Who I was, I am no longer!

Yesterday, after supper, I drove up the mountain to Montana Cemetery. In one corner of that little acre there is a monument marking the place of my late wife’s burial. Next to marble slab another marks the graves of my mother, father, and little brother. The warmth of the sun’s slanting rays felt like a divine hug. The summer breeze blowing gently felt like Heaven’s caress. My heart was tender with memories. 

Using that amazing gift of recall based on the astonishing amount of information in my brain cells, I could ‘see’ their faces, ‘hear’ their voices again, if only for a moment. In that place of powerful memories, I do not only recall happy moments. Mixed with the sweet comfort of those good moments are the stabs of regret that come with recall of failures and missed opportunities.

While I cannot live in the past, remembering is important!
Burke reminded us that ‘Those who do not know history are destined to repeat it.’
Maya Angelou sagely observes that ‘History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, it need not be lived again.’

• An aside here - I believe that the current movement in America to forget or to erase the past is a mistake. It is important to remember our history well and with accuracy, learning from the mistakes, rectifying the injustices as much as we able to do so and to celebrating the successes. Who we are as a nation comes from the whole of our past – the good, the bad, the ugly. Without celebrating or excusing injustice, we can learn from it, seeking to make a new day.

Christian, we are often urged to live in the moment, but Jesus directed those who follow Him to remember; often.  The night before He went to the Cross, He celebrated the Passover Seder that the Jews have observed for thousands of years. It is a night to recall their suffering and God’s salvation. Jewish lives were spared by the offering of a lamb, the blood splashed on their doorposts an act of faith and obedience that caused the death angel to ‘pass over’ their homes.

Jesus took those memories and made them a means of knowing His grace, a holy mystery. "And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." (Luke 22:19-20, NIV) “Never forget,” He says, “what I did on your behalf, the sacrifice at the Cross that reconciles you to God.”
 
Communion serves not only to remind us of our salvation. It is also a time to renew our appreciation for the Body of Christ into which we are called. When Christians take the Cup and the Bread together, it speaks to the fact that we are all, regardless of race, gender, or social status, on level ground at the foot of the Cross. We are sinners saved by grace, children of God, the Elect "who once were far away … brought near through the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:13, NIV)
 
Disciple, remember all of it. "In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from God’s people, Israel, and you did not know the promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you belong to Christ Jesus. Though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought near to him because of the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:12-13, NLT)  

I love the poetry of Isaiah’s call to remember. "Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged." (Isaiah 51:1, KJV)  Isn’t that rich? 

Yes, because of God’s grace, who I was, I am no longer.

Here’s a word from the Word. May the Spirit use it to remind you of God’s goodness. "I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.
Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God?" (Psalm 77:11-13, NIV)
______________
“A good character is the best tombstone.
Those who loved you and were helped by you
will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered.
Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.”
– Charles Spurgeon

Your ID, please.

How do you identify yourself? “Hello, I’m Jerry …” and then what? Gender? Race? Family? Job? Religion? Political persuasion?  America is currently torn apart by our loss of a sense of uniting identity. Talk with people who identify in most any way – white, black, Latino, Asian, male, female, Christian, Jew, Muslim, old, young, progressive, conservatives – and they are all anxious about their place in the nation right now.  All will point to evidence that their group is threatened, is suffering from discrimination, and is under attack.  So, we have taken up the call to ‘defend our rights,’  protecting our group from threats both real and imagined. We are no longer celebrating those things that brought us together. Instead, we are shouting about our singularity, becoming ever more divided.

Even Christians have increasingly become ‘tribal.’  This is wrong. All those labels we love to hang on our faith practices are secondary to the fact that makes us Christian in the first place- that we are ‘in Christ.’  We are not Christian because we align with a certain political party, or because we are pro-life, or because we have the right convictions about human sexuality, or because we have a membership in a group that meets in a church building.

The Christian’s identity is primarily formed by faith in Jesus – God come in flesh, Savior of the world, Resurrected to give us hope of eternal life. Do you believe this declaration? "I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20, NLT)  "And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have been made like him. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians—you are one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:27-28, NLT)

We will have many differing convictions about HOW we live that Christian life. But, those must not become our identity, celebrated above our shared hope assured by Christ, our Lord. Jesus tells us what living in Him looks like – loving God passionately and other people deeply.  All of the rest of our ‘religion’ will fall into place IF we pursue those two things in His Name.  If you want a place to start to discover what living in Jesus looks like – get serious about Matthew 5-7!

It is much easier to become part of a church and adopt the shared faith practices of that group as our Christian identity than it is to live each day as a personal faith discovery, led by the Holy Spirit, living selflessly for Jesus. If our pastor gives us a checklist for the ‘Christian life,’ we do not have to deal with our own ‘stuff,’ just as long as we vote the right way, sing the right songs, believe the right things about spiritual gifts, etc. It is so much easier to learn to look like the other Christians that hang out in our shared worship space than it is to become a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

Those who know Jesus as Lord, who trust Him as Savior, get serious about love, practice a radical kind of forgiveness, are deeply compassionate, are actively dealing with their own sin – ALL for Christ’s sake. Instead trying to ‘act like’ some Christian celebrity or even imitate a respected church leader, they walk with Jesus, ‘keeping step with the Holy Spirit.’  The discovery of this faith life leads to the death of selfishness while, paradoxically, leading the individual to the joy of becoming that unique work of God that He creates us to be!  No, for the Christian, it’s not about Self, it is about God’s call. And, when are following Him, it is the ultimate pathway of ‘life to the full,’ to use a phrase of Jesus own teaching.

Instead of playing at control and tribal protection, Christians who are truly ‘in Christ Jesus’ enter into the amazing freedom afforded the children of God.  Paul wrote a letter to the church in Galatia warning those Christians about a ‘tribe’ that was asking them to submit to Jewish law as a condition of faith.  He teaches them, and us, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1, NIV)  The same impulse befalls Christians in 2020.  “You must become like me (politically, liturgically, philosophically) in order to follow Jesus.”  NOT SO!  It is a lie and if we accept it, we begin to serve someone other than our true LORD.

Our call is to be LIKE JESUS, to follow Him.  God declares our identity when we receive Christ, by faith. He writes a ‘new name’ on us, calling us His own people.  And, as we live that identity He changes us, inside out. I am enthralled by Paul’s inspired letter to the Ephesians because in those lines I discover that I am a beloved child of God, chosen by Him, included ‘in Christ,’ a person of power to overcome, hopeful, with a holy purpose to display His love to the often darkened world in which I live. Yes, like everyone else, I have echoes of voices in my memory that try to define me as a failure, as flawed, as weak. The demons of destruction whisper lies in my mind about who I am, too.  Who will I believe? The critics, the devil, or the Word?

Are you living as a true child of God?  Are you walking in faith discovery, day by day, becoming more and more like the One who gave you a new identity?

Here is a word from the Word.  The power of the promise wrecks my pretensions and reveals grace.
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live
when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,
the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. … 

But because of his great love for us, God,
who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ
even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. …

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do. …
now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ."
(Ephesians 2:1-2, 4, 10, 13, NIV)

I believe the totality of that passage –
I WAS a sinner, dead to God.  He ACTED out of love to save me.  

Now I am alive ‘in Christ’ and He invites me to LIVE OUT His plan and
become a masterpiece of the work of God, for the display of His glory!

Do you believe and receive that glorious truth?

________________

Who You Say I Am

Who am I that the highest King

Would welcome me

I was lost but He brought me in

Oh His love for me

Oh His love for me

Who the Son sets free

Oh is free indeed

I'm a child of God

Yes I am

Free at last

He has ransomed me

His grace runs deep

While I was a slave to sin

Jesus died for me

Yes He died for me

In my Father's house

There's a place for me

I'm a child of God

Yes I am

I am chosen not forsaken

I am who You say I am

You are for me not against me

I am who You say I am

(Oh) (Yes) I am who You say I am

Ben Fielding | Reuben Morgan

© 2017 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

Bigger Guns?

The words of Jesus stopped me cold this morning, making me think. They are about loving instead of retaliating, that part about choosing to “Turn the other cheek.”  My inner dialogue went something like this. “Yes, Lord, those are nice thoughts for kids on a school yard playground where not much is at stake except hurt feelings, but You want me to put away my weapons in this crazy world?  And who is going to protect me?”

Here is the full text - “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." (Matthew 5:38-42, NIV)  IF we accept Jesus as Lord, if we want to live as He desires, we cannot just read those words with a bemused smile and dismiss them as impractical. They are not a suggestion; they are His command for those who follow and love Him. So, let’s understand what He is asking of us.

Jesus asks us to consider the destruction that results from the endless cycle of revenge and/or retaliation. Human relationships suffer terrible things when we decide to ‘make them pay.’  

How many marriages have been destroyed because a thoughtless act was returned double, until two people who once loved each other have built up such walls that they no longer can stand the sight of each other?  

How many families have been torn apart by a refusal to forgive, sides taken, until brother turn against brother?  

Too many church congregations have disintegrated when sides are drawn up over some difference, followed by the inevitable escalation as one side responds by ratcheting up pressure on the other. 

I hear you saying “Yeah, but …” and I understand. My mind argues with this radical command, too.   We all like to think that our situation is unique. It’s not!

Paul teaches Christians the same principle, as he is inspired by the Spirit. "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:18-21, NIV)

Yes there are issues of justice. If I see a man beating another man, I cannot just walk away and pray, I must intervene appropriately. But, my goal cannot be to destroy the offender. As Jesus saved me, my aim must be redemption. We seem to forget that last part so often these days.  We pursue justice, as we ought to do, while failing to include the aim of reconciliation, redemption, and restoration. It is much simpler to dismiss another person from our life as being beyond redemption (another way to say ‘worthless’) than it is to try to bring about restoration. Peacemaking is hard work. Confronting evil with love requires much more of us than getting bigger, more powerful weapons for our arsenal.

In our chaotic nation right now, I am seeing a reflexive reaction among many who I know love the Lord. They are resorting to power because it is so natural to take that path when confronted by evil. People on all sides of the issues are saying, “We gotta make them pay.” The words are full of venom, fed by fear and loathing. Christian, this is not the way of Jesus. No matter your perspective, no matter your skin color, no matter the injustice done to you, or the danger you perceive coming your way, He asks us to break the cycle of retaliation, to advocate for justice and restoration.  It is hard work, costly to our comfort, requiring patience, perseverance, and prayer. The devil is delighted when we go to war. Evil flourishes when the guns come out, the hard words are spoken, and the advantage of power is sought. Oh that we would remember this wisdom: "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." (Proverbs 15:1, NIV)

Will we trust God enough to go to fervent prayer for the nation?  Daily, I am praying for wisdom and insight, asking God to help me to be part of His plan to overcome evil with good. We cannot be simplistic or unthinking in our application of Jesus’ words. That is folly. But, we must be intent on obedience to them, starting with our own heart’s attitudes.

Here is a word from the Word. "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD." (Proverbs 21:30-31, NIV)

So, "Don’t let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good." (Romans 12:21, NLT)

____________

Battle Is The Lord's

(a new song by Rebecca St. James, so timely)

Why so heavy oh my soul

Did you forget who’s in control

If He calls the wind and waves to still

He holds you now and always will

The battle is the Lord's

Take courage in the fight

The weapons of this war

Are praises lifted high

My confidence is sure

My God has gone before

I’ll sing into the night

The battle is the Lord's

Come be still oh anxious heart

Find rest here in the Father's arms

In His presence there is perfect peace

In His power there is victory yeah

Here now

Your presence here now

We are set free now

Hands lifted high in worship

Here now

Fear has to leave now

Your kingdom’s here now

Yours is the power and (the) glory

Yours is the power and glory

Heath Balltzglier | Rebecca St. James | Seth Condrey | Tedd Tjornhom

© 2020 Heritage Worship Music Publishing (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing)

All About Him Music  (Admin. by Heritage Worship Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055