Preparation to Persevere

Yesterday was the Boston Marathon, and for the first time in 33 years an American, Desiree Linden,  won the women's division. There was a time in my life when I was up-to-date with who was who on the international marathon scene.  I knew that I had heard of Linden before but  I had to look online to learn more about who she was and how the race had turned out.  And as I did so, I was surprised.

What surprised me was not that an American had won, but how slow the winning time had been.  And when I looked at the men's results, I noticed the same thing. Slow times, perhaps not as slow for the men in a relative sense, but for both men and women the winning times, and the times for the top five finishers were far below the averages there.  For a world-class race they were not what might be considered world-class times.

A little more investigation showed the cause of the slow times, and that was because the weather, to put it charitably, was atrocious. Cold, wet, and windy. Far from the conditions that can bring out the best from an athlete's preparation.

But even in bad weather, the race goes on, and someone has to win. So congratulations to those who ran yesterday, not just to the winners but to everyone who made it to the finish line.  A marathon is a physically demanding event, and the conditions demanded even more out of the runners. But each of the finishers had what was needed, physically and emotionally, to persevere to the end.

As a Christian father I'm learning that the Psalms are a wonderful school for learning perseverance. We are currently reading the Psalms with our daughter, so each night at bedtime I read all or part of a Psalm and then we briefly talk about it.

Last night we read Psalm 85. So often in the Psalms the author is in great need from God.  Sometimes the trouble has to do with other people, and sometimes it is of his own doing. And yet he understands God's character, and so he never lets go of God's promises.  He continues to trust in God as he waits on God's timing for God to act.

God's word, in general, and the Psalms, in particular, train us for those times when life will be difficult. For those times in life when things move beyond difficult and into incredibly hard. The Psalmist hangs on to God as he prays for God's help.

That is the other great benefit to the Psalms, in that they model persistent prayer in the midst of challenging circumstances.  Similar to Desiree Linden and all the other runners being prepared to varying degrees for the challenges they encountered in Boston yesterday, reading and praying God's word, prepares us to persevere, and even praise God, during all parts of our lives. 

In Psalm 85:6 the psalmist asks:

"Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?"

That is a question that virtually begs an answer, for God is both faithful and unfailing in the promises he has made to his children.

In even the most difficult of times, God will revive his children. May we persevere in praising him in times of hardship, and continue to praise him when his deliverance comes. Amen.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Weak Spots and Blind Spots

About two weeks ago I got a request from a friend. He had been reading a book and as a result was looking for some help is assessing his life as a Christian. He was asking for someone to look at his life and see what might be going on that he didn't see. To look for areas in which as a faithful follower of Jesus he needed to make some changes.  He wrote this in his note:

"So that is why I am writing to you, to see if you can offer any advice on where I need correction.  All of us have blind spots. It seems it's a lot easier to see sins in others than in ourselves.  So please let me know what you see in my life where I need to improve.  Please be quite honest and don't worry about me being offended."

In an attempt to answer his question I thought over what I know of him, of his faith, and of his life. I also thought about many of the things the Bible has to say about how God's people are to live.  As far as the Bible goes that would include things such as the Ten Commandments, the Great Commandment, the Great Commission, the "fruits of the Spirit," as well the preceding passage in Galatians.  One of the books I have been reading lately is Proverbs, so that, quite naturally, came into my thinking.

But here is the curious thing. My friend asked about his blind spots, things that he couldn’t see clearly about himself.  As I thought about the biblical areas above I was confronted, time and again, with my own weak spots.  Areas where I thought about myself and the various roles in my life, such as follower of Jesus, husband, father, pastor and friend.  In doing so I found so many things within myself that could be characterized as sloppy, second-rate, incomplete.  Maybe not everything, but much more than enough.  You get the picture.

It is curious the way the hand of God's providence works sometimes. My friend, seeking what would hopefully be godly counsel, has opened my eyes to some things I need to be dealing with.

As Paul brings his first letter to the Thessalonians to a close he writes:

"Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

That idea of being sanctified, or as I often phrase it as I preach, being shaped more and more in the image of Christ, does not happen in one single, powerful action.  It happens bit by bit. Sometimes easily and sometimes with great difficulty and hardship.  It begins at the moment of our conversion from unbelief to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it continues until the drawing of our last breath and coming into the direct presence of our Lord.

I am thankful for the opportunity to consider my friend's life and perhaps give him some constructive help. But I am more thankful for the way that God used him to do some work on my own life. Amen.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

He Is Risen

"He is risen." 

"He is risen indeed!"

Those words are the traditional greeting and response on Easter morning. Just four different words, and three of them are used twice. Not language we might consider "churchy" but generally understood by people inside the church.  How would we explain them to people outside the church?

"He" refers to Jesus.  "Is risen" means risen from the dead. Not getting out of bed after a nap, or back on his feet after stumbling and falling to the ground, but a particular man, with a body that had been lifeless and laid in a tomb for two days, now being up, walking and breathing as if his death had never happened.  "Indeed," as an affirmation by a second person of the profound claim made by the first person.

Those may be the basic facts of the Easter greeting, but the greater question needing an answer is the "why" question. Why is Jesus risen from the dead?

The simple truth is that humans sin against God, in many ways, everyday.  Our sins are acts of disobedience and rebellion against the God who created us. Our sin is an offense against the holiness of God, and the justice of God cannot ignore it.  Punishment is deserved, and it will be given out.  Even the smallest of sins against a God who is holy demands a punishment that no single human could endure.

But God is not simply holy and just, he is also merciful. In his mercy he allows a substitute.  God understands much more fully than we do the impossibility of a created human being able to bear the full punishment of even one of their sins.  And so God, the Father, allows the punishment for our sin to be taken by his Son, Jesus.  Jesus lived a sinless human life, and it is this fact that allows him to take, and endure, the punishment that we cannot.

When we have faith in Jesus and what he came to do in laying his life down as our substitute, our first benefit is that all of our sin, every last bit, is removed.  Our second benefit is that we are clothed in his righteousness, meaning that from the viewpoint of God, no sin is seen when he looks at us, be he looking from a distance or very close up.  And being sinless means that we can be in his very presence, something we look forward to when this life is over.

The exchange of our sin for his righteousness is a wonderful thing.  We celebrate it on Easter, and we live in the truth of the resurrection every day.

"He is risen." 

"He is risen indeed!"