Jared Longshore's Blog, page 11

Raise the Bar and Lighten Up, Jeshurun

As our church and community has walked under the heavy blessing of God for some time now, we should pay close attention to the instruction given to those who walk under such blessing. “Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked” is a fitting warning for us (Deuteronomy 32:15). But that warning requires that we know the true nature of the problem and a key ingredient to the solution.

The problem, of course, is not growing heavy with the blessings of God. You’re supposed to do that. The problem is that often our truncated vision can’t keep up with what God wants us to do with those blessings. He equips us with weapons to conquer nations and we are satisfied with twenty acres. The problem with the rich man who built bigger barns wasn’t his crop, nor was it his saving. It was that he didn’t know where to spend all of the blessings that had accrued to him. He was to be rich toward God. But his vision for honoring God was too small.

The solution is to labor toward a grand vision of the public honor of God. Among many things, this involves rainbow flags falling form “so called” houses of worship in this town, the city council swearing allegiance to Christ, households being marked by holiness, and Christian education flourishing amid the demise of the secular kind.

But a key to working toward this grand vision is found in the phrase: Raise the Bar and Lighten Up. Given the war chest of God’s kindnesses that has come to us, it would easy to raise the bar and tighten up, subduing yourself and others to excellence overload, as it would be easy to lower the bar and take a load off. But the way forward is to level up while letting our arms swing free like a young and plump Jeshurun whistling his way down the sidewalk, careless enough to conquer kingdoms.

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Egg Flew Hither and Thither

Eggs flew hither and thither. The air was dark with vegetables of every description.

P. G. Wodehouse, Much Obliged, Jeeves

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Wine, Bread, and Oil

Psalm 104:15 says that God brings forth “wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.” All of these have a natural application. A cabernet does gladden the heart. A loaf of bread gives the body strength. And oil causes man’s face to shine. But there are sacramental applications of each of these as well. Before us is heavenly wine that gladdens the soul, celestial bread which strengthens that soul, and the unearthly oil is our dwelling together in unity, this unity being like oil upon the head which runs down the beard of Aaron (Psalm 133).

These three: gladness, strength, and the glory of unity. These three are present here in our midst. These hallmarks of the Christian faith stun the world, which traffics in the opposite. To them, all is sorrow, weakness, and fragmented darkness. No wine, no bread, no oil.

So see to it that you come to partake of these heavenly gifts. God makes them grow, after all. They do not originate with you and neither can you go out and earn them. They come to you from your generous Father who does not change His stance of steadfast love toward you and yours.

You will need continual supplies of these three. To discover you are in need of gladness, strength, and the unity of the Spirit is no trouble at all. That is expected. You are hungering, thirsting, and dimming by design. Each of these come to you like your daily bread does. So your job is not so much to store up these provisions in the pantry for future use as it is to eat, drink, and shine. So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ.

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Beware the She Bears

The tongue is a world of iniquity. A world in your mouth that sets the world outside ablaze. The little muscle behind your teeth can defile all of the muscles in your body and ignite the present age with the fires of hell (James 3:6). There are many ways to go wrong with the tongue. But I’d like to focus this exhortation on reviling.

Reviling should not be mistaken for potent speech. Potent speech is commendable. But the reviler flails with limp words and limp wrists. Shimei reviled David and that King of Israel could have had Shimei’s head anytime he wanted it throughout the stone throwing. The little tatter tots of Bethel reviled Elisha with “Go on up you bald head.” That holy servant cursed them and two she bears had forty-two children for breakfast.

Revilers are listed among those who will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:10). And no wonder, that kingdom is full of light and life, both of which are seldom found in the comment section on X, where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. This Reviler has companions who will also not inherit the kingdom: thieves who have not what they steal, covetous, who have not what they desire, and drunkards who have not the filling of the Spirit.

This Reviler’s name is Ichabod for the glory has departed. All that is left is venom, malice, and corruption, railing before the prophet like 42 children from Bethel Elementary.

It is easy to return reviling for reviling. But the command is to return a blessing for reviling. But blessing those who rail against you requires that you be under the heavy blessing of God. This we will be as we humble ourselves. 

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Kingdom In Our Midst

Every baptism is a reminder to us that the kingdom of God is in our midst. It is a kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven. Through baptism, God brings people into His kingdom, which will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. This sign of God’s covenant with us is designed to strengthen our faith. It is a visible word to us from our Father in heaven, through His son Jesus Christ, and by His Spirit. It is a sign to be received by faith; it is a Divine Word to which the only faithful response is Amen.

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Nature Is a Sister

The main point of Christianity was this: that Nature is not our mother: Nature is our sister. We can be proud of her beauty, since we have the same father; but she has no authority over us; we have to admire, but not to imitate. This gives to the typically Christian pleasure in this earth a strange touch of lightness that is almost frivolity. Nature was a solemn mother to the worshipers of Isis and Cybele. Nature was a solemn mother to Wordsworth or to Emerson. But Nature is not solemn to Francis of Assisi or to George Herbert. To St. Francis, Nature is a sister, and even a younger sister: a little, dancing sister, to be laughed at as well as loved.

G. K. Chesterton

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Table of Provision

At this table we fellowship with God and that should settle all of our fears. If we commune with Him through the body and blood of His Son, how could we worry that He will not meet our every need? At this table, our Lord says, “This is my body broken for you.” And “this is my blood shed for you.” These words from our Lord call to mind the words of Paul from another place, “If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things (Romans 8:32)?

This generosity of our Heavenly Father gives birth to our generosity toward each other. He has abundantly provided and so we overflow to meet each other’s needs. He has covered our sins and so we cover each other’s sins. He has been merciful to us and so we in turn are merciful one toward another.

As the year behind us comes to a close and we look to the year ahead, it is true that we do not know the steps our Lord has allotted for us. Proverbs 16:9 says, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: But the LORD directeth his steps.” And for this we are grateful. It is one thing to plan, but thank the LORD that He executes your actual movements.

He does not do so arbitrarily, but according to His covenant with us, in which He has sworn to be our God, restore our souls, and hound us with goodness and mercy all the days of our lives. These covenant promises, He has sealed to us in this cup, the blood of the new covenant. So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ.

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Beware Weak Vessels

We tend to think that salvation will come from the likely places: thrones, mountains, or kings in high places. We are not altogether wrong in this assessment. We lift our eyes unto the hills discovering that salvation comes from the Lord. Nevertheless, when salvation comes, it comes in meek Moses, left-handed Ehud, and the youngest son of Jesse who didn’t even come to the anointing, being too busy out in the field with the sheep.

Isaiah said that there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots (Isaiah 11:1). But this just after Isaiah’s prophecy that the great forests of Lebanon would be cut down. So the Branch grows out of a dried out stump much like our Savior came forth in a an uncultivated womb.

Learn from this not to despise small beginnings.

All of the rebel kings of the world, happy to have made it through the birth of the Son of David, now sit in thier banqueting halls, saying, “Are we supposed to tremble because of a little newborn?” Well, yes in fact. The widow’s mite is more than the offerings of the aristocracy. Gideon’s three hundred is more than enough actually. Five loaves, plenty. Jars of oil will be poured out only to remain full, water jugs will turn to wine jugs, and rivers will flow out of deserts.

If you try to cutoff the bread of the prophets, God will not only feed them with sourdough. He will feed them with sourdough flown to them in the beak of the raven, sourdough in the hand of a widow, in a famine, with a son, who was about to die.

When the enemy taunts you about your faith being too small, your strength to weak, and your fruit too immature. Remind him that even your Savior was tiny once, carted to Egypt by Mary and Joseph. Remind him he should be wary of weak vessels. 

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The Washing of Regeneration

Titus 3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” Baptism signifies this regeneration and renewing. When Christ blesses one with salvation, indeed all things become new. The blind see. The deaf hear. The mute speak. The lame walk. The dead are raised. So it has been for every one of us. So it is now.

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Trouble for the Minor Fauna

I don’t know if you have ever seen a tiger of the jungle drawing a deep breath preparatory to doing a swan dive and landing with both feet on the backbone of one of the minor fauna. Probably not, nor, as a matter of fact, have I. But I should imagine that a t. of the j. at such a moment would look . . . allowing, of course, for the fact that it would not have a pink face and head like a pumpkin . . . exactly as G. D’Arcy Cheesewright looked as his eyes rested on the Wooster frame.

P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit

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