March 25, 2012 “Man Up!”
Memory verses:
2 Tim 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed…”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things...”
2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
Reflections or Questions on Scripture?
Passage: 1 Samuel 30
Key verse:
1 Samuel 30:6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.
Anointed vs Appointed
Context: David was anointed to be king, but not yet appointed…he had to wait on God’s timing, for the fullness of Saul’s weakness to play out. In the meantime, he had to deal with an insecurity-crazed king who kept trying to kill him, and he had to deal with “worthless” men who weren’t as patient as he was...
Read 1 Samuel 30
Stressed vs Blessed
“David was greatly distressed…” yatsar = bound up,
distressed, cramped, in a tight spot.
Can any of you relate? Of course you can… I happen to know from your own admission that most of you are in this boat with David. The storm has come. Whether you caused it or had nothing to do with it is irrelevant at this point; it’s here, and you’re bound up, cramped, squeezed into a corner, constantly having to make choices you don’t want to make. Maybe you hear people say with a perky little smile “I’m too blessed to be stressed!” and your response is…?
Right.
To make matters worse, not only do you have this struggle, but as is often the case, you have people in the mess with you, also struggling, and since they’re in pain too, their response to the situation is to start reminding you that it’s YOUR fault!
Bitter vs Better
“Each one was bitter in spirit…” marar = bitter, bad taste in the mouth, resentful.
When we’re overwhelmed with the pain of life, whether it involves injustice or shame or disappointment, it’s very easy, very tempting to start looking around for someone to blame, someone on whom we can heap resentment.
This is one of those patterns of the world… don’t mitigate, litigate! (Mitigate: calm the situation; Litigate: bring a lawsuit). Somebody’s gonna pay for my suffering, and it might as well be you! I’m owed some payment, some satisfaction here, and bringing you down might satisfy me a little bit.
It’s sad to say, but we find this not only in the world, but in the church. And this isn’t new; Paul spoke harshly to the Corinthians about their taking each other to court in front of unbelievers. “Why not rather be wronged?” he asked them (1 Cor 6:6-7) But no, instead of “doing unto others as we would have done to us” we “do unto others because they did unto us!” or better yet, “do unto others before they do unto us!”
Instead of coming up with some ideas to make the situation better, we very often do like these fellows: we let our hearts become bitter, and we start seeking a target for stone-throwing practice.
Ugh. Well, we can learn a lot from David here, because his response to this sorry state of affairs was not to lose heart, nor was it to rail against his companions for rising up against him. What does he do instead?
Man Up!
“But David found strength in the LORD his God.” chazaq = strengthen, take courage.
Instead of giving up or getting angry, David found strength in the LORD. The world falling apart around you? Find strength in the LORD! Another way to say it: “Man up!” But by saying this, I don’t mean to just tough it out… David had a way of “manning up” that was different from the world’s way, and that produced abundant blessings for everyone around him.
I’ve borrowed the tea bag illustration a few times, and it’s very appropriate here: When life starts to heat up, when the pot we’re in starts to boil, we can choose to response like a carrot, and egg, or a tea bag.
• A carrot gets soft: succumbs to the stress, shrinking back
• An egg becomes hard: hardens the heart and becomes bitter toward others (Egg)
• A tea bag changes the water: evidences the fruit of Spirit, joy, peace, seed-bearing fruit that generates more fruit, a generous blessing toward others
David had learned a lesson about how to respond to negative people a few chapters ago, back in chaper 25… it’s a great story, and I encourage you to read about it. Basically there was this fellow Nabal who treated David poorly for no reason, and while David was getting ready to take this guy out, Nabal’s wife Abigail intervened and softened David’s heart by blessing him with provision, and reminding him that he was a servant of God, above petty retribution, and that her husband was really not worth David bloodying his hands over.
David thanked Abigail for that wisdom, and calmed himself down, and God ended up taking care of Nabal without David’s help. Judging by the rest of the story here in chapter 30, it seems David learned the lesson well, because not only did he NOT turn against the complainers, but, after God rewarded his faithfulness, he invited them to share in the blessings.
Think about that. If there are accusers around you in your time of trouble, and you decide to stand in faith and God blesses your faithfulness, would you go out of your way to make sure those doubters are blessed along with you? I don’t imagine, for most of us, that it would be our first thought…
But this is the way of David, and while David had his faults and his weak moments, God called him a “man after His own heart.” “A man after God’s own heart.” And THIS is David’s way of “manning up”… he “found strength in the LORD.”
YBH???
Okay, that sounds great, right? Now for the big question: How do we do this? How do we “find strength in the LORD” when it seems like our world is falling apart?
First, how does one NOT do this:
• In own ability or skill … “in the LORD”
• In religious observance
o Hebrews 13:9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.
• In self-deception or arrogance
o Romans 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
• In recklessness (“heedlessly” Numbers 14:44-45)
o 44 But they went up heedlessly to the ridge of the hill country; neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and beat them down as far as Hormah.
Yes but how? (YBH) How are we strengthened “In the LORD”? Some ideas from scripture:
• “in grace” (Heb 13:9 again) We are to be strengthened by the fact that God’s grace, His goodness and mercy, are on our side, not because of our outward show of religion, but our inward reality of dependence on Him.
• in the “Joy of the LORD” (Neh 8:10) We are to be strengthened by the fact that God rejoices over our faith, not over our ability to make everything work out and to make everybody like us.
• “in the faith as you were taught” (Colossians 2:6-7) “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” We are to be strengthened by our faithwalk, remembering the things we’ve been taught in the past. This is a reason I encourage journaling because it is such a faith builder to go back and read some of what you wrote before, and to see how far God has taken you, and how He has spoken to you in the past, through personal prayer and through the teaching of the Word.
• Again, “in faith” as Abraham was strengthened. “Romans 4:19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead-- since he was about a hundred years old-- and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” We are also to be, like Abraham, strengthened in faith, KNOWING God’s promises and His ability to keep His promises.
There are so many other passages we could look at to see how we ought to be strengthened, but I hope these few have provided you with some encouragement, some ideas for how to endure in your faith when it feels like everything’s falling apart.
Truth is, Christ holds everything together (Colossians 1:17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together), and when you live by that truth, your world can’t fall apart, because your world, your sense of wholeness and peace is not based on your circumstances. Truth is, you have already died with Him, and you will be raised with Him, and He holds everything together. All of the passages we read have this in common: they don’t emphasize God’s ability to change circumstances; instead, they emphasize truths about God that transform us, strengthening us in God, so that together with all the saints we can offer those sacrifices of praise, “the fruit of lips that confess His name.”
Conclusion
Today I want to conclude the message with a prayer according to Col 1:9-14, a request that Paul makes for believers, and one that I’d like to echo today. I’d like to ask Him… not to merely change your circumstances, but for you to be filled with knowledge of Him, that you might be strengthened in Him:
Colossians 1:9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Here is knowledge for you: Godly self-esteem esteems God not self, Godly courage takes heart in GOD not in personal ability, Godly peace rests in GOD not in absence of conflict, and Godly strength leans on God not on our own strength or understanding.
If you are pressed… man up like David, seek God boldly, get His perspective and strategy (ask for help if you need it, and pray for each other to grasp this knowledge). Once you’ve asked, then SHEMA: listen to what He tells you and obey, do what He tells you to do: whether you need to apologize, forgive, release, wait or go - withhold or give (depending on His word to you), just do it. And know that He is with you always.
Closing
Song (Center), Closing Prayer (Lord’s Prayer), Benediction
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
This is a Test... This is Only a Test...
Memory verses:
2 Tim 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed…”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things...”
2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Reflections or Questions on Scripture?
Passage: Judges 2 (Provides outline of rest of Judges: Idolatry, Oppression, Crying out to God, Deliverance)
Key verses:
Judges 2:1-3 The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? 3 Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."
Judges 2:20-22 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did."
Other verses:
• Deut 5:6-7/ Deut 6:4-5= Mark 12:29-30
• Judges 2:2/Joshua 24:14/Romans 12:2
• James 1:13
• Matt 6:13/Luke 22:40/46
• 1 Cor 10:13
• 2 Cor 13:5
• Joshua 24:14/John 4:23
• Romans 12:1-2
• Judges 6
• James 1:2
“Shema”
In today’s passage, we are once again reminded of the importance of obedience to God’s Word. Disobedience leads to greater struggles in life, and even if God still had a great plan for us, that plan will involve more difficulty and trial than was really necessary. “Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me…” He says in our passage, and the word “listen” here is, of course, our word “shema”… listen so as to obey, to heed. Indeed, in John 14:15 we are told that the mark of truly loving God is obeying Him, doing what He says, listening to Him so as to obey… in other words, to love God is to Shema, to listen for Him and to obey what He says.
This leads me to a question: What did He say? What is it the people were supposed to obey? There are many commandments laid out in the books of the Law, but what specifically are the people being judged for here? In Judges 2:2 we see that the people were not to make covenants with the people of the land, and they were supposed to tear down altars, places where the people worshipped false gods. Another good place where this is made clear is Joshua 24:14
"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.”
Not only were they to reject the gods of the people who were in the land they were moving into, but they were to throw away the gods their fathers had worshipped, as well.
This may seem odd to us, when so many around us do not seem to worship anything, but the reality of human existence is that we do worship, it’s part of our make-up to worship. Others around us may not go to a temple or to church or other traditional places of worship, but I assure you, there is worship in everyone’s heart.
Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-- who is forever praised. Amen.
If we’re not worshipping God, we will worship something. And with this realization, Paul later tells the Romans, and us, to be no longer conformed to the pattern of the world, this pattern that builds altars to false gods; instead, we are to worship God with living sacrifices, as Jesus puts it (John 4:23), to worship in spirit and in truth. Today, God-willing, we will tear down some old altars and replace them with true worship.
“This is a Test”
First, let’s go back to our passage again, because I want to talk a little about testing. It seems God’s people here had failed a hearing test: “Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me…” Again, the failure was in not listening to God the first time so as to obey Him, and because they did not Shema, God says that, instead of driving out their enemies for them, He would leave those enemies there as a thorn, to test the fidelity of His people.
Here’s another way to look at this testing: God left temptation to idolatry in their midst, in order to test whether the people would still call Him God. God left temptation before the people. Think about this. Have you ever thought that if God would just remove all of your temptations, it would be so much easier to do right? And yet, He leaves temptations there. In James 1:13 we’re told that, when we’re tempted (and temptation in the Greek is the same as the word for testing), we’re told that when we’re tempted, we shouldn’t say that God is tempting or testing us, because God doesn’t test this way. Well, doesn’t our passage in Judges say that God does test this way? The point, in Judges and in James, is that the root and cause of the temptation is not God, but our own sinful desire:
James 1:14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.
But it’s not all bad news, because those who persevere under the trial will receive the crown of life…
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
And we are also encouraged by Paul in 1 Cor 10:13:
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
“No Final Exam”
So, is the message simply to bear with trials because they’re a result of our own wickedness, and we deserve to suffer, and anyway, our suffering isn’t that bad? NO, that isn’t all! Thank God, NO!
Jesus encouraged His disciples to pray a certain way about testing and temptation. Remember how it goes? Sure, “Lead us not into temptation” The word here again is the same as in James: Testing, trial. Why would He encourage us to pray against being led into this sort of testing?
Because the way to avoid having to be tested this way is to establish true worship in our hearts now… Think about it. Joey told me yesterday that, at Oxford High School, students who do well during the term are exempt from taking Final Exams. Great picture, don’t you think? If you do well, show that you get it throughout the year, there’s no need to prove anything, you’ve already been proven. Taking this understanding back into the prayer, the whole thing makes more sense. Listen:
• “Our Father, in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name” Lord, we acknowledge that You are God of Heaven and earth, and that You are Unique, Holy… there is no other God but You. Here we are beginning to establish or re-establish TRUE worship of God.
• “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.” We crown You king of our lives. Again, true worship.
• “Give us our daily bread” We acknowledge that you provide for all of our needs. True worship knows where needs are met; needs are not fully met by following the world’s ways.
• “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…” We acknowledge that You are faithful to forgives us as we confess our sinfulness, and as we release others from any wrong they’ve done to us.
• “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” Lord, restore us in Your covenant, Your holy promises to remove the idols from our midst and to deliver us from all evil, including even the evil inclinations in our hearts. Having thus re-established true worship in our hearts, we can boldly and yet humbly ask Him to remove the enemies of our soul, just as He had promised to do for Israel.
• “For Thine is the kingdom…” Lord, You are and always will be King. We conclude with another affirmation of God’s sovereignty in all things, forever and ever amen!
We’re going to start concluding our weekly services with the Lord’s Prayer, and I encourage you bear this understanding in mind, and let it be a re-affirmation of true worship in your heart whenever you pray it.
Do I believe we really can walk in this? Yes, I absolutely believe this, and I believe God has given us some tools to do so. I believe He’s given us… “everything we need for life and godliness, through our knowledge of Him” and this knowledge that transforms us is found where? “All Scripture is God-breathed…”
“Self-Assessment Tools”
Now, just as Oxford students have to undergo some sort of testing throughout the term in order to assess their knowledge, we can test ourselves. Paul encourages us to do this too.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you-- unless, of course, you fail the test?
And yes, “examine” here is the very same word as we found in the other passages. In Greek it’s “peirazo” in case any of you are curious, and peirazo is used in the Greek translations of the Old Testament Hebrew. Not crucial information, but the point you can take away from that is that the same word is used throughout the text.
Okay, going back to our poor Israelites, what was the “pre-test” they had been given? Recall Joshua 24:14
"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.”
And also Judges 2:2:
“you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.”
As I pondered how we can test ourselves, I realized we don’t have to go beyond what God had given the Israelites: Put away idols and agreement with the ways of the world, including any ungodly thing that had been passed on to us by our parents.
Now, in order to put away any idols we have to first identify them. In Ephesians 5:11 we are told to expose unfruitful deeds of darkness, and so for the first half of our exercise, we’re going to build up altars out of Legos to represent altars to false gods… ways we are tempted to order our lives around serving false gods to get our needs met.
A crude tool that might help here is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs/human motivation:
• Deficiency Needs: esteem, friendship and love, security, and physical needs (if we don’t have these, we are anxious and we won’t strive toward Being Needs)
• Being Needs: Self-actualization/self-transcendence
It’s a crude tool, but it helps us to identify where we might worship false gods… where we fall for the lie that what we need has not been provided. Again we know that’s a lie because ”His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” God has met our needs, but if we perceive lack we will turn from Him to get these needs met… Here are some examples of perceived lack and how we might be tempted to fill it in the world:
• Lack of self-esteem: seeking praise and approval from people
• Lack of love or friendship: demanding to be pursued by people
• Lack of material goods (food/clothing): insisting others provide for you or, on the other side, working beyond your need to store up wealth for yourself
• Lack of security: controlling your environment and other people in order to provide a predictable, stable world for yourself.
When the world’s way of doing things fails you, and it inevitably will, you may experience some other symptoms of idolatry: living in constant fear or anxiety about circumstances, feeling like your life is “falling apart.” You see, the problem is, the world’s way of filling our needs is temporary and incomplete, if it works at all, and it ultimately leads to unhealthy bondages instead of the freedom to strive for holiness, pure love, pure worship.
Solomon found this to be so; perhaps you know his story… great, wise Solomon, perhaps Israel’s most powerful king… but, in exploring wisdom and the depths of human understanding, he indulged his flesh and found that this did not lead to satisfaction. Instead it led to deeper idolatry and apostasy, robbing Israel of truly stellar leadership, leadership which provides for future generations of good leadership.
Now, note that the memory verse says “through our knowledge”… We are transformed by knowledge, by remembering God’s provision, so that even when there is physical lack, we are satisfied, we are content. This is living free, indeed! And it comes not by filling ourselves up, it comes by doing what Paul says in Romans 12:1-2: Offering ourselves as living sacrifices, acceptable to God, and being transformed by the renewing of our minds.
We’re going to attempt to do this for the second half of our exercise. In Judges chapter 6, we read the story of Gideon, one of the people God raised up to deliver Israel again. Great story, I won’t go into all of it, but just point you to Judges 6:25-26
25 That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering."
I’m betting you can guess what we’re going to do next… Yep, tear down those Lego altars that you just made, and build new altars with one of these: (hold up a wooden block). So go right ahead and destroy those altars to false gods!
Now, it’s time to rebuild, to re-establish true worship. Why are we using a wooden block? I’m glad you asked. Once we’re done today, I’d like you to take your block home as a reminder. The world has a way of doing things, and of seeing things… When there are difficulties in life, the world has a way of seeing these troubles as punishment or injustice, things that are too difficult to bear. Because of this, we are tempted to shut down, or to fight, or to steal, or to somehow ease the pain in some other ungodly way. The world sees these troubles as… ROADBLOCKS. But today, I want to encourage you to see these troubles not as roadblocks, but as fuel… fuel for your altar of true worship.
This week I heard of a vision that an intercessor had of a church. There was a fire that had started in the basement, and that had filled almost this entire huge complex… except for the sanctuary, which was dark and had few people, and which had these little dainties to eat that pleased the flesh. When Patty, the one who received the vision, went down to the basement to see if anyone was still there, she found people kneeling and praying, but that they were completely consumed with fire, until there was no more flesh on them… and still they prayed. The burned, and they prayed.
An exhortation for the church is this: do not give in to the desires of the flesh… the soul that wants what it wants and wants it now… the soul that wants comfort, and tasty things, and immediate gratification for minimal labor. No, do not give in to this, instead, test yourself like metal is tested in the fire. Embrace what the world calls a “roadblock” and call it fuel for burning off your flesh.
If this is the altar, what is offered on that altar? Hebrews 13:15, the true sacrifice of praise… “Thank You LORD!” Thank you for refining me! The breath that we release in this praise is like the smoke rising from a fire… and if you think about it, metabolism in our body is the same chemical process as fire. Fire, in a simplistic way, is described as Oxygen + Heat + Carbon-based Item = Heat + CO2. Metabolism, likewise, is described as Oxygen + Heat + Carbon-based item = Heat + CO2… our breath!
Neat huh? Well, it’s the sort of thing a geek gets into… Not everyone is a geek like me, but everyone can participate in this sacrifice of praise, and that’s how we’re going to end today… We’ll sing, then gather for the Lord’s prayer and benediction.
Conclusion
Song (Mighty to Save), Closing Prayer (Lord’s Prayer), Benediction
2 Tim 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed…”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things...”
2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Reflections or Questions on Scripture?
Passage: Judges 2 (Provides outline of rest of Judges: Idolatry, Oppression, Crying out to God, Deliverance)
Key verses:
Judges 2:1-3 The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? 3 Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."
Judges 2:20-22 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did."
Other verses:
• Deut 5:6-7/ Deut 6:4-5= Mark 12:29-30
• Judges 2:2/Joshua 24:14/Romans 12:2
• James 1:13
• Matt 6:13/Luke 22:40/46
• 1 Cor 10:13
• 2 Cor 13:5
• Joshua 24:14/John 4:23
• Romans 12:1-2
• Judges 6
• James 1:2
“Shema”
In today’s passage, we are once again reminded of the importance of obedience to God’s Word. Disobedience leads to greater struggles in life, and even if God still had a great plan for us, that plan will involve more difficulty and trial than was really necessary. “Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me…” He says in our passage, and the word “listen” here is, of course, our word “shema”… listen so as to obey, to heed. Indeed, in John 14:15 we are told that the mark of truly loving God is obeying Him, doing what He says, listening to Him so as to obey… in other words, to love God is to Shema, to listen for Him and to obey what He says.
This leads me to a question: What did He say? What is it the people were supposed to obey? There are many commandments laid out in the books of the Law, but what specifically are the people being judged for here? In Judges 2:2 we see that the people were not to make covenants with the people of the land, and they were supposed to tear down altars, places where the people worshipped false gods. Another good place where this is made clear is Joshua 24:14
"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.”
Not only were they to reject the gods of the people who were in the land they were moving into, but they were to throw away the gods their fathers had worshipped, as well.
This may seem odd to us, when so many around us do not seem to worship anything, but the reality of human existence is that we do worship, it’s part of our make-up to worship. Others around us may not go to a temple or to church or other traditional places of worship, but I assure you, there is worship in everyone’s heart.
Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-- who is forever praised. Amen.
If we’re not worshipping God, we will worship something. And with this realization, Paul later tells the Romans, and us, to be no longer conformed to the pattern of the world, this pattern that builds altars to false gods; instead, we are to worship God with living sacrifices, as Jesus puts it (John 4:23), to worship in spirit and in truth. Today, God-willing, we will tear down some old altars and replace them with true worship.
“This is a Test”
First, let’s go back to our passage again, because I want to talk a little about testing. It seems God’s people here had failed a hearing test: “Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me…” Again, the failure was in not listening to God the first time so as to obey Him, and because they did not Shema, God says that, instead of driving out their enemies for them, He would leave those enemies there as a thorn, to test the fidelity of His people.
Here’s another way to look at this testing: God left temptation to idolatry in their midst, in order to test whether the people would still call Him God. God left temptation before the people. Think about this. Have you ever thought that if God would just remove all of your temptations, it would be so much easier to do right? And yet, He leaves temptations there. In James 1:13 we’re told that, when we’re tempted (and temptation in the Greek is the same as the word for testing), we’re told that when we’re tempted, we shouldn’t say that God is tempting or testing us, because God doesn’t test this way. Well, doesn’t our passage in Judges say that God does test this way? The point, in Judges and in James, is that the root and cause of the temptation is not God, but our own sinful desire:
James 1:14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.
But it’s not all bad news, because those who persevere under the trial will receive the crown of life…
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
And we are also encouraged by Paul in 1 Cor 10:13:
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
“No Final Exam”
So, is the message simply to bear with trials because they’re a result of our own wickedness, and we deserve to suffer, and anyway, our suffering isn’t that bad? NO, that isn’t all! Thank God, NO!
Jesus encouraged His disciples to pray a certain way about testing and temptation. Remember how it goes? Sure, “Lead us not into temptation” The word here again is the same as in James: Testing, trial. Why would He encourage us to pray against being led into this sort of testing?
Because the way to avoid having to be tested this way is to establish true worship in our hearts now… Think about it. Joey told me yesterday that, at Oxford High School, students who do well during the term are exempt from taking Final Exams. Great picture, don’t you think? If you do well, show that you get it throughout the year, there’s no need to prove anything, you’ve already been proven. Taking this understanding back into the prayer, the whole thing makes more sense. Listen:
• “Our Father, in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name” Lord, we acknowledge that You are God of Heaven and earth, and that You are Unique, Holy… there is no other God but You. Here we are beginning to establish or re-establish TRUE worship of God.
• “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.” We crown You king of our lives. Again, true worship.
• “Give us our daily bread” We acknowledge that you provide for all of our needs. True worship knows where needs are met; needs are not fully met by following the world’s ways.
• “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…” We acknowledge that You are faithful to forgives us as we confess our sinfulness, and as we release others from any wrong they’ve done to us.
• “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” Lord, restore us in Your covenant, Your holy promises to remove the idols from our midst and to deliver us from all evil, including even the evil inclinations in our hearts. Having thus re-established true worship in our hearts, we can boldly and yet humbly ask Him to remove the enemies of our soul, just as He had promised to do for Israel.
• “For Thine is the kingdom…” Lord, You are and always will be King. We conclude with another affirmation of God’s sovereignty in all things, forever and ever amen!
We’re going to start concluding our weekly services with the Lord’s Prayer, and I encourage you bear this understanding in mind, and let it be a re-affirmation of true worship in your heart whenever you pray it.
Do I believe we really can walk in this? Yes, I absolutely believe this, and I believe God has given us some tools to do so. I believe He’s given us… “everything we need for life and godliness, through our knowledge of Him” and this knowledge that transforms us is found where? “All Scripture is God-breathed…”
“Self-Assessment Tools”
Now, just as Oxford students have to undergo some sort of testing throughout the term in order to assess their knowledge, we can test ourselves. Paul encourages us to do this too.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you-- unless, of course, you fail the test?
And yes, “examine” here is the very same word as we found in the other passages. In Greek it’s “peirazo” in case any of you are curious, and peirazo is used in the Greek translations of the Old Testament Hebrew. Not crucial information, but the point you can take away from that is that the same word is used throughout the text.
Okay, going back to our poor Israelites, what was the “pre-test” they had been given? Recall Joshua 24:14
"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.”
And also Judges 2:2:
“you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.”
As I pondered how we can test ourselves, I realized we don’t have to go beyond what God had given the Israelites: Put away idols and agreement with the ways of the world, including any ungodly thing that had been passed on to us by our parents.
Now, in order to put away any idols we have to first identify them. In Ephesians 5:11 we are told to expose unfruitful deeds of darkness, and so for the first half of our exercise, we’re going to build up altars out of Legos to represent altars to false gods… ways we are tempted to order our lives around serving false gods to get our needs met.
A crude tool that might help here is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs/human motivation:
• Deficiency Needs: esteem, friendship and love, security, and physical needs (if we don’t have these, we are anxious and we won’t strive toward Being Needs)
• Being Needs: Self-actualization/self-transcendence
It’s a crude tool, but it helps us to identify where we might worship false gods… where we fall for the lie that what we need has not been provided. Again we know that’s a lie because ”His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” God has met our needs, but if we perceive lack we will turn from Him to get these needs met… Here are some examples of perceived lack and how we might be tempted to fill it in the world:
• Lack of self-esteem: seeking praise and approval from people
• Lack of love or friendship: demanding to be pursued by people
• Lack of material goods (food/clothing): insisting others provide for you or, on the other side, working beyond your need to store up wealth for yourself
• Lack of security: controlling your environment and other people in order to provide a predictable, stable world for yourself.
When the world’s way of doing things fails you, and it inevitably will, you may experience some other symptoms of idolatry: living in constant fear or anxiety about circumstances, feeling like your life is “falling apart.” You see, the problem is, the world’s way of filling our needs is temporary and incomplete, if it works at all, and it ultimately leads to unhealthy bondages instead of the freedom to strive for holiness, pure love, pure worship.
Solomon found this to be so; perhaps you know his story… great, wise Solomon, perhaps Israel’s most powerful king… but, in exploring wisdom and the depths of human understanding, he indulged his flesh and found that this did not lead to satisfaction. Instead it led to deeper idolatry and apostasy, robbing Israel of truly stellar leadership, leadership which provides for future generations of good leadership.
Now, note that the memory verse says “through our knowledge”… We are transformed by knowledge, by remembering God’s provision, so that even when there is physical lack, we are satisfied, we are content. This is living free, indeed! And it comes not by filling ourselves up, it comes by doing what Paul says in Romans 12:1-2: Offering ourselves as living sacrifices, acceptable to God, and being transformed by the renewing of our minds.
We’re going to attempt to do this for the second half of our exercise. In Judges chapter 6, we read the story of Gideon, one of the people God raised up to deliver Israel again. Great story, I won’t go into all of it, but just point you to Judges 6:25-26
25 That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering."
I’m betting you can guess what we’re going to do next… Yep, tear down those Lego altars that you just made, and build new altars with one of these: (hold up a wooden block). So go right ahead and destroy those altars to false gods!
Now, it’s time to rebuild, to re-establish true worship. Why are we using a wooden block? I’m glad you asked. Once we’re done today, I’d like you to take your block home as a reminder. The world has a way of doing things, and of seeing things… When there are difficulties in life, the world has a way of seeing these troubles as punishment or injustice, things that are too difficult to bear. Because of this, we are tempted to shut down, or to fight, or to steal, or to somehow ease the pain in some other ungodly way. The world sees these troubles as… ROADBLOCKS. But today, I want to encourage you to see these troubles not as roadblocks, but as fuel… fuel for your altar of true worship.
This week I heard of a vision that an intercessor had of a church. There was a fire that had started in the basement, and that had filled almost this entire huge complex… except for the sanctuary, which was dark and had few people, and which had these little dainties to eat that pleased the flesh. When Patty, the one who received the vision, went down to the basement to see if anyone was still there, she found people kneeling and praying, but that they were completely consumed with fire, until there was no more flesh on them… and still they prayed. The burned, and they prayed.
An exhortation for the church is this: do not give in to the desires of the flesh… the soul that wants what it wants and wants it now… the soul that wants comfort, and tasty things, and immediate gratification for minimal labor. No, do not give in to this, instead, test yourself like metal is tested in the fire. Embrace what the world calls a “roadblock” and call it fuel for burning off your flesh.
If this is the altar, what is offered on that altar? Hebrews 13:15, the true sacrifice of praise… “Thank You LORD!” Thank you for refining me! The breath that we release in this praise is like the smoke rising from a fire… and if you think about it, metabolism in our body is the same chemical process as fire. Fire, in a simplistic way, is described as Oxygen + Heat + Carbon-based Item = Heat + CO2. Metabolism, likewise, is described as Oxygen + Heat + Carbon-based item = Heat + CO2… our breath!
Neat huh? Well, it’s the sort of thing a geek gets into… Not everyone is a geek like me, but everyone can participate in this sacrifice of praise, and that’s how we’re going to end today… We’ll sing, then gather for the Lord’s prayer and benediction.
Conclusion
Song (Mighty to Save), Closing Prayer (Lord’s Prayer), Benediction
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