No taste for new wine

At the end of Luke 5 Jesus speaks of the conflict between the Old and New Covenants. In verse 39 He indicates the hindrance this conflict would be for Israel, saying (my translation) ''No one drinking old wine will desire new because he says, 'The old is good.''' The grave danger of being trapped in faulty religion is that the adherent is satiated by it and can fail to see his need for more--real union with Christ. It was easier for those, like tax-collectors and sinners, who had never sought to uphold the law to trust in Christ because they recognized their need. Scribes and Pharisees already felt a (false) sense of satisfaction.

An almost boast

As the apostle Paul has made clear, no one will boast before the Lord. Yet some people become a part of the Lord's activity in ways that give them a story that may almost be envied. Two that I read about today are Simon the Cyrene and Joseph of Arimathea. Think about Simon: here's a guy just caught up in the happenings of the day, returning from the market, and chosen from the crowd to carry Jesus' cross. I imagine this was against his will, for who wants to be on the sharp end of a Roman crucifixion process? Why was he chosen? Did Romans have racial animosities toward blacks (as Cyrenes would have been)? Was it because of his size (I assume this was a physically demanding charge)? Or was he simply in the right place at the right time? When Mark wrote his gospel, Simon was known to the readers, as demonstrated by his description as ''the father of Alexander and Rufus.'' This makes me think that this event had such an impact upon him that it resulted in his eventual conversion. And what a story that would be: ''I carried Jesus' cross! I was chosen by God to serve my Lord in his hour of greatest need.'' Or would this humble me beyond measure? Such an honor and others more worthy...I didn't even believe at the time, didn't know what I was doing...now I would count it an honor, then it was an inconvenience...I'll never boast before the Lord.
Think also of Joseph of Arimathea: He identified with Jesus even after the apostles had fled, risking reprisal from the council of which he was a leader. He honored the man, Jesus, with a significant contribution, for a hand-hewn cave is no meager gift, and this upon his death, when no credit was likely forthcoming--a sincere effort. What a story that would be: ''I laid Jesus in the tomb! I stood for him at his hour of need.'' I wonder if I'd feel honored to use the tomb after my own demise, like Spurgeon delighting to sit in the chair of John Gill upon his first visit to New Park Street Church. Or would this humble me beyond measure, knowing myself to be unworthy of occupying a space that had once housed the Savior of the world? Would I feel ashamed when I recounted the story...I refused to follow Jesus openly when I had the chance...I honored the memory of a dead man and thought it was the end...I believed him to be no more than a misunderstood man of God...I'll never boast before the Lord.
Praise the Lord for his mercy! The best we can do is an almost boast.

Rejoicing In Real Life

''You are to rejoice before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to'' (Deuteronomy 12:18). What a description of worship! The Israelites were being instructed about their need bring the firstfruits of their harvest and of their flocks to the Lord in his temple. At the heart of this act of worship was this beautiful purpose. They were rejoicing before the Lord over the labors of life--farming and herding.
Too often we view our labors as necessary burdens to carry out in the cause of survival. The Lord would have us look at them as gifts from him--ways to enjoy Him, opportunities to fulfill our calling in the world. When we gather before him we should be gladdened by the opportunity to present to him some of the blessing which he has bestowed upon us. We should be giving thanks for the things which we have put our hands to, and for how he has caused us to prosper in it. When Adam was created the first thing God did for him was give him something to ''put (his) hand to.'' This is a gift apart from its rewards, and to offer the Lord some of the rewards in return is our opportunity to express our joy and gratitude for the gift.
How would our lives be different if we saw our labors, our projects, and our activities--both work and play--as chances to enjoy the Lord? How would church worship be different if we brought to the assembly an enjoyment of life and open expressions of gratitude for it?

Grace

Blaise Pascal: "To make a man a saint, grace is absolutely necessary, and whoever doubts it does not know what a saint is or what a man is."
Think about the condition of either one before the Lord, and you'll soon understand the need for God's grace.

Laying On of Hands

Reading through Numbers 8 I gained a little insight into the practice of laying hands on an individual when commissioning him to a ministry. In that passage the Levites are being set apart to God for service in His temple.
Already in chapter 3 the Levites had been chosen in exchange for the firstborn of the Israelites. The cost (to the Lord) of Israel's freedom from bondage had been the death of all the firstborn in Egypt, and since those Egyptians were created by God and therefore just as valuable and precious to God as his chosen people, Israel was required, in effect, to repay the Lord by devoting to him all their own firstborn. Firstborn animals could be redeemed with cash, but firstborn sons could be redeemed only by means of a substitute. So, rather than inflict profound family and cultural disruption upon the people, and to facilitate a more efficient priestly ministry, the Lord chose one tribe from among the Jews, the tribe of Levi, in substitution for the firstborn of the rest of the nation.
Returning now to chapter 8, we find the Levites being set apart for the temple/tabernacle ministry and in the process the people, not the priests, are told to lay their hands upon them. They were, in effect, commissioning the Levites to function in that ministry as their substitutes. Likewise had the people done to their sin offerings and likewise had they done to the scapegoat. These all functioned as substitutes for the people.
Likewise do we do today when we ordain a man to local church ministry or when we send an individual out to proclaim the gospel among the lost. We recognize that it is not possible for all Christians to to head to the distant lands, nor are we all chosen by God for particular ministries. So we appoint substitutes to serve on our behalf. This is why it is so important to appoint good substitutes and why Paul warns, in 1 Timothy 5:22, not to be hasty in the laying on of hands. Whomever you appoint is your representative, and if they are sinful, lazy, or self-seeking you share in that sin.
This has given me a new approach as a pastor/elder. From now on, when it comes to commissioning an individual to ministry I am going to have the congregation lay their hands on him. I believe this will better convey the meaning of the appointment and I hope that it will cause all involved to consider more seriously the standards and expectations they apply to those they ordain.

The folly of blessing others

''When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly...'' These are the words of the apostle Paul describing an apostle's response to mistreatment (1Cor 4:12). The mistreatment to which he refers is not only what he received from the godless people of the world but also what he was receiving from some who called themselves ''brothers.'' Why did he respond in this way? The Corinthians, to whom Paul was writing, sought personal glory and the glory they sought evaluated Paul's responses as weakness and folly unbecoming of a true leader. But this was a temporary glory, good only for the duration of a man's life. Paul, however, sought eternal glory. So, he exalted in such weakness and folly, and in suffering for Christ, and in the opportunity to imitate Christ in them because these are the qualities God will honor. These were the qualities displayed in Jesus.
This has been one of the more convicting passages I have studied lately. I, like a Corinthian, accept the standard of this age and resist being thought a fool. Yet, as I realized, there has never been a marital conflict where it does not apply; there's never been a work environment where a Christian can't put this into practice; there's never been a mistreatment toward which the believer can't embrace this foolish way of living. And there's no promise that doing so will improve the situation. This is simply our calling, just as suffering for Christ is our calling, and as Paul recognized our reward comes later. Sometimes it helps in the here and now, but mostly those who live like this will be called fools. Glory in it! Jesus did.

The Necessity of Divided Powers

Unchallenged power among sinful human beings allows for the worst expressions of tyranny and rebellion. As the old adage says, ''Absolute power corrupts absolutely.'' Sitting on the Mount of Olives, in Matthew 24, Jesus spoke of events leading up to the last days of human civilization. He said, ''You will hear wars and reports of wars; watch out, don't be alarmed. For it is necessary (ought, is proper) to be, but it is not yet the end'' (my translation). Though not the point of the passage, our Lord sees conflict between competing states as a necessary check, presumably upon tyranny, oppression, and rebellion against God.
The Lord's insistence upon divided powers stretches all the way back to the plains of Shinar, when the people assembled to become a single governed entity. Genesis 11 tells the story: ''Now the whole world had one language and a common speech...They said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'''
The Lord's reaction to this was not favorable. The attempt to reach God by their own efforts, combined with their refusal to spread throughout the earth as God had prescribed, was setting the stage for a humanly-unopposable, rebellious rule that would bode ill for people. As the Lord expressed it, ''If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their langguage so that they will not understand each other.'' In response, God established multiple, competing people groups, the corrolary of which--warfare between them--Jesus calls necessary for the preservation of human civilization. How predictable, then, that in the last days men will fall under the authority of a single, totalitarian rule.
The threat of overthrow from outside forces compels a ruler to maintain the allegiance of his people by assuring them that his continued rule is in their best interest. When that breaks down, so does a nation; when the nation breaks down, she becomes vulnerable. The founding fathers of our great nation recognized the value that such a threat poses, as explained in the Declaration of Independence. The tyranny of the ruler, not maintaining the best interests of the governed, made him vulnerable to (and deserving of) opposition, and so the United States were formed. In this same spirit they established the Second Ammendment, ensuring not only the security of the citizens from outside forces but also preserving an internal threat should the leaders insist upon governing for their own benefit. It was this worldview that also ordered our government around the separation of powers, a 'non-violent' check upon the 'tyranny' of its constituent parts.
War is not an ultimate and unqualified evil, much to the contrary of many modern liberal sensibilities. In fact, when Jesus returns it will be to make war against his enemies. I, for one, would never call one of his actions evil. Much evil may happen in war, and certainly evil on the part of at least one party makes it necessary. But without this consequence of divided powers, we'd all be far less free, and our suffering would be far greater.

Only a fool can die to himself

The cost of following Christ is often beyond the limits that my pride will accept. Let's face it...even if the world doesn't like me, I want them to respect me. I want them to think of me as articulate and intelligent even if they don't like what I have to say. The apostle Paul refutes that possibility when it comes to sincere Christian living. He says, in 1 Corinthians 1:18, ''The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,'' which means that when we proclaim that message and live accordingly, we will not be thought wise and learned; we'll be thought of as morons.
It's not that the gospel message is truly foolish. Rather, there is a conflict between genuine, godly wisdom and that which those who are perishing are willing to acknowledge. ''For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight;'' but to live a genuine Christian life means to embrace a message that the world calls idiotic--and by default makes the one who does an idiot.
This is a disconcerting thought for those who want to be highly regarded. Yet, it is consistent with everything else the Lord has taught us. He told us that we should not be surprised if the world hates us, because it hated him first (John 15:18). He also told us that if anyone wants to follow him, ''he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow'' Jesus (Matthew 16:24). That means dying to oneself. It means sacrificing the status one holds dear and accepting a label that is not so becoming--fool--if so doing is the result of faithful believing, living, and conveying of the message of the cross. More often than not, it will be, because that message is foolishness to those who are perishing.
This is a high cost, but the cost of refusing is even greater. ''Whoever wants to save his life,'' Jesus warned after calling us to take up our crosses, ''will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.'' Are you willing to take up a mantle that means laying down the rags of worldly regard? Are you willing to lose your life to find it? My pride often recoils at the costs of following Jesus. But, as Paul urges in 1 Corinthians 3, ''If anyone of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a fool so that he may become wise.''

May Christ Be Your Tailor

This quote is taken from Vally of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions:

O God of Grace,
Thou hast imputed my sin to my substitute,
and hast imputed his righteousness to my soul,
clothing me with a bridegrooms robe,
decking me with jewels of holiness.
but in my Christian walk I am still in rags...
I am always standing clothed in filthy garments,
and by grace am always receiving change of raiment,
for thou dost always justify the ungodly.
I am always going into the far country,
and always returning home as a prodigal,
always saying, "Father, forgive me,"
and thou art always bringing forth the best robe.
Every morning let me wear it,
every evening return in it,
go out to the days work in it,
be married in it,
be wound in death in it,
stand before the great white throne in it,
enter heaven in it shining as the sun.

I am often reminded, by my own doing, of the very real rags of sin with which I clothe myself. It is the outfit everyone sees. At times I'm able to patch it up enough that no one notices my outfit but me. But my outfit embarrasses me and, if I let it, categorizes me.
However, this is not the outfit God sees. While He is neither blind, nor foolish, nor ignorant, He has chosen to give a new look to all who trust in Christ as their substitute. He gives us the shirt off Christ's back, so to speak. We get Jesus' clothes. We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. This is the outfit God sees. Christ is our tailor and, in him, we look good.
Consider these words from Hebrews 2:11, "Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers." That is what Jesus has done, and continues to do in us. He makes us holy, not by giving us a new list of activities to follow, but by cleansing us of the guilt and stain of sin and then clothing us in his righteousness. So, while we may be embarrassed by the clothing with which we dress ourselves, he is not ashamed to call us brothers because, as members of the same family, we share the same status. We wear the same clothes.
The apostle John understood the significance of this. In Revelation 7:9-14 he saw Jesus' brothers the way God sees them. He writes, "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count...standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes...' Then one of the elders asked me, 'These in white robes-- who are they, and where did they come from?' I answered, 'Sir, you know.' And he said, 'These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore...he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.'" Jesus made them holy. His blood, not our blood (or sweat, or labor, or niceness) cleansed us from sin. So God is not ashamed to call us His children.
Next time you're ashamed of the rags of sin with which you clothe yourself, confess the truth of it but don't stop there. Let Jesus be your tailor; learn to see the clothes with which he has clothed you.