nothing is wasted

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.            Philippians 1:12-14

 

Nothing is wasted with God.

 

There is something miraculous in that because no matter how hard we try in this day and age of “green”—in this time where passions for recycling and re-using run high—we still leave waste. We still find pieces and parts of everyday living that simply can’t be used. And in a more experiential aspect of life we find much we don’t want to use. There is much about our lives we’d rather hide, ignore, or simply wish was different. We don’t want to use some of what’s happened to us and some of what we’ve done to ourselves.

 

But for God things are different. When it comes to our lives, experiences, and every day happenings nothing is wasted. God uses it all. He takes everything and makes something from it. When we look at our best moments, our wise words, our times of servitude—it’s easy to see how God uses these (even if they are far and few between). But what about the other stuff? What about when we don’t act as we should? What about when life goes horribly wrong? When people say things we never thought we’d hear from them or when we find all our plans unraveling?

 

Nothing is wasted. God uses everything.

 

So when Paul finds himself imprisoned for his faith he doesn’t cry out to God in bitter anger. He doesn’t complain and wonder why God isn’t doing anything or how it could be that he isn’t rescued. He sees how God is using it. He sees how the gospel is advanced regardless of circumstances. People are hearing of Jesus who wouldn’t have if Paul had not been there. Brothers and sisters in the faith are finding confidence to be bold because Paul has led the way for them. I guess the real question for us has to be would this be enough? Would God’s name being glorified and his people being bold and his gospel being preached be enough for us or do we also require a modicum of comfort and recognition?

 

Of course we would say it’s enough. Of course we would argue that if we can see how God is using our circumstances then that would be all we need. Yet still we complain when things go differently than we wanted. Still we doubt and grumble and accuse when life gets hard.

 

And what about those times when we can’t see how God is using our circumstances? What about when all we see is our suffering and hardship? Can we trust then that God uses everything? Can we rest in the comfort that the gospel of Jesus advances relentlessly to the glory of God? Or do we only feel like resting when we are in circumstances of our own choosing where we feel some sense of control and are unafraid?

 

Can we look on our darkest and most difficult times without bitterness and simply rest in the truth that God wastes nothing, that he uses all? That everything that has happened to us God can use to serve his own great message of salvation even if we can’t exactly connect the dots of how our life has glorified him? Is it enough to trust and know that God uses everything? That he redeems all our life for his glory? Or do we still want something else? Are we still holding out to give thanks only after our expectations have been met and your thirst for comfort and security assuaged?

 

inside out

 

There is no real, lasting change that does not begin in the heart of a person.

 

I think we hear that and are inclined to nod our heads in agreement. Of course real changes begins in the heart! But we often live differently…

 

We often live as if the goal of following Christ is behavior modification. As if Jesus just wants us to tow the line and speak the lingo. As if Jesus ever, anywhere in the gospels, is concerned with or interested merely in appearances.

 

Remember that time that Jesus gets angry with the Pharisees for living lives that don’t look holy enough? Remember when he gets frustrated with his disciples because they aren’t picking up the new phrases he’s trying to get everyone to use so they are identified as his disciples? Remember when Jesus was worried that not enough people were seeing him do the miracles or coming out to hear him teach? Remember that time when Jesus said, “You just need to change the way you’re acting!”

 

Nope. You don’t remember any of that.

 

Jesus never cared about the outward behavior just for its own sake. That’s not to say he didn’t care about outward behavior or appearances, but what he cared about primarily was what those behaviors say about our hearts. His interest is not really in our actions, but the heart behind those actions.

 

So how did we get so lazy as to relegate spiritual growth in Christ to mean little more than changing our behavior? Since when is a following after the Messiah in a self-sacrificing way just about acting right and appearing to be committed?

 

But this is how we approach our own maturity sometimes isn’t it? And this is how we counsel others and “encourage” them to grow in their faith. We focus on the behaviors and tell them to do it differently.

 

“Stop losing your temper.”

“Quit thinking so lustfully.”

“Don’t have that attitude of bitterness.”

“Love him unconditionally.”

“Treat her with respect.”

“Be joyful in suffering.”

 

So what’s wrong with these statements? Aren’t they true? Shouldn’t we stop losing our temper? Should we quit thinking in such sinful ways? Shouldn’t we have a different attitude or love others better or live joyfully?

 

Yes we should! Without question this is a life that Jesus is calling us to live. So what’s the problem here?! Actually there are several problems with the way we tend to approach sinful patterns in our lives. Let’s start with our focus. When we—or someone in our lives—is struggling with a sinful pattern of behavior we tend to see only that behavior. We tend to forget to look behind the action, to look in to the heart from which it comes. There is almost always a sin behind the sin.

 

Jesus, when speaking to the Pharisees in Matthew’s account says this:

 

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”        Matthew 23:25-26

 

We focus on the outside of the cup—the behaviors that people see—and we forget that what really needs cleaned is the inside. The real problem lies within the heart.

 

It isn’t totally ridiculous for us to think this way. After all, this is how it works in every other aspect of our lives. You can’t clean your dishes at home this way. Cleaning the inside of the cup does nothing to get the outside clean. If this is how we cleaned our dishes we would not likely find many people willing to accept a dinner invitation from us!

 

But Jesus knows the truth: if we experience change at a heart level, behavioral change will follow.

 

Real change in our life never comes by merely addressing outward behaviors. We may find that we can stop certain activities, or start certain ways of thinking…for a time. But ultimately we’ll find ourselves back in the same rut, stuck in the same failures, battling the same heartaches. Is this the life Jesus called abundant? I don’t think any of us would argue for abundant life being little more than a cycle of momentary victories followed by continuous failures. We will always be sinners. True. And we will struggle against our sin nature all our days. True again. But does this mean real lasting change doesn’t happen? I would say absolutely not. Jesus seems interested in seeing us change in real and powerful ways. But his focus is not just on stopping this thing or no longer thinking that way. Jesus’ real interest is in our hearts. When those are clean the outside becomes clean as well. Our behaviors change when we are clean internally.

 

Real change that lasts is inside out. Jesus doesn’t start with what we see, but with what drives what we see.

 

This truth begs a lot of additional questions…

 

• What does this mean for battling sinful behaviors in my life? How do I confront and battle behaviors with the heart in view?
• Why not deal with the actions first so I’ll be cleared up to work on the heart stuff?
• What do we do from here? How do we draw out the heart based on the actions we see?
• How do we clean the heart (“the inside of the cup”)?

 

The good news is Jesus has answers for all of these questions. The Bible holds the answers. Real, personal change is possible. It begins with the heart. Over the next few posts I’ll be exploring the Biblical view of the heart and what it means for how we should live as sinners saved by grace.

 

once upon a time

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

                                                                        1 Peter 2:9-10

 

Once not a people, now a people.

 

Once in darkness, now in light—his marvelous light.

 

Once without mercy, now recipients of mercy.

 

We have come far. No, we have been brought far.

 

We are a people—and not just any people. A holy people. A royal and priestly people. A people belonging to God. A people with a voice and a message. A people with light and mercy and belonging.

 

Do we proclaim him? Do we live as this people—his people?

 

We should remember today where we’ve come from, what we once were. And what we once were not. Without salvation from Jesus we wouldn’t only be missing out on heaven when we die. There is so much more! Without Jesus we wouldn’t be a people, we wouldn’t know his mercy, we wouldn’t have his praises to proclaim. Without Jesus we would still be in darkness, still be alone, still be the once upon time people that weren’t even a people.

 

We should remember. Remember where we’ve come from. Who Jesus has made us into. Who he is still making us into.

 

Are we living as the royal priesthood? Are we embracing the family heritage we’ve been given, the mercy we’ve been lavished with? Are we telling and sharing and living out the message of mercy and life and belonging that is ours in Christ? Or have we forgotten? Are we in a stupor? Do we simply go through motions without meaning, say words without power, share the message of self and self interest forgetting the light we’re living in where once there was only darkness?

 

We are a people. His people here for his glory.

 

Once upon a time we were not a people and were living for our own self-interest in the slavish darkness of our own self-destruction. Some killing themselves swiftly and boldly. Others of us killing ourselves slowly and subtly. But still we all were not a people. We all were in darkness. We all were without mercy or hope or belonging.

 

That was us, but not anymore. We are now a people—his people. Let us revel in this mercy and live for his glory and proclaim these truths.

 

Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
and who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut
and to the quarry from which you were hewn;

look to Abraham, your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was only one man,
and I blessed him and made him many.                       Isaiah 51:1-2

 

born again

Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.            1 Peter 1:21-23

 

In our church we’re working our way through John’s gospel. This past Sunday we were in John 3 and our pastor was preaching about that term. You know the one…the one in John 3 that has so much baggage attached to it? The one that can make us feel awkward or just plain fanatical at its mention. That term that most of us Christians today really hesitate to use.

 

Born Again

 

What’s the deal with that phrase? Why do we shy away from it? Is it the weird, out of touch Christians we’ve known who seem to throw those words at people like they explains everything at their mere mention? Is it TV evangelism that’s given us cause to shy away? Probably. And for a lot of other reasons too. People can sometimes take the great and awesome truths of the Bible and distort them. They (and by “they” I mean us) can sometimes ruin the beauty and imagery of biblical word pictures with all our own junk. So for a lot of us this phrase born again has some baggage.

 

But Sunday we were reminded that this is indeed a Biblical phrase. It’s a Jesus phrase. And no matter what our own issues with it might be, if Jesus calls us to be born again we should probably stop trying to insert our own verbage and instead redeem the description given to us. We are born again. When we came to and accept Christ we started new and fresh. We hit the reset button.

 

I like how Peter writes about it in 1 Peter. “You have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end.” Some translations say something like, “not of perishable seed, but of imperishable”. What good news! Why did we think we needed better terminology again?

 

We’ve been born again. Born of immortal stock. Sure we still face death on this earth, death for our bodies. But it’s temporary. It’s just for a time. And even then it’s only for the physical. The spiritual knows no death. And the day will come crashing in where Jesus returns and restores and reunites soul and body and resurrection commences.

 

But notice why Peter even mentions it. Why he even brings up this truth that we’ve been born again. It’s the context for why we should love one another deeply. We have all eternity in front of us. Eternity with and because of the great glory of the resurrected Jesus. Does this not stir us to love well? To love deeply? It should.

 

We have, because of Jesus, been forgiven, cleansed, made new. Our heart of stone has been replaced with a heart of flesh. We’ve been washed and cleaned up and given a new beginning. We’ve been given all this and never have deserved it. How can we not show great and amazing love for others?

 

We are the born again. The new starters. Those of the glorious, resurrected One. Yes, I think it is time to redeem this phrase; to reclaim our high and honorable moniker. We are born again. And this truth stirs within in us a deep love and sincerity. We have been given much—been given all—and there is no reason why we should not embrace these words of Jesus.

 

“I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”        John 3:3

 

he sends himself

In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.

He existed in the beginning with God.

God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.

The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.

The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.

                                                                                    John 1:1-5

 

Sometimes I think it’s easy to miss the full magnificence of Jesus’ coming. It’s not that we don’t appreciate him, but I think we can forget what God really did; who Jesus really is. He can be too easily rendered as the second in command. The title “Son” might imply to us that he’s a little less, a little beneath, a little behind the Father. He’s the representative right?

 

But John makes it clear. God didn’t send his second to come and rescue us—although even that would be wildly beyond what we deserved! God sent God to us. God sent himself.

 

The Word—Jesus—was with God, and the Word was God.

 

He existed in the beginning with God. So, Jesus was there at the start and helped the Father create the world? Nope. God created everything through him…nothing was created except through him. Jesus didn’t “help” create, he was the creator. Through him came life and shape and form and light. Through him came everything that’s here now or was here then or will be here ever.

 

The Word—Jesus—gave life to everything.

 

So let’s get this straight, not just in our heads, but in our hearts. This isn’t just an exercise of the brain this is an investment of the heart. Let’s be changed by this truth. Jesus created everything. Jesus as fully God as the Father is God came to rescue us from our self-inflicted, fully deserved depravity. God sent himself.

 

The one who created the womb of Mary entered that womb to come out into the world he had fashioned and given life to. The one who gave life allowed those living to take life from him. The God who existed from all eternity entered time, allowed himself to be confined and restricted by that time and space—of his own making—so as to rescue the creatures he made from the death they not only deserve, but don’t even think they want to be rescued from.

 

Just last night, reflecting on this love of God, my own son declared incredulously, “It just makes no sense that he would do that!”

 

No, it doesn’t. Thankfully.  Because I don’t want what makes sense. I don’t want what’s fair. I don’t even want what I think I want.

 

I want God’s wildly ridiculous love. I want the gospel story. I want Jesus tearing out of the gates of heaven with reckless abandon to do what just makes no sense. I want him giving his life for those who love darkness more than his light. I want transformation and change and newness and what’s best for me. Even when what’s best for me is given while I’m kicking and screaming and proclaiming that I want my own thing and my own way instead.

 

Because in the end, I really don’t want what I want. I never have. It always disappoints. It’s always lets me down. In the end, I want what I need. I don’t want to be who I am; I want to be who he sees and who he intended me to be. I don’t want what I can make myself into; I want what he can transform me into. I want life and hope and forgiveness. I want to be new.

 

It just makes no sense that God would send himself on what the world would call a fool’s errand. To save the unworthy. To give his own life for people not worth the effort or sacrifice. And yet he did. He did because he loves. He did because his glory can’t be contained and his mercy can’t be squelched and he will be known for all his greatness. He did it because he’s God.

 

 

For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,

and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

                                                                                    Colossians 1:19-20

 

light

The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
a light will shine.    

                                    Isaiah 9:2

 

The light has come. That’s what I’m remembering today.

 

The celebration of Jesus’ birth and the joys of anticipating his coming was such a good time of reflection and gratitude. December brought a time to recognize what God did in sending his Son. It was a time to celebrate his gift to us. But all the anticipation and warmth of the season, all the traditions and familiarities can leave us feeling a little hollow come January.

 

In December it was snowy and wintery and Christmas-like. Now it’s just bitter cold and dark and far from the green of spring. So I need to remember – the Light has come. Jesus has come. Not only did he appear, born of a virgin; but he came, he lived, he brought the Light. He died and he rose again.

 

The light has come. We no longer need to walk in darkness. Salvation is here. Jesus has come!

 

Maybe some of the hollowness comes from the fact that while Jesus has come, the anticipation of waiting to celebrate his birth brought into clear focus that we are still waiting for his return. Yes, he did come; yes, he did bring light to our darkness, yet all is not complete. All is not fulfilled. We are still waiting.

 

But now we are waiting with Light. We are no longer the people of deep darkness, we are the people of the Light.

 

He is here, he is with us, he is our Light.

 

And I need to remember that. The winter ahead is still long, and it promises to still be cold. But I am not simply waiting for spring. I’m not merely waiting for temperature changes or color to return to the land. I’m not longing for short sleeves or bare feet. In truth, my long goes far deeper. My longing is for the final waiting to end. My missing isn’t for summer and sun, but for final restoration and the making all things new that is still to come.

 

And I wait with Light. Light to bring hope, light to give life. Light to be my joy and my salvation. Jesus has come and he is here.

 

The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.       John 1:9

 

Advent Day 1 – Hearing with Certainty

Did you know? It’s advent season. That means it’s the time of year when we intentionally wait. We anticipate the celebration of the coming of Jesus—God with us. I have found it so significant to wait with purpose; to pursue this act of looking forward and anticipating. It brings depth to the meaning of the season and richness to the joy of Jesus’ birth. Would you wait with me this year?

 

I just organized an advent devotional for my home church and would like to share it with you here. The devotional itself is all about intentional readings of Scripture for each day of the week for a four week period. It gives us Scripture to read and then a few questions of reflection. It’s very simple and open to God’s voice in our lives as we await the honor of his Son’s coming. The four weeks represent four movements of waiting for Jesus birth, four movements of responding to the Gospel of peace through Jesus. Week one (starting today) focuses on hearing. Week two is centered on believing. Week three is the response of worshiping, and week four is proclaiming his coming. I hope that you will join me as I wait this advent season.

 

Each week will begin with a thought on the focus for the week. Each day that week will offer Scripture and a few questions intended to draw our minds to that weeks theme. Some days I will only post the Scripture and the questions and I invite you to read with care and reflect on the questions provided. Give yourself space and time to listen as you consider the questions. Respond as the Spirit calls you.

 

On some days I may also share some words of my own, but always you will find the Scripture and the questions. I pray that this season of waiting will be one in which God draws us into hearing the story anew, believing with greater depth, worshiping the Son in truth, and that we will develop hearts for proclaiming his coming. Thank you for sharing this journey with me.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________  

Week One  — Hearing

 

The gospel of Jesus Christ begins with hearing. It is good news—the best news—to be told that Jesus is the Son of God, sent by the Father to redeem his people. And so we begin with the act of hearing this good news. This week we look to hear some of the prophecies which foretold that God would send a Messiah—prophecies foretold hundreds of years before Christ comes on the scene. We also seek to hear the words spoken to Zechariah, Mary, Elizabeth and Joseph as they hear for the first time who it is that God is sending. May God grant us ears to hear these words with fresh ears. May he grant us hearts that begin to anticipate the birth we will soon celebrate.

 

  

Day One Reading: Luke 1:1-25

 

Luke is writing this gospel so his reader will have certainty concerning what he has been taught. What words/passages from the Scriptures give you certainty in your faith?

 

 

Can you think of times you were uncertain of God’s plan or promises?

 

 

Zechariah’s son is coming to turn the people back to the Lord; he is coming to prepare the people for the Lord. In what ways do you live and speak today in an effort to prepare people for an encounter with the Lord? What do people hear and see from you concerning Jesus?

 

Prayer—Father, give me certainty in you through the reading of your Word. Grant me a life that prepares others for you. You are worthy of all my confidence and proclamation.

desert of glory

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.        Luke 4:1-2

 

Whenever I read about the temptation of Jesus I am always led back to the same thought…

 

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he was tempted.

 

God led his Son into the desert wilderness where he would be tempted. Something about that flies in the face of what I want to be true. Something about that is contrary to the ways I want to think about God interacting with us. It doesn’t feel helpful. It doesn’t feel like what God’s “job” should be.

 

In thinking this I reveal some very sinful things about myself. Namely that I tend to think about my relationship with the Father as if it’s all about me, rather than being all about him. I like to think of the give and take being about bringing me help and ease rather than it being about bringing him glory.

 

I have things turned around.

 

This is why, when temptations come—or hardships—I can so easily slip into the “woe is me” mentality. I can start to feel sorry for myself because I have let myself believe that this isn’t how it’s supposed to be. But is that right?

 

Granted, in the larger scheme of things this isn’t how it’s supposed to be. Sin, temptation, brokenness and hardship—these aren’t the things God created us for when he first breathed creation into existence. But we brought these things into the world and are continually perpetuating them. We are sinners who wander from the narrow path, wallow in our own filthy sin, and then wonder why God would let us get so dirty.

 

God, on the other hand, while not creating us to live in sin and brokenness, did create us to bring him glory. And now that we find ourselves in the bed we’ve made, with all the sin and pain and brokenness of the world, God’s point has not changed. We’re still here to bring him glory. And sometimes that means leading us to places where our faith will be tested. Sometimes that means putting us in positions where we must make a painful choice.

 

How important will honoring God be when the path to giving him glory is personally painful and potentially hazardous to our own wants?

 

My mind automatically goes to the call of Abraham to sacrifice his Son Isaac. This is such a beautiful picture of the father sacrificing son for the glory of God. A very powerful telling of the truth of God our Father’s own plan and willingness to sacrifice all to bring us to his glory. But it is also the telling of a specific man’s struggle to be led down the path of the dark valley so that he may see the light that is found on the other side. It is a testimony to trusting God rather than self and being willing to surrender to anything our Father may call us to.

 

God will sometimes lead us to paths we would never choose for ourselves. And we must choose to follow or to rebel. The key, I think, is that we must choose before we get to that fork in the road—before the choice is before us. Can we accept that God is calling us to live lives that glorify him without regard for our own personal protection and pleasure?

 

I want to say yes! I want to shout it and believe it and live it…but I know myself. I know my own tendencies and my insatiable selfishness. I know that I can’t follow well on my own. Only by the grace and power of Christ can I be who I want to be—who I was created to be. Only by surrendering in the now will I ever be prepared then to follow on when the path is dark and the choices unwanted. Only by taking seriously the practice of following the Spirit when life is less threatening will I ever choose to follow into the desert when the Spirit leads to places I don’t want to go.

 

It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.              Hebrews 11:17-19

 

To trust God in the darkness and pain is far more glorifying to him than to glad hand him in the ease of getting what I want.

 

Father, may I learn to follow well and surrender sincerely today. I know the desert times will come and the leading of the Spirit will not always be on easy roads that head in the general directions I have in mind. If not for your grace I will never make it; and only by your grace will the glory be truly yours. May your grace ever lead me to places of unending glory for you. May I learn to be about you rather than for me.

 

the gift of glory

As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him. And since God receives glory because of the Son, he will soon give glory to the Son.”                    John 13:31-32

 

I have been rolling these words around in my head this morning. I read them quite by accident on my way somewhere else to read something else. But they have lodged themselves in my mind and captured my thoughts.

 

For one thing, it’s captivating simply because it is speaking of the glory of God. There is something about this notion of God’s glory that is—quite obviously—awe inspiring. I suppose that’s why it’s called glory.

 

But here we find the idea of God’s glory changing hands, so to speak, between Father and Son. Now of course, Father is Son and Son is Father, for both are one God with the Spirit. But still there is something beautiful and compelling about the Father receiving glory from the Son and so reciprocating by giving glory to the Son. It feels very much like there is something I don’t quite comprehend going on here; something powerful and amazing in the way God is glorifying and honoring himself through service and sacrifice to himself.

 

I am struck by the realization that glory comes to the Father as the Son submits and gives himself up for the world. It isn’t that God has no glory a part from the death of Christ, but more that somehow, through Jesus’ death and love-sacrifice more glory is being brought to the Father. And in reciprocating fashion, the Father then gives glory to the Son because of his submission and sacrifice.

 

This is the way God’s wisdom. Glory isn’t achieved through oppression of the weaker or with conquering power. Glory comes through submission to the Father. Glory comes through sacrifice and love.

 

Again, a few chapters later in John’s gospel we find Jesus praying. And again the glory is given and received. Again through submission and obedience.

 

I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.          John 17:4-5

 

I think this is why in Romans 8, when Paul speaks of how we will be heirs of God’s glory, he also ties that glory to suffering.

 

And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.          Romans 8:17

 

It isn’t that God enjoys suffering, or that he wants us to “earn” it. We can’t earn it and God is abundantly clear about that all through the Bible. But I think we see in the interaction between Father and Son that glory comes to the Father by submission and obedience, and that when obedience is given to him—which brings him glory—he in turn gives glory. As he did for his Son, so he will—to a lesser degree—to us his children.

 

Glory comes to the Father by way of our surrender and obedience. Surrender to Christ and obedience to his ways. As glory goes to the Father through our submission to Christ he in turns makes us heirs and children. Heirs and children who share in his glory.

 

redefining freedom

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”             Galatians 5:13-14

 

Over time we have this way—as people and cultures—of redefining what words mean. Based on how we use them and what we attach to them we can take a word and narrow its meaning. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In some ways it’s helpful. If words have a narrow scope of use and meaning then we are much less likely to be misunderstood. But when we come to Scripture this can leave us confused or disconnected. After all, God’s inspired words were written to at a specific time and in specific places. They were written out of (and in to) cultures and people and circumstances. Words had certain meanings.

 

Add to this our need to translate it into our own languages and it’s easy to understand, from a very practical standpoint, our need to tread carefully and think critically about what we read; what God intended. Not to mention that we are speaking of a living word—God’s very words—a message that will forever challenge and inform our thinking, emotions and ultimately our hearts. We alter the meaning of words and so comes the challenge of hearing—not just reading—what God is saying when he uses words that we use today, but uses them with a different perspective.

 

The word I’m mulling over today is the word freedom. As an American I can see that we have a fairly weird relationship with this word. Just short of obsessive, I would say. And the way we like to embrace freedom is not at all the way Paul utilizes it in his letter to the Galatians. For us as Americans—and truthfully for many people living across the globe as well—freedom means many things that contradict the way Paul (and ultimately God) understands the word.

 

For us, freedom often incites visions of doing what I want and being able to simply play and relax. Freedom implies not being told what to do and not doing anything I don’t enjoy. Freedom can mean options upon options and never being given less than what I choose. Freedom can easily be seen as a soaring above and beyond the kinds of responsibilities that just seem to weigh us down. Don’t get me wrong, freedom isn’t all bad in our current way of thinking. It can also mean fair treatment for all, equal access, a fight against prejudice and so on. But none of this is what Paul focuses on when he speaks of freedom.

 

“But you have been called to live in freedom…”

 

That sounds so great! Let’s just stop there. Time to start the party. I hear the echoing cry of Braveheart, “Freedom!!!!….” But look at what Paul says about our freedom:

 

Don’t use it to satisfy your sinful nature.

 

Use your freedom to serve and love one another.

 

Don’t make your freedom in Christ about yourself. Make it about being what others need. Make it about living for the good of another instead of always thinking in terms of self-preservation and self-promotion. Is it just me or does this sound more like work and less like freedom?

 

Serve? Focus on other people’s needs? It’s counterintuitive to see this as freedom. And yet, living without always worrying about self, living without the tyranny of pursuing material gain, living out of a deep interest in others is freedom. It is stepping out from under the slavery to self that so quickly and continually seeks to entangle us.

 

Just last night I sat on my porch with a friend and talked about the struggles that go into being in community with others. Let’s be honest—being in relationship with people is not always a walk in the park. It’s not always fun; it’s not always easy. People are messy! Freedom feels like it would be a shedding of the duties of loving others. Freedom feels like it should involve no longer considering others, just worrying about our own needs and interests. But it doesn’t work that way.

 

Freedom is found in giving rather than hoarding. It’s found in serving rather than promoting my own needs. True freedom is found in being in relationship with those who are also seeking the freedom found in loving well. This is what it looks like to truly be free in Christ: to be open to the changing of hearts that he is doing. Ultimately, freedom that comes from Christ is a freedom from guilt and shame, a freedom from selfishness and the fear of being forgotten. So we are free to focus on others. Free to love them knowing that we are already loved perfectly ourselves.

 

It may require redefining the word a bit, but I think it’s high time we reclaim freedom and bring it in line with what God thinks of when he offers it to us.