What is Revealed and What is Not

Psalm 19:12-14

Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent 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.

...............

I once had a roommate who noticed something about me and told me about it (sounds like a roommate, right?).  He told me that I seemed to struggle with guilt over sins that I hadn't even committed.  I was always questioning myself, hoping that my introspection would reveal some hidden corner of my life that contained some sinful thought or deed.  Further, I would sometimes just assume that I was sinning in some way, without even having a specific insistence I could put my finger on.

My roommate told me that such an attitude was actually not portraying much confidence in God's ability to convict me of sin.  In other words: "Don't you trust God enough to let him do His job - to convict you of hidden sin? If you know you have committed a sin, just repent and pray and turn to Christ; If not, then stop worrying about it."  Boy, did I need that kick in the pants.  And, Psalm 19 gives us a wonderful example of David's trust in the God who faithfully guides and convicts his children.

Verses 1-11 describe how God has revealed himself and his expectations - first through the natural world, then also through his written word.  The natural world "pours" forth speech concerning the majesty and holiness and creativity of God.  The written word reveals the specific nature of God and guides his children in everything pertaining to life and godliness (cf. 1 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:3-4).  In other words, it's God's job to reveal himself and his character.  He is more trustworthy than anyone to let us know what He expects of us.

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law (Deut. 29:29).

This is challenging and encouraging.  It is challenging because we naturally cringe at many of God's clear expectations and commands in Scripture.  Carrying our cross, imitating God incarnate, laying down our lives, praying without ceasing, preaching the word, loving our enemies - these are not always so convenient in a fallen world that considers the cross of Christ to be foolishness.

But, Psalm 19 is also encouraging, especially for those prone to unhealthy introspection.  David considers first the clarity of God's self-revelation in nature and in Scripture, then what does he do?  He prays to God to convict him of hidden sin and save him from presumptuous thinking.  He also is concerned about the thoughts and meditations of his heart, which are potentially sinful and corrupt.  But, I believe David's prayer reflects a heart that trusts God to do his work of penetration and conviction (cf. Heb. 4:12).  Therefore, if God is silent and does not bring any of our hidden sins to light, then guess what?  There's nothing there to worry about.

At least, not for right now.

(I have a feeling that there may always be more hidden sin in us while we live this fallen life, but God, in his mercy, only reveals it to us in manageable portions, so that we do not despair, but continue to trust in the transforming Spirit of Christ, who will not rest until he has conformed us to his image.  See Romans 8:28-29)

"When The Saints" By Sara Groves

Not Who They Expected

Mark 8:29-32

And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ." And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

.................

Mark 8 continues the itinerant healing ministry of Jesus and his followers, but also contains a couple important stories that reveal the confusion of the disciples.  The first, in verses 14-21, shows that the disciples could not understand even a simple metaphor and were more quick to think about their stomachs rather than the battle between truth and lies, between Jesus and the Pharisees.  Mark ends this passage with "Do you not understand?" - a scathing, unqualified critique of the disciples' obvious disconnect, despite how familiar they were with Jesus and his teaching.

The second story is related above and presents an even more scathing rebuke to Peter and the other disciples. The fact that Peter rebukes Jesus (who he truly believes is the Messiah) is absurd enough, but Mark inserts a little parenthetical statement that makes it even more ridiculous - "And he said this plainly."  Jesus was not being cryptic here or speaking in parables; he was making a clear prediction of how He would be rejected, killed, and raised from the dead.  Peter makes a willful decision to demand his own version of "Jesus," in place of this inconvenient self-description. "The Messiah can't be rejected and killed! He's the king of Israel. I'll set Jesus straight." Bad idea.

Jesus replies to Peter pretty harshly for at least two reasons.  One, Peter's rebuke was in front of others, so Jesus responds in kind, for the sake of Peter, but also for the sake of the other followers.  Peter's misconception had to be stopped before it spread, not unlike the "leaven" of the Pharisees he had recently warned them about.  But, more importantly, the second reason this rebuke was so harsh, was that Peter's denial here struck at the heart of the gospel itself, the very heart of the message of God's kingdom - namely, that God has arrived, not to condemn the world, but to lay down his life as a ransom for many.  The world didn't need another Alexander the Great or Caesar; the world needed someone to pay for the wages of human sin.  Only a divine savior could deal with the infinitely dark consequences of human rebellion and sin.  Only God in the flesh could rescue mankind, open the eyes of the blind, and miraculously give new hearts to a world that was so fallen.  And Peter didn't like it.

Let us be mindful that the gospel message continues to be a radical challenge to our common sense, both inside and outside the church.  People in the world are offended by the crucified Christ, insisting on their own goodness and resistant to anyone who tells them of their desperate need for a Savior.  People in the church continue to resist the cross-bearing nature of discipleship - the fact that Jesus didn't model an easy or convenient way to fix mankind. It will take blood. It will cost you your life.  I pray for myself, that I am careful not to resist the heart of the gospel, that I take up my cross today, whenever the opportunity arises, so that people will see God's determination to redeem a people for himself.

And let's not forget, it doesn't end with death:

...and after three days rise from the dead.

Worse than Diarrhea

Mark 7:18-22

"Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)  And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him.  For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

...............

Apparently, the only appropriate way to rebuke religious hypocrisy is to resort to potty language.  At least, this is the case in Mark 7 as Jesus responds to the Pharisees' insistence upon ceremonial hand washings.  When confronted with strict rules for external rituals, Jesus counters with his own well-aimed rebuke: You Pharisees bend and break the commandments of God for the sake of your man-made traditions.  Don't you know that what comes out of your sinful heart and mind is far worse than mere food which is eaten and expelled?

Much could be said about how religious people today are continuing this Pharasaic legacy of restricted pietism (making a short list of extrabiblical rules that will supposedly gain the special favor of God).  There are preachers and congregations who rail against cultural trends and lifestyles, and yet conveniently overlook their own gluttony, laziness, or private marital problems.  There are average folks who thumb their noses at certain classes of people, or discount certain forms of art because of its rating or reputation.  And there are even non-religious pietists as well, who rail against what they see as religious "bigotry" or traditional definitions of family and society.

So, how do we know if our convictions are more like the Pharisees or like Jesus himself?  The answer from the immediate context is that we should hold tightly to the clear commands of Scripture and be willing to quickly let go of our extrabiblical religious habits when they contradict with Scripture (9:9-13).  This is especially the case when our extra rituals are culturally irrelevant or even detrimental to ourselves and others (cf. Romans 14 & 1 Cor. 9).  Another answer from the broader context of the Gospels is to first point the finger at yourself, long before you consider pointing out someone else's weakness or sin (Matt. 7:1-5; note: this passage is often misused to argue that ALL judging is forbidden by God, when in reality it merely forbids "judgmentalism" as an attitude of thoughtless self-righteousness).

An example in my own life may prove to be an appropriate conclusion.

One night, many months ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with my mother-in-law and share this very passage (Mark 7) with her, in an attempt to explain some of my beliefs.  I have witnessed in her life the paralyzing effects of restricted pietism. Her disciplined habits of prayer, Bible-reading, and healthy diet are truly remarkable, but in and of themselves, they are hollow forms which provide little substance (see Col. 2:16ff). As I sat with her for over two hours, while Donna and Gracie slept, I sought desperately to show her, as humbly as I possibly could, that her ascetic lifestyle was in fact enslaving her and emaciating her - a result that runs completely counter to the glory and goodness of God, in whose image every person has been created.  However, she looked directly at verses like Mark 7:19 (thus he declared all foods clean) and quite simply refused to accept it.  She said, No.

I pray that someday she sees how trivial and petty her vision of God appears to be.  The One who paints the sunsets each day and formed every human heart to beat and to long for meaning, it is He who created her to be free from the bonds of pietism which keep her depending upon rituals rather than a dynamic relationship with the Living God.  Lord, have mercy on each of us as we continue to fight this fight for freedom, through the One who covers us completely in His righteousness.  Amen.

The LORD Lives

Psalm 18:26

The LORD lives...

...............

These three words may seem obvious, or so simple as to not need elaboration, but in fact these words are a helpful summary of the entirety of Psalm 18.  The LORD lives.

When we begin the Psalm, we meet David in the midst of some overwhelming circumstances.  He is surrounded by his enemy ("the cords of death encompassed me"), but he quickly turns from his distress to the only true source of deliverance, Yahweh.  Verses 7-19 describe in vivid detail the awe-inspiring power and intervention of the Creator God, breaking through the heavens to reach down his mighty hand and lift his servant David out of the enemy's hands.  When God exhales, the foundations of the earth are laid bare (v. 19).  This description of God's intervention leaves me trembling.

Verses 20-30 should remind us of Psalm 17, as David claims that God has honored his own blamelessness and shown favor because of his own righteousness.  While we discussed that conundrum in detail already, it is helpful to note how verse 27 sheds even more light on the matter: "For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down."  David's claim of righteousness, far from being a haughty boast, was in fact a claim of desperate humility.  Only the humble man who admits his own weakness and regularly calls out for God's assistance and grace can truly be considered "righteous."

But, in spite of this humility in weakness, the man of God must not assume that God will do His work independent of our actions.  Verses 31-45 make it clear that David was actively involved in overcoming his enemies, even though he attributes his success entirely to the intervention of Yahweh.  "For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me."  If Psalm 18 is a model for the kinds of prayers that God will answer, then we must be ready to be actively involved in "answering" the prayer ourselves, so to speak - getting our hands dirty in the fight against sin and the fight against the Enemy as we seek to love and share truth in a dying world.

So, how is this all summarized in those three simple words - the LORD lives?  This weekend, our pastor preached a sermon on prayer from Daniel 9.  The example of Daniel served to drive home the message that God is truly alive in the life of the believer!  He lives!  He is at work through our prayers of faith.  Our prayers are not a futile exercise, but rather, when we pray confidently in light of what God has promised in his Word, the very earth will tremble and hosts of angels will be moved to accomplish the work He has set out to do.  He is sovereign, but he has ordained the means of OUR prayers to accomplish His miraculous work in the world.  We MUST pray expecting the God who truly lives to truly intervene and act in the world.

Here's how it sounds from Daniel's mouth (Daniel 9:18-19):

O my God, incline your ear and hear.  Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name.  For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, pay attention and act.  Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.

Leaders in Contrast

Mark 6:26-27

And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head.

...............

This chapter continues the narrative of Jesus' healing ministry as he travels from town to town and even sends his apostles to work miracles as well. Then, interjected into the narrative is an excursion describing the death of John the Baptist at the hands of King Herod. In this way, the chapter offers us a striking contrast between the leadership qualities of Jesus and Herod.

Verses 1-6 describe how Jesus was rejected in his own hometown. He preaches the message of the kingdom, but his own neighbors, those he has known his whole life, were offended by him. They questioned his authority because they knew his humble origins. And while Jesus knew they would be offended and would reject him, he did not back down from giving them the truth and then marveling at their unbelief. In Jesus' leadership, we see incredible courage to resist caving into the pressures of culture or the fear of man.

No so with Herod.

Herod's leadership wreaks of people-pleasing - the kind of political hand-kissing that continues to nauseate us on the news media today. And Herod's fear of man went so far as to order the execution of a man he respected. We see in verse 20 that Herod had gladly listened to John's teaching. We see in verse 26 that Herod was exceedingly sorry that he had made an oath that had endangered John's life. But, whatever his conflicting emotions might have been, the fact of the matter was that Herod had arrested, imprisoned, and then ordered the execution of God's prophet. His people-pleasing knew no limits, even in spite of his own grief-stricken consicence.

When I read this chapter, it was verse 20 that followed me around all day long. How often have I experienced heart-felt regret and remorse, only to continue the very behaviors that lead to such feelings. Like a dog to its own vomit, I feel a magnetic attraction to thoughts and actions which run counter to the glory of God and the dignity of man. I grieve, but do I repent? (The contrasting stories of Judas and Peter come to mind as well).

I pray that I may avoid the "exceeding" sorrow which does not lead to repentance, or the unbelief which leads Jesus to "marvel." I want to be a leader like Christ, who considered the potentially offensive nature of his message and preached it anyway, rather than the powerful king who showed how weak he really was by saving his own reputation at the expense of a godly man's life.

Lord, have mercy.