Pastor Dwight: March 2009 Archives

This passage in I John ch.1 tends to run me in a circle. Then it places me where I need to be, confessing my sins and experiencing the faithfulness and justice of God. We are to walk in the light and trust the power of the cross of Jesus to live in obedience to him. Our pietistic heritage has emphasized the importance of living consistently and with integrity for Christ. There is an old chorus that states it well, "Living for Jesus a life that is true, striving to please him in all that I do." The problem comes when you fall short, or act selfishly out of pride or neediness. That is when you feel a strong urge to protect the image or to hide the sin. This passage says when that happens you are deceiving yourself, the truth is not in you and you make the Lord out to be a liar.

     Adam and Eve hid when they disobeyed God in the garden. That began a long history of people using a righteous exterior to hide sin, always with disastrous results. But the answer is not found in lowering the standards or excusing ourselves by saying "I'm only human" or "everyone does it." The answer is found in verse 9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Practicing the discipline of the Confession of Sin and welcoming the Holy Spirit to bring light fully into our lives places us where we need to be on the pilgrim journey.

Philippians 2:5-11

     Usually we read a book, or a passage of scripture, from beginning to end. But sometimes it is actually best to begin in the middle and work outward to the edges. What do I mean? Well, if I am giving advice to a new Bible reader on where to start reading, I often tell that person to begin with the Psalms, which are in the middle. Another approach would be to start with John 3:16, "For God so loved the world..." Put an anchor in John 3:16, which is the center of the Gospel, and then move outward to the letters, or to the Old Testament, but always holding on to the rope that is attached to the anchor. That way, as we learn our way around the Bible, we always know that the Bible is about God's love for the world, and God's gift of Jesus his son, and not primarily about dietary laws or the wars with the Caananites. Stay in the middle, and then work out to the edges.

     What if we read Philippians ch.2 from the middle? Let's see what happens.

The middle - v.8 "(he) became OBEDIENT to death, even death on a cross."

Then we step back one line, "he HUMBLED himself (found as a man)"

and we step ahead one line, "God EXALTED him."

Now back to verse 7 "(he) made himself NOTHING"

and ahead to verse 10, "at the name of Jesus EVERY knee should BOW."

Then go back to verse 6, "did not consider EQUALITY with God something to be GRASPED"

and ahead to verse 11, "every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD"

     By reading from the middle, we see how much Jesus trusted the Father, to be obedient even to death. Then God was faithful to uphold and exalt Jesus.

 I often struggle with obedience to God, mostly because I want to stay in control, to stay on top. But this passage shows us that obedience is rooted in trust. When I trust God with my life, that is when I am able to obey God.

 

Verse thirteen stands out in this passage; "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." If you eliminate verse thirteen entirely from the passage, notice how smoothly it flows. "Love each other as I have loved you. You are my friends if you do what I command." It all sounds so good and so achievable. All you need is love.

     But the cross interrupts the smooth flow of words here. The cross breaks into this text. The cross never fits easily into our thinking or our living. Yet, the cross is at the center of what it means to remain in Jesus. Our self- confidence is questioned here. We all think of ourselves as loving, good people. Surely we are the ones who keep the commands of Jesus. Surely we are the branches remaining in the vine.

     Then we look again at the events leading up to the cross, found in Matthew 26 and 27. Jesus and his friends are preparing to eat the Passover meal together. They seem to be filled with love and obedience and loyalty.

 But when a woman pours costly perfume on his head, anointing him for burial, these friends are indignant.

 When they gather at the table Jesus raises the uncomfortable issue of betrayal. One whose hand is dipping in the common dish is also selling Jesus to those who would put him to death.

 Peter is the most loyal, promising his devotion to the end. Yet he is the one who gets caught in fear and denies even knowing Jesus.

 At Gethsemane, when Jesus most needs his friends to stand by him in prayer, they sleep.

Soon enough they will flee.

     "Remain in me," he says. That is precisely what his disciples could not do. And yet he laid down his life for his friends.

     So he also laid down his life for us, and calls us friends, not because we would have been more loyal, more courageous, more faithful than the disciples, but because Jesus demonstrates the greatest love. He gave his life on the cross, so that we might come by faith to remain in him. There is transforming power in the cross. It is the greatest love.

 "Jesus, keep me near the cross."