against a persecution complex

For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’s sake. For it is the God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed, always carrying around in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For we who are living are always being handed over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us but life in you.

2 Corinthians 4:5-12; NRSVue

Yesterday the post was on anticipated persecution, and much more could be said on that. Many of us have experienced nothing at all like the persecution so many followers of Christ (and others) face in too many places in the world. In fact to say that we’ve been persecuted at all here in the United States to me seems more than a stretch.

But let’s say we face more of the norm, that we as followers of Christ are confronted with some kind of authoritarian rule that demands our full allegiance and forbids allegiance to any other. When you read the New Testament, the passage above, and Mark’s gospel account for example, you’ll find that there’s no escape for the follower of Christ from the way of the cross. That is the only way in Christ. And that might conceivably give us some kind of martyr or persecution complex, and make us down in the mouth, kind of like groveling through life with no joy.

The pain, the suffering, the struggle, yes indeed the spiritual conflict, that’s all present and undeniable, and to pretend it doesn’t exist is to deny reality, or perhaps try to escape into something other than following Christ. But this is where the resurrection life and power of Christ is found, and all that accompanies that. Only there.

God will give us the help and grace needed to meet whatever situation we’re in. And this is not meant to be just an individual thing, but something we’re in together with other followers of Jesus. It is the way of life that is in Christ Jesus. A path of suffering and glory. Not something we can set aside. And not something we’re to despise but learn to embrace. In and through Jesus.

staying on the cross where the resurrection power of Christ resides

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:19b-20

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:24

For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we are weak in him,^[a] but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.

2 Corinthians 13:4

In Timothy G. Gombis’s most helpful book, Power in Weakness: Paul’s Transformed Vision for Ministry we are given a paradigmatic shifting truth which can make all the needed difference in our lives if we just hold on to it, and let it do its work in us. Well, I just finished the book this past weekend, and did read it over like a month or more, so that the truth there could hopefully begin to sink in some.

The idea and truth is that resurrection power is at the cross. This is not just for our salvation, but for all of life. As Tim says in the book, and has said in his podcast, something like, we need to take our rightful place on the cross in Christ, and stay on it, and suffer the indignity that comes with it, and as we do so, the resurrection power and life of Christ will be present.

I have found this so helpful. Just thinking of myself nailed on a cross, not coming down when tempted to do so, of course the thought much more convenient than the actual harsh physical reality of such. But just the same, spiritually we’re to take up our crosses and follow, think of ourselves as crucified with Christ and live as though nothing else matters except the resurrection power, life and love of God in Christ.

In and through Jesus.

the power of the cross in its weakness is not only about salvation

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him in our dealing with you.

2 Corinthians 13:4

The way of the cross in Jesus didn’t stop when Jesus was resurrected, nor after his ascension. It seems too often, at least to me that the cross is viewed only with reference to salvation. And there’s no doubt that it’s central in that. But that salvation is not only through the cross, but into a cruciform, cross-formed life.

Our life in Christ is an in-Christ life. In the power of Christ’s resurrection insofar as it’s grounded and established in his death. That is the power for how we live the life of the cross. Paradoxically the power of Christ’s resurrection enables us to live out the reality and meaning of his death in this life (Philippians 3:10). And we won’t have to look hard in the gospels, or the letters to find directives which comport with that.

This is the one and only way in Jesus, not only for our salvation, but for all of life.

continue in God’s grace

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

Acts 13:42-43

If there’s one thing I would want to press home to myself and others, it’s the importance and necessity of simply remaining in God’s grace through Jesus. There’s nothing more essentially basic than that. If we have any hope at all of actually having faith, and living in it, and by that I mean, beginning to see, understand and experience what God has for us, then it’s all because of God’s grace.

By God’s grace, I mean God’s gift in Christ, received by faith. It’s never something we could ever earn or deserve. Based on Christ’s sacrificial death for us through which we receive forgiveness of our sins and his resurrection life, beginning now.

Yes, it was especially crucial to the Jews of that time with the big change in place. But God’s grace is always radical in any context. Somehow we think it depends on us. It’s not like we’ll end up inactive, but what activity we have that’s actually Christian will be solely because of God’s grace, his gift to us in Christ by the Holy Spirit.

Yes, that’s the message I need day after day. Simply to continue on in the grace of God. In and through Jesus.

living in a different world

Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

1 Timothy 6:12b

It is one thing to believe with the promise of eternal life. It’s another thing to take hold of the eternal life, as Paul is saying here to Timothy. What this amounts to is living in a different world with feet solidly on the ground in the real world. And what’s involved in that is the presence of Christ in the world found in the church, the body of Christ. The groundbreaking for that was in Christ’s resurrection from the dead bringing the new life into the world destined to transform everything: the new creation in Christ.

Thankfully for us in Christ the real world is rooted in Christ. What is passing away seems front and center now, but not to us. What is front and center for us is nothing more and nothing less than the new creation in Christ. We live in a different world entirely. But to do so we too need to take hold of that world by faith. To live in that so that it permeates our lives through and through. But meant for this world, invading and somehow impacting the world through the presence and life of Christ in us. That others might see and believe. With impact on culture and judgment and final salvation to come. In and through Jesus.

 

the gospel is what we’re to be living out, as well as witnesses to

We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you.

2 Corinthians 10:14-16a

What seems beside the point in Paul’s addressing of his concern in passing, but really is at the heart of the point is what he was all about: not self-aggrandizement or self-glory, but only and always about the gospel of Christ.

Paul is getting after those who were set in opposition to him, claiming apostleship for themselves perhaps because they found themselves in opposition to Paul and somehow thought they could do better, or more likely out of an underlying self-ambition with a professed belief in Christ. But Paul wasn’t about self-ambition in the least, but again- only and always about Christ and Christ’s gospel.

Sometimes we may not feel we have anything to offer to others, or at least not anything they would accept. After all, people look at another according to their status, what they’ve achieved in life, or whether that other is beneficial to them, not to mention whether it all seems relevant or jives with them.

Paul was concerned about none of that, because the gospel is inherently weak and foolish in the world’s eyes, just as he had told them in his first letter to the Corinthian church. God takes the weak and despised and nothing things as his instruments to help others. The gospel is not only to be proclaimed, but lived out by those who proclaim it. Christ’s weakness in his death on the cross is to be embraced by his followers, that they might know God’s resurrection power in Christ. When we are strong in ourselves, then the only help people will get is what help we can give them, not God’s help.

And so we must continue on no matter what we’re facing or going through. Believing and knowing that we are on course only in the weakness of Christ for the good news that will bring others into the power and blessing of God. In and through Jesus.

someday this will all be over

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”^[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’^[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Revelation 21:1-5

There is no end to what seems senseless in this world. Everything mentioned above: death, mourning, crying, pain will be gone. This is part of a dream that overtakes the nightmare of this life to someday be a reality forever and ever in Jesus.

We have inklings of it now in the new life in Jesus, individually, communally and in mission. These are reminders, indeed signs of what is to come and overtake everything.

There’s no doubt that while I don’t want to see life hasten on and end, I look forward to the day when it will all be said and done. And I’m not referring to the end of my life, but the beginning of the full life in Jesus in the resurrection to come.

Then all the good begun now will take hold and completely flourish. Going on unabated in the life of God to the world in and through Jesus. By faith we can all look forward to that Day. In and through Jesus.

“what can you say that hasn’t been said?” and a thought on Holy Week

One of my favorite books in Scripture is Ecclesiastes, because it takes a rather admittedly cynical, realistic look at the world and life. While the Teacher is weary of words, there is little let up when you consider the book itself, and the summary. His life was given to observing life, seeking wisdom, and finding just the right words, the right way to express it. In my much more limited way, I can identify with the Teacher. I too tend toward skepticism, questioning and observing while holding onto the fear of God and faith in Christ.

This is Holy Week. Much can be said and we ought to prayerfully listen. When all is said and done what are we left with? That’s the question. I think it is good to reflect on the cross, our Lord’s sufferings and death, his burial and the empty tomb. Then we’d best get on with it. Following our Lord in this new resurrection life, but a life now lived with both Jesus’s death and resurrection important for our faith and experience now. We are yet to be fully glorified as our Lord has been. We remain here in a sense partaking of both his death and resurrection in the present. In and through Jesus.

 

the cross first, then resurrection

In the Christian faith the triumph comes only after the tragedy (Mark 8). We call Friday of Holy Week “Good Friday” because God brought good out of evil, and indeed while human intent was bad, God intended it for good. The reality, hard for Jesus’s disciples, and not easy for us now, even after having the revelation from Scripture and the Spirit to help us understand and begin to enter into it– is that death in Christ comes first, then resurrection in Christ into the glorious newness of life in him pictured in baptism (Romans 6).

In this part of existence we Christians live in kind of an in between state in one sense. We will die, and we can be martyred now. Yet we partake of the eternal full life in Jesus now, as well. Which means for us a change of life, living in God’s kingdom in the present by the Spirit. So that we are turned in a new direction and can work on character issues to get rid of the old and put on the new in Christ.

And so during this Holy Week, let’s remember that our Lord did what none of us could even begin to dream to do, so that we too in and with him can, and actually must follow. But we do well to simply be quiet and meditate on our Lord’s suffering, crucifixion and death and just remain there, not being in a hurry to get to the resurrection. There is no Christian resurrection apart from crucifixion, there is no Christian life apart from death– all in and through Jesus.

 

Paul’s witness in trouble and weakness

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

We live in a society, in a world which is indeed allergic to trouble, as well as death. The American Dream isn’t directly about a trouble free existence, but for many, at least having all of our troubles taken care of by our own ingenuity and strength.

Enter Paul. Paul’s world was about following Christ, others following him as he followed Christ, living in Christ, living for the gospel. It didn’t exclude what is considered the mundane matters of life, in his case, tent making. Paul’s passion was Christ and the gospel. And his own witness was to let the gospel become evident in large part through his life, and specifically in his weakness. No, we’re not referring to sin here, but to his mortality and the inherent weakness of his body.

2 Corinthians is a beautiful book laying all of this out, a great read from start to finish.

Paul’s passion in and through Jesus ought to be ours. Yes, we are all weak in ourselves, but that’s exactly where Christ’s strength comes through. And we are broken, cracked jars of clay, as it were, but through that comes Christ’s light. So that we should never give in to despair, or the lie that somehow we’re not succeeding because life’s circumstances are at best difficult. We should see all of life as a window of opportunity for the light of the gospel, the good news in Jesus to shine even through us, through our brokenness.

When we have it all together, we’re on our own. But when we’re broken, in great need, and living on the edge of what seems to be death, if we’re seeking to live in and for the gospel in the midst of that, then Christ’s life will become evident even in us, in our lives. In and through him.