Why Read the Psalms Daily? (3)

 

A Perspective on World Affairs

               It is hard not to be unduly influenced by the news, social media, and the relentless bombardment of propaganda and spin and lies. It is poisonous. When we do encounter the truth, it can be overwhelming. Who can absorb the suffering and chaos of our world?

               The Psalms keeps us grounded and focused on reality, it tunes our ears to hear the Holy Spirit, it keeps our vision clear, and it encourages us amid messages of false hopes, vitriol, and hatred.

               The first psalm reminds us that there are two ways to live, one grounded in Christ and His Word, the other living in the counsel of the wicked, the path of sinners, the seat of scoffers.

               The second psalm warns us that the nations and peoples of the world are in rebellion against God and Christ. “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” (Ps. 2:3). It also assures us that Christ will prevail, there is no contest, whatever appearances may indicate.

               Psalms One and Two are the foundation stones of the book of Psalms, just as Psalm 150 is its capstone. Everything that follows the first two psalms speaks to us of the way we are living and of which kingdom we belong to. Our calling is to live in the Way of Christ, to live in the Kingdom of Christ, to know Christ and to make Him known.

               All the kingdoms of the world are opposed to Christ, and in this sense they are aligned with one another. I recall a friend lecturing me on his political perspective. When he finished, or perhaps paused to catch his breath, I said, “Everything you just said could be true, which it isn’t, but it could be true, and it still isn’t Jesus Christ.”

               Our minds will deteriorate, our perspectives will become distorted, if we are not in communion with Christ and His Word as our Way of life.

               The penultimate psalm (149), presents the ironic picture of the very people shouting in Psalm 2:3, “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!”, being “bound with fetters of iron, and having executed on them the judgment written” by those who have been faithful to Christ.

               Those in Christ will one day proclaim, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). Between now and then, Psalms reminds us who we are and to whom we belong.

 

            A Perspective on Money and the World’s Values

               In the West we pretty much measure everything by money and possessions and the experiences which money can purchase. We sell ourselves and much of the professing church for money, we sell our national civic life for money; we rejoice in the monetary success of our children and grandchildren, rather than in their moral character and whether they know Jesus Christ and serve him.

               Psalms reminds us that the world’s value system is a lie and warns us against its poison. For many of us, two “go-to” psalms are 37 and 73.

               “Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness” (37:1-3).

               “Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him, do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret, it leads only to evildoing” (37:8).

               “I have seen a wicked, violent man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in his native soil. Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found” (37:35 - 36).

               Why are we so enthralled with money and possessions and wealth and power? Why do professing Christians align themselves with economic and political and social movements that crush the poor and disenfranchised? Why do we measure our own lives by the almighty dollar? Why do we get so angry? Where does all of this come from? Why do we gravitate toward pleasure and ease and self-gratification rather than run from it to the Cross of Jesus Christ?

               The author of Psalm 73 became discouraged when he saw the wicked prospering, when he considered how unjust life was, when it appeared as if there were no consequences for leading a life without regard to God and His Law.

               “These are the wicked; and always at ease, they have increased in wealth. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence” (73:12 – 13).

               Then our author came to his senses, then he “perceived their end” (73:17). Then he realized that he, himself, had been “senseless and ignorant, like a beast before God” (73:22).

               Then he was able to write:

               “I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (73:23 – 26).

               O dear friends, if Jesus Christ isn’t everything then He isn’t anything. In one sense there are only two types of “Christians” on the earth, there are those who confess, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth,” and those who don’t.

               Psalms reminds us that the world’s values are an illusion. The glitz and glitter and wealth and power and pleasure, our obsession with consumption, it is all a lie, it is a drug, and if we buy into it we will be, as the psalmist writes, like “beasts before God.”

               Psalms proclaims to us that we are not beasts, but the sons and daughters of our Father in heaven and that our future is secure in our Lord Jesus Christ – a destiny beyond words and comprehension.

 

Sent and Sanctified; Sanctified and Sent (2)

 

 

As we recall that the word “sanctified” has a double meaning (to be set apart, to be purified), we can learn to hold both meanings together in our hearts and minds, seeing them as a whole, as complementary to one another, as necessary to one another.

 

We cannot know purity in Christ without also knowing dedication to Him, without also living as those who have been purchased by His blood and who no longer belong to themselves. Nor can we know dedication to Christ without living in His holiness, without a continuing cleansing and formation into His holy image.

 

When Jesus says, “For their sake I sanctify Myself,” we understand that there is a distinction between Him and us as it relates to purification, for Jesus Christ has always and forever been pure and spotless and sinless. He “knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21). Our High Priest has ever been “holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens” (Heb. 7:26).

 

We also find hope and comfort in that “We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Because Jesus has been “tempted in all things as we are” and yet is “without sin” we can “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16; see also Hebrews 2:10 – 18).

 

Jesus is with us in every moment of our sanctification, in every facet of our lives. We can live in this confidence, receiving His mercy and grace to help us face temptation, to enable our putting off the “old man” and our putting on the “new” (Eph. 4:20 – 24; Col. 3:9 – 11).

 

Not only does Jesus’ righteousness become our righteousness, but His holiness becomes our holiness, the “righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21) is both imputed and infused, after all, we are becoming one with the Trinity (John 17:21 – 26).

 

Jesus says, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). When we recall that the word “clean” speaks to us of pruning in this context, we see the work of Christ in our sanctification, for pruning speaks of sanctification and sanctification entails pruning. Let’s note the connection of pruning and the “word” which Jesus has spoken. The Word cleanses us (15:3), the Word sanctifies us (17:17), and even though we are already “clean” our feet still need to be washed as our way of life (13:10).

 

Let us recognize the association of Christ sanctifying His Church with His Word in Ephesians:

 

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having not spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (Eph, 5:25 – 27).

 

O friends, no self-help teaching can sanctify. No self-centered “Christian” message can form us into the image of Jesus Christ. We are not called to be “better Christians" (whatever that means), we are called to be as Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29). Only the Word of God can do the work of God; if we will not preach and teach and live His Word we will not see and experience His work in us or in others.

 

Only the Word can convict with godly sorrow and transform us into Christ. Only the Word can reveal Jesus Christ. Only the Word can unveil the glories of heaven. Only the Word can sustain us through sorrow and grief and trial. We can only truly base our lives on His Word, we can only truly trust His Word, only His Word is a matter of life and death. Let us not give our lives to the word of man, but rather to the Word of God which is Jesus Christ (John 1:1 – 18).

 

When Jesus prays, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth,” let us remember that moments before this prayer, Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (14:6). Jesus and His Word are one, as John proclaimed in the first chapter of his Gospel.

 

Just as the term “sanctify” holistically holds together two thoughts, just as the Incarnational mystery speaks of two natures yet one Person, so “the Word” is holistic and Incarnational. The Word is Christ and Christ is the Word, the Word becomes flesh in Jesus Christ, and the Word continues becoming flesh within us. The “us” in which the Word becomes flesh is as individuals and as the Bride, the Church, the Temple, the Body of Christ.

 

Among other things, all of this reminds us that our lives must be a work of the Holy Spirit, this is beyond our capacity to understand and to generate, we must not only be born of the Spirit, we must continue in the Holy Spirit, our lives are to be supernatural (John 3:1 – 8; 2 Cor. 3:17 – 18; Gal. 3:1 – 5; 5:1 – 24; Heb. 12:18 – 24; Rom. 8:12 – 39).

 

When we speak of being sanctified in the truth, we must mean more than a mere intellectual knowledge of the truth, more than ascribing to a set of doctrinal statements, even more than knowing the content of Scripture. To be sanctified in the truth is to encounter Jesus Christ, knowing Him as our Way of Life, knowing Him as our sanctification. Do we say, “Jesus is my sanctification”?

 

“By His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). The Person of Jesus is our righteousness. The Person of Jesus Christ is our sanctification. The Person of Jesus is our redemption. No wonder Paul writes, “That I may know Him” (Phil. 3:10).

 

When we consider the intimacy of the Upper Room with its theme of us being drawn into the koinonia of the Trinity, it should be no surprise that Jesus is saying, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but though Me” (14:6). We come to the Father through intimacy with Jesus, through knowing Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We come to the Father through knowing Jesus as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

 

If John 14:6 is simply a doctrinal statement, a statement of belief, without it also being a statement of existential experience, we are on dangerous ground, we are on the ground of the scribes and Pharisees. As Jesus says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). We may think that by knowing the data of the Bible, the information of the Bible, the teaching of the Bible, that we know God. But if we are not seeing and knowing Jesus Christ, we are on dangerous ground. “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me” (John 5:39).

 

The Word must be made flesh in us.

 

In order for the work of sanctification to occur within us, we must submit to the truth. This means that we confess and repent as we are convicted by the Holy Spirit and the Word, and it also means that, by the grace of God, we obey the Word of our Lord Jesus Christ. (See Hebrews 4:12 - 13; James 1:19 - 25; 1 Peter 1:22 – 25; Matthew 7:24 – 27).

 

The propensity of the professing church in American is to stand in judgment of the Word of God rather than to submit to God’s Word. I am writing of people who profess to have a high view of Scripture, not of those who are honest enough to make no pretense ot believing the Bible. One of the challenges of Sunday school classes and small groups I’ve observed and participated in, is that many men and women stand in judgment of the Bible rather than seek to obey it. If a passage doesn’t agree with them, if they don’t understand it, if it isn’t “practical,” they dismiss it, rather than saying, “Lord, I don’t understand this. Help me to see what You are saying. Help me to obey You.”

 

There is no sanctification without obedience to God’s Word. There is no sanctification without surrender to Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

This then requires our sacrifice (Romans 12:1 – 2). We sacrifice ourselves as Jesus sacrificed Himself. The Lord willing, we’ll continue to reflect on this in the next post in this series.

 

 

Why Read the Psalms Daily? (2)

 

Forgiveness for Ourselves and Others

               When I was a boy, I learned to keep score at the ballgame. The numbers 1 – 9 represented baseball positions to me, as they do to multitudes of baseball fans. Number 6 is shortstop, number 8 centerfielder, number 2 catcher. A 6-4-3 DP means that the shortstop fielded the ball, threw it to the second baseman, who then threw it to the first baseman. Of course there was more happening during the play, but this represents the basics.

               In Psalms numbers come to represent themes, areas of emphasis, textures. Some groups of psalms tend to give us a perspective on God’s working in history. Another group is associated with praise and worship. While another group leads us on a journey from exile to restoration, from living as aliens to recovering our inheritance in Christ.

               Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51,102, 130, and 143 form a group termed “the penitential psalms,” they express sorrow for sin and a yearning and searching for forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

               Many of us have cried with David, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast [or upright] spirit within me” (Psa. 51:10). Many have cried to God, “Retore to me the joy of Your salvation” (51:12).

               Can we identity with the plea, “Return, O LORD, rescue my soul, save me because of Your lovingkindness” (6:4)?

               How about, “There is no health in my bones, because of my sin. For my iniquities are gone over my hear; as a heavy burden they weigh too much for me” (38:4)?

               Well, you get the idea. There are times when our thoughts and actions and words just make us sick; sick with guilt, with remorse, sick with disgust at ourselves, sick at the realization of what we've done toward God and others. Sin is not eating too much chocolate, it is transgressing the holiness of God, violating our relationship with God, polluting relationships with others. Sin is disobeying the Word of God.

               But there is hope and there is promise in these psalms.

               “If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared" (130:3 - 4).

               There is a desire to obey: “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. For the sake of Your name, O LORD, revive me. In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble” (143:10 – 11).

               As you read and ponder these seven psalms, you’ll realize that they represent the complexity, contradictions, and aspirations of human beings. They do not portray a simplistic approach to God and sin and repentance and forgiveness and reconciliation. They do illustrate struggle; struggle within, struggle without, struggle through doubt and fear, struggle through sin, struggle to find restored relationship with God.

               If we learn to work through these seven penitential psalms, not only will we have seven havens to return to when we are once again in need of reconciliation, but we will have seven beacons of hope and truth to guide others to and through. We will have more than the cheap grace (to borrow a term from Bonhoeffer) so prevalent in American Christianity to offer others, we will have the raw reality of life with God…and without God…of life in His will and outside His will. It is far better to live in Him, than without Him.

 

            Spiritual Formation into the Image of Christ

Francis Schaffer said that one reason he read the Bible everyday was to cleanse his mind. The thought life of the world, its images and messages, its philosophies and values, have a polluting effect on our hearts and minds and souls; we need continuing renewal in Christ and His Word. Paul exhorts his readers, “Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).

Peter writes, “Like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior, because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I AM holy” (1 Peter 1:15 – 16).

The book of Psalms confronts us with who we are, with the inner workings of ourselves. It does not ask us to engage in self-analysis but rather calls us to allow the light of Scripture to shine within us and to respond to the encouragement and conviction of the Holy Spirit.  

“Who can discern his errors?” (Ps. 19:12).

Knowing that the answer is, “No one,” we pray:

“Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; then I will be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer” (Ps. 19:12 – 14).

The Psalms are clear, we can’t do this on our own. To be formed into the image of Christ is beyond our ability, but if we will submit to the working of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit we can say with confidence, “The LORD will accomplish [perfect, complete] that which concerns me” (Ps. 138:8).

This assurance leads us to trust our Father as He works deep within us to cleanse us and form us into His holy image, that of Jesus Christ.  

“Seach me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” (139:23–24).

The story goes that when Michaelangelo chose the block of marble from which he would create his magnificent David, he chose a block which had been rejected by others due to its obvious flaws. Beyond the flaws the sculptor saw David, and he saw that by chipping away at the flaws, at everything that was not the image of David, that David would come forth.

The context of Psalm 139:23-24, just quoted above, is God’s intimate knowledge of us; and knowing that God knows us deeply, that He knows our every thought, that He has always known us, that He sees our flaws, that even if we make our bed in Sheol that He is there; gives us the assurance to ask God to search us, to know us, to free us from hurtful ways, and to lead us in the Everlasting Way, which, of course, is Jesus Christ.

to be continued....

Why Read the Psalms Daily? (1)

 This is the time of year when I typically write something about reading the Bible in the coming year. This year I wrote a piece for a friend who is learning to read the Bible that focuses on Psalms. Below is the first part of my letter, with more to follow.

I hope there is something here for you.

Love,

Bob

Why Read the Psalms Daily?

 

Robert L. Withers

December 2025

 

Dear Apelles,

For years now I’ve been asking God’s People to read the psalms daily, knowing that if they do that their lives with change for the better as they draw closer to Christ. Explaining why we should read the psalms is like trying to explain why someone should visit the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone, everyone’s experience is different while being the same. The vastness and diversity of Yellowstone, of the Grand Canyon, and of Psalms envelop us – and while we may each be drawn to different facets, we all experience wonder and awe…unless of course we are simply tourists. Yes, many tourists visit the Bible and never “see” or experience the Bible, just as crowds of tourists visit our National Parks and never really “see” or experience them, they might as well have gone to an amusement park.

I am going to try to share just how incorporating the psalms into our lives can be transformative, and how our living in Psalms can be a blessing to those around us.

 

            Our Common Experience

               The Psalms represent the common experience of humanity. From euphoric praise to deep despair and resignation. From certain faith to doubt, from courage to fear, from friendship to betrayal; from feeling closer than ever to God to thinking you are rejected by Him. In Psalms we see deep repentance and contrition, and wonderful assurance of forgiveness and salvation. We read of bullies and crooks seeming to have the upper hand, of unjust rulers, and of God working His purposes in the face of overwhelming opposition. In Psalms, things are not always as they appear.

               In Psalms we learn that we are not accidents looking for a place to happen but that we have a Divine purpose. We learn that we are not alone, there are others on pilgrimage with us, and we are under the care of our Good Shepherd.

               It is unlikely that we, or anyone we know, will ever experience anything that is not represented in Psalms.

               The Psalms are raw and honest, and there are some not for the faint of heart, such as Psalm 88. A friend once called me about Psalm 88, telling me that there was no hope in this passage. I suggested that he keep moving through the psalms, and I pointed him particularly to Psalm 118, a psalm which embraces the Crucifixion and Resurrection. You see, Psalms is not just about the moments we experience, Psalms is about the life we live. We will all have terrible moments, we will all have doubts and fears, we may all know betrayal; Psalms teaches us how to live through these experiences, and it does so with raw and unvarnished language and imagery. Life is a contact sport, Psalms coaches us how to live through the contact, how to get up off the ground; and perhaps more importantly, it shows us how to help others.

               The person for whom Psalms has become the fabric of life, is a person who will always have a place to go for prayer, counsel, and comfort. This is also a person who has something to offer others, for we will never meet a person in need for whom there is not a psalm for the person’s circumstance and experience.

               Now you may think, “There are 150 psalms, how will I ever learn them all?”              

               Well, I am certain that you probably know at least 150 tunes and lyrics, if not all the lyrics to a song, some of the lyrics; if you know some of the lyrics you can always look up all of the lyrics.

               Since Psalms is written in verse, if we use a translation that honors and respects the original Hebrew poetic structure we may be surprised at how our memories absorb these expressions of faith and life. This is also why daily reading is critical, this allows Psalms to enter our hearts and minds and souls, to be engrafted within us, to become an element of our nature. Beyond Psalms becoming part of our nature, they also bring us into the Nature of Christ.

 

            Helping Others

               When I was a lad doctors still made house calls, carrying black medical bags with them. I vividly recall our doctor and his black bag in the living room of our suburban home outside Washington, D.C. As a young boy, there was something reassuring about our physician and his bag of healing in our home – there was a presence about them, they were joined together, I could not have imagined one without the other.

               Suppose our doctor had arrived without his black bag? Suppose he came into our home without his stethoscope, thermometer, tongue depressors, blood pressure monitor, and the many other medical helps common to his practice?  Suppose when asked, “Doctor, it’s great to see you, but where is your black bag?” he replied, “I don’t carry it anymore. I’ve decided I don’t need it”?

               The book of Psalms is our black bag. It consists of not only 150 portals to God, it represents not only 150 doors through which we can enter the Presence of God, but since its sum is greater than its parts, it represents endless possibilities of Divine communion and healing and friendship. It also contains pathways to deep relationships with our brothers and sisters. We might say that the inside of the black bag is greater than the outside of the bag.

               A difference between Psalms and the physician’s black bag is that while the doctor must master his medical devices, we cannot master Psalms, Psalms must master us. While the tools of medicine must be mastered by the doctor, disciples of Christ must be mastered by His Word. (I want to be quick to point out that good medicine is more than science, it is more than technology – I am only focusing on a narrow aspect of it right now.) While the black bag may serve the physician, we must serve Psalms.

               We listen to others, we observe others, we pray for others, we hear what the Holy Spirit says, and we discover where Psalms takes us in service to others. What doors to our Good Shepherd might we open for others through Psalms?

               Because Psalms covers the depth and breadth of human experience, even if we have not personally experienced something…such as betrayal or depression or a sense of hopelessness…in Psalms we have encountered people who have, and can therefore say, “I know someone who has had that experience, let me take you to him.”

               Consider Psalm 22 which begins, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Yet it concludes with praise (verse 25) and a statement that God will perform and complete His purpose (verse 31). Also consider that the psalm of the Good Shepherd follows Psalm 22, a psalm in which a Table is prepared for us in the presence of our enemies. Psalm 22 moves from gut wrenching agony to glorious praise and assurance.

               I have taken Psalm 23 from my black bag more than any other psalm. I have shared it in hospitals, in homes, while shopping, in small groups, in venue after venue. I have prayed Psalm 23 for myself in the storms of life, amid worries and anxieties and uncertainties.

Psalm 23 allows me to say to anyone I meet, with absolute confidence, “I won’t pretend to say that I understand what you are going through, or why you are experiencing what you are experiencing, but I can say with certainty that your heavenly Father, your Good Shepherd, wants to reveal Himself to you through this, He wants to walk with you through this, He desires for you to know and sense His love and care for you through this."

We can wear Psalm 23 the way a physician wears a stethoscope, always using it to listen to hearts and lungs, to spirits and souls…and responding with love, care, and mercy.

to be continued....

 

 

 

Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship Part II – Reflections (27)

 

 

Let’s take another look at these two excerpts, quoted in the previous reflection:

 

“The limits are reached wherever there is a clash between the space the body of Christ claims and occupies in this world for worship, offices, and the civic life of its members, and the world’s own claim for space” (page 228).

 

“That this state of affairs has been reached becomes at the same time evident in two ways. First, it becomes necessary for members of the church-community to make a visible and public confession of faith in Christ. Second, it becomes necessary for the world either wisely to withdraw or to resort to violence” (page 228).

 

I would like to ask Bonhoeffer what he means by it becoming “necessary for members of the church-community to make a visible and public confession of faith in Christ.” I’d like to ask him about this because I think what he has written can be misunderstood.

 

Does he mean that we wait until there is a conflict to make a public confession? While perhaps it can be taken this way, this doesn’t seem to align with Bonhoeffer’s own life nor with the body of his teaching. I will not presume to know just what Bonhoeffer means, other than there will be times when our public confession must be unambiguous…with emphasis on the word “public.”

 

My own sense is that our confession in the workplace begins on the first day of employment, the sooner the better. The way relationships begin typically sets their trajectory. When a professing Christian thinks, “I’ll wait until I have been here a while and then let people know that I am a Christian,” that Christian often never gets around to sharing Jesus, to sharing his or her life in Christ, never becomes a blessing to others, a source of encouragement to others in Christ.

 

One reason this happens is that to hide our relationship with Jesus we must lie about who we are. This is like a married person who takes his or her wedding ring off before going into the workplace, never mentions their spouse, and gives everyone the impression that he or she isn’t married. It is impossible for people not to know we are Christians unless we deceive them and deny knowing Jesus.

 

People in the workplace always talk about weekends, they want to know what you are going to do and what you did. Active Christians typically gather on weekends, worship and fellowship form a core element of our lives, if we act as if our gatherings do not exist, as if we don’t participate in them, then we are deceiving those around us.

 

People in the workplace often talk about entertainment, about television, about movies. Most of this world is poison, it is unwholesome and without moral virtue. Do we ask thoughtful questions when these subjects are discussed, or do we try to blend in? We ought not to be ashamed that we do not know what people are talking about when it comes to some things, anymore than we should be ashamed that we don’t sprinkle rat poison on our pasta but rather parmesan cheese.

 

Gossip is often a disease in the workplace, and being silent in an atmosphere of gossip is a sign of approval. Furthermore, as Christians, let us remind ourselves that the devil slanders others, while Jesus Christ came to cover our sins.

 

Sadly, there are work environments where prejudice and lying and deceit and cheating and inequity are practiced. There are work situations where employees are not treated equally. There are businesses that do not treat their customers with respect and honesty. There are employees who do not give their employers an honest day’s work. There are employees who steal.

 

My point is that the world is in darkness, and if we are going to live in the Light of Christ that we cannot but help to confess Him as our Way of Life; we have opportunity after opportunity.

 

Another facet to our confession is that people are hurting. Life is hard, life can be painful, Are we going to pay attention to those around us, listening to them, caring about them, praying for them, or are we going to ignore our coworkers? As we show people we care, we will have many opportunities to pray for them, to encourage them, and to share Christ with them. Listening to others and remembering what they share with us is often the beginning of meaningful witness and relationship.

 

Our work ethic, the quality of our work, our enthusiasm, our willingness to do whatever is needed, our desire to contribute to the success of others, all this ought to be characteristic of the members of the visible church-community in the workplace. As Paul writes, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men…It is the Lord Christ whom you serve” (Colossians 3:23 – 24).

 

The nature of the world and the Nature of Jesus Christ are so opposite, that it is impossible to be faithful to Christ in the workplace, in the civic arena, in academics, in recreation, and not be a witness to Him – both in word and in deed.

 

If we are accustomed to sharing Jesus Christ with fellow believers, if praying with other Christians is woven into the fabric of our lives, then sharing Christ in the workplace is much less of a leap than otherwise because it is already the way we live. If, however, we do not pray with other Christians one to one or in small groups, and if we don’t share the life of Christ, share out of our relationship with Jesus with other disciples, if we aren’t sharing from the Scriptures as our way of life, then we are less likely to share with people in the workplace…or anyplace.

 

I’m not sure why we expect folks to share Jesus outside our churches if we don’t give them the opportunity to share Jesus with one another within our congregations. I don’t see how we can pray with folks in the workplace if we don’t pray with those with whom we gather on Sundays, if we don’t have relationships with them throughout the week.

 

When my wife and I moved to a new area some years ago, she had a challenging time finding a job. Vickie was getting interviews and offers, for she was well-qualified in her field. However, every offer came from an organization that promoted policies that were contrary to Biblical standards. Since I was a fulltime student, we really needed the income. The area we moved to was much more expensive than where we had moved from, and we were feeling the financial pressure. Yet, we both knew that we couldn’t trade our obedience to Christ, and our trust in Him, for an ungodly job. There was never any doubt in our minds about her violating her conscience by taking a job that would be displeasing to Jesus.

 

After seeking on the one hand, and waiting for God on the other, our Father provided Vickie with a wonderful job; one that was fulfilling, was financially rewarding, and was with encouraging people. Vickie and I have both had times in which we’ve had to say “No” to the world, to organizations, to jobs in order to remain faithful to Jesus. Some of these times have been more painful than others, but I can tell you that I am thankful, by God’s grace, that we did not sell ourselves to the highest bidder…for after all…Jesus had already purchased us and we belonged to Him.

 

I will also hasten to say that throughout our pilgrimage as husband and wife, we have had dear friends who have stood with us and been part of our lives. Our relationships with them have meant that we have not been alone…even when physically separated by distance, we’ve never been alone.

 

The support of the visible church-community is critical to each of us, the question is whether we have it, whether it is accessible to us, whether it is nurtured.

 

The Lord willing, we’ll continue working with the above quotations from Bonhoeffer in our next reflection in this series.

 

 

 

Sent and Sanctified; Sanctified and Sent

  

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth” (John 17:17 – 19).

 

Here we touch the essence of the Incarnational mission, the essence of our sacrificial priesthood, and the essence of our koinonia with one another in the Trinity. Here we have our mission and the means of our mission.  This core passage speaks of our relationship with the Trinity, our relationship with one another in Christ, and our relationship with the world.

 

Beyond this passage we enter the Holy of Holies, the ineffable Presence. In the Presence there is abiding “mission” (17:21, 23), for is not our God always giving, always seeking, and gloriously always finding? We enter the Presence engaged in mission, we move outward from the Presence engaged in mission. This mission has two directions with one goal. We are on mission to declare our Father’s Name to our brethren and to present them complete in Christ (Heb. 2:12; Col. 1:28), and we are on mission to the people of the world to bring them into a relationship with the Trinity (John 3:16). The one goal is that we may all live as members of the Body of Christ, the Family of God, forever and ever in that Great City which is composed of Christ, Christ, the fulness of Christ, so that God may be “all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28).

 

If Jesus sanctified Himself for us, and if He sends us as the Father sent Him, then we are to sanctify ourselves for Him and for others, for not only does Jesus send us as the Father sent Him, but “as He is, so also are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

 

This passage means that we do not belong to ourselves but to Him who sends us. Our lives are not our own, our agendas must not be our own. We do not live as others do, for their own pleasure and ease; we do not seek distractions and entertainment, we seek the truth and beauty and goodness, the welfare of others and the glory of God.

 

A life centered in John 17:17 – 19 is a life that is able to say, in Christ, ““I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4).

 

All service and leadership in the Church has its ground in John 17:17 – 19 (which is integrated with John 13:1 – 17 and Matthew 20:20 – 28). Those who serve Jesus Christ are called to be both priest and sacrifice. Let us not teach the priesthood of the believer if we are not also teaching the sacrificial life of the believer, the two ought not to be separated. When we gather as God’s flock we gather as sacrificial lambs, as those who “follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (Rev. 14:4).

 

The passage begins, “Sanctify them in the truth,” and it concludes, “that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”

 

We are made holy and set apart to God in and through and by the truth. Our lives are a continual setting apart to God, a continual going out from the world, the flesh, and the devil; a continual departure from Babylon; and a continual entering into the Holy City in Christ. We leave the fragmentation of the world and its chaos and enter into the Holy of Holies of oneness in the Trinity (John 17:21 – 26). Living in this unity of Life in God enables us to be deeply and eternally grounded as we live on mission to the brethren and the world, for just as Jesus is not of the world, so are we not of the world.

 

What does this passage look like in your life?

 

In the life of your family?

 

In the life of your congregation?

 

We’ll continue to ponder this passage in our next post in this series, the Lord willing.

Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship Part II – Reflections (26)

 

“It is, therefore, also evident that in living out their secular vocations, Christians come to experience very definite limits, and that in certain cases the call into a secular vocation must of necessity be followed by the call to leave that worldly vocation…What defines these limits is our very belonging to the visible community of Christ” (page 228).

 

“The limits are reached wherever there is a clash between the space the body of Christ claims and occupies in this world for worship, offices, and the civic life of its members, and the world’s own claim for space” (page 228).

 

“That this state of affairs has been reached becomes at the same time evident in two ways. First, it becomes necessary for members of the church-community to make a visible and public confession of faith in Christ. Second, it becomes necessary for the world either wisely to withdraw or to resort to violence” (page 228).

 

Bonhoeffer then writes that those who suffer for Christ, “Join their Lord in a visible community of suffering. They now need even more the full fellowship and support of brothers and sisters in the church-community” (page 228, italics mine).

 

While I hope you are reading Discipleship (or as it is also known, The Cost of Discipleship) along with us, I’ve quoted extensively above in order to capture the flow of Bonhoeffer’s tightly woven thought.

 

Let’s keep in mind that the title of this chapter is The Visible Church-Community. Bonhoeffer is asking us, “What should we look like in the world? What space should we occupy? How should we be identified? What are the marks of the church-community?”

 

When we are asked what space we ought to occupy, and how we, as the People of God, ought to be identified, our answers may well gravitate toward church buildings on Sunday mornings – our thinking tends to be building centric, organizational centric. Who we are and what we do as Christians tends have their center of gravity in organizations and buildings. The space we occupy tends to be restricted to the address of our local church building.

 

(I am reminded of a tee-shirt a friend of mine wore which said, “I love my church.” Well now, I suppose that is nice, but how much better to proclaim, “I love the Church.” If, as a pastor, I have not taught my people to love the Church, then we still have a long way to go.)

 

When we “see” the church, do we tend to see our local congregation, our building, our organizational structure? Do we place the church in a ghetto? Have we erected walls in our minds around the church, confining it to a building, a place, an organization; limiting its expression to certain times and places?

 

When we meet Christians of other congregations, do we see the church? When we encounter Christians in the workplace, in the marketplace, do we see the church?

 

Bonhoeffer tells us that there are “very definite limits” to our vocations (as previously mentioned, the word “secular” is unfortunate). He also tells us that there are times when we must leave our vocations, and that these limits and decisions are defined by our belonging “to the visible community of Christ.” He follows this thinking up by giving examples of vocations which the Early Church deemed incompatible with discipleship, as well as vocations which society closed to Christians.

 

He also, in the above quotes, points out that conflict with the world can result in the Christian withdrawing from a vocation – this would be true of a vocation in general and a job in particular. In other words, a vocation may have, in and of itself, elements which make it incompatible with faithfulness to Jesus Christ and His People. It may also happen that a particular position in a particular organization may be incompatible with our life in Christ and in the Church; this could be due to the nature and practices of an organization.

 

Do you see challenges to Bonhoeffer’s thinking? What are the barriers to us, at least in the West, accepting what Bonhoeffer writes?

 

Here are my observations, can you expand on them?

 

The first challenge is that money has become our arbiter. That is, our decisions are guided by money, by economics. We have become so absorbed with money, the love of which is indeed the root of all evil, that the “bottom line” has come to justify our decisions without much question. Not only has money become our guide, but we dare not challenge another brother or sister’s decision in a matter if it is based on sound economic thinking.

 

The second challenge is that we live in an individualistic mindset as opposed to living as members of the Body of Christ, as members of the visible church-community. Our lives are our own, we don’t really think of them as belonging to Christ Jesus, or as belonging to His Body. We will make our own decisions about vocation, about what we do and how we do it. No one will tell us, or even suggest, that what we do or how we do it may be incompatible with the Scriptures and the Person of Jesus Christ. No one has the “right” to suggest that our jobs are harmful to humanity.

 

We fail to see that as members of Christ, what we do is what the Body of Christ does, our actions are extensions of Jesus Christ, they are expressions of the visible church-community. Shall we soil the garments of Christ? Shall we inflict harm on humanity? Shall we bring shame on the Gospel?

 

A third challenge is whether the visible church-community will support a sister or brother who must leave their vocation, or their particular job, due to obedience to Jesus Christ. If vocation XYZ is deemed incompatible with Christian discipleship and a brother or sister must leave employment in that field, will the visible church-community support that member through transition to another vocation?

 

This third challenge is present whether we speak in terms of the nature of a vocation, or in terms of faithfulness to Christ when the disciple is confronted with ungodly practices. That is, a vocation in and of itself may be wonderful, providing income to the worker and an avenue of service to society, but a situation may arise in which a disciple must choose between obedience to Jesus Christ and obedience to the ungodliness of the world. In such instances, will the visible church-community stand with the obedient disciple, encouraging and economically supporting the disciple through that season of life?

 

The limits to our vocations are defined by our belonging to the visible church-community, we represent Christ and His Body in all that we do. Our church-community establishes boundaries on both vocations (some are out of bounds) and practices within a vocation.

 

What might we consider vocations that are unacceptable to followers of Jesus Christ? What vocations are clear to us as being incompatible with our life in Christ and as members of the Body of Christ? What vocations are problematic? What vocations do our understanding wrestle with in terms of right and wrong, good and evil, acceptable and unacceptable, edifying and harmful?

 

Is it possible that we have become such prisoners of money that we cannot consider these questions?

 

Being in koinonia with the visible church-community defines and limits our vocational practice in a way that has been vital to me – the presence of my brothers and sisters is with me in my thinking and decision-making and my actions. My friendships in Christ are an element of my vocational practice, knowing that in our koinonia we have koinonia with the Trinity (1 John 1:3). The deeper the friendships, the higher the shared joy in Jesus, the greater the presence in my life of my brothers and sisters – to betray Jesus is to betray my friends in Christ, to betray my friends in Christ is to betray Jesus. To sin in my vocation, to disobey Christ Jesus in my vocation, is to also sin against my brothers and sisters in Christ who are part of my life, who are woven into my heart and soul.

 

To disobey Christ in my vocation is to pollute my koinonia with the visible church-community, and most especially with those in Christ who trust me in friendship. It is better, far better, to suffer for obedience to Jesus Christ and incur the rejection of the world, than to betray Jesus and my friends.

 

Of course, if we have never experienced intimacy in the Body of Christ, if the visible church-community is not at the core of our soul, if we do not live for the welfare of the Body and the salvation of others, then we may not relate to what I’m sharing. This is much like the truth that if we don’t really know Jesus, then we can’t truly share Him with others; we can only give away that which is ours to give.

 

The Lord willing, we’ll continue with these quotations from Bonhoeffer in our next reflection in this series.

 

The Enigma of the World (2)

 

 

After posting yesterday’s reflection, I was reading Psalm 121 and thought I ought to connect it to John 17:15, “I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”

 

In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus teaches us to pray, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). As you may know, “from evil” can also be translated “from the evil one.” Considering that Jesus has just faced Satan, the evil one, in the Wilderness (Matthew 4:1 – 11), this may make sense, plus there are grammatical reasons for it…or not. In any event, since evil comes from the “evil one” Matthew 6:13 has us praying along with Jesus in John 17:15.

 

As we saw in the previous reflection, Jesus promises to keep us, which takes us to Psalm 121 (ESV):

 

 A Song of Ascents.

121 I lift up my eyes to the hills.

    From where does my help come?

2 My help comes from the LORD,

    who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;

    he who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, he who keeps Israel

    will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper;

    the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

    nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all evil;

    he will keep your life.

8 The LORD will keep

    your going out and your coming in

    from this time forth and forevermore.

 

I prefer the ESV for this psalm for its consistent use of the word “keep” in translation, if you compare it to other translations you’ll see what I mean. I strongly believe that if the original text uses a word repetitiously that we ought to be true to the text, Biblical emphasis should take precedence over our English convention of not repeating the same word.

 

In verse 4 we see that God keeps Israel, God keeps His People; He kept ancient Israel when Psalm 121 was written, and He keeps the New Covenant Israel (Galatians 6:16; Ephesians 2:11 – 22) today. One of the messages of the book of Revelation is God’s protection of the Church through tribulation, with the background motif of Israel in Egypt and the Wilderness, Revelation portrays a victorious People in Christ who overcome by the “blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, not loving their lives even when faced with death” (Rev. 12:11). God does not keep us by removing us from the world but rather keeps us in Christ as we live in the world and overcome evil and the evil one.

 

“You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

 

“We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).

 

We must not minimize the distinction between the Kingdom of God and the world, we must not ignore the gulf between light and darkness, good and evil, life and death.

 

Notice that in Psalm 121:3 and 4 that our God is ever watchful over us, He never slumbers or sleeps; when we must sleep, He watches over us; we are always and forever in His tender loving and almighty care.

 

In 121:7 we see that our Father keeps us from “all evil” and that He will keep our soul.

 

(Here the ESV uses “life” but in this verse I much prefer the other option “soul.” I think it better captures the essence of who we are, going beyond physical life into the core of our being.)

 

We can connect 121:7 with Matthew 6:13 and John 17:15, being assured that our Good Shepherd will walk with us through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, comforting us and preparing a Table (His body and blood) before us in the presence of our enemies, anointing our heads with oil, and giving us overflowing cups (Psalm 23).

 

We can be confident that God will keep us from “all evil,” and that our souls are secure in Him; that no matter what may happen to our bodies, that our souls are safe in Christ and that we have eternal bodies waiting for us…glorious beyond our comprehension (2 Cor. 5:1 – 10).

 

If we consider the context of John 17:15, we will remember that shortly after Jesus prays that we will be kept from the evil one, that Jesus will be betrayed, arrested, tortured, mocked, abandoned, and crucified – yet through all of this the Father not only kept Him from the evil one, but Christ Jesus defeated the evil one through His obedience and sacrifice.

 

This, my friends, is our calling in Christ. We see this calling throughout the Old and New Testaments, we see our participation in the sufferings of Jesus Christ for His glory, for our koinonia with Him, and for the salvation of others. As the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us. We behold this calling throughout the book of Revelation where the saints experience an ironic and irenic victory through suffering, even unto death. This has been our testimony through the ages, beginning with Abel (Hebrews 11:4). Let us not be so foolish as to follow a different gospel that would spare us the Cross of Christ.

 

We may have supreme and unwavering confidence that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit will keep us, they will keep our souls; our future is sure and certain in God, He protects us from the evil one, He keeps our souls.

 

Now, let us live for God and others.

 

The Enigma of the World

 

“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:14 – 16).

 

“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (John 17:18).

 

Since in previous reflections we’ve explored our relationship with the world, including the world’s opposition to Christ and to us (see especially our consideration of John 15:18 – 16:4), we won’t retrace our steps. However, there is an enigma, a distinction, and a calling that we want to recognize in John 17:13 – 23.

 

Twice Jesus says, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” What do the words “even as I” convey to us?

 

We are to love “even as” Jesus loves (John 13:34). Jesus sends us “even as” the Father sent Him (20:21). We are to be one “even as” the Father and Son are one (17:21). The Father loves us “even as” He loves the Son (17:23).

 

If we are truly “not of the world,” as Jesus is not of the world; if our origin and source of life, if our destiny and purpose is not of the world, just as it is with Jesus, then why are we preoccupied with the politics, economics, entertainments, values, priorities, and approval of the world? How have we gotten so side-tracked and distracted from the things of our Father, from our mission to the people of the world?

 

We are, after all, citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20), and our Lord Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world…My kingdom is not of this realm” (John 18:36). When we consider that Jesus is speaking to the Roman Empire in the person of Pontius Pilate, we ought to wonder why we don’t speak this same thing to the governments and political parties of our own time. Why don’t we make it clear to our generation that the Church of Jesus Christ, the Body of Christ, the People of Christ, are not of this world?

 

How is it that masses of Christians in our own country give themselves to agendas that are not of the Kingdom of God? How is that we have abandoned our calling in Christ to seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God? (Colossians 3:1 – 4), turning our attention and affection to the world…whether those things appear “good” or “bad”? When we do this, are we not eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as opposed to the Tree of Life (Jesus Christ)?

 

On another note, Jesus says, “I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one” (17:15).

 

We are here on mission, our calling is to complete the mission, not to abandon it. We are here to grow up into Christ, to fully express Christ, and to bring the Gospel to humanity. We are here to participate in the Stone cut without hands filling all the earth (Daniel 2).  We are not here to escape hardship, persecution, trial, or tribulation. We are not here to be snatched away. We are here to overcome in Jesus Christ, for His glory and the glory of our Father; for the salvation of others. We are not to be taken out of the world, but to be protected from the evil one, and we can trust our God that we shall indeed be protected as we are kept in the Father’s Name (John 17:12; 6:39; 10:27 – 30).

 

Something is amiss when we focus on self-preservation and not laying down our lives for the brethren (1 John 3:16), our thinking and practice are awry when we are not giving ourselves so that those who believe in Jesus will not perish, but have enteral life (John 3:16).

 

Our calling in Christ is to grow up as the sons and daughters of our Father, it is to grow up into Christ as a Mature Man (Ephesians 4:14 – 16; Colossians 1:24 - 29), we are to be overcomers in Christ (see the overcomer passages of Revelation chapters 2 3, and Revelation 21:7), we are to know Him in the power of His resurrection and the koinonia of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Phil. 3:10).

 

While Jesus says, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:16) mission to the world is embedded in John 17. This can be an enigma until we see this passage in the eyes of the Holy Spirit. It can be confusing until we see the clear distinction Jesus is making, when He says that we are in the world but we are not “of the world.” We are traveling as aliens, as strangers in a strange land (Hebrews 11:8 – 16), but we are not simply “passing through,” we are on mission to the world, proclaiming the Gospel in word and deed, living as the Presence of Christ.

 

We’ll close this reflection with a hymn by Palmer Hartsough, I learned this as a lad and I still sing it:

 

 

I AM RESOLVED

 

I am resolved no longer to linger,

Charmed by the world’s delight,

Things that are higher, things that are nobler,

These have allured my sight.

 

Refrain:

I will hasten to Him,

Hasten so glad and free;

Jesus, greatest, highest,

I will come to Thee.

 

I am resolved to go to the Savior,

Leaving my sin and strife;

He is the true One, He is the just One,

He hath the words of life.

 

I am resolved to follow the Savior,

Faithful and true each day;

Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth,

He is the living Way.

I am resolved to enter the kingdom,

Leaving the paths of sin;

Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me,

Still will I enter in.

 

I am resolved, and who will go with me?

Come, friends, without delay;

Taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit,

We’ll walk the heav’nly way.