Toby J. Sumpter's Blog, page 90

Love for the Shamed

In Luke 9:51, Jesus sets His face toward Jerusalem. The rest of the book of Luke records this journey to accomplish His “exodus” (9:31). But much of the surrounding discussion with the disciples is taken up with whether they will follow Him (cf. 9:23ff, 9:48ff, 9:57ff).

In other words, the faces of the disciples are turned every which way: comparing themselves to one another (9:46), comparing themselves to other (successful) exorcists (9:49), and frustrated by skeptical Samaritans (9:52-54). So Jesus warns any who would follow Him that if they put their hand to this plow, they must not look back (9:62).

There is a way of teaching or preaching this call to discipleship that breeds severity and discouragement, but this rests on a misunderstanding of what Jesus has set His face to do. Has Jesus set His face in frustration? Has Jesus set His face in stern determination? Why has Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem? The answer is: For love. The face of Jesus is set toward Jerusalem in order to win His bride, to see her with Him in glory without spot or wrinkle. Certainly, there is a holy duty involved, and the cross is also an expression of God’s righteous fury with sin and all of its horrific effects. But the center of His mission is love for the lost, love for the unlovely, love for the guilty, love for the shamed.

And so anyone who would follow Jesus must be gripped by this love, this willingness to sacrifice, to suffer and die to set the beloved free. Love is overused, misused, and misrepresented and dies the death of a mindless inflation. But love is still real, still powerful for all that. And nothing short of that kind of hopeful, determined, joyful love can fix our eyes on the One who can free us from every Egypt and bring us into the Promised Land. It is this love that compels us to put our hands to the plow and not look back. It’s like standing up at your wedding. How could you be distracted by anything else, anyone else? He has come for you. Fix your eyes on Him. Don’t look back.

Avantgardian Charades

Jonathan Merritt barely represses a swagger as he recounts his prescient foretelling of the doomed conservative Christian resistance to sexual perversion. First, Christians resisted the idea of homosexuality altogether, and now they pathetically and predictably object to the transgender movement and are doomed to fail again. He cites the three major blunders of conservative Christians as 1. ideology over people, 2. prooftext over science, and 3. fear over facts.

Oh Lord, where to begin?

First, the bummer thing for Jonathan is that as he huffs and puffs to keep up with all the cool kids, they’re in the process of changing their minds again. I had a chance to sit down with Brett McCraken last week and talk about Christians and cultural engagement. He pointed out the emptiness of Christians trying to keep up with the trends of the world. It’s the gospel: Jesus crucified and risen that is the relevance of Christians for the world. That’s what the world wants and needs, even if they don’t know it yet. It struck me as we were talking, that the other irony of Christians doing their best pagan imitations is the fact that unbelievers have holes torn out of their souls by the ravages of sin. It is that deep ache and pain that causes their restlessness. And it is that restlessness that is constantly searching for a salve. Maybe a new haircut? Maybe another movie? Maybe a new spouse? Maybe a new gender? In other words, unbelief thrashes against isolation and meaninglessness. The fads and movements of unbelief are fundamentally driven by this.

Of course because the image of God is not obliterated, unbelievers create beautiful things sometimes, discover goodness, and accomplish great things. But frequently, all the avantgardian charades are just that: charades. Let’s rearrange the furniture on this Titanic. Let’s put lipstick on my corpse. And so when Christians chase after the world, they are aping their charades. The reason our cultural contributions are often so shoddy is because they are knockoffs of knockoffs. We are aping the apes. We imagine for some reason that they know what they’re doing. But in fact, they are lost and confused and trying to cover their confusion with laugh tracks and sound effects and plastic surgery and hormone therapy. So on the one hand, the question common to all of their questions is: What is wrong with me? And the relevant, helpful answer that Christians ought to be eager to give is that sin is what is wrong and Jesus was crucified for sin. And on the other hand sadly, the far too many Jonathan Merritts of the world rush to “help” the world by trying on their various attempts at fig leaves. We’re like the guy rushing around the house with his wife looking for the car keys while we’re holding them in our hand all along.

As just one case and point, while Jonathan shakes his head at Christians quoting Bible verses and not paying close enough attention to science and people, Marcie Bianco explains that her sexuality is completely her choice. She has no use for the “born this way” narrative. That was just a convenient rhetorical and political ploy, given the constraints of our old fashioned society. But now that the castle is breached, no need to hide behind biological (read: scientific) arguments. What a pathetically naive and patriarchal concept! Hopefully Jonathan will apologize for his insensitivity. Doesn’t he see how he’s getting in the way of the revolution? Seems his “scientific” worldview is getting in the way of understanding real people who refuse to be defined by such exacting ideologies. Jonathan Merritt is the Amy Grant of journalists. He’s jamming to DC Talk at the roller rink with all the other homeschoolers, with his shirt untucked and jeans rolled up, hoping to get noticed, hoping to get invited to the cool corner. Only, unfortunately for him, he hasn’t yet heard of Vanilla Ice.

Pentecost Sunday: Fire From Heaven

Luke XXXVI: Lk. 9:49-62

Introduction

Today is Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Easter, the day we celebrate the pouring out of the Spirit and the birth of the Christian Church.

The Text: The theme that ties these three scenes in Luke 9 together is the call to follow Jesus and the way other people and institutions in this world can sometimes become obstacles to our devotion. In the first scene, the disciples tell Jesus that they tried to stop someone who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name who wasn’t following them (Lk. 9:49-50). In the second scene, a village of Samaritans didn’t receive Jesus, and the disciples ask Him if He wants them to call down fire from heaven to consume them (Lk. 9:51-56). And in the third scene, Jesus responds to various hindrances to following Him (Lk. 9:67-62). Jesus warns that our commitment to Him means prioritizing His kingdom over many of those things most dear to us (like home and family). Here, Jesus “sets His face to Jerusalem,” (Lk. 9:51) and those who would follow Him must do the same. This is what Pentecost and gift of the Spirit are all about, but the disciples did not yet understand.

Abraham, Elijah, and the Disciples

The story of Abraham pleading for Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18) is a striking contrast to the disciples’ suggestion concerning the Samaritan village. Abraham pleads with God to have mercy on the cities for the sake of the righteous. The disciples ask Jesus if He wants them to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritan village (Lk. 9:54). While some manuscripts explicitly say “like Elijah,” there is no doubt that is what the disciples are thinking about. Just before Elijah was taken up into heaven, he announced that King Ahaziah would die from an injury (2 Kgs. 1:4), and when Ahaziah sent soldiers to arrest Elijah, the prophet called fire down from heaven and it consumed fifty soldiers (twice) (2 Kgs. 1:9-16). Luke has just noted that the time for Jesus “to be taken up” has come (Lk. 9:51), and it may be that the disciples assumed that was the story they were in. (Interestingly, the word used in 2 Kgs 2:10-11 to describe Elijah being taken up is used in Acts 1 to describe Jesus being taken up.) But this episode and the previous two indicate that the disciples just aren’t listening to Jesus (cf. Lk. 9:35). They’ve gone from arguing about who was the greatest (Lk. 9:46) to objecting to someone not following them casting out demons in the name of Jesus (Lk. 9:49) – which is deeply ironic since they’ve just failed to cast out a demon (Lk. 9:40). Now they want to tell fire to come down from heaven, which not only seems deeply wrongheaded (cf. KJV Lk. 9:55-56), but also rather arrogant – what makes them think they can actually do that?

There are a couple of other connections between this scene and the story of Abraham. We know that ultimately God did send fire on the cities, and their wickedness was demonstrated by their severe lack of hospitality. The men of Sodom are wicked and seek to harm the angel visitors that Lot receives (Gen. 19:1-11). It may be that the disciples were also thinking of this story, when they request fire, since they have been rejected by the Samaritan village. Finally, as Lot and his wife and two daughters are barely escaping the city, they are warned not to look back. But Lot’s wife does look back and she turns into a pillar of salt (Gen. 19:26). It’s interesting that as Jesus addresses various obstacles to following Him, the last thing He says is “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God (Lk. 9:62). It’s also interesting that when Elijah calls Elisha to follow him, Elisha is plowing a field and asks Elijah for permission to go say goodbye to his father and mother (1 Kgs. 19:20). This is also one of the requests made of Jesus: “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home” (Lk. 9:61).

Fire From Heaven

Throughout the Bible “fire from heaven” takes on a number of different contours. In addition to the fire that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis, fire comes down on Egypt during the plagues (Ex. 19:24). But fire also comes down on Mt. Sinai when God meets with His people (Dt. 4:11, 36). In addition to the fire that consumed the soldiers sent from King Ahaziah, Elijah rode up into heaven by a fiery whirlwind (2 Kgs. 2:11). Likewise, while fire fell from heaven and consumed Job’s flocks of sheep and his servants (Job 1:16), fire also fell from heaven at the dedication of David’s tabernacle and consumed the sacrifices (1 Chron. 21:26), as well as Solomon’s temple dedication and consumed those sacrifices (2 Chron. 7:1). Jesus says later in Luke that when the Kingdom of God comes it will be like the days of Lot (Lk. 17:28), and there will be fire rained down from heaven, when the Son of Man is revealed (Lk. 17:29-30). Likewise, the followers of Jesus will need to remember Lot’s wife and not look back at their city, but be ready and willing to flee (Lk. 17:32). Finally, we cannot miss the fact that when the Holy Spirit is poured out on Pentecost, there is a sound from heaven, like a mighty rushing wind (Acts 2:2), and divided tongues of fire appear on all of the disciples (Acts 2:3). As Peter explains what has happened to the wondering crowds, he explains that this is the day of the Lord that the prophet Joel foretold, which included “wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke…” (Acts 2:19). And all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21).

Conclusion & Applications

Jesus ascended into heaven in order to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, in order to fill men and women with His life. And this life mimics His life, turning our faces toward Jerusalem, toward the cross and resurrection – for the life of the world. But this life we carry within us is a fire. In this sense, every Christian is already a judgment against all darkness, unbelief, and rebellion, and therefore we cannot be surprised when the world rejects us. When Stephen’s face shone, they killed him.

And yet, we are still called to have the hope and compassion of Abraham, pleading with God for our cities, asking that our good deeds might be burning coals on the heads of our enemies, pleading with them to be saved.

But the deeper meaning of this text is that Jesus calls us to allow the Spirit to set our faces towards His. Do not be distracted by other Christians, by the rejection of non-Christians, or even by the good gifts of God. Set your hand to the plow, do not look back, and let the Spirit drive you into His glorious future.

Lewis on the Difference between Colleges and Schools

In an essay on education in Image and Imagination, C.S. Lewis explains the difference between schools and colleges. He says that in schools, the primary activity is teaching, and therefore students are absolutely essential. A teacher must have a student to teach, otherwise  he is sunk. However, students are not necessary for colleges. Colleges, as originally imagined were communities of scholars, a faculty of fellows given to particular studies, and importantly, they did so for the love of that body of knowledge. Other, younger students certainly might join the scholar in his pursuit of knowledge and understanding, but it certainly wasn’t necessary and wasn’t the primary focus.

Lewis recognizes that often this pure vision is impossible to execute for various practical reasons, but he insists that the goal is still necessary to pursue for the existence of civilization. Lewis argues that civilization rests upon leisure. And by leisure, Lewis does not mean empty spaces on the calendar or vacations or mere accumulation of free time. Rather, he means time and energy and the sort of creative, imaginative space required to not only carry out vocations with skill and excellence, but also to explore the sciences and arts and other ventures for the good of society. By leisure, Lewis means free time and energy used to pursue the good. In other words, the existence of colleges that aim for a community of scholars given to the pursuit of learning for the love of knowledge and wisdom is the way such souls are formed. Particular skills can and must be taught in various ways; vocations must be chosen and learned. But when a mechanic has finished his labors for the day, what will he do for the evening, on the weekend, for holiday? If his training has only given him a narrow set of skills, apart from the grace of God and natural curiosity and love for learning, there’s a gaping hole in his soul. And in a decadent culture like our own, binge watching sitcoms on Netflix and draining a 24-pack of Keystone Light becomes the habitus of civilization in decline.

I find a great deal of this helpful, not to mention inspiring, though questions of money and class do occur to me. How does a college fund such fellowships where “students” are unnecessary (though welcome)? And does this necessarily imply that only the relatively wealthy may be culture makers and civilization savers?

Why We Baptize Our Children

At the end of Peter’s Pentecost sermon when the people were cut to the heart by the gospel and asked what they should do, Peter said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.” (Acts 2:38-39)

This is one of the key passages for understanding why we baptize our children. Let me point to 3 things very quickly: First, Peter says that everyone is to repent and be baptized. Baptism is a symbolic Exodus. In baptism, by faith in Jesus Christ, we are joined to His death and resurrection and participate in His exodus out of the Egypt of sin and through the Red Sea of death. One of the crucial moments in the story of the first exodus was when Pharaoh said that the Israelite men could go, but that the women and children would have to stay behind. Moses did not accept this compromise but insisted that everyone would go: men, women, and children. The children may not have understood exactly what was going on, but they could not be left behind, so we bring our children to be baptized. We cannot leave them behind.

And second, just in case we’re tempted to think Peter isn’t thinking about our children, notice that Peter immediately says the “promise is to you and for your children” – that is the language of the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If the New Covenant was not supposed to include our children, this was a key moment when Peter needed to make that clear. Instead, he says that what those older covenants pointed toward is now being fulfilled in Jesus. The promise is for our children; so we baptize our children.

Lastly, notice that Peter says that the efficacy of this repentance and baptism is the Lord’s calling – those who come are those whom the Lord our God has called. Of course, it is also said that all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And so they are. But it turns out that our calling and the Lord’s calling go together. When we call on the Lord, it’s a sign that He has called us. And it’s the same with our children. We bring them to be baptized in faith believing that because they have been put into our families and into our covenant community, He is calling them.

And so as you raise your daughter, remind her of this day when the Lord began calling her, so that she may grow up learning to call on Him.

Some Thoughts on the Trump Apocalypse

I want to throw out a few observations and tentative thoughts on the looming spectacle of a Hillary vs. Trump showdown this November. To this point I have not thrown my hat into the #nevertrump ring. Not because I’m remotely excited by the prospect of a Trump presidency, but for a couple of downstream curiosities that have occurred to me. As I say, these are tentative thoughts, and not hardened, concrete conclusions. I have no deep loyalty to the Republican party. I voted third party for president the first several times I was eligible to cast a vote, and it’s looking likely that I will again. Admittedly, some of that lack of pressure is a result of living in a Red state that always tends to send my electoral votes to whatever candidate the GOP has offered up. My vote for president doesn’t seem very decisive. But I do wonder about those swing states where the presidency really may come down to their leaning Trump or Hillary.

As Thabiti Anyabwile has explained this dilemma, he’s come down on one side: “At this point, assuming Trump and Clinton are my only options, I’d vote for Clinton.” As the title of his post suggests, the question (for him) comes down not to endorsing or supporting Clinton but rather seeing the evil of Trump as more necessary to oppose. And this assessment, I believe, rests on his conclusion that Trump is massively “erratic.” My good friend Douglas Wilson makes much the same point: “I would rather be executed by the bad guy than play Russian roulette with the crazy guy.” For those who have concluded that Trump is crazy, completely unpredictable, and utterly erratic, the conclusion follows. Better a gun in the hand of a predictable enemy than an insane man. Always prefer the devil you know to the devil you don’t.

My questions and tentative thoughts largely swirl around this conclusion. Is Trump a madman? Is he insane? Is there no method to the madness? There is not a great deal of disagreement with Paul Johnson’s analysis that Trump is “vulgar, abusive, nasty, rude, boorish and outrageous.” But there’s enormous debate over whether his next sentence is true in any way, shape, or form: “He [Trump] is also saying what he thinks and, more important, teaching Americans how to think for themselves again.” My first instinct is to say: Wait. What? Teaching Americans how to think for themselves again? Seriously? How is he not playing into the worst excesses of vulgarity and boorishness in our nation? How is he not fanning that flame, which, it would seem does not lend itself to, how shall we put it, thoughtfulness. I don’t see the news clips of Trump rallies and muse on the number of deep thoughts occurring therein. I sort of assume that all of those thoughtful sorts of instincts were ushered to the door and told to leave like the other unwanted immigrants and minorities.

While it is perhaps easy to dismiss the Jerry Falwells and Sarah Palins of the world in their endorsements of Trump. It’s a little harder to completely write off someone like Paul Johnson who is no intellectual or historical slouch. Add to this the near endorsement of Tom Wolfe and the barely repressed excitement of Camille Paglia, and a more colorful, perceptive, and intelligent cadre of folk begin to emerge from the shadows, wondering to some extent if there isn’t something more potentially (dare I say) hopeful afoot.

Victor Hanson is certainly far less sanguine, but the picture he paints is still somewhat intriguing. He describes the Donald Trump phenomenon as the postmodern nemesis, the incarnation of their nihilistic theories: “In other words, Trump is a postmodern creation, for whom traditional and time-tested rules do not apply. He is neither brilliant nor unhinged, neither ecumenical nor just a polarizer, not a wrecker and not a savior of the Republican party, but something else altogether.” On this reading, Trump is a wrecking ball, a sort of personified reductio ad absurdum and ad hominem all rolled into one. And as such, Hanson warns that “Trump is for a brief season our long-haired Samson, and the two pillars of the temple he is yanking down are the Republicans to his right and the Democrats to his left — and it will all land on top of us, the Philistines beneath.” I grant that anyone nodding vigorously in agreement with Hanson and insisting they could never vote for that certainly has a fair point.

And I’ve got nothing but gawking and wincing for the Ben Carsons and Chris Christies and Mike Huckabees running behind the Trumpwagon trying to get a seat in the cool car. It all reeks of political opportunism and (I hope against hope) the ends of their political careers.

But.

While a large part of me still squints puzzled over Paul Johnson’s claim that Trump is teaching America to think again, I don’t mind the opportunity to try to teach America to think again. Perhaps in a somewhat similar way to Anyabwile’s post aiming at encouraging the Church to think, given the circumstances, I’m tentatively willing to lean the other way. Please understand this is hundreds of miles from anything approaching an endorsement or enthusiasm. This is a thought experiment in the name of thoughtfulness and encouraging true intellectual engagement. And yes, admittedly it’s something of a pragmatic question for Christians. If faced with the choice of Hillary or Trump, which should the Christian pray for and if you find yourself in one of those swing states, do you cast a vote against one of them? Certainly a third party vote seems like a reasonable and responsible thing to do. But it also carries with it the convenient possibility of not really wrestling with the issues. It’s easy to see those two faces on your screen (again), and just walk away in utter (and mindless) dejection. Now, to be sure, many have thought it all through carefully and arrived at their refusal to vote for either of these two clowns. And no quibbles there. Hillary has an established track record of evil and chicanery, and Trump has a growing resume of bullying and belligerence.

But — reading through, the admittedly dense rhetoric of sophomoric tirades, one wonders if we are dealing with insanity or whether it is actually a far more deliberate determination to destroy the modern political machine. Could that be a blessing for the American Church? The danger is that if he isn’t the beginning of tyranny, as Andrew Sullivan suggests he may be — what if all the political machinery is actually functioning as a helpful retardant to tyrannical machinations? If Trump pulls it all down, what rises in its wake?

A friend of mine, a thoughtful, intelligent man, an immigrant to the US who has spent the majority of his career in academia believes that the pros in favor of Trump outweigh the cons. He says that liberal fascism and political correctness has its fangs sunk so deeply into the American system, specifically in higher education, that nothing but a Trump apocalypse will break the hold. He believes the deep Christian spirit in America will chasten Trump’s excesses, and hopes that when the dust settles from the Trump wrecking ball, many of the most stifling and suffocating liberal choke chains will lie in pieces on the ground, and we will actually have more freedom, not less. I’m not yet convinced of that, but I am intrigued by some of these more thoughtful interactions with the Trump phenomenon. I’m intrigued by the coalition of #nevertrump which represents many disparate factions. I’m intrigued by the thought that God sometimes answers our prayers through Nebuchadnezzars and Samsons and talking donkeys. That may not be enough to justify casting a vote for Trump, but it’s certainly enough to keep watching and thinking.

The Majesty of the Son

Luke XXXV: Lk. 9:28-48

Introduction

This section of Luke seems intentionally structured to emphasize the point that Jesus is repeatedly making. We move from miracle to confession of faith to foretelling His death to a call to discipleship in 9:10-27, and that same pattern repeats here: transfiguration/healing (9:28-42), confession/astonishment at the glory of God (9:43), foretelling His death (9:44-45), and a call to discipleship (9:46-48). Like the previous section, the central point seems to be Jesus trying to demonstrate to the disciples (and the people) what it means for Him to be the Messiah of God (cf. 9:20). The “messiahs” of old have always suffered in order to display the glory of God. And this section presses the same point again.

The Exodus of Jesus

Don’t miss the fact that Luke tells us that Jesus has gone upon on a mountain to pray (9:28), and it is while he was praying that the appearance of His face changed (9:29). This scene should immediately remind you of Mt. Sinai, and the time when Moses was on the mountain and came down with the skin of his face shining because he had been talking with God (Ex. 34:29). It’s no accident that after Luke records that Herod has heard speculations that Jesus is John or Elijah or one of the other prophets of old risen (9:7-8), and the disciples repeat the same rumors (9:19), that Jesus then appears with Moses and Elijah on a mountain (9:30). This scene is symbolically a “Mt. Sinai.” This is confirmed not only by the shining of Jesus’ face, but also by the presence of Moses and Elijah. Not only did Moses commune with God on Mt. Sinai, so did Elijah at perhaps one of the darkest moments of his life and Israel’s history (1 Kgs. 19:8). But not only that, Luke tells us that they spoke of the coming “exodus” that Jesus was about to accomplish in Jerusalem (9:31).

As Peter and the other disciples slowly wake up and realize what they’re seeing, Peter suggests that three tabernacles be constructed for Jesus, Elijah, and Moses, which incidentally is where Moses ministered with his glowing face (Ex. 33:7-11, 34:34-35). The reason Peter didn’t know what he was talking about is because he still isn’t getting how suffering is connected to Christ’s glory. The tent of Moses eventually gave way to the tabernacle where blood was spilled constantly and where the presence of God’s glory cloud continually rested (Ex. 40:34-38). But Jesus doesn’t need a tent because He is the tent, and so God’s glory cloud comes and overshadows Jesus (9:34) and God speaks saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One, listen to him!” (9:35). In the Exodus, it was the same glory cloud that led the Israelites out of Egypt, through the sea, to the mountain, and finally into the Promised Land. Just as Moses spoke to God at Mt. Sinai in the burning bush as a preview of the things to come, the transfiguration is a preview of the Exodus Jesus was about to perform in Jerusalem. Jesus would become the Passover lamb for the world, and He would pass through the waters of death unharmed in order to free all men from its power. He would triumph over the gods of the nations, and He would ascend to God in the clouds to sit at God’s right hand so that all the nations might feast together in His presence.

My Son

All of this is helpful in understanding why the following story is found immediately after the transfiguration in all three synoptic gospels (cf. Mt. 17:1-21, Mk. 9:2-29). In the minds and memories of the apostles, the story of the transfiguration is not complete without the healing of the boy with the unclean spirit (see Raphael’s Transfiguration). Part of what’s important to catch is the parallels between Israel in the days of Moses and in the days of Elijah, and what Jesus says here: “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you?” (9:41). While there may be some hint of rebuke of the disciples, it seems more likely that Jesus is speaking more generally about the state of “this generation” of Israel. Like the generation of Israel that came out of Egypt, this generation has little faith and is infested with demons and needs saving.

But there are two key details that connect the dots even more clearly. First, notice the ending of the story: “And all were astonished at the majesty of God” (9:43). This is a bit odd since Jesus has been casting demons out of people from the beginning of His ministry. The word “majesty” sounds regal and glorious; in short, it sounds like what the transfiguration would have looked like. In fact, the word is used in Dan. 7:27 to describe the majesty of the kingdoms given to God after the son of man ascends. It’s also used in Jer. 33:9 to describe Jerusalem restored after exile. These hints suggest something more is going on here. And this leads to the other significant detail: these two stories are two about sons and fathers. In the first, the Son shines with bright glory and the Father says this is “my son” and “listen to him” (9:35). In the second, the son is seized by an evil spirit and cries out and convulses, and the father says he is “my son” and “look at him” (9:38-39). Putting all of this together, it is plain that the apostles realized that “son” racked by a demon was a small picture of what Jesus can to do. Jesus came to be seized by evil men and demonic powers. He came to be the Passover lamb to bear our curse on the cross where He would convulse and cry out and be broken for sinful men. And in that death, He would conquer the powers of sin and death and Satan, rise up with healing for all nations, and return to His father (cf. 9:42). And in this Great Exodus, the whole world would come to be astonished at the majesty of God. This is why Jesus immediately tells the disciples to let these words sink into their ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men… (9:43-44). And at that time, the disciples still didn’t understand.

Conclusion & Applications

The fact that the disciples didn’t understand is illustrated by the fact that they immediately begin arguing about which of them was the greatest (9:46). So Jesus trying to make the point even more explicit takes a child (another son perhaps?) and puts him “by his side” (9:47) – which may be a subtle reference to the Son at the right hand of the Father. But the point is that the greatness of God’s Kingdom is going to be accomplished through a new Exodus where Jesus conquers evil by going down into it and turning it back to good. Receiving the child is receiving Jesus. Jesus is the child. Throughout the Bible children are victims of sickness and death and Pharaohs, but Jesus says that they are the great ones. In them, we see His majesty. Do you believe this? Do you believe that the ascended Jesus can and does display His majesty in the struggles and pain and weakness of this world? That is what this passage means.

Far Better

Ascension Day 2016

Jesus said, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.” (Jn. 16:7)

The ascension of Jesus is one of the harder things to understand as Christians. From our perspective, it seems like Jesus leaving made everything a lot harder. Now we’re serving a King we cannot see. We’re preaching the gospel of a Savior, who isn’t visibly present. It’s easy to think that if Jesus were here in person, somewhere on the globe, so many of our problems would go away. If we had a theological dispute, we’d go ask Jesus who was right. If we needed to make an important decision, we’d go ask him which decision was the best one. If someone was in sin, we might ask Jesus to confront them. Probably all of the other world religions would be tiny or non existent. We could fly Jesus into India, and convince the Hindus to become Christian. We could fly Jesus into Saudi Arabia, and He could convince the Muslims to become Christian. This would solve Wall Street thuggishness. Jesus could go in there and turn over all the tables and computers and tell them to quit being so greedy. He could meet with the leaders of the governments, with the top generals of the militaries of the world, and show them how to rule in righteousness and not use their power for evil. And if Jesus were here, surely we wouldn’t need as many hospitals. He could heal cancer and HIV and provide bread for the hungry in parts of the world that are impoverished.

But Jesus said it is to our advantage that He went away. He said it was better that He ascend into heaven. This means that our vision of what the world would be like if Jesus were here in person is false. Perhaps small bits of what we imagine would be true, but apparently we can’t imagine all of the ways in which it would actually be far worse than it actually is. Jesus said it would be better if He went away. The two thousand years that have elapsed since Christ walked the earth are better than if He had stayed. Jesus actually says that this is because if He doesn’t leave, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will not come. I’m not sure we can explain the mechanics of this. We might wish that Jesus just stay and send the Holy Spirit at the same time. But Jesus says this cannot be. Apparently, there is some significant connection between Jesus being in heaven and the Spirit being here on earth. If Jesus had not ascended into heaven, we would not have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit being here with us is better than Jesus being here with us in person. How is this the case?

Jesus says that if the Helper comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Notice that those words roughly correspond to the vision we had a few moments ago about life in this world if Jesus were here: more believing in Jesus, more justice and righteousness, more good decisions and peace. In other words, Jesus says the Spirit is able to accomplish this far better than He can by staying. This means that in the last 2000 years since Jesus ascended into heaven and poured out the Spirit, we have every reason to believe that there is more faith in Jesus, more justice, more peace, and more wisdom prevailing in this world than if Jesus had stayed. How is this possible? It doesn’t seem likely.

The answer is bound up with what Jesus is doing in heaven and how the Spirit is involved in that. So what is Jesus doing in heaven? Our lessons help us understand this. Daniel saw a vision of heaven, and Jesus, the son of man, ascending with the clouds of heaven, coming to the Ancient of Days. And what was given to Him? Dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him (Dan. 7:14). In Acts 1, where Luke records the ascension, Jesus says that He is sending the Holy Spirit upon the apostles in order to give them the power to testify of Jesus from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And the book of Acts ends with Paul in Rome, the capital of the Empire, preaching and teaching the gospel boldly and openly. Paul writes to the Ephesians telling them that they are in part proof that Jesus has ascended because they used to be dead in their trespasses and sins and under the dominion of the devil, but now they have been made alive and saved by grace through faith, and they are beginning to walk in good works that Jesus prepared for them. Finally, our last lesson was John’s vision of heaven, and there He saw Jesus on a white horse riding forth in battle, making war on the nations with the sharp sword coming out of His mouth.

If we put these pieces together, an image begins to emerge. Jesus needed to ascend in order to receive the dominion of the whole world. Where do you rule the whole universe from? You cannot rule the entire cosmos from Rome or Jerusalem or Washington DC. And you cannot rule the entire cosmos from any of those places because you cannot be handed the authority for the entire universe in any of those places. Where do you receive the rule of the universe? Who can give that to you? No one but the Ancient of Days. No one but God Himself. But how can a man rule all peoples, nations, and languages – not to mention planets and galaxies? And I think this is where our initial vision of Jesus being on earth really does break down. Can you imagine the lines to see Jesus? How many months or years would it take for you to get an appointment with seven billion other people on the planet? And how many problems or issues would each person have? Probably multiple issues a day at least. There would be no time for meetings with generals, political leaders or else many of the sick and suffering would just have to wait. Even if Jesus can walk through doors or move supernaturally from place to place, He is still bound by time and space as a fully human person.

So the Spirit is the means by which Jesus rules the world. His Spirit was sent to fill the apostles so that they might preach and teach and write Scripture. This is the sword going out of the mouth of Jesus. This is why He is called the Word of God. This is how He can be the King of all kings and the Lord of all Lords. His Spirit is poured out into the hearts of men and women and children, raising them from the death of sin and guilt and shame, causing them to become kings and priests, causing them to believe and walk in newness of life. One man cannot see to the needs of seven billion people, not even a man who is perfect and powerful and God in the flesh – at least not as this world has been created and configured. But the 2 billion Christians in the world – the 2 billion men and women and children filled with the power of the Holy Spirit – they can begin to care for the needs of the world. And so we catch a glimpse of the armies of heaven, riding behind Jesus, clothed in fine linen, white and pure, an army of over 2 billion and counting. You see, Jesus could have stayed and slowly made progress by constantly telling everyone what to do and fixing everything directly Himself. But instead, He ascended into heaven and sent His Spirit to lead us into all truth. He filled the apostles with power to preach and write the Scriptures. He filled the Ephesians with the Spirit to hear the gospel and believe and receive the Scriptures and pass them down. And so century by century, the Spirit has empowered the Word preached and taught and read, and caused people to believe and in turn bring healing and grace to others around them. Two pierced hands became twenty-four hands which have become over four billion hands today – hands lifted in praise and prayer, hands laid upon the hurting and sick, hands reaching out to lift up the forgotten and needy, hands holding the Word of God, sharing the Word of God.

The Spirit works with what God has made. The Spirit doesn’t destroy creation; the Spirit doesn’t brainwash people and turn them into religious robots. The Spirit renews people, the Spirit woos the rebels, the Spirit raises the dead. The Spirit can be a fierce wind, a Pauline preacher, an Athanasian theologian, a Reformational tornado, but the Spirit is just as often a nursing mother, a gentle father, a comforting friend, a listening grandparent, a patient breeze, a meaningful glance, a glass of cold water.

And so we with all the faithful are assembled here this evening to confess with one heart and voice that this is better. It is to our advantage that Jesus has ascended into heaven and sent us His Spirit. It is far better this way. Our faith is stronger because Jesus has ascended and given us His Spirit. Our understanding of justice and peace is far better and growing every minute. And we have far greater access to the wisdom of Jesus than we ever could with Him stationed somewhere here on earth. We have His Word and His Spirit. We are the armies of heaven. There are no waiting periods or lines to stand in. His churches fill the globe with greater and greater access to Scripture every day. And the Spirit teaches us to pray to God our Father, where we have complete and total and immediate access with our every care.

This is better. This is far better.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Knowing Christ

Luke XXXIV: Lk. 9:18-27

Introduction

In our text today, Jesus asks His disciples the most important question of all time: Who am I? Who is Jesus? The answer to this question is the center of the Christian faith.

Prayer Avails Much

One of the lessons of the book of Luke is that prayer matters. The book opens with the multitude of people praying while Zechariah ministers in the temple (Lk. 1:10), and the angel says that Elizabeth will bear a son because of their prayers (Lk. 1:13). Anna had waited in the temple for God’s Messiah for many years “with fasting and prayer night and day” (Lk. 2:37). When Jesus was baptized, it was while He was praying that the Holy Spirit descended upon Him (Lk. 3:21). Luke says that Jesus commonly withdrew to desolate places to pray (Lk. 5:16). He prayed all night just before He chose the twelve apostles (Lk. 6:12), and so it doesn’t seem incidental that Jesus is alone praying when He brings up the question of who He is (Lk. 9:18). One commentator suggested that Jesus was praying that they would give the right answer, and that doesn’t seem far off the mark. But surely His prayers were not unrelated to all the details of His ministry. He was praying not that they would have some kind of mystical zap moment; He was praying that they would hear His words and see the signs and understand and believe. It also doesn’t seem to be an accident that this recognition of who Jesus is comes in Luke’s gospel immediately after the breaking of bread for the five thousand (Lk. 9:16-17). Later in Luke’s gospel, after the resurrection two more disciples will recognize Jesus in the breaking of bread (Lk. 24:35).

The Christ of God

The word “Christ” means “anointed one,” and is the Greek word for “Messiah.” In the Old Testament the priests and kings and (some) prophets were anointed with oil for their ordination or coronation (Ex. 28:41, 1 Sam. 10:1, 1 Kgs. 5:16). God gave oil to make man’s face shine (Ps. 104:15), and it meant that God’s face was shining on this particular man for this particular mission (cf. Num. 6:24-25). In this sense, Elijah and John and “the other prophets” were “messiahs,” but importantly they pointed toward the greatest Messiah. Psalm 2 prophesied that ultimately God would give the ends of the earth to His Anointed to be His possession, and this prophecy, the apostles eventually proclaim has been fulfilled in Jesus (Acts 4:26). But the question at that moment was how this Christ would be given the ends of the earth for his possession. This is very likely why Jesus commanded the disciples not to say anything about this yet (Lk. 9:21). He knew that many would misunderstand what this title meant. Many would immediately think of all the miracles and wonders, and think that the plan was for Jesus to establish His kingdom by miraculous force. But Jesus immediately insists that being Messiah means that He will suffer many things, be rejected, and rise the third day (Lk. 9:22).

Taking Up Your Cross

Related to this misconception would be the corollary of what it meant to follow Jesus as the Messiah and what His Kingdom is like. If He takes control through force then His followers assume that they will join Him in that kind of conquest. But Jesus immediately explains that to follow Him means denying one’s self and taking up a cross (Lk. 9:23). The cross was a common form of execution in Roman society for slaves and criminals, and it was an intentionally slow, painful, and shameful way to die. Cicero is said to have described crucifixion as “a most cruel and disgusting punishment” and that “the very mention of the cross should be far removed not only from Roman citizen’s body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears.” But the striking thing is that Jesus says that there really is no other way to save your life. He assumes that everyone wants to save their life, to have a meaningful life, to succeed, to matter. But He says that everyone who tries to save their lives will lose them; and only those who lose their lives for His sake will save them (Lk. 9:24). And Jesus explicitly sets this up as a math problem. Do the math: what profit is it if a man gains the whole world and loses himself (Lk. 9:25)? The answer is zero. Nothing. The clear implication in all of this is that losing anything or everything for the sake of Christ is worth it. If we are ashamed of Christ, we will lose everything (Lk. 9:26), but there is a surpassing, priceless glory in knowing Christ (Lk. 9:27).

The Cross Daily

One of the striking and unique things about what Jesus says here is that His followers must take up their cross daily (Lk. 9:23). Clearly this doesn’t mean literal crucifixion daily, so what does it mean? How do you take up your cross every day to follow Jesus? Paul uses this language in several places. He says, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin… So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:8, 11). Again he says, “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:19-20). And a little later, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). And again, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14, cf. 1 Cor. 2:2).

Conclusion & Applications

Sometimes Christians are told that unless they sell everything and become a missionary or do something extreme, they are not really following Jesus. Sometimes it can seem like doing dishes and going to work are not heroic or sacrificial enough. At the very least, you might feel guilty for not doing more. But what it is that Jesus demands? Fundamentally, He wants us to know Him as the Christ, and to know Him as the Christ Crucified to save the world. He wants our hearts loyal to Him and loyal to His math of losing and gaining. But the point is not to lose life; the point is to lose everything that keeps us from His life. The point isn’t to give up nice stuff or good stuff. The point is to give up sin, to crucify the flesh and its passions, to live what your baptism means. When a woman kills the temptation to complain about doing the dishes again, she is crucifying the flesh, she is putting to death the old self, and boasting in the power of the cross. When a man kills the temptation to be lazy about disciplining his children or leading his family, he no longer lives, and now he only knows Christ and Christ crucified. For some, the thing getting between you and Jesus is your job, is your money, is your home, so lose them gladly for the glory of Christ. For others, Christ meets you right where you are, and you are called to lose your pride, your lust, your bitterness, your critical spirit so that you might find Christ and in Him all things. And this brings us back to prayer.

When Silence is Love

Greyfriars Hall Spring 2016 Preaching Retreat

Sermon Text: Acts 8:26-40

Introduction

The problem of exegesis and the meaning of language goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden where the serpent asked the woman: Did God really say? And ever since, men have asked why God doesn’t speak more clearly. If there is a God, why doesn’t He make himself known? And even among believers, doubts still arise. Why are there so many interpretations? Is Scripture alone really sufficient for salvation? We are all like the Ethiopian eunuch whom Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” We often feel like saying, “How can I unless someone guides me?” Sometimes God seems silent.

Another Emmaus

One of the striking elements of this episode is the several parallels between this story and the story of Jesus with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. First, an unexpected visitor meets travelers leaving Jerusalem. Also, the central problem is a lack of understanding Scripture. Finally, the unexpected companion on the road leads an impromptu Bible study in order to give understanding of the Messiah Jesus and His gospel. Surrounding all of these parallels is the work of the Holy Spirit: An “angel of the Lord” initially orders Philip into the desert (8:26) which reminds us of the Spirit driving Jesus into the wilderness immediately after His baptism. It reminds us of the Spirit leading Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness. Perhaps it is even a bit reminiscent of Abraham being called out of Ur to the foreign land of Canaan. In a marked contrast to Jonah, Philip rises and goes immediately in obedience into this foreign land (8:27). When he arrives, the “Spirit” instructs Philip to join the eunuch’s chariot (8:29), and Philip runs to meet him (8:30). The Spirit commands, the Spirit empowers, the Spirit leads, and as the episode closes, it is the Spirit of the Lord that carries Philip away (8:39). Which Spirit is this? It is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus. This is what Luke said Acts was about. It is about what Jesus continues to do through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-2). This is why Philip reminds us of the risen Jesus on the way to Emmaus. The Spirit of Jesus fills him.

The Silent Text

But the Spirit is not just a random, supernatural event. The center of this passage demonstrates that this Spirit works powerfully through the Scriptures read, explained, understood, and believed in light of the cross of Jesus (8:35). It was the Spirit that inspired the Prophet Isaiah, and it was the Spirit that arranged all of these things such that the Ethiopian was reading that passage at that very moment. And that passage speaks of Jesus as the silent lamb, who opened not His mouth (8:32), and it asks, Who will declare His generation, since He was denied justice and His life was taken from the earth? (8:33). In other words, not only is the prophecy not speaking to the Ethiopian, but the prophecy is about Someone being silent, about Someone who doesn’t open His mouth. The Ethiopian wants the Scripture explained, and the Scripture is a prophecy about this One whose generation needs to be declared. It doesn’t at all seem an accident then that it is the “Spirit” driving Philip to this moment. It is the Spirit who gives utterance, who gives speech, who gives understanding (e.g. Gen. 1, Acts 2).

The Silence of the Cross

Before we arrive at what the Spirit says, it’s worth pausing at this double silence. If we think about it, there is actually a triple or quadruple silence, layer upon layer. The lamb is silent, and the text is silent to the Ethiopian. But the silent lamb is the silent Savior, hanging crucified between two thieves, denied justice, cut off from the land of the living, giving up His Spirit, laid in a silent tomb. But what does this silence mean? This is silence signifies the willingness of Jesus to die. He didn’t go to His death thrashing angrily. He didn’t go to the cross cursing and spitting. He went to the cross in silence because He was willing to die. And that willingness is His love. And this is where a fourth silence grasps the hearts of all who truly hear this silence of love. Because this miscarriage of justice is at the very same time, God’s supreme justice: what the law demands crushes Jesus in the place of sinners, so that “every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God” (Rom. 3:19). So the silence of the Lamb points to the silence of the Cross, which is nothing less than the infinite love of a righteous God for His sinful people. And that love shuts the mouths of sinners in awe of this gospel, and all of this is related to the silence of the text.

Conclusion & Application

It turns out that in and through this seeming fourfold silence, the Spirit is heavy at work “hovering over the waters,” constantly speaking. Of course the silent Lamb was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, and even as the Ethiopian wrestles with the difficulty of Isaiah, reading him out loud (apparently) in his chariot, the Spirit sends Philip to explain the Scriptures and give him understanding. But at the center of it all is the silent Lamb going willingly to the slaughter, silent because of love. This means that at the very place where unbelief scoffs at the silence of God, at the very place where our doubts creep in and Christians wonder where God is and why He will not speak clearly – at that very place, we find Him silent as a lamb, silent with love. Far from God being unwilling to be known and heard, far from Him being difficult to understand and hard to find, God’s silence is the silence of love, drawing near to sinners so that we might know Him.

This text guards us against two opposite errors in how we think about hearing the voice of God, exegesis, meaning, and truth. On the one hand, there is a sort of arrogant hubris that demands that God speak on our terms. Whether unbelievers demand some sort of supernatural sign (e.g. a thunder clap, winning the lottery, etc.) or whether believers demand some sort of simplistic formula for discerning God’s will or the correct meaning of a text. But God will not be leashed by your demands. Even the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox denials of Sola Scriptura are essentially pious sounding demands that God keep within their tidy categories. But the Spirit is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus who speaks.

On the other hand, do not miss the fact that the Holy Spirit is pleased to work through Scripture, through ministers, through friends, through parents, and through rigorous study and debate to give understanding. Sola Scriptura does not claim that the Ethiopian would have figured it out eventually on his own. No, Philip was wonderfully necessary, but so was Isaiah, and so were all the other Scriptures and the eunuch’s wrestling with the text, and so, most centrally was the silent Lamb who was slain. In other words, the silence is not a problem. The wrestling is not a problem. The questions are not problems. The Spirit loves to work precisely there, speaking in and through it all, drawing us to the truth.