The Purpose of the Sabbath

There are several purposes to the Sabbath:

1. To rest and recover from the week
2. To devote yourself to God in corporate worship and have an excuse to seek Him personally (ex: I normally don't have time to spend studying a subject or topic, but on Sundays I can)
3. To remember that your salvation is based on Jesus' work, not yours. 
4. To remember that time isn't an endless cycle of days, but it's a weekly cycle that is heading for New Heavens and Earth. We're heading for God's presence-filled new world, so we want to do the things that give us tastes of that world to come.
5. To remember that we're not slaves to our work/job. God will provide for us and others even if we stop working on one day. 

Sometimes it's good to keep it simple (don't do your primary job(s) and worship God). Other times it's awesome to remember that God's ways go very deep and are far-reaching in their implications.

Christianity and Buddhism

I've been thinking lately about the differences between Christianity and Buddhism. There's a very different goal in both. 

Buddhism is aiming for a disembodied spirituality, completely separated from the physical world. But Christianity aims for a fully-embodied spirituality, completely uniting the body and soul. 

Both Creation and the bodily resurrection of Jesus show the goodness and the "redeemableness" and the eternality of the physical world. Anyone who loves anything in this world: sunsets, mountains, oceans, music, food, beer, sex, a friendly hug--all of this is physical and we love it all because we are by nature body and soul. 

Buddhism's disembodied spirituality tells us that all of these things are either illusions or they are weaknesses/immaturity that we have to learn to overcome. But the resurrection of Jesus explains why we love these things so much because they are part of the goodness of God's physical world and a fully-embodied spirituality.

What Is Fathering?

Fathering is LOVING AUTHORITY.  Loving authority.

I think that sums up everything the Bible says about what is means to be a father—both earthly and heavenly.

God is a Heavenly Father:  in authority over His children. He is in charge. 

BUT, God’s authority is loving.  This means that God uses every ounce of His authority to SERVE.  This is what he does.  God doesn’t use His authority to serve Himself, but to serve us.  His instruction isn’t an effort to control us, but to show us the way to experience the greatest life we could possibly live.  God’s actions are always geared toward saving, rescuing, nurturing, defending, protecting His people.  Even the wrath of God is a reflection of God protecting his children from their (and His) enemies.  God is in charge, and uses all of His in-charge-ness to serve.

What’s the ultimate proof of this?  Jesus!  Jesus came as God the Son, and yet Jesus is the revelation of the Father (John 14:8-9; Colossians 1:15). 

As Jesus shows us the Father, we see that Jesus is LOVING AUTHORITY.  Jesus said, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  ⁴³ But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,  ⁴⁴ and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.  ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many“(Mark 10:42-45).  Even Jesus’ Lordship is described as Loving Authority.  This is what it means to have God as Father.  You live under His LOVING AUTHORITY.

Earthly Fathers were intended by God to image their Heavenly Father.  God has designed earthly fathering to be REFLECTIVE and TRANSITIONAL. 

Reflective means that earthly fathers are supposed to be reflections of God’s fathering.  Everything I said above about God’s fathering should characterize earthly fathering.  Yes they have authority.  But they are to use their authority to serve their children.  If an earthly father is using his authority to serve himself, this is an abominable corruption of God’s intention.  Earthly fathers are to be like mirrors of God’s loving authority.  They are to be like windows, where God’s Spirit shines through their words and actions. 

Transitional means that earthly fathers have a diminishing authority over their children as they get older.  This is an important reminder that the goal of earthly fathering is to so image Heavenly Fathering, that children would see, experience, know, and love their Heavenly Father.  As children grow up, an earthly father transitions:

                FROM:  standing in between his child and God, reflecting God’s loving authority, and interceding for them through prayer, nurture, and loving instruction.

                TO:  taking his place alongside his child, together looking up and experiencing God’s loving authority as brothers and sisters.

This brings both humility and a sense of stewardship to earthly fathering.  Humility because the earthly father knows that he too is under God’s authority.  Stewardship because he realizes that his child is ultimately God’s child and so he is caring for a child of God.

This is what fathering is in the heavenly and earthly senses.

I would say that in our world, where we all fight against our own weaknesses, we recognize that there is no perfect earthly father.  There has never been a perfect earthly father.  Jesus was never an earthly father, though He did perfectly express loving authority.  With all human efforts, we must make room for the need for God’s grace and forgiveness.  If we think about the Biblical standard of earthly fathering improperly, many might toss it out as impossible.  We need God’s grace, and we need to show grace to earthly fathers who all fall short of the standard of reflecting God’s fathering.   

Having said that, I also believe that parenting is covenantal, not simply biological.  We see this clearly in a positive sense with adoption.  In adoption, parents make covenants, legally obligating themselves as their bring children in as real members of their family.

I think the reverse is also true when it comes to parenting.  If parents are guilty of egregious abuse that violates the covenant they make to care for their children, then I think that a child can recognize that and, with great grief and lamentation, separate from his or her parents.  I believe that it’s important to forgive abusive parents, but God doesn’t tell us that children have to keep letting their parents abuse them.  This takes wisdom and (I would recommend) the counsel of pastors and elders to help people navigate these issues.

How to Deal with Pain from Others

How do I get people to stop hurting me?
How do I forget the pain that they caused me?

Here's the bad news:  It's not possible to get people to stop hurting you.  It's also not possible to forget that pain.

But it is possible to handle the pain, and even to know God better through the pain.  Here's how:

1.  You have to be open and honest about the pain and damage that the person or people cause you.
2.  You need to go to the cross of Jesus, because there you find someone who shows us how to respond when someone hurts you.
3.  You will probably not be able to handle this process completely by yourself, so you'll need to either go to the person that hurt you, and/or include a trusted friend who can help you do steps 1 and 2.

The real power and healing in this process comes when you see that Jesus is so much more than just an example to follow.  The cross is the place where he suffered for the sins of the world.  That includes my sin.  It was partially because of my sin that Jesus was on the cross.  When he gave his life, he wasn't just being a good example for me, he was actually saving me.  He was there because he was committed to dealing with the pain that my sin has caused him.  For the times when I've ignored him and rebelled against him.  He died for me!

When I make this connection, I feel like I tap into his inexhaustible love--love that knows no bounds--love that is immeasurable in its height and depth and breadth and length.  This is what gives me the love and grace to not be controlled by the sorrow or the anger that comes from inside me.  It also gives me the ability to respond in love to those who hurt me.

But we often can't do this alone.  We need to tell the story of our hurt--either to the person who hurt us, or to others close to us.  As we tell the story of our hurt with people--especially people who can bring us to the Jesus who was broken and poured out for us, it will help us to understand his purpose in our suffering.

It'll show us personally Jesus' victory over sin and evil.  We'll see more of God's presence and God's culture on earth when we are able to not forget the hurt, but to forgive it.  I've always loved the definition of forgiveness that says, "I'm not going to make you pay for what you've done." (Now understand, I may not let you do this to me again, but I'm not going to lash out or extract a pound of flesh for you in my suffering).  This truly unites us to the sufferings of Christ and it shows us how Jesus' forgiving love overcomes evil and sin.

May Jesus minister to you in your pain, may you know more intimately the painful price that he rejoiced to pay to show you his love, and may Jesus give you the community you need so you're not alone as you process the pain when it comes.

How the Bible Can Help You in Your Grief

The Bible affirms grieving
This is an important place to start because many people in the church wonder if grieving is in some way a lack of faith in God. So it’s a good place to start to show that the Bible does affirm and even encourage grief in the midst of suffering.

Job 3—One of the most righteous of all God’s people mourns in grief and spends an entire chapter of the Bible cursing the day he was born, wishing he had never lived. This helps people to have permission to grieve—even the most godly people grieve.

Psalm 88—This is the most gut-wrenching Psalm in the Bible. It ends with the Psalmist still in despair. This again creates room. By inspiring this Psalm, God taught his people to grieve and to acknowledge real grief without simplistic answers.

Psalm 44—This Psalm acknowledges the reality that people who have experienced the blessings of God can experience such hardship and suffering in life that it feels like they have been abandoned by God.

In the Gospel, God joins us in our grief
Psalm 22—This Psalm becomes one of the most powerful Psalms for those grieving when we understand that Jesus quoted this Psalm while he was on the cross (Matthew 27:46). Reading this Psalm in that light helps us understand how the gospel begins to speak to the grief and mourning and depression we feel when we suffer. God cares so much about our suffering that he entered into it himself. He isn’t absent from suffering, but entered into it on the cross, so that he could pass through suffering and into the hope of resurrection. Jesus’ work on the cross shows us that God is with us in our suffering and he will lead us through it.

God’s Presence and Promises give us hope in our grief
Psalm 23—This Psalm’s powerful image of God being our shepherd comes near to us in grief where it says in verse 4—“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” This promise is most clearly seen on the cross, and it demonstrates that since Jesus had entered into the worst death for us, he’ll surely be with us in all of our suffering.

Psalm 13—This is a brief expression of how the gospel can meet us in our suffering and bring us back to God. In the midst of the Psalmist’s grief, he throws himself back on God’s steadfast love, and finds comfort and hope in the midst of his suffering.

Christians have hope in the midst of grief
1Thessalonians 4:13—This is a new testament passage that differentiates the way that Christians grieve. It affirms that Christians do in fact grieve. It’s not human to live above grief—it’s a part of the human experience. But, Christians grieve as those who have hope in God who will reverse death and bring about the restoration of all things.

The Gospel transforms grief into opportunity
2Corinthians 1:8-11—Here the apostle Paul describes the reality of dealing with suffering. He was “burdened beyond his own strength,” he “despaired of life itself,” and he “felt the sentence of death.” This is a great acknowledgement of the reality of suffering, even for the most mature of God’s people. He also acknowledges his desperate need for others to pray for him, so that God’s power would bring about good through his suffering.

2Corinthians 1:3-7—Here the apostle Paul shares the remarkable conclusion that he has come to about his own suffering. He has suffered in prolonged, extreme, and repeated ways both physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Yet, God has comforted him in his suffering SO THAT he might be able to comfort others who are suffering. This brings remarkable hope not only that God can comfort us, but that he will do more than that. As God brings us comfort, he will use us to be able to comfort others who have no hope in their suffering.

Questions:
Do you feel like you have permission to grieve?
Have you been able to experience God’s presence in the midst of your grief?
Do you experience hope in the midst of your grief?

Courageous Parenting: Psalm 19, part 2

Parents are called to raise their children in "the instruction of the Lord"(Ephesians 6:4).  Psalm 19:7-11 might be the best place to find a comprehensive description of what Jesus' instruction entails.

 

Psalm 19:7-11 

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;

the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 

8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 

9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;

the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. 

10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 

11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

 

So great parenting (which also applies to all discipleship) involves helping our children (and those we are helping to grow spiritually) to be able to see  the first half of the lines in this Psalm, and to experience the second half of each line in this Psalm.

 

We want our children to see that

The Law of the Lord is perfect

The testimony of the Lord is sure

The precepts of the Lord are right

The commandment of the Lord is pure

The fear of the Lord is clean

The rules of the Lord are true

 

We want our children to experience that

The law of the Lord revives the soul

The testimony of the Lord makes wise the simple

The precepts of the Lord rejoice the heart

The commandment of the Lord enlightens the eyes

The fear of the Lord endures forever

The rules of the Lord are righteous altogether

 

If we can help them grow into seeing and experiencing Psalm 19, they'll conclude that God's law is more to be desired that riches or pleasures.

They'll conclude that God's law provides both warning and blessing.  Blessing if it's followed, helpful alarms and warning if it' s not.

 

How do you help kids (and adults for that matter) see that God's word is perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, and true?

 

How do you help kids (and adults for that matter) see that God's word can revive the soul, make wise the simple, rejoice the heart, enlighten the eyes, endure forever, and is righteous altogether?

 

I would study each one of these lines and try to think of particular situations where I could point this out to the kids and teach them the appropriate verse that goes along with it.  I would determine where I've experienced these things in my own life and share those things with them.

Different Ways of Convincing Others

Some people persuade and convince others to agree with them by simply stating their different position.

Some people persuade and convince others to agree with them by trying to translate what they believe into the langauge of the person they are trying to persuade. 

The first results in the others leaving where they are and entering into the new thinking domain of the person who convinced them.  They often will learn to articulate their new views by parroting the one who convinced them.  

The second results in someone staying where they are but bringing the new idea into their existing thinking domain.  They often will learn to articulate their new views within the domain where they are in language that is native to where they are.

This is a good explanation of different kinds of churches.  Some churches stand outside the culture and call folks from the culture to leave the culture and join the separate culture of the church.  Other churches want converts to stay within the culture where they are and come up with ways to speak the reality of Jesus into their culture.

Unfortunately, many of these two kinds of churches think their way is the only way, and they don't want to try to appreciate the other.  That is frustrating because they both need each other... and so does the world.