Within understanding distance

In 1839 Alexander Campbell wrote The Christian System, and in the second chapter he outlines seven rules for biblical interpretation. His 'rules' are excellent advice, in my opinion, standing the test of time.

I was particularly struck by his seventh rule, however: "The interpreter must come within understanding distance" of God in order to hear the biblical text clearly. Isn't that a rich thought: come within understanding distance of God.

Campbell explains:

Humility of mind, or what is in effect the same, contempt for all earth-born pre-eminence, prepares the mind for the reception of this light; or, what is virtually the same, opens the ears to hear the voice of God. Amidst the din of all the arguments from the flesh, the world, and Satan, a person is so deaf that he cannot hear the still small voice of God's philanthropy. But receding from pride, covetousness, and false ambition; from the love of the world; and in coming within that circle, the circumference of which is unfeigned humility, and the centre of which is God himself--the voice of God is distinctly heard and clearly understood. All within this circle are taught by God; all without it are under the influence of the wicked one. 'God resisteth the proud, but he giveth grace to the humble.'

In order to hear the still small voice of God, we must seek Him. We must travel as long and as far as necessary to come within understanding distance. We must approach with genuine humility.
I want to move to a place in my life where I am "within understanding distance of God."

Be church

Some random thoughts . . .

A few months ago I read The Irresistable Revolution. It fueled my thoughts about church. You see, I've been convinced for some time that there is something out of kilter with the church of 2008. Not just your church or my church, but church (I'm spreading my arms to indicate all churches).

Recently I attended a series of lectures. The man from my church was describing what we believe. He was making distinctions between the "non-negotiables" and the matters of opinion. I was agreeing with his description of the fundamentals of faith. A man from another church stood up and said, "We don't spend a lot of time thinking about theology. We just tell people about Jesus." Zing. He wasn't being mean or arrogant; he was genuinely puzzled by our focus.

I've heard a lot of people talk about "the worship wars" that have caused such pain over the past decade or two. I've seen good, kind people become outraged and demand that their way is the right way to "do church."

Perhaps there is a reason the New Testament doesn't give us a specific set of rules for the right way to DO CHURCH. We all know that the text does not specify a capella singing or instrumental worship. It doesn't tell us how large or how small a church body should be. It doesn't outline the rules for Bible classes or sermons or when the prayers should appear in the order or worship. In fact, it doesn't mention an "order of worship." :-)

I believe that when God inspired scripture, he gave us all the important stuff, so I have to conclude that how we do church wasn't high on his list.

Perhaps it's because we aren't supposed to do church at all....... we are supposed to be church. Now, the next step is to unpack all that THAT means.

He provides

Every Sunday at our church there is a segment called "Kids Giving to Kids." It is a special time when the children of the congregation are encouraged to give money to help children who are not as fortunate as they are.

Each Sunday in the middle of our scripted, carefully planned worship service, there is a brief period of utter chaos. After depositing his coins, a four-year old forgets the way and wanders up the wrong aisle, looking for familiar faces. A three-year-old girl squeals with joy as she runs to offer her dollar bill. There is noise and irratic movement and disorder. And we love it.

This morning as I looked around the room, I saw a Dad providing coins to his children so that they could participate. The children were so excited to be able to give. Obviously, they don't have money of their own; they trusted their dad to provide what they needed in order to make their offering.

I have always loved the name for God Abraham used: Jehovah Jirah, the Lord provides.

In Exodus, God told Moses how to construct the Tabernacle. After Moses told the people what was needed, they came forward, giving their gifts: precious metals, colored threads, and all sorts of things that could be used in the construction. In Exodus 35, all of the men and the women -- each who was willing -- made a freewill offering to God. They gave what they had.

In each case, God had provided the things the Israelites had. And because the people had the things, they could feel the joy of participation in the work God had called them to do. Because the Father was generous to them, they were, in turn, able to contribute.

In much the same way, we are given good gifts from God so that we can share what we have. Just as the dad provided coins to his children this morning, our God provides what we need to be able to participate in what he has called us to do.

What a wonderful glimpse of a loving Father.

Alive

Occasionally I like to post things I read that catch my interest. Here's an excerpt from Hearing God by Dallas Willard:

"What is life? In all its various levels and types, life is power to act and respond in specific kinds of relations. For example, a cabbage has certain powers of action and response and a corresponding level of life. There is a difference between a cabbage that is alive and one that is dead, thought the dead one still exists. This can also be said of a snail or a kitten.

"But a live cabbage can make no response to, say, a ball of string. That is precisely because of the kind of life that is in it. Though alive as a cabbage, it is dead to the realm of play. Similarly, a kitten playing with the string can make no response to numbers or poetry, and in that sense the kitten is dead to the realms of arithmetic and literature. A live cabbage, though dead to one realm (that of play) is yet alive to another -- that of the soil, the sun and the rain. The situation is similar with the kitten.

"Human beings were once alive to God. They were created to be responsive to and interactive with him. Adam and Eve lived in a conversational relationship with their Creator, daily renewed. When they mistrusted God and disobeyed him, that cut them off from the realm of the Spirit. Thus they became dead in relation to it -- much as a kitten is dead to arithmetic. God had said of the forbidden tree, "in the day you eat of it you shall die" (Gen 2:17). And they did.

"Biologically they continued to live, of course. But they ceased to be responsive and interactive in relation to God's cosmic rule in his kingdom. It would be necessary for God to confer an additional level of life on them and their children, through "being born from above," (Jn 3:3) in order for them once again to be alive in God, to be able to respond toward him and to act within the realm of the Spirit."

Goes on ahead

It had been a while since I had looked deeply at the John 10 good shepherd passage, so when the speaker mentioned it, I turned to the gospel with interest. Within that chapter, Jesus teaches:

"The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice."

The part that caught my ear this time was the "goes on ahead of them" part. I began to think about the pillar of cloud/fire that preceded the children of Israel in the desert.

Then I thought: How comforting to think about my shepherd going on head of me! What an interesting thought that any place I go, he has already gone there.

Like the scouts that went on ahead of the wagon train, finding river crossings and passes through the mountains and sources of water....... which sounds a lot like Psalm 23, doesn't it? ........ my shepherd goes on ahead of me, seeking green pastures, right paths, and the way through the valley of the shadow.

He goes on ahead into what is unknown to me, and it's not just physical locations. He goes on ahead into my tomorrows to prepare things for me. I don't know what awaits me there, but he does -- he's already been there. I am bound by time. He is not.

When I am awake in the middle of the night, worrying what if . . . and speculating on how things might go wrong, my anxiety is unnecessary because my shepherd has already gone on ahead of me and scouted out the territory. He has visited my tomorrow and my next week and can guide me today with absolute certainty.

There is no guesswork involved in his leading because he has gone on ahead and identified the pitfalls...... maybe cleared some of the path for me so that I won't lose my way, maybe set up some barriers to keep me away from the cliff's edge.

Perhaps when I find myself complaining about how difficult my journey seems, I should remember that he has gone on ahead of me and take note of the cairns he has set up for me.

I realize with some guilt that I've had a mental picture of myself as an intrepid trailblazer moving forward with only my own wits to protect me. I guess I have known that my shepherd was with me -- but maybe I have pictured him as just being along for the ride. Now I see how mistaken that is!

Perhaps I'll see my journey with different eyes now.

But wait. What was the rest of that scripture? and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. Ah.......my part of the equation. And a part that isn't so easy for me sometimes.

But I think knowing that he is going on ahead somehow makes it easier to be a good follower. I'll let you know . . .

Not grasped

I was searching through some old books this morning, looking for something for an upcoming class. I picked up my copy of My Utmost for His Highest, a classic daily devotional by Oswald Chambers, first published in 1935. I have always loved this book, and I return to it every few years. I turned to the words for May 17.

In the meditation for today, Chambers writes that prior to the transfiguration, Jesus lived a normal, but perfect life for a man. From the transfiguration through the ascension, Chambers says, Jesus's life was altogether substitutionary, unfamiliar to us. Transfiguration, Gethsemene, the cross, the resurrection, ascension. It was a wholly different and absolutely holy time.

"The transfiguration was completed on the Mount of Ascension," writes Chambers. "If Jesus had gone to heaven directly from the Mount of Transfiguration, He would have gone alone. He would have been nothing more to us than a glorious Figure. But He turned His back on the glory, and came down from the mountain to identify Himself with fallen humanity."

Turned his back on the glory . . . that set me thinking of Philippians 2.

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient to death --
even death on a cross!

I've always read that Philippians passage in light of Jesus' birth. That is, he did not consider his position in heaven with God something to be held on to, but became a man, was born into this world. He came to earth and looked like us.

Now I wonder if that passage might also be considered in light of Jesus' transfiguration. He did not consider being glorified on the mountaintop something to cling to. He did in fact turn from the transfiguration, from the radiance, from the immediate presence of God and decend from the mountaintop, back down into our world with its pain and brokenness. He came down and looked again like a normal man.

That makes me think that humbling himself/emptying himself (as some translations say) was not a one-time decision/action. It makes me think that Jesus might have had many opportunities to "grasp his equality with God" and each time might have humbled himself, turning his back on his own glory.

Maybe he had to reject his equality with God every time he was tempted to use his powers -- with the devil in the dessert, when the Jewish leaders mocked him, when he hung on the cross and could have called ten thousand angels.

We know that Jesus often went alone to the mountain to pray. I've wondered if he was transfigured each time, but it was not reported because no one was there to see it. If so, then he would have turned from glory over and over when he returned to his work with the disciples.

What an interesting glimpse of Christ's generous self-sacrifice.

Do this (part two)

Not long ago I wrote about the fact that when God instructs me to do certain things, it isn't really because he needs my help. Like my grandmother and mother, he likely has in mind to teach me, grow me through my doing of the task. I mentioned two tasks (intercessory prayer and the great commission) as examples.

Last Sunday I heard an excellent lesson on the Good Samaritan. About halfway through, I recognized a parallel principal -- God doesn't need us to take care of our neighbors; He can certainly bless them without our help -- but our God invites us to be neighborly so that we will learn to be more like Him.

He calls us to "love our neighbors as ourselves" so that we can be conformed to the image of Christ. He teaches me to care about others -- not just for their benefit, but for my benefit. My reshaping. My change of heart.

God isn't just being a taskmaster when he calls me to do things; he is coaching me, training me for my good.

I have long wondered at God's amazing ability to create what I call 360-degree blessing, working things together for good for everyone involved in something. Now I'm awed by his ability to create 360-degree benefits -- benefits to those I serve and benefits in me as I serve. Totally cool.

Understanding this helps me know the nature of God a bit better and changes my perspective on the things he has asked me to do.

I remember when I was in school how frustrated I felt when I could see no earthly reason to be learning a formula or fact. Once I understood how the learning could be used, my attitude about learning changed.

Similarly, God's commands have sometimes seemed abstract and unrelated to my life. When I see, however, that his commands have purpose -- how arrogant of me to think they didn't! -- my attitude about his instruction is changed. Obedience and trust grows when I remember that he is working for my good, my remolding (like that potter in Jeremiah).