Never Worn Anything So Fine

Below is an excerpt of an email that I sent to my Tuesday-morning men's group. 

Way back in the days of Middle Earth I spent some time in San Francisco - this was when Haight - Ashbury was in full swing, the Black Panthers, and the Jesus People. I recall seeing the Black Panthers marching in formation outside the Oakland County courthouse - it was quite the sight.  

Anyway, my exposure to the Jesus People opened my eyes to what church could look like in that everyone was pretty much "all in" for Jesus - there wasn't any just putting your toe in the water to see how you feel, you were either committed to Christ and were witnessing to others or you weren't. (In this respect Harry and I share similar histories - it was amazing how much we had in common in terms of our early lives in Christ - Elaine and Vickie had to listen to us tell our stories more than once). 

At one point I lived and worked at a ministry called the Anchor Rescue Mission. It was one of those places where meals were served and a preaching service was held. It was operated by a couple of African - American sisters in the Lord and supported by other African - American Christians, pastors, and churches. I lived with another brother in Christ, David Hoyt, on the second flood of the mission (we were the only ones who actually lived at the mission). David was a leader in the Jesus People Movement in San Francisco (he now resides in New Mexico). 

Anyway, to get to my story about Esther....

One day I went with an older couple (husband and wife) over to Oakland to visit the wife's mother. We had a grand visit; I even recall we went to the laundromat to help grandma (she was grandma to me) do her laundry. 

Well, one thing led to another during the visit and soon we realized that it had gotten late, really late...too late to head back to San Francisco via public transportation. So we decided we'd better spend the night. But what to sleep in? 

Do you recall seeing those old white sleeping gowns? The kind Scrooge used? Kind of like a baptismal robe? I know Billy DeWorken is old enough to have actually used these, but the rest of us only know about them through movies and TV. 

Anyway, grandma had a few of these...so that's what we each slept in. 

The next morning as we sat around grandma's kitchen table...I can't tell you what we had for breakfast, but I'll tell you what I do remember...we opened our Bibles to the book of Esther and went around the table and read the entire book - there we were in our night gowns...grandma, the husband and wife (whose names I've sadly forgotten) and this young white kid who the couple had taken into their hearts and who granny looked at as just another child of God - sitting around a table reading the book of Esther.

And how we enjoyed that book! How we laughed and carried on as we read that marvelous story. 

And do you know what? God was there. I mean He was right there! He may have been in one of those old nightgowns as far as I know...and yes, I imagine there were angels there too - and I imagine the angels were laughing right along with us. 

Now when you are as old as we are you come to realize something...money can't buy that. Position and power can't make that happen. Only God can do that. Only God can show us the things and people who really matter. Only God can provide enough white nightgowns for a sleepover. Only God can cause the book of Esther to evoke wonder and awe and laughter around a kitchen table in a poor section of Oakland, CA. 

Thanks to my property management career I've had occasion to dine in some pretty fancy places, and there have been times when Vickie and I have splurged on a special celebration...but I've never been anyplace that can match that kitchen table in Oakland, CA over 50 years ago...no sir...and I have never worn a finer piece of clothing than that white nightgown...no sir...I've never worn anything so fine. 

Ezra and Holiness

Here's what our small group will be working on next week. What does holiness look like in our lives? In the life of our congregations? 

Our text is Ezra chapters 9 & 10, this will conclude our time in Ezra.

This may be a tough passage for some of us to read. It is important to remember Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians Chapter 10, that the things that were written in the past were written to teach us spiritual truth in Jesus Christ.

It is also important not to romanticize “falling in love” nor to minimize the power and influence of sex. Yes, there is romance (I hope) in love, but there is also choice, and that choice determines where we channel our thoughts and hearts and bodies. Sadly, we live in a culture in which we are programmed to give in to our impulses and not deny ourselves, surely God will understand…won’t He?

Our heavenly Father wants us to know the beauty of sex in marriage, but if we should choose to disobey Him in our sexual expression, we can be sure that there will be consequences to our sin. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus takes the external act of sexual sin and moves it inward to our hearts – adultery is adultery whether you act it out or think it out. In the Ten Commands when God says, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife”, God is looking at our hearts.

In the Law of Moses (Deut. 7:1 – 4) God commanded Israel not to intermarry with the pagan nations because the result would be that Israel would stop following the Lord and He would then send judgment. This, of course, happened in the Wilderness, during the Exodus from Egypt to Canaan, and many times thereafter, including during Ezra’s time. (Numbers 25:1 – 18; Revelation 2:14, 20 – 23). Also remember that in our study of the Minor Prophets the image of adultery has been used again and again to portray the unfaithfulness of the people of God – remember when we explored Hosea?

Please look at 1 Kings 11:1 – 4; a sad commentary on what happens when we think we can ignore God's commandments regarding marital and sexual relations.

Of course, there is much more than sexuality going on here, we’re really looking at God’s command to be holy as He is holy; 1 Peter 1:13 – 16; Leviticus 11:44; 19:22. More than anything else, the idea of holiness, purity, and devotion to God (Romans 12:1-2) underlies our passage in Ezra.

How might the following Scriptures relate to our Ezra passage?

Which of the following speaks to you in a special way? Catches your attention?

Which of the following represents an area in which you have learned specific life-lessons?

Which of the following is an area in which you have been particularly challenged?

2 Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1

1 Thessalonians 4:1 – 8

Hebrews 12:4 – 17 (with a particular focus on verse 14).

Matthew 5:8

1 Peter 2:9 – 10

Ephesians 4:29; 5:1 – 5

Some thoughts:

 A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the prevalence of moral, ethical, and spiritual lawlessness in our society. In looking at Ezra and his relationship to the Persian Emperor, we saw (I hope) that in order to exercise authority that one needs to know what it is to submit to authority (Jesus and the centurion).

This week I hope we’ll ponder that we live in a society that not only rejects the idea of the holy, but that seems to be doing everything it can to destroy the very idea of holiness. Sadly we find this occurring in much of the professing church. The idea that our hearts and minds and bodies should be pure is foreign to our culture, including much of our church culture. It seems as if we are intent on robbing our children of innocence and ensuring that adults are captured in the quagmire of impurity.

If we are indeed people in a relationship with Jesus Christ, then we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit – He is the Holy Spirit. He is not the Anything Goes Spirit, nor is He the Sugar Daddy Spirit, but since God is Holy He is, the Holy Spirit. Consider that while God is also Love, and Light, that the primary designation the God adopts for the Third Person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit – there must be a reason for that.

The spirits of Satan are unclean and impure spirits; demons, principalities and powers seeking to strip mankind of the image of God. What we look at matters, what we think about matters, the words we use matter, the actions of our bodies matter. If our eyes and ears allow impure images and words into our souls, into our hearts, into our minds…let us remember that if we are Christians, that the Holy Spirit lives within us; indeed, let us remember that the Father and Son live within us – and that we are introducing impurities into the very Temple of God. We are, if you will, desecrating the Temple and image of God when we drink the cup of the enemy.

So then, in the time of Ezra the work of the Temple of God, the rebuilding of the Temple and the City, the worship of God, could not continue until the issue of impure marriage was dealt with. As long as we are engaged in promiscuous relationships with the sin and filth of the world, the Church of the Living God cannot (in some measure which I don’t pretend to understand) be restored. As long as our local congregations are living lives indistinguishable from the world, there will be no lasting renewal into the image of Jesus Christ. This is about so much more than mixed-marriages or sexuality – this is about being holy as our Father is holy.

This is about the purity of our minds and hearts and souls…as well as our bodies. This is about money, this is about our time, this is about what our hearts treasure, this is about speaking the Word of Christ to others, this is about being faithful to Christ in the workplace, the civic organization, the neighborhood - this is about belonging to Jesus.

Ponderings on 1 Corinthians Chapters 1 – 4 (14)

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

    nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him”—

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.  (1 Corinthians 2:6 – 10, ESV).

Consider that the “secret and hidden wisdom” that God “decreed before the ages” was decreed “for our glory”. Do we believe this? Do we believe that our heavenly Father is “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10)? Do we believe that Jesus Christ has given His brethren His glory so that we may be one as the Trinity is one (John 17:11, 22)? Do we see that our unity in the Trinity, our receiving the glory of the Son, is critical to our witness to the world (John 17:21 – 23)?

Creation knows better than we do (Romans 8:18 – 25); it ought not to be this way but it is. We live in false identities. We think we are sinners. We think we are of Paul or Apollos or Cephas. Some of us even merchandise Christ (1 Cor. 1:12). Then others exalt themselves outside of Christ and draw others along with them in the name of Jesus, creating vast “ministry” empires that fleece the sheep.

The glory of Jesus Christ is the glory of His Cross, the glory of His sufferings, the glory of His offering of Himself. It is the slain Lamb that John sees in the Throne Room (Rev. 5). Paul is clear, “…if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:17). Our reasonable and logical worship is the offering of ourselves (Rom. 12:1 – 2).

On the one hand the enemy of us knowing the glory of Christ and the hidden wisdom ordained for our glory in Him is our repudiation of our identity in Him – we reject our sonship, our sainthood, and insist that we remain sinners. On the other hand the enemy is an insidious self-exaltation that is egocentric; replacing the Christ of the Cross with our needs, our wants, our desires, our pleasures, our “best life now” in all the ways that idea is wickedly communicated and sold to the professing church. Both of these enemies attack our identity in Christ, both attack the fulness of the Atonement, both work to negate the Cross.   

If the enemy cannot stop us from escaping Egypt, he will try to rob us of our identity in the Wilderness. If he cannot stop us from entering the Promised Land, he will distract us once we arrive there by having us mingle with the demons we were to have driven out. Then, rather than possessing the land, the land possesses us.

Paul writes that this secret and hidden wisdom was ordained by God before the ages for our glory and yet we say, “That cannot be” on the one hand; or “It’s all about me” on the other hand.

John writes, “Behold how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are…” (1 John 3:1a). Do we believe that before the ages that God decreed a “secret and hidden wisdom” for our glory? Do we believe that Christ has given us His very own glory? (Let us never forget that all wisdom and glory and knowledge are hidden in Jesus Christ; “Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” – Colossians 2:1 – 3).

To whom much is given, much is required. It is required of us that we take up our cross and deny ourselves and follow Jesus. It is required of us that we be holy as our Father is holy. It is required of us that we abide in the Vine. It is required of us that we do nothing in and of ourselves, but that Christ live in us and through us to the glory of God. It is required of us that we lay down our lives for others. It is required of us that we participate in the sufferings of Jesus Christ.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (Colossians 1:24 – 29)

Ezra, Living Under Authority, and Lawlessness

Below is the handout I prepared for our men's small group for this week. We've been looking at Ezra in our reflections on the Minor Prophets since without understanding Ezra and Nehemiah (as well as significant elements of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel), we will lack the context to consider Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. 

I'm sharing this particular week's material because of its subject matter. In today's society, in our culture, and indeed in the world, we are witnessing lawlessness in myriad forms. From government, to entertainment, to sports, to education, to the professing church; in morality, ethics, "spirituality" and "religion" - lawlessness appears to be prevailing. I use the word "appears" because that is what it is, an appearance - for as Daniel Chapter 2 and Psalm 2 demonstrate, the Living God and His Son are forever prevailing and are, in fact, allowing mankind to turn upon itself (Romans Chapter 1) and imbibe the darkness it desires. 

We have lost sight of what godly leadership looks like, and we are drinking from the cup of lawlessness as it is passed around in our culture - we are constructing our own Tower of Babel - we are drunk with the self-centeredness of lawlessness - not only without, but often within the professing church. 

Well, there just may be something here for you to reflect on.

In Ezra 7:1 – 10 what do we learn about Ezra? Is there anything significant about his family tree? What do we see about his heart, his desire, his passion?

Based on the limited information contained in these chapters, how might you characterize Ezra’s relationship with the King? How did God work through this relationship?

Please consider the following passages: Proverbs 16:10 – 15; 20:2, 8, 26 – 28; 22:11; 24:21; 25:5 – 6; 29:4, 14; 31:1 – 9.

Matthew 20:20 – 28.

What do we learn about leadership and authority in these passages?

How should we exercise authority?

How should we respond to authority?

How can we teach others about authority?

What have we learned about authority in our own lives – both in terms of using it and in terms responding to it?  Please give some examples of when you “didn’t get it” and when you did “get it”. In other words, when did you not use authority responsibly? When have you not responded to authority in a responsible manner? How has your understanding of authority matured over the course of your life?

Ezra was under the king’s authority, and the king found Ezra trustworthy to place in authority.

While there are many “go-to” places in the Gospels that speak of authority, three passages that speak strongly to me are Matthew 20:20 – 28; John 13:1 – 17, and Matthew 8:1 – 13.

I have used Matthew 8:1 – 13 in previous handouts, and I have used it in teaching and preaching for decades, and when I use it I ask the question, “What did the centurion see in Jesus that caused him to place his faith in Jesus?”

Without fail, 100% of the time people respond, “He saw that Jesus had authority, that Jesus was in authority.”

However, the Gospel accounts of Jesus and the centurion are consistent in that the centurion did not view Jesus as being in a position of authority, but rather as being under authority. The centurion understood the nature of authority because he was a military man who, I think, thought deeply about his responsibilities. He knew that all of his authority was derived from the chain-of-command that went right up to the Roman Emperor – the centurion was not a loose cannon doing whatever he wanted however he wanted.

Jesus was, of course, living in submission to His Father, (yes, yes, the Trinity and the Incarnation are mysteries, at least to me), John 5:19, 30; 6:38; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10.  

I use the centurion passage to teach about authority and also to show how easy it is to read the Bible but not read the Bible, to miss the point of a passage because we assume we know what we’re reading and so we superimpose our own images and thoughts on a passage. If we don’t submit to the Biblical text we’ll not “see” the Biblical text.

In my marketplace career I was keen to remember, and speak and act, as a man under authority; the authority of Jesus Christ, the authority of the firm I worked for, and the authority of my clients to whom I had a fiduciary duty. Even when I had my own very small operation in Maryland, because I had an agency relationship with my clients, I needed to be mindful of the authority and duty of those relationships.

In essence, I could never speak and act on my own authority, my authority was always derived; from Jesus Christ, from my firm, and from my clients. This, for the Christian, should simply be the way we live – we ought never to speak and act on our own authority – for outside of Jesus Christ we have none, we have been bought with a price, the blood of the Lamb (1 Corinthians 6:19 – 20).

I could give you many examples of pain I have caused when I have acted on my own authority, which is to say that I know what I’m talking about. I could also give many examples of managers who have worked for me who have grown when they have submitted to authority, when they have learned to be servant- leaders. I could also give many examples of managers who have worked for me and who never “got it” – they used their positions first for their own benefit and didn’t really care how they treated their employees or our clients and customers – they didn’t know how to submit to authority. This latter group did not tend to remain employed – they either couldn’t stand the accountability and left of their own accord or I had to free them up for hopefully a better future elsewhere.

I could also give many examples in the church world of people, including pastors, choir directors, praise team leaders, Sunday-school superintendents, deacons, elders, denominational officials, seminary leaders…you name it…who are in “authority” but don’t “get it” to the detriment of others. But thankfully there are also many examples on the positive side. But, of course, we see this in any group of people, PTAs, service organizations, sports organizations…it is the fallen nature of man outside of Jesus Christ.

All the more reason for us to learn to live under authority so that we might use the authority given to us in Christ to be a blessing to others.

The work of Satan is characterized by lawlessness and rebellion. Our society, indeed our world, is being swept away by lawlessness. We are rebelling against God’s moral law, against common decency, against God’s special revelation in Jesus Christ and His Word, against pretty much all authority. The human authorities we do have are also engaged in rebellion (Psalm 2) and are legalizing the repudiation of the image of God and His Law and codifying sin and demonic images of humanity – resulting in hideous confusion and a moral and spiritual meltdown which, like a nuclear-plant meltdown, is spreading toxicity into our environment.

This lawlessness is, I think, often as present in our churches as it is in general society. We don’t know the Bible, we don’t obey the Bible, we explain away the Bible’s clear moral and ethical teaching, we make excuse after excuse for our collective and individual disobedience and sin, we are ashamed of holiness, we are often ashamed of Christ and go with the flow around us.

Chesterton wrote, “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”  Are we alive or are we, and our congregations, dead?

Will we, will I, will you…live under the authority of Jesus Christ…no matter what?

Love,

Bob

Behold My Servant (3)

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.

Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.” (Isaiah 42:1 – 9).

“I have put my Spirit upon him…” Even as the Father placed His Spirit on our Lord Jesus at Jesus’ baptism, so the Father and Son placed the Holy Spirit upon and within the corporate Son, the Church, the Body of Christ, at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit which had been “with” the disciples, came to live “within” the disciples (John 14:16 – 17; 7:37 – 39).

We are called, in our Lord Jesus, to life in the Holy Spirit. This life is no more a life of “anything goes” than was the life of Jesus Christ on earth. Jesus affirmed again and again that, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19).

Compare the following:

“For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel” (John 5:20).

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father” (John 14:12).

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:25).

“But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you” (John 16:13 – 15).

Do we see that the things that Jesus Christ speaks of Himself (John Chapter 5), He also speaks of us (John chapters 14 and 16)? Can we not “see” that we are called into the koinonia, the fellowship, the communion, of the Trinity?

Can we see that our Father has called us in His Beloved Servant? Are we living as Christ on this earth? Are we loving as Christ in this generation? Are we sharing in, and filling up, the sufferings of Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:10, Colossians 1:24, Romans 8:12 – 18)?

Or, do we find ourselves shackled in religious servitude? Chained like galley slaves to oars in our pews? Unable to express the fulness of Jesus Christ to Him and to one another? Where is Romans Chapter 12? Tell me where I can find 1 Corinthians chapters 12 – 14! Where is Ephesians 4:11 – 16?

What can Paul possibly mean when he writes, “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:3 – 5)?

Our Father has called us as His Servant. Our generation desperately needs the light of the Son; isn’t it time to focus on our calling in our Lord Jesus Christ? Isn’t it time to leave Egypt once and for all? Isn’t it time to lead others out of bondage and into our Lord Jesus Christ?

Behold My Servant (2)

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.

Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.” (Isaiah 42:1 – 9).

Consider that the Father says, “in whom my soul delights.” Even as the soul of the Father delights in His Son, Jesus Christ, so He delights in the Body of His Son – for how can the Head be detached from the Body?

Again and again Jesus tells us of our Father’s love for us; and yet, do we believe Jesus? Do we believe that such a love could be ours? Can we believe that the soul of the Father delights in us?

Jesus says, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11).

Jesus says, “So do not fear, you are more valuable than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:31).

Jesus says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28 – 30).

When our Father says, “This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” our Father not only sees our Lord Jesus Christ, He also sees us in Christ. “For even as the body is one, and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.” (1 Cor. 12:12). (Ponder also Hebrews 2:9 – 18).

When you came up from the waters of baptism our Father said, “This is My beloved daughter in My beloved Son.” “This is My beloved son in my beloved Son.” “This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”

If you are in a relationship with Jesus Christ, by His grace and mercy; then live today knowing that the soul of the Father delights in you.

If you have not yet come into a relationship with Jesus Christ, what better day than today to allow the love and mercy and forgiveness of God into your life? What better day can there be than today to believe in Jesus Christ, confessing your sins, and beginning a new life in Christ – as a daughter, or a son, of the living God?

We are not accidents looking for a place to happen, we are men and women created in the image of God; and though the world wants us to believe that we are the products of time plus matter plus chance – that is a lie, a lie of darkness, a lie of Satan (yes, there is a devil who has blinded the eyes of humanity - Ephesians 2:1 – 2; 2 Corinthians 4:3 – 6).

O to live life knowing that the soul of our heavenly Father delights in us!

Ezra and Authority

Here's my material for my men's group for next week, as we continue through Ezra. 

Are you living under the authority of Jesus Christ? 

Our text for June 11 is Ezra chapters 7 & 8.

In Ezra 7:1 – 10 what do we learn about Ezra? Is there anything significant about his family tree? What do we see about his heart, his desire, his passion?

Based on the limited information contained in these chapters, how might you characterize Ezra’s relationship with the King? How did God work through this relationship?

Please consider the following passages: Proverbs 16:10 – 15; 20:2, 8, 26 – 28; 22:11; 24:21; 25:5 – 6; 29:4, 14; 31:1 – 9.

Matthew 20:20 – 28.

What do we learn about leadership and authority in these passages?

How should we exercise authority?

How should we respond to authority?

How can we teach others about authority?

What have we learned about authority in our own lives – both in terms of using it and in terms responding to it?  Please give some examples of when you “didn’t get it” and when you did “get it”. In other words, when did you not use authority responsibly? When have you not responded to authority in a responsible manner? How has your understanding of authority matured over the course of your life?

Ezra was under the king’s authority, and the king found Ezra trustworthy to place in authority.

While there are many “go-to” places in the Gospels that speak of authority, three passages that speak strongly to me are Matthew 20:20 – 28; John 13:1 – 17, and Matthew 8:1 – 13.

I have used Matthew 8:1 – 13 in previous handouts, and I have used it in teaching and preaching for decades, and when I use it I ask the question, “What did the centurion see in Jesus that caused him to place his faith in Jesus?”

Without fail, 100% of the time people respond, “He saw that Jesus had authority, that Jesus was in authority.”

However, the Gospel accounts of Jesus and the centurion are consistent in that the centurion did not view Jesus as being in a position of authority, but rather as being under authority. The centurion understood the nature of authority because he was a military man who, I think, thought deeply about his responsibilities. He knew that all of his authority was derived from the chain-of-command that went right up to the Roman Emperor – the centurion was not a loose cannon doing whatever he wanted however he wanted.

Jesus was, of course, living in submission to His Father, (yes, yes, the Trinity and the Incarnation are mysteries, at least to me), John 5:19, 30; 6:38; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10.  

I use the centurion passage to teach about authority and also to show how easy it is to read the Bible but not read the Bible, to miss the point of a passage because we assume we know what we’re reading and so we superimpose our own images and thoughts on a passage. If we don’t submit to the Biblical text we’ll not “see” the Biblical text.

In my marketplace career I was keen to remember, and speak and act, as a man under authority; the authority of Jesus Christ, the authority of the firm I worked for, and the authority of my clients to whom I had a fiduciary duty. Even when I had my own very small operation in Maryland, because I had an agency relationship with my clients, I needed to be mindful of the authority and duty of those relationships.

In essence, I could never speak and act on my own authority, my authority was always derived; from Jesus Christ, from my firm, and from my clients. This, for the Christian, should simply be the way we live – we ought never to speak and act on our own authority – for outside of Jesus Christ we have none, we have been bought with a price, the blood of the Lamb (1 Corinthians 6:19 – 20).

I could give you many examples of pain I have caused when I have acted on my own authority, which is to say that I know what I’m talking about. I could also give many examples of managers who have worked for me who have grown when they have submitted to authority, when they have learned to be servant- leaders. I could also give many examples of managers who have worked for me and who never “got it” – they used their positions for their own benefit and didn’t really care how they treated their employees or our clients and customers – they didn’t know how to submit to authority. This latter group did not tend to remain employed – they either couldn’t stand the accountability and left of their own accord or I had to free them up for hopefully a better future elsewhere.

I could also give many examples in the church world of people, including pastors, choir directors, praise team leaders, Sunday-school superintendents, deacons, elders, denominational officials, seminary leaders…you name it…who are in “authority” but don’t “get it” to the detriment of others. Thankfully there are also many examples on the positive side. But, of course, we see this in any group of people, PTAs, service organizations, sports organizations…it is the fallen nature of man outside of Jesus Christ.

All the more reason for us to learn to live under authority so that we might use the authority given to us in Christ to be a blessing to others.

The work of Satan is characterized by lawlessness and rebellion. Our society, indeed our world, is being swept away by lawlessness. We are rebelling against God’s moral law, against common decency, against God’s special revelation in Jesus Christ and His Word, against pretty much all authority. The human authorities we do have are also engaged in rebellion (Psalm 2) and are legalizing the repudiation of the image of God and His Law and codifying sin and demonic images of humanity – resulting in hideous confusion and a moral and spiritual meltdown which, like a nuclear-plant meltdown, is spreading toxicity into our environment.

This lawlessness is, I think, often as present in our churches as it is in general society. We don’t know the Bible, we don’t obey the Bible, we explain away the Bible’s clear moral and ethical teaching, we make excuse after excuse for our collective and individual disobedience and sin, we are ashamed of holiness, we are ashamed of Christ and go with the flow around us.

Chesterton wrote, “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”  Are we alive or are we, and our congregations, dead?

Will we, will I, will you…live under the authority of Jesus Christ…no matter what?

Love,

Bob

Behold My Servant

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.

Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.” (Isaiah 42:1 – 9).

Who is this Servant? If it is Jesus Christ then it is also His Bride, His Church, His Body; for “Even as the Father has sent me, so send I you.” (John 20:21; 17:18). When Jesus calls Saul on the Road to Damascus, Jesus incorporates Paul into this High Calling (Acts 26:14 – 23).

As Christ is, so is His Body. As Christ is called so we are called.

How is that calling being worked out in your life today? In the life of your local church? In the life of your family?

Is the world, indeed the universe, beholding the Servant in us, in His Church?

A Blessing and a Threat

If the Church is to be a great blessing to society, then it must also be society's greatest threat, for the Church must constantly proclaim the Gospel of Repentance and of following Jesus Christ - and this is a threat to the world which is in rebellion against the True and Living God (Psalm 2).


To apologize for preaching repentance is akin to apologizing for saving a family who are overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning and are blissfully unaware of their surroundings. Those without Christ are dead, and if we cannot witness in a fashion that will, by God's grace, wake the dead then perhaps our faith is dead.


God so loved the world that He gave. We so love ourselves that we will not give. What is a crime is that we reinforce our self-centeredness when we gather together. Hollywood may have produced a series of individual American Idols, we seem to be perfecting a collective idol in the church.


Paul calls himself "Christ's slave." He says, "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant [slave] of Christ." (Galatians 1:10).


What do we call ourselves? Who are we trying to please? Curry favor with?


Are we, by Christ's grace, waking the dead?

What Does A Friend Do?

When a friend of the bridegroom sees that someone has crashed the wedding reception and is trying to ply the bride with liquor and seduce her - what should the friend of the bridegroom do?

(2 Corinthians 11:1 - 3).