The Shaker

Occasionally, I watch an episode of either Intervention or Hoarders on TV.  Both shows break my heart so badly that I don't watch either of them often.  Yesterday, flipping around, I landed on Hoarders. The commonality in each show is that the central character is "where they are" because his or her soul is badly broken.  The sweet, older lady with the worst hoarding problem I've ever seen had developed her mental illness in her middle years.  But, it became exacerbated after the death of her sister, with whom she was very close.  When asked by the clean-up team, most of whom were her relatives, how she could have let things get into such a mess, she earnestly replied, "I don't know!" While the show was going on, an earthquake occurred there on the set.  As the house began to shake, the team ran out in case the house fell down around their ears.  I thought of all this as I read today's passage from Hebrews 12:25-29 (ESV).

25See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.28Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29for our God is a consuming fire.

Hoarders have control issues.  That should be obvious.  But, in the midst of working through the illusion of control, God demonstrated who is really in control when He began to shake the earth on which that poor, troubled house sat.  Both here in Hebrews and at Mt. Sinai we are reminded that the One who spoke the universe into existence can easily shake the earth with the mere sound of His voice.

Today's passage describes the people of God, Jesus Christ's own, as "unshakeable".  He refers to us as an unshakeable kingdom.  Why is that?  Is it because we are "in control"?  Hardly!  We are unshakeable because we have put our trust in The Unshakeable One, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

This means that, despite the trials and storms of this life, those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus cannot be upended.   We may be buffeted and strained and tested and tried.  But, if the Anchor for our souls is Jesus, we will not become unmoored to drift away into apostasy.  For the true Church salvation, both now and forever, is secure.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us of our appropriate reaction in light of this glorious certainty:
gratitude (vs. 28)
reverence (vs. 28)
awe (vs. 28)
worship (vs. 28)
obedience (vs. 25)

The first response generates the other four.  This passage speaks to me deeply this morning.  I had always sort of rolled my eyes at people who would say, "The Lord gave me a specific word for this year; it's ______ ."  But then, that happened to me at the start of 2017.  He spoke to me clearly and the word was "gratitude".  He has been teaching me on that theme, especially through the loss of several loved ones who are now in His arms; but, believe me, I have so much more to learn!

Reverence and awe....I especially miss the boat on this one.  Yes, the Lord wants to have an intimate heart relationship, but may we never lose sight of His majesty, His "otherness", in comparison to our pitifulness.

This idea of our God as "a consuming fire" is first mentioned in Scripture in Deuteronomy 4:24, where the Lord God is warning His people against idolatry, a warning that is still applicable to us, His Church, today.

…23"So watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which the LORD your God has commanded you. 24"For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 25"When you become the father of children and children's children and have remained long in the land, and act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD your God so as to provoke Him to anger,…

Deuteronomy 4:23-25 (NASB)

Even while a redeemed people, we can still be prone to idolize other, lesser "gods" on the thrones of our lives, other than the One who bought and paid for us with His own blood.  This is where the obedience mentioned in Hebrews 12:25 comes in.  Our God is still a jealous God over us, His beloved Church.  And, when we give the love and adoration, the worship and obedience which rightfully belong to Him - - when we give those to someone or something else, He is going to get angry about it.  He has not changed in that respect, even though our "polite Christian society" tries to pretend otherwise.  Our holy God is jealous over us.  His Holy Spirit within us will call us to return to Him, and He will sometimes impose extremely adverse consequences for our sins, in His efforts to draw our hearts back to His own.

Lest you think otherwise, His actions toward us, no matter how they may chafe and pain us, are acts of perfect love.  Were He not so very concerned about our souls, He would leave us to our spiritual philandering.  Aren't you thankful, Christian, that He loves you enough to draw you back in?  That He is our firm foundation?

1. “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
   My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
   The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
   Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
2. “The soul that on Jesus doth lean for repose,
   I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
   That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
   I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”
1. American Hymn, "How Firm a Foundation", 1787, Anonymous, public domain

  

Masquerading and Seducing

Last night in the college Bible study group, we were studying the attributes of God.  I was thinking about this as I read Romans 7 this morning.  One of the things we did last night was to make a list of our own attributes and then later to make a list of God's attributes and compare them.  A huge gulf there!

It is important for us to contemplate God's characteristics, as revealed to us in both God's written word and also in His Son, the living Word.  Why?  Because if we don't we are in danger of creating our own god, making the Almighty over into an image which is pleasing to us.  I want to blog in more depth about this topic at some point, but today is not that day.

In Romans 7, Paul pointed out that sin (Satan, the devil, the enemy of the believer) doesn't usually flaunt or prance before our eyes to seduce us.  Instead, Satan dresses sin up in goodness, so that we are fooled. A mouse gets caught in a mousetrap because all he sees is the cheese.  Focusing exclusively on the morsel of good, he ignores the danger surrounding it.  Reaching for the good and beautiful, he is trapped by the deadly.

Temptation is like that.  Sin hides under the cloak of virtue.  If sin were not appealing, we would not fall for it.

8-12 Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me. Without all the paraphernalia of the law code, sin looked pretty dull and lifeless, and I went along without paying much attention to it. But once sin got its hands on the law code and decked itself out in all that finery, I was fooled, and fell for it. The very command that was supposed to guide me into life was cleverly used to trip me up, throwing me headlong. So sin was plenty alive, and I was stone dead. But the law code itself is God’s good and common sense, each command sane and holy counsel.

13 I can already hear your next question: “Does that mean I can’t even trust what is good [that is, the law]? Is good just as dangerous as evil?” No again! Sin simply did what sin is so famous for doing: using the good as a cover to tempt me to do what would finally destroy me. By hiding within God’s good commandment, sin did far more mischief than it could ever have accomplished on its own.

Romans 7:8-13 (The Message)

Paul gives this teaching to explain the role of the Law of Moses to both Old Testament Jews and New Testament Christians.  The original purpose of the Law was to show mankind exactly how God defined sin.  Had the Law not been given, there would have been a question about whether something was/is sin, or not.  It is important that we are honest about what the Word of God says.  If the Bible calls something sin, so should we.

Last night, for example, the Bible study group was discussing the Ten Commandments.  How many of us would have listed "Thou shalt not make unto me any graven image" as one of the "Big 10"?  It was years before I ever understood that commandment.  If, in your human life, you've never worshipped a manufactured object, you are probably similarly mystified.  "What's the big deal?", you ask.  But, remember, when Moses tarried on the mountain with God, and Aaron and the Hebrew nation thought he was dead, what was the first thing they did?  They pooled all their gold so that it could be melted down into a likeness of a golden calf (Exodus 32).  In other words, they created an image that represented their own fake, made-up, substitute god.  The Great "I AM" knows the black hearts of man so well!

The Law puts all that to rest in that it defines sin, from God's perspective, which is the only one that matters.  (Remember the two lists?  We are not like God.)

The law code had a perfectly legitimate function. Without its clear guidelines for right and wrong, moral behavior would be mostly guesswork. Apart from the succinct, surgical command, “You shall not covet,” I could have dressed covetousness up to look like a virtue and ruined my life with it.

Romans 7:7 (The Message)

The other function of The Law was to show us, mankind, just how incapable we are of meeting God's standard for sinlessness. Paul goes on to give personal testimony of how he struggled in his flesh with sins that were his specific pitfalls.

Recently, I was talking with a friend about one of her relatives who has what is often referred to in the churchy lingo as his "besetting sin": that sin that so easily trips a person up.  (We all have at least one.  If you don't, let me help you out: your besetting sin is then "pride".  Get a clue!)  At any rate, this friend's relative does not define his sin as "sin".  The world does not define it as sin, and the young man has adopted the world's perspective on his behavior, instead of God's.  He has made a golden calf and is worshipping it.  He has made God over into his own image.

Honestly, when we sin knowingly and deliberately ... (Christian or non-Christian) when we let that besetting, masquerading, seducing sin get the best of us, we are doing the same thing.  That should cause us great angst and grief.  It did Paul.  He described himself, in his Christian walk as "wretched" (KJV).  Read Romans 7:17-24 (The Message).

17-20 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

21-23 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

24 I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

All of this can become quite overwhelming.  But, fear not!  Chapter 8 was written for just this moment, and we will resume there tomorrow.

Lots of Bull

1 Kings 18:18-24 is not normally thought of as an Advent story, is it?  You've got a wayward, backslidden people, a persecuted prophet of the one, true God, 850 false prophets, two altars, lots of water, fire and bull, lots of bull.  There are no choirs sweetly singing, no starry nights, no calm introspection in this story. This is a story of war, spiritual war.

What on earth does this have to do with Advent, as we peacefully, calmly wait for our Savior's appearing?  The answer is in Elijah's challenge, found in verse 21 (The Message):

21 Elijah challenged the people: “How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it’s Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!”

Nobody said a word; nobody made a move.

 "O come, let us adore Him", the much-loved Christmas carol goes.  And, it is easy, amid the lit candles and the smiles of friends and loved ones, the children's programs, the giving campaigns to the needy - - - it's easy at these times to bow at the manger, is it not?  We go to our Christmas Eve services and contemplate this Child, this Christ.  In those moments, we are thankful, awe-struck. Our hearts turn toward Him in mesmerizing contemplation, in wonder.  "Joy to the world!  The Lord is come!"  It is a beautiful celebration and our hearts soar!

Then...days, sometimes even hours, later, we find ourselves back at the altar of the Baals, chasing after prophets of bull, devoting our time, our very lives to lesser things....causes that, while important, are not of prime importance: adoration misdirected.

Do you know what the Baals were?  They were a collection of innumerable, demonic, false gods. This is why there were so many prophets of Baal and Asherah.  What a picture of our modern lives! When we bow our knee to anything other than the One who deserves our adoration, we are worshipping "a Baal" of some persuasion.  Even wonderful things and people can be Baals.  When we put our relationships, for instance, before God, when we adore our children, parents, grandchildren, spouses, etc., instead of letting the Christmas Child claim our prime allegiance, our chief adoration, we are worshipping a Baal.  When we worship our jobs or ourselves, giving in to every desire of our bodies, wallowing in materialism, we are worshipping Baals.  Idolatry is giving anything other than the Lord Jesus first place in our lives.

We were created to worship, and we all do it.  The question is: whom or what do we worship?

On Mount Carmel, those many hundreds of years ago, no matter how the false prophets pranced, flailed, chanted, screamed, injured their own bodies until their own blood flowed - - - there was no answer.  The heavens were silent.  Had the deceived ones all sacrificed their very lives on that false altar there still would have been no answer because, when compared to Jehovah God, the Baals are revealed as the impostors they have always been.  Baals never satisfy the soul; they instead always demand more and more and more, with nothing given in return.

Oh, but look at 1 Kings 18:36b-39a.  Elijah had built the altar such that starting a fire on it with normal, human means would have been literally an impossible task.  There was water everywhere! He then prayed a simple prayer: that God would reveal Himself through fire.

"...Elijah the prophet came up and prayed, “O God, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make it known right now that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I’m doing what I’m doing under your orders. Answer me, God; O answer me and reveal to this people that you are God, the true God, and that you are giving these people another chance at repentance.”

38 Immediately the fire of God fell and burned up the offering, the wood, the stones, the dirt, and even the water in the trench.

39 All the people saw it happen and fell on their faces in awed worship..."

They adored Him.  God showed up, and the people's response was to fall out, in worship.  In that battle, God's people left behind their Baal worship to adore Jehovah God, the same God whose love from before time began compelled Him to "put on flesh", to send His Son, born in a feeding trough, and then to sacrifice His Son on another kind of altar, a cross.

The battle for hearts, for bended knees, rages on.

When you have the opportunity for last words, you tend to communicate the most important things, often words of deepest love. Just before His ascension, Jesus' last words to His disciples were to spread His gospel message of salvation to every corner of the earth (Matthew 28:18-20).  At the end of his first letter, the apostle John in 1 John 5:21 said, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." He knew the lure of the world, had himself felt the heat of battle.

Our worship, our hearts, our love - - this is the call of God to His people.  He doesn't want our prancing, our flailing, our wailing, our working, our performing in His name.  He wants our adoration and only that, because He has done all the rest on our behalf.

"How shall we deal with such a Child?  Have our hands, soiled with daily toil, become too hard and too proud to fold in prayer at the sight of this Child?  Has our head become too full of serious thoughts ... that we cannot bow our head in humility at the wonder of this Child?  Can we not forget all our stress and struggles, our sense of importance, and for once worship the Child, as did the shepherds and wise men from the East, bowing before the divine Child in the manger, like children?"
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Christmas, 1940

"O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!  For He alone is worthy, Christ the Lord!"

Father, I confess my many sins, especially those of selfish preoccupation, not only in this holy season, but in every season.  You make every day, every season, holy, by Your very presence in my heart.  I am utterly guilty of idolatry, and am in desperate need of Your cleansing and infilling with Your Holy Spirit.  Burn my cluttered heart clean with Your holy fire.  I deeply desire my Lord's humility, that I may bow at His manger, His cross, His abandoned tomb today, and every day.  Dear Lord!  Keep me from idols!  In Jesus' name, amen.

Sources:

Voskamp, Ann. The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas. 

"O Come All Ye Faithful", lyrics from the Latin by John Wade, music by John Reading, 1700s.

God is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1940.

http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols52-54/chs3071.pdf