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But We Had Hoped

But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. (Luke 24:21 ESV)

There are two kinds of hope and they are quickly discerned and easily defined. If I plan to work outside today I’ll say, “I hope it doesn’t rain.” That statement could easily be translated, “I wish it wouldn’t rain.” In this case hope is defined as wishful thinking. This kind of hope is part of our everyday existence. We live in the land of wishful thinking.

uncommon_sense_hopeCleopas and his friend banked on such hope. But we had hoped.They had their own hopes for Jesus, their own aspirations for his life. When he fell short of their dreams, they assumed he had fallen short of His purpose. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Christian hope is not wishful thinking. Christian hope is confident expectation. Paul talked about this hope in Romans:

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5 ESV)

Confident expectation in God’s character and God’s promises will never put us to shame. God comes through every time. When we mold God’s plan into our own design and He “comes up empty” we’re embarrassed. Our faith falters. We wonder what went wrong. Sometimes we even blame God. Somehow Cleopas and his friend missed this conversation Jesus had with his disciples:

For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:40 ESV)

By the third day their hopes were dashed. But it was on the third day, the day on which they lost hope, that Hope was resurrected and joined them on the Emmaus Road. It was on the third day, the day they gave up, that Hope rose up victorious over every doubt they had. It was on the third day, they day they decided to desert and return to Emmaus, that Hope joined them on their devastating journey home.

They had no idea that everything they ever hoped for was walking on the Emmaus Road with them.

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Fighting Well

I published this post on Saturday…and realized that many people didn’t get to read it. The principles in it are worth reading again…and internalizing. So here goes.

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (Romans 7:24-25 ESV)

If we are going to win the battle against sin, we have to…

  • Have the right view of ourselves.
    • Paul says, “wretched man that I am.” John Newton got this right in the old hymn: Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. The word wretch comes from the Greek word “pierce.” To be wretched is to be pierced through with the reality of your sin. God saves wretches. God saves sinners.
  • Ask the right question.
    • Paul’s question is as important as his answer. He doesn’t ask, “what will set me free.” Rather, he asks “who?” His question calls for a rescuer, a person, someone to step in and save the day.
  • Have the right view of our sinful nature.
    • Paul calls his old sin nature, “this body of death.” This is war terminology, referring to a prisoner of war who has the dead body of a fallen comrade attached to his own body–nose to nose, toe-to-toe. The POW must walk around with this dead body staring him in the face, maggots included. If the POW doesn’t die from the emotional strain, he will die from disease. Your sin nature is that nasty, that gross, that capable of sin–even after you come to Christ.
  • Trust the Answer to the question
    • Paul answers, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” God provided an answer–his only Son. God offered his best for our worst, his strength for our weakness, his Son for our sins. In J.D. Greear’s book, Jesus Continued, he writes:

So when you feel abandoned, that’s all it is, a feeling. A lying, deceptive feeling. It has to be. Jesus faced the full measure of our aloneness in our place and put it away forever. By his death, he reconciled us to God, so that we can know that he will never leave us or forsake us. In some strange way we can never hope to comprehend he was abandoned…for us.

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Sin’s Dangerous Undertow: God’s Gracious Rescuer

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (Romans 7:21-25 ESV)

Gary Smalley tells the story. He was in Cancun, Mexico, with his wife Norma, and two of their children and their families.

The morning was overcast and Norma and I were reading by the pool listening to the waves crash not far from us. I decided to take a break from reading and jump in the ocean to wake up. The water was as warm as the pool; temperature-wise it was the best ocean water I’d ever been in. However, something very serious happened to me during that swim that I certainly didn’t expect.

As I was walking toward the beach to enjoy a brief swim, I noticed there were some flags that were posted along the beach—some red, some yellow. There weren’t many people on the beach so I couldn’t ask anyone about them. I really didn’t pay any attention to them because the water seemed so inviting and shallow that I didn’t think there would be any problems. I didn’t know those flags were riptide-warning flags.

I eased into the water. The waves were large and coming every 5 seconds. I was frolicking, jumping up and down, but I was bouncing out further and further into the ocean. In a short time, I was up to my chest but still had my feet on the sand. When a big wave would come and cover me I was able to jump up most of the way. But with each wave there was a current that was pulling me further out; I didn’t really notice it, however, because I was walking away from the beach.

Suddenly I realized that the water was up to my chin and recognized that the current was pulling me out. I decided that I was going to start swimming back to shore, but I couldn’t get in. The current was so strong and the waves were coming with such force that I felt caught, and was being dragged out farther and farther. I didn’t think there was a problem at first, because I’m pretty strong, and even though I’m 60, I’m a good swimmer. However, the harder I tried, the more I saw that I was not making any progress. I tried swimming under water, but when I came up for air I was hit by a giant wave and I started to swallow water. I started to panic. I was getting tired and I realized I was in a mess. The waves crashed over me and I was taking in too much water. I had no energy left. I looked to see if anybody was around that I could scream to, but the waves were so loud that a scream wouldn’t have been heard. I waved my arm up in the air to see if somebody could see me, and I noticed in a split second a young lifeguard sitting in a tower that I never before noticed. He saw me and waved back. He then jumped out of the tower, ran to the ocean, swam out to me, and threw me a large red floating device with handles and a big rope.

Then Smalley adds:

Here’s what I learned: When you are struggling with food, love relationships, immoral thoughts, bad habits, any kind of addiction (from shopping to drugs), the current is pulling you out. And you can’t do anything about it in your own efforts. Many of us who have been addicted know the reason we get depressed is because we know it’s hopeless. We’ve tried to change, we’ve tried diets, we’ve tried disciplining ourselves, we’ve tried getting up early and praying, we’ve tried different things, but nothing seems to work. Jesus is actually the one who overcomes the addiction, the one who gives us the power to sustain. You have a lifeguard—Jesus Christ. He throws the floating device, grace, to you.

Paul had tried methods. He had tried almost everything. He answered the question with almost a sigh of relief: Thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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Jesus, the Selfless Master

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:16-18 ESV)

Either: you have a choice. You can either obey sin or you can obey righteousness. No longer must you show up to the taskmaster of your own flesh and say “yes.” You can say, “no.” Why does Paul saturate this description with slave language? A slave among the Romans was considered his master’s property, and he could do with him as he wanted. Under a bad master, the slave lived a dreadful life. His ease and comfort were of no concern; he was treated worse than an animal; and, in many cases, his life hung on the mere whim of the master.

That’s what the old slave master, sin, does. Satan cares nothing for you. And when you come to Christ, his hatred for you intensifies. Your old nature, the sinful nature that you possessed when you came to Christ, you still have. Deep within you is the desire to sin. When you give in to that old sin nature, you are throwing away the freedom given you in Christ. Your own evil lusts and appetites become your most cruel taskmasters.

The truth is that you choose your master—and you do not have to show up at your master’s house one more day. You can be free. As a Christ-follower, slavery to sin is voluntary.   Look at what Paul says. You are a slave either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness.

Why use the same term, slave, to refer to believers? It more forcibly shows that we are our Master’s property; and that, as he is infinitely good his service must be perfect freedom.   Jesus Christ asks no obedience from us that he does not turn to our eternal advantage because He has no self-interest to secure. You see, before Christ, you had no choice. The temptation came along, you gave in, and you fell to it. Now you have a choice. You have God, in the form of the Holy Spirit, living inside you. When temptation comes, you don’t have to say yes.

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The Underestimated Power of Sin

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. (Romans 6:12 ESV)

Sin is tenacious. Sin is powerful. Sin is persistent. Sin is dominant. Sin is controlling. Sin is devastating. If you doubt the power of sin, consider Josh Gordon’s story:

Josh Gordon is a wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns. He is 23 years old and his annual salary is $1.3 million. He was suspended for ten games of the 2014 season because he could not say no to marijuana. A failed drug test sealed his fate. Now his playing ability for 2015 is in jeopardy. He has tested positive for alcohol. Gordon has opportunities that any athlete would only dream about…yet he is rocked by the reality that he can’t resist the temptation of drugs and alcohol.

Sin is controlling. Sin is not content as a guest in the throne room of your life. Sin will insist on being king on the very throne of your heart–sin will reign. And once sin reigns, it will call the shots, choose your course, determine your destination.

The Cleveland Browns are dealing with another potential rising star who’s mesmerized with sin. Consider this post today on nbcsports.com.

Browns head coach Mike Pettine just said that he has to approach this offseason as if he’s looking for a starting quarterback, saying “it’s probably accurate” to think that’s the team’s approach.

Pettine said he visited Manziel in rehab last week, and that “he has our full support.”

“He’s in a much better place now than before he went in,” Pettine said. “We’re proud of him. . . .

“We had the same information everyone else in the League had. It turns out to be a deeper-rooted thing that we thought.”

The support for their quarterback at a human level is impressive. But the lack of support from a football standpoint is telling.

Johnny Manziel’s bout with alcohol has gotten the best of him. He might just lose his career over it.

Don’t underestimate the power of sin.

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Turning Messes Into Messages

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. (Hebrews 11:31 ESV)

I love the honesty of the Bible. If I were making a list of the Who’s Who of the Old Testament I would be tempted to leave some people out. Rahab is surely one of them. She was a prostitute. She made her living by selling her body. She lived on the city wall and watched for lonely passersby who might want her company. She had no discretion, no self-respect. The writer of Proverbs has a stern warning about women like Rahab:

My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well. She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind. (Proverbs 23:26-28 ESV)

Rahab was a deep pit. She waited like a robber and made traitors out of otherwise honest men. Then one day Hebrew men showed up. They didn’t come looking for Rahab, they came needing cover. Sent by Joshua to scout out the great city of Jericho they hid on Rahab’s roof. The king of Jericho caught wind that the feared Israelite spies were inside the city walls. He sent his soldiers to find them. Rahab covered for them and sent the soldiers on their way. She found the Hebrew spies on her roof and spilled her guts:

Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. (Joshua 2:8-11 ESV)

For we have heard how the Lord…Some in Jericho heard about what God had done and tried to resist Him. Rahab heard and embraced Him. Notice how she finishes her confession to these men: For the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens and on the earth beneath. Rahab believed! Rahab, the prostitute became Rahab the protector. Rahab who was accustomed to wrecking men’s lives, saved their lives. Rahab who usually sold her body for sex, offered her house for safety. She believed. And she made it into Faith’s Hall of Fame!

Only Christianity would celebrate a prostitute turned protector and tout her as a defender of the faith.

And you think Jesus can’t turn your mess into a message to the world!

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Enough For Today

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. (Exodus 16:4 ESV)

The people grumbled against God. They were hangry. Have you ever had a child who got angry when he got hungry? Israel did and God replied. His answer was a shower of bread, Fatz rolls raining down from heaven–Sister Schuberts descending from the sky (okay I’m getting carried away now). What’s interesting is that the raining down of bread was a test!  How was daily bread a test?

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. (Exodus 16:13-21 ESV)

God rained bread and they had enough for today. Whoever gathered much had nothing left over. Whoever gathered little had no lack. Why? God provided enough for today. Then they doubted. They doubted God’s ability to provide what they needed for that day. God clearly instructed them not to store it. Tomorrow a fresh rain of fresh bread would fall from heaven. When they stored some, it bred worms and stank!

Enter Jesus born in Bethlehem. Micah called Bethlehem as the birthplace (5:2). How fitting. Bethlehem means “house of bread.” Jesus was the bread of life:

So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. (John 6:30-35 ESV)

He is enough for today. Lean in on him this Christmas eve. He will give you all you need to get through the difficulties and joys of this day. And tomorrow morning he will be waiting when you wake up. With fresh bread of His presence in hand, he will feed you tomorrow.

He is enough for today.

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Bold Requests of God

Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a king,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal Spirit,
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine own sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.

This favorite Advent carol has six bold requests. Charles Wesley revealed his deep longing for God when he penned the words. I challenge you to make these same requests your own:

Come thou long expected Jesus. Do you really want Jesus to invade your space? To call your heart His home? To become your boss? To be Lord of all of your life? Ask Him. I dare you.

From our fears and sins release us. What is your worst fear? Your greatest temptation? Do you believe He can set you free from it? Do you believe he can break the chains of sin that bind you?

Let us find our rest in thee. Are you weary? Tired of the rat race? Frustrated with the hectic season called Christmas? Tired of trying to keep up with your neighbors, outdo your coworker, impress you relatives? Rest in him. Jesus himself said, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest.”

Now thy gracious kingdom bring. Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done…on earth as it is in heaven.” What kingdom thwarting habit are you practicing? Who has been reached through your obedience?

Rule in all our hearts alone. This is a bold request. “Jesus, rule…alone!” No one else. Nothing else. No selfish ambition. Just Jesus.

Raise us to thy glorious throne. Jesus, change us from the inside out. Replace hopelessness with hope. Fill our emptiness with your fullness.  David talked about this in Psalm 40:

I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD. (Psalm 40:1-3 ESV)

Notice when David was raised to God’s glorious throne–after he patiently waited.  If you are in a pit, put your hand in his and let him draw you out and raise you to his glorious throne. He’ll change your tune! (my paraphrase of “he put a new song in my mouth.”) Then many will see and fear and say, “What happened to her! What’s up with him!”

Today, pray those six requests of Wesley’s old hymn. The next time you sing it, be careful what you ask for!

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Why Bad Things Happen to God’s People

If we are honest, everyone on this planet recognizes that there is something inherently wrong with the world.  Since the beginning of history, mankind has attempted to provide an answer to the existence of evil.  Horrible things happen.  When they do, people scramble to understand them in light of their beliefs. Whether they are atheists, agnostic, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, or Christians, the problem of evil is too prevalent to dismiss.  The question for Christians becomes an even more difficult one:  If God is good and loving, then why does God allow (or some would say ordain) bad things?  (i.e. Why do bad things happen to good, and even God’s, people?)

When we can’t find sufficient answers, we have a tendency to create our own.  Here are a few of the most common misconceptions:

  • Bad things happen to God’s people because God is not involved.  Technically this is called “deism.”  Deism suggests that God does not interfere with the world in any way–everything runs according to its natural course. To be sure, actions have consequences.  If you smoke, you could get lung cancer and you could die.  Smoking causes cancer.  Actions have consequences.  However, Christians believe that God is very involved.  He didn’t just wind up the universe like some master watchmaker and then step back and watch it run, or worse, walk away completely (Thomas Jefferson ascribed to this belief by the way).  As a matter of fact, God invaded the universe with His Son Jesus Christ.  The incarnation is the centerpiece of Christianity–God becoming man.
  • Bad things happen to God’s people because God is impotent.  God either doesn’t exist, or if he does, he is incapable of controlling or stopping bad things.  Those who hold this view simply point to the cacophony of evil in the world.  “If God is God (and therefore in complete control of the universe), then why did he allow……?” God appears to be impotent–unable to do what is needed to be done in a certain situation.  Atheists hold to the extreme form of this view.  God is impotent because he doesn’t exist, therefore to explain evil does not necessitate the mention of God.
  • Bad things happen to God’s people because of their personal sin.  This assumption is as old as time itself. Jesus and his disciples encountered a man who was born blind.  His disciples looked at the man, and then at Jesus, and asked: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” (John 9:2)  The disciples’ assumption was that personal sin resulted in the blindness.  This assumption has several holes in its logic.  First of all, the blind man, like everyone since Adam and Eve, was born into sin.  If his sin resulted in blindness, then all people would be born blind. Second, the blind man’s parents were born into sin just as he was.  If their sin caused their son to be born blind, then all children would be born blind.

All of those answers leave us feeling guilty or empty, despairing or despondent.

Why, then, do bad things happen to God’s people?

  • Bad things happen to God’s people because Adam and Eve sinned.  Genesis 3 tells the story.  The serpent deceived Eve.  Eve convinced Adam and they ate the forbidden fruit.  God came walking in the garden and they hid themselves.  For the first time in their lives they were afraid of God.  Sin does that.  Sin distances us from God. God cursed the serpent, but he did not curse Adam or Eve.  (Childbearing became difficult and God cursed the land.) God made clothes for Adam and Eve.  The Creator of the universe became a tailor!  Since then death and disease, sin and temptation have been the norm.  Romans 8:22 says all of creation groans as it waits for renewal.
  • Bad things happen to God’s people because suffering stands alone in its ability to draw us into fellowship with God.  Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10 “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”  Christianity is counterintuitive. How attractive is a faith whose leader is described by Isaiah this way: “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (53:3)  The hero of the Christian faith was a man of sorrows.  When you suffer you are most like Christ.  When you suffer, you are in God’s company.  C. S. Lewis, in the Problem of Pain, said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
  • Bad things happen to God’s people because God uses their suffering to reveal Himself to those who don’t know Him.  Jesus’ disciples thought the blind man’s sin, or his parents’ sin, caused his blindness. Jesus’ answer caught the disciples by surprise: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3) The blind beggar was a showcase of the glory of God. His parents never saw this coming.  Neither did he.  Jesus chose to heal him. We don’t know why God heals some and doesn’t heal others. What we know is that God uses the suffering of his beloved children as a showcase of His glory. Jesus spit on the ground, put mud on the blind man’s eyes, instructed him to wash in the pool of Siloam and the man left seeing. The Pharisees complained and the blind beggar became one of the first worshipers of Jesus.

Suffering is inevitable…and so hard.  Christians never dismiss it.  As a matter of fact, when our brothers and sisters hurt, we do too.  Paul instructs us in Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.”  In Galatians 6:2 we are told to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”  We will never have all the answers (that is, this side of glory)–we will struggle to understand.  In those times, we cry together.  During those times we shoulder each others’ burdens…and in the process we fulfill the law of Christ.