Category: Hebrews

I watch reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond occasionally, I laugh, but recently in the midst of the laughter I am disturbed, and I am glad that I am disturbed.  Ray makes me laugh, but he also makes me angry.  He is typical of most TV sitcom husbands, and unfortunately I think reality is not far from fiction.  Ray is spineless, he never leads, he always reacts; never do you see him courageously take the reins.  He is not led by principle nor love, but selfishness; he wants everyone to like him.  He never confronts because people’s perception of him is more important to him than truth and real love.  He never spends anytime with his children and acts like he is being tortured when he has to do so.  On the opposite side of the spectrum is rude Frank who could care less about what you think about him.  Here is the crazy thing though; they are both driven by selfishness.  Ray wants everyone to like him; Frank wants things done his way.

Men of faith look very different.  Moses was both a courageous leader and meek.  He would confront the people and also mediate for them.  The men of this chapter (and a couple of ladies) are heroes and the unifying characteristic is faith.  Ray may make me laugh, but he is no hero.  Here is my advice to any men who may be reading this post:

1)      Turn off the TV

2)      Pick up your Bible and get to know its characters better than you do Jack Bauer, Steve Nash, or Peyton Manning.

3)      Read Christian biography.

4)      Point other men (especially your sons) towards these men who shine as stars in a vast sea of darkness.

Too many men today have no clue what it looks like to be a man of faith.  And their sons won’t either if they won’t be one for them and point them too others.  Point out awesome displays of faith more than awesome tackles.  Get a man-crush on Moses and George Whitefield.   Get to know men of faith both Biblical and historical and imitate their faith.

Here are a few suggestions as to where to get started:

• John Piper’s biographical sermons.   Read or listen to them online for free.
• John Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides
• Here I Stand by Roland Bainton
• Spurgeon by Arnold Dallimore

Ever find yourself in the midst of a group with interest totally alien to your own?  They talk different, the lingo and terminology is odd.  Perhaps you are a jock thrown into the midst of a bunch of Dungeons and Dragons geeks.  Or perhaps you are the nerd thrown into talk concerning the latest playoff.  Sometimes the subject matter is so foreign to your little world that you think them bizarre, odd, weird.

As Christians we are that odd little group in the cafeteria that no one wants to sit next too.  We are an alien culture, going against the grain of this world.  This world is indeed heading to hell, and we are on an opposite trajectory towards heaven.   We are pilgrims, homeward bound.  We are not a sub-culture, doing the same things just in our own “clean” way.  We are light and salt in a world full of darkness and rot.  Don’t buy the sub-culture myth that is really the same darkness and rot underneath a linen garment; unlike Lazarus it is indeed dead and stinketh.

We live as strangers and exiles (v.13), we talk different (v. 14), we pass on the Twinkies and Ho-Hos of sin for the promises of homemade apple pie and ice-cream.  We can smell it, we can hear it, by faith; and thus we behave so wildly for He who has called us His beloved.  We do not settle for lovers less wild and the artificial flavors of their enticements.  We pass on lies for promises of substance.  We long for unfading glory, we wish to draw near to God, to please Him, to know He is not ashamed to be called our God (v. 16).

We seek an inheritance incorruptible.  Right now I am reading perhaps the most massive work ever written on spiritual warefare, Puritan William Gurnall’s The Christian in Complete Armour (1189 pages in the Banner of Truth addition, double column, approximately 10pt. font!).  It is an exposition of Ephesians 5:10-20.  It was originally released in three volumes, the second being dedicated to Thomas Darcy, Esq. and Sisilia Darcy, who were apparently well off.  To them he advises, “Value yourselves by your inheritance in the other world, and not by your honour and riches in this.”

This is weird, this is opposite, it is worth it.

Opposite Way by Leeland

Living in the same town

For all these years

Doing the same old things

Hanging with the same crowd

And it’s starting to get crippling

You’ve never felt in place

And you tell yourself it’s all okay

But something’s different today

You want to run the opposite way

And it seems like you’re locked in a cage

And you need to find a way of escape

When everyone is setting the pace

It’s okay to run the opposite way

The Father sent His Son down

The light of men

The cross He bore was crippling

Rejected in His own town

They couldn’t see the sun shining

He knelt in the garden and prayed

Father, let this cup pass from me

It’s not Your will for me to stay

Your will for me is the opposite way

And it seemed like He was locked in a cage

And He couldn’t find away of escape

But through the cross He conquered the grave

My Jesus ran the opposite way

Oh, and through the cross He conquered the grave

Oh, He ran the opposite way

Yeah, through the cross He conquered the grave

So you could run the opposite way

Today is Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday.  He is a hero.

I want to rebuke any mothers who were upset that Michael Phelps was smoking hash because he was a role model for their children (I don’t know any such moms, I doubt any such moms read my blog, but nonetheless…).  I too watched the greatness that is Phelps sweep up multiple medals with ease.  I admired him in a way.  But as far as a moral role model – why would I ever want to encourage my children to pattern their behavior after him?  If my child’s lighting up a doobie is contingent upon Michael Phelps I have parenting issues.  Point them to a real hero.  Be one yourself and point them towards someone like Lincoln.

President Lincoln is a hero, but his greatness is mixed with sin.  His glory was the cause he pushed, his shame that he didn’t push it far enough.  As John Piper wrote in a post which inspired this bit, his feet are clay.  Perhaps my favorite Latin phrase of Luther’s is “simil justus et peccator.”

simil = (think simultaneous) at the same time

justus = just

et = and

peccator = sinner

All of my heroes are “simil justus et peccator.”  This is encouraging, not disheartening.  And it is God glorifying.  The greatest of my heroes only stands just before God because of the alien righteousness of Jesus Christ.  The things that are truly admirable about my heroes are reflections of Christ, and all their grave sins serve to point me beyond them to the greatness of Christ as well. 

Jesus is the curve breaker; all other heroes are graded in relation to Him.

I want one, yea I even hope for one, my next computer will surely be a MacBook, but at this point it is only a hope.  After all, Tim Challies, the author of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment is now a Mac user; it must be the spiritual thing to do.  At this point I am ok, that is, I’m not obsessing.  I’m content with my Vaio, I don’t resent it, haven’t cursed it, and am not thinking of ways to “accidently” break it.  I know however that my hope could easily go haywire in two separate but related ways.

First I could constantly meditate on all the little quirks, faults, and errors my Vaio commits.  Sometimes my function keys will control the volume and display as they should, and at sometimes they want me to assign that key a function first.  Not to worry, if you don’t like the way your PC works, put it to sleep and wake it up again, it will never perform exactly the same way twice.  PC’s are more like humans in this way.  For instance it is always an adventure to discover which icons will show their face in the lower-right notification area.  The most irritating and frequently absent member of this icon family is the volume control.  My Logos Bible Software plays an annoying little ditty (other than this ditty, I really love Logos) when I start it up every morning.  So prior to Logos initiation I mouse over to the little volume icon, but alas it has taken the day off.  So I go to press the function key with the mute symbol emblazoned on it; instead of muting it acts confused, telling me that I need to tell it what it is supposed to do.  As a result I then have to listen to the hated Logos ditty; it is not going to be a very spiritual day.

Or I could simply meditate on the bliss that a MacBook Pro would bring.  I could research it, finding out that it was made out of a single piece of aluminum, how the keyboard perfectly cut for the keys and illuminated, and that the mouse pad has no buttons, instinctively discerning the way you use your fingers as certain commands.  But I wouldn’t do such research now, it is best not to awaken love until it pleases (Song of Songs 2:7; 3:5; 8:4), right?

If I were assured of a MacBook it would heighten my anticipation and excitement.  Inversely I am sure I would grow more dissatisfied with my Vaio.  The weeks preceding the expected arrival would be intense.  I would be… yes, giddy!  Intolerable giddy.  It would rob my thoughts and affections.

Has Christ so arrested your heart and mind?  Do you anticipate His return all the more growing dissatisfied with Satan’s poor substitutes?  Do you fuel your faith by meditating on Him?  Do you live as a giddy fool, expecting your great reward?  This world does not function.  Renewed, perfectly designed bliss is awaiting me.  I will not invest in software or peripherals to maximize my Vaio when a MacBook is expected.

What warnings and threats scare us can tell us what we really value.  Having the TV taken away from you might not scare you a bit, but the threat of only being allowed a few outfits and restricted from buying any new clothes is deadly serious.  The threat of having computer privileges revoked will not curb any sinful tendencies, but to be banned from the Playstation is your functional hell.  What is your functional hell?  The thing that when threatened causes panic?  Is it weight gain, being unfashionable, your reputation, your physique, your intelligence, cash flow, car, losing your job?  All these hells pale in comparison to the true hell.  And if hell is hell to you, why is it hell to you?  If the fires of hell do not terrify you it is because you have what you treasure.  One day you will lose it all, all the heavens of this earth, but that will not be the cause of your deepest agony.  Hell will be hell not because of the absence of earthly treasures, but because the greatest being in the universe is eternally wrathful in His disposition towards you.  The day when you finally see something all glorious and worth giving your all towards will be the day when eternally you are separated from Him, never to enjoy any of the pleasures that are found explicitly and infinitely in Him.  Far better your hell to be temporal and heaven eternal, than your heaven to be temporal and your hell eternal.  May the true hell terrify you, not the petty hells of this earth.  And in the midst of the hells of this earth, if you are Christ’s, rejoice, heaven is yours, great is your reward.  

The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?  – John Piper

I grew up in Eakly, so I can legitimately and authoritatively speak concerning the subject of jerry-rigging.  Contrary to popular folklore, anything cannot be fixed with duct tape, bailing wire, and a pair of pliers.  It is true that much can be temporarily “patched” or maintained with the aforementioned items, but “fixed” is an exaggeration.   Jerry-rigging seems great, until it kills you.  Everything is cool until the bull decides to alleviate his huge, raging , travel-nervous bladder and urine flies in your face instantly causing a swerve instinct; and swerving with a ton of top heavy bull flesh…

Likewise spiritual jerry-rigging seems great too, until it kills you. 

Too many get excited about the “therefore” in scripture for the wrong reason.  After 4 chapters of assiduous focus on the High Priesthood of Christ we can now mercifully move on to some practical stuff, some stuff that really effects how I live right?  Like approaching one of those long drawn out Texas towns we pray there will be a loop to let us bypass the scenic tour of downtown.  We want to bypass the slow tedious theology and get on with the fast pace of our lives.  Just tell me what to do in order to arrive at my destination of blessedness in the fastest possible manner.  No one takes the scenic routes anymore.  We jerry-rig our spirituality to spit out results.  Our machine is operated on the philosophy of pragmatism, not principle.

The deal is that everything that precedes the therefore is there for a reason.  If you strip away the theology you subtract the impetus towards what follows it.  You end up with a non-Spirit spirituality.  Theology is the study of God.  When you want to take God and His ways out to be left with a set of seven  practical spiritual steps you are left with law.  “Just tell me what to say to get you in bed, I want the benefits without the commitment,” that is the language of spiritual jerry-rigging.

Theology produces the vegetable garden of “let-us” in Hebrews 10:22-24.  Jerry-rig the theology out of the system and you will only grow a pseudo-let-us that has the bitter taste of law.

Bethany liked high school, me, not so much.  If at the end of my life I were to compile a list of things I am glad I only have to do once in my life, I’m sure high school would be in the top ten.  What relief from worry and anxiety might we have in our lives if we knew some things need never be repeated?  What if it were guaranteed you would never have to:

Have another painful surgery.

Battle cancer.

Loose a child.

Loose a spouse.

Send a loved one off to war.

We are not guaranteed any of these things.  But we are told that the atoning sacrifice of Christ was a once for all, never to be repeated act that secures our salvation and puts us in perfect standing with God.  I never have to make a perfect sacrifice for my sins, and that’s good news because I never could, and the reason is that He already has.  What relief and comfort should we derive from those precious word of our Lord as he hung on the cross, “It is finished!”

Do you think you can draw near to God via shadows, copies, and the old?

You may say Jesus is the only way but how do you live?

Do you think because you have or do certain things that you are close to God?  Or do you think that because you fail to possess or do certain things that you are abandoned by God?  The law always leads to despair or pride.

Being a Christian is not about voting republican, abstaining from alcohol, keeping your panties on till your married, hating abortion, watching on G-rated / animated Disney movies, owning a Bible and occasionally reading it, regular church attendance, getting Goosebumps during a worship service, holding to a certain creed or confession, listening to mp3 sermons, reading certain authors, wearing a pathetic “Christian” T-Shirt, dressing a certain way, enjoying “clean fun” and potlucks with other Christians, visiting all the cool Christian blogs, writing in a journal and keeping sermon notes, or having walked an aisle and said a formulaic prayer.

No, being a Christian is about Jesus.  It’s all about Jesus, it’s always about Jesus, and it’s only about Jesus.  Jesus is the only way to draw near.  The shadows are only good in pointing toward and helping us understand the reality.  The copies are never as valuable as the heavenly realities to which they correspond.  And the old has no nostalgic value over the ancient faith which is also new.  To have and do without Jesus is to have and do nothing.

Nothing (Without You) By Derek Webb

I’ve got the dress, I’ve got the ring
I’ve got a song that I can sing
I’ve got the bread; I’ve got the wine
But I’ve got the life I left behind
I’ve got everything but I’ve got nothing without you

I’ve got the law on my heart
I’ve got your love tearing me apart
I’ve got a vow that I can’t keep
But I’ve got your promise getting me to sleep
I’ve got everything but I’ve got nothing without you

I’ve got your works and I’ve got my faith
I’ve got all the wine that you can make
I am the kiss of your betrayer
But I’ve got your grace on every layer
I’ve got everything but I’ve got nothing without you
‘Cause you see it’s all just a show
And you either hate it or you don’t
And only time will tell the difference
If you get it clearly or with interference

But I’ve got the race; Got the election
But win or lose I’ve got protection
I found a lobbyist in the devil
And I got salvation in a rebel
I’ve got everything but I’ve got nothing without you

rigmarole ‘ri-gə-mə-rōl · n. 1: confused or meaningless talk 2: a complex and sometimes ritualistic procedure (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

Yes, it’s a real word, I didn’t make it up last night. Is the law just a bunch of rigmarole? It most certainly is complex, intricate, and detailed, but is it confused and meaningless? I’m not asking if it leaves you confused, but is the law itself confused in what it says?

Hebrews like the law at times can be easily dismissed as a bunch of rigmarole. Let’s just go through one of the gospels, Ezra, or Philippians instead right? What does the law have to do with us?

You ever play video games with your dad or friend and not tell them what any of the buttons on the controller do? Ever buy a new board game and not read any of the rules, just try to figure out how the game works as you go? Sure reading the rules and explaining the controls isn’t fun, but it does lead to fun. It may be dry reading at times, but understanding the law deeply and intricately leads to deep joy in knowing and communing with Christ.

So pull out the rule book, the law, and have fun seeing how Jesus is the fulfillment of it all.