Moses - "When you want justice..."

When we read in Heb. 12:1 that we are surrounded by a great “cloud of witnesses”…we may picture a stadium in which men and women of faith who have gone before us, are cheering us on as we run; but instead of being at the end of the race, let’s picture ourselves, as John Maxwell does, entering the stadium somewhere in mid-race, to the cheers of onlookers; drawing inspiration and energy from the crowd.  Great heroes of the faith one by one come down from the stands to encourage us on our journey. As we begin our third lap we see a bearded man with a great staff approach us, a humble man who speaks softly but with authority. His name, he says, is Moses, and as he jogs alongside us he says, “God loves to set captives free!  I know this because the first captive to be set free from among my people was me.  It was my mother who saved me from death at Pharaoh’s hand by placing me in a papyrus basket beside the Nile."

It was Pharaoh, Moses explains, who enslaved the Israelites that had journeyed to Egypt decades before. They had come long ago to escape a worldwide famine when Joseph their kinsman was the wise overseer of the grain storehouses of Egypt…but that’s another story! This new Pharaoh knew nothing of Joseph…only that the population of Hebrews was increasing at an alarming rate.  After Pharaoh orders the death of every male Hebrew child, a Levite mother hides her baby in a papyrus basket on the bank of the river. By God’s providence, Pharaoh’s daughter sees the baby and draws him from the water.  She brings the child into Pharaoh’s house, naming him Mosheh, which means, “to draw” (Ex. 2). And so, Moses explains, he really was the first captive to be set free… not simply because he was rescued as an infant from slavery and death, but because (i) by God’s mercy he was able to remove his own blinders to that injustice…

We read that, “One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and saw their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk.” – Exodus 2:11.  Imagine!  From Moses’ birth, he had lived in the privilege and comfort of Pharaoh’s palace where he was shielded from the oppression of his people. Then one day he went out…and saw the truth with his own eyes, and it sickened him.  All of us have blinders to oppression and injustice; and we can only remove them by going outside and seeing it with our own eyes.  It is easier to ignore prejudice, poverty, child or spousal abuse etc. than to get involved.  But if we will allow ourselves to see it or hear it, we will be moved!  

I saw a cartoon of two turtles. One says, "Sometimes I'd like to ask why God allows poverty, famine, and injustice when he could do something about it." The other turtle says, "I'm afraid God might ask me the same question."  

I’m thinking about a man I’ve never met…who lives in India.  His name is Ramen, and for 32 years he carried bricks on his back for 18 hours a day before he was rescued from a life of forced labor with the help of  men from International Justice Mission (IJM). I heard him give his testimony at a Benefit Dinner I attended with Lisa two weeks ago.  He said that during his enslavement, he would wonder to himself, “If there is a God, why doesn't he come down as a man to rescue me?” After he was set free from that soul-crushing existence he said this: “Now I know there is a God, because he did rescue me.” Someone saw him, someone cared about him…and that’s when he knew God could see him too. So Moses removed his blinders to injustice, but then, 

(ii) Moses responded to injustice by taking action.  On one occasion, "[Moses]saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he [killed] the Egyptian and hid him in the sand – Ex. 2: 11-12. Even before Moses was called by God, he had a God-given concern for the weak, and on more than one occasion, he took action.  

Now what we can honestly say about this action is that it was both decisive and debatable.  We’re told that in the act of defending a Hebrew slave from his Egyptian master, Moses “kills” (NRSV) the Egyptian and “hides him in the sand.”  Here is the interesting thing about this verse.  The root of this verb, נָכָה (naw-kaw') actually means “to strike down,” not "kill" in the sense of "murder." It is the same word used to describe what the Egyptian was doing to the Hebrew slave (11a) and what another Hebrew slave was doing as he struck his kinsman (see ahead to Exodus 2: 13). I agree with John Durham that there is nothing in the text to suggest that Moses intended to murder the Egyptian, anymore than that the Egyptian or the Hebrew man was attempting to kill his adversary.  It was a violent encounter to be sure, but I believe Moses was trying to stop the Egyptian, not execute him.  Nevertheless, as I said earlier, Moses' action is debatable... 

Certainly some may question whether it was right for Moses to answer violence with violence based on Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount that we are to "turn the other cheek."  I’ve always found Dale Bruner’s insight here to be helpful…namely, that while Jesus commanded us to turn the other cheek, he never told us to sit by and watch as someone else is being beaten senseless, abused or raped. There is a poem by German pastor and Nazi-resister Dietrich Bonhoeffer that still challenges my idealistic need for un-debatable certainty before taking action.  It goes like this… 

Do and dare what is right, not swayed by the whim of the moment.Bravely take hold of the real, not dallying now with what might be.Not in the flight of ideas but only in action is freedom.Make up your mind and come out into the tempest of living.God’s command is enough and your faith in him to sustain you.Then at last freedom will welcome your spirit amid great rejoicing.

Nevertheless, in taking decisive action, we must beware of two things.  First, that victims of injustice can become victimizers.  For, “When he went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting; and he said to the one who was in the wrong, "Why do you strike your fellow Hebrew?” – Ex. 2:13. Moses had no sentimental regard for his people as mere “victims.” When he confronted the Hebrew slave who was “in the wrong” as he fought a fellow Hebrew, he was not blinded by race…assuming that only Egyptians could be abusive!  He knew that his own people could be in the wrong. One of the biggest temptations that those who want justice must face, is becoming unjust themselves. 

Secondly, in taking decisive action we should know that getting involved will usually cost us something. When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh [and] settled in the land of Midian….” – Ex. 2:15  Moses had to leave a life of comfort, opulence, wealth and power behind as a result of taking action against injustice.  Often it is the cost (whether it be time, money, our comfort, or our reputation) that keeps us from doing the right thing.  

Gary Haugen makes the point that the road to justice is often long and boring.  In fact most of the work IJM does, says Haugen, bluntly put, is boring and tedious.  Hours and hours are spent gathering evidence, doing paperwork, and collecting signatures.  He asks us to imagine standing outside a tow truck company 8 hours a day every day for 6 months, waiting to get your car back…or driving from LA to Las Vegas 40 times to appear in court, and on many days, to return with nothing to show for it.  It’s that kind of long and tedious work that IJM teams endure to end some of the worst kinds of injustice.  It’s truly a work of costly love. But that’s what real love is…not a short-lived incendiary kind of love that feels great but burns out before it gets started, nor a love that only perseveres in the good times when the sun is shining and life is easy…but that tedious, diaper-changing, dish-washing, nose-wiping, messy kind of love, that says I’ll stand by you, whatever it takes, whatever it costs.  Moses was learning about that kind of love. Would any of us be alive today without it?

(iii) So Moses removed his blinders, he responded and, finally, Moses sought justice not only for his people, but for those who were not. When Moses flees to Midian, we clearly see him taking action to stop injustice in a situation unrelated to the oppression of his own people – a situation involving non-Hebrews.  We read that “The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. But some shepherds came and drove them away. Moses got up and came to their defense and watered their flock…” – Genesis 2: 16-21.

These shepherds deliberately waited for the Midianite women to do the hard work of drawing water from the well and filling the water troughs for their sheep (water being the lifeblood and wealth of the desert); and then prepared to drive them away, using the water for themselves and their own sheep.  At that point, Moses “comes to the defense” of these women.  He was learning that injustice which did not directly concern him or his people; was still a concern to God – and therefore, it had to be a concern to him!  Indeed we read later that rooted in God's law is the protection and care of the stranger: "You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt" (Exodus 22:21).

I was eating pizza yesterday with about 30 attorneys in downtown LA…attorneys who were about to spend their Saturday offering their legal services at a Christian Legal Aid clinic free of charge.  CLA LA's mission is "to bring God's love and justice to the poor in Los Angeles."   Many were under 40…and they were glad to be there.  This was not a chore; it was a passion… a passion inspired by their faith in Christ. I talked with several who received help, but the Executive Director Patricia Oliver described one lady who she couldn’t help…all she could do was pray with her; and yet the woman left with these words: “This was one of the best days of my life.”  Why?  Patricia clearly stated that she was not able to help her!  Yet, because someone took off her blinders and saw this woman, because someone responded to her situation with compassion, because someone went beyond her own tribe and tried, even prayed with her to the One for whom all things are possible, she was reminded that she was not alone, that she was justified, validated, loved by God and his people, and it was one of the bests day of her life. Setting captives free is often a hidden and humble kind of work… it begins with a willingness to listen, a readiness to give, a persistent love, a simple prayer.

As we come to the end of our lap with Moses, he cautions us not to put him on too high a pedestal.  It's not hard to imagine him giving these disclaimers:  “Don't forget that before God called me, my commitment to injustice wavered more than once. I could have approached Pharaoh about the oppression of my people when I was living in the palace, but I didn't. I could have stayed in Egypt and faced Pharaoh’s wrath, but I didn't. And when God first spoke to me out of the burning bush, and sent me to confront Pharaoh and lead my people out of Egypt, I could have said, “Yes, Lord!” but instead I said, 'O my Lord, please send someone else' (Exodus 3.13). I think my mother had more courage than I did when she hid me in that basket in defiance of Pharaoh.  The truth is, I had forgotten about my people long ago, but like a loving parent, God had never forgotten them or me!  It was God who chose me because of his steadfast love  – who heard the cry of his people in prayer  and called me to be the answer to that prayer.”    

Moses prays for us before he returns to his seat in the stands: “God of steadfast love, I ask that you would help my friends know that you do care, that you do listen to the cry of those in need, and that you invite us to join your Servant Son, who suffered the greatest injustice that he might proclaim good news to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind and set the captives free. Amen."

Jacob - "When you feel defeated..."

Life is like a marathon...or is it more like a wrestling match? When we read in Heb. 12:1 that we are surrounded by a great “cloud of witnesses”…we may picture a stadium in which men and women of faith who have gone before us, are cheering us on as we run.  Yet instead of being at the end of the race, let’s picture ourselves, as John Maxwell does, entering the stadium somewhere in mid-race, drawing inspiration and energy from the crowd.  Making our way around the track, one by one, great heroes of the faith come down from the stands to encourage us on our journey.

It's now our second lap as a man comes jogging toward us with a limp. We rack our brains trying to remember his name from Sunday School...and how he got that limp.  “I’m Jacob,” the man says, seeing our mental strain.  Jacob... the grandson of Abraham and the father of the 12 tribes of Israel?  He nods and then speaks six surprising words: “There is blessing in every defeat!”   Jacob says it again, and then explains why as he shares these lessons from his own life. 

“There is blessing in defeat because, in defeat, we learn to pray and give God the glory.”  Jacob tells about a night long ago when he prayed to God, alone and afraid for his life, “O God of Abraham…and my father Isaac… I am not worthy of…all the steadfast love and…faithfulness that you have shown your servant… Deliver me from the hand of my brother…Esau for I am afraid of him (9-11).  How did Jacob come to this point of utter helplessness and fear, we wonder? 

Jacob’s story begins with his grandfather Abraham, who is told by God that he will be the father of a great nation; and that in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed (Gen.12). Eventually Abraham and Sarah are blessed with Isaac, a miracle son in their old age. In time Isaac marries Rebekah and they have twin sons (Gen. 25).  Esau, whose name means “hairy," is born first, followed by his brother, seen grabbing at his heel. His parents name him Jacob, or “heel-grabber!”  Now the Bible tells us that Isaac loved Esau, while Rebekah loved Jacob – not exactly a model family system!

True to his name, one day Jacob talks his famished brother into “selling” his birthright for some soup and bread. Then on one fateful day, he deceives his blind and aging father: Jacob impersonates Esau and tricks Isaac into giving him the coveted blessing that he had intended for his firstborn, Esau (Gen. 27). As a result, Jacob flees from his parent’s home and the fury of Esau, who vows to kill him after their father dies. He travels back to Northern Mesopotamia where he falls in love with a girl named Rachel. Eventually, Jacob has two wives, two concubines, twelve sons and one daughter (Gen. 30).  How this happened is another story...

Fast forward twenty years when Jacob realizes that he must return to Canaan and face his brother’s wrath (Gen. 32).  As he nears home, messengers inform him that Esau is approaching with four hundred men. Jacob, who up until now has relied on his own wits, begins to pray, fearing for his life:“O God…Deliver me from the hand of my brother…Esau for I am afraid of him. That same night Jacob sends his servants ahead of him with gifts for his brother.  He then sends his family and all his possessions across to the other side of the river bordering Canaan, while he himself is left alone.  He was alone and yet… an “unknown man” came to him and “…wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him…But Jacob  said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” - Gen. 32:9-12; 24-26. 

I’ve learned that when God wants to get my attention he often gets me alone, stripped of all visible means of support, where I can only fall on my knees in prayer and give him the glory he deserves.  I used to think of Jacob as a kind of biblical luchador who wrestled God to the ground, or was he an angel, until he agreed to bless him.  But I think Dr. Joyce Baldwin is correct to infer that it was this unknown man who was in charge all along! It was he who orchestrated this divine meeting.  It was he who took the initiative, meeting Jacob when he was stripped of all earthly means of support.  It was his superhuman power that brought Jacob to his knees; that dislocated his hip with a mere touch.  Sure, Jacob wrestled with him through the night, but he knew painfully well that his defeat was inevitable. All he could do was hold on for dear life and plead for a blessing, which is a clue to the Wrestler’s identity, because you don’t ask an inferior to bless you…you ask a Superior for a share in his strength.  All his life, Jacob had been “grabbing at the heels” of his brother and others; but now the Divine Wrestler had grabbed hold of him.  He had “out-Jacobed” Jacob!  There is something about Jacob that seems very familiar.  I like to assume that I'm in charge most of the time… when suddenly I'm reminded, often through some defeat or set-back or crisis, that God has been in charge all along, and so in defeat we humbly fall to our knees in prayer, and finally give him the glory!   

Jacob continues as we jog along, “In defeat, God can also give us a new name and a new identity.” The unknown man said to me, “What is your name?” And I said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” - Gen. 32:26-27   Did Jacob prevail over this unknown man? I think Jacob may have described it differently.  As Baldwin puts it, it was not the night Jacob prevailed, “it was the night he was made a cripple,” for from now on, every step he took would be with a painful limp and weakness! On the other hand, from now on, every step would also be taken with a new sense of confidence, a new identity, a new name.  For the Mighty One said, you shall no longer be called Jacob (‘heel-grabber’) but Israel (‘God-grabber’ the one who wrestles with God’) and has prevailed.   A significant improvement!

Sometimes, being beaten can be the greatest of honors.  Imagine you are on an average high school basketball team, playing in a pre-season game.  How would it feel to win that game in front of your family and friends?  Pretty good, eh?  But what if, after that game, Kobe Bryant walked up and invited you to play another pre-season game…against the Lakers at Staples?  And imagine that on the night of the game, you played your very best, even scored a few points…but eventually got trounced.  And just suppose that after the game, they invited you to dinner and a free basketball clinic?  Wouldn’t you rather lose to the Lakers, than beat anyone else in your league?  It would change your identity as a team! We can imagine Jacob saying, “When I realized I had lost a wrestling match to the One who could bless me and change the course of my life, I felt like I had really won! For the One who had beaten me was also the one who could bless and teach me…and so my name and my life were both changed.  I knew then that God cared for me, that he forgave me for what I had done to Esau in the past, and that he considered me his child.

If you can see God at work in your failures, then every defeat will be an opportunity to grow as apprentices of the King.  In Hebrew culture the name embodied the person…so a change of name meant a change of identity.  Once Jacob was a “heel grabber” but now he was a “God-grabber.”  Once he was “self-reliant” but now he was “God-reliant.”  May the same be said of us. We’ve learned so much from Jacob, but he has one more thing to quickly say…

      

Finally, Jacob shares with us, "In defeat, God teaches us to walk in grace and humility."  “So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “I have seen God face to face. And yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.”  As we’ve been jogging with Jacob around the track, that limp has been a silent reminder that Jacob now knows what it’s like to be disabled; that he understands what it means to feel weak and to be humble before God.  It’s not too hard to imagine Jacob saying something like this, “I was wincing in pain that morning, but I was also smiling, truly grateful for my pain, for it gave me a compassion for my brother that I was incapable of before.  As I took each limping step, I recalled the pain that Esau had felt when he was betrayed by me twenty years before.  That limp was a gift from God… because now I knew what to do; the words that I needed to speak to him.  And so when I looked up and saw Esau coming with his four hundred men…I bowed down before him seven times, humbling myself and sharing with him my sorrow at the hurtful things I had done in the past.  Then came the moment I will never forget….For Esau ran to meet me, embraced me and fell on my neck and kissed me, and there we wept together" - Gen. 32:30-33:4. 

It's true: “There is blessing in every defeat.”  Jacob's wounds helped him to walk in greater humility and compassion.  For who is able to console the defeated but the one who has been defeated?  Who is able to help the wounded but the one who has been wounded?  And who is able to help the hurting one if it is not the one who inflicted the hurt?  Before Jacob returns to his seat in the stands he prays this prayer. “Dear God, help my fellow travelers know the blessing of defeat, that our biggest failures are leading us from self-reliance to God-reliance; teaching us humility, sorrow for our sin, and compassion for those who are hurting.

As Jacob returns to the stands we notice something different about him...it's that limp...it's gone!  He turns to us and smiles as we remember the One who made the lame walk and opened the eyes of the blind.  The One by whose stripes we are made whole (Isaiah 53:5); the One whose defeat resulted in our victory.  It began the night Y'shua, Jesus, prayed with his Father in the Garden. “Not my will but Yours be done." That was the weekend that sin and sickness, death and hell were robbed of their power to destroy us… for on the cross he bore the weight of our sin, and on the third day he rose again in victory. “I know my sheep and my sheep know me…and no one can snatch them out of my hand,” Jesus said.  No pain, no set back, no failure, can wrestle us from the Mighty One's grip, the grip of the One who has loved us with an unshakeable love through Jesus our Crucified and Risen Lord.  Amen!

Abraham & Sarah - "When you're not sure about God's plan"

It’s been said that life is like a marathon; but of course the difference between a marathon and the race of life is that in a marathon you know exactly how long the race is…26 miles, 385 yards.   John Maxwell in his book, Running with the Giants, makes the point that the race of life is not like that.  We don’t know exactly how long the race will last, and we don’t really know where the finish line is until we cross it. When we read in Heb. 12:1 that we are surrounded by a great “cloud of witnesses”…we may picture a stadium in which men and women of faith who have gone before us, are cheering us on as we run.  Instead of entering the stadium at the end of the race, however, let’s picture ourselves, as John Maxwell does, entering the stadium somewhere in mid-race, to the inspiring cheers and thunderous roar of the crowd.

Imagine next that some of these great heroes of the faith begin coming down one by one from the stands to jog a lap with us; and to encourage us on our journey.  As we begin our first lap, we see a very old man and woman coming down to greet us...their faces are weathered, yet their eyes radiate with life:  “I am Abraham….and I am Sarah,” they say.  Abraham and Sarah?  Yes, Abraham and Sarah, the father and mother of the Hebrews, and the Arabic peoples too, renowned for their faith in God; and the ancestors of Y'shua (Jesus) the Messiah!  Abraham and Sarah, with whom the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan for the whole world really began...and here they are, jogging along side us. We only run a few steps when they turn and say with confidence, “You can trust God’s plan" (words spoken, not like an empty platitude, but as though the whole universe revolved around them).  They go on to say...

(i) You can trust God’s plan…when the future is unclear. The Bible tells us that God sent Abraham from his country and people in Haran, to a land that he would show them.  Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.” – Gen. 12:1.  It's interesting to me that Abraham is first told to go; but only later told where to go.  Personally, I’d like God to show me before I go.  Yet, it is not until Abraham arrives in Shechem that God says, “To your offspring I will give this land.”  [NOTE: We cannot corroborate Abraham's historical existence from extra biblical sources, but archaeological evidence does confirm that Shechem, Dothan, and Bethel were indeed the main settlements in Canaan between 2000-1700 BC, the approximate time of Abraham’s entrance into the land (see G. Ernest Wright, Biblical Archaeology)]. 

Abraham’s journey to Canaan reminds me of a popular game in England called letterboxing in which participants find hinged wooden boxes containing clues to one of thousands of other boxes concealed throughout the countryside.  The object is not to find the last box, but to get to the next one.  Now that's how God led Abraham. We want to know the final destination, but God says, “Go…and then I will show you.”  “Start walking, and I will reveal my will to you on the road.” Friends, we can become so preoccupied with the future that we miss God’s will for us here and now. I sense that our own congregation is at a cross roads right now…like Abraham & Sarah, we are listening for God’s next set of instructions on our way to Canaan, the vision he has for us as a church in this city.  Thank you Abraham for helping us to see this journey as an exciting one…even if our destination is not yet clear. 

(ii) You can trust God’s plan…is a blessing, not a curse. God says to Abraham: “I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing….and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”  - Genesis 12: 2-3.  How many of us have ever worried that if we follow God or step out in faith our life will be ruined?  Certainly Abraham and Sarah had cause to think this…since they left everything familiar behind in order to move to Canaan.  In response to that fear, the Lord reminds Abraham that in obeying his voice, he would experience four kinds of blessing: nationhood, a great name, divine protection, and then this: the opportunity to be a blessing to others.  This is the reason his name is changed from Abram, "Exalted Father" to Abraham, "Father of Multitudes."

We know intuitively that living for ourselves is a dead end.  To be blessed is not enough, we want to be a blessing.  Listen to the vision statements of some well known companies.  Hilton: “to fill the world with the light and warmth of hospitality.” CVS Pharmacy: “to improve the quality of human life.”  Johnson & Johnson Orthopedic: “restoring the joy of motion”  Toys R Us: “to put joy in kids’ hearts; and a smile on parents’ faces.”  These dreams are not just about making a profit; they’re about making a difference… these are amazingly similar to kingdom goals!  Shouldn’t we who follow the King desire to be hospitable to strangers and outcasts, declare freedom of motion in Christ, bring joy to children and adults; improve the quality of human life?!  As followers of Y'shua, we are convicted that God’s promise to bless Abraham and, through him, the nations - is being realized in the mission of Abraham’s greater Son! 

(iii) Next, You can trust God’s plan …regardless of your age or abilities. Notice that “Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran” (Gen. 12: 4) and ninety-nine years old before he and Sarah had the child that God had promised them. Samuel and David were boys when God called them. Jesus was thirty-three. The point is that age is totally irrelevant when it comes to God's call because God always provides the strength, wisdom and gifts necessary to do what he commands. It is never too late (or too early) to follow God… and to be a part of what he is doing in the world.  But what if we are seventy-five or even ninety-five when we hear God’s call?  Henry Blackaby writes: “Through you, God will do more in days and weeks than you could ever accomplish in years of labor, if only you will yield yourself to him.”   If my grandfather could give his life to Christ at the Abrahamic age of 91, it is not too late to give your life to him either…   

(iv) You can trust God’s plan …even when it’s laughable.  Abraham and Sarah could not fathom God’s promise of a son in their advanced age. We can imagine Sarah saying something like this: “You  know Abraham, we’re not getting any younger!  It’s obvious that God’s words can’t be taken literally.  He can’t really mean that I am going to become pregnant at this advanced age." Abraham nods in agreement: “This just doesn’t make any sense.”  “But,” says Sarah, “What if you were to take Hagar my maidservant as your wife and have a baby with her.   This sounds more realistic.”  So they did, and Ishmael was born . 

Years pass and now Abraham is one hundred years old and his wife is ninety! Ishamael is a teenager, but God tells Abraham that the promise he made to Sarah was not fulfilled by having a baby with Hagar… this was a human solution to a God-sized assignment. (Yes, Ishmael is also blessed by God according to Abraham's wishes, Genesis 17:20...but the promise to Sarah had yet to be fulfilled, and this is the point here). “I will bless Sarah and…I will give you a son by her” God repeats.  This time, it seems the old man just can't take it anymore.  We read that Abraham falls to the ground laughing at the absurdity of it all (Gen. 17:17). Later, Sarah does the same when told about this impossible plan (Gen. 18:12).  Yet God says again, “Your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and just to prove my point, his name will be Isaac, meaning laughter (Gen. 21)! We may laugh at God's plans, but "God always gets the last laugh!"

Indeed, Abraham learned that day that if you ever doubt God has a sense of humor…go look in the mirror!  How incredibly patient God is with us, and how determined he is to turn our laughing disbelief into the laughter of hilarious joy when we see the proof of his power and goodness!  It is a long standing tradition at the pastor’s conference I attend that we set aside Thursday night to laugh, mostly at ourselves.  Because we serve pizza and other beverages, we have to go off the Christian Conference grounds to do it:  (I had a Diet Coke, of course.)  The venue staff always looks a little puzzled at 400 pastors roaring with laughter and having a beer.  One woman serving food that night said to me, “I didn’t know pastors had fun like this?”  “We try to keep it a secret,” I replied.  There is a time for tears, but the Bible says there is also a time to for laughter...laughter instead of fear… laughter instead of despair or doubt… laughter because we have boundless hope in God who has cried & laughed with us in Christ.

(v) You can trust God’s plan…even when it requires sacrifice.  No doubt the greatest test of Abraham’s faith was when God asked him to sacrifice his son, Isaac (Gen. 22: 11-13).  Why would God ask him to offer up his one and only miracle son, born to them in their old age?!  It was inconceivable, but Abraham obeyed, because by now he trusted God’s heart.  He knew that God had promised to bless him and make of him a great nation (Gen. 12).  He knew that God would never destroy the innocent, as was the case when he questioned God about his plan to destroy the City of Sodom (Gen. 18).  He knew that God told him to name his son, Isaac, which means “laughter.” And so Abraham held on to hope as he trusted that God would do the right thing.

As we near the end of our lap with Abraham and Sarah, they share about this greatest test of their faith.  “You see we finally trusted the God who had called us and sustained us all those years; and we were not disappointed.   As you know, God stopped me from sacrificing my son, and provided a ram for the offering.  I learned it was God’s plan to provide the sacrifice for our sin, not us…and certainly not our children.  I learned that the darkness of this world will never be fixed by human effort alone; but by the power and love of God."   We nod in agreement with Abraham and Sarah because both they and we have witnessed that mercy most powerfully displayed in Abraham’s greater Son, Jesus.  Indeed, said Jesus: “Abraham rejoiced when he saw my day; he saw it and was glad…for before Abraham was, I am” (John 8: 56-58).  The sacrifice which God really desires, is the sacrifice of our trust in him…in the one who has already sacrificed everything for us…because he loves us. 

By the way, I was grabbing a cup of coffee this morning down at the corner coffee house…when a man who recognized me approached me with a question about Christianity.  My first thought was…I’ve got to get to church...I've got some 'spiritual things' to do, but as we continued talking, I knew this was a divine interruption.  In fact, we planned to pick up the conversation at a later date. Do you believe God has the right to interrupt your schedule on a Sunday morning, or a Monday afternoon...at school or in the office...in order to be available to him...to demonstrate compassion, to listen, or to share your experience of life in Christ?  Abraham and Sarah teach us to trust God's plan..even when it requires the sacrifice of our time, our resources, our prestige, or our personal agendas. 

Before returning to the stands, this faith-filled couple pray for us: “Lord, we ask that you help our friends trust your plan; to have patience even when that plan seems confusing, to trust and even laugh in their doubts, to rejoice in wonder at your great mercy and love; to know that you are faithful even when they are not; and that all your ways are truly just and good.”


Acknowledgments: Many thanks to John Maxwell and his book, Running with the Giants, for providing some of the inspiration of this series, though not the expositional content. In particular, I'm grateful for the notion of jogging with the great heroes of the faith around a stadium track as suggested by Heb.12:1.

Life Signs #11 - A Life-Giving Life

Katniss volunteers her life in The Hunger Games.

It's the biggest movie of the season based on the bestseller by Suzanne Collins: In The Hunger Games the author envisions a world in which an elite ruling class have walled themselves off from the rest of North America in "The Capital," while they force selected young people from the impoverished outlying districts to fight one another for survival on National TV. What’s most powerful about this bizarre story is not the premise that youth must fight to the death in a gladiator-like competition, but the truth that this world is literally saved from insanity by acts of self-sacrifice and self-giving love...which is what the heroine Katniss demonstrates when she voluntarily trades places with her defenseless younger sister in the games. Two thousand years ago, Jesus said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."  He gave his life that we might have life and, as we learn in 1 John 5: 13-21,  he also came that we might give life, his life…to others. This kind of "life-giving life" is what this world truly needs; and we need to understand why....

(i) Our Lord is life-giving.  A life-giving life begins with faith in the One who has eternal life in himself… Jesus Christ.  John calls him, “the word of life” (1:1); the one we have seen with our eyes…[who] we have looked at and touched with our hands…this life was revealed and we have seen it and testify to it and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us” (1: 2). 

I was dialoging with a group of pastors from my denomination the other day, the details of which I will not share here.  We were acknowledging our theological differences and our desire to work together as much as possible.  But at one point we were trying to come up with the short list…what we needed to believe in order to have a common sense of mission. One colleague suggested that our confession about Jesus Christ is central.  Yet in an effort not to leave anyone out, he acknowledged that some of us in the room believe that Jesus is the only way, others that he is at least a way, or one way.  I simply said this.  I’ve been preaching through 1John and one particular sentence really grabs me.  “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5: 12).  “I believe this,” I said, “and it has an enormous impact on my understanding of what the mission is and what truly binds us together as his followers."  If we have come to believe that Jesus is Eternal Life, then we will naturally want to pattern our lives after his Life; and share that Life with others...not arrogantly but humbly and passionately.  And, if Jesus is Eternal Life and his Life is in us, then we too can be Life-giving; we too can give Life in his name. That gives us hope in several ways which John which will now explain...

(ii) Our prayers are life-giving.  John says two things about prayer in this paragraph.  First, that God hears our prayers; and second, that God gives life through our prayers.  "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him (14-15). God really does hear our prayers…so be encouraged!    

John says we can be confident in approaching God through his Son; that we can ask anything from him according to his will, and know that he hears us, and that we have what we have asked from him. And yet, John does not tell us that we can have whatever we want from God, but that if we ask anything according to his will, he not only hears us but acts.  Asking according to his will means that we are asking that his will be done; that in our hearts our desire is to reflect the priorities of Jesus’ own prayers, to extend God’s kingdom rule and reign, to provide for our families and those in need, to reconcile with and forgive those who have hurt us, to stand against temptation and evil, to help others do the same, to love others and glorify God with our gifts and talents.  “Father, not my will by yours be done.” (Luke 22: 42).

God does hear our prayers, and through our prayers he also gives life. For, "If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life" (16). Let’s marvel at this promise that through our prayers God chooses to give life to another; that through our prayers someone may be strengthened against temptation or led to a place of repentance; that through our prayers bodies may be healed, and hearts may be put at rest. 

Our prayers are life-giving!  I wonder how seriously we take this promise?  Jesus commands his disciples to, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons!”  Can we really raise the dead with our prayers?  If God wants to bring someone dead back to life, he can and will…and usually through our prayers, and prayer-inspired deeds… whether it is a dead marriage, a dead church, a dead dream, or even a dead body, God loves to bring things back to life. 

I’m thinking of a boy by the name of Daniel Bridge, whose family attended my home church.  He was declared brain dead by his doctors.  The following Sunday morning, an elder prayed, “Lord does it even matter if we pray?  Our hearts are breaking.”  The same day I opened my devotional Bible and read the words from John 11:25: “I am the resurrection and the life” and I thanked God for his promise to Daniel.  But later that day, Daniel’s brain suddenly and inexplicably lit up the monitor. Christ’s promise was resurrected in my heart; and assured me that even when he does not spare loved ones from death, he has given them life in his name.

Now as I said, there’s a puzzle in this passage.  John tells us in v. 16 that we should pray for those “whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.”  What does John mean?! Let me begin by saying that our God is a just and merciful God, but that not even God can take us back when we refuse to go back.  Jesus warned that there are those who refuse to come to God or receive the grace offered to them by him, which Jesus called the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, an unforgivable sin (cf. Mark 3: 22-30). What we need to pray for, then, is not that God will forgive (because he will) but that the one we are praying for will turn back to God and seek his mercy. It’s not that this person’s sin is unforgivable, but that it has not yet been forgiven. We have the opportunity to be life-giving, to pray for and encourage others to turn back to God and receive his grace and forgiveness,  because that's what his Son promises he will do.

(iii) Our moral example is life-giving. "We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them" (18). By now, we know that John does not mean by this that Christians never ever sin.  After all, John says in 1:8 that “if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”  So what John must mean is that a believer does not live in conscious and continuous rebellion against God.   

Pope Benedict visited Mexico this past week.  The LA Times headline said, “In Mexico, Pope Benedict decries ‘evil’ behind drug violence.”  The Pope called the church to “unmask the evil…the idolatry of money” that drives the drug trade and destroys lives; because apparently many drug cartel leaders claim to be Christians!  What is key is that Benedict called the drug trade ‘evil.’  It’s not that it is sociopathic or criminal…but that it is a moral evil.  Evil is not a social construct, evil is real, evil is personal, and it’s desire is to destroy human lives and disconnect us from God, removing us from his protection. God is calling us to be a moral example to the world, to unmask evil…to be a living model of the way of Christ that others might see him through our deeds and be drawn to him, and know his protection and power.  

Jesus also teaches us to pray, “Father, deliver us from evil.”  I prayed that prayer as we walked through La Cienega Heights two years ago in a neighborhood oppressed by gang violence.  It was a warning to those perpetrating these things upon the innocent.  Thus, many of us joined together to walk the streets and shout, “No!” to drugs and gangs and guns along with the police and fire departments. I encourage you to pray with David from Psalm 3: 1-3:  O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, "God will not deliver him." But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head!  This does not mean that we will never experience the attacks of the Enemy, suffering or sickness or discouragement…but that like Christ, “we shall be more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8: 37).

(iv)  Our compassion for the world is life-giving. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one (19). We need to read this verse in the context of everything which John has been telling us in this letter.  Taken in isolation, we might conclude that we who are “children of God” are supposed to live our lives in a ‘Christian bubble’ of detachment from the real world.  But our charge as God’s children is to join Christ in his redeeming work, not run from it. 

I’m thinking of a conversation between Elaine and her boyfriend on an old episode of Seinfield.  Elaine asks, "Do you believe in God?"  "Yes," he replies.  "Is it a problem that I'm not religious?" she asks. "Not for me," her boyfriend answers. "How's that?" she asks. "I'm not the one going to hell.” he quips. Now there is an uncomfortable truth in that comic exchange; because there are a whole lot of people in the grip of hell right here on earth, without hope, without faith, without life or the love of God and, if we were honest, we’re not all that worked up about it.  I was talking to a man at the gym the other day who was distressed about all the conflict in the world today.  “What can anyone really do?”  he said.  "Just live in the moment, I guess,"  he concluded.  I suggested that the Bible calls us to do more than that… to love our enemies, and treat others as we would want to be treated.  I tried to give him some hope that there is a way of looking at the world that is life-giving, instead of life despairing.  You should use that in your next sermon, he said, so I did!  If we know that the whole world is under the control of the evil one, we will be moved with compassion and catapulted into mission. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (John 3: 17). 

(v) Our knowledge of the Truth is life-giving. "We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true--even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols" (20-21).  Notice that John reminds us again that truth is not just a proposition, it is a Person…that our understanding is of “him who is true, even...Jesus Christ.”  We are invited not only to know truth objectively, but to know the Truth intimately and personally, and to make him known.  Therefore, he warns, "keep yourselves from idols," an idol being a piece of dead wood or stone used as the focus of worship.  Steer clear of all cheap imitations and other forms of dead religion, he warns, whether the false idols of materialism, popularity, power or pleasure.  You have the real thing…Truth in person, Truth incarnate, Truth that can set us free.  “Accept no substitutes!”  

We’ve been talking about genuine signs of living faith from First John… because our faith is in the One who is Eternal Life – Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead. The very life of the Creator raised him up, and that same life can be ours today.  Last week, I was at a special forum on science and faith in which Darrel Falk, president of BioLogos gave a presentation entitled, Biology & Faith: Friend or Foe?   Biologos was founded by geneticist Francis Collins, the Dir. of the Human Genome Project and now Dir. of the National Institutes of Health. The name of the organization combines the Greek word for life (bios) and John's favorite symbol for Christ (the Logos or Word of God, made flesh).  Collins expertise is biology, the study of physical life…a quest that ultimately led him to the source of both physical and spiritual life.  Here is an excerpt from his 2007 CNN interview,

         “As a graduate student in physical chemistry in the 1970s, I was an atheist, finding no reason to postulate the existence of any truths outside of mathematics, physics and chemistry. But then I went to medical school, and encountered life and death issues at the bedsides of my patients…I began searching for answers. I had to admit that the science I loved so much was powerless to answer questions such as "What is the meaning of life?" "Why am I here?" "Why do humans have a moral sense?" "What happens after we die?"   I had always assumed that faith was based on purely emotional and irrational arguments, and was astounded to discover… that one could build a very strong case for the…existence of God on purely rational grounds…. But reason alone cannot prove the existence of God. Faith is reason plus revelation, and the revelation part requires one to think with the spirit as well as with the mind… Ultimately, a leap of faith is required.

        For me, that leap came in my 27th year, after a search to learn more about God's character led me to the person of Jesus Christ. Here was a person with remarkably strong historical evidence of his life, who made astounding statements about loving your neighbor, and whose claims about being God's son seemed to demand a decision about whether he was deluded or the real thing. After resisting for nearly two years, I found it impossible to go on living in such a state of uncertainty, and I became a follower of Jesus" (Collins: Why this scientist believes in God, by Dr. Francis Collins, CNN U.S. April 3, 2007).

We cannot be life-giving if we are not connected to the Life-Giver.  Like Collins as a graduate student, many of us have studied extensively about life, but do not yet know the author of life.  We’re pursuing the good life, but haven’t learned how to give life to those weighed down by fear and discouragement.  As we abide in His word and Spirit, may we be a life-giving people, a prayerful people, a moral people, a compassionate people, a people who know Christ intimately and make him known, to the glory of God the Father.  That's what this world needs, and that's what this world truly hungers for.

Life Signs #10 - A Life of Victorious Faith

Everyone has heard of Nike running shoes, and no doubt there will be many pairs crossing the finish line at today's LA Marathon.  But did you know that Nike is the Greek word for victory? In 1 John 5:4, we read, "This is the victory - the nike -  that conquers the world, our faith."  What does victory in this life look like to you?  Is it winning a foot race?  Is it acing a final exam?  Is it landing a good job?  Is it the gift of family or friends?  On the other hand, what does defeat look like to you?

I’ve been following the story of the demise of the Crystal Cathedral.  At one time, the church that was launched by Robert H. Schuller at the Orange Drive-In Theater was one of the most well known evangelical ministries in the country.  Schuller had his critics, but The Hour of Power was the most widely televised church service in the world and many found Christ through his ministry.  Yet in the past year the church has filed for bankruptcy and the property has been sold to the Catholic Diocese…a saving grace.  Schuller once wisely said that, "The real minister's name that we honor is Jesus, not Robert Schuller.”  Something every pastor would be wise to remember in the face of inevitable disappointment.  The gospels never promise unending victories in this life. John himself spent many years exiled on the Island of Patmos as punishment by the Romans for his subversive missionary work.  Even so, he assures us that we can have victory in this world. Yet the power we have over this world -- rather than being a force we control -- is a life of faith in Christ who has won the victory, the 10th sign of genuine Christianity from 1 John 5: 1-12.

(i) Faith in God’s Son is a faith that conquers this world (1-4)  4 for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. 5 Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

What does John mean, exactly, when he says that faith in Jesus is the victory that conquers the world?   He means faith in the God who took on human flesh in Christ, who knows intimately our trials and weaknesses and who therefore gives us power to overcome our own.  He means faith in the One whom the powers of this world tried their best to destroy, and failed.  He means that even when there is nothing to celebrate right before our eyes, there is a larger victory in which we have a share through faith in Christ our King. 

I was reading about an unusual football game back in 1982 at Badger Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. More than 60,000 die-hard University of Wisconsin supporters were watching their football team take on the Michigan State Spartans; but it soon became obvious that MSU had the better team. What seemed odd, though, was that as the score became more lopsided, there were cheers and bursts of applause from the Wisconsin fans!  It turns out that 70 miles away the Milwaukee Brewers were beating the Cardinals in game three of the World Series. Many fans were listening to portable radios--and reacting to something other than their immediate circumstances. I thought that was a great picture of our life with Christ.  Regardless of what losses we may be experiencing right now, we have a reason to hope and even rejoice because of Christ’s victory. 

I want to emphasize that Christian faith is not faith in the victory of my faith; it is faith in the victory of Christ.  It is faith in the victory of his sacrificial love, faith in the victory of his grace, faith in the victory of his death; and faith in the victory of his death conquering life. Such faith in God's Son must necessarily transcend our human reasoning, but this is not to say that it is irrational.  Victorious faith must be based on evidence.

(ii) Faith in God’s Son is a faith not without testimony (5-10).  To show us that our faith in Christ is not a leap of blind faith, but one that is based on legitimate testimony, John begins with two images whose meaning may be unclear to us even if they would have been obvious to his readers:

There is, first of all, the testimony of the water and the blood.  For “This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood” (6). Most likely, water and blood refer to Jesus’ baptism and death - symbols for the beginning and end of his earthly ministry.  The key to understanding this phrase is that John says Jesus came not by (or "through" / διὰ) water only, but through water and blood.  The water of Jesus’ baptism recalls the testimony of the Father, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased” and of John the Baptist who said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!”  The moment of Jesus' baptism marked the beginning of his public ministry.  Thousands witnessed Jesus’ preaching, teaching, and healing; and began to follow him.  Josephus writes: “About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man. He worked surprising deeds and was a teacher…He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks…and the tribe of Christians, so called after him, has not disappeared to this day.” 

The days following Jesus’ baptism were exciting and hope filled.  But then came the cross and the blood -  a stumbling block for many.  How could Jesus’ shed blood be the will of God?  How could the Messiah die on a cross?  There were of course some who responded to the cross by saying that Jesus was just another man, another failed messiah assigned to the ash heap of history.  Then there were those with a really unusual gnostic idea: they believed Jesus was indeed a special man who was possessed by God's Spirit at his baptism, and right up to that point before he shed his blood on the cross.  That’s when the Spirit left him, they claimed, since God - in their way of thinking - would never allow himself to be soiled by human suffering and death. 

John’s point here is that “These false teachers had missed the point!”  This Jesus was the incarnate Word made flesh, from birth to baptism to death (see John 1).  It was God’s plan from beginning to end.  God did not swoop in and spend three great years with us, and then leave just before things got ugly.  NO!  He came through water and blood!  He shared our joy and our sorrow.  He was born like us…he walked among us for 33 years…and then took upon himself the pain of our human sin and darkness on the cross.  If Jesus was just a man, his death would have meant nothing.  He would have joined the thousands of other false messiahs and deluded revolutionaries who have failed to move the world, but because he was God in the flesh, it meant that the Creator had now won the victory over our sin and suffering.  In fact, it was as he shed his blood on the cross that the power of his matchless life was most stunningly revealed.   

So, there was the testimony of Jesus’ own life…from birth to baptism to death, the testimony of water and blood which he and others saw with their own eyes; but there was a third witness John knew he must mention, the testimony of God’s Spirit.  “And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth. There are three that testify:  the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree” (6-8). John is no doubt thinking of the witness of the Holy Spirit, the Counselor whom Jesus promised; the spiritual presence of the Risen Christ at work in his disciples, helping them to carry on his message despite persecution and the threat of death.  Today that same Spirit continues to speak to us through the Bible, prayer, the counsel of the saints, our conscience and our life circumstances.

In addition to this historical and spiritual testimony to Jesus, there is yet one more implied here, the personal: The testimony in our hearts.  For “Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts” (10).  In a Jewish court there had to be at least two or three witnesses to substantiate a charge. The water, and the blood and the Spirit are in agreement, says John; but are we?  What will we say about Jesus Christ?   What will we say about these testimonies to his soul-cleansing life (e.g., the water); his death-conquering sacrifice (e.g., the blood); and his abiding presence here and now (through the power of his Spirit)?  Do we agree with this testimony in our hearts?  Faith in God’s victorious Son is a faith based on testimony that each one of us must answer.

(iii) The stakes are high as we consider that testimony, because faith in God’s Son means victory over death and eternal life (11-12). “And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son does not have life” (11).            

This claim that Jesus lives and has the power of eternal life in him…is unique among the religions of the world. In the ancient Near East, there were many “dying and rising” gods but nobody in those religions supposed that it had actually happened to a flesh and blood human being. The sacred texts of Buddhism record the great entrance of Buddha into Nirvana, but there is no suggestion that the Buddha continues to be present with his followers after his death.  It is his teaching, the dharma, that will take his place.  Muslims know the exact date of the death of the prophet Muhammad; and it is never claimed that he returned somehow from death.  Yet the assertion that Jesus’ resurrection was an event in time and space is still the best explanation for the abrupt change in his disciples from a beaten and terrified band who saw their leader executed on a cross; into fearless witnesses who faced death in order to proclaim him alive; who transformed the cross, a symbol of darkness and despair, into a symbol of God’s victory over sin and death.  

The victory which Christ has won for us is not only life after death with him, but a new quality of life right now.  Eternal life begins the moment we place our trust in him.  It is a gift received by faith that results in a life changed by his love. In Little Tokyo one day, I received a pamphlet from a Buddhist missionary that said that Christianity, like Islam and Buddhism, pins it eternal hope on “a life on earth spent in worthy and useful pursuits.”  I want to say, first, that I believe in and defend the religious liberty we have in this nation, because when it is lost for one group it will be lost for all of us. So, I’m grateful that a certain Buddhist had the freedom in this country to give me that brochure, and I am grateful for the freedom I had to talk with him about it. I began by asking questions and listening, but eventually I was able to point out that the Christian message is actually the reverse of what was stated in that pamphlet… that eternal life is not something human beings earn by their own "worthy and useful pursuits," or by an accumulation of good lives lived in successive reincarnations – it is received as a free gift by faith in what God has done for us in Christ.  

After sharing that with my Buddhist friend, you can imagine my surprise when I learned that this man had once considered himself a Christian, but had never heard that message of God’s grace in his local church!  I was dumbfounded.  As I said to him, it’s not that Christians don’t believe that good deeds are important.  Every major religion believes that doing good is important, and Christianity is among them.  But our good deeds are a humble response to God’s saving grace, not a means of earning it.  It is not our achievement but Christ’s self-giving love that has won the victory!

Faith in God's Son means victory...but the victory in which we place our faith is not only a past event; it is a present hope in the face of our own triumphs and disappointments. Consider your greatest personal success whether it be a school diploma or a dream job appointment, victory in sport, courage on the battlefield, the reversal of an injustice, the joy of a loving family, a beautiful artistic creation, the special memories you have cherished with friends.  Any of these might be precious victories, high points in any life…but what lasting value do they have apart from the promise of Christ’s victory over death and your faith in him?  Are they not like dust in the wind, like a Crystal Cathedral that is suddenly reduced to ashes and smoke...apart from his love?  

On the other hand, consider how Christ’s victory over death gives new meaning not just to every victory but to all your failures as well.  For many of us, it is all too easy to dwell upon failure and discouragement and disappointment… unfulfilled dreams, missed opportunities, moments of shame and regret which we cannot change.  But in Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, our past is redeemed, our shame is covered, our sins forgiven, and no pain we have suffered or tear we have shed is in vain.  We are a new creation in Christ; and as Paul has said, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37).

So let's put on his Nike’s, let's put on his victory shoes, and in the words of Hebrews 12, “let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God."


Lord Jesus, I have heard the message that faith in you overcomes the world: that the holiness of your life gives me power to walk in holiness; that your triumph over sin and sorrow, trouble and disappointment means that you can help me when I am going through these things as well; that your victory over death gives me indestructible hope.  The powers of this world -- which did everything they could to eliminate you – failed.  After the cross came the resurrection and after the shame came the glory!  King Jesus, thank you for calling me to be your disciple, cleansing me from my sin, and filling me with your Spirit!  With my lips I confess that you are Lord, and with my heart I believe that you are risen from the grave: therefore, I will share in your death-conquering life, a life which gives meaning to every disappointment and failure I have experienced and apart from which no success or triumph in this world has any lasting value.  Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord!  Amen.