just been wheeled into the operating room, was sitting alone in a hospital cafeteria and saw the ICU admitting nurse praying at a table nearby.  In a moment of desperation, she approached the nurse and asked her to pray with her.  That nurse was her chariot of fire.

“My face was puffy from crying.  Dianne’s tea had gone cold… It didn’t matter.  We were warm.  She said ‘Amen’, and I echoed her ‘Amen’.  Every request that God had brought to Dianne’s mind had been spoken… Indeed we’d heard the question: what do you want me to do?  I now stood in agreement with her.  Two praying saints, united in faith.  And then we looked at each other soberly.  Praying people also know something else.  That God is sovereign.  So, yes, we had obeyed by praying precisely and asking in faith.  But now the matter was in God’s hands.  That’s how it goes.”

                                                                                    Patricia Raybon

                                                                                    From I Told the Mountains to Move

                                               

The author’s husband, by God’s providence, emerged safely from his dangerous surgery, so her story is one of victory.  But that leads us to our next question…

2)    I am a person of great faith, and I pray about things, and I believe that God could deliver me from my fearful circumstances, but there are times when he does not.  My stories don’t always end as nicely as this one does?

One possible answer:

-A dear friend of mine lost his daughter to a sudden childhood illness.  As we ask the natural question, where were their chariots of fire when their daughter’s health was failing?  My friend has told me many times that he and his wife have been carried lovingly, mercifully in the arms of God.  While we might look at their story and think, where were God’s chariots of fire?  They would say (and they have said to me) God’s chariots of fire rescued them from utter despair.  Their church, their faith, and their certainty in God gave them hope.

This from their blog: The bottom line: We live today with much hope. We miss our little girl like nothing else, but we truly are blessed. God has provided us three incredible children so far, and with the upcoming adoption... even more. He has given us a great family, the most incredible friends, and continues to provide for every physical need we have.

Would I change anything??? Absolutely! I'd take my little girl back in a heartbeat! But I wouldn't change what I now know about God. He has taken me to the deepest and darkest places and has proved Himself to be completely good, faithful and sovereign through it all. He truly is a loving and grace-filled God. 

My friend spoke about his darkest days, and how when he looked up, all around him – he said – was the love and goodness of God, as far as the eye could see.

Late last night I sent them an email on our behalf, and thanked them for being “Chariots of Fire” – living reminders of the presence of God – to all of us.  

The Descent (vv18-23)   

           

This story rings in our hearts and satisfies our souls because it is the gospel, the good news.  Just as you and I were enemies with God, (but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions.), we were treated with mercy and are now at peace with God.

While we certainly see ourselves in the servant’s shoes, we also might see ourselves in the Arameans’ shoes, grateful a) for the mercy of a loving God and b) for a new life of peace.   

In Closing

Remember when, in our introduction, we asked about (in the face of storms) becoming self-aware or God-aware?

From a chapter on “Holding in the Face of Calamity”:

Israel Round 2

For the past two weeks I have had the great privilege of traveling through Israel with a group of pastors.  The group was assembled by our friends at Hume Lake Christian Camps.  

I have a several new thoughts coming soon but in the meantime, to read the wrap-up page from our group's blog, please click here

Dallas Willard on the Cost of Discipleship

One of my favorite quotes:

“The cost of discipleship is great, but the cost of non-discipleship far greater. . .Non-discipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil.  In short, it costs exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring (John 10:10).  The cross-shaped yoke of Christ is after all an instrument of liberation and power to those who live in it with him and learn the meekness and lowliness of heart that brings rest to the soul. . . the correct perspective is to see following Christ not only as the necessity it is, but as the fulfillment of the highest human possibilities and as life on the highest plane.”

“In the heart of a disciple there is a desire, and there is decision or settled intent.  The disciple of Christ desires above all else to be like him. . . given this desire, there is a yet a decision to be made:  the decision to devote oneself to becoming like Christ.” 

                                    Dallas Willard, from The Spirit of the Disciplines

Anchor of my Soul

A few months ago I emerged -- a satisfied man -- from the Best Buy in West Los Angeles.  I was the grateful new owner of a few miscellaneous gadgets, the most important one being an iPhone case boldly named "LifeProof."  

Just by reading that word, you already know how this story ends. 

It was a $75 case – the most expensive one on the rack – and the claims on the package were irresistible.  You could drop it from your car, submerge it in your swimming pool, and scratch it with blades.  Evidently it was used by the the United States military.  

Aware of the priceless-ness of my iPhone, and knowing that I had a youth group snowboard trip coming shortly, I made the purchase. 

My LifeProof case became an ongoing joke amongst the staff.  I dropped the phone at a gas station: Hey nice… LifeProof!  I carried it through mountains of powdery snow, and when everything else around me was soaking wet: LifeProof!  I even allowed the kids to pass it around the vans, with their cheeto-y, sweaty-sock fingers for a game of iPhone catchphrase.  And I didn’t care: my phone was LifeProof.

We returned home safely from the trip, then on Monday morning, exhausted from my trip, my daughter and I rode bikes to cinnamon rolls and smoothies at a beautiful café in Santa Monica.  I took a picture of her, set the phone down on the table, turned to deposit our cups and plates in the trash and when I turned back around my phone was gone.

Do we not all sometimes wish that our faith was a case around our hearts – that it would shield us from pain and sorrow, from the stomach-churning fits of anxiety, and that a joyful day with family and friends could never be interrupted by unexpected turbulence. 

We know this about God, though: that He does not change.  He is immutable, constant, steadfast.  He is trustworthy, and he keeps in promises. 

As a pastor my weeks are punctuated with the most profound conversations.  I constantly hear stories that make me rejoice and stories that break my heart. 

The good news: we are together.

The great news: under our feet is the love, truth, grace, and wisdom of a God who does not change.

Nothing in our lives, even the things we love the most, can remain firmly under our control...

Not our health

Not our children’s faith, or their well-being

Not our financial security

Not our marriages

And not our dreams for the future

We are naturally fearful about putting all our eggs in one basket.  It weirds us out.  It’s foolish.  I’m not sailing deep into the ocean – even on a sturdy ship – if it doesn’t have lifeboats.  Nice ship.  I'm good, though.  I’ll meet you guys there.  But the Christian faith means sacrificing and surrendering, risking and trusting.  Those who trust Him wholly, though, find Him wholly true.       

We often mistake immutability for predictability, so when life slips beyond our control we feel rattled and unsettled.  I have such a hard time with statements like this: "surely God would never do this".  "He would never bring me this far, only to let me languish".

Before us lies this challenge, though: learning how to TRUST God completely, implicitly – even when He leads us on what seem like unpredictable adventures. 

About 600 years before the birth of Christ, during the lifetime of the prophet Jeremiah, the nation of Israel was under immense pressure from its enemies to the east.  The king of Israel at the time was a man named Zedekiah, and sensing the pressure from the Babylonian army – led by Nebuchadnezzar –  he tried to escape east from the high hills of Jerusalem into the royal strongholds surrounding the Dead Sea, near the desert city of Jericho…During his attempted escape, the prophet Jeremiah was languishing in Zedekiah’s prison, presumably forgotten there by the king.    

“Zedekiah broke out through the gate close to the Siloam Pool, heading for Jericho, but the Babylonians captured the king and brought him before Nebuchadnezzar “where the sentence was pronounced on him.”  (They killed his sons then put out his eyes,) bound him with shackles and took him to Babylon.  The Babylonians must have found Jeremiah in the king’s prison, for they brought him to Nebuchadnezzar, who apparently interviewed him and gave him to the commander of the imperial guard, Nebuzaradan, who was in charge of Jerusalem.  Nebuchadnezzar deported 20,000 Judeans to Babylon, though Jeremiah says he left many of the poor behind. 

A month later Nebuchadnezzar ordered his general to obliterate the city.  Nebuzaradan burned the House of the Lord, the king’s palace and all the houses of Jerusalem and broke down the walls.  The Temple was destroyed, its gold, silver vessels plundered, and the Ark of the Covenant vanished forever. 

One historian interprets the events in this way:

The destruction of the Temple must have seemed to be the death not just of a city but of an entire nation.  The historian writes: “The ways of Zion mourned because none came to the solemn feasts: all her gates were desolate: her priests sighed… and from the daughter of Zion all her beauty was departed.  The crown had fallen from our head.” 

This seemed to be the end of the world… the Judeans would surely vanish like other peoples whose gods had failed them. 

But Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, plucked out of prison by the invading king, wrote this

Lamentations 3:22-23

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,

   the bitterness and the gall.

20 I well remember them,

   and my soul is downcast within me.

21 Yet this I call to mind

   and therefore I have hope:

 22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,

   for his compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;

   great is your faithfulness.

24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;

   therefore I will wait for him.”

 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,

   to the one who seeks him;

26 it is good to wait quietly

   for the salvation of the LORD.

In 539 BC, just 48 years following the Israelites destruction and exile, in an event signaled by the original writing on the wall, the Persian army thundered into Babylon and delivered the Israelites, in another dramatic example of God’s redeeming love.

The historian continues on:

And the Israelites somehow transformed their original catastrophe into the formative experience that redoubled the sanctity of Jerusalem.

Much later, in the New Testament, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and while Israel was facing another threat from a powerful enemy, James writes this:

James 1:17

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

What does it mean that God is unchanging?

Some interpretations of the doctrine of divine constancy, historians tell us, have drawn mistakenly upon the Greek idea of immobility and sterility.  This renders God inactive, like a statue.  The biblical view of God, though, is not that He is STATIC, but that He is STABLE.  He is active and dynamic, but in a way that is stable and consistent with his nature.  What we are dealing with here is the dependability of God.  ‘His ways are not our ways’ - to be sure - but He will be the same tomorrow as he is today.  He will act as He has promised. 

God is unchanging and therefore we have Peace

Psalm 102:25-28

25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,

   and the heavens are the work of your hands.

26 They will perish, but you remain;

   they will all wear out like a garment.

Like clothing you will change them

   and they will be discarded.

27 But you remain the same,

   and your years will never end.

28 The children of your servants will live in your presence;

   their descendants will be established before you.”

An illustration:  I have the two most incredible parents who love God and love each other.  When I reached 2^nd grade, they thought it wise to send me to a French day school across town from our home.  In a curious arrangement between the school and a few other parents, I somehow ended up taking a taxi every day to school in 2^nd grade.  It was structured like a bus service, but it was a taxi nonetheless.  Every morning I would wait by the front door, and a taxi would pull up to our driveway and I ran down the steps and hop in.  Betty – our default driver – would check to make sure that I’d brought my lunch then off we would go to pick up the other kids. 

The taxi ride was an adventure, and I can’t say that I trusted the driver.  In fact, I distinctly remember passing the early days of those trips in terror and paranoia.

But I trusted my parents.  

We sometimes stopped at the convenience store so Betty could get more cigarettes, and we ran by her house one time because she’d forgotten her purse.  It sounds completely insane, I know, but I didn’t care then and I still don’t now because all I knew was that the taxi was bringing me home to my parents.  And I trusted them.  And I knew they had my best in mind.  It was the only thing that mattered. 

Running like a drone underneath the chaos and weirdness and the tension and anxiety was the love of my parents who I trusted, and who I couldn’t wait to see when I got home. 

As it relates to our faith this morning, my friends, I encourage each of us to silence the chaos, the anxiety and the trials in our life and feel the drone of a wondrous, loving God who delights in our love for Him and who is worthy of our trust. 

God is unchanging and therefore we have Purpose

Psalm 84:5-7

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

   whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

   they make it a place of springs;

   the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength,

   till each appears before God in Zion.

Tim Keller, in his book Center Church, describes our new life in this way: "Christians now live in the light of a future reality.  We evangelize, telling people about the gospel... we also help the poor and work for justice, because we know that this is God's will and that he will ultimately overcome all oppression.  We teach Christians to integrate their faith and their work so they can be culture makers, working for human flourishing and the common good... the church will place great emphasis on seeking the welfare of the city, neighborhood, civic involvement, and cultural engagement."

As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs...

When God is our unchanging destination there is peace on our pilgrimage towards Him because of our purpose along the way.  Spiritually, deeply, personally, there is no greater inspiration than recognizing that your life no longer belongs to you.  We are grateful to God for his willingness to use us.  

God is unchanging and therefore we have Hope

Imagine their confusion… the twelve disciples of Jesus had made the investment, and they had trusted him with everything.  In their world of political and religious turmoil, Jesus had brought clarity – and now He was clouding the waters by announcing his departure.

We can speculate about our own reaction to this news - that Jesus would, in fact, be leaving us to fulfill the mission he had started.  The disciples reaction must surely have been a mixture of confusion, disappointment, abandonment, and and impulse to a) either jump ship or b) swell with resolution for the battle ahead.      

But hidden in this great passage are Jesus’ confrontation of his disciples' bewilderment, and they are words of unspeakable comfort.  I pray that they are comforting to you today.  As you read these words, may Jesus speak them fresh to you today:  

14:25-27

 25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

(PEACE)

14:12-15

12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

15 “If you love me, keep my commands.

(PURPOSE)

14:1-4

1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

(HOPE)

Charles Spurgeon, in his sermon "When Winter Comes", says this about the unchangingness of God:

"He remains everlastingly the same. There are no furrows on his eternal brow. No age hath palsied him; no years have marked him; he sees ages pass, but with him it is ever now. He is the great I AM—the Great Unchangeable …. It was the same when he was a babe in the manger, as it was when he stretched the curtains of heaven; it was the same God that hung upon the cross, and whose blood flowed down, the same God that holds the world upon his everlasting shoulders… He never has been changed in his essence… he remains everlastingly, eternally, the one unchanging God, the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither the shadow of a change."

“I do not know into what trade you can enter to be secure against losses, nor what profession you could follow in which you would escape disappointments.  I know no corner of the earth without its night, no land without its stones, no sea without its storms.  As to spiritual and mental experience, it seems to me within myself that while earth remains I will have ebbs and flows, my risings and my sinkings.  Do not therefore begin to kick and quarrel with the dispensations of God’s providence.  When it is summertime say, “The Lord gave, and blessed be His name.”  When it is winter say, “The Lord hath taken away, and blessed be His name.”  Keep to the same music, even though you sometimes have to pitch an octave lower.  Still praise and magnify the Lord whether you be sowing or reaping.  Let him do what seems good to Him, but to you let it always seem good to praise.”

On Sunday mornings between our two church services I meet with a wonderful group of college and grad-school age students.  We have breakfast, share prayer requests, and study the Scriptures together.  It is an inevitable highlight of my week. 

For the past several months we have been talking our way through the New Testament book of John.  A few weeks ago we arrived at the Last Supper. 

The photo above is a piece of ironic pop art, won miraculously at a white-elephant party and displayed proudly in my office.  I love it because it reminds me of this scene – remarkable in its density – where Jesus washed the disciples feet, led them in the original communion, promised them the Holy Spirit, commanded them to love, then went out and prayed for them (and us!).  These stories can be found in John chapters 13 through 17. 

    

Just hours before his betrayal, arrest, trial and execution Jesus gathered his friends together for this final meal.  His friends, perhaps not fully aware of what was about to happen, were visibly stressed.  Judas the betrayer had just fled the scene and the eleven remaining men were looking to Jesus for assurance, hope, and comfort.  This is what he says:   

John 14:1  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  

The COMFORT in Christ’s Character

‘The answer to trouble is trust’, one writer said.  Jesus senses his friends’ anxiety and writes them a quick prescription.  He reminds them of the faith that has been growing in them for the past few years. He gives them a rock to stand on.

Our oldest daughter a) leaves her bedside lamp on as she falls asleep, and b) is a very light sleeper (no pun intended).  Those two facts together present a nightly challenge for me and my wife: to tiptoe into her room and quietly turn off the lamp.  On most nights she springs awake and Kelly or I will quickly whisper, “It’s okay Delaney… it’s me”, and she falls immediately back to sleep.  After years of the same routine she has learned to be quickly comforted by the person behind the voice.

In their moment of distress, Jesus looks at his disciples – the eleven remaining men who have sacrificed everything to follow him – and says, “It’s okay guys… it’s me.”  I’m asking you to trust me.  Do not let your hearts be troubled. 

Today -- may the PERSON of Christ be foremost on our minds.  The more intimately we know him, the more inclined we are to trust him.  May we be comforted by his love, challenged by his call, and chastened by his sacrifice.     

Jesus as Friend

Harvey Cox, Harvard theologian and author of The Secular City, tells the story of a class he taught about the life and teachings of Jesus.  The class was constructed as an experimental response to the well-publicized, damaging moral failures of university alumni.  

He said this about his students:

“They were becoming experts on facts but novices on values...There was a danger that we could turn out a generation of graduates who could debate moral issues with flair and proficiency but who lacked any real conviction about them.”


The book, When Jesus Came to Harvard, describes how Cox's class exploded in popularity even among a population of cynical, syncretistic and unbelieving students.


I read the book several years ago, but I remember being challenged by these two ideas:


1) To be amazed once again at the wondrous life that Jesus lived.  Jesus and I are like pre-school sweethearts.  We've known each other a long time.  I sometimes fear, then, that I have tamed Jesus or caged him away, enjoying his companionship on an "as needed" basis?  Jesus' life and teachings were astonishing, and they turned his world upside-down.  I pray that his presence in my life would continue to revolutionize my thoughts, reactions, attitudes, and relationships.      

“Jesus was indeed a first-century Palestinian Jew living under Roman occupation.  But it was as a Rabbi that he had to cope both with the Roman tyrants and with the destructive division within his own people...

...What do you do when you find a stranger lying bleeding by the roadside; when no guests show up for your big banquet; when a sassy and rebellious son you thought had left for good shows up on your doorstep broke?  Jesus also put people in uncomfortable situations by the way he lived.  He violated the social and religious taboos of his day.  He ate with people a respectable rabbi was not supposed to eat with.  He kept company with shady characters and social deviants.  He lived in such a way that anyone who encountered him had to re-examine the meaning of life and look at the world from a new point of view.  His words were his deeds and his deeds were his words.”


I have read through the New Testament hundreds of times, but I LOVE those moments when I read a phrase and think, "I don't remember seeing that before".  The Scriptures are alive in those moments and I long for God to speak to me.


As I read Cox's book I was delighted for the college students who were reading about him for the first time -- devouring the New Testament as we would devour a freshly-unearthed treasure map. 


2) Paul says famously in Romans 1:16, "...I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes..."  I belong squarely (and sometimes proudly) to a generation whose most cherished belief is that beliefs ought to be kept to oneself.  My career and this resultant blog notwithstanding, I sometimes retreat from opportunities to identify myself with Jesus.  Cox's story served as a convicting reminder that Jesus' teachings are now as they always have been: dynamic, relevant, life-giving, living, and convincing.  


Perhaps my favorite quote from the book, though, comes very near the end as the author reflects devotionally on his Savior and Friend.  I would love to hear your thoughts, so please comment or contact me...  


“During my years of study and teaching I have read many criticisms of envisioning Jesus as a friend.  To some it appears to be overly intimate, glib, or childish.  Psychologists warn against clinging too long to the babyish habit of having an invisible playmate or a ‘magic helper’.  Some theologians deprecate using ‘friend’ for Jesus because it diminishes the majesty and transcendence of the divine.  But I was never swayed by these arguments.  We have only human language and our experience of human bonds to express ourselves, and these supply the metaphors we must draw on to talk about Jesus: everything from lover to king, and from ‘lily of the valley’ to ‘bright and morning star’.  Among all these, I still think that ‘friend’ comes closest, not just to conveying how I experience my relationship with Jesus, but to the core of Jesus’ message itself….”

A Treasure in Jars of Clay

My wife and I have (among other things) two daughters: 8-year-old Delaney and 3-year-old Peyton.  In very unsurprising news, they LOVE to dress up as princesses.  They share a trunk full of costumes, tiaras, billowy skirts, wands, and sparkly shoes.  

Perhaps more than with any other item, I will be anguished when that trunk someday leaves our house for another, younger family.  The items in that simple box have transported the girls all throughout their tiny worlds, dancing, singing, spinning, and laughing. 

Not long ago, on a drizzly Saturday my patience wore thin when I went into Delaney’s room and found what looked to have been a dress-up trunk explosion.  Every inch of the room was lacey, sparkly, and pastel-y, and dad was not happy.      

I got down on my knees and shoved everything back into that little box.  My irritation gave way to curiosity, and ultimately to joy, when I discovered what an astonishing volume of dress-up material fit inside the box.  It was like pouring water into a bottomless glass.  After a few minutes of stuffing, Delaney’s room was all magically – it seemed – back in the box.    

One of my most earnest daily prayers is that God would help me know – intimately, practically, powerfully the reality of Christ’s Spirit living in me.  We are a jar of clay, the apostle Paul says, inside of which God stores a treasure (2 Corinthians 4:7).        

And Paul also says this in Colossians 1:

25 I have become (the church’s) servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

 28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously

contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

May we be inspired by this today: that the Spirit of a wondrous God lives in us.  May our thoughts, actions, speech, and attitudes -- like the contents of that dress-up trunk -- color our world with love and joy.