Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....March 28, 2022
The final step along the journey of repentance is the step into life. Through death, God brought me into life. Abundant life! Vibrant life!! Encouraging life!!!
A Journey of Repentance – Into Life
We look at....Acts 12:1-11; Rom 6:2-14 in this teaching
The Return of the King
My Terry loves and perhaps many of you are familiar with JRR Tolkien’s classic story, The Lord of The Rings. In the final chapter, war has come to the largest city of men. The city is surrounded by the evil hosts, the cause appears hopeless, they are pounding on the doors and about to break through. From the perspective of all those about to fight, it looks as though the war will only lead to horrible, violent death.
Pippin, one of the small, mostly powerless creatures called Hobbits, is just inside the door, sword in hand. He looks up to Gandalf, the mighty, wise, powerful wizard, in despair. “I didn’t think it would end this way,” he says, with fear and hopelessness.
Gandalf looks down, and a quick look comes over his face. “End?” he says. “Oh, our journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path. One we all must take." He pauses, then says: “the grey rain curtain of this world rolls back and it all turns to silver glass. And then you see it.”
“See what, Gandalf? See what?”
Gandalf has a far away look in his eyes as he says, “White shores. And beyond, a far green country, and a swift sunrise.”
Pippin considers, then a slight smile crosses his lips and he says, “That isn’t so bad...”
And Gandalf, his smile now full of hope and peace, agrees: “No, no it isn’t.”
Putting this into Context...
Death is not an end point for us, as Christians. Physical death is not, and neither is spiritual death. As we have been journeying together through this lenten season of repentance, we have together walked through 3 steps thus far:
Step 1: Join the Journey – decide that you will try this road out, that you will be open to discovering the difference between repentance and confession, and that you will walk through the difficult things because of the incredible promise of God on the other side.
Step 2: Surrender Control To Jesus – in other words, make Jesus truly the Lord of your life, kneel before Jesus as your King, and declare your allegiance and your intention to live life in obedience and service to God. Last week we talked about
Step 3: Through Death – where we explored the Biblical themes of dying to self, of the “old, sinful” self dying with Jesus. There were two things I wanted to emphasize last week, first that this death has already happened on the cross (remember the past tense in Romans 6:2-14), and second that this death is something we step through. We step through death into new life.
Backing Up:
Out of several conversations this week, I want to step back into the idea of dying to self for just a moment and clarify: We are talking about both something that has already happened – “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death” (Rom 6:4), and yet also something that we must continue to participate in – “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” (Col 3:5, among others). Our part is to make room for God, to create space in our lives where God can speak and mold, to create habits that “keep our eyes fixed on Jesus” and that “take every thought captive”. It is already completely finished by Jesus on the cross, yet it is something which we must embrace and act on if it is to truly become a reality in our lives. Every time a sinful action or attitude creeps up, we must cooperate with God in putting it to death, and live differently.
Peter and Prison (Acts 12:1-11):
Perhaps a story will help make this a little more clear (with thanks to Pastor Fred Harter for reminding me of this last week). It is Acts 12, and the church in Jerusalem is under some pretty heavy attack. On of the apostles, James, is killed by Herod, and that goes over so well that Herod decides to do the same thing to Peter. He grabs him up, and throws him in jail, and sends 16 Roman soldiers to guard him, 4 at a time, 2 chained to his arms, two on guard at the cell door, behind 3 separate gates which are also each guarded carefully. Peter is there for several days, after which Herod has full intentions of killing Peter just like he had James.
But the night before, we find Peter fast asleep, which is interesting in and of itself. “The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.
7Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. 11Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.” (Acts 12:6-11)
Freedom Comes As We Trust And Act:
Two significant parts of the story that make the point – first, although it isn’t super clear in our translation, what the original languages suggest is that Peter’s chains fell off as he gets up. They don’t fall off first, they fall off as Peter believes the angel and obeys the command. Second, and similarly, as they walk up to the 3rd gate, it opens. Again, as Peter trusts and follows, he is set free.
Do you catch it? It is the same with us – Jesus has already accomplished everything at the cross, it is done, and yet we must trust and act. We must stand up, we must walk towards freedom even when it looks like the gate is tall and insurmountable and heavily guarded and difficult and dangerous.
We must die to self, so that we can live.
Stepping Through Death:
I like how Gandalf puts it – through death, we see “it”. Glorious freedom, a place of love, and joy, and peace, and an end to struggle. Now hear this carefully – the promise of Jesus is that that paradise begins now. It begins in this life, it is supposed to be ours today. This is what we find when we choose to step through death to self – we find life. We find freedom. We find, put simply, God. And we find it here, now, even today.
As we ended last week, I shared a little bit from my own journey this Lent season. I shared about how God brought me to a place where I turned to Him in prayer and said, basically, “ok Lord, I am willing to die.”
Now, I am not suicidal, I am not and was not contemplating physical death. Rather, I am talking about the Biblical truth of death to self – of having the old, sinful self “crucified with Christ”, of taking everything that I am and handing it over to God to be tested in the fire, to be purified, so that everything that remains would be pleasing to God.
I wish I could tell you that I got to that point because I am so spiritual, and so in love with God that I craved nothing more than God and God alone, “Like a deer, panting for streams of water”, but that would be a lie. God brought me to that point through discouragement. Through feeling helpless and inadequate and weak and frustrated. And so I came to God in prayer and gave it all over to Him.
Through Death, Into Life:
Through death, God brought me into life. Abundant life! Vibrant life!! Encouraging life!!! God brought me into the ministry....His Ministry. I couldn’t take credit for any of it, I couldn’t take pride or be prideful about any of it, none of it was because of my effort or my activity or my gifts, but I got to experience it and I got to see it and I got to be incredibly encouraged by it. It was life, it IS life, but it is the life of God and the life of the Holy Spirit and the life that Jesus promised.
Life From Death:
And it is the life that Paul talks about through Rom 6:2-14. We’ve shared from this passage each week on our journey of repentance, and we need to finish it this week. Last week I pointed out how the passage calls us to death (more accurately, “through” death): “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin– 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”
Notice this:
“We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin– 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”
The Final Step
I want to encourage you this Lenten Season. The final step along the journey of repentance is the step into life. Into the life of God, into the fullness of God, into being continually filled with the Spirit of God and with the gifts and opportunities to be a part of the most amazing thing imaginable – love for God and love for one another. True, deep, abiding, purposeful, transforming love.
I don’t know where you are at on your journey of repentance, but let me encourage you to continue. Other paths look easier, they look like they are full of pleasure, but they are full of false promises and disappointment. The road is narrow, but it leads to life.
My prayer is that you will have the courage of Peter, that you will stand up and see the chains fall, and that as you walk toward the gate you will see it open and you will walk through to freedom. I love you all:)
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
A vague, bad feeling that you are a crummy person is not the same as conviction for sin.
Feeling rotten is not the same as repentance.
This morning I began to pray, and felt unworthy to be talking to the Creator of the universe. It was a vague sense of unworthiness. So I told him so. Now what?
Nothing changed until I began to get specific about my sins. Crummy feelings can be useful if they lead to conviction for specific sins. But vague feelings of being a bad person are not usually very helpful.
The fog of unworthiness needs to take shape into clear dark pillars of disobedience. Then you can point to them and repent and ask for forgiveness and take aim with your gospel bazooka to blow them up.
So I began to call to mind the commands I frequently break. These are the ones that came to mind. I have underlined the ones that stand out to me as problematic in achieving 100%
- Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Not 95%, but 100%. (Matthew 22:37)
- Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Be as eager for things to go well for him as you are for things to go well for you. (Matthew 22:39)
- Do all things without grumbling. No grumbling — inside or outside. (Philippians 2:14)
- Cast all your anxieties on him — so you are not being weighed down by them anymore. (1 Peter 5:7)
- Only say things that give grace to others — especially those closest to you. (Ephesians 4:29)
- Redeem the time. Don’t fritter away the minutes, or dawdle. (Ephesians 5:16)
So much for any pretensions to great holiness! I’m undone.
This is much worse than vague, crummy feelings. Ah, but now the enemy is visible. The sins are specific. They’ve come out of hiding. I look them in the eye. I’m not whining about feeling crummy. I’m apologizing to Christ for not doing specific things that he commanded.
I’m broken, and I’m angry at my sin. I want to kill it, not me. I’m not suicidal. I’m a sin-hater and a sin-murderer. (“Put to death what is earthly in you,” Colossians 3:5; “Put to death the deeds of the body,” Romans 8:13.) I want to live. That’s why I’m a killer — of my sin!
In this conflict, I hear the promise, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Peace rises.
Now, prayer feels possible and right and powerful again.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
1 Chronicles
Author:
Not stated but traditionally attributed to Ezra the priest.
Date:
Covers the history of Israel from about 1010 BC to about 970 BC this is between the time of the deaths of King Saul and King David.
Synopsis:
King David’s reign is detailed and analyzed in 1 Chronicles. First Chronicles provides a history of Israel going back as far as Adam. By the 11th chapter the story turns to Israel’s greatest king David with special emphasis on his leadership of national worship. When God makes a promise he keeps it. It is designed to remind the Jews that despite their punishment person they were still God’s special people.
Verses:
1 Chronicles 17:14 New Living Translation (NLT)14 I will confirm him as king over my house and my kingdom for all time, and his throne will be secure forever.’”
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou