The Ancient Future Church

Below is the first installment in a three part series entitled “Life in Three Movements: Bound, Released, Transformed.”

Bound

Have you ever tried to lose weight or stop smoking? Have you ever tried to keep a New Year’s resolution, a resolve to do something good (as opposed to giving something up) like calling your parents regularly or serving the poor or handicapped? Women, have you ever tried to stop coveting your best friend’s husband? Men, have you ever tried to stop lusting, period?

Have you failed miserably at one or more of these? Have you actually enjoyed some success at one or more for a season only to fail as energy and focus waned? Take heart, you’re not alone.

The Apostle Paul is the most prolific writer in the New Testament. And you know what? The paragraph above reflects his experience of life. I do the things I don’t want to do (overeat bad foods, ignore poor or worse have contempt for them, cheat, desire) and I don’t do the things I want to do (eat well, clothe the naked, maintain fidelity, honor my parents). I can’t avoid the evil. I can’t even achieve the good. No wonder Paul concluded, “What a wretched man I am!” (Romans 7). Like us, left to his own devices and desires Paul would ask, as more than one of my dear friends has asked, why isn’t there more fruit in my life?

In part because we fail to understand the predicament we are in, the gravity of the situation that grips us. We deceive ourselves into believing that we need only to tack or alter course a bit when actually we need to come about, make a 180 degree turn. We kid ourselves into believing we are hindered (getting some pushback) when we are actually shackled and in iron. The challenge is one of bondage. Nothing less captures it.

And it is not a bondage we can fix. We cannot simply free ourselves though we will exhaust all efforts to do so. We cannot simply slip the surly bonds of our chains. The power is not within us to do it. Fundamental to understanding our situation is appreciating that we attack our bondage like every other challenge in life, as if we can fix it. Out of groceries? We go to the store. Toilet clogged. We grab a plunger.

Central to experiencing more fruit in our lives is acknowledging how shackled we are and how little we ourselves by our own power can do about it. At least then we understand rightly the challenge we face and rule out the most likely person, in our very humble opinions, to address it. You! Me!

As God had to do something as radical as part the Red Sea to free the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, HE must do something even more radical to deliver us (that’s me and you equally) from our bondage to sin, our inability to do consistently the things we ought to do and the propensity to those things which we ought not to do. And He does. Movement 2.

Meanwhile, let us return to Movement 1. We must accept the confines of our enslavement, the utterly inescapable bondage we are in. “There is no one righteous, not even one.” (Romans 3:10) And “No one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” (Romans 3:20) As much as we would like to avoid admitting it, our state of being apart from God is unrighteousness, bound by sin. This is not a statement dividing redeemed from unredeemed but speaks to the common and defiled ground upon which we all stand, redeemed and unredeemed, Jew and Gentile.  Worse we cannot alter our situation. The law, obedience to the standards set by the maker, is not possible through human striving. The law does not have the power to achieve what it demands of us. We get it. We just can’t do it.

A great illustration of this for me is the civil rights legislation and era that marked my youth. I was raised in a city, though not in a home, that perpetuated the myth that whites were superior to blacks. The Civil Rights era rightly claimed something else, the utter equality of men before God and country. However, the legislation only provided remedies when someone failed to recognize that utter equality. The law had (and has) no power to cause a white person to appreciate the equality of men much less to love a black person. That only comes with a transformed heart. Sanctification, being changed by a force beyond us into the likeness of His Son, is the only thing that causes us to appreciate that God is no respecter of men, that He shows no favoritism (Acts 10:34). Only then can one appreciate the utter equality, that I am no more and no less than the man beside me.

Alone we can’t achieve what civil rights legislation promotes. Nor can we observe the commandments of God. Remember, fail in one part and we have failed in it all. More than a means of escaping our situation, the law highlights our situation, “through the law we become conscious of sin.” It shines a spotlight on how far we check up short or miss the mark.

Depressing? It should be. And it is made worse by our context. Americans are deeply troubled by any notion that we are enslaved when we so boldly and routinely proclaim we are the land of the free and home of the brave. This situation is seemingly hopeless. And it is . . . apart from release or Movement 2.

Matthew 19:23-30

“When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished saying, “Who then can be saved?”

Greatly astonished? Duh! A camel passing through my front door is incomprehensible. A camel passing through the eye of a needle is infinitely more incomprehensible, indeed impossible by any human standard. “Who THEN can be saved?”

The disciples understood. Others cannot or will not. Some have even posited a gate or large door once existed that was the “eye of the needle.” It would be difficult for a camel to pass through this imaginary door but not impossible.

Denial is a powerful thing. Why employ it here? Because Jesus is saying that “man” brings nothing to the table. God has to act to make the impossible possible. And that is a bridge too far for many, perhaps all of us at some point.

We work incredibly hard not to see ourselves as helpless. A little more physical or intellectual capital and we can “git er done,” “er” meaning anything. We rock. We rule.

Not so fast says Jesus. Salvation is an act of God, not man. He reckons Abraham’s faith as righteousness. One plus one cannot equal three. Faith (trusting) cannot equal righteousness (perfection under the law). And we cannot make them equal. But God can. He can reckon them any way He wants.

It is an occasion to say, “Thank you Jesus! My hands are bound. Fortunately yours are not.”

Boys Being Boys!

Posts will be infrequent, if at all, over the next two weeks. The Richardsons are gleaning a bit of recreation on the gulf coast. We are harvesting some renewal for ourselves.

How does that work for us? We are at our family’s small beach place at the west end of Bay County. When I say small, I am not being modest. If it is 900 square feet with the balcony included, I would be shocked. But what it lacks in size is met in memories. We have had the place since 1977. Already five generations have enjoyed walking down a flight of stairs and putting our feet on sand in route to emerald green waters. Just yesterday Dow swam with dolphins. And Whit longed for the beach after his nap. Carpe diem!

Posts will resume. For now, here’s to sucking the marrow out of this God-given and Grace-filled life!

The world is trying to create identity and confidence that is found only in God and being Godly. Mr. McCullough has called us out!

“Yes, you’ve been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped,”  McCullough said in his speech. “Yes, capable adults with other things to do have  held you, kissed you, fed you, wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you,  taught you, tutored you, coached you, listened to you, counseled you, encouraged  you, consoled you and encouraged you again. You’ve been nudged, cajoled,  wheedled and implored. You’ve been feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie.  … But do not get the idea you’re anything special. Because you’re not.”

When the traffic slows and the website can handle it, find the entire speech here: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/high-school-teacher-tells-graduating-students-special-article-1.1092109#ixzz1xJB9fkbE

http://www.theswellesleyreport.com/2012/06/wellesley-high-grads-told-youre-not-special/

Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3

“They all [men and beasts] have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts; for all in vanity.”

Solomon is bit dour with regard to the capacity of man. To be sure, he would not be at the top of your guest list for a birthday party, not even wake but perhaps a graveside service. Having said that, Solomon may be a proper antidote to our arrogance about the capacity of man. He may overstate the case when he says ALL is vanity but certainly much is.

It seems to me his vast experience has revealed that little changes “corporately.” Consequently one’s energy should be devoted to one’s work and a life in God. It seems to me that he would say that world peace is a noble goal and even something to be promoted. However, he would say abandon any unrealistic expectations that it would be achieved. Instead, he would say, live peaceably yourself.

Much of the age of Enlightenment had been spent believing in and attempting to build a utopian society. At home it has been the new deal and the great society. These grand visions may have been appropriate responses to a moment in time but they have no lasting value. And to the extent they create false hope they divert energy from its best use. Solomon would join me saying it is flight and fantasy to believe there will be one last war to end all wars. You would think World War II would have been enough to prove that premise false, Normandy would have shattered that dream.

Such somber reality does not leave me without hope. Routinely lives are being saved and wounds being healed.  I see His hands reaching. I see His Spirit transforming. And such has the power to change homes and even neighborhoods. Hmm. Perhaps there is hope for something utopian like. But grand schemes won’t achieve it. It cannot be legislated. If it comes, it will come in what God Almighty is doing one person at a time.

Galatians 2:11-21

“For before certain men came from James, [Peter] ate with Gentiles; But when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.”

Peter was in retreat. At first he acted boldly upon the vision God had given him. He accepted that God’s invitation did not distinguish between Jew and Gentile. He accepted that adherence to kosher food laws was no longer a requirement for being “clean.” Now, however, he was in full retreat. Peter could no longer hang with Gentiles unless of course they first became compliant Jews. He feared the wrath of the circumcision party who maintained Gentile converts to Christianity also had to become Jews.

Paul immediately saw the danger. This was Jesus plus – Jesus plus Judaism, Jesus plus circumcision, Jesus plus kosher food. This meant Jesus’ sacrifice was not sufficient to save. It was not complete. It denied the words “It is finished!” To the contrary, if we want to enjoy fellowship with converted Jews and be full members of the Kingdom, we Gentiles must add to Jesus something else like the 8^th day procedure. So say Peter’s actions if not his words.

For Paul this could not stand. Because if it’s “Jesus Plus,” then it could be Jesus plus anything including perfection. Do you ever grow weary of trying? Striving? I read my bible and say my prayers daily and then without notice I let gossip fly out of my mouth, or entertain a perverse thought or let the sun go down on my anger. Immediately I am searching for the means by which I can get right with God. I search in vain because God has already made me right with him.

“Jesus Plus” makes it all about me the sinner. “Jesus Only” makes it all about God the giver of Grace.

Galatians 1:18-2:10

“But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.”

Apparently Greeks have never been conformists. Presently this road less traveled may mean the end of the European Union if not Europe itself. But in the case of Titus the Greek, long live the unwillingness to surrender a freedom, which has its origin in God, to mere men. Titus’ non-conformity secures a future rather than destabilizing one.

Paul recognized the enemy of grace is law, not morality or Christian character but law. The redeemed in Jesus need not be circumcised. Jesus saves. We don’t. Nor does the church.  The church invites. It does not compel.

Word to the church – abandon law lite. Grace, growth, group, gifts, and good stewardship otherwise known as the 5 G’s – all of these are fine things and to be commended.  However, to say they are required of “members” is to kill grace in favor of law. To say we must read, pray and journal is to kill grace in favor of law. To say we must fast and go to confession is to kill grace in favor of law.  However good these things may be for us, they are not required and the church should never seek to impose them upon the people of God.

Law lite (as opposed to plain old fire breathing guilt producing law) is the new and other gospel that Paul so loathes. It leads to tyranny, bondage and finally death. And it leads to these things in every age. And that is no future.

When the government assaults religious liberty, I become a catholic. Long live Archbishop Timothy Dalton! When the church assaults freedom, I become a Greek. Long live Titus!

Matthew 13:44-52

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

We are perpetually pursuing the next best thing. In Birmingham it was this week’s greatest wedding of the century. Every past wedding had to be outdone. You see it on other areas of life. Reality and extreme TV seem geared toward the next best thing, the ultimate like the greatest fear, the greatest thrill, and the greatest embarrassment.

We pursue and all the while the greatest thing is a known quantity and at our finger tips. We know what it is. It is being made a part of the kingdom, being adopted into the family of God. Adoption has benefits. As the apostle Paul tells us, we are no longer slaves bound by fear but children who can approach boldly and dare, no not dare, freely call upon God as Father. And this ultimate thing is at our finger tips. It is experienced in Jesus and our naming him Lord.

So why do we keep looking? Have we made an art of restlessness? Did the 24 hour news cycle create us or does it reflect our present darkness? We are in perpetual motion often too busy to love and be loved. We choose good over best.

We would do well to remember the words of St. Augustine. “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.” Pursuing, striving and restlessness, one and all, meet their end in our Maker. “It is finished.”

Matthew 13:31-35

“The Kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed . . .”

It is dreary this morning in Atlanta. Apart from the weather, it is a bit dreary everywhere. Unemployment is up. Genocide seems to be everywhere but no place like Syria. Europe is imploding. Could the U.S. be far behind? Things stink!

On stinky Fridays it is good to be reminded that we don’t hope in the world. It is fleeting. Rather we hope in the reign of God experienced in the people who follow Jesus. We live in a kingdom that is not world denying and yet transcends it values.

And it will be ushered in. Contrary to modern expectations it begins small and its growth is not linear. And yet it is growing. It will not falter. “Like a mustard seed,” he says. Like yeast doing its magic in flour.

When I was kid I worked at Price’s donuts in Montgomery. I remember making dough for donuts. Breaking up the yeast was the least desirable part of the job. The big blocks of yeast reeked. The smell was so pungent and so awful it, on occasion, would make me gag. The final product, however, was as pleasant in terms of aroma as it was delectable in terms of taste.

The Kingdom in its making or coming sometimes smells bad as it does its work in making us rise.  Today I hold my nose with much hope and expectation.

1 Timothy 4:1-16

“. . . which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”

Marriage was created by God. It is good.  Food was created by God. It is good. Having expressed thanks for them, the things created by God are to be enjoyed according to their purpose.

So beware of the person forbidding things or telling you things you must do. Beware of the person bearing law especially to the exclusion of grace.

All this is to say, an act of piety like fasting has no inherent spiritual value. You need not do it. No one should tell you otherwise. However, fasting can be a means of much grace. Entered into voluntarily, it may deepen your identity in and relationship with the one who went hungry for us. As a follower feel free to take it up. And if God nudges you in that direction, dare not say no.

On the other hand, the church and pastors invite one to fast. They do not demand. They do not impose.

The call is to be Christ-like (godliness) not church-like. Followers of Jesus should not readily give up freedom to men that God first bestowed upon them lest they give up some part of the character into which they are being transformed.