Condemned No More

John 3:17-18

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

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

Condemned.

It's a word that is used a couple different ways in our world today.

For one, we call a building condemned when it falls into disrepair. Where once stood a grand Victorian manor home, now stands a hollow skeleton devoid of life. Time and elements conspire to wear away at the walls and ceiling, leaving their indelible marks. A chandelier covered in cobwebs, moldy wallpaper hanging down in strips, mantles covered in dust. Yellow light streams in through faded stain-glass. Underneath the cosmetic symptoms there are rafters and foundations beginning to crumble. Once condemned, a building becomes dangerous for anyone to enter. Squatters and graffiti artists take over at their own risk. Eventually, even these new purposes become impossible, and there arrives a day of collapse or demolition.

Likewise are the effects of our sin, at least in the passive sense. Each of us is born into a world that is decaying, a shadow of its former glory. Our bodies and souls quickly fall victim to the effects of man's curse - illness, tragedy, broken plans, and broken promises. As the elements wear against our souls, our own former glory becomes weak and tarnished. Without someone coming to renovate, we continue to degrade. In this condemned state of ruin is a glimmer and a memory of glory - the image of our Maker remains. But without intervention, we stand condemned and on the verge of collapse.

Another common use of the word condemned is for criminals. A criminal is any violator of the law of the land. Theft, drug deals, violent offenses, blue collar crime, white collar crime, tax evasion, treason - these acts tear at the fabric of social order and threaten the good of self and neighbor. A criminal stands condemned when arrested, tried, and sentenced, ideally in equal measure to the crime they have committed. He also stands condemned before his Maker.

This is the position of every man before God who has violated even one of his commands. This is sin in the active sense. We are not merely victims of a fallen world. We are also perpetrators in a grand treason against our benevolent creator and redeemer.

In John 3, we hear an extended description of how to enter the kingdom of God, and it is not what we would expect. Nicodemus is shocked to realize that neither his ethnicity nor his religious credentials offer any hope when God himself is standing in the room with you demanding that you be born again as a new person.

Then, John offers an oft-quoted promise of salvation for all who believe, followed by verses 17 and 18. Here we are told that Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save those who believe. It is tempting to see this as evidence that Jesus was excusing sin and sweeping it under the proverbial rug. But verse 18 states that outside of Christ we are condemned already. In other words, Jesus did not come to condemn us because he didn't have to - that job was already done. He could condemn us no further because humanity's hands were already stained with the blood of hatred and injustice and self-destruction.

Gladly, while he had every right to leave us in the darkness we chose for ourselves, instead he entered that darkness and took the curse and condemnation on himself. John the Baptist cried out, "Behold! The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" The penalty and power of sin is forever removed for all who trust in this sacrificial lamb, who takes it all upon himself. Our condemnation is removed in every sense - we are criminals no more and new life is given to a home fully restored.

I pray that we can walk in the freedom and joy that comes from being condemned no more. Our renewed life and hope of heaven is as sure as the finished work of the cross and empty tomb. There is now a banner draped over our heads that reads "No condemnation!" as Paul so beautifully declared:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)

Loving Vengeance

Psalm 35:11-14

Malicious witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I do not know.
They repay me evil for good;
my soul is bereft. 
But I, when they were sick—
I wore sackcloth;
I afflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed with head bowed on my chest. 
I went about as though I grieved
for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
I bowed down in mourning.

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

In the TV series House of Cards, congressman Frank Underwood is a picture of vengeance. After losing a promised place in the new president's cabinet, he concocts an elaborate plan to systematically sabotage his political enemies. He feeds half-truths to the press. He blackmails characters into doing his dark errands. He feins humility to manipulate, and he preys on the humility of others. All for power, all for winning, all for the feeling of control and superiority over others.

There is a strain of vengeful confidence that runs throughout the Psalms, especially in the words of David, who frequently calls down curses upon his enemies. The first ten verses of Psalm 35 include such a strain, complete with passionate appeal, a list of reasons, and even a promise to rejoice when destruction finally comes upon his foes. But then, verse 11 begins a very different tone:

Malicious witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I do not know.
They repay me evil for good;
my soul is bereft. 
But I, when they were sick—
I wore sackcloth;
I afflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed with head bowed on my chest. 
I went about as though I grieved
for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
I bowed down in mourning.

We were just settling in to a nice cozy bout of righteous indignation, when all of a sudden, the writer switches gears and starts grieving for his enemies, like one would mourn for a lost loved one. The wells of justice were about to brim over with acts of revenge, but then tender compassion emerged from the very same heart.  What changed?

I'd like to consider that David's prayer for swift destruction and his prayer of mourning and grief are one and the same. They occur together here, as if we should not be at all surprised by this blending of justice and mercy, of fury and tenderness. I'd like to argue that we must pray this way as well, because it is the very heartbeat of our perfectly just and loving Father in Heaven.

In Genesis 6, we see one of the greatest illustrations of this holy heart. At the moment of mankind's greatest wickedness and God's most sweeping sentence of judgment in the floodwaters, there is an ache. The heartache of a loving and grieving father:

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:5-7)

Now, it is very clear from several passages that God holds the role of judge in a way that we are not exactly to emulate. Jesus modeled compassion and mercy in the face of injustice, and he taught us to likewise love our enemies. Paul summed up this Christlike ethic with these penetrating words to the Roman church:

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:14-21)

So, if we cannot avenge ourselves, how can we apply the imprecatory tone of Psalm 35 to our own lives? Not by our judgment or vengeful actions, but instead by our prayers. David is modeling a life of honest prayer in which God welcomes our desperate cries for justice, while simultaneously softening our hearts to even plead on behalf of those who threaten and hurt us. Again, Jesus models this on the cross, praying his enemies would find forgiveness, even as they are watching him be executed. What love! What mysterious mercy in the face of hatred!

Lord, grant me the honesty and trust to bring my cries for justice to you. Vengeance belongs to you, and yet you turn even that into moments of mercy. Let my indignation more easily shift to grief and mourning even for my enemies and those I don't like or care for. Let me plead for them like they were my own family. For you have pleaded for me in just the same way.

Jesus the Craft Brewer

John 2:9-11

When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

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

Sex and alcohol. Two of our favorite things in life.  Two things we might be ashamed to admit are on our minds pretty much all the time.  And they were God's idea.

Sex. In this case marriage, but we all know what happens on the wedding night. And here's Jesus having a good time at a wedding party. John records it in such a casual way, as if no one should have thought otherwise. Why not be at wedding? He invented it!

Alcohol. Yeah, he made that too. When the grapes grow plump and crisp on the vine. When they are crushed into tart flowing juice. When they are left to ferment and age into the finest of flavors. Or when he just says the word, and creates it from water. Again, recorded very casually by John, but it is meant to reveal his glory.

So, what does this tell us about Jesus? He's got joy in bucketfuls! There is no pagan god or myth who could compare to this real life Bacchus. He was no stranger to a social occasion, or to the cup of good fellowship. His mirth overflowed and was contagious. He blesses the bliss of a young couple's love.

And he crafts a microbrew of the finest order to sustain the party a little longer. He is God, the maker of all things, including sex and alcohol.

What does this passage say about us? Their response to his glory was to believe. They saw this first sign, this miracle, and the only logical response was to acknowledge this man is God, the Creator in the flesh.

How will I respond? The irony is that we often take the good gifts of sex and alcohol and make them our gods, rather than letting those things inspire faith and gratitude to the One who made them. Romans 1 spells out the tragedy of this in stark contrast to John 2:

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:24-25)

When the created thing tempts us, we must see our Creator behind it and worship Him as the source and director of those good things. I say director because he has not given us sex and alcohol to use in whatever way we wish, but he has left us directions on how to use these gifts to maximize our enjoyment of them and maximize his recognition as the Giver. As Lewis so wonderfully expressed via the devil Screwtape:

"I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His [God's] invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden" (44)

So, the application here is for us to enjoy sex and alcohol. Seriously. Just enjoy it in a way that is most redulant of its designer. Drink responsibly! Marry your lover and enjoy! The joy you share can put a smile on God's face when you choose to enjoy them rightly.

The Definite Article

John 1:1-3, 14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made....And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

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

If Luke's gospel is primarily concerned with how to know the truth (epistemology), then it is equally fair to say that John's account of the life of Christ is all about the question of what or who is ultimate in the universe - what is above and behind the physical reality we see around us (metaphysics). I can say this with confidence because of the two purposes statements that bookend his account.

In the beginning...

The opening statement of John should give you pause and draw immediate associations with Genesis 1. This is not unintentional. John is bringing up ultimate questions about the nature of existence, of reality, of who or what is the first cause of all that we experience in the world. And the answer is something he refers to as the "Logos" or "Word."

What is the Logos? Aside from how the word was used by other Greek philosophers of the time, there are several clues in this text as to what John means.

1. The Logos is eternal.
2. The Logos is with God.
3. The Logos is God.
4. The Logos became man.
5. The Logos is the Son of God.
6. The Logos is God.

One thing I can agree with Jehovah's Witnesses about is that the rest of the Bible hinges on how you translate John 1:1. Is there a definite article in the passage, making it clear that Jesus was not merely a god, but was in fact THE God of the universe? Unfortunately, JW's ignore the manuscript evidence and deny that Jesus was uniquely God. The reality is that John used the definite article to clearly identify Jesus as the eternal, pre-existent, sovereign God and Maker of the universe.

Why does this grammatical debate matter? Because words matter. You cannot have meaning without them. And everything about John 1 is pointing to Jesus' unique deity, which makes the incarnation all the more unexpected and amazing. This eternal Logos became flesh and made his dwelling among us. But we don't have to rely on this passage alone. John's other bookend seals the deal.

...Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God...

Near the end of his account, John gives a direct answer as to the purpose of his book, and it is clearly meant to answer the question of ultimate reality. Who is God? What is His nature? Who is man? What is man's nature?

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (20:30-31)

If a book of the Bible gives you a clear thesis statement, or two bookend statements like this, it is your joy and responsibility to see every passage of the book through that lens. In other words, every chapter of John exists to answer these metaphysical questions about God and man. Every verse will point us to who Jesus truly is (the divine savior of man) and who we are in relation to him (made personally and uniquely in His image).

It is my hope to respond to each chapter of John's gospel account in this way. I pray that I see His power and person more clearly, and that by doing so I may believe with more certainty and "have life in his name."

Provision of the Richest Kind

Psalm 34:8-10 ESV

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 
Oh, fear the Lord , you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!  
The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

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

No lack.

Its hard to imagine what that is really like. In our day, we get into conversations with friends and coworkers about winning the lottery jackpot. Everyone daydreams about what it would be like to be independently wealthy, free to purchase any desire. Or, if we are being extra spiritual, daydreaming about having sufficient resources to give generously or invest in some meaningful dream project. It is enticing to fantasize about what it would be to have no lack.

But believers are abundantly aware that God's promise of provision is often realized in times and ways that run counter to our daydreams. Psalm 34 seems to promise that those who fear God will taste, see, and experience a rich blessing of protection and security in this life - something like immediate deliverance from inconveniences and obstacles. Some churches in the prosperity gospel movement even make these very promises, regularly leaving confused, disappointed, and faith-shattered people in their wake.

How does Psalm 34 and the rich promise of provision fit with other passages of Scripture which clearly highlight the afflictions of the righteous? In other words, how can I personally have much hope in this life that God will protect me when godly men and women are regularly persecuted, mocked, and struggling with the daily trials of life in a fallen world? The story of Job and his mistaken friends shows the folly of thinking the righteous will never suffer. The words of Jesus even include seemingly contradictory promises: that we will undoubtedly suffer if we are truly faithful and unashamed of the gospel.

Fortunately, this psalm itself contains several clarifying verses that keep us from taking verses 8-10 out of context. For one, the preceding verses put this promise in the context of a particular deliverance in the life of David, rather than a general guarantee that goes without exceptions:

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.  
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
(34:6-7)

For another, the subsequent verses admit clearly that the righteous are bound to suffer, even while God's promise of nearness and deliverance is true:

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.  
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
(34:18-19)

So, if the Lord is promising to be near, to show up and do something to rescue those he loves, how can this good God allow "many afflictions" to continue haunting us? What good are such promises, which seem either empty, or at best simply too little too late?

The Christian knows the answer is in Jesus. Among world religions, even those that claim divine incarnations, there is no other faith that has a suffering God right in the center. No other faith can claim that God is "near to the brokenhearted" in the way that Jesus embodied - a Savior who wept over the death of friends, who bore the insults of fools, who was betrayed by all those he trusted. When Hebrews says we have a high priest who can sympathize with our every weakness, that is no exaggeration (Heb. 4:15).

Could it be that our lottery-winning fantasy of comfort and ease is missing the obvious? What could protect and provide for our deepest desire more than having the nearness of God himself, present in our very being by His Spirit, bringing sweet fellowship and rich satisfaction, in spite of any trial or weakness? While the trials of life "slay" the enemies of God and leave them "condemned," (34:21) those same trials pass over the believer as he clings to the Mast who is ever-present and faithful in the storm.

I pray that I can trust the promise of provision as completely true, but maybe not true in the small trivial way that I expect. Maybe it is true in a much richer more eternally valuable way. Maybe it is the riches I need most, the treasure where neither moth nor rust destroy. Lord, give me eyes of faith to see this provision in every trial and claim the riches of your presence and love as my very own.

*Here is an article describing the common phenomenon of lottery winners regretting their dream-come-true.

From Doubt to Certainty

Luke 24:11, 52-53

But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them...

And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

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

We have reached the end of Luke's gospel account, and in many ways we are seeing the culmination of his opening thesis:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.  (1:1-4)

Luke promised certainty, and he aimed to use eyewitness accounts and structured writing in order to achieve that end. Now after 24 chapters, we have traced the life, work, trials, and death of Jesus with incredible degrees of detail and order. Luke has delivered as promised, but this final chapter reveals that doubts are persistent things, even for those who were closest to Jesus. We already saw how his followers and enemies alike abandoned him in his hour of greatest need. In chapter 24, they will need some final evidence to take them from doubt to certainty.

The evidence needed for true faith is a balance of both reason and experience, with the foundation of both being God's Word. In other words, faith starts with the God who is there and is not silent, and we take hold of this faith by reason and experience. In this chapter, the experience is seeing, hearing, and even touching the risen body of Jesus, which displays his deity and power as well as his closeness and love.

And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?  See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (24:38-39)

In the same chapter, we see Jesus explaining his death and resurrection to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (24:27)

Now, both the reasoning and the sensory experience were grounded in God's Word, without which we would have no basis to trust our senses or our rationality. In other words, to think and to feel and come to truth about reality, there must be an infinite personal God from whom these human capacities derive. We are made in his image, and he designed us to both think and feel to understand the world around us. But only in the context of his personal involvement in our lives, through His Spirit and by his written word.

In my life, I have swung back and forth between these two ways to know truth. I became a Christian at age 16, coming out of typical teenage angst and being introduced to God's love in a very emotional way, via Pentecostal worship. All I knew at that point was that God was real, present, and the only source of unconditional love. But I couldn't prove anything about him besides the feeling I had.

Years later, I arrived at Seminary searching for more solid answers. Previously, I had approached the Bible as a mystic source book, reading to find hidden meanings in the obscure details. Now, I learned about systematic theology, where the whole bible is broken into exhaustive categories and put in logical order. I read Romans for the first time, learning that my peace with God was not merely a peaceful feeling, but really a peace treaty, signed in the blood that was shed at the cross, in real space and time (Rom. 5:1). God's love for me was objective and as unchanging as the historically documented cross and empty tomb.

But as the pendulum swung, I began to lose my urgency in prayer. The dynamic relational aspect of my walk with God had been downplayed as I became more interested in philosphical arguments and proofs. I was forgetting that, while Truth is propositional, Truth is also a Person.

The disciples were still struggling with doubt when Jesus showed up in his resurrected glory. By the end of the chapter they were worshiping with joy and blessing God in the temple! What changed them was a Savior who explained the Truth and embodied the Truth, engaging both their hearts and their minds.

I pray that I continue to grow on this journey to love my Savior with both my mind and heart. He is worth explaining and defending intellectually. And he is worth seeking personally as a friend and father. Luke's gospel account leaves us with both challenges. Will we heed the historical claims of Jesus' deity and atoning death? And will we respond to the Truth with worship and joy in the context of a dynamic relationship?

Ross

I've been avoiding this post. But I know I will never move on until it is written. It feels like the last few tears that have yet to be shed.

I miss you Ross. And I'd like to focus on who I miss rather than the missing itself.

When we met, I was largely untethered. I mean, I knew the basics about life, and I wanted to pursue a life in christian ministry, whatever that meant. But I couldn't tell you how or why, other than a  subjective feeling of duty and several emotional experiences that had led me down this path. I met you and heard those infamous questions for the first time.

What do you do?
How do you do that for the glory of God?

I told you I was called to mentor young men and help them become men.

Your response: That's the last thing we need! All methodology and no content.

I had never faced someone so frank, someone who could read me like a book and wasn't afraid to wager an educated guess as to my deepest weakness and then show me a better way. 

The car ride home was quiet for me.

A year later, Donna and I were asking you and Lynn to meet with us for pre-marital counseling. I never would have made it that far if your son Ryan hadn't radically flipped my mindset about marriage. I had started to see Donna as someone I could die for, rather than someone I could use for my own fulfillment. And I know that wisdom originated in you and Lynn and the legacy you passed on from several generations of faithful men and women before you.

Our first session together, I had expected a book chapter outline or a research assignment. Instead we got magazines and scissors. Our homework was to create a collage of photos that symbolized what Life meant to us. You were exemplifying creativity and joy, over and beyond duty or obedience.

You welcomed us into your family. We saw Stone Soup in action. We shared laughs and meals with the siblings and fellows who shared the joy and the vision. We drank deeply from a well that can only come from generations of joyful celebration of human life. There were stories of kids climbing refrigerators, kids digging their own swimming pools, kids learning to embrace their "bent" from an early age and being allowed to pursue it without shame.

There were hard stories too, but those stories were often used as private warnings. You never spoke ill of anyone. Even if they had wronged you. You taught me how to love unconditionally.

And we saw you say goodbye to Lynn. Your partner, friend, lover, and joyful companion in many efforts. It seemed like you were half a man from that point on.

The work continued on. Maison de la Vie. Totomundo gatherings. Family camp. And this year, an incredible leap forward in effort. Publishing the baby games. Forming new fellows groups. Recording the Precis material. It was an incredible final sprint at the end of a long rich marathon.

The finish line. That was the image in my mind as we stood in the hospital outside your room. You were running till the very end, arms in the air, even leaping for the joy that is inexpressible. Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Now you see the glory, and not through a glass dimly. Now you walk arm-in-arm with Lynn again, basking in a light much stronger than the sun. Now you see the fruit of your life's work. Now you have arrived into the arms of that unconditional love which you so faithfully channeled to others, even to me.

You are a forever friend. Thank you for teaching me what that means.

Soli Deo Gloria.