You Can Take “It” With You

Posted on August 19, 2021 by salooper57

I have often heard people say, usually in an appeal to evangelize, “The only thing you can take with you to heaven is another soul.” But that is not quite true. You can take a bigger soul with you – your soul, enlarged, empowered, and transformed. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus three times repeats the words, “Your Father …will reward you.” What kind of reward did he have in mind? Are heaven’s rewards like the bonus a top-tier CEO receives – but instead of a house in Malibu it’s a mansion in glory; instead of stock options it is a crown of gold? I don’t think so. The chief reward God gives, I think, happens within your soul. You are transformed into a certain kind of person – one whose earthly life is a joy and a blessing and whose heavenly future will bear a weight of glory that is unimaginable now. You are your reward – a reward that God loves to give: you, the real you, full of his life, glorified and glorious, transformed and beautiful.

You don’t have to play the game everyone else is playing, don’t have to scratch and claw your way to success in the world’s eyes. Because your heavenly Father is looking out for you, you can dare to invest in heaven. That’s why Jesus says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” If what happens on the game board of earth is all there is, then Jesus’s teaching here is just spiritual hot air and you better get what you can, while you can. But as for me, I’ll listen to Jesus. He’s the smartest person who ever lived. He knows how to live peacefully, joyfully, and purposefully. He knows from personal experience that what happens on earth is not all there is.

He tells us not to amass earthly treasures. In the context of the Sermon on the Mount, one of those treasures is the approval of others, which is not a lasting treasure. Another such treasure, Jesus makes clear, is money and the things it can buy. Please understand that Jesus is explaining these things to us for our own good, because he knows how life works. It’s not that he doesn’t want us to be admired or have nice things; it’s that he doesn’t want us to break our hearts – or, worse, turn them to stone and render them unbreakable – while we spend our lives seeking things that are incapable of satisfying us.

You see, where your treasure is, that’s where your heart will be. It’s a spiritual law: your heart follows your treasure. Where your thought, time and resources – that is, your treasure – go is where your heart will be. Put your treasure into clothes and that’s where your heart will go. And guess what? When your clothes get old and tattered, your heart will get old and tattered right along with them. Where your treasure is, that’s where your heart will be. Put your treasure in cars that rust, and your heart will rust too. It will get brittle and ugly and flake away until there nothing worth saving. Jesus didn’t tell us this to hurt us but to protect us. People all around us are losing heart – they’re being destroyed from the inside out. The word translated destroy is literally, “cause to disappear.” That is a tragic thing when it happens to people’s treasures – their bank accounts and their 501-ks – but it’s far worse when it happens to their hearts.

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You Can’t Measure Success While the Game Is Still Being Played

Posted on August 17, 2021 by salooper57

We play a game at our house called Ticket To Ride. The game is played on a board where railroad routes are outlined to cities all over the country. Each player draws three route cards worth varying numbers of points, depending on the length of the route, but only that player knows which cards he has drawn or how many points they’re worth. He must then fill in the line between the cities on his routes. He can draw more route cards whenever he wants, but if he doesn’t complete a route, the points allotted to it will be deducted from his total at the end of the game.

Beside the points awarded or deducted at the end, players get to move forward spaces on the board as they complete segments of their routes. Complete three segments of a route, and move ahead four spaces, which equals four points. Complete four segments, move ahead seven spaces. A five-segment completion, ten spaces. (You get the idea).

As the game goes on, one player will move ahead of another, then be supplanted by a third. There are a total of a hundred spaces on the board, and by the end of play one of us will only have moved forty or fifty spaces while another will have moved 85 or so. But where one is at the end of play does not determine the winner, because it’s not just the points on the board that are counted, but the points added or deducted from the route cards as well. The person who is in last place on the board may even turn out to be the winner because he has secretly completed the most routes.

In life, people measure their success by how they compare to others playing the game. He buys a new car and moves up three spaces. She gets a new job and moves four. They get married and move ahead fifteen spaces, buy a house and move another ten. People move ahead or fall behind throughout life, and then a person dies and the game ends.

But even in life it is impossible to measure success while the game is still in play. After the last card is played and the final move made, there remains treasure in heaven to be counted. Like in Ticket to Ride, if you focus solely on what you’ve attained in comparison to others, you are going to lose. You have to be concerned about tallying the rewards at the end.

With that in mind, consider these words of Jesus:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:19-34)

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The Kingdom Commission

Posted on August 15, 2021 by salooper57

Earth is in a civil war – a spiritual war, really, though we must understand that spiritual means more than religious, or mystical or emotional. Spirit is un-bodied personal power, and earth is caught in a cosmic struggle between opposing powers. Human history is the story of the exercise of such power by a malevolent force the Bible identifies by various names: the devil, Satan, the prince of the power of the air, the evil one. It is the story of men and women who – driven by pride and greed – have aligned themselves with this dark power. But it is also the story of men and women who, influenced by the Spirit of God, have aligned themselves with heaven.

And what a strange story it is! We have Adolph Hitlers and we have Desmond Tutus. We have Josef Stalins and we have Mother Theresas. Good and evil battle in macro-warfare. And good and evil battle in micro-warfare. The battle between good and evil is not just fought inside national borders; it is fought inside individual souls. Think of it! There was a time when a real battle between good and evil went on inside Adolph Hitler, and a time when a similar war was fought inside Mother Theresa. Such battles go on inside you and me and, in the total scheme of things, I think it is the micro-warfare, waged in individual souls – in your soul and mine – that is most important. The macro-warfare in which cultures and nations are engaged is never won or lost in political contests or in the secret meetings of military leaders. It is won or lost in the pitched battles waged in individual souls. Had the war inside young Adolph Hitler – who knew his Bible better than many of us – gone differently, there would have been no battles fought on the beaches of Normandy or over the streets of London.

A decade or so ago, numerous denominational bodies chose to remove the gospel song “Onward, Christian Soldiers” from their hymnals, reasoning it was too militaristic and stood in opposition to the peace of Christ. I see their point, but I think they were wrong. It’s true that we don’t need to encourage people to fight and kill each other; the world is already too anxious to do that, and we certainly don’t want to spur them on. But that is not the whole story. The world is at war, and individual souls are at war. You will not understand the Bible until you understand that. We are living in occupied territory and, if you can accept it, even our personal lives have been occupied. That is why St. Paul wrote, “I know that in me – that is, in my flesh – dwells no good thing.” We need Christian soldiers – and need to be Christian soldiers – to battle against sin and hatred and injustice and pride, especially in ourselves.

But we don’t fight this war with the kind of weapons that kill and maim. St. Paul again: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

Christ – he is the key. I told you at the beginning of this series that we are a part of an ongoing story, and that it is vital for us to understand what kind of story it is. We have seen now, over the weeks and months, that it is a story of kings and kingdoms, the story of the king who saves his kingdom and marries his beautiful bride. It is Jesus’s story. He is the king, the church is his bride, and the world is his kingdom.

You might be thinking: If the world is his kingdom, he’s not doing a very good job of running it. But don’t forget that for the time being the world is under foreign occupation, not because the king failed in his duty but because his subjects rejected his rule and turned to other powers to provide for life and security.

A few weeks ago we talked ago about Herod the Great, who was king of Israel when Jesus was born. Let me remind you of the story of how he became king. Herod was appointed governor of Galilee when he was just 25 years old. Later, because of his military prowess in the Roman wars, he was rewarded with the title, King of the Jews. In 37 B.C. Herod went to Rome to receive his crown from the Roman Senate and the Emperor Octavian. His coronation took place in Rome.

Everyone knew this story, and it was not unique to Herod. The vassal kings of the nations around Israel had done the same thing. They went to the seat of power to receive a kingdom, and it was conferred on them. Now this is what we need to see: after Jesus’s resurrection, he did the same kind of thing. He went to the seat of power (to heaven) to be crowned king. His coronation happened there. In theological parlance his return to heaven and his coronation as king of the earth is called “The Ascension.”

Think again of Herod. After he was crowned king, he returned to Israel from Rome to take up his rule. And Jesus, too, will return from heaven to earth to take up his rule. He has promised to do so. But until then, though he is in heaven, he has already been crowned king of the earth. This is something that the New Testament writers never let us forget. It was what St. Peter was talking about on the Day of Pentecost, when he said: “For [King] David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ ‘Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ’” (Acts 2: 34-36).

It was this that St. Paul was thinking about when he wrote that God “seated him [Jesus] at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet…” (Ephesians 1:22).

The author of Hebrews had Jesus’s coronation in mind when he wrote that God said to Jesus, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” Then there is this, from the first epistle of Peter: “Jesus Christ … has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him” (1 Peter 3:22).

This is what the great hymn of the early church is about: “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6-11). Earth’s king is, for the time being, in heaven.

But what’s he doing there when the battle is here? Why not return immediately from heaven to end the war and bring justice and peace? There are various answers to that question but think of it this way: Had he done so, you and I would not have had the chance to join him and serve in his kingdom. St. Peter explained, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Though Jesus has been crowned king at the right hand of the throne of God, the spiritual powers of darkness are still ascendant on earth, where the church serves King Jesus as The Underground, the counterinsurgency, The Resistance. They early church understood their mission: they were deployed on earth to make preparations for the king’s return. In them the kingdom of heaven was already present on earth, but it would not be fully realized until King Jesus himself returned.

When the New Testament was being written, the Roman Empire stretched from Western Europe to Central Asia. It was comprised of many countries, territories and prefectures, and there were many kings and lords – but Caesar was the king of those kings and the lord of those Lords. He reigned supreme, and people had to make a yearly confession of the fact by affirming that Caesar was their Lord. But the early Christians decided that they could not do that. They acknowledged Caesar as lord of the Empire, but they confessed that Jesus alone was the Lord of all the earth. That cost some of those people their jobs, and some of them their lives.

They understood better than we do that they were living in two kingdoms at the same time. They lived in two kingdoms, but they served one king, and they were preparing the way for him to return.

Many of the Bible passages that deal with that return – often referred to as the Second Coming of Christ – are filled with kingdom terminology, with the language of conflict and war and victory. Consider this, which almost no one reads from a kingdom perspective, but everyone should: “…the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). There is kingdom written all over that passage.

Or this: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him” (Matthew 25:31-32).

Or this: “[He] has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him…” (Revelation 1:6-7).

He came the first time to bear sin, the author of Hebrews tells us, but he will come the second time to bring salvation. His first coming was in secret. His second coming will be the ultimate campaign of shock and awe. He will end earth’s long war with a word. We must learn to see Jesus’s ascension to heaven and his return to earth as part of the larger kingdom story, and our lives here on occupied earth as part of the same story. Our role in the story is to prepare the way for the coming of the king. We may even, as St. Peter put it, speed the coming of the day of God. But how are we to do that? What are we to be doing as we await the coming of the king?

For that we go to one of the most familiar passages in the Bible. Before he was crucified or even arrested, Jesus gave orders to the leaders of The Resistance (whom we know as the apostles) to meet him on a certain mountain in Galilee. After the resurrection, they went there, probably with others of his followers (though of that we cannot be certain) to meet Jesus.

We pick up the story in Matthew 28, beginning with verse 16: “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (Matthew 28:16-20).

Now that we have become attuned to kingdom language, can you hear it in the “Great Commission”? “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” That is kingdom talk – or, more specifically, that is the king talking. The order he is about to give is issued upon his authority as the Supreme Leader of God’s kingdom. Notice (verse 18): “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore…” It is because Jesus is the king, possessing all authority, that he orders his senior officers to go and make disciples.

The Great Commission launches the Great Campaign, in which the followers of King Jesus go about undermining the kingdoms of the world and preparing for the return of the legitimate king. They do not do so by armed rebellion or political activism, but by recruiting and training new members of The Resistance – that is, new citizens of the Kingdom of God.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” “Make disciples” is a single word in the original language, the meaning of which can be difficult for us to grasp. For one thing, in English the word “disciple” is not used outside of a religious context. We think of a disciple as someone who learns to perform certain religious duties like praying or evangelizing, or learns to react to others in religiously conditioned ways – say, with patience and goodwill. Whatever else a disciple is, we know he is religious.

But Jesus was not telling his band of leaders to “make religious people.” He was telling them to recruit and train people to be his followers – to make “Jesus people.” Interestingly, of the four times the word translated as “make disciples” is used in the New Testament, three of them come in a context related to the kingdom of God. That fourth time, in Matthew 27, does not contain kingdom language but – surprise – in the parallel passage in Luke the phrase “kingdom of God” is front and center. Making disciples is kingdom work. Jesus’s disciples live as operatives for the kingdom of God. You, if you are a disciple of Jesus, are a kingdom operative.

Jesus tells his leadership band how to go about making these disciples. There are two major components. First, they are to baptize recruits in “the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Some people think of baptism as a ritual prerequisite for getting into heaven, but it would be true (though still incomplete) to think of it as an identification marker of God’s kingdom operatives.

We baptize in water, which is how Jesus was baptized and how his followers baptized others. But it is important to understand that water baptism is meant to signify a larger spiritual reality. The word “baptize” simply means to immerse. To do that “in the name” (or “into the name,” as the Greek could be translated) of the triune God means to immerse recruits in God’s life and character – that is, in the reality of who God is. Jesus wanted his apostles to teach people how to live their lives in God’s presence, just as he had taught them. A baptized person eventually comes out of the water, but he or she never comes out of the God-bathed life.[1] Jesus wanted these leaders to bring people (their work, their play, their family, their relationships, their leisure, their trouble – everything) into the environment of God’s life and presence. A fish lives its life surrounded by water. The person baptized into the name of God lives his or her life surrounded by God. There is nothing in a Jesus follower’s life of which he or she can say, “This doesn’t have anything to do with God.” Everything has to do with God.

This is very different from religion, as popularly conceived. The disciples – recruits, apprentices, whatever you want to call them – were to learn how to live in (and count on) God’s presence at work, at home, with others, when alone, in sickness, in health, and all the time. They were to be kingdom people at all times and in every place. Outside this reality, there is no discipleship to Jesus.

The second of the two major components in making disciples is to teach people to keep (or obey) everything Jesus commanded. Jesus expected his leaders, the foundation of his church, to do more than teach people his commands. That would be easy enough, but people need more than that to succeed as Jesus’s followers. They were to teach them to obey or keep (literally) “all [things] whatsoever I have commanded you.”

There is a world of difference between teaching people all the commands that Jesus gave and teaching them to keep all the commands that he gave. It is the difference between religion and reality, between frustration and joy and between suffocating in the pollution of the world and breathing in the life-giving presence of God. The purpose behind the Great Commission is not to teach people religion – Jesus had more in mind than a catechism class. It is even more than teaching biblical doctrine, as important as that is. It is teaching people to live as Jesus’s operatives while they wait for their king to return and establish the kingdom of God in its fullness.

The life Jesus had in mind for us is not the same thing as living the American Dream, nor is it the same thing as living as a church member in good standing. Obeying “all things whatsoever” Jesus commanded is radically counter-cultural. It’s subversive, even, which is why that great kingdom ambassador Paul, while recruiting and training people in Greece for the kingdom, was accused of turning “the world upside down” and of “defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus” (Acts 17:6).

Now let me ask you a simple question: Can you honestly say it is your intention to obey all the commands that King Jesus gave? Do you know what they are? Can you list even three of them that you are now intent on obeying? If not, there is something wrong. Disciples of Jesus are characterized here by two things: immersion in the reality of God (they live their lives with God) and obedience to Jesus’s commands. It’s hard to overstate this. We have made the Great Commission about evangelism (in the 20th century American interpretation of the word), about witnessing programs, about getting people into heaven, about theological education, but not about training people to live Jesus’s way in the kingdom of God.

But when people actually do the things Jesus taught them their lives get better: more peaceful but also more enjoyable and exciting. Their relationships become deeper and richer. Their sense of purpose comes into focus. They grow to hate their sins and love their lives.

Those people – the church of Jesus Christ – become a magnet to the disaffected men and women of the world, disillusioned by its promises and deceits and looking for something real. The Great Commission was never really about getting more people into heaven, though it will certainly do that. It was about getting heaven into more people, as they live as Jesus’s trainees in the kingdom of God.

Let me close with a reminder and a suggestion. The reminder is this: The way into the kingdom is through faith in King Jesus, who died on the cross so that you could be pardoned and granted citizenship in the kingdom of God. Entrance will not be granted to you because you’ve done certain good deeds or performed certain religious rituals. Getting in touch with your spiritual side will not qualify you for a kingdom green card. Citizenship will only be granted to you if you put your faith in the Lord Jesus – that is, if you cast your lot in with him.

The suggestion is this: If you have confidence in Jesus, it only makes sense to do what he’s told you to do. If you don’t know what those things are, I strongly recommend you find out. So here’s my suggestion: read the Book of Matthew with pencil and paper in hand. Every time you come to some command of Jesus, write it down. Ask God to help you understand what Jesus means, what he wants and how to act on it in the context of your life. And if you can find someone else who is serious about obeying Jesus’s commands, do it together. Start a small group of Jesus’s people, living the adventure of the kingdom together, serving together under the banner of the king.

[1] Dallas Willard’s term. See Divine Conspiracy, chapter 3.

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I Want to Be Like Bob

Posted on August 11, 2021 by salooper57

I met Bob and his wife about thirty years ago. He was just back in the states after a span of years in an east African country. Bob performed surgeries in a hospital there for people who otherwise would not have been able to afford treatment.

When funds ran low, Bob and his wife would return to the States and he would resume his practice in one of the nations largest cities. With the money Bob earned in his surgical practice, I suspect they could afford to live in a large home, drive luxurious cars, and take fabulous vacations. Instead, they saved their money so they could return to the hospital in Africa and perform surgeries for free.

Why? Because Bob believes in Jesus. Because he and his wife believed that Jesus called them to this work of mercy rather than to a life of luxury. Because Bob wants people to know that God loves them, and Jesus sacrificed himself on their behalf. That makes sense to people who have seen that Bob loves them and Bob has sacrificed on their behalf.

Not long ago, Bob’s wife of many years and his partner in the work died. Now Bob is a widower. Age is catching up with him and he finds it necessary to walk with a cane. He has been living in a basement apartment – this man who could have lived in a magnificent home – and will soon be moving into his daughter’s family’s home.

Is he sad? Is he filled with regrets? Of course, he misses his beloved wife, but he is filled with joy and gratitude. He is thankful to God for his wife’s peaceful death, thankful for all that he has, for his daughter and son-in-law and their love.

I wrote Bob recently to thank him: “The way you have endured your loss, the joy that you have, and the hope that flows from you have set an example for me. You’ve maintained a great sense of humor but also a tender sense of the Lord’s goodness. May the move to [the home of his daughter and son-in-law] be a great blessing and joy, as well as a new adventure in God’s grace.”

I want to be like Bob. I want to be an encouragement to other people to live all out for God. I want to model joy even in sorrow, contentment even in a basement apartment, and a positive outlook on the future, even when the shadow of death lies across my door. I want to be like Bob.

That’s because I want to be like Jesus.

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Story Within a Story: Bringing Your Story into God’s Story

Posted on August 9, 2021 by salooper57

This sermon follows the stories of Saul and David in 1 Samuel. Saul does not recognize the larger story and insists on being the sole contributor and final authority on his story. David, however, shows us how we can collaborate with God in bringing our story into his. (Approximate listening time: 28 minutes.)

Bringing Your Story into God’s Story
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Posted on August 5, 2021 by salooper57

Coming to some Scripture passages can be like joining a conversation that is already in progress.

Imagine walking up onto the porch of a house belonging to your best friends. Through the screen door you hear your friend speaking to her ten-year-old in stern tones. She is saying, “Don’t you realize what could have happened? Don’t let that new boy talk you into doing anything like that again. You can play soccer in the backyard. You can play anything you want in the backyard. But I don’t even want you in the front yard for the rest of the day. Do you understand me?”

That is when you knock and walk in, and the ten-year-old scuttles out the back door. You say, “What happened?” It is obvious that something – a conflict, a battle of wills – preceded this scolding. So, you are not surprised to learn that the neighbor boy had talked your friend’s son into playing soccer in the street, just this side of the big curve, and that he had nearly been hit by a car.

Coming to Colossians 2 is like stepping onto that porch. We know that there has been a conflict, and we are just in time to hear the person in authority issuing orders. Five times in verses 11-23, the Apostle Paul uses the words (in our English translation) “Do not.” Once he questions, “Why do you. . .?” To make sense of Paul’s tone we need to understand what has happened. Were his children playing in the street? Were they about to get run over? In a manner of speaking, they were. The new neighbor was trying to talk them into actions that could cause them serious harm.

Paul’s remarks should be read against the backdrop of conflict. In the case of the Colossians, the new kids in the neighborhood were religious teachers who had come to town with stories of spiritual exploits and mystical experiences. They claimed to be “in the know” about unseen realities. And they wanted the Colossians to join them on their path to fulfillment. In other words, they were inviting them to play in the street.

These teachers were rooted in a variety of classical dualism. The idea was that matter and spirit cannot mix. Spirit is good, matter is evil. Spirit is pure, matter is dirty. Spirit is eternal reality; matter is a temporary unreality.

The teachers in Colosse held that, because the body is evil, we must rein it in, control it, never let it have its way. So, they instructed people to fast, to practice asceticism, and to follow a long list of rules and regulations, all for the purpose of keeping the spirit from being overcome and eclipsed by the body. When the spirit rules the body, they taught, it will be capable of connecting to the great spirits that rule the earth.

The Colossians had been converted – they had received Christ Jesus, (Colossians 2:6) as Lord – but they had not really got a grip on what had happened to them. In this they were like many of us. When they came to faith in Christ, everything changed for them. Things happened to them and in them. When people don’t understand this, they are vulnerable to error, and liable to get entangled in the heresy du jour.

Whether or not we realize it, we who trust in Jesus Christ have experienced a radical transformation which has changed everything for us.

When I was a boy, my parents played pinochle with my uncle and aunt most every weekend. They often played late into the night. Usually it was at our house, but once in a while we went to theirs. When that happened, we were allowed to stay up late and play with our cousins, but the time always came when we were hustled off to bed. I might fall asleep in my blue jeans and sweatshirt on my cousin’s bed, but then a great transition mysteriously took place, mostly without my knowledge. The next morning, I would find myself in my own house, in my own pajamas, in my own bed.

Now, had I awakened in the night without realizing that this great transition had taken place, I would have been in a difficult position. I might have tried to go downstairs, but our house was all on one floor. I might have gone looking for the kitchen but, instead of being in another part of the house, it was just outside my bedroom door. The bathroom was just west of my bedroom, not down long hallways. It would be silly and frustrating if I didn’t understand the change that had taken place.

Too many people receive Jesus Christ, then go about life as if nothing has changed. The teachers that had come to Colossae failed to take into account the drastic changes that happen when a person trusts Christ. So did the Colossians Christians. Let’s not make the same error.

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It Cannot Bear to Admire, Respect, or Be Grateful

Posted on August 4, 2021 by salooper57

Envy is a terrible thing. It is one of the chief sources of evil in the world. Here are some of the things the Bible says about envy: It can destroy someone (Job 5:2); it will steal a person’s peace (Proverbs 14:30); it can overwhelm people (Proverbs 27:4); it can cause people to act shamefully (Acts 7:9), even to the point of wronging close family members; it was the underlying reason for Jesus’s betrayal (Mark 15:10).

Because of all this, envy has absolutely no place in a Christian’s life (Titus 3:3). We should never under any circumstances envy those who succeed but aren’t living for God (Ps. 37:1); we should not envy a fellow Christian (Galatians 5:26), for envy can cause the church to self-destruct; we should get rid of envy (1 Peter 2:1), before envy does us in.

I’m afraid that envy is far more instrumental in our lives than we realize. People are controlled by envy who don’t know it, would categorically deny it, and who truly believe it is not a problem for them. Envy blinds people so that they cannot see the things in their lives for which they should be grateful. It blinds them so thoroughly that they cannot see that a monster has taken up residence in their lives.

If, as I believe, many people are infected with envy who don’t know it, we should ask God to show us if we have it. Sometimes, the way to diagnose envy – which can be very hard to detect – is to look for its accompanying morbidities. Peter lists them for us in 1 Peter 2:1. They are: malice (feeling that it would be good if someone or some group of people did poorly – lost, hurt, suffered); deceit (bending the truth to serve one’s purpose); hypocrisy (pretending to be different than one really is); and slander (saying bad things about another person, frequently about their motives).

Where these things are, envy is usually present; and where envy is, St. James says, “you will find disorder and every evil practice” (James 3:16). “Envy cannot bear,” as Dorothy L. Sayers once wrote, “to admire or respect. It cannot bear to be grateful.”  It kills a person’s peace.

We should ask God to show us if our lives have been infected by envy and, if we conclude that they have, we need to act. This may include seeking counsel from a pastor or spiritual director. Regarding envy, the one thing we dare not do is ignore it.

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Soul Erosion: the Deformation of Saul (1 Samuel 18-31)

Posted on August 1, 2021 by salooper57

This sermon explores the other side of spiritual formation. It is like looking at the negative of a photo. What we see is disquieting, but we have real reason for hope.

Listening time: 24:13

Sorry, but because of technical issues, we do not have video for this sermon. (I’ve been told I look better on radio than on video anyway.)

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Doubt Roots Deeply in a Closed Mind

Posted on July 31, 2021 by salooper57

Faith is one of Christianity’s cardinal virtues. St. Paul ranks it alongside hope and love as something that will survive the end of the age. Christians are taught that they are justified by faith and must learn to live by faith. Everywhere in Christianity, from the earliest times until now, faith is key.

So, if someone begins to have doubts, where does that leave them? If “Faith is the badge of covenant membership,” as the New Testament scholar N. T. Wright put it, will those who doubt be put on probation? Are they in danger of having their membership revoked?

Doubt is a very painful thing in any meaningful relationship, whether that relationship is with a spouse, an employer, or God. To doubt the love of a spouse, the commitment of an employer, or the existence of the Creator God can be excruciating. That pain is compounded when a Christian doubts God, for doubt may represent a spiritual failure or even a lack of what Wright calls “covenant membership.”

Doubt – and I have no doubt Wright would agree – does not endanger a person’s “covenant membership.” It is the nature of humans, whose knowledge is limited and whose reasoning is imperfect, to doubt. Doubts find entrance into the human mind through the flimsiest of evidence. We not only doubt spouses, bosses, and God; we even doubt ourselves.

It is, however, a mistake to deduce the absence of faith based on the presence of doubt. Humans are big enough to have room for both. Doubt is not evidence of the unreality of faith, still less of the unreality of God. It is evidence of a searching mind and, sometimes, an insecure heart.

Even C. S. Lewis, one of the church’s greatest apologists, faced doubts decades after his conversion. After his wife died, Lewis wrote: “What grounds has [her death] given me for doubting all that I believe? I knew already that these things, and worse, happened daily. I would have said that I had taken them into account … Of course, it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others, and in reality, not in imagination.”

The novelist Madeleine L’Engle has written of Lewis, “It is helpful indeed that C. S. Lewis, who has been such a successful apologist for Christianity, should have the courage to admit doubt about what he has so superbly proclaimed. It gives us permission to admit our own doubts, our own angers and anguishes, and to know that they are part of the soul’s growth.”

Maybe doubt is not as unhealthy as many of us have thought. Maybe it is not as terrifying. But what is one to do with it—for it certainly is uncomfortable?

Some people, thinking that doubt must always originate with the devil, are so alarmed by the presence of doubt that they run for intellectual cover. Instead of thinking through the doubt, as C. S. Lewis modeled for generations of believers, they hide from it. They are so frightened by doubt that they shut the doors of their mind, which means they have shut the doubt in with them.

What people don’t understand about doubt is that it grows best in the dark. Doubt roots deeply in a closed mind. It grows strong in the absence of light. The frantic effort to shut out doubt ends up fostering its growth.

People who won’t think won’t overcome their doubt. But thinking is not enough. Action is also required. When doubts arise in any relationship, including a relationship with God, a combination of thought and action – communicating, spending time together, working together – is required. Thinking opens the curtains and lets in the light. Action sweeps out the dust.

Sometimes doubts arise in a relationship not because of what the other person has done, but because of what we have done or failed to do. When it comes to God, if we do what we know he disapproves or fail to do what we know he wants, our attitude toward him will change and doubt will be introduced. We will begin to doubt that he is truly for us. Eventually, we may doubt that he exists at all.

(First published by Gannett.)

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How to Set Your Heart on Things Above

Posted on July 28, 2021 by salooper57

Craig Larson tells about driving to work in a suburb of Chicago and seeing an SUV with the words Texas Longhorns prominently displayed on the spare tire case. The trailer hitch was adorned with a steer-head. The license plate frame was bordered, top and bottom, with the words Longhorns and University of Texas.

But the license plate itself read, “Land of Lincoln.” Here was a person who had undergone a great transition, had moved from Texas to Illinois, but whose mind and heart was still in his former place. He didn’t yet identify with his new home.

So with us: we must identify with our new home, with the Kingdom of God; and with the head of our home, Jesus Christ. It is crucial that we think of ourselves as belonging there, not to what the Bible refers to as the Kingdom of the World.

How do we do that? The classic step of identification is baptism. In baptism you identify yourself as Christ’s person before the world. If you have not been baptized, consider taking this important step.

It is also important for us to invest in the Kingdom of God. If you want to set your mind and your heart there, put your treasure there. “For where your treasure is,” Jesus said, “there your heart will be also.”[1] What did he mean by treasure? Well, certainly he meant your money. Start investing it in God’s kingdom. Give it to the poor. Give it to the church. Give until you feel it.

But money is not your only treasure. Even more precious is your time. Get involved in God’s work. Join a ministry team. Volunteer to serve the homeless and the needy. There are plenty of opportunities. Find one and get involved.

Another high value investment is your reputation. Let people know, as often as you can, that you are Christ’s person. Do it in subtle ways: invite them to church; mention something you’ve read in the Bible; put a bumper sticker on your car. Do it in obvious ways. Come right out and tell people you are a Christian; share your testimony; talk to them about Christ.

 If you invest in the kingdom of God, your heart will follow and, as surely as night follows day, your mind will follow your heart. Then your heart and mind will be set on things above and one day you will look up, see your Master suddenly standing with you and say, “You know, Lord, I was just thinking about you.”

[1] Matthew 6:21

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