Don't Put Makeup on a Dead Man

Hey everyone!

I hope this January Sunday finds you well. Today in church the pastor spoke from Colossians 2 regarding legalism. I went ahead and read chapter 3 when I got home, and I figured I would share a few thoughts I had with you. 

In chapter 2, Paul speaks regarding "doctrines of men" that really don't affect our faith at all. He explains how we should not become so wrapped up in man-made regulations that we forget to be wrapped up in Christ. 

I suppose you could read this chapter alone, and come away with some good thoughts regarding legalism, but it is important to remember that this is an actual letter. And letters were never meant to be read in part. Some of us probably barely remember the good ol' snail mail days, so let's make this a bit more applicable. If someone sends you a text or a Facebook message, do you only read half of it?

I doubt it. All that to say chapter 3 is extremely important to read. 

Chapter 3, verses 1-3 says, "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of the throne of God. Set your mind of things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."

The reason our lives should not be filled with legalism isn't because there is nothing good about legalism. Honestly, the "rules and regulations" found in legalism are often wise. 

For example, some preach against smoking. Surely, there is nothing wrong with abstaining from such an unhealthy habit. Some preach against dancing. Surely there can be no harm in watching how closely you interact physically with someone of the opposite gender. 

The regulations that come along with legalism are not the problem. The problem is twofold. 

First, when we cling to legalism, we are looking to ourselves instead of Christ for change. Legalism is man-made rules to cover for moral decisions not found in the Bible. Instead of looking to Christ for wisdom in decisions, we turn to men and women who have created rules for us to follow. These rules become equal to Scripture. 

Secondly, legalism is an attempt to fix our old body. Legalism looks at our sinful body, and tries to find ways to keep it clean. We are filled in a world of sin, so legalism keeps us from any hint of any sin that might damage the body. 

The problem is, that according to Ephesians 2:1 our bodies are already dead. Legalism, in fact, is no more than an attempt to put makeup on a dead face. This may be enough to convince our fellow Christians, or even unbelievers.

It won't fool God.

God doesn't want us to look to our own devices to cure our sin condition. He wants us to "seek those things which are above" (Colossians 3:1). 

Only God can give us a new body. Only God can make us into new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Any hope to live without sin, to live with loving kindness, is found in Christ.

We have been freed from sin (Romans 6:7). 

True freedom comes not from seeking the death of sin.

True freedom comes from seeking the life of Christ.

The Power of Weakness

Think for a moment of how many stories you have watched on your TV or read in a book that are all about overcoming persecution, slavery, weakness, diversity, famine, war, etc. There are a lot of them. There are so many, even true stories, that the term "Cinderella Story" doesn't mean as much as it once did. Even the Bible is full of stories regarding overcoming weaknesses.

The Old Testament reveals story after story of God taking a small number of Israelites and defeating great armies of Gentiles. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Saul, David, Daniel, and so many others seem to beat the odds almost every single time.

By the time I get to the New Testament, I'm pretty used to the story line. Something great happens - something bad happens - it looks like the character is going to fail - God saves them. Jesus is no exception. His story looks the same. Jesus has a magical birth story. He grows up, and everyone seems to love him. He is performing lots of miracles and saving lots of people. Then the plot twists as usual. He is turned on by his own followers. He goes to court to get tried for blasphemy. Pilot sentences him to die on the cross.

You'd think I would be nervous at this point, but I'm not. I've seen this scenario before. I remember when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were thrown into the fiery furnace. No harm done. Didn't even smell like smoke. The soldiers can go ahead and try to nail Jesus to the cross. Somehow they won't be able to. His hands and feet will turn to iron. Angels will come and kill all the soldiers. All of Israel will realize that Jesus is the true King of the world, and then I can put my book down and go play catch with my brother.

Then Jesus dies. There is no pulse and no hope. I'm skeptical at first, but three days pass and it becomes impossible to deny. Jesus is dead, and I am doomed to spend eternity in utter darkness. I will be alone, tortured in my own filth.

Now we all know the rest of the story. We know it doesn't end there, but despite the ending, Jesus has raised the bar for stories. What if a story ended with weakness? At the very least, what if - even though a story ended in victory - the greatest victory came through weakness? That's what Jesus did. He beat Satan, Hell through giving up his power. He won the war by putting down His sword. He won the Super Bowl by taking a knee.

In II Corinthians 12:10, Paul says, "For when I am weak, then I am strong."

I'm a pastor's kid, and I am fairly certain I heard this verse ten thousand times growing up. My brother even started a band called "Weakside," their name based off this verse. Needless to say you would think I would understand it. I didn't. I doubt I even fully do now, but hopefully the truth of it is starting to dig into my heart.

Not all pastor's kids fit the stereotype of knowing every verse in the Bible, understanding every theological idea ever created, and not understanding those who do not. I do. At least I'm about as close as it gets. That's not bragging. I would give it all up for one simple gift that it seems like everyone else has but me.

Passion.

I don't have it. Some days I cry out for it, but most days I rely on knowledge. All around me I see believers who seem to be filled with a passion too great for them to control. Why else would people randomly yell unintelligible things during chapel, or a quick amen, or raise their hands so high you can tell they were at a campfire last night? Passion.

I want to experience God in a way I have never. I want to have a vision, see Heaven, hear a still small voice, anything. I'm so sure that will fix everything.

Earlier in II Corinthians 12, Paul shatters that idea. In verses 2-4 he tells of a man who saw visions of Heaven, and most scholars agree that he is talking about himself. Three verses later Paul tells us that he complained to the Lord about a "thorn" in his side. Thankfully, he doesn't say what his thorn is. It allows me to fill in the blank.

I have a thorn too.

Paul begs the Lord three times to take away the thorn, and God's answer is so beautifully terrifying.

No.

He says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."

God's strength doesn't just work better in weakness. It's "perfect" in weakness. God doesn't just look at me and say, "Wow. James is such an idiot. Good thing I got some power to make his weakness look strong."

God actually wants me weak.

I don't need a vision.

A vision won't fix my weakness.

The power of God will fix my weakness.

God will look down from Heaven and smile at my weakness.

I will look up from Earth and be overwhelmed, not by a vision of God, but by God Himself.

What God Expects of You

What does expect of me? That is a very prominent question consistently on my mind. Well...mostly consistently. You have undoubtedly asked the same question, though you may have worded it differently. "What is God's purpose for my life?" or "What is my path?" or maybe simply "What am I supposed to do?"

It's a fair question. And it's fair to ask God. I think He likes questions. We don't always like His answers, but that is probably because His definition of "answering" is rarely the same as ours. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

According to the Westminster Confession of Faith (written in 1646), the chief end (the purpose) of humans is "to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever." So, one could argue that God expects me to glorify Him and enjoy doing it. This raises two questions.

1. Why should I think that this document has anything to do with my life? (After all, this isn't Scripture.)

2. If this does still apply to me, what does it mean to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever?

In answering the first question I'm not going to give any history lessons about who wrote it or why. That would probably be very interesting and useful, but I just don't think it's necessary. If we are arguing whether or not this document is Scriptural, let's just take a quick peek at the Bible.

The Life of Daniel - Chapter 1

Background / Context

Verse One:

Daniel's story doesn't begin with much background or context. I suppose if you are rather familiar with the Israelites' (Daniel was an Israelite) story as a whole, you will have more context. However, if you just picked up this book and read it (which I highly recommend), you will find yourself immediately in the midst of a great siege. It's like going to the theatre and after the opening credits have rolled, you are immediately bombarded with a battle. You don't even know who the "good guys" and "bad guys" are yet. All the first verse tells us is that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon has besieged Jerusalem - the homeland of the Israelites.

Verse 2

The opening battle scene soon drifts to a glimpse in the past, an explanation for what is happening and why. In this verse we discover that God Himself allowed Israel to be overtaken by the Babylonians. While it is not clear from the text alone, this was done because Israel had chosen to not follow the commandments of God. Their hearts had drifted away from Him. Don't take this verse lightly. Much of the Old Testament is dedicated to God's chosen people - Israel - fighting for a place to call home. If you know the Exodus story - how Moses rescued the Israelites from hundreds of years of slavery - then you know how blessed these people were to at last have a homeland. They had their own king, their own property, and they were free to worship God however they pleased. Yet, they chose to follow their own path, and not that of their true rescuer, God. So God, in an act of punishment, allowed Israel to lose their freedom once again.

The battle resumes. This is the part where you grip your armrests, you forget altogether of the popcorn in your lap, or even that this is just a movie. The choir sings a lamentation as you watch children taken from their weeping mothers - all in slow motion. It's gripping.

Verse 3

The King of Babylon instructs a man by the name of Ashpenaz (unfortunate name) to a select group of people to bring back to Babylon with him (the rest were allowed to stay in Israel under Babylonian rule). These three groups were:

Make the Sacrifice

This book of Ezekiel's is continuing to amaze me every day. If you get a chance today, read chapter 24. I'm sure it will make more sense if you read the prior 23 chapters, and I would prefer that, but I will do my best just to once again sum up what has occurred up to this point.

To sum up. God is really mad at Israel and is telling Ezekiel why and how He is going to destroy them. Okay, there's more to it, but now you are basically up to speed.

Chapter 24 is no different. Not at first. God is giving judgement to Israel all the way up to verse 15, and that is where we will slow down a bit and attempt to understand what is happening here. Here is what verses 15-17 say (NKJV).

"Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh in silence, make no mornings for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips, and do not eat man's bread of sorrow.'"

What in the world is God telling Ezekiel? What is "the desire" of Ezekiel's eyes? What is going to be so sad that God commands him not to mourn or weep? Whatever it is, God commands two things.

1. Don't cry

2. Tell Israel the things I told you

Here's what happens (and don't forget I warned you yesterday that this is a depressing book):

Verse 18: "So I (Ezekiel) spoke to the people (Israel) in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded."

What do you even say to that? What can you say? The desire of Ezekiel's eyes was his wife! God told Ezekiel he was going to lose his wife, and that he wasn't allowed to cry about it in public. All he could do was SIGH in private.

Why? Why why why would God ever require such a thing? Why would God kill the wife of the ONE man on earth who was still following Him? Why would God make Ezekiel continue his work of prophesying the very morning after the dearest person to him died?

Before we answer that question, let's soak in something else first.

Ezekiel had no idea. He didn't know why God killed his wife. He didn't know. But he didn't ask. He didn't complain. He just did EXACTLY as God commanded him to do when He commanded him to do it. Some people say the "heroes" of the Bible aren't really heroes. They are just people like you and me that were placed in significant situations.

I just cannot read the Bible and believe that, especially with this man. I could not do this. I don't care what the situation was. It is hard enough losing a loved one, but how could you honestly expect me to just be okay with knowing that God killed my own wife? It would shake me. Shake my faith.

Ezekiel is one of the greatest heroes of the history of the world.

However, as is always the case. God had a purpose even in this. In verse 19 the people ask Ezekiel (and I'm significantly paraphrasing), "Are you crazy? Why are you acting this way? Why aren't you weeping? Why do you continue to tell us what God says when the love of your life has died?"

You see, here is something that only God would think of. Prophets told the people about God's coming judgement for years and years, but they never listened. They were just words, and the people had more important things to attend to...things like family. Well here was a man who lost his family, and it didn't seem to phase him. What I'm proposing is that the only reason God killed Ezekiel's wife was to get the people's attention. To wake them up. His purpose for this woman's death was to save an entire nation. Whether or not she knew it, she died a very noble death. A patriotic death.

And the important thing to realize here is that this is not about God being a judge. This book and this chapter are COVERED with the mercy and love of Christ. God loved his people so much (even though they were extremely evil people) that he sacrificed his beloved prophet's wife to save them. Sound familiar? Someone dying for the sake of others.

I'm getting off topic. The point is...her death got the people's attention, and they asked Ezekiel what was so important that he would dismiss her death to speak to them. And for the first time in years and years and years something wonderful happened. The people of Israel wanted to know what God had to say.

Ezekiel goes on to tell them about all the judgements to come, but verse 24 really sums up the whole point of this story, this chapter, and really the book. Ezekiel tells the people why God is going to punish them, and why it was so important that He killed Ezekiel's wife, and why it was so important that Ezekiel neglected the mourning process.

Here is what God had to say:

Verse 24: "Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord God."

It was a reminder. All of it. One great big reminder for God's people that He was just that...their God. They had forgotten. They had followed other gods and pleasures. And God wanted them back.

Israel is not the only nation who has fallen away from God. So has yours. So has mine.

I wonder how much we would be willing to sacrifice to remind our nation that God wants us back...

Stand in the Gap

Read the book of Ezekiel sometime. Not some of it. All of it. The whole thing. Start to finish. I’ll warn you. It’s kind of depressing. But that’s never stopped you before. Gladiator is depressing. Nicholas Sparks is depressing. So, you’re used to it.

         The book of Ezekiel (spoiler warning!) is filled with God telling the prophet Ezekiel how He is going to pour His wrath on Israel, because they have stopped following Him. And when I say they “stopped following Him,” I mean they went off the deep end. Off the cliff. Climbed the high dive and plunged too deep for the lifeguard to see.

         The people of Israel weren’t just breaking a few rules here or there. They had completely conformed to the ways of the surrounding countries. To list just a few things, they were: robbing, mistreating the poor, burning their children as a sacrifice to false gods, and to put it lightly…sleeping around with whoever they felt like.

         It got so bad that God Himself said this of the people, “As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have poured out My fury on you.”

         Chapter after chapter, God condemns His people for their sins. BUT…verse 30 of chapter 22 shows the grace and mercy and love and long-suffering (patience) of God so wonderfully. The first word read: “So...” So what? It seems God finally came to a conclusion. After 21 chapters, has he had enough? Is he going to kill them all?

        

         The verse continues. “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it.”

         Please read that again. Think about it for a long time. These people are slaughtering their own children for false gods. Yet, God is seeking ONE man. One. Just one person. One man who called out on behalf of his people would have saved them all. What mercy. Sadly, the verse continues.

“…but I found no one.”

Don’t read on until that sinks into your soul. No one. An entire people group. All of them fallen away. Every single person. The more I read this book, the more Israel looks more and more and more familiar to me, and it scares me like crazy.

There’s also hope, certainly. After all, this is the United States of America. This is Canada. This is Australia. This is…fill in the blank. Certainly there are believers here willing to call on the name of the Lord. Stand in the gap. Certainly.

         I can’t help but wonder if Ezekiel thought the same thing. 

"Break Down These Walls" Revisited

I know that I posted this story about a year ago, but I was just going back over it, and I thought perhaps it would bless some of you. 

Break Down These Walls

 -CHAPTER ONE-

 Four walls. That’s all it takes. Four impenetrable walls. Thick as fog on a cold October’s morning. Haunting like the shadows under a full moon. Fiery red like a sword in the fire. You hate these walls. Four walls. A pity there are not more. Four comforting walls. Safe as an egg under the hen. Beautiful as the ocean, the instant before the sun slips away. Pure white, like a bride on her wedding day. You love these walls. 

-CHAPTER TWO-

 All your life they told you these walls would protect you. They told you these walls would comfort you. They told you these walls kept out the evil, and held in the good. Liars. They were liars. Every last one of them. Every smile they smiled was a smile of death. Every laugh they laughed was a laugh of Hell. Every kiss they kissed was the kiss of betrayal. 

-CHAPTER THREE-

 You knew. Someone you always knew. But you didn’t care. You felt safe, and as long as you felt safe, you were not going to change. So I took away your safety. I opened your eyes, ever so slightly. I let you see them for what they really were. Devils. Demons. Dragons from the deep. I let you see their lips turn to worms and their teeth turn to maggots. I let you see the vomit pouring from their mouths when they spoke, and the fire rising when the laughed. I let you see your four walls turn to thistles and knives and thorns all pointing inward. Pointed at you.

-CHAPTER FOUR-

 Where is your safety now? Where is your comfort? What has happened to the beauty? Where is the brilliant white? Have they gone forever? No. They never left. They were never there. Lies. A facade. One you so desperately wanted to believe was real. Gone.

-CHAPTER FIVE-

 I hear your prayers. I see your tears. I feel your pain. I smell the stench of death. I taste the bitterness on your tongue. Would you like to see me? Would you like me to make those sad eyes see joy? Would you like me to take away your pain? Would you like me to make you alive? Would you like me to fill your mouth with sweet things you cannot imagine?

-CHAPTER SIX-

 You are so foul. So black. So drenched in unmitigated evil that the sight of you cannot even enter my presence. And so, I have come down to you. I have drenched myself in your filth that I might look upon your hideous, beautiful face. 

 -CHAPTER SEVEN-

 I have a gift for you. It is rare, and so very fragile. Yet, if used fittingly, extremely contagious and unbreakable. I offer you the gift of hope. Take it. And with it knock down these walls in which you were born. Knock them down and I will cast them into the depths of nothingness, where they will remain forever. 

-CHAPTER EIGHT-

 I watch. I watch you as the symphonies of angels play a sweet, sweet anthem. Shivers run through all of me. Euphoria clothes me. Joy floods me. Love overtakes me. 

-CHAPTER NINE-

 I see you scream in righteous anger as you take the weapon of hope and charge toward the eastern wall. Your loved ones, the demons, pursue you, flapping their broken wings. Wretchedly seeking to overtake you. But hope is too holy for them. They cannot come close enough to bring you back. I see you raise your weapon to the skies, and I laugh as the devils cower in their hollows.

-CHAPTER TEN-

 You bring down your weapon, and a few bricks fall away. Again you strike, and more falls away. A infinitesimal ray of  light begins to steal through from the rising sun. The demons wail and gnash their teeth at the sight. Their eyes burn and they writhe as their skin is singed. But you keep on thrashing, blow after thunderous blow.

-CHAPTER ELEVEN-

 I am not fooled by the screams that you scream. I can see the tears falling from your fearful eyes. You are terrified of what lay outside these walls. You are like a child running away from the only home you have ever known. I do not ask you be be unafraid. I ask only that you hold on to that hope and never let go. The light is breaking through, and you cannot fathom the powers of the light. Now strike yet once more, and you shall see. Break down these walls that have kept you in darkness so very long. 

-CHAPTER TWELVE-

 Do you remember the day you found me? I gave you a weapon of hope, and with it you broke down that mighty wall of fear. Light flowed into your insentient eyes and made them alive. Do you remember the first time to saw me? You ran into my arms and wept, and I held you ever so tightly. And then, I wiped away your tears, and showed you wonders untold.