How Much We Miss!

This year for my daily Bible intake plan, I am following McCheyne's Bible Reading Schedule. One of the Old Testament readings for today included Numbers 5. If you read through this chapter without giving it a lot of thought, it seems a bit weird.

The chapter begins with the Lord's insistence that people who are ceremonially unclean are to be put out of the camp of Israel. From there the Lord tells Moses that those who are morally unclean are to make confession and restitution in the divinely prescribed manner. Then, beginning in verse 11, the Lord tells Moses what to do when a man suspects his wife of adultery but can't prove it. Let's just say it involves her drinking water with dirt from the tabernacle floor mixed in with some words of a curse washed off a scroll.  If the woman is innocent, no worries. If she's guilty, the water will cause her womb to swell and rot, inducing sterility.

Like I said, weird stuff. What on earth are we to make of this text? What's up with this ritual?

As I read through this chapter, two things came to mind. The first was a sermon that I heard Ligon Duncan preach on this very same chapter about eight years ago. I never forgot it. More on that in a moment.

The second thing that came to my mind, oddly enough, was a scene from Anne of Green Gables. (Yes, I confess, I have watched that video series many times with my wife. I purchased the series for her as a birthday gift the first year we were married.) In one scene, Anne asks Marilla, "Do you never imagine things different from what they really are?" "No," says Marilla. "Oh!" responds Anne, drawing a sharp breath. "Oh ... Marilla, how much you miss!"

Surely something similar could be said to the casual Bible reader: "Do you ever take the time to see things as they really are? Oh, how much you miss!"

Getting back to Ligon Duncan, I must say that his sermon on Numbers 5 showed me the beauty of the gospel from this obscure text. He took no interpretive leaps to make that happen; rather, he delved into the text, revealed its place in the storyline of Scripture, and showed how it ultimately pointed us to the gravity of our sin and the grace of God in Christ.  I would encourage you to read Ligon's sermon -- both Part One ("Defiled") and Part Two ("The Adultery Test"). I believe that as a result of reading this sermon, you will be not only spiritually enriched but also highly motivated to study God's Word at a deeper level on a more consistent basis.

The late and highly esteemed Dallas Theological Seminary professor Howard Hendricks was known to say, "There is no jewel more precious than that which you have mined yourself." May this motivate us to dig more deeply into the infinitely valuable treasure of God's truth.

A Closer Look at Luke: Part Two

In my last post I pointed out four traits about Luke, the writer of the Gospel that bears his name, as well as the book of Acts. In addition to Luke's humility, professionalism, writing, and missionary concern, there are four other traits that we should consider. These characteristics are discussed by Michael Green in his book Thirty Years that Changed the World.

5.  His care for disadvantaged people

"When quoting Isaiah 40:3, the theme song of John the Baptist to which all the synoptists refer, Luke alone gives the last part of the quotation, 'and all mankind will see God's salvation.' (Luke 3:6). Luke alone tells us that, 'the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost' (Luke 19:10). Those two hints give us insight into Luke's concern for 'left-over people', a concern that he displays constantly throughout his two books." In his Gospel, Luke shows that salvation is available to all: rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, beggars and nobles, prostitutes and religious leaders. In Acts the gospel goes out to Gentiles, Samaritans, the untouchables, the poor and outcast, soldiers and sorcerers. "To preach good news to the poor, the disadvantaged, the left-over people, the women, that is the glory of the gospel, and it is important to Luke. When churches really care about the poor, society sits up and takes notice. People are surprised."

6.  Prayer and praise

These traits occupy Luke. "His two books are full of them. This may seem ordinary and obvious. But it is not. There are not many churches where prayer is a power, and where praise takes off." Luke says a lot about the prayer life of Jesus, whose example inspired his disciples to pray. "In Acts prayer is crucial. When the Christians pray, the Spirit comes, prison doors open, the place of worship is shaken, they speak with boldness." Pray occurs in prison, in the home, on the beach, and in the temple. Furthermore, the phrase "'praising God' occurs more times in Luke's writings than the whole of the New Testament.... Luke's Gospel begins and ends in the temple with people praising God (1:9; 24:53), and that atmosphere is carried into the Acts." Green rightly concludes, "There is a tremendous power in praise: we often rob ourselves of its potency because our offering of praise to God is too contingent on how we feel, or on our circumstances. We do not sufficiently honor him for who he is and for his astounding mercy to us in adopting us into his family. A church where praise is a way of life is a church that exhibits the beauty, and the impact, of the Lord."

7.  Luke's loyalty

"This man had courage and stickability. He had determined to give his life to working with this missionary Paul, and he did. 'Only Luke is with me' (2 Timothy 4:11). His loyalty stood out." Surely this character trait of loyalty played a crucial role in the impact of the early church. "Their loyalty to each other, to Jesus Christ, to the calling he had given them, forged them into a mighty task-force. By contrast, in many parts of the world today the church is only visible on Sundays." Yet in other parts of the world, "the church manifests the same power as it did in the first century. In God's book there are no prizes for marginal commitment."

8.  His spiritual expectancy

"The Holy Spirit is mentioned five times in the Gospel of Matthew, four times in Mark, and fifty-three times in Luke-Acts! That says it all. The start of the Gospel is a continuous narrative of the Spirit at work." Luke "is fascinated with the work of the Spirit, in the church." There is a constant spirit of expectancy as to what God will do. "That is the sort of climate when God can work -- when his people are experiencing and trusting him to do so."

Which of these eight traits in Luke do you find the most striking and significant for you personally? Are there other traits you see demonstrated in the writings of this remarkable man? I would love to read your comments!

A Closer Look at Luke: Part One

Luke wrote 28% of the New Testament, including its longest book, the Gospel of Luke. But not a whole lot is written about Luke himself. His name appears only three times in the New Testament (Col. 4:14; Philemon 24; 2 Timothy 4:11). From these few references we can glean that Luke was a doctor, a Gentile Christian, and a companion of Paul who was passionate about spreading the gospel.

But so much more can be said, and ought to be said, about Luke. In his book Thirty Years That Changed the World, Michael Green shares eight traits of the man Luke that we should all seek to emulate. I'll share the first four traits today:

1.  His humility

"It is perfectly astonishing that this gifted man, responsible for two of the most exciting books in the world, should have been content to say nothing at all about himself." The closest Luke ever comes to mentioning himself is in the "we passages" of Acts. Where was Luke the rest of the time? "He was quietly beavering away in Philippi, building up the church there from a handful of ex-mediums, jailers and business people into the church to which Paul could write the Epistle to the Philippians. Who had been responsible for the build up of this church? Who lies behind its [elders] and deacons, its love and joy and generosity? Probably none other than Luke. And he does not say a word about it! To me that is truly Christlike humility" (Green, 28-29). Indeed!

2.  His professionalism

Luke was a doctor. That was his profession. But he didn't let his job get in the way of serving Jesus. Luke was "willing to sacrifice his professional prospects to go where he felt God was calling him, and to stay loyal to a friend who needed him." Thus Luke was a doctor who ministered not only to people's physical needs, but also to their spiritual needs. Says Green, "I known of a leading psychiatrist who thinks it a bad week if he does not help two or three of his patients to Christ. Many would throw up their hands at such an idea. But why? Surely the task of the physician is to help people to wholeness and health. If it is perfectly plain to the doctor that the patient's real trouble is spiritual, and if he is equipped to deal with it, why on earth should he not do so? And if you tell me that matters of private conviction should not be brought into the market place, I have to reply that such a disjunction dates only back to the Enlightenment and has proved disastrous for our society.... It seems to me both proper and admirable for [medical professionals] to use their best insights, not excluding the spiritual, for the good of their patients.... Christians work not only to make money and do a useful job, but to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ. And until that happens on a large scale we shall not see a transformation of society such as was so evident in the first and second centuries. Luke quietly shows us the way."

3.  His writing

Luke was an educated man who, in addition to his medical expertise, possessed marvelous research and writing skills. "But the interesting thing is that in the midst of a busy life this man used his opportunities for research, limited though they were, with diligence. And at the same time he seems to have stayed fresh for Christ. Library work often dulls zeal. You can just watch the enthusiasm for Christ, so marked in freshmen at a Christian teaching institution, drop away as they dive into a world of books and libraries, research and essays. Just a few manage to retain that spiritual vitality throughout. Luke was noteworthy for it."

4.  His missionary concern

"He cannot keep quiet about the gospel. He is always talking about it, and always doing it. He seems to be utterly committed to Christian mission. He has more to say about salvation in his two books than has the whole of the rest of the New Testament put together. He is constantly stressing repentance, faith, baptism, and outreach to every kind of person in ever-widening circles. ... His pen, his tongue, and his career are at the service of the gospel."

May the same be said of us! We'll look at the last four traits of Luke next week.

Easter Every Sunday

"If only we could duplicate this every week!" That's what our pastoral staff was thinking the day after our exhilarating Easter service. Of course we know that real revival is not the product of human planning or ingenuity, but comes alone from God. The Spirit of God is like the wind; he blows wherever he wishes (John 4:8). But that doesn't excuse passivity on our part. As G. Campbell Morgan put it,

We cannot organize revival, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from Heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again.

Based on observations about Easter Sunday, I would like to suggest four things we can do as God's people to make every Lord's Day a vibrant worship experience:

1.  Anticipate

On Easter Sunday, people came to church expecting a great service. They looked forward to gathering with God's people. They allowed sufficient time to get ready. They arrived early. They came with happy hearts.

Their anticipation of a great service ended up being a self-fulfilling prophecy, so to speak. Their prediction became their experience. This reminds me of a conversation that took place between a discouraged minister and the great 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon. The down-hearted pastor lamented that people weren't coming to faith in Christ at his church. Spurgeon said, "You don't expect people to get saved every week, do you?"  "No, of course not," said the minister. "Well, there's your problem," Spurgeon replied.

If we would see the Spirit of God work among us each week, we must anticipate his presence and prepare accordingly.

2.  Celebrate

On Easter Sunday, our congregation was less inhibited in their worship. That is to say, they expressed their praise in the way that seemed most fitting, without being paranoid of what other people thought. Some clapped, raised their hands, and shouted, "Praise the Lord!" Others didn't. Fact is, some people are more expressive in worship, while others are more reserved.

Worship is ultimately a matter of the heart. Jesus declared,

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
- John 4:24

No one should ever feel "forced" to worship God in prescribed manner in terms of outward expression. Though "all things should be done decently and in order" (1 Cor. 14:40), we can still celebrate our diversity.

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
- 1 Corinthians 12:18-20

Authentic corporate worship is marked by a unity that pervades our diversity. Our goal is to reflect the diversity of our congregation and culture as we worship our one God and Savior Jesus Christ.

This leads to the third critical factor of vibrant worship:

3.  Elevate

Lift high the cross;

the love of Christ proclaim,

Till all the world adore

His sacred name.

I love what one church posted on their website: "Worship itself cannot lead us into God's presence. Only Jesus can bring us into God's presence, and he has done it through a single sacrifice that will never be repeated - only joyfully recounted and trusted in." So true!

In his book Ministering Like the Master, Stuart Olyott asks a key question:  

How can I know a greater measure of the Spirit of God?

To answer his own question, Olyott considers the ritual recorded in Leviticus 8. Aaron and his sons are consecrated to serve as priests in Israel. At a certain point, blood from the sacrifice was placed on the right ear, right thumb, and right big toe of each one of them. Shortly after that, anointing oil was put on the same places. Wherever the blood went, the oil went.

Wherever the blood goes, the oil goes. We can never "improve our act" to the point where our lives and our worship are acceptable to God. The only thing we can ever do is go to the Lord to receive his forgiveness and a fresh supply of his mercy and grace. Says Olyott, "I find that when I have a renewed sense of his blood cleansing me, I also have a sense of his Spirit helping me."

As we elevate Christ and the great salvation he accomplished for us, we experience life-changing encounters with his Holy Spirit.

4.  Perpetuate

"To make something continue." That's what we want when it comes to God-glorifying, Christ-exalting, Spirit-empowered worship! That can only happen as we commit ourselves to the weekly gathering of God's people. Scripture is unequivocally clear on this point:

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day [of Jesus' return] drawing near.
- Hebrews 10:24-25

Every Lord's Day is a celebration of our Savior's resurrection! So let's ensure a great turn-out by showing up ourselves and also by inviting non-Christians who need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. 

Anticipate. Celebrate. Elevate. Perpetuate.  

Is it in you?