A Paradoxical People

A church is a paradox; a paradox made up of paradoxical people. It is an entity that is at once infinitely indestructible and incredibly fragile. It is strong because an infinitely strong God has brought it into being and is at work in it. It is weak because it is made up of people who are subject to the maladies that attend universal sin. Possessing no inherent power to do what God wants us to do, we must look to God’s power and grace.

That being said, the weakness that can often hobble a church is not to be accommodated. Paul’s letters are full of exhortations that, in one way or the other, enjoin us to walk away from the old self and toward the new. The old “belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,” while the new is “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-23). In the opening sentences of his letter to the Philippians he puts it this way: “it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11).

As his letters readily attest, the local church is the venue in which much of this growth is to take place. For instance, the above prayer ties the ability to approve what is excellent, which leads to a maturing walk “filled with the fruit of righteousness,” to ever-increasing love among the saints at Philippi. Why is this so? If those in a church can discover what it means to love, idolatrous self-interest will give way to God honoring interest for the other. We then begin to look like Jesus who “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant” so that we could be saved from our sinful, self-absorbed selves (2:7).

Remarkably, Paul is confident that this will be realized in the church in Philippi because “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (1:6). But it involves embracing the challenge to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (2:12). It seems that if we will respond with faith, seeking to “approve what is excellent,” we can become a little less paradoxical, possessing a strength that will be “to the glory and praise of God” (1:11).

The Big Issue

When the followers of Jesus began to speak “as the Spirit gave them utterance” in languages not their own, those who heard them were perplexed. Jesus' disciples were mostly made up of Galileans, a people not known for their erudition. Yet, here they were telling “the mighty works of God” in the tongues of others. A strange occurrence.

The New Testament is full of strange occurrences. People are raised from the dead. Incurable diseases suddenly vanish. Demons manifest. Angels appear. Voices come out from clouds. Who is at the center of all these strange goings on? Jesus, who himself walks on water, causes violent storms to obey his voice, and feeds multitudes with the first century equivalent of a “happy meal.”

All of these phenomena attest to the reality of who Jesus was – God in the flesh. And what was taking place on Pentecost only confirmed this truth. Jesus had promised that he would send the Holy Spirit when he returned to the right hand of his Father. With the Spirit’s arrival, the logical conclusion was that he was where he said he would be. This has ultimate significance.

The founding pastor of Neighborhood Church, Roger Fulton, was fond of saying, “Jesus is the big issue.” What was he implying? Jesus cannot be ignored. The record of his existence is present in the Bible and it calls for a decision. Is he a charlatan, a failed revolutionary, a mystic, or perhaps just an ordinary man upon whom people have projected their own longings? Roger’s assertion is reflected in the response of some of those who witnessed the fruit of the Spirit’s blessing. They wondered, “What does this mean?” The right question! And one that reveals people with humble and teachable hearts. Peter’s answer cut such to the quick: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

As Roger intimates, this same question needs to be asked by all. Brushing away the biblical testimony with a dismissive equivalent to “they are filled with new wine” is inexcusable – and spiritually fatal. The teachable ones on Pentecost had their eyes opened to the truth of Jesus and their own folly. They pleaded, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter’s answer sufficed for them and will suffice for contemporary penitents: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

He is the big issue. What's your decision?

He Ascended into Heaven

This past Lord’s Day was Ascension Sunday, an aspect of Jesus’ earthly ministry that receives little attention compared to his birth, death, and resurrection. The above title is a phrase from the Apostles’ Creed. The phrase, in the words of Swiss theologian Karl Barth, rounds off “a whole series of perfects: begotten, conceived, born, suffered, crucified, dead, buried, descended, rose again,” and leads into “a new time which is our present time, the time of the Church, the end-time, inaugurated and founded by the work of Jesus Christ.” Therein lies the significance of the ascension. It signals the completion of Christ’s earthly ministry and sets the stage for the work he has been doing through his people ever since.

How is the mission of the church enabled by the ascension? In the first place, it validates the one whom we proclaim. Jesus being taken from their sight in a cloud is a strong echo of previous manifestations of God’s presence. In Scripture, the glory cloud was not an atmospheric phenomenon; it indicated that God was among his people. Secondly, upon his return to heaven, Jesus, as promised, poured out the Holy Spirit upon the waiting church so that it would be empowered to carry the good news to the ends of the earth. Thirdly, Jesus bodily presence in heaven affords the church the great comfort of knowing that our own heavenly future is guaranteed. Seated with him in heavenly places, by reason of our union with Christ, we labor here on earth confident of our own glorification as the King of kings leads us on in God’s victorious plan. Lastly, as we labor our High Priest intercedes for us, providing our justification and facilitating our sanctification.

The significance of the ascension cannot be overstated. It is, in the words of one theologian, “the necessary complement and completion of the resurrection. Christ’s transition to the higher life of glory, begun in the resurrection, was perfected in the ascension.” As such, it is the source of our confidence as we serve in this life the one who possesses a name above all names, as well as a precursor to our own perfection and glorification.

A Place of Rest

We’ve seen the cartoon in which a stranded man is crawling along in the desert, dying of thirst, and he looks out and, there, in the distance, water and palm trees! He charges toward the oasis and dives into the refreshing water only to find that it was a mirage, a trick of the eyes that mistook the heat shimmering off the desert floor for a pool of water. Splat! Instead of a mouthful of water, a mouthful of sand.

An oasis is a geographical phenomenon where, in the midst of barrenness, there springs up a source of water capable of sustaining life. Oases are the way stations and resting places of ancient caravan routes. In his famous invitation, Jesus puts himself forward as a kind of oasis. In a landscape made barren by sin, he offers, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). The invitation is to unite with Christ in a relationship in which he bears the burden of the law, as well as our sin and its consequences. It’s all of grace and we are blessed to be yoked to Jesus.

The church, in kind, needs to be an oasis; a place that offers Jesus’ promised rest. People weary from sin and overburdened by the world’s unrighteous expectations, need to know of the one who will take the burden from them. While this has always been an expectation for the church, in our day we need to particularly be an oasis for those struggling with same-sex attraction or who self-identify as gay. If their desire is to live in the manner that God desires, in our day they will not find the encouragement they need from those outside of the church. It is increasingly the case that they are not free to speak of their inner conflict for fear of a new form of Pharisaism, one practiced by those who embrace gay orthodoxy. Ironically, the church is the only place where they will hear that their desire to walk as God desires, while difficult, is good.

If we are to be a place of rest, however, then we need to search our hearts. Are we able to listen to the language of their struggle? Are we patient enough to bear with their habits and behaviors as they put of the old self and put on the new? To be an oasis we must reflect the love and mercy offered by the one who invites them to take his yoke upon them and learn from him. Those who come must not end up with a mouthful of sand when what they sought was water.

Forward-looking Faith

Living by faith is not easy. Let me clarify that statement. Living as though the future has a greater claim upon our lives than what confronts us on a daily basis is not easy. It has cost people their livelihood, even their lives. Yet, that’s what faith calls us to. We cannot see the future. We cannot feel the future. But we are to be assured that the future as God has envisioned it will come to pass, and faith says we must live now in the light of that truth.

Why is forward-looking faith so important? Because what awaits us -- what awaits all of us -- is the final shaking out of all that has transpired under the sun. All will come before God to give an account of their days, and the perfect judge will judge perfectly on that day. As he will know everything prior to our opening our mouths, it should be obvious that one’s only hope is to be found in Christ on that day, clothed in his perfect righteousness.

This future oriented perspective has the power to shape our daily existence. As Hebrews 11 and Psalm 37 outline, it enables us to push back against sin and the sinful, proclaim the gospel, persevere through trials, and even pass peacefully from this life to the next. For example, it empowered Noah to publicly bear witness to God’s word, Abraham to leave the known for the unknown, Joseph to confidently declare that the future God had promised his people would come to pass despite the evident strength of the present to deny it, Moses to identify with the people of God when blending in was a real option, and Samson to believe that past failings do not need to define future reality. Additionally, keeping our eyes focused on the Lord’s future we need not fear or envy the wicked. They may have power to trouble us in this life but they are powerless to separate us from the hope set before us; they may prosper on account of their wickedness but their temporal blessing will only bring eternal condemnation.

Living out forward-looking faith is not easy for the present seems so much more persuasive. But if we remind ourselves who holds the future and the reality he has promised, we will have strength to endure and possess the prize that awaits.