I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

Some people fall apart under pressure, while others do really well.  The Olympics are a case study for this truth.  The difference between gold medals and no medals at that level has much less to do with skill and much more to do with handling pressure.

The pressure to perform is obviously high.  As if years of work focused upon a limited window of opportunity weren’t enough; the final goal has to be reached before the watching world.  Estimates put the viewership of the 2010 Winter Olympics at over three billion people.  Yes, three billion people.  If you get nervous teaching Sunday School, imagine how you would feel having billions of people watching you perform a difficult skill like figure skating, slalom skiing, or ice hockey.

How one handles these pressures becomes a key factor.  The athlete who nails the jumps in every practice finds herself stumbling over her feet.  The competitor who always hits the net in practice can’t seem to even get a shot off.  What accounts for this?  Most likely not lack of skill, but excess of pressure.

Shaun White’s gold medal run in the Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe shows an interesting variation on what happens under pressure because he captured the gold without any pressure.

The Snowboard Halfpipe event is something like riding a skateboard without wheels in a snow canyon with a rounded bottom and walls.  The competitors repeatedly go down into the halfpipe, pick up speed, and fly back out – literally!  They are judged on how well they soar, twist, and flip.

The gold medal finals allow each man to have two attempts and only his best score counts.  After the first round Shaun White led by four points (out of fifty).  With the highest score, he was allowed to go last in the second round.  As his time came for the second attempt, he knew he already had the gold medal wrapped up.  No one beat his first score with either of their runs.  He faced no pressure.

White could have headed straight to the awards podium or attempted some easy tricks for fun.  Instead, with no pressure to perform, he decided to make a challenging run that included his hardest trick.  He was there to snowboard after all.  Knowing that his victory was assured, why not attempt it?

The result was that White turned in not only his personal best score, but the highest score in this sports’ Olympic history.  Knowing the battle was already over, he nailed his hardest move: rising into the air to perform three and a half spins and two flips before plummeting down into a smooth landing.

What pressure are you under?  Maybe it is the pressure of feeling a call to public ministry (teaching Sunday School, leading a small group, witnessing to a friend, etc.).  Maybe it is facing a call to help others.  Maybe knowing you must do something, but not sure how it will go.

The Lord has put you here to follow him in attempting what is most challenging.  He has freed you from the pressure because he has already won.  The gold medal is yours because you were with him in his hardest move: rising into the air on a cross to suffer and die before plummeting down under the power of death only to burst from the grave in new life.

Your victory is assured.  What will you attempt without the pressure?

This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. — Acts 2:23 (NIV)

Many people around us accept Jesus as a good teacher, as an example of virtue, or even as a great prophet yet reject that he rose from the grave. We begin this month with Easter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Before he could rise though, he had to die. Why would anyone execute a masterful teacher, a moral model, or a great speaker of divine truth? Why would his own people lobby their oppressors to put him to death?
After all, Jesus was well-liked by the masses (Matthew 15:30; 19:2; John 12:12). Devotion to him was wide spread. However, he failed to meet their expectations. The broadly scattered interest was evidently not matched by much depth (John 6). When Jesus did not fulfill the role of conquering Messiah, they turned away in disappointment. Judas, the mechanism for seizing Jesus quietly (Luke 22:1-6, 47-53), is a prime example of this group of wicked men.
According to Matthew, Mark, and John, this same popularity with the people caused envy among wicked men. The chief priests, scribes, elders, and the Pharisees were afraid that if everyone believed in Jesus, then the Romans would take away their place and nation. (Matthew 26:3-5; Mark 14:1-2; John 11:49-49).
Furthermore, Jesus’ clearing of the temple (Matthew 21:12-17) immediately after his royal welcome into Jerusalem to the cheers of “Hosanna to the Son of David” stirred the whole city (Matthew 21:1-11). Thus Jesus posed a threat to the authority of the leaders of Israel. Each of the key leadership groups approached Jesus to find some reason to accuse him. The Chief Priests and Elders (Matthew 21:23-46), the Pharisees and Herodians (Matthew 22:15-22), the Sadducees (Matthew 22:23-33) and the Pharisees again (Matthew 22:34-45) all challenged him.
Despite their testing, “No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.” (Matthew 22:46). Instead, these wicked men cast their charges in political terms to get the Roman government’s attention and gain approval for execution (Luke 23:2). The pathetic wavering of Pilate before threats to his authority (Luke 23:4; John 18:38; 19:4, 6) was a final factor in Jesus’ death at the hands of wicked men.
In summary, the Gospels and Acts reveal that Jesus died because “wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross” (Acts 2:23). Men acting in response to disappointment, envy, and/or political threats all played a part.
The Bible also makes it clear that Jesus died because it was “God’s set purpose” (Acts 2:23). In Luke’s Gospel, this is particularly clear in the repetitive theme of divine necessity or “ought-ness” regarding many things. In particular, it was necessary that Jesus “must suffer many things and be rejected … and he must be killed” (Luke 9:22; cf. Luke 13:33). It was necessary that Jesus “must be delivered into the hands of sinful men [and] be crucified (Luke 24:7). He must suffer and then enter his glory (Luke 24:26). He must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day (Luke 24:44-46).
Why must these things happen? So that “repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations…” (Luke 24:47; cf. Matthew 26:28).
In the end, God’s set purpose was fulfilled by wicked men, so that wicked men and women (like you and me) could receive forgiveness for our sin. Jesus died so that we might live.
But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. – Acts 2:24 (NIV)
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. – 1 Peter 2:24 (NIV)
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. – Romans 4:25 (NIV)
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins… — 1 John 2:2 (NIV)

He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:12 (NIV)

Did you hear what happened to the Iraqi man who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a 2008 press conference?  After his release from a reduced one year sentence for his offense, Muntazer al-Zaidi held his own press conference.  In a surprising role reversal, al-Zaidi was forced to evade a shoe hurled at his head.

Noting the irony, al-Zaidi reportedly said, “He stole my technique.”  His brother, on the other hand, chased the shoe-thrower and threw his own shoe at him.

We don’t really “get” shoe throwing here in the US.  In the Middle East it is seen as a serious insult saved for someone you hold in extreme contempt.  For greater impact, one might even add a grave verbal insult such as calling the other person a “dog” (which al-Zaidi in fact did).

As demeaning as these words and deeds are intended to be in that culture, they do not generally get someone thrown in prison.  In fact, the man who threw his shoe at al-Zaidi was not arrested, nor was al-Zaidi’s brother.

The intent of all these men was the same: to insult, not physically harm.  Why the discrepancy in treatment amongst three similar incidents?  Why was al-Zaidi arrested and sentenced for his deed?

The answer is probably obvious.  It is one thing to insult a convicted criminal or even your neighbor.  It is something else altogether to act against a head of state (as in President Bush).  Slapping your neighbor can be overlooked as rude.  Slapping the Prime Minister will get you arrested every time (see Italy’s Berlusconi).  Offenses against those in higher authority are more serious than those against a common citizen.  Sentences are longer.  Punishments are more severe.

So, if we think it just to punish offenses against heads of state more severely, how much more rigorously should offenses against the head of all things be judged?  In other words, what would justice look like if the offended party were “the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:15-16)?

No mere human could serve a long enough sentence to satisfy justice.  When the offense is against the Authority to whom all worship, honor, respect, and obedience are due, an eternal sentence is just.  We are left with the horrible necessity of eternal punishment for our offenses (cf. Matthew 25:46).

In light of that, thanks be to God for the incarnation and crucifixion of the eternal Son of God!  The offended God willingly took on human nature, lived obediently, and served our eternal sentence in a relatively short space of time.  In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the mercy and justice of God are fully satisfied.  Our debt is paid.  It is finished.  We have eternal life rather than eternal death (cf. John 19:30; Romans 4:25; 8:3; Galatians 3:13; etc.).

Happy Easter!

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. — Hebrews 9:15 (NIV)

Due to the weather there will be no Men’s Bible Study this morning (2/16/10).

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations… surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

Fundamental to The Great Commission is the command to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:18).  This obviously involves bringing new people into the fellowship we have with one another.  We are to “go” out from our group and “make” new followers of Jesus to join with us.  There are few hard and fast rules about how to do this other than the clear command to ‘witness’ (Acts 1:8; cf. Isaiah 43:12).  We must speak a message to other people.

Our sovereign God has put us in a certain family, work place, neighborhood, community, etc. (cf. Acts 17:26) and that’s where this witness will usually happen.  As salt and light in unsavory and dark places, it is our good deeds that stand out vividly for others to see.  The result is that unbelievers praise God (Matthew 5:13-16).  Our good deeds include treating people with undeserved favor and doing our best to live at peace with them (Romans 12:9-21).  This was a lesson the prophet Jonah may have learned (Jonah 4 ends with a question – how would you answer it?).

^9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?”

“I do,” he said. “I am angry enough to die.”

^10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. ^11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”

Jonah 4:9-11 (NIV)

The people that we eat, work, play, and shop with have infinite value in the eyes of God no matter how wicked and sinful they are.  They are of tremendous value to God and inherently no different and no less worthy than us before we were called by God’s grace.  A better way to put it is: they are exactly as worthy as us for they are totally unworthy like us (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Ephesians 2:1-10; Titus 3:3-7).

We never know who the sovereign Lord will effectually call.  It may be a murderer of the saints like the apostle Paul or many of the Auca who killed Jim Eliot and friends.  It may be the annoying neighbor who asks why you continue to smile at her when she doesn’t like you.  It may be the stranger who asks why you give back the extra change the cashier inadvertently gave you at Taco Bell.  It may be anyone.

Whoever they are, they are someone.  They need to hear from a witness.

Thankfully, every believer is commissioned as a witness of Jesus Christ and that commission brings significant benefits.  Jesus promises to be with his witnesses ‘to the very end of the age’ (Matthew 28:20).  As we speak the good news of Jesus, the Christ, we are confident that the crucified one is not only living and able to offer forgiveness (Acts 2:36-39), but he is also with us.

Yet it’s not just Jesus and it’s not just his presence.  The Gospel (‘good news’) which we bring is the power of God that brings righteousness from God (Romans 1:16; cf. Acts 1:8).  That righteousness, or ‘right standing,’ with God comes through the working of the Holy Spirit who revives dead hearts (Ezekiel 36:27; Joel 2:28-29; Acts 2:17ff.).  The whole trinity is involved in our witness.

The power of Almighty God goes with us as we merely speak his message.

…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

The September 2009 First Pres Newsletter is now available.

You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands… – Judges 7:2 (NIV)

One of the great things about being a smaller church is that it gives God greater opportunity to glorify himself.  At least that’s what I’ve been telling God lately.  I’m encouraged to continue that prayer because I read proof of it in the account of Gideon in Judges 6:33-7:25. 

Gideon trusted God to use him to save Israel out of the hand of Midian though his clan was weakest and he was least in his family (Judges 6:14-16).  He rallied the forces of Israel amassing an army of 32,000 men. 

God then whittled Gideon’s forces down from 32,000 to 10,000 (Judges 7:3).  That was still too many, so God reduced his army from 10,000 to just 300 men (Judges 7:4-7).  Why?  “In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her…” (Judges 7:2, NIV). 

It is the nature of God’s saving grace to rescue us from ourselves.  We live most of our lives thinking we’re OK with God because of what we’ve done (or not done).  Into that ‘boasting’ God’s penetrating grace cuts to our hearts.  He says, “You are not OK before me.  You have sinned.  You cannot save yourself, but I can.  I will.”  Or, as Paul put it,

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly… God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6, 8, NIV).

But, that is not just the nature of his saving grace, it is also the nature of his sanctifying grace.  Again, Paul shows us:

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10, NIV)

We are by nature tempted to take credit for anything we can possibly grab hold of.  I realized that in our recent house sale.  I am so thankful that God recently sold our house quickly because I know my heart. If it had taken a little longer, I would have been tempted to take credit for it (great staging, perfect pictures, wise timing, etc.).  There is no reasonable way I can take credit for what he did in selling our house, in this area, during this housing slump.  (Of course now I’m tempted to take credit for my great faith!)  

So, I have been praying that God, in his grace, would continue to save us from ourselves.  I pray that he will work so amazingly in the life of this church that none of us would even come close to being tempted to take credit for it.  I know that if God does a little bit, we’re going to want to take credit for it (to boast in our ‘strength’). If the church adds a few members every year, I’m going to think its wonderful preaching. If the budget ends up a little in the black, we’re going to think it’s our wonderful generosity… You get the idea.

To protect us from boasting, I’m praying that God will grow the church in tremendous numbers, meet the budget in astounding ways, and impact this community so powerfully that to boast in ourselves would be laughable.  Will you pray that way as well?  Will you believe that when we are weak, then God is strong?

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21, NIV)

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. — James 2:26 (NIV)

One of the questions we ask those who desire to join First Pres is: “Do you receive and rest upon Jesus Christ alone?” A moment later we ask, “Do you promise to support the Church in its work to the best of your ability?” If we are ‘resting’ in Jesus how does any work get done? If God does not love us more because of our works (see last month’s article) why should we do any? How do good works and resting in Jesus fit together?

These ‘how’ and the ‘why’ questions are answered in the letter of James. He compares our spiritual life to a human body when he writes, ‘…as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26, NIV). James is declaring the way it is, not giving a command. He is dealing with facts and realities not duties and obligations.

It is a given fact of physical life that a human body without a spirit is always dead. Likewise, a human body accompanied by a spirit is always living. That is the way it is. You have a body with a spirit, you have life. You don’t have a spirit with the body, you are dead.

Similarly, it is a given fact of spiritual life that ‘faith’ without action is dead (James 2:17). If you claim to have faith, but no works are evident, then your faith is really useless (James 2:14, 20). James evaluates claims to faith based on the truth that a proper faith in Jesus is always accompanied by works. A faith without works is a dead faith (James 2:17).

This is a tricky thing about God’s grace which comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ. There are works, but they must come in after faith, not before. In many places, Paul evaluates works, saying that any works without faith are dead works (Romans 4; Galatians 2:16). Such works do not make us right with God. On the other hand, James assesses faith and says that any faith without works is dead faith. Such a faith does not qualify as right faith.

There is a true faith that alone saves, but that faith is never alone in those who are saved. True faith always results in good works even as a spirit in a body always results in life. Faith without works is dead faith. Works without faith are dead works.

So, are your works alive or dead? Is your faith alive or dead? It depends upon the order you’ve embraced. Are you resting in Jesus Christ alone (not your works) and finding that your faith is not alone (it produces works)? If so, you can answer “Yes” to the questions: (1) Are you resting? and (2) Are working?

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.  — Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. — James 1:16-18 (NIV)

You are probably familiar with legends of island natives throwing a young lady into a volcano to appease the gods and avert disaster. A similar approach to pleasing the gods appears not only in mythology and legend, but in actual practice. Ancient Incan, Aztec, and Canaanite cultures among others offered human sacrifices to please their gods (2 Kings 3:27). They also punished themselves to appease the gods (1 Kings 18:26ff.).

They did these horrible things because they based their standing with their god on how they performed. If the crops failed or battles were lost, it was because they had done something wrong. To turn aside the wrath of the gods, they must do something to make it right. If the volcano rumbled, they must satisfy the gods or be smothered in lava.

They continually asked, “What must I do to please my god?” Failing in repeated attempts to perform the answer to that question, they asked, “Now, how do I turn aside the anger of the gods?”

We still ask those questions today, but it’s much more subtle. When things go wrong, we wonder if it’s because we have failed to do what God requires. We expect to see our situation change as we commit to do the right things from here on out. “I’ll pray more, go to church more, be nicer to my spouse, tell people about Jesus. Just, please Lord, fix this situation.”

We base our standing on with God on how we perform. When we do that, we’re different from the Canaanites in outward actions, but the underlying mindset is the same. Once we think there is something we can do to please and satisfy God we are already deceived. The reality is that the only thing that satisfies God is perfect obedience (Matthew 5:48). Any failure makes it too late to please him (James 2:10).

The Good News is that your God chose to turn his wrath away from you by pouring it out upon his own son (Galatians 3:13). He chose to give you birth (James 1:18; John 3:5-8) and continues to provide for you (Psalm 23). He serves you (Mark 10:45), feeds you (John 6:51-58), pleased God for you (Matthew 3:17; 17:5), and shed his own blood for you (Luke 22:19-20).

What can you do? Repent from trying to please God and rest in Jesus’ finished work.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. — 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. — Romans 8:3 (NIV)

On our recent trip to Orlando for the denominational meeting I was delighted to find that Robert had provided snacks for the road. I was even more delighted to find that many of those treats were peanut laden.

Normally, I avoid peanuts because the mere scent of them on my breath can trigger an allergic reaction at home. However, here was an opportunity to indulge a frustrated desire without guilt or fear. So, as we drove along, I consistently reached over the other items to get to the peanut butter crackers, Nutter Butter cookies, and peanut M&M’s. I don’t even like peanut M&M’s!

On the same journey I noticed another odd thing. I really don’t swim well, but I have developed an intense desire to dive into a swimming pool head first. Unfortunately, the pool at our hotel said, “No Diving!” They even scared me away with a picture of a stick figure banging his head on the bottom. This diving desire started on our vacation last month when a similar “No Diving!” sign thwarted my desire.

I want to dive, but can’t. I revel in stress-free peanut consumption mile after mile because I otherwise couldn’t. What’s going on with me? It seems to be the same thing that goes on with a child when you say, “Please don’t touch that.” The next thing you know, even though they weren’t interested, suddenly they are. Sometimes, they will even look right at you as there arm irresistibly stretches out to the forbidden thing.

What’s going on with me? It’s the same thing that went on in the Apostle Paul’s life (see Romans 7:7-8:4). Paul says the problem is not the rules, but us. Our ‘sinful nature’ takes laws that are intended for our good and desires the opposite (see James 2:13-15). Therefore, law by itself provokes sin in us and increases guilt to us. The unaided law brings death.

We need something more than law alone. We need changed desires and guilt removed. We need rescue from our body of death (Romans 7:24). Thanks be to God who sets us free by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering (Romans 8:3).

What’s going on with you? Hopefully, the same thing as with me: rescue from slavery to desire, from sin, from death. Thanks be to God.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 (NIV)