No Asterisk

Those of you who are sports fans have already heard the news. The 2017 Houston Astros cheated. Their only World Series title was gained by dishonest means. The commissioner of baseball has decided not to void the Astros’ win, but there will always be an asterisk by their name in the list of champions (at least in people’s minds). The Astros did not earn it fairly by their own skill. They are allowed to keep their World Series rings, but deep down they all know that they do not deserve them.

What a shame.

My name is in the book of life. I do not deserve to have it there; but it is there. There is no asterisk by my name, just a cross.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Ephesians 2:13 (ESV) “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Colossians 2:11-14 (ESV) “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

To the Lord Belongs Aram

“For to the LORD belongs the capital of Aram, as do all the tribes of Israel” (Zech. 9:1 NRSV).

I am not a Hebrew scholar, so I cannot say with certainty which translation of Zechariah 9:1 is most literally correct; but I get the impression that the translation given above does a good job of getting the intended point across. Every nation belongs to the LORD. Everyone matters to God. Everyone answers to God. Just as Israel belongs to the LORD, so do the Arameans of Damascus. I hope that you believe that. It is the teaching of scripture (see also Acts 10:34-35 & Rom 3:29-30).

This fact should bring us comfort. The kings of Damascus did not see themselves as being under the LORD’s authority. They were doing their own will; but the LORD so worked things out that they ended up accomplishing the LORD’s will in the end. So it is today. We do not have good political leadership in this nation, or anywhere that I know of on earth. But the capital of America (Canada, Britain …) belongs to the LORD just much as the tribes of Israel do. He can accomplish his will through them. I do not know how he does it; I do not know when he does it; but know that he has done it and will do it again.

This fact should also motivate us to our task. We have a commission to fulfill (Mt 28:19-20). That commission is not to get a certain leader elected, but to get a particular message proclaimed, and we are to proclaim it to all. The Arameans, the Africans, the Asians all belong to the Lord just as much as the Americans. J.M. McCaleb was right when he penned the words, “Of one the Lord has made the race, through one has come the fall. Where sin has gone must go his grace, the gospel is for all.”

This fact should also sober us regarding our responsibilities. We are all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). It does not matter if we are rich or poor, male or female, black or white, Asian, African, or American. Someday we will answer to him. Are we ready for that day?

Age is not the Issue

David was a youth when he defeated Goliath (1 Sam 17:33). Jeremiah was a youth when he was called to be a prophet (Jer 1:6). Timothy was a youth when Paul left him to care for the church at Ephesus (1 Tim 4:12). We are never too young to serve the Lord.

Moses was 80 and Aaron 82 when they were called to lead the people out of Egypt (Ex 7:7). Caleb was 85 when he conquered Hebron (Jos 14:10). Anna was at least 84 when she told everyone about the birth of Jesus (Lk 2:36ff). We are never too old to serve the Lord.

August 3 of last year marked fifty years from the first time I led a song in public worship. Next year will mark fifty years since I preached my first sermon. It seems unlikely that I will still be able to sing or preach fifty years from now, but if I am able, I hope you know what I will be doing. Age is not the issue.

Health is sometimes an issue. Often, as we grow older, we just cannot do what we would love to do. But age is not the issue.

Last summer, the church lawn was mowed by a 90-year-old. At Cascade Christian, E.W. McMillian was still teaching Bible classes at the age of 90.

Lack of training can sometimes be an issue. I heard a really good lesson given by a teenager a few years ago, and a really terrible lesson given about the same time by a man in his fifties. The youth had taken advantage of opportunities to learn, the older man had not.

What is our issue? We might have a health issue; we might have a training issue; we might have an attitude issue, but we do not have an age issue. Our God is timeless. Age is never an issue with him. It is never too early and never too late to serve him.

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them” (Ecclesiastes 12:1, ESV).

So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come (Psalm 71:18, ESV).

The Best Cup of Tea

I forget now where I saw it, but I know that it was in a recent publication. The statement should be shocking, but I fear that many would agree with it. The statement was, “the best cup of tea is the one made for you by someone else!”

It reminded me of a statement that appeared on a billboard near our home in Canada in 2004. The billboard read, “Now you can get restaurant quality at home!” That was a shock. It was not all that long ago that restaurants were claiming that their dishes were “home-made.” Now, people have such a low opinion of their own ability to cook that they want restaurant food at home. What is happening?

We are quickly becoming a society of consumers rather than producers. We expect to be served rather than to serve. We take pride in our ability to get others to do for us, instead of knowing the joy of preparing our own meals and the joy of serving others.

I do not mind drinking tea that someone else has brewed, but generally I prefer to do my own brewing. I like to put a little ginger root in my tea; and I like to cut the ginger with a knife that I made for myself. Store bought, ready-made stuff has its place; but I think it is good for us to do things for ourselves and for others. Christians above all people should resist this “let’s get someone else to do it for us” attitude. The best service is not the service someone else performs for us, but that which we do for others.

“But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28, ESV)

“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35, ESV)

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV)

At creation, we were intended to be the image of God (Gen 1:27). Of course, even in their innocence, Adam and Eve were merely the image of God. They were never God and never intended to be fully God. And, of course, in our sinfulness we are a very poor image of God. But, if we spend time focusing on, beholding, the glory of the Lord, we have the promise that we will be transformed into the image of the Lord we have so often displeased, disappointed and dishonored.

But what happens if, instead of beholding the glory of the Lord, we spend our lives beholding the workings of Satan? What happens if we take our eyes off of Christ and set them instead on the things of the world? Will we still be transformed?

Yes, I believe we will be transformed, but it will not be the Lord’s image that we bear. Jeremiah speaks of those who went after worthless idols and became worthless (Jer 2:5). Some people say, “You are what you eat,” and there is a degree of truth in that. It is also true that “We come to resemble what we fix our eyes upon.” No, you cannot become slim and handsome by looking at photos of slim and handsome people. But our personalities and our values are greatly influenced by those with whom we spend our time.

On the one hand, we must not be deceived, “Bad company ruins good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33, ESV). On the other hand, if we spend our time beholding the Lord’s glory, we will be transformed into his image.

Which will it be this week? Seven days from now will we be a bit more like our Lord? Or will we instead be more and more conformed to this world?

We are all being transformed. The question is the direction of the transformation. Into whose image are we being transformed?

Lessons from Homosexual Rape Cases

A recent BBC article stated, “Reynhard Sinaga is thought to be the UK's ‘most prolific rapist’ ever.” He was convicted of drugging and raping 159 people. Every one of his rapes was a homosexual rape.

Meanwhile, also in England, a woman named Gemma Watts has been convicted of homosexual assaults on four girls and is believed to have assaulted at least forty others.

What do we learn from these horrific stories?

The claim has been that homosexuals resorted to the abusing of others only because they were forbidden to practice their unnatural passions openly. Well that argument is effectively disproven by the fact that there has been an increase in this kind of event since homosexuality has been “decriminalized” and then legalized. It is hard to get reliable figures, because the pro-homosexual news media suppress them; but it appears that the number of homosexual rapes is increasing dramatically.

Here is lesson one, giving approval to unnatural desire does not satisfy the lust, it inflames it.

The second lesson comes further down in the story about Reynhard Sinaga. When asked about the verdict handed down by the court (life in prison with no release for at least 30 years), Sinaga’s father said, "We accept the verdict. His punishment fits his crimes. I don't want to discuss the case any further."

We do not read of honesty like that very often. I hurt for that father; his pain is evident. I appreciate his willingness to see his son treated justly. Too many parents today make excuses and ask the justice system to set aside justice and give something less than a just sentence.

Let us take these two lessons to heart.

We will not reduce our sinful desires by giving in to them. Many a fool has thought (in regard to many different sins), “I’ll do it just a little bit.” It does not work. Just as each victory over temptation helps us to win another victory over temptation, each time we give in to temptation we are feeding the evil within us. Feeding evil desires always increases the evil within us. So, whatever your temptation may be, do not give into it thinking to satisfy it. We should kill sin, not feed it.

And let us always affirm justice, even when it is handed down against someone we love.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (ESV) Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 (ESV) Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Romans 13:13-14 (ESV) Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Colossians 3:5 (ESV) Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Deuteronomy 16:19-20 (ESV) You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
1 Samuel 3:11-14 (ESV) Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
1 Samuel 3:18 (ESV) And he [Eli] said, “It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him.”

What He Is Now

Every week we partake of the Lord’s Supper and remember the sacrifice of Christ. But it is not this alone which motivates the Christian life. Although we remember and appreciate his sacrifice on our behalf, some of us feel unable to change for the better. At times we feel trapped in our sin. He may have delivered us from the guilt of sin, but we seem to remain under the power of sin. Appreciation of a past gift may not empower us to overcome sin in the present – especially since the world so often tells us that we cannot resist temptation.

In his book Like Christ, Andrew Murray wrote, “It is not the remembrance of what Jesus has once done to me, but the living experience of what He is now to me, that will give me the power to act like him.” In this statement, Murray is not just expressing his opinion, he is echoing various statements of scripture. The Bible does not merely call on us to overcome the power of sin. It tells us that the Lord will enable us to do so.

God promises, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26, ESV). Yes, we may often be tested beyond our strength (2 Cor 1:8), that is why we are told to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Eph 6:10).

Our problem is sometimes that we try to overcome by our own strength. If you park your car in my driveway, I can lift it up easily. I cannot do that just anywhere – because I do not carry a hydraulic floor jack everywhere I go. But at my house, using that tool, lifting a car is easy. I cannot carry my jack around with me, but the Lord goes with me. So, wherever I go, his strength is available.

We must serve by the strength he provides (1 Pet 4:11). We must not trust in our own strength (Ps 44:6). Not even Jesus claimed to work on his own (Jn 5:30). We certainly should not. It is only in the Lord that we can do all things (Phil 4:13).

“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4, ESV).