@ the crossroads

One of the things that often holds us back from experiencing joy in our lives is unconfessed sin.  Instead of honestly admitting our sin, we often turn to one of these futile sin-solutions:

1) Sin Minimization (”Oh, it’s nothing…sin is no big deal…”)

2) Sin Rationalization (”Everybody is doing it…”)

3) Compromise (”I’ll just lower my standards…”)

4) Blame Game (”I wish everybody else would get their act together…”)

The channel for the forgiveness of sin is open confession and a humble, broken spirit.  In Psalm 51, David pours out his heart to God after trying to cover up an adulterous affair.  He discovers…

God as the source of the forgiveness:

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love..” (Psalm 51:1).  Cleansing is not found in minimizing, rationalizing, compromising, criticizing, or even in “beating oneself up” over past failures.  Purity is only possible through the holiness and perfection of God.

The human need for forgiveness:

In the book Temptation, theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes:

In our members there is a slumbering inclination towards desire which is both sudden and fierce.  With irresistible power desire seizes mastery over the flesh.  All at once a secret, smoldering fire is kindled.  The flesh burns and is in flames.  It makes no difference whether it is sexual desire, or ambition, or vanity, or desire for revenge, or love of fame and power, or greed for money…at this moment God is quite unreal to us, he loses all reality, and only desire for the creature is real; the only reality is the devil.  Satan does not here fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God.

 We are all familiar with this process that Bonhoeffer describes because we all have hearts that are “deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9).  David uses three different words in Psalm 51 to define the evil that infects our existence:

 1) TRANSGRESSIONS = willful rebellion against God

Psalm 51:1 “according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.”

2) INIQUITY = waywardness; straying from a path

Psalm 51:2 “Wash away all my iniquity.”

3) SIN = to miss the mark (as the result of a choice)

Psalm 51:2 “Cleanse me from my sin”

One of the great things about David’s prayer is that for every word used to describe sin there is a corresponding concept to portray the forgiveness available through God’s mercy.

1) BLOT OUT = image of erasing something from a scroll

Psalm 51:1 “blot out my transgressions…”

2) WASH AWAY = a word derived from the domestic practice of washing clothes

Psalm 51:2 “Wash away all my iniquity…”

3) CLEANSE = In the Old Testament, unclean objects are not fit for the presence of God.  To be cleansed is to be allowed access into God’s presence.

Take a moment and seek God’s mercy in your life, honestly confess your sins to God, and thank him for his cleansing power.  Through Christ we are forgiven!

This morning I was reading Psalm 39 and David’s words spoke powerfully to me, especially verses 4 and 5:

“Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.  You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you.  Each man’s life is but a breath.”

There are times in our lives when we are tempted to live complacently.  We can easily lose the sense of urgency for Christ and His Kingdom as we experience the comforts of an affluent society.  Our sense of mission is often lost in the pile of abundance.  The fleeting nature of life described in Psalm 39 has often shaken me out of my own complacency and caused me to ponder how I am spending the time that God has given me to live.  Am I being a faithful steward of time?  Are you?

Most of our lives are filled with ongoing experiences of waiting: some single people wait for the day when they will be married, unemployed people wait for a job, hard working people wait for a raise on the job, older people wait for retirement, hopeful people wait for the Tampa Bay Rays to win the World Series…

Waiting, even though it is such a common experience, tends to get mixed reactions.  When it comes to human behavior, many people tend toward extremes; there is, at times, an “all or nothing” mentality about the way we live.  In considering the biblical concept of waiting, I have discovered this proclivity toward far ends of the spectrum also holds true.  On the one hand, some people see waiting as completely negative.  For the goal-oriented, driven activists among us, waiting represents inefficiency and, quite frankly, a waste of time.  For the more laid back population, waiting can quite easily become an excuse for inaction bordering on laziness.

Thankfully, God’s Word, and specifically the book of Psalms, communicates truth on the subject of waiting and provides a healthy lens through which to view waiting in relation to our daily lives.  Here are some of the truths for us to embrace…

1) God does most of His transforming, deepening work over long periods of time.  A French Jesuit priest named Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, “Above all, trust the slow work of God.”  Think about the numerous centuries of time between the creation of the world and the coming of Jesus Christ to the world.  Then, consider the centuries upon centuries from the time of Jesus Christ walking the face of the earth until the present day.  The Bible itself spans the time of approximately 1,500 years.  This is hardly instantaneous work! 

2) Waiting involves patient endurance.  Psalm 40:1 says, “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.”  In Hebrew, this verse can literally be translated, “Waiting…I waited”.  Waiting on God implies a persevering spirit and an enduring resolve.  Those who are fully committed to God and His ways do not quit; they will not let go of God’s promises. 

3) Waiting people value stillness (driven activists listen up!).  Psalm 37:7 says, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.”  According to a recent Nielsen report, the average American home had the TV on for about 7 hours a day.  The actual viewing was estimated at 4.5 daily hours per adult.  If these figures are even partially correct, imagine the amount of background noise most households contain.  Finding a place of secrecy and quiet in a noisy world can be an incredible challenge, but in Psalm 37, David makes the connection between stillness and waiting.  It is through extended times of quiet with God that we are given the inner-strength to wait patiently on God.

 4) Waiting involves walking forward (laid back people listen up!).  Psalm 37:4 says, “Wait for the Lord and keep his way.”  To “keep his way” means to walk the path or take the journey.  The basic concept behind this phrase means to set foot on a specific territory or object.  It can mean to take possession of a land.  In other words, in this verse, David couples waiting and marching forward.  Even in our times of waiting, there is a forward movement that can be followed because there is His way before us, the way of life and righteousness.  Daily decisions made in honor of and in obedience to Christ reflect forward movement, even if the decisions seem small and insignificant.  Eugene Peterson, in his book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society, writes, “Waiting does not mean doing nothing.  It is not fatalistic resignation.  It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions.  It is the opposite of desperate and panicky manipulations, of scurrying and worrying.”

 5) Waiting involves hope.  Psalm 33:20 says, “We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.”  Waiting in the Bible is always connected with hope; biblical hope is not a superficial wishful thinking, but rather a strong, confident expectation that God will come through at just the right time.  Our hope is fundamentally based upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  The resurrection communicates to us that sin and death don’t have the final word in our lives.  Christ has the final word and the victory is ours through Him.  Whatever you may be waiting for today, remember that God knows your situation and his plan is being worked out over time….lots of time.  Live the hope!

This morning I was reading The Life and Diary of David Brainerd and I was taken by one of Brainerd’s diary entries.  Before elaborating on this entry, I’ll give you some context about Brainerd and his ministry.  David Brainerd (1718-1747) was an early missionary to the American Indians in New York, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania who suffered greatly in his short life of 29 years from physical illness (tuberculosis), depression, and loneliness.  Brainerd’s life is particularly inspiring because he exhibited a tenacious desire to follow Christ and live a radical life of mission, no matter the cost.  He had none of the luxuries of the modern world: no email, no website, no car, no “cutting edge” anything…just a deep, abiding love for Jesus Christ and a passion to see others have their lives changed through the message of the gospel.  I am always refreshed and encouraged by those who cling tightly to the core priorities of life that are timeless: prayer, the Word, people, mission, the Church.  Brainerd never tried to be “cute” in his presentation of the gospel; he was focused on being obedient, even though the journey was often perilous and exhausting.

Here is the entry that contained a phrase that forced me to pause and reflect…

Friday, January 10.  My soul was in a sweet, calm, composed frame, and my heart filled with love to all the world; and Christian simplicity and tenderness seemed then to prevail and reign within me.  Near night visited a serious Baptist minister, and had some agreeable conversation with him; and found that I could taste God in friends.

The phrase “taste God in friends” shouted to me from the pages of the diary.  Here are four words that eloquently sum up volumes of theology.  God’s presence is experienced in relationships with other believers; the body of Christ is people, a community.  We are encouraged and blessed by the presence of another.  In an American culture that overtly values hyper-individualism and, covertly, isolation from deep, transformative relationships, this message of tasting God in friends is an important one for the church. 

In the words of Jesus, “Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20)

May you be blessed with deep friendships that have the taste of God…

Someone once said, “If you preach to  the suffering, you will never be without an audience.”  This statement is definitely true as suffering is a component of all people’s lives.  A life of pain and anguish is also characterisitic of what Chicago Cub fans can expect given the Cubs’ annual “choke” in the National League playoffs which just occurred in the 2008 variety vs. the L.A. Dodgers.  This, however, is another story to be discussed at a later time–namely, this time next year when the Cubs fold yet again…talk about suffering!

However there is greater suffering in life than the loss of a playoff series.  Psalm 13 is a psalm of lament and it reflects the intense spiritual, emotional, and physical pain that accompany the journey through life.  This is a psalm written by David during a very dark period of his life.  Some scholars believe that the context of this psalm is a life-threatening illness that David was suffering.  Perhaps he was near death when he penned these words.

One interesting structural aspect of this psalm is that the name of God (Yahweh) is used at three strategic places in the prayer:

(v. 1) “How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?”

(v. 3) “Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.”

(v. 6) “I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.”

These three addresses to God mark off the three separate parts of the psalm.  Let’s look briefly at each of these sections and discover David’s journey with God as he travels through some of life’s most challenging moments.

Part 1: The Questions (Psalm 13:1-2)…

Have you ever noticed how suffering provokes questions?  If we are having a difficult day, we will often say, “What’s going on?  Why is everything going wrong?”  David poses five strong questions to God in this psalm:

1) “How long, O Lord?”  David experienced the “slowing down of time” during his season of suffering. 

2) “Will you forget me forever?”  The suffering is intensified by the questioning of God’s presence.  Where is God?

3) “How long will you hide your face from me?”  In the book of Numbers, there is a priestly prayer recorded that says, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace” (Num. 6:24-26).  David’s question in Psalm 13 about the hiddenness of God’s face can help us to see that David was experiencing darkness (he doesn’t sense God’s face shining) and turmoil (there is no peace). 

4) “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?”  There is a wrestling component to our relationship with God.  The Old Testament tells us the story of Jacob wrestling with God.  After the bout, God changes Jacob’s name to Israel, a name meaning “he struggles with God.”  When we struggle with God (and our thoughts about Him), we communicate to Him that we care enough about the relationship to fight for it, even when the circumstances seek to rattle the foundation of our trust.  David continued to battle for intimacy with God and during the early season of the suffering, this battle was marked by questions.

5) “How long will my enemy triumph over me?”  In the context of Psalm 13, the enemy may be physical death.  However, the application of this question for our lives can be pushed beyond just the ultimate enemy of death; any significant loss in our lives can act like an enemy, pushing us down until we feel like we can’t breathe.  The losses of life place us in a posture of grieving.  Through the quesions of his prayer, David was grieving the fact that life had taken a particularly difficult turn.  Grief is something we all encounter in life; it accompanies suffering.

Molly Fumia, in her book, Safe Passages, writes:

“Grief is a journey, often perilous and without clear direction.  The experience of grieving cannot be ordered or categorized, hurried or controlled, pushed aside or ignored indefinitely.  It is as inevitable as breathing, as change, as love.  It may be postponed, but it will not be denied.” 

David may have been grieving the loss of his physical health in Psalm 13, but the reality of life is that we are all placed in situations of loss where we are confronted with the grieving process…

*the loss of a job

*the loss of a loved one

*the loss of a home

Part 2: The Prayer for Deliverance (Psalm 13:3-4)

Where does David go with his grief?  He directs it to God in a prayer for deliverance:

“Look on me and answer me, O Lord my God.”

Notice how David’s relationship with God comes to the forefront of this prayer (”my God”).  This psalm recognizes the great need for a strong, personal relationship with God when one is confronted with suffering.  David prays “Look on me” (take notice of my situation), “Answer me” (respond…don’t be silent!), and “Give light to my eyes” (restore my health, deliver me from death, and relieve me of the accompanying grief).

For David, suffering served as a powerful motivator for prayer.  The darkness also provided an opportunity for increased intimacy with God as each suffering point was turned into a prayer for deliverance.

Part 3: The Commitment to Trust (Psalm 13:5-6)

“But I have trusted in your unfailing love…” (v. 5)

David speaks of a past trust in God that has sustained him through the trials, encouraged him in the present, and gives him hope for the future.  David says that he can rejoice in God’s deliverance even though it has not yet come in its fullness.  Even though David’s journey started with deep questions, it has now ended with an affirmation of the trustworthiness of God no matter what may be experienced in life.  God is faithful to make good on his promise to be with us, even in the dark. 

This Sunday we will be looking at Psalm 13, a psalm that David wrote during a very painful time in his life.  We will discover together how we can encounter God in the midst of trials and actually be strenthened through the struggle.  Meditate on the words of this powerful psalm and come prepared this Sunday to dig deeper into its truths…

Psalm 13

How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me?  How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?  How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.  Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, “I have overcome him, and my foes will rejoice when I fall.”

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.  I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.

I spent about an hour at Anchor House (a local ministry that Crossroads supports) today because I was meeting with their Director and assessing the work projects that Crossroads will be doing this Sunday.  One of the main projects that needs to be done is interior painting.  There are also weeds outside the buildings that need to be pulled.  So…come and join the fun this Sunday at 4 p.m. at Anchor House as we encourage a local ministry that helps to meet the daily needs of teenage boys who have special needs.  This is a wonderful opportunity to bring your kids on a mission trip and to give them “hands on” experience serving others in the name of Jesus Christ.

Anchor House is located around the corner from Crossroads on K-Ville Ave. (next door to Boswell Elementary School).  We will meet there at 4 p.m.  Please bring any painting supplies that you may have at home (brushes, rollers, drop cloths, paint pans, etc.).  Please also bring any food and drinks that your family may need.

The Bible often communicates truth to us in pictures.  These visuals help us to remember; they serve to ground the truth into the very fabric of our souls.  Psalm 1 is a foundational song, not just because it sits in the pole position in respect to the other 149 psalms, but because it defines reality for us.  The three main pictures painted in this psalm are:

TWO ROADS: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers….For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1:1,6)

According to this psalm (and the rest of God’s Word), there are only two possible roads a person may travel in life, the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked.  In this psalm, the blessed person is the righteous person.  The word righteous here does not connote a person’s moral perfection in daily living; this would be an impossibility for even the saintliest among us.  Rather, the righteous person is one who trusts wholeheartedly in the Lord, confesses one’s sins, repents of the wickedness in one’s thoughts, words, behaviors, and non-behaviors, and seeks to conform to God’s way of living through the power of the Holy Spirit.  In the Apostle Paul’s words, “This righteouness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:22). 

A BOOK: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night…” (Psalm 1:2)

Notice that the righteous and the wicked are separated by what they love.  The righteous delight in God’s law because it reveals the character of God and serves as the guidebook for the pilgrimage called life.  Many people struggle spending time in God’s Word because of the busyness of daily schedules.  The question to ask oneself is not “Do I have the time?”, but rather “Do I have the love?” 

The Hebrew word for meditation is hagah.  This word basically means to speak or mutter.  It refers to making low or inarticulate sounds.  Sometimes hagah is translated “to moan.”  Essentially, to meditate on the law of God is to speak to oneself the truths of scripture.  Imagine walking around during the course of the day and talking to yourself using the very words of God’s Word!  This is the picture the psalmist wants us to see.  Meditation leads to assimilating truth which will lead to transformation.

A TREE: “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.” (Psalm 1:3)

The life of the righteous person is likened to a tree: strong, stable, well-nourished, fruit-bearing.  In contrast, the wicked “are like chaff that the wind blows away” (v. 4).  Have you ever tried to dig up a living tree?  The picture here is one of solidity; those that seek after God have a strong foundation to their lives that cannot be easily shaken.

Here are a few questions to ponder as you reflect upon Psalm 1:

1) Which road represents your life?  The road of righteousness or wickedness?

2) What is the meditation of your heart?  Are you delighting in God’s Word and talking to yourself the powerful truths contained therein?  Or are you speaking lies to yourself?

3) Is your life like a tree, or like chaff?

This Sunday we will begin a teaching series called Encounter: A Study of the Psalms.  The 150 Psalms represent songs, prayers, and spiritual poems that have not only helped the ancients encounter God, but also serve individuals and the church today in facilitating worshipful connections with Christ.  As a church, we will read through the Psalms over the next 12 weeks, seeking to allow God to reveal Himself to us in new, fresh ways as we look at some of the following themes: suffering, patience and waiting, forgiveness, contentment, judgment, worship, God’s greatness, thanksgiving, community, and God’s heart for the oppressed. 

As I read through the Psalms I am amazed at the wide spectrum of emotions that the Psalmists exhude as they pour out their hearts to God; they know that their God cares about all aspects of life, both joyful and sorrowful, promising and painful, upbeat and downright depressing.  Closeness with God is engendered through raw transparency in humble worship.  One of the goals of this teaching series is to help us see God’s hand in every detail of life and to challenge us to respond to God in faithful obedience.  Each weekly teaching will be followed by daily assignments to help us make the connections between daily life and God’s pursuing presence.  This Sunday I will be teaching on Psalm 1.  Then, the follow-up assignment for the week will look like this:

Encounter [Journey through the Psalms] Devotional Plan:

Monday, September 29        Psalms 1 & 2

Tuesday, September 30       Psalms 3-4

Wednesday, October 1         Psalms 5-6

Thursday, October 2             Psalms 7-8

Friday, October 3                  Psalms 9-10

Saturday, October 4              Psalms 11-12

Don’t miss this opportunity to encounter God! 

There have been many natural disasters in the news over the past few weeks.  Large scale destruction and death forces people to think at a deeper level so I have formulated a brief response to some of these disasters.  The goal is to give followers of Christ a biblical foundation from which to process incredibly difficult and painful events that are affecting millions of people around the globe.  This response will also be included in this Sunday’s bulletin as a hand-out:

As of Tuesday, May 13 at Noon, there were reports of 62,000 people dead or missing in Myanmar as a result of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis.  The United Nations has estimated that the death toll will likely surpass 100,000 people.  These numbers are difficult to fathom.  Imagine if the entire population of the city of Lakeland was swept away.  Then, you can get a sense of the magnitude of this potential death toll.  However, the tragic news does not end with the disaster in Myanmar.  China has also been hit with a significant earthquake that registered 7.9 on the Richter scale.  At midday on Tuesday, May 13, the number of deaths related to the quake had surpassed 12,000 and over 18,000 people were still buried in debris in the city of Mianyang. 

Tragedies of this kind always provoke the one word question: “Why?”  To dive a bit deeper into the realm of theology, the question then becomes: “If there is a God who is all-powerful and compassionate, how can He allow such horrible events to occur in the world?”  While we are never privy to the full answer on the ways of God in the world, we do need to have a framework in our lives that defines reality in a way that is true to the nature of God and the Bible.  Here are a few thoughts in response to the recent tragedies in Myanmar and China:

1)     The Bible teaches that God is sovereign over all events and powers, even Satan and the “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).  One aspect of God’s sovereignty is the setting of limits on the activity of evil.  In the book of Job, Satan approaches God with this question: “Does Job fear God for nothing?”  He goes on to say, “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?  You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.  But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”  The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger” (Job 1:9-12).  Notice how God sets the limits on Satan’s activity in Job’s life.  Nothing happens apart from God’s knowledge and care.  However, the God who calms the storm (see Luke 8:24) is the same God who allows some storms to exist, intensify, and bring about destruction.  He is sovereign over all circumstances.  Somehow, in ways we may never fully understand in this lifetime, God’s ways are designed to maximize His glory in the world.   

2)     Human rebellion against God has affected all aspects of God’s creation.  Paul wrote these words to the church in Rome: “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.  We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:20-22).  After Adam & Eve’s rebellion in the Garden (moral evil), God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you…”  In other words, the natural world has been involuntarily drawn into the corruption of the present world through God’s judgment (curse).  Cyclones and earthquakes that kill thousands of people (often called natural evil) are an indication of a frustrated creation that is in bondage to death and decay. 

3)     Natural evil serves as a constant reminder of our great need for the saving hand of God.  We often forget the seriousness of our sinful condition as human beings.  Our lives often go on for extended periods of time without any reflection at all regarding our desperate spiritual condition.  Natural evil (such as Cyclone Nargis, the earthquake in China, or even heart disease or cancer) is meant to remind us of the moral evil in our own lives and our need for a Savior.  We are much more apt to give God our attention after experiencing a tragedy than we are during the seasons of life when things seem to be sailing along.  Every time we are confronted by natural disasters, we should ponder the depth and gravity of sin.  The level of sorrow we feel toward those who are suffering in Myanmar should be of the same intensity as the sorrow we feel toward our own sin.

4)     God calls us to respond to tragedy with a spirit of compassion and generosity.  Romans 5:6 says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”  God’s response to our sinful condition is one of sacrificial, abundant, generous love.  Christ’s torturous death on the cross stands at the center of history and we are the beneficiaries of His amazing grace.  Having received the benefits of becoming a new creation in Christ, we are then called to respond to desperate situations and natural disasters in a compassionate way; we serve as the loving hands of Jesus to the world.