Recently our home church decided to invade comfort levels and wash each other's feet. It ended up families washed each other's feet while the other families observed. We need to take baby steps (pun intended) with this whole command. Yep, it's a command given to us by Christ.
Frankly, it is a little unnerving to consider. And what's weird about that is that I am all about getting a pedicure, I have no qualms about a perfect stranger touching my feet. I don't mind my husband rubbing my feet either. But washing them? I start to pull back a little. There is something oddly intimate about someone else washing my feet. It places me in a position of vulnerability and that is very unnerving. And as I watched other people getting their feet watched I felt vulnerable on their behalf.
What is it about feet that exposes us to others, to even ourselves? Perhaps it is that feet are so unique, filled with personality and character. They can be, and are, beautiful - ugly - bony - chubby - cracked - smooth - calloused - tough - sensitive - small - large - smelly. And to expose them to someone else feels like we are exposing them to all of those things that are true of us as well. We can be, and are, beautiful - ugly - edgy - curvy - cracked - smooth - calloused - tough - sensitive - smelly. And we pull back when we don't want others to see and know that about us, even our spouses.
When I held my foot out to my husband I instinctively curled my toes inward as if drawing back. It's possible I even drew my foot back a bit but he had a grasp on it by that point so he kept it over the bowl. He poured the water over it and then took the towel to dry it off. Such intimacy. And with others watching it made it just a tad more unnerving. There was nervous twittering the entire time from all of us there. It's uncomfortable to take part in and observe such an intimate act.
I imagine the disciples felt similar when Jesus stripped off his outer garments, tied a towel around his waist, and knelt down on the ground at the dusty and smelly feet of the men who had followed him for the last three years. I imagine there was nervous twittering and an insecurity at Jesus touching the rough and calloused feet. But Peter, as usual, was the only one bold enough to speak out loud what I think all of them were thinking, "Lord, you are going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered in the affirmative and Peter, as usual, came back with, "No! You should never wash my feet!" Imagine telling Jesus no. Oh wait. We do, everyday. We tell him no everyday. We, like Peter, lose sight of who is knelt down at our feet. We forget the past years of learning at his feet. We curl our figurative toes inward to draw away from the one who wants to wash us clean. We protest with voices that tremble with insecurity and fear at being found in such a vulnerable position. And Jesus, with grace in his voice and love in his eyes, says to Peter, and to us, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." Now I confess I am not near as bold as Peter who then, as usual, took it all the way, "Well then Lord don't stop at my feet! Wash all of me!" Poor Peter. He gets a lot of flack from the pulpit for his bold statements and actions. But I see and hear zeal in Peter. He is zealous for the Lord. He loves Jesus more than he may even realize. He believes even if he isn't quite sure what that belief means or will cost him. I like Peter, I relate to him. I, too, feel zeal for my Lord. But I'm not bold like Peter. I draw back and take a slower approach. Jesus corrects Peter, and perhaps us, "No Peter. You don't need a full body wash, you are clean except for your feet. Washing your feet fulfills the need." Peter quiets down and we can assume he then placed his feet in the hands of Jesus.
I understand the vacillating. I pull back from Jesus, unwilling to let him see and touch my insecurities and flaws. He tells me that if I don't allow him in those places then I will have no part with him so I throw everything I have at him in desperation to be part of him. He has to pull me back to a balance and reminds me that he only asked for specific insecurities and flaws, not all of it. He knows what I don't. Eventually we'll get to the place where he has touched every insecurity and flaw but we'll take baby steps to get there (pun intended).
If I can't get vulnerable with the One who created me then I'm really going to have a tough time getting vulnerable with people. And I see the struggle in me. I vacillate with people - my husband, my besties, my community. I want vulnerability and sometimes I'm able to get there but a lot of times I curl my heart inward and start to pull back. It is a lot of steps forward and backward but Philippians 1:6 says I have as much time as God determines I need to be called "complete" and since I see being complete includes allowing all of me to have been exposed and cleansed by Christ I guess I'm going to have to be patient in the process, and allow grace to wash over me...and my feet.
Showing posts with label The Holy Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Holy Bible. Show all posts
Friday, April 18, 2014
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Yeast Revisited.
I looked down in my toaster and saw remnants of toast and bagels. I emptied the handy tray that is designed to catch them and looked again. The toaster was still littered with crumbs caught up in the coils and the edges of the toaster. I shook it upside down, to the side, right side up, and I banged on the sides of the toaster but only a few more crumbs came tumbling out. Short of immersing the toaster in warm water and letting it soak those crumbs are hanging on. How appropriate, I thought, considering the reason why I was even spending time and energy on removing the crumbs.
Lanny just bought these new little LED flashlights so I used one to help me search out any food items in the dark recesses of my pantry that might contain a leavening agent. I found a couple of items and pulled them out and placed them on the counter. Fortunately the pile of leavening agents or items containing leaven was small. It helps that for the past week or so I have been using or consuming things we have in our home that contain yeast or the like. But I've consumed so much that I'm beginning to feel puffed up myself! The break from leavened things comes at a good time. Ha.
What in the world am I doing? What's with this focus on leavening and removing it? Last year I wrote about yeast. And this year I'm back with some additional thoughts about it. Today is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In Leviticus 23 God tells his people to abstain from things with leavening for 7 days and to remove it completely from their surroundings for those 7 days as well. The observance begins with Passover, which is also commanded by the Lord to observe every year. In the New Testament Paul addresses the observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread by saying, "Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." And while what Paul says sounds like a metaphorical observance I am inclined to believe he was actually speaking literally. Why? One reason is that Paul was an observant Jewish man who happened to believe that Jesus was the Savior. He also happened to believe that Jesus meant what he said when he declared that he had come not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. Paul followed God's commands to keep the biblical festivals and knew that observing the Feast of Unleavened Bread literally led to the metaphorical observance as well. And it does. God knows that we need something with substance to use for our metaphors and searching out and ridding our surroundings of leavening agents does the trick. God uses yeast and its function as a word picture for sin in our lives. And God desires to see us go after sin and remove it. He wants us to be diligent about it all the time but for 7 days we are to be hyper-diligent as a way to keep us humble before him. And it works.
If you read my post last year about yeast you'll remember that I was doing great at not partaking of any until a little slip-up which was a complete accident. Last year I participated in the Feast by not consuming any leavened food for the 7 days. This year I decided to observe it fully by also getting rid of any food items in our home that contained leavening. That's why I was looking in the toaster and using a flashlight to search the pantry. And the searching accomplished exactly what the Lord, I believe, intended for it to do. It revealed that just like leaven hides in places and things I wouldn't think it needed to be, so sin does the same thing in my life. It infiltrates my heart and hides in the places of my life where it needn't be. And in order to find it I need to intentionally search for it, just like with the leaven in my home. Not only was leaven hanging out in our kitchen but a look under our couch cushions revealed crumbs had made their way there and were hiding out. So I didn't have to just search the most obvious places for the hiding places, I had to search the whole house. The same is true of sin in my life. I shouldn't be searching for just the most obvious places within my life and heart for sin, I need to search all the nooks and crannies. And when sin is found take the necessary steps to remove it.
A week or so ago I was studying Leviticus 5 and the chapter deals with the unintentional sins we commit and the way to handle those. I know that in the coming week of observance I am sure to discover something that has leaven in it that I missed in my search or, just like last year, unthinkingly consume something that has yeast in it. Those are the unintentional sins Leviticus 5 refers to. Things I do or say that I'm not aware, at the time, offend our Holy God but once I am aware I am required to make right. God makes provision even for the unintentional. His grace is deep and wide.
Lanny just bought these new little LED flashlights so I used one to help me search out any food items in the dark recesses of my pantry that might contain a leavening agent. I found a couple of items and pulled them out and placed them on the counter. Fortunately the pile of leavening agents or items containing leaven was small. It helps that for the past week or so I have been using or consuming things we have in our home that contain yeast or the like. But I've consumed so much that I'm beginning to feel puffed up myself! The break from leavened things comes at a good time. Ha.
What in the world am I doing? What's with this focus on leavening and removing it? Last year I wrote about yeast. And this year I'm back with some additional thoughts about it. Today is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In Leviticus 23 God tells his people to abstain from things with leavening for 7 days and to remove it completely from their surroundings for those 7 days as well. The observance begins with Passover, which is also commanded by the Lord to observe every year. In the New Testament Paul addresses the observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread by saying, "Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." And while what Paul says sounds like a metaphorical observance I am inclined to believe he was actually speaking literally. Why? One reason is that Paul was an observant Jewish man who happened to believe that Jesus was the Savior. He also happened to believe that Jesus meant what he said when he declared that he had come not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. Paul followed God's commands to keep the biblical festivals and knew that observing the Feast of Unleavened Bread literally led to the metaphorical observance as well. And it does. God knows that we need something with substance to use for our metaphors and searching out and ridding our surroundings of leavening agents does the trick. God uses yeast and its function as a word picture for sin in our lives. And God desires to see us go after sin and remove it. He wants us to be diligent about it all the time but for 7 days we are to be hyper-diligent as a way to keep us humble before him. And it works.
If you read my post last year about yeast you'll remember that I was doing great at not partaking of any until a little slip-up which was a complete accident. Last year I participated in the Feast by not consuming any leavened food for the 7 days. This year I decided to observe it fully by also getting rid of any food items in our home that contained leavening. That's why I was looking in the toaster and using a flashlight to search the pantry. And the searching accomplished exactly what the Lord, I believe, intended for it to do. It revealed that just like leaven hides in places and things I wouldn't think it needed to be, so sin does the same thing in my life. It infiltrates my heart and hides in the places of my life where it needn't be. And in order to find it I need to intentionally search for it, just like with the leaven in my home. Not only was leaven hanging out in our kitchen but a look under our couch cushions revealed crumbs had made their way there and were hiding out. So I didn't have to just search the most obvious places for the hiding places, I had to search the whole house. The same is true of sin in my life. I shouldn't be searching for just the most obvious places within my life and heart for sin, I need to search all the nooks and crannies. And when sin is found take the necessary steps to remove it.
A week or so ago I was studying Leviticus 5 and the chapter deals with the unintentional sins we commit and the way to handle those. I know that in the coming week of observance I am sure to discover something that has leaven in it that I missed in my search or, just like last year, unthinkingly consume something that has yeast in it. Those are the unintentional sins Leviticus 5 refers to. Things I do or say that I'm not aware, at the time, offend our Holy God but once I am aware I am required to make right. God makes provision even for the unintentional. His grace is deep and wide.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Celebrating the mite
I've been thinking a lot lately about the widow's mite.* It's always bothered me that organizations hold large and lavish dinners and "thank you's" for their big money donors. It bugs me because of the widow's mite. What if we threw a large and lavish dinner for the donors that are giving $10 (as an example) of their money every month faithfully for years on end? What if we celebrated the mite donations rather than the large ones that always gain the most attention? What kind of message would that send?
I've listened to a fair number of fundraiser dinners and pledge drives in my lifetime and I'm always unsettled by the meager "thank you" faithful donors get when their dollar amount doesn't reach the organization's ideal for a celebratory thank you.* I think we have it backwards. I think we should start inviting all to the dinner, regardless of their dollar amount donation. And don't set up the seating according to dollar amounts either, mix them up. I'm addressing the Church here (and non-profit para-church organizations) because, as far as I can see, God has addressed this with us already. And I think we've forgotten or we've chosen to interpret it differently. In James 2 favoritism is discussed. Oh I can hear the protesting as I say that. But in that silent moment when you have to be honest with yourself think about it. Those large, lavish dinners for top dollar donors that aren't open to the $10 a month donors, what would you call that? Preferential treatment. Placating. People, it's favoritism at its roots. It is. I know, *you* wish it weren't so but wishing doesn't change what is fact.
The message it sends to those $10 a month donors is that while their donation is appreciated it just isn't quite enough. There are a *million* donor departments and consulting firms that would disagree with me. That's okay, I know what I know. I know what people share with me. I know what I observe. And most importantly I know what God says about it. God calls us to live backwards from how the world lives. I'm so crazy I think it would be awesome to take it one step further and invite the big money donors to fund a large and lavish dinner for the lower dollar donors!* GASP. It's such a bold and out of the box idea. *grin*
How have we gotten to the place in the Church where people who throw a lot of money in the offering get coddled and expect to be treated with preference? Oh those people wouldn't say they expect that and organizations/churches wouldn't say they coddle - in fact with that one question I have managed to offend pretty much every single organization and church in America - but they do. Again, this calls for an honest moment.
What kind of message would top donors send to the various organizations that they support if they were put off because they didn't get a thank you gift or dinner or something? Well it would reveal motive for the financial gift for sure. I've run into a few of these donors in my years touring Christian organizations/churches through jobs. They aren't pleasant people the minute they aren't thanked as they think they should be or their "suggestions" for the organization/church aren't implemented. And the moment that happens their financial gifts develop a stench. But those $10 a month donors? They are always genuinely surprised and grateful for any show of appreciation for their gift. Listen, those $10 a month people know their gift isn't much. They might even feel bad they can't give more. But those gifts, they count. They matter. In the end they add up to more than the gift of one top dollar donor. Their sacrifice, while they don't expect it to be recognized and appreciated, should be. More so than the top dollar donors. Go back to James 2, it's right there.
Now I'm not saying we shouldn't thank top dollar donors. I'm just saying that regardless of the dollar amount of a donation the "thank you" should be the same. $10 to one person is as much as $1000 to another. It's the same in their worlds. So in the world where thank you's are issued for financial gifts the thank you should be the same as well.
Celebrate the mite and you'll be living backwards.
*If you aren't familiar with the story click here. If you aren't familiar with what mite means click here and scroll down to "2 mite noun". You are welcome. :)
*And no, this is not because I didn't get invited to something and need to passive-aggressively point it out. In all honesty when I get invited to things that I know are costing money in order for the organization to keep my money I prefer to not go and just send in a donation. I don't see how it makes sense to spend money to get money. Again, a *million* donor departments and consulting firms would disagree with me and that's okay. Perhaps I'm just too simple minded for them. But I think that phrase "less is more" applies here as well. :)
*Take it one step further and use the money you would pay for a large and lavish dinner and put it instead toward the organization/church you support and just send a nice "thank you" email (why spend money on printing, paper, and postage?). I know, now I'm really talking crazy here. *wink*
I've listened to a fair number of fundraiser dinners and pledge drives in my lifetime and I'm always unsettled by the meager "thank you" faithful donors get when their dollar amount doesn't reach the organization's ideal for a celebratory thank you.* I think we have it backwards. I think we should start inviting all to the dinner, regardless of their dollar amount donation. And don't set up the seating according to dollar amounts either, mix them up. I'm addressing the Church here (and non-profit para-church organizations) because, as far as I can see, God has addressed this with us already. And I think we've forgotten or we've chosen to interpret it differently. In James 2 favoritism is discussed. Oh I can hear the protesting as I say that. But in that silent moment when you have to be honest with yourself think about it. Those large, lavish dinners for top dollar donors that aren't open to the $10 a month donors, what would you call that? Preferential treatment. Placating. People, it's favoritism at its roots. It is. I know, *you* wish it weren't so but wishing doesn't change what is fact.
The message it sends to those $10 a month donors is that while their donation is appreciated it just isn't quite enough. There are a *million* donor departments and consulting firms that would disagree with me. That's okay, I know what I know. I know what people share with me. I know what I observe. And most importantly I know what God says about it. God calls us to live backwards from how the world lives. I'm so crazy I think it would be awesome to take it one step further and invite the big money donors to fund a large and lavish dinner for the lower dollar donors!* GASP. It's such a bold and out of the box idea. *grin*
How have we gotten to the place in the Church where people who throw a lot of money in the offering get coddled and expect to be treated with preference? Oh those people wouldn't say they expect that and organizations/churches wouldn't say they coddle - in fact with that one question I have managed to offend pretty much every single organization and church in America - but they do. Again, this calls for an honest moment.
What kind of message would top donors send to the various organizations that they support if they were put off because they didn't get a thank you gift or dinner or something? Well it would reveal motive for the financial gift for sure. I've run into a few of these donors in my years touring Christian organizations/churches through jobs. They aren't pleasant people the minute they aren't thanked as they think they should be or their "suggestions" for the organization/church aren't implemented. And the moment that happens their financial gifts develop a stench. But those $10 a month donors? They are always genuinely surprised and grateful for any show of appreciation for their gift. Listen, those $10 a month people know their gift isn't much. They might even feel bad they can't give more. But those gifts, they count. They matter. In the end they add up to more than the gift of one top dollar donor. Their sacrifice, while they don't expect it to be recognized and appreciated, should be. More so than the top dollar donors. Go back to James 2, it's right there.
Now I'm not saying we shouldn't thank top dollar donors. I'm just saying that regardless of the dollar amount of a donation the "thank you" should be the same. $10 to one person is as much as $1000 to another. It's the same in their worlds. So in the world where thank you's are issued for financial gifts the thank you should be the same as well.
Celebrate the mite and you'll be living backwards.
*If you aren't familiar with the story click here. If you aren't familiar with what mite means click here and scroll down to "2 mite noun". You are welcome. :)
*And no, this is not because I didn't get invited to something and need to passive-aggressively point it out. In all honesty when I get invited to things that I know are costing money in order for the organization to keep my money I prefer to not go and just send in a donation. I don't see how it makes sense to spend money to get money. Again, a *million* donor departments and consulting firms would disagree with me and that's okay. Perhaps I'm just too simple minded for them. But I think that phrase "less is more" applies here as well. :)
*Take it one step further and use the money you would pay for a large and lavish dinner and put it instead toward the organization/church you support and just send a nice "thank you" email (why spend money on printing, paper, and postage?). I know, now I'm really talking crazy here. *wink*
Sunday, September 01, 2013
So, what are you wearing today?
"She knew JOY was one of her best accessories, so she made up her mind to wear it every day."
(Dayspring)
I've already had my say about Joy in the past. But I want to revisit it because it's topic that I think is easy to forget about or get distracted from. And besides I'm taking a year to focus on Gratitude which are the seeds that Joy blooms from so I'm thinking about Joy again in new ways, and even in some old ways!
A couple of years ago some friends and I took one month and honed in on Joy through purposed prayer. I was excited to pursue, intentionally, this attribute that God speaks very clearly about. In addition to pursuing Joy in prayer I had picked up the book, "One Thousand Gifts", to read for my book club. Yes, it definitely seemed like God had more to share with me on the subject of Joy.
The "rules" of the prayer for Joy were simple. No chatting and talking about anything, just seeking God about Joy. We all had work to do so we kept it simple and to the point. We were in and out of that Prayer Room in 10 minutes or less every day. But it was the most profound and sweet 10 minutes or less of my work days during that month. So much so that I'm thinking of starting it back up again, after all I can't think of one person who doesn't need a reminder of Joy every so often! And not only did it connect me to God in deeper ways but it gave me connection to the people I prayed with in deeper ways. It really is amazing how God will use the most simple and humble and honest words uttered from our hearts and mouths to transform.
Some of what God spoke to me was refresher from past lessons learned about Joy, right down to some of the same scriptures. And some of what he spoke to me was a deeper place than I had been before. I was so grateful for the refresher and for the deeper places he took me.
Because I believe lessons God gifts us with should be shared let's chat a bit about Joy, shall we? It is the most important accessory we possess and we shouldn't leave the house without it. Without it our souls are naked, cold, and vulnerable. Joy is warmth, covering, and hospitable.
- God has written it on our hearts and into our spirits. He is the author of Joy.
- Joy is a deeper and more profound response when we exercise it without promise or even hope that a change or a blessing is going to happen. When we can be joyful in the "in betweens" with no guarantee of any change in our circumstances then we have truly grasped joy. Habakkuk 3:17-18
- I need to grow in my trust in order to "get" Joy. They are related. If God sets something before me and tells me it is a gift of Joy for me but I can't believe that it is and I can't believe he really considers it Joy when my flesh perspective says it isn't then I don't trust God and his motives, character, or heart. If God calls it Joy then it is and if I can't believe that then I need to work on trusting him. James 1:2
- Why is trusting God so hard? He has never broken trust with anyone so the problem is me. I project on to God the trust that has been broken with me by others. Romans 15:13
- Joy is the key that unlocks the prison. The prison of ungratefulness, bitterness, resentment, etc.
- Psalm 16:11, His presence is Joy.
- We have Joy when we are connected to God. He is the one who can grow true Joy in us. John 15
So, what are you wearing today? If your attitude is leaning toward anger or ungratefulness might I suggest the accessory of Joy and see what happens? When Joy is worn the whole "outfit", er attitude, changes.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Blurry Grace
Several years ago a friend and I would joke around about obtaining pre-meditated forgiveness for a sin we were considering committing. We were joking but I think these days people actually do this and use Grace as their "get out of jail free" card. I see a flippant attitude to the character God calls us too and when questioned the answer is usually in the form of, "Well that's why there is God's Grace." Well no, not really. I mean, yes, there is Grace from God but no, that's not an excuse for intentional and consistent sin against God and his Word. These days there is ultra-sensitivity to legalism so people have become reluctant to point out the abuses Grace is taking. But it isn't legalism when it is simply God's word straight up. What I may bring up as examples could sting a little. But rest assured I had to go through the stinging before I put it out there for anyone else. Are you willing to be stung so that Grace becomes a point of clarity in your life and not a blurred line?
Here are some questions about Grace that I've been thinking about.
- Can you take Grace too far? How far is too far?
- Where do you draw the line between permissive lifestyle and Grace lifestyle?
Why is Grace important? A couple of key reasons I think.
One, because God's Grace in our lives should lead us to desire holiness. It should prompt us to want to engage in the things of God and not the things of our flesh. As an author I like to read and follow says, "The law exposes the ugliness of sin and drives you to Grace. Grace exposes the beauty of God's law and moves you to obey." (Paul David Tripp) Right on! God's law, a better interpretation of that word would actually be instructions, is beautiful and meant for our good, for our benefit, in all ways - physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. And when I recognize and accept the beauty of God's instructions I want to obey. It's not even that I feel forced to obey, I truly desire to. Grace leads me to an exercise in holiness.
Secondly, Grace offers us a cushion. A cushion on which to land when we fall down. And we all fall down. But Grace is not something to take advantage of. It isn't our "get out of jail free" card. It isn't our license to sin because we know we can ask for forgiveness and will be granted it. In his book, The Truth War, John MacArthur has this to say about the abuse of Grace in the Church today, "....they [believers] presumptuously regarded God's kindness to sinners as a license for immoral conduct....All their stress on freedom in Christ was actually a back-handed assault on God's grace. 'Grace' to them was nothing more than a phony justification for lust-driven behavior." (The Truth War page 137. Also check out: 2 Peter 2:19, Jude 1:4) Stings a little doesn't?
But Beth, I don't engage in lust-driven behavior. Okay, well while that is the focus of MacArthur's text let's talk about some other assaults on Grace. Have you ever...
- Dropped the f-bomb as part of your normal speech? (I get the times in anger but even then we do have the Spirit in us to help us exercise self-control even when we don't want to or feel like it.)
- Called in sick to work when you weren't sick? (That's called lying.)
- Engaged in lustful behavior that edged right up to the line of going over? (I thought I would throw lust back in seeing as how a lot of singles, and even marrieds, don't have a proper and right understanding of lust.)
- Justified your actions regarding: stealing, lying, gossiping, etc.
There's more where that list came from. All of those things, and more, lead us to a lifestyle opposite of Grace. If Grace leads us to holiness then when we engage in word and deed opposite of holiness we are abusing God's gift of Grace in our lives.
Where we abuse Grace in one area we will begin to in others. That's when the gift of Grace becomes a blurred line in our lives and no longer a point of clarity. That's when we begin to treat it as a "get out of jail free" card and not a place to reside in so we can exercise holiness. It's where we begin to shrug off holiness and call it "legalism" so we can justify our unholy behaviors and words.
Where we abuse Grace in one area we will begin to in others. That's when the gift of Grace becomes a blurred line in our lives and no longer a point of clarity. That's when we begin to treat it as a "get out of jail free" card and not a place to reside in so we can exercise holiness. It's where we begin to shrug off holiness and call it "legalism" so we can justify our unholy behaviors and words.
Back to my questions that I've been thinking about. In light of what we've just discussed here's where I land:
I know. It sounds radical. It sounds "legalistic". It sounds so counter-cultural. I suppose you could look at it that way, except for the legalistic label. It is not legalistic when it is God's word straight up. We like to label things that we don't like or that rub us the wrong way as legalistic, get over it. Allow God's word to pierce you, get settled in to the idea that God's word is not called a two-edged sword for no reason. It is meant to divide us from our flesh and show us how to live in God's ways. That's going to pierce. Is this idea of Grace not being a "get out of jail free" card counter-cultural and radical? You bet. Especially in this day where affluence and comfort is the affliction of the Church and living Godly lifestyles. We want our cake (Grace) and to be able to gorge on it with no consequences (permissive lifestyles). That idea, my friends, is counter-cultural to God's instructions.
Are you living in blurry grace? Have you been using Grace as a justification and denying its real mission of sanctification? The thing that I didn't really touch on in this post about Grace is also the way in which it leads us to interact with others. A Grace lifestyle doesn't put us in a place of judgement toward others and their behaviors. Grace lets us know we need only to be concerned with ourselves and trust God is working out Grace in the lives of those we interact with, just as we are hopeful they are trusting God to do the same with us. Certainly we are called to hold each other to higher standards and we can do that without passing judgement. Really we can! So perhaps together we can begin to swing back toward God's instructions (whether we "like" them or not) and begin showing others what the clarity of Grace brings.
- Can you take Grace too far? How far is too far? Yes, I believe you can take Grace so far that it is no longer Grace, it's just a word that is used to provide a cover for what you are really doing. You can take it so far that it becomes your justification not your sanctification. How far is too far? When you shrug it off so that the behaviors and words your engage in fit more comfortably than the holiness Grace compels us too.
- Where do you draw the line between permissive lifestyle and a Grace lifestyle? This particular question came from a conversation I had with a barista in a coffee shop a couple of years ago. (No seriously, this post has been sitting in my queue for two years waiting on me to wrap it up! But I digress.) He and I were chatting while he got my delicious coffee. I love this particular coffee shop in town, the people who own it are a large family that are all beautiful and love Jesus but, yes I said but, the more I spoke with them - the parents, the various kids - the more I saw a permissive lifestyle lived couched in "Well that's why there is God's Grace" accompanied by a shoulder shrug. Huh. I'm not judging, I'm observing. And because I really like this family I started thinking about where is the line? And do you love Jesus "for real" when you don't let Grace sanctify your life? (Remember, Grace should lead us to a lifestyle of holiness.) The line, in my opinion, is drawn when God's instructions are pushed aside for the freedom to engage in our flesh.
I know. It sounds radical. It sounds "legalistic". It sounds so counter-cultural. I suppose you could look at it that way, except for the legalistic label. It is not legalistic when it is God's word straight up. We like to label things that we don't like or that rub us the wrong way as legalistic, get over it. Allow God's word to pierce you, get settled in to the idea that God's word is not called a two-edged sword for no reason. It is meant to divide us from our flesh and show us how to live in God's ways. That's going to pierce. Is this idea of Grace not being a "get out of jail free" card counter-cultural and radical? You bet. Especially in this day where affluence and comfort is the affliction of the Church and living Godly lifestyles. We want our cake (Grace) and to be able to gorge on it with no consequences (permissive lifestyles). That idea, my friends, is counter-cultural to God's instructions.
Are you living in blurry grace? Have you been using Grace as a justification and denying its real mission of sanctification? The thing that I didn't really touch on in this post about Grace is also the way in which it leads us to interact with others. A Grace lifestyle doesn't put us in a place of judgement toward others and their behaviors. Grace lets us know we need only to be concerned with ourselves and trust God is working out Grace in the lives of those we interact with, just as we are hopeful they are trusting God to do the same with us. Certainly we are called to hold each other to higher standards and we can do that without passing judgement. Really we can! So perhaps together we can begin to swing back toward God's instructions (whether we "like" them or not) and begin showing others what the clarity of Grace brings.
Saturday, April 06, 2013
Yeast.
We are in the "middle"* of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and I've been thinking about yeast, or leaven. To one who reads God's command to remove the leaven from your homes, communities, and bodies without surrounding context or understanding of God the command seems...strange, weird, odd, controlling, and whatever other kind of negative connotation you can, or want to, come up with. But to the one who reads it within surrounding context and with an understanding of God the command makes sense and speaks of God's great love for us and of his desire to see us grow in relationship with him.
If you don't know what yeast is or does let me explain because it is at the heart of this particular command - more figuratively than literally but that comes later. Yeast is what causes bread to rise, beer to have carbonation, turns fruit juice into wine, and other things. It feeds off of simple sugars in the product being used and breaks down those sugars which in turn causes alcohol and carbon-dioxide to form the fermentation that causes things to rise and/or bubble up. There's the most simple explanation.
So it seems yeast is getting a bad rap with God. I mean, what did yeast do to offend God so much? Ah. It didn't. It is simply serving as a vehicle for God to teach us a bigger lesson. Just like we use various things as props for our object lessons so God is using yeast as his prop for his object lesson with us. He's pretty creative that way.
We first see God's command to observe a time of unleavening in Exodus and Leviticus. It is combined or is directly on the heels of God's command to observe Passover. Coincidence? Oh I think not, and neither should you. For those who might be a little hazy in their history let me give you a quick refresher on the Passover. God moved the Israelites out of Egypt in the course of one night, after many other things had happened, and he commanded them to go and go quickly. They didn't have time for their bread to rise before baking it so they made it without yeast and got going. Prior to this, the pass over was the Angel of Death that passed over each home in Egypt and those who didn't have the covering of lamb's blood on their door frame lost their first born to death. The Angel passed over those who were covered by the blood of the lamb. (Ever heard that phrase before? Hmmmm.) See, if the Israelites had waited on their bread to rise they might have changed their minds and decided that the knowns of Egypt - as hard as it was - was better than the unknowns of the desert they were going to trek into. God knew their thinking patterns and their tendencies so he made sure they had a reason to get out quick and not experience any lag time. Yeast would have given them the lag time.
So every year God has commanded his people to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a reminder that when we allow yeast to sit and rise there's time for all sorts of "trouble". It comes on the heels of Passover as a reminder that we are or can be passed over by being covered in the blood of the Lamb. The blood of the Lamb covers the "trouble" yeast may provide.
It is true that every day we should be aware to the figurative yeast, or leaven, in our lives that is there. It puffs us up in the areas of phoniness, falseness, feigned virtuousness, and prideful thoughts. Figurative leaven also appears in our lives through impure activities like porn addictions or drug abuse. It appears in our speech through gossip and judgments passed on others. It rises in us through what we allow ourselves to be exposed to that serves as a trigger for other damaging behaviors. The leaven in our lives is throughout and we should be aware of it daily and removing it daily. We should but let's be real, we don't.
We get used to the leaven in our lives. We grow comfortable with it, it has become second nature to a lot of us. Because of that, it is harder to pinpoint it because we don't have "eyes to see and ears to hear" most days. I believe that is why God asks us to purposefully stop using leaven in our physical lives for one week so that we can become attune, again, to the leaven that has invaded our spiritual lives and has been allowed to rise within us all sorts of displeasing and sinful things. It takes a little bit of work to abstain from leaven in the physical and a lot of work to remove it in the spiritual. Like everything else worth developing it is a process and mistakes will be made.
God allowed me to see the process, spiritually, firsthand during the Feast this past week through a physical example. I had been super mindful of the leaven in food and had been doing good at abstaining. I was thinking through my choices and paying close attention to any places of hidden leaven. (Rice crackers? Totally leaven free!) Then on day 5 (actually day 6 since sundown had come and gone) I made a mistake. Oh not willingly, not rebelliously, not in frustration over being deprived of leaven. I just didn't think. I sat down after a night of cooking with my cook group and we served up the pound cake and dug in. Didn't even think about it. In fact, when I was almost done with slice two (quit passing judgement) it occurred to me that pound cake has leaven in it and I had just consumed it without a second thought. Oy. Now, you may be reading this and yelling at the screen, "Beth! So what?! Who cares? God doesn't really and besides there's grace. Sheesh you are taking this a little too far." Guess what? You are absolutely right on the middle point, "....there's grace." Yep. There sure is. There is grace and I'm so grateful for it. And does God care that I consumed leaven? I'm going to go with yes and no. He asks that we, his believers and followers, observe his appointed times and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is an appointed time. But he also knows we are going to stumble and that is where his grace covers. We can, and do, unknowingly introduce leaven into our lives without even thinking about it and by the time we realize it usually we have consumed enough of it to make a difference.
Transfer that thought to sin, as yeast/leaven is symbolic of sin. Sin enters our lives, whether it be knowingly or not, and by the time we realize it there's enough of it in our systems to make a difference. Right? Right. In fact, Paul addresses this very topic with the church of Galatians, and therefore us. "You know what they say, “Just a little yeast causes all the dough to rise,” so even the slightest detour from the truth will take you to a destination you do not desire." (5:9, The Voice) Another version of the Bible, The Amplified Version, says it this way, "A little leaven (a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers) leavens the whole lump [it perverts the whole conception of faith or misleads the whole church]." Just the slightest amount of sin will cause a detour in our life. First it puffs up in the heart and then makes its way to our words and actions. That's called a detour my friends. And it's so subtle at first, almost unnoticeable. But the smallest amount causes a large amount of "puff". And before we know it the sin has risen to the point of over spill. (Has that ever happened to you when baking? It has me, I've had bread rise over the top of the bowl and spill over - what a mess!) When we over spill we then have a mess that needs to be cleaned up. Unfortunately sometimes we choose to stay in our mess for a season, other times we clean it up right away. The choice is yours. But the longer you leave the mess there the more chances you have for the yeast (sin) in your life to expand. A few years ago I tried making a new dinner roll recipe. I got it all mixed and nothing happened. They didn't rise in the time they were supposed to. I threw up my hands in frustration and we left the house and had to go buy dinner rolls (which if you know me you know I was super bugged - I prefer from scratch!). We were late so I had left the mixed dough in the pans and baking sheets I had placed it on and planned to dispose of it when we returned home later that day. Imagine our surprise when 12 hours later, as we walked back through our door, we came home to risen dough all over the place! It had finally risen during our 12 hour absence and we had bread coming out of our ears! It was everywhere! I didn't see it coming, I thought the yeast was inactive and the dough would just sit and I could just throw it away when we returned home. That didn't happen. And isn't sin just like that? We knowingly, or not, introduce it into our lives and sometimes the yeast doesn't rise right away so we are deceived into thinking we "got away with it". But then it rises and we have a mess to deal with.
Perhaps now you can see why God, in his creativity, chose to use yeast as his prop for sin in our lives. It works so well as a visual. Perhaps you can maybe even now see why he asks his people (of which we who are not born Jewish are because we have been grafted in) to observe a time of unleavening in the physical to show us the leaven in our spiritual lives. It's because he desires us to be leaven free in our relationship with him. Any leaven in our lives hinders our communication with him. And he desires for us to be free of that so we can clearly hear his voice in our hearts and lives. Have you found some leaven in your life? Psalm 51 is a great way to walk through the removal process and get back into right relationship with God. Being in relationship with others you can trust to hold you to high standards is advisable. (King David had Nathan, which led him to his repentance over his sin and what Psalm 51 is recording) Being willing to shed light on the leaven in your life to expose it and kill it off is advisable. In James 5:16 we are told to confess our sins to another so that we may pray together and find healing. Not to be condemned by others but to be prayed for and to be introducing to healing. This is important in remaining as leaven free as possible. I don't know about you but I want to be leaven free in my relationship with God so that my life - its words and actions - glorify his name.
Maybe in the past (meaning right before you read this post, if you've made it down this far) you've thought the command of God's to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread was a) just for Jewish people or b) weird or c) old fashioned/antiquated/outdated/not applicable. If so, I get it. I'm right there with you...or I was. Now I've allowed myself to hear from God on such commands and I've allowed him to correct my thinking and perspective on such things and guess what happened when I allowed him to do that? I got it! I was able to clearly see what his intent and desire was, and is, in his commands that I was placing in a,b, and c! And what is his intent and desire? To have a relationship with him that honors who he is and what he has done in my life. And what he has done is so much, so to observe his commands is the least I can do.
*Okay well when I started writing the blog we were in the middle, now we are done. {sigh} #lifegotinthewaynotimetowrite
If you don't know what yeast is or does let me explain because it is at the heart of this particular command - more figuratively than literally but that comes later. Yeast is what causes bread to rise, beer to have carbonation, turns fruit juice into wine, and other things. It feeds off of simple sugars in the product being used and breaks down those sugars which in turn causes alcohol and carbon-dioxide to form the fermentation that causes things to rise and/or bubble up. There's the most simple explanation.
So it seems yeast is getting a bad rap with God. I mean, what did yeast do to offend God so much? Ah. It didn't. It is simply serving as a vehicle for God to teach us a bigger lesson. Just like we use various things as props for our object lessons so God is using yeast as his prop for his object lesson with us. He's pretty creative that way.
We first see God's command to observe a time of unleavening in Exodus and Leviticus. It is combined or is directly on the heels of God's command to observe Passover. Coincidence? Oh I think not, and neither should you. For those who might be a little hazy in their history let me give you a quick refresher on the Passover. God moved the Israelites out of Egypt in the course of one night, after many other things had happened, and he commanded them to go and go quickly. They didn't have time for their bread to rise before baking it so they made it without yeast and got going. Prior to this, the pass over was the Angel of Death that passed over each home in Egypt and those who didn't have the covering of lamb's blood on their door frame lost their first born to death. The Angel passed over those who were covered by the blood of the lamb. (Ever heard that phrase before? Hmmmm.) See, if the Israelites had waited on their bread to rise they might have changed their minds and decided that the knowns of Egypt - as hard as it was - was better than the unknowns of the desert they were going to trek into. God knew their thinking patterns and their tendencies so he made sure they had a reason to get out quick and not experience any lag time. Yeast would have given them the lag time.
So every year God has commanded his people to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a reminder that when we allow yeast to sit and rise there's time for all sorts of "trouble". It comes on the heels of Passover as a reminder that we are or can be passed over by being covered in the blood of the Lamb. The blood of the Lamb covers the "trouble" yeast may provide.
It is true that every day we should be aware to the figurative yeast, or leaven, in our lives that is there. It puffs us up in the areas of phoniness, falseness, feigned virtuousness, and prideful thoughts. Figurative leaven also appears in our lives through impure activities like porn addictions or drug abuse. It appears in our speech through gossip and judgments passed on others. It rises in us through what we allow ourselves to be exposed to that serves as a trigger for other damaging behaviors. The leaven in our lives is throughout and we should be aware of it daily and removing it daily. We should but let's be real, we don't.
We get used to the leaven in our lives. We grow comfortable with it, it has become second nature to a lot of us. Because of that, it is harder to pinpoint it because we don't have "eyes to see and ears to hear" most days. I believe that is why God asks us to purposefully stop using leaven in our physical lives for one week so that we can become attune, again, to the leaven that has invaded our spiritual lives and has been allowed to rise within us all sorts of displeasing and sinful things. It takes a little bit of work to abstain from leaven in the physical and a lot of work to remove it in the spiritual. Like everything else worth developing it is a process and mistakes will be made.
God allowed me to see the process, spiritually, firsthand during the Feast this past week through a physical example. I had been super mindful of the leaven in food and had been doing good at abstaining. I was thinking through my choices and paying close attention to any places of hidden leaven. (Rice crackers? Totally leaven free!) Then on day 5 (actually day 6 since sundown had come and gone) I made a mistake. Oh not willingly, not rebelliously, not in frustration over being deprived of leaven. I just didn't think. I sat down after a night of cooking with my cook group and we served up the pound cake and dug in. Didn't even think about it. In fact, when I was almost done with slice two (quit passing judgement) it occurred to me that pound cake has leaven in it and I had just consumed it without a second thought. Oy. Now, you may be reading this and yelling at the screen, "Beth! So what?! Who cares? God doesn't really and besides there's grace. Sheesh you are taking this a little too far." Guess what? You are absolutely right on the middle point, "....there's grace." Yep. There sure is. There is grace and I'm so grateful for it. And does God care that I consumed leaven? I'm going to go with yes and no. He asks that we, his believers and followers, observe his appointed times and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is an appointed time. But he also knows we are going to stumble and that is where his grace covers. We can, and do, unknowingly introduce leaven into our lives without even thinking about it and by the time we realize it usually we have consumed enough of it to make a difference.
Transfer that thought to sin, as yeast/leaven is symbolic of sin. Sin enters our lives, whether it be knowingly or not, and by the time we realize it there's enough of it in our systems to make a difference. Right? Right. In fact, Paul addresses this very topic with the church of Galatians, and therefore us. "You know what they say, “Just a little yeast causes all the dough to rise,” so even the slightest detour from the truth will take you to a destination you do not desire." (5:9, The Voice) Another version of the Bible, The Amplified Version, says it this way, "A little leaven (a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers) leavens the whole lump [it perverts the whole conception of faith or misleads the whole church]." Just the slightest amount of sin will cause a detour in our life. First it puffs up in the heart and then makes its way to our words and actions. That's called a detour my friends. And it's so subtle at first, almost unnoticeable. But the smallest amount causes a large amount of "puff". And before we know it the sin has risen to the point of over spill. (Has that ever happened to you when baking? It has me, I've had bread rise over the top of the bowl and spill over - what a mess!) When we over spill we then have a mess that needs to be cleaned up. Unfortunately sometimes we choose to stay in our mess for a season, other times we clean it up right away. The choice is yours. But the longer you leave the mess there the more chances you have for the yeast (sin) in your life to expand. A few years ago I tried making a new dinner roll recipe. I got it all mixed and nothing happened. They didn't rise in the time they were supposed to. I threw up my hands in frustration and we left the house and had to go buy dinner rolls (which if you know me you know I was super bugged - I prefer from scratch!). We were late so I had left the mixed dough in the pans and baking sheets I had placed it on and planned to dispose of it when we returned home later that day. Imagine our surprise when 12 hours later, as we walked back through our door, we came home to risen dough all over the place! It had finally risen during our 12 hour absence and we had bread coming out of our ears! It was everywhere! I didn't see it coming, I thought the yeast was inactive and the dough would just sit and I could just throw it away when we returned home. That didn't happen. And isn't sin just like that? We knowingly, or not, introduce it into our lives and sometimes the yeast doesn't rise right away so we are deceived into thinking we "got away with it". But then it rises and we have a mess to deal with.
Perhaps now you can see why God, in his creativity, chose to use yeast as his prop for sin in our lives. It works so well as a visual. Perhaps you can maybe even now see why he asks his people (of which we who are not born Jewish are because we have been grafted in) to observe a time of unleavening in the physical to show us the leaven in our spiritual lives. It's because he desires us to be leaven free in our relationship with him. Any leaven in our lives hinders our communication with him. And he desires for us to be free of that so we can clearly hear his voice in our hearts and lives. Have you found some leaven in your life? Psalm 51 is a great way to walk through the removal process and get back into right relationship with God. Being in relationship with others you can trust to hold you to high standards is advisable. (King David had Nathan, which led him to his repentance over his sin and what Psalm 51 is recording) Being willing to shed light on the leaven in your life to expose it and kill it off is advisable. In James 5:16 we are told to confess our sins to another so that we may pray together and find healing. Not to be condemned by others but to be prayed for and to be introducing to healing. This is important in remaining as leaven free as possible. I don't know about you but I want to be leaven free in my relationship with God so that my life - its words and actions - glorify his name.
Maybe in the past (meaning right before you read this post, if you've made it down this far) you've thought the command of God's to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread was a) just for Jewish people or b) weird or c) old fashioned/antiquated/outdated/not applicable. If so, I get it. I'm right there with you...or I was. Now I've allowed myself to hear from God on such commands and I've allowed him to correct my thinking and perspective on such things and guess what happened when I allowed him to do that? I got it! I was able to clearly see what his intent and desire was, and is, in his commands that I was placing in a,b, and c! And what is his intent and desire? To have a relationship with him that honors who he is and what he has done in my life. And what he has done is so much, so to observe his commands is the least I can do.
*Okay well when I started writing the blog we were in the middle, now we are done. {sigh} #lifegotinthewaynotimetowrite
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