I haven’t written in this blog because I haven’t had any profound thoughts in over a week.  Now that’s a horrible thing for a teaching pastor.  Imagine that!  The preacher has nothing to say!  But I realize today that not everything a preacher says needs to be exceptionally profound.  A lot of what a preacher says should be reminders of the same old truths.  One of my life verses is Matthew 13:52, which reminds me of this matter.  Jesus said, “Every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”  New treasures as well as old.  Sometimes we need to give up the idea of profound or novel or new and just remind people, and ourselves, of the fundamental doctrines of God and grace.  Of course, even our profound thoughts must be tied to the fundamental doctrines.  Too many preachers look for only the novel.

            This weekend I read Psalm 78, the second longest psalm and second longest chapter in the Bible.  It occurred to me that this psalm is a great Christmas reminder.  There are three sections I noticed, and each has a nice holiday teaching.  Verses 1-8 talk about passing the faith on to the next generation.  Examples include verse 4 “We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.”   The purposes for passing on the faith are these: “That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation.”   What better time is there than the holidays and the traditions we build around them, to teach the great Christian truths to our children and grandchildren.  Let’s make sure the traditions we emphasize and those we build anew are ones that teach Jesus.

            The second section (verses 9-39) is really a few sections together that form a pattern of God’s goodness to his people, their rebellion against him, and his mercy in spite of their rebellion.  Over and over the passage mentions the rebellion and stubbornness of the people in the face of God’s goodness.  He brought them out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, but “they still continued to sin against Him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert.” (13-17)  He gave them water from the rock and bread right out of heaven, then he gave them the meat they craved, yet, “in spite of all this they still sinned and did not believe in His wonderful works.” (20-32)  Instead the people “would flatter him with their mouths, lying to him with their tongues.” (36)  Even through all of this “he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath.” (38)   That is our story of rebellion also, and in spite of us, God shows us his mercy.  Christmas is a reminder that God offers his grace to us as sinners.

            The third section (40-72) again tells a story of God’s goodness, demonstrated by the plagues in Egypt, followed by his people’s rebellion.  But in this section, God’s mercy was shown in a different fashion; here he gave the people a shepherd.  “He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people.”   God gave them a good shepherd to lead them.  So too in our situation, God, in spite of our continued rebellion against him, sent us the Good Shepherd, his Son Jesus.  Christmas is the time to remember God’s mercy in sending us a Shepherd.

            In Titus 2:9-10 Paul says we should make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.  That comment is in an interesting context.  So often, in our world, making the teaching about God more attractive means either changing the content of the message or changing the methods used to present that content.

            The first of those two means I strongly oppose.  In fact, this book of Titus is all about sound doctrine; the theme verse is 2:1 – “speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.”  If we change the content of the gospel, it really isn’t any gospel (i.e. good news) at all.  This is seen especially in the matter of sin.  Too many presentations of the “gospel” water down the fact that we are utterly sinful, but without establishing the matter of our sinfulness, the necessity of the cross is done away with, and Jesus becomes just a friend or helper in our spiritual journeys or a guide who helps reveal God to us.  But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus died for our sins.  Thus watering down our sin, to make the gospel more attractive, is not presenting the gospel at all.

            The second way Christians make the gospel more attractive is by changing the methods we use to present it.  I am in agreement with doing this, as long as it is the gospel we present and as long as we don’t violate scriptural principle with our new methods.  However, in Titus, it is not the methods that Paul is talking about when he says to make the gospel more attractive; it is character.  Notice the entire sentence of that phrase: “Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”  What makes the teaching of God our Savior attractive is the character of the slave toward his master; not back talking, not stealing, pleasing his master with his work, and proving trustworthy.

            Maybe we should concentrate more on our godly character than on changing our methods of presenting the gospel.  Maybe that concentration would make for more effective evangelism in the long term.

            I was on vacation with my family last week.  We spent the first part of the week in a mountain cabin owned by some friends of ours (a better description would be a nice mountain home, but they call it a cabin).  It was a great time of rest and sabbath — no phone or Internet.  We slept in, read all morning, got out for a walk or cross country ski trip in the afternoon, played games in the evening.  Here is one journal entry from that time and another related devotional thought:

            Psalm 76:4  This morning while I was walking my daughter’s puppy, he suddenly stopped still and smelled the air staring off into the trees.  I noticed some mule deer there.  I picked the little guy up so he could see better, and he watched for a long time.  When we returned to the cabin, I watched the hill where we’d been walking and, from that vantage point, saw a four-point buck and seven does.  We pulled out the binoculars, and my family watched for a long time too.  It was indeed majestic.  However, the majesty of this world is only a glimpse of the real majesty of God.  “You are resplendent with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game.” 

            In his blog this morning, John Piper quoted Spurgeon, in Lectures to My Students, about the need for those in ministry to take such sabbaths:

   A day’s breathing of fresh air upon the hills, or a few hours, ramble in the beech woods’ umbrageous calm, would sweep the cobwebs out of the brain of scores of our toiling ministers who are now but half alive.  A mouthful of sea air, or a stiff walk in the wind’s face, would not give grace to the soul, but it would yield oxygen to the body, which is next best.  

            Amen!  I sure appreciated my time away in the mountains.  I hope the cobwebs are out of the brain!

          When we visited the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City, our guide pointed out the pillars in the tabernacle.  They are white pine painted to look like marble; the pews also are white pine, but painted to look like oak.  She seemed strangely proud of that.  What a commentary on the religion.  Everything on the outside is made to look pure and holy, but the inside story is something different.  We were told, by those who studied the demographics, that Utah has one of the highest suicide rates in the country and one of the highest pornography rates in the country.  The outward purity is all show, but they are sinners just like the rest of us.  All their rules don’t change the heart.  In fact, those who claim to be righteous but are not are worse than those who don’t know any better. This is the intent of Jesus’ words to the Pharisees, which I ponderd this morning, in John 9:41.  “Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.’”

          Of course, I can’t point this out without confessing my own sinful nature.  Otherwise I would be completely hypocritical.  I all too often see my utter failure to measure up to God’s standards.  However, the beauty of true grace is that we can confess we are sinful and accept God’s complete forgiveness knowing we don’t have to be good enough, knowing, in fact, we can never be good enough but God offers forgiveness anyway.  When questioned about grace, our guide said, “Grace becomes effective when we’ve done our best.”  She was certain she’d done her best.  That is not grace; that is pine painted to look like marble!

            Friday I drove to Cheyenne to spend some time with my parents and then Saturday on to Casper for the Foundation for Christian Discipleship board meeting.  FCD oversees a number of student ministries on campuses in Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota called Campus Ventures.  I enjoy these twice-a-year meetings in spite of the long days getting there and back for church on Sunday.  I enjoy the fellowship of men and women committed to biblical discipleship.  One of our discussions on Saturday lead me to believe that our campus leaders and students don’t really know God in his glory, greatness and grace as they should, and that has been the root of some personnel problems we’ve faced in recent years.  The longer I live and preach, the more I believe Calvin had it right almost 500 years ago when he said all of our problems stem from the fact we don’t really know God.

            While driving home I pulled over at a rest stop I’ve visited several times (at least once each trip to Casper or to Ayres Bridge where my family has camped the last few summers).  While walking around the driveway to stretch my legs, I saw a sign pointing to a scenic overlook.  I was surprised I’d never seen it before, so I walked the path to some benches a few hundred yards away.  Just as I came to the end of the path, the sky turned bright orange and pink with some grey cloud wisps above the Laramie mountain range and Laramie Peak.  It was possibly the most gorgeous sunset I’ve witnessed in my life.  It took my breath away, and I said out loud, “Wow! You are an awesome God!”  I stood there speechless for a few minutes, just admiring God’s beauty, then prayed that I would be able to teach the next generation just how awesome God really is.

            “The heavens declare the glory of God!”  May I too declare that glory!

1 Thessalonians 2:1-12.  Paul spells out the difference in attitude and motive between today’s true and false teachers.  The major separating point is doctrine, but, as this passage indicates, there are other matters as well.  True teachers tell the gospel message of Jesus in spite of strong opposition; they work hard to communicate that message; their appeal is not from trickery or impure motives; they try to please God and not men; they don’t flatter, but they speak the truth in love; and in that love share not just a message but also their own lives; they speak sincerely and don’t put on masks.  False teachers, on the other hand, use trickery (I think that means anything other than communicating the truth) and false motives to get others to follow them; they speak to please their hearers, even using flattery to do so; they put on masks to cover up greed.

            Read carefully through this section of First Thessalonians and you can discern what is happening.  With the news in recent years of ministries that rake in millions of dollars yet have no accountability to the use of that money, I believe it’s clear to whom this word applies.

            God, may I speak the truth of the gospel in love, regardless of opposition; may I never use false methods and motivations to draw others; may I speak to please you alone and to your glory alone.

Gloria in excelsis Deo

            The tag line for my blog is “a teaching pastor’s devotional and theological thoughts.”  In that light, I have tried to avoid political comments.  There are plenty of blogs out there with those anyway!  Yet sometimes, theological/devotional thoughts overlap with political ones.

            This morning in my devotions, I read this question from Psalm 58:  “Do you rulers indeed speak justly?  Do you judge uprightly among men?”  And the answer is not a wishy-washy answer, “No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.”  That sounds like many politicians in power in the USA today.  They don’t speak what is best for men, though they couch everything they say in terms that sound good, at least to some; instead they mete out what amounts to violence and injustice.  I have heard references in recent months to some who have hoped for and prayed for Obama’s failure as a president.  Though I believe we must pray for his salvation, this psalm seems to indicate there’s nothing wrong with praying that sinful and misleading programs, and politicians, fail.  So seems to be the indication of verse 6-8 – a harsh prayer against David’s enemies.

            To the end that Obama’s programs further entrap the poor in poverty, while giving more to those in power, I pray that he fails, even if I personally think they’re wonderful programs.  To the end that his programs genuinely help with the injustices in the world, I pray that he succeeds, even if I am personally against such programs.  Ultimately, however, we want to see God glorified and people coming to know him, as the last verse of the passage indicates:  “Then men will say, ‘Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.’”

          My wife mentioned the other day that her Sunday School class had a discussion about the prayer requests we make in churches today, that most all of them are for temporal rather than eternal matters.  The next morning I read the following verse in my devotions, “Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’” (Luke 12:13)  I laughed when I read it, because it is exactly like us, asking God to intervene in a matter of temporal importance, while ignoring the eternal.  Now there’s nothing wrong with prayer requests of a temporal nature; Jesus taught us to ask for our daily bread, and he answered requests for physical healing, food, and even wine.  The problem is that most of us live our lives there, and never get beyond the temporal.  When Jesus fed the 5,000 he used it as a lesson in eternal matters (see John 6:26-69 and Mark 8:14-21).  He operated on both levels with an emphasis on the eternal; we tend to operate on only the temporal level, or we operate on both but emphasize the temporal.  In the follow up to the demand to arbitrate the inheritance, Jesus mentioned many things about the eternal.  To the man who made the demand, Jesus responded, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (v15)  He then told a story of a man who built bigger barns for his abundant crop and decided to “eat, drink, and be merry.”  (Did you know that famous phrase came from Jesus’ lips?)  God took the man’s life away that night, and Jesus concluded, “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself, but is not rich toward God.” (v21)  After a command not to worry about temporal things, Jesus added “Seek his kingdom and all these things will be given to you as well” (v31)  And finally he concludes the entire section with “Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (33-34)  Along with our constant pursuit of the temporal, let’s seek purses that will not wear out, let’s seek God’s kingdom first.

1 Corinthians 10:1-13  The last verse of this section is certainly well known and loved by many.  “No temptation has overtaken you …” but I never considered the context.  The verse immediately preceding this famous saying is, “if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”  And the context of that statement is the history of the Israelites in the wilderness.  Though they had seen the miracles and passed through the Red Sea, though they ate the manna and drank water from the rock, God was not pleased with them, and they died without seeing the Promised Land.  This chapter contains a list of the sins they were guilty of, and thus reminds us that we can stumble over the same temptations.  They were guilty of idolatry, sexual immorality, testing the Lord, and grumbling.  This list sounds like some of the same things we see rampant in the church today.  We too are idolaters who “set our hearts on evil things;” we see rampant sexual sin, even in the church; we grumble all the time, even the church leaders (and pastors); and we test the Lord by living on the edge of what we believe we can get away with.  Yet what happened to Israel happened as an example and a warning to us (said twice in the passage, verses 6, 11).  And God tell us, “No temptation has overtaken you … God is faithful … and, with the temptation, will provide a way of escape.”  The forgiveness of these sins is through God’s faithfulness and grace; so also the escape from these temptations is through God’s faithfulness and grace.  We face temptations no different than those faced by generations of God’s people.  The temptations haven’t changed.  Neither has God, he is still faithful!