There's Something Behind Those Trees

 

We've been going through the Book of Philippians on Sunday mornings since the beginning of this year. We are currently making our way through Chapter 3.  Chapter 3 contains some of the more memorable Pauline passages.  It is in this passage that Paul states, 

"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord...For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."

Paul states in this passage that he used to see things a certain way, but now because of Christ, he sees them in a completely different way. In vv. 5-6 of Chapter 3, Paul lists the things that used to be important to him in life, areas that he found the most pride in. However, now, because of the surpassing value of Christ, being accepted by God through the perfection of Jesus Christ and not his own, and knowing Him more and more, he sees all of those things as filthy trash. 

I attempted to illustrate this transformation as I ended the sermon one morning, but I ran out of time to really develop it. So I thought I would take a moment to do a better job at it.  I'm sure you've had the experience that I mentioned to our congregation that morning.  When you move somewhere different and especially if you move there during the summer months you find that all of the trees are in full bloom and completely leafed out.  Therefore when you travel down the interstate most of the time all you see is the barrier of beautiful trees that line the parallel sides of the interstate or the back rode that you are traveling down.  

But what happens when Fall and Winter roll around? Those beautiful trees begin to go through a kind of death and the leaves begin to fall off and before too long all of those beautiful trees are barren. And then as you drive down those same highways or country roads you are treated with a whole new scenery.  This is especially surprising if it's your first winter there.  As you are driving down those same roads that you drive down everyday you notice that behind those trees, which are now barren and see-through, is an amazingly beautiful house or scenic view that is just breathtaking.  

Now, the beauty of that house or that landscape has always been there. It didn't just appear. But this is the first time you have been able to see it because nothing is blocking your sight now.  Then as Spring and Summer come back around the trees begin to bloom again and the leaves return and the roads are lined once again with sight of just those trees. But you can't drive down those roads the same way any longer. Why? Because you've seen what's really behind those trees. No matter how beautiful and green they may be you know that behind those trees is something much more beautiful and satisfying and you never forget that. 

Living life before coming to faith in Christ is like driving down the road and only knowing the scenery of those lush trees that line the highway or the country roads. Those "trees" are what makes up our life, what our world revolves around. For some of us those "Trees" may be sinful things that we fill our life with and for others of us those "trees" may be good gifts from God that we have turned into ultimate things, even idols, that we have built our life around. It may be our family, our job, our health, our retirement.  That's all that we can see and we become used to that and satisfied with it. 

But then something happens. A kind of death happens, not to the trees but to us.  Through faith in Christ we die to our sin and the world and all that stuff that our lives centered around becomes crucified to us and we to it as well. And by the grace and kindness of God through faith we are able to see the beauty and all-satisfying reality of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection for our sins and the new life He gives to us and the hope of enjoying His presence forever and ever.  Now like the beautiful house behind the trees or the scenic landscape, the beauty and reality of Jesus Christ has always been there. We just couldn't see it because of our sin.  But now our eyes have been opened and we see it and we love it. 

The result is that we now travel down the road of life completely different.  Oh, the trees (sinful temptations and idols) bloom again. But we do not fall for or become satisfied with their beauty. We've seen what's on the other side of those trees and He's captivating. We can't get the beauty of Him out of our heart. He's unforgettable and clear as day even though we can't see him now. And we can never be the same and we know that one day, we will see Him as He is, and we will be like Him.

As Times Get Harder, Jesus Gets Sweeter--In Honor of My Granddaddy

This was originally posted four years ago, shortly after my Granddaddy's death. Today is the 4th anniversary of his going home to be with the Lord and I miss him, but I still adore the goodness of God even in the midst of the sorrow.

April 11, 2008

Sarah Edwards was the wife of the great pastor/theologian Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards died from a smallpox vaccination. Sarah wrote these words to their daughter shortly after the death of their husband/father:

“My very dear child! What shall I say? A holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud. O that we may kiss the rod, and lay our hands on our mouths! The Lord has done it. He has made me adore His goodness, that we had him so long. But my God lives; and He has my heart. O what a legacy my husband, and your father, has left us! We are all given to God; and there I am, and love to be. Your affectionate mother, Sarah Edwards.”

I adore the goodness of God in all the years that he gave my granddaddy to me and my family. I do hurt at his death. I hurt in a way I have never hurt before. It's a hurt that seems to cut both ways. In a sense, you want it to go away or ease up. But, in another way--just as fervent--you don't want it to leave because the depth of the hurt is an indication of the depth of the love and I never want that love to be minimized or forgotten.

However, even through the hurt I do, by God's grace adore the goodness of God that we had my granddaddy for so long. I adore his goodness in using my granddaddy to bring me to faith in Christ and for setting such a marvelous example of a loving grandfather and faithful pastor. Granddaddy wrote in one of his sermons, "As times got harder for Paul, Jesus got sweeter." And it was so with my granddaddy as well. The harder things got, the sweeter Jesus was. He did not articulate it maybe the same way I do, but he treasured Christ in and through all things. He loved his family. I adore the goodness of God in giving me and our family our Granddaddy for so long.

I adore the goodness of God this past week as well in the prayers and kind words of church members and family and friends. I adore the goodness of God in being able to be a small part of my Granddaddy's memorial service, which was spectacular. I adore the goodness of God of being able to weep with my family and to do so as a family. I realized or was reminded this week of just how much I love my family and how much I want to show that more from now on.

One of the most cherished graces of God to me this past week came the day of the funeral. The family time for visitation was from 10-2pm. I was in the church with some other family members: my mom, two uncles, grandma, and other family. I had purposefully tried to not see my granddaddy at the visitation the night before or at the funeral home on Saturday. I just didn't want to remember him that way. But it was inevitable that I would see him sometime in the week. I did several times. I found myself looking at all the flowers that had been sent and I began to weep and tried to hold it in and just let it out quietly. My uncle Larry noticed me and came to my side. He came to my side and put his arm around me and hugged me and let me weep on his shoulder. It may not have been special to him, but it was a priceless gift from God for me.

Our family has wept and we will weep. I don't know if I realized just how much I loved my Granddaddy. I do now--now that I know he will never call me again on a Sunday night to ask me how my day went or he will never say again to me on the phone, "Can I do something?" which meant he was about to pray with me. I'll never again here him say, "You tell Holly and the girls that some crazy guy said hello and that he loves them." He'll never ask again, "How's the boss?" which meant, "How's Shadow doing?"

But in and through all of those "never agains" God is good and kind and right in all that he does. One day, because of the work of Christ in the life of my granddaddy and in my life, we will see each other again and I know that when we see each other, he will give me a great big ol' bearhug just like he gave me as a little boy and we will adore the goodness of God in the face of Jesus Christ forever and ever.

"Inconceivable!"

That's one of the most memorable lines from The Princess Bride. That line, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means," could be used equally as well with how a lot of people use different scripture verses. One in particular that comes to mind is 1 Corinthians 10:13. There Paul writes,

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

Now, more times than not you will hear Christians use that verse in the context of hard and difficult times that a person may be going through. They will say something along the lines of, "Now just remember that God has promised not to give us more than we can handle." The intent behind the words are loving. The person is trying to encourage the person who is suffering that they can get through whatever it is they are going through.

The problem of course is that 1 Corinthians 10:13 is about resisting temptations to sin in our life and not on handling suffering and difficult times. The promise of 1 Corinthians 10:13 is that when temptations to sin come in the life of the believer, God will not leave them without a way to endure that temptation and thus avoid giving into the sin. God will always provide, in the face of temptation, an option for the follower of Christ to choose that does not involve sin and thus is pleasing to God.

But there is another problem with the thought of, "Well God does not put more on our plate than we can handle," besides it not being what 1 Corinthians 10:13 is talking about. The problem is that the reality is that God, more times than not, does indeed put more on our plate than we can handle and He is good and kind to do so. Why is that? Listen to what Paul writes to the same church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 1:8,

"For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. "

Paul here writes that the suffering that they were going through was much more than their plate could handle. They were given suffering and hardship to endure that was beyond their ability to handle to the point that they thought they were going to die. But then notice what he says next: "But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." Did you notice the aspect of intentionality behind the "bigger than our plate" suffering and hardship that we sometimes endure as followers of Christ? The suffering that they were enduring was given to them "to make them rely not on ourselves."

Our default mindset as sinners when confronted with suffering and hardship is to seek to rely on ourselves in order to survive it. Now who would want to make us rely on God instead of ourselves? Well, it surely would not be Satan. He would not bring suffering in our lives for the purpose of making us rely on God instead of ourselves. No, he wants us to rely on ourselves instead of God. He is perfectly pleased with that kind of idolatry. It is God who wants to make us rely not on ourselves but on Him. He is the one who brings suffering in our life that is more than we can handle for the purpose of teaching us that we can't handle it on our own and that we must rely or trust on Him. We need the power and ability of the one who raises the dead to carry us through suffering and hard times in our life. God is kind and gracious to bring/allow suffering into our lives to wean us off of relying on the idol of self so that we will start trusting in His power and strength to enable us to persevere through the worst of suffering in our lives.

Therefore, the next time someone says to you in the midst of your suffering--with the best and most loving of intentions--"God has promised not to put more on our table than we can bear," you know better. Introduce them to the God who loves us enough to put more on our table than we can bear so that learn to trust and rely more on Him and all that He is for us in Christ!

Nothing New Under The Sun

Solomon write in Ecclesiastes 1:9,

"What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, 'See this is new'? It has been already in the ages before us."

It seems like we live in the age of the "new" in regards to the life of the church. But is there really anything "new" that has never been tried before?

Martyn Lloyd-Jones seems to think not. In his classic Preaching and Preachers he writes,

One of the advantages of being old is that you have experience, so when something new comes up, and you see people getting very excited about it, you happen to be in the position of being able to remember a similar excitement perhaps forty years ago. And so one has seen fashions and vogues and stunts coming one after another in the Church. Each one creates great excitement and enthusiasm and is loudly advertised as the thing that is going to fill the churches, the thing that is going to solve the problem. They have said that about every single one of them. But in a few years they have forgotten all about it, and another stunt comes along, or another new idea; somebody has hit upon the one thing needful or he has a psychological understanding of modern man. Here is the thing, and everybody rushes after it; but soon it wanes and disappears and something else takes its place.

This is, surely, a very sad and regrettable state for the Christian Church to be in, that like the world she should exhibit these constant changes of fashion. In that state she lacks the stability and the solidity and the continuing message that has ever been the glory of the Christian Church."

Yep, nothing new under the sun, even in the life of the Church. Stick to what's worked for the past 2000 years. Let God's Word do God's Work in God's time and God's way.