Hebrews 12:27: "We Are Receiving A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken"

Big ventures collapse either because (a) the external forces arrayed against them are too powerful or (b) internal weaknesses sabotage their ability to function. Churches have been demolished, believers have been killed, missionaries expelled and the faith ridiculed. But just as often, followers of Jesus have been the worst enemy to the cause of Christ when, through in-fighting and the collapse of self-control, they inadvertently open the door for the devil.

 

The author of Hebrews confronts both of these issues in the church and God's people the 12th chapter: 

1. "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons." (Heb. 12:7) Pain without purpose is punishment. But pain with purpose and love is discipline, a tool used by God to sculpt our character. While the world tries to dismantle our lives by overwhelming us, God can take those same attacks and transform them into a means for inspired living.
2. "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." (Heb. 12:14) Sin and strife lead to self-destruct, for an individual and the communities to which he or she belongs.

I am not good with pain. The last time I had to endure any significant pain, I was fainting in the car on the way to the hospital. If given my choice, I would choose immaturity. But God is more interested in my character than my comfort. The truth I say I believe must be lived out to be real. So God will shake me, as he has promised to with the world at large, so that the temporary crumbles only the eternal reamins.

The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. - Heb. 12:27

So I commit to pushing on through, not because it is the way I want to go, but because I know who waits for me on the other side: "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (vs. 3)

 

Paul Baloche sets this idea beautifully to music in his song "Shaken", which he discusses here and which you can listen to here.

John 16:24: Why Should God Listen?

The Men's Study continues again next week, and our verse focuses on Jesus' promise to his disciples that the Father would listen to their prayers:

Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. - John 16:24

Jesus is in crunch time. Jesus is aware, as his followers are not, what Judas' earlier departure meant (John 13:30). Jesus is speaking clearly, in private, in a way he has never done before, but his clearly spoken words are making their head spin:

Some of his disciples said to one another, "What does he mean by saying, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,' and 'Because I am going to the Father'?" They kept asking, "What does he mean by 'a little while'? We don't understand what he is saying." - John 16:17-18

Jesus acknowledges their question, but doesn't answer directly. First, he tells them three things: 1) things are going to get much worse before it gets incredibly better (vs. 20-22), 2) when that happens, their relationship with the Father will change forever (vs. 23-27) The key sign that the "better" has come is that they will "ask" the Father and they will "receive".

This plain talk is a shift in style by Jesus. The disciples, recognizing this, are overjoyed because they sense that their relationship with their rabbi has been taken to a new level. This shift in Jesus' tone started back in chapter 15: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends..." (John 15:15a). Woo hoo! "Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech!" his disciples exclaim. We're in the inner circle. We're in on the secrets.

They only heard half of what Jesus said. But they clearly understood that there was a shift in their standing with the Father. The Father would listen not just to Jesus ("I am not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf") but listen to them directly ("my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name").

We have what Jesus' early disciples experienced. Through Jesus' character and reputation (his 'name'), the Father loves and listens to us.

Hebrews 11:10: The Architect Of Faith's Home

When I would visit my step-brother Jamie at his house in Morgan Hill, many times the house would smell of the ink used for duplicating blueprints. At the time, he was working as an architect as well as a turn-key house builder. I remember looking at those blue-prints, imagining how the house would really look. Sometimes he would describe it to me, and a few times I got to see the house as it was being built, but I never got to see the final product.

For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. - Hebrews 11:10

Lot settled down in the city, but Abraham was a man of the tents (Gen. 13:18). God told him: "Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you." The Bible says he walked; he wandered; he was looking for but never found the city.

How would I feel in Abraham's place? I'm not sure about closing my eyes for the final time in death, without ever seeing what I've hoped for, with my bucket list still full, with the places to see before I die undiscovered.

Abraham was looking forward to that city. How did he know? Solomon wrested with this: Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth? (Ecc. 3:21) But Abraham was looking forward to that city. How did he know? The Bible says:

1. He Trusted God. "All these people were still living by faith when they died" (Heb. 11:13a) They didn't know exactly what would happen or how it would happen, but they knew who would make it happen.
2. He Positioned Himself. He was among those who "...admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth" (Heb. 11:13b) They knew didn't belong. They knew they didn't fit. They knew there must be another stop on this journey. Their God-altered character was not world-shaped. ("...the world was not worthy of them.")
3. He Committed Himself. "If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return." (Heb. 11:15) Abraham could have had Sodom. Lot's wife longed for it. But he wouldn't settle for second-best, because he had seen the best and its blueprint was etched in his mind.  

Will I set my sights on the hotel room that is this world? Or will I set my sights on the city of God.

In the end, there was one waiting for Abraham and the faithful, standing at the finish line of life, applauding them: "Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." (Heb. 11:15b) This sentiment is echoed beautifully in "Martyr's Song" by Todd Agnews:

I've been waiting to let you drink the water of which
Your greatest joy on earth was just a taste
I've been waiting for the day when at last I get to say
My child, you are finally home

1 John 5:11-12: This Is The Testmony

Hey, just trying to memorize my verse for our Wednesday Men's Study. Got my 3 x 5 cards written out:

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. - 1 John 5:11-12

The world 'testimony' seems a bit puzzling. Who is in the courtroom? If you go back a few verses, it seems that God has placed himself in the dock to give evidence. This evidence is so important that God places himself under oath (see Heb 6:17) and swears to it:

What did he swear to? That those who believe have eternal life and that eternal life comes from Jesus Christ. This eternal life doesn't depend on us, it depends instead of God. He has given it. Jesus secured it. We live it.

That security is the basis for taking risks for God. As the Bible says:

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. - Hebrews 6:19a

"Are You Good Without God? Millions Are"

According to an article from the Sacramento Bee (Bill Lindelof, 02/10/10, B1), the Sacramento Area Coalition of Reason has funded 10 new billboards around the area. The goal? So that agnostics and atheists won't fell alone. "It's a way of reaching out to people. Many folks who think like us think they are the only ones," says Fred Edwords, national director of the United Coalition of Reason.

Wow. Atheists positioned as the oppressed minority.

The key idea that the billboard proposes is: There are lots of good people who don't believe in God. They pay their taxes, don't cheat on their wife (singular), give to the poor and contribute to society. If model citizens can be produced without reference to some supreme being, then where is the necessity for that supreme being? We'll set aside questions of how to define "good" in the absence of some sort of absolute standard, which tend to boil down to living a life described as "harmless" or "mostly harmless".

Hmmm...I wonder what God thinks about all of this. Two points:

1. Who You Know. The Christian faith teaches that goodness is given not gained. The billboard for Christians is: "Are You Bad Without God? We All Are." What is our attitude towards and relationship with Jesus? Do we seek him or spurn him? Obedience follows relationship. "How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot" (Heb. 10:28) . God rewards those who earnestly seek a relationship (Heb. 11:6)
2. Why You Go. An implicit assumption in the billboard's message is: who care's what you "believe" as long as the result is good. Sort of a "black box" mentality. But Christian obedience stems from a transformed character. Jesus' harshest words were for those whose inner lives were a mess but who managed to pretend well-enough on the outside.

Noticably absent from the billboard's "evangelistic" outreach is any sense of hope or purpose. The closest I can find here is a sense of community bound together by a shared sense of  isolation.

We all know lots of good people. We all know some scoundrels. We are them (Titus 2:12), sometimes at random. Our opinion of ourselves tends to range from self-loathing to self-promotion.

In the end, though, it is God's opinion that counts. What does he think of you? How do you know?

Titus 1:1-3: The Right Action, The Right Time, The Right Reason

This morning, I was reminded of one of my favorite passages from the book of Titus:

So, at the proper time, God our Savior gave this message and told me to announce what he had said. - Titus 1:3 (CEV)

Someone once told me that true maturity is doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason. The right action at the wrong time or with the wrong motive is disasterous. Paul appreciates the precision of God's timing, even in his own life. While the other apostles were spending time with Jesus, watching his life and death, Paul was still "advancing in Judaism". But God's plan was not thwarted or diminished: "and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born...and his grace to me was not without effect" (1 Cor. 15:8, 10b).

Waiting for God's timing, and discerning God's timing are among the most difficult jobs in the Christian life. Many times as I have tried to push God's timetable along. Other times I have sat idly by while the amazing movement of God has swept through unnoticed. Jesus' prophecy to his own people chills me: "They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you" (Luke 19:44)

• Is my schedule too busy to be interrupted by God's moving? Do the great things of God get drowned out by the day-to-day? (Luke 14:18-19) When the Spirit moves, be ready to move!
• Are my ears sensitive to the what God is doing? Jesus told his audiences over and over again: "He who has ears, let him hear." (Matt. 11:15) Lord, grant me hearing ears.
• Do frustration and boredom suck away all of my patience? The author of Psalms writes: "do not fret, it leads only to evil." (Psa. 37:8b) Instead, he recommends: "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;" Patience is a form of practiced contentedness. Lord, grant me calm.

Today is a day to practice. God will invade your schedule and present opportunities to join Him in the work he is doing around you. Are you ready to do the right thing at the right time for the right reasons?

Hebrews 8:10-12: Flattening The Management Hierarchy

Once upon a time, I reported directly to a senior VP who himself reported to the CEO. One layer between me and the upper echelons. A few years later, after ups and downs and acquisitions, I am doing basically the same job I've always done, but now there are three layers. Over the years, my chances of ever bumping into the CEO have eroded, much less have the opportunity to meet and discuss serious matters.

When it comes time for me to travel, my paperwork filters up the e-mail chain until it reaches the level appropriate for approval and then the e-mail filters back down to me, where I attach it to my expense report. At each level, there is an "Approved" added.  The hierarchy of the business controls the flow of information, the decision making process and the allocation of resources.

Who gets access to God? Do petitions neessarily filter up through the heavenly prayer-chain, with various levels of approval stamped? No! Because of the work of Jesus, there is a direct connection between each believer and God. The author of Hebrews says:

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." - Hebrews 8:10-12

This new plan of God's involved a restructuring of our minds and hearts on a community-wide basis (they will be my people, see also Tit. 2:14b). That process involves a direct link between God and each individual by the pathway forged by Jesus (see Heb. 8:1)--the conduit for two things: the laws of God and the relationship with God. Sometimes when the Bible talks about "knowledge of God" or "knowing God" we picture a long resume, full of job description, past accomplishments, and character references. But knowing God is actually the ever-deepening relationship.with him. The Bible is his resume.

Critical to this new plan of God's is the "flattening" of the spiritual hierarchy. There is no rank or privilege, no social or economic divide, no Ph.D. or trade school, famous or unknown. These are simply not categories which have any significance when it comes to knowing God. Why? Because whoever we are in these categories, we sin. We all need forgiveness. We all need Jesus. Without Jesus, the knowledge of God and the relationship with God are barred from us by the law.

What I wonder is: if that law is in my heart and mind, do I listen? Is there enough cultivation of what God has already placed there so that it works its way to fruition in my life? Do I ignore the relationship Jesus so graciously restored?

Father, clear my muddled thoughts. Draw out what you have written deep within your servant's heart. Speak. I want to hear and reply.