knowing God

There is much that comes from God’s salvation. We are essentially restored in our humanity, in other words we become more human, fulfilling what humanity is meant to be. And there’s all kinds of good that comes to the earth. Justice and peace in the sense of wholeness and prosperity (not just absence of war). Deliverance from the power of sin, the bondage of the world system, the tyranny of the devil. Creation care ultimately in a restored earth in the new creation.

Essentially God’s salvation is about loving him and our neighbor as ourselves. It is relational at its heart and core. Everything else is important as well in that salvation, but at the center of its heart is the love of God.

It is good for me to seek the Lord in regard to troubles and trials, in fact that’s essential and ongoing in this life (see last post). But if I stop there, content with getting toward the answers to problems, then I’m missing the boat. We need to concern ourselves with sitting at the Lord’s feet doing the one thing needed. Coming to really know the Lord. Seeking his face. Desiring a face to face and even an intimate heart to heart relationship with God.

This will take a commitment to that end. And an openness to what this love will mean. We are told to know God is to care about the poor and needy. To come to know God is to take to heart what God’s longings are. In this world it means sharing in God’s sufferings in and through Jesus.

To know God better in and through Jesus. To know his love. To live and grow in that love in this life. I hope that grows in my heart as part of the priority of my life. Together with others in Jesus for the world.

vain thoughts

How often in my life have I thought, “If only…?” If only I would have done this or that, or if only I would not have done this or that then just think of how much better life would be. Over and over again I can rehearse the same thing, keep going over it. So that it is an imbedded in my brain, and when forgotten easily remembered again.

We’re told in scripture that our thoughts are important, that we’re to think certain kinds of thoughts, and that in this context I believe, that faith can help us live in peace, not bowed down by troubled thoughts.

I would like to get a new brain track going, a new habit of life. One that is constructive rather than destructive. One that seeks God and God’s will in any given situation. That refuses to live in a kind of despair in regret over anything I can’t change.

The Spirit is present to help us, in part to counsel us, to be our advocate. So I must look to the Spirit when the track comes up for me to once again tread to  know how I might respond to start an altogether different track. One that is in line with God’s will in the truth that is in Jesus.

We need not only to abandon unhelpful, even destructive thoughts. But we need new ones in their place. I want God to direct my thoughts. I don’t want to do it on my own, nor can I.

That means I must be in prayer over a matter. Share it with a trusted person such as a pastor or wise friend.  Keep praying over it. Be in the word of course. And give it time. New ways of thinking replacing old are not snap changes. This takes time. But it also takes perseverance on our part. In all of this a dependency on God which is complete. But in accordance with his revealed will.

Something I’m working on. Wanting to see what is empty become something filled with God’s will in and through Jesus.

Father, Please give me new thoughts to replace these old ones which have plagued me for so long. Let me live according to your will in this matter in and through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Anna Rapa telling the story of the rich young ruler

Encounters with Jesus IV – The Rich Young Ruler

It’s too much.  It’s just too much.  I want to do what he asked me, I really do.  But he asked me for the one thing I can’t give.

I’ve been a good man all my life.  I was successful enough in my studies and in my business that they made me a member of the ruling council, even though I am still young.  I guess they could see that I followed the law perfectly and did all the right things.

But I often wondered—was that enough?  I mean really—was it enough?  I got very concerned about it.  What if there was something more I should be doing?  It seemed like there should be more.  I mean, I keep the ten commandments—don’t worship other gods or make images of them; don’t take God’s name in vain; don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, don’t give false testimony; don’t covet; honor father and mother; keep the Sabbath day.  Every single one of them I’ve kept since I was young.  Not many  people can do that.  Even so, I wanted to be  sure of  my place in the faith, and I wanted to be sure of what would happen to me after death.

So Jesus is in town.  We’ve been talking about him quite a bit at the council meetings. He’s that rabbi, the son of Joseph, who has quite a following.  He’s been making outlandish statements and stirring up trouble.  But he also has a tendency to make a difference in people’s lives.  People claim that he’s been healing the sick and making blind men see.  And people are saying that he’s been sent by God.

So I thought it might be a good idea to ask him about what I need to do to make sure that I have eternal life.   I don’t have anything to lose, and if he really is from God, then I have a lot to gain if there’s something I’m missing.

So I heard he was in town and I spent today trying to find him.  I looked for quite a while, and then I finally saw the crowd around him.  I pushed my way through and I threw myself at his feet.

“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”+

Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good?  No one is good—except God alone.””+

And then he started to answer my question.  “You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”+

I replied, “All these I have kept since I was a boy.”+

And then Jesus said, “You still lack one thing.  Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me.”+

Sell everything?  Everything?  I’m wealthy.  I have so many things, and I live a comfortable life.  Jesus roams from one city to another, imposing on the hospitality of others.  I give hospitality to others.  How can I give that up?  Treasure in heaven sounds great, but how do I know that I’ll really have it?  And how does that help my life today?  And just think about how many people I’m  able to help and all the things that I can do for the poor.   I can’t give that up, can I?

Really, how can he ask so much of me?  I’ve done everything that God has ever commanded.  I am living a good life, according to the law.  And what about Abraham?  And Solomon?  They had riches so far beyond mine, and God didn’t ask them to give up their wealth.  How can God possibly expect more of me?

No, I can’t do it.  I just can’t do it.  It’s too much.  And I refuse to believe that’s what God requires for me to ensure eternal life.

Jesus must have known what I was thinking, because he looked at me and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”+

The people around him asked, “Who then can be saved?”+

Jesus answered, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”+

And that’s when I left.  I’m heartbroken about it, but there it is.  And I truly believe that God will reward me for my righteous living, even though I haven’t sold everything I own.

© 2011 Anna R. Rapa

+Quotations taken from Luke 18.

The full story can be found in Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18.  The portions that are not quoted from the Bible are a fictionalized account of the rich young ruler based on the Bible and commentaries that interpret and explain his story.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Biblica, Inc.™  All rights reserved worldwide.

The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™Discussion

Questions
• What did you notice about this story?
• What did you wonder about?
• Why do you think Jesus reacted to the man’s statement that he was good?  What point do you think Jesus was trying to make?
• What did you notice about how the man defined his life of faith?  Do you think he was right or wrong?
• How did Jesus challenge his perception?
• Why did Jesus ask him to sell all his possessions and give to the poor?
• Do you think that was a lot to ask?
• What do you think held the man back?
• What do you think he would have gained if he’d chosen to do what Jesus said?
• How does his story compare to the blind man’’s story?  Do you think that what Jesus asked him to do was easier or harder than what he asked the blind man to do?
• What kind of life was Jesus inviting the man to?  What do you think that life would have looked like for the man?
• What does it mean to ““believe” in Jesus?  Does it require more than thoughts?  Does it require actions?  What kind of actions?

Anna Rapa, Encounter Jesus

prayer for the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Book of Common Prayer

pressing on

There is much in my life that would stop me in my tracks, distracting me from the goal which we in Jesus are to pursue. Much. Or at least a matter or two that is significant to me. If we could have a conversation over coffee on that, perhaps there is plenty we could each share, enough to fill a morning, and then some.

And in my case it is some of the same old same olds. Some things we do get over, God miraculously answers and all of that is water under the bridge, long gone with maybe only a scar or two left from it. But other matters linger on. We get some sort of victory over them, but they come and go, some staring us in the face, coming to our attention at any moment’s notice.

I’m glad to have a wife who challenges me to stand on the truth revealed in scripture and through Jesus. And a church which stands for truth applied to life in following Jesus.

There is nothing more for me to do than to simply press on. Following the example of Paul. Who had left the old way behind for the new way in Jesus. What had been good, in fact the very best in this world, the very best for its time. But that way had become old because of the new way that had come in Jesus in fulfilling what that old way had laid the groundwork for.

Pressing on. Something I need to do today and every day, really. In following  Jesus with others in Jesus for the world.

standing firm

In scripture we see that our stance in spiritual warfare is to be strengthened in the Lord, to put on the whole armor of God, to face the enemy, but in a resisting kind of mode. God takes the offensive to the enemy, we do not except in unusual cases when we are exerting Christ’s authority over the demonic.

We likely don’t like the idea of not being on the offensive and taking care of business ourselves. But that is the stance we’re to take. A stance which promises us victory in the ongoing skirmishes in this life. We’re told to resist the devil, with the promise that he will flee from us.

Yesterday was one of those “evil days” (if that’s how to interpret “evil day” in the classic Ephesians 6 spiritual warfare passage). I had a time of writing an encouraging post on anticipation as I was thinking of what I was looking forward to for that day, and on the edges of my mind what would be the fulfillment of that in the bye and bye. Actually a simple book signing by probably the one today considered the foremost Christian theological writer and speaker. And I was drawn into worship of God in Jesus. Only to be hit by an ugly attack from the evil ones. So that I was back on my heels. But while all sense of goodness was gone, this was an opportunity to practice the spiritual warfare that is part of this life in Jesus.

Through this we are kept humble, and ever dependent on God. And we learn more and more, hopefully, what we have in and through Christ. It was good for me to be able to repeat the Ephesians 6 passage even if I really couldn’t do much more than that at work. To try to do what God has called me to do in and through Jesus.

Life goes on. No deliverance from such spiritual warfare in this life here and there. But with the promise that the Lord will deliver us from every evil attack, and bring us safely into his heavenly kingdom to come. Part of our calling in following Jesus together for the world.

anticipation

We’re told in scripture that we’re to be seekers of God. That we’re saved in hope (Romans 8:18-30). That we’re to be pressing toward the mark of God’s high calling in Christ Jesus.

Anticipation. It does add a lot to life. Of course the bride and the groom anticipating that wonderful day when they become one, joined together in holy matrimony. Hope is huge in scripture. Faith, hope and love are joined together and remain.

One of my favorite servants of God, Pastor Bill Hesse used to say with that wonderful smile of his emanating from his heaven sent glowing spirit, “Remember, for the child of God, the best is always yet to come.” How wonderful! And how true when we consider the testimony of scripture. Not only in this life, but in the next as well- in the new creation in Jesus.

Anticipation involves living in love. Looking forward to all that a life of faith in love has. Even through the rigors and disappointments, even dark valleys of this life. Not that we look forward to those dark places. But even there we can find God and God’s hand and heart in unique and new ways.

Anticipation does not mean we’re not thankful for blessings past, as well as present. Hope goes together with life in grace and in the Spirit here and now, so that even our trials working endurance into our lives end up with God pouring out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who he has given to us (Romans 5).

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Proverbs 13:12

God will purify our hopes in our anticipation of seeing Jesus when he appears (1 John 3). So some of our old hopes will thankfully die and fall by the wayside. But the hope fixed on that which will last forever and only grow in the love of God is something we begin to anticipate and even experience in this life in and through Jesus. A hope that through God and his promises is indeed an anchor to the soul.

A hope in which we wonderfully live together. Not just for ourselves, but for the world. That others might see and ask us the reason for the hope we have. An opportunity to point us to the one who is our hope, Jesus. Together in Jesus for the world.

theology is open-ended

Richard Wurmbrand once said something like, “Jesus is the truth. The Bible is the truth about the truth. Theology is the truth about the truth about the truth. The farther we go from the truth himself, Jesus, the farther removed we are from truth.” (That last sentence very much a paraphrase, but something of what Wurmbrand was getting at, I think.)

When I post here, or when I teach I want to do so making the points with truth that is clear enough to us. Truth on which we followers of Jesus can agree. Concerning the truth as it is in Jesus.

But there are matters that are open to dispute among us. Some of us hold to a Calvinist understanding, and others like myself do not. Some insist that a Christian can participate in “just war,” while others believe Christians should never kill under any circumstances. I give these examples not to debate them, but to show that there are significant disagreements among us Christians.

Theology is open-ended. I don’t trust any theological scheme that has everything nailed down. In which there is no sense of uncertainty. In which nothing is nebulous, but everything clear. Of course in America I would think such theology which is clear would win the day. We want answers and we’re pragmatists. But scripture is not meant to answer all our questions. And God has given us the truth as he has to make us keep searching, and working through it for our own time and culture.

That is why giving a tentative answer as opposed to one cut and dried and maybe even established may be better. We want to test all by scripture but that itself can be tricky. What is scripture doing, or what is happening in scripture is an important question. (See Scot McKnight’s The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible.)  And where does that leave us. Can we have a systematic theological book which pretty clearly gives us all we need to know. The answer to that in my view would be no.

That takes us back to square one. To Jesus himself, the truth. And then to scripture. And also to a sense or understanding given to us by the Spirit. And the us itself would refer to God’s people in Jesus, the church. This is a plural endeavor, not a bunch of individuals doing it ourselves, and consequently often going our separate ways.

This is why I believe the best theologies and theologians often don’t come from the most conservative of circles. In the conservative circles you have to hold to certain understandings. Some of those I think are non-negotiable, what we would term dogma, what every follower of Jesus must come to accept. But a large portion of our disagreements, while they may well indeed be important we could term doctrine, and not essential as to what we are united on through Jesus. (See Christian Smith on this distinction and much more in his book, The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture.)

And so I want to continue to major on what we can all agree on. Even if some of that is actually developing in our common understanding. While sometimes pushing the envelope to challenge myself and any reader to an understanding which actually may be more in keeping with the truth as God has revealed it. Or how God wants to lead us where we are now.

This requires humility and an ongoing dependence on God and interdependence on each other in Jesus, as we carry on as Jesus’ followers together for the world.

in its time

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Ecclessiastes 3:11

Often we want to see something done, and done now. Maybe something that needs to be done. In fact is part of what Jesus has commanded us to do. In other words something we are to play a part in.

And yet it isn’t done. We may have to ask ourselves if we’re holding out somewhere. Sometimes obedience seems rather naked. In fact in some ways it always seems that way for me. I’m not just picked up and moved to obeyed. I have to do it, yes in and because of God’s grace in Jesus, but just the same, I have to obey. And often in such obedience there is a kind of nakedness, in that we may have to humble ourselves. Certainly we’ll be walking in a faith in which we put our trust in God.

But there can be a time or matter in which our part is to pray. Perhaps to examine ourselves, or more precisely to ask God to examine us. We need to seek to obey with a spirit intent on God’s will. Not just obeying for obedience’s sake. But with the intent of obedience which is to be love. Love for God, and for our neighbor. Perhaps in a certain case, for one who seems like an enemy.

When God has something for us to do, he won’t let go. It will be plain enough to us. But sometimes it’s as if we can see or imagine everything together as it should be. And yet we see it apart. That is when we seek God in prayer about it, and hold on to the promise through Jesus that God will indeed make everything beautiful in its time. That he is at work to do that. Even through us in Jesus if only through our groanings by the Spirit. Along with obedience to his revealed will to us. A part of the hope we have in and through Jesus.

self-control

Better a patient person than a warrior,
one with self-control than one who takes a city.

Proverbs 16:32

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

In God’s grace in and through Christ and by the Spirit, there are few things more crucial to our lives than maintaining self-control. This may sound unspiritual, as if it is something we are doing ourselves, pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, as the saying goes.

But as N.T. Wright points out in his book, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters, moral effort is part and parcel of the equation in God’s grace at work in our lives through Jesus by the Spirit. It is character in formation, and requires work on our part. Beginning with the transformation of our minds. So that our heart as in mind and will and inward disposition, is changed. Then the new way in Jesus spelled out in scripture can become more and more second nature to us, a part of who we are.

Self-control ends up being something we do, inherent in the term. Of course it is by the Spirit as seen in the passage quoted above. And yet we end up having to do it, albeit by the Spirit. As part of our following of Christ together and for the world. What we do is important, as well as what we don’t do.

Hopefully we’ve grown to know better than to say or do something unhelpful in reaction to a perceived wrong done to us. But what about our own spirits before God? Are we submitting to him, to his leading, to the Spirit, when we are tempted to take matters in our own hands?

Best many times to lay low. To bide time. To make such times occasions of drawing near to God, of seeking him and his help. Of retreating rather than advancing or going on in a way that is not wise, according to our own wisdom rather than God’s.

In this life for all kinds of reasons and in all kinds of situations and circumstances we will need self-control. We will save ourselves and others from much grief as we learn to do so. A part of the new life that is ours in and through Jesus. Which we live out not only for ourselves, but for each other and for the world.