When Christmas Almost Passed Me By

The other day, on the last day of work before the holiday weekend, a co-worker asked me if I was ready for Christmas.  The question kind of stopped me in my tracks, and I answered him, “You know, not really.”  He stopped because it wasn’t the answer he was expecting and probed further, “Is everything okay?”  I assured him, “Oh yeah, our family has just been really busy this year.  Between Joan finishing out nursing school, things at work being so hectic, and my older kids and step daughter being with their other parents for Christmas this year, it just seems like I haven’t had a chance to even process the Christmas season yet.”  He laughed and seemed to nod his understanding.  I wished him a Merry Christmas, and we parted ways.

 As I said, work had been tough this year.  I had been harried by a number of issues that I was pre-occupied with trying to solve.  Joan had been working to complete nursing school, so when I wasn’t at work I was trying to support her by taking care of the house and kids.  Katie and Patrick were going to be with their mom this year for Christmas, and Sophia and Daniel were supposed to go to Mexico with their dad for the holiday, so we had not really made a lot of preparations for Christmas. 

 I think most people can empathize with that feeling.  Sometimes we get busy, or distracted, and the Christmas season just seems to pass us by.  It happens.  This is how I thought it would be for me this year. 

 Last night though, as I lay asleep, something seemed to move me to wake and pick up the Gospel of Luke.  I read the following passage:

 “And in the same region there were shepherds in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to the them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you:  you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.”  When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.’  And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.” – Luke 2: 8-17

 I could not help but think of the shepherds, to whom the angels appeared and announced the coming of the Savior.  What must it have been like? 

 I imagine a group of men and boys, having lain their sheep down for the night, pulling their cloaks closer against the cool of the night air.  I am sure they too were pre-occupied.  Trying to make sure the sheep stayed fed and had adequate water was probably no small task in the somewhat barren Judean hill country.  They probably had just as many concerns about putting food on the table for their families.  

In addition to all of this, these men were probably familiar with the scriptures.  They had probably attended the local synagogue throughout their boyhood.  They would have been read the prophecies that the Messiah, one anointed by God, would one day come.  But they would have known that the prophets had been silent for around four hundred years, and still the Messiah had not yet come. 

 Another year had come and gone, and the Savior was still not here.  The joy associated with that promise probably seemed to have passed them by. 

 And then, suddenly, an angel appeared to them in glory, delivering to them the good news.  “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”  The promise was being fulfilled.

 And not only did he give them the good news, he gave them instructions, a sign by which they could see and experience this good news for themselves.  This is the sign for you, that you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.  This child is to be the Savior, the Messiah, the anointed one.

 Immediately, we are told, these men went out, they found Mary, and Joseph, and the baby.  They saw him.  They experienced him.  The promise that the angel had declared to them was true.  And in their joy, they proclaimed the good news to others. 

 When I read this passage, suddenly, I realized that Christmas had not passed me by.  The promise that the Savior has finally come is still true.  What was true to the shepherds as they gazed upon that baby lying in the manger is still true for us today.  Christ is alive and present.  And although he died upon the cross, for our sins, he has risen.  He is alive and seated on his Father’s throne even today.

And just as the shepherds were able to see, and hear, and touch, and experience the coming of the Savior in their day, we too get to experience the presence of our Lord.  We get to hear the word proclaimed to us that the Savior has come.  When we go to the communion rail at the altar, we are in his presence.  We get to see and touch and taste his body which is in, with, and under the bread.  We get to see and touch and taste his blood which is in, with, and under the wine.  We get to hear the words that we are his children, forgiven from our sins by his body and blood which was shed for us.  Just as the shepherds, we get to experience the peace which has been given to those on whom his favor rests. 

Reading this passage, my heart is filled with joy and gladness.  Christmas has not passed me by.  Christ has come.  The promise is still fulfilled. 

 Just as the shepherds made known the saying that had been told to them concerning the child, I proclaim to you that the Savior has come.  He died for your sins.  Rejoice!  Merry Christmas!

Know Your Role (Part 3) – Boss and Worker

Over the last two posts, we have explored two relationship pairings that Paul discusses in Ephesians 5 and 6:  Husband and Wife; Parent and Child.  This week I would like to finish off with Paul’s final pairing of Master and Slave or Bondservant.  The first relationship pairing addressed the most fundamental unit in our society, that of Husband and Wife.  The relationship between Husband and Wife sets the tone for the family and the home.  If we get that wrong, everything else in society seems to be skewed.  The next pairing addressed how we pass our values on from generation to generation in perpetuity.  Getting this wrong, ensures that the wrong values will continue to be passed on, rather than seeing our generations grow in relationship to one another and to God.  The first two address relationships in depth, so to speak.  The last relationship pairing, Master and Slave, addresses society in a broader way.  In other words, it reflects how our values are put into play outside of the household and present a witness to the wider world. 

Before getting into the meat and potatoes of this passage I need to address the elephant in the room for this topic.  Many people are turned off by the passage because it addresses the topic of slavery without condemning it outright.  I understand the hesitation.  But I think this passage holds immeasurable merit to us as Christians.   

Many people are put off by the fact that Paul doesn’t really address the institution of Roman slavery.  I think that this criticism has merit on the surface; however, I think there are very good reasons why Paul addresses slavery in the way that he did. 

The first reason is that Paul was a Jew.  He came from a people who were subject to Rome, and quite frankly were not thought of well by Roman society.  Jewish and Roman relations had never been on very friendly terms.  Not only that, but Paul belonged to the weak and illicit sect known as Christians.  Paul really didn’t have the influence to address the institution of slavery.  He accepted it as the reality of the day he lived in.  He didn’t particularly support or condemn the practice either way. 

The second reason, which I think eclipses the first in significance, is that Paul was far more interested in teaching Christians to act like followers of Christ in whatever circumstance that they found themselves to be in.  We see this attitude throughout Paul’s writings.  This is the same man who wrote the following passage in his letter to the Philippians at a time when he was in prison for his beliefs:

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.  In any way and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”  -- Philippians 4:11-13

Paul’s interest is not in obtaining justice in this world, but in proclaiming the gospel through our words and deeds in whatever situation that we may find ourselves to be in.  In fact, Paul often refers to himself as a slave or servant of the gospel.  To Paul, we are all slaves to one thing or another.  We are slaves to the World, or we are slaves to God.  The only difference is who we ultimately call our Master, God or the World. 

We also need to frame this passage in the wider context provided in Ephesians.  Paul’s main theme for Ephesians is that God has taken many people and made them into one church.  Although we were all dead in our sins, we have been reconciled to God for a purpose. 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:8-10

God has created us, the church, to be the light of Christ to the rest of the world, and to be built into something holy and pure for his sake. 

It is in this context that Paul addresses Master and Slave, and that is why I see such relevance to us today.  Paul is concerned with us as the Church, living out our calling and testifying through our words and deeds that we are the children of God.  We are to do this in all times and places and situations. 

We all find ourselves in our own specific circumstances in our vocations.  Maybe we are an employee, serving a supervisor or manager.  Maybe we are a business owner, overseeing the activities of our employees.  Or maybe we are a manager, simultaneously serving our upper-level managers, and overseeing our own employees.  Whatever the circumstance, it doesn’t matter.  Paul would view your life and circumstance as an opportunity to proclaim the gospel through your actions. 

Just as with the other two relationship pairs, we remember how Paul frames this entire section: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God…submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” – Ephesians 5: 1-2, 21

Once again, Jesus is our example of servanthood.  “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant¹, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  This is the Jesus who in the garden of Gethsemene, the night that he was arrested, prayed asking God if it was possible to remove the cup of judgement that he was about to drink, but nevertheless prayed that God’s will be done instead of his own. 

With this in mind, let’s examine what Paul says about Master and Servant. 

Paul begins as usual by addressing the submissive side of the relationship pair, the servant.

“Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.” – Ephesians 6:5-8

In other words, in our vocation we are to obey those who are placed over us just the way we would obey Christ.  We are to do this not only when the boss is looking, but out of genuine obedience even when no one is paying attention.  We are called to have integrity in our vocations, as if we are doing it for the Lord. 

And just as before, we see that the person in a position of authority has the greater responsibility before God. 

“Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.” – Ephesians 6:9

Managers, bosses, did you catch that first part?  “Masters do the same…”  Those in authority are called to be just as diligent in serving their workers as if Christ is watching them.  What if our workers could trust us to treat them fairly, to provide for their needs, and to be just as honest with them as Paul implores them to be toward their masters? 

And just as the servant has a master on earth, those who call themselves masters on earth have a judge in heaven over them who shows no partiality based on our status.  We are to conduct ourselves in such a way that we will be equally held accountable for our actions before God. 

What if, Master or Slave, Boss or Worker, we were called to live our lives in genuine submission to one another as we do to Christ?  What if our devotion to serving God wasn’t just on Sunday during church service, but extended into our homes and our vocations?  How would that change the world around us?  How might that proclaim Christ to a world that desperately needs to hear the gospel?

So many of us go to work at our vocations just trying to pass the time till our next paycheck, and we totally miss out on the chance to show what it means to be a follower of Christ.  We punch our timecard, put in our eight hours, but we aren’t truly trying to serve the people around us, above us, or under us, as Christ served us.  How much of an opportunity might we be leaving on the table? 

I think each of us, if we examine ourselves can honestly say we haven’t always lived up to Paul’s advice concerning how we should represent Christ in our vocations.  I know I have fallen short.  Sometimes I have put in the bare minimum effort, or maybe complained about my situation, rather than working at my vocation wholeheartedly.  Maybe I haven’t treated my employees the way I should have.  I think each of us can identify the short comings we have displayed in our professional lives, just as we can identify shortcomings in our personal lives. 

So, what is our response to these shortcomings?  Repentance.  We need to ask God to forgive us for not representing him in the way that we are called to do in our vocations.  We need to ask for the Holy Spirit to equip and guide us in our everyday walk, to help us to choose to serve one another as Christ served us.  We need His help to use the opportunities placed before us in our everyday life, not just from 10 to 11 on Sunday morning, but also from 9 to 5 Monday through Friday, to proclaim Christ in our actions. 

My hope is that we will see our vocations as opportunities that God has placed before us, and ask God to bless us as we serve in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. 

Know Your Role (Part 2) - Parent and Child

In my last post, I began to examine the relationship pairs that Paul discusses in Ephesians 5 and 6, starting with Husbands and Wives.  What we saw in examining that passage was that Paul urges us as believers to be disciples of Christ in our everyday relationships, placing these relationships in the same context as that between Christ and the church.  This week’s relationship pairing between Parent and Child is no different. 

Before we look at what Paul says about the interaction between Parent and Child, I would like to once again set the context for the passage.  In Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians he addresses a church that consists of both Jew and Gentile.  He shows us that God has elected us to be baptized into one Church, under one head, Jesus Christ, led by one Spirit.  We attain membership into this Church, the body of Christ, by grace through faith, not from works so that no one may boast, but through the free gift of God.  Because we have been brought into grace through faith, God is making us into his workmanship and will outfit us to do good works that he has pre-ordained.  And as a response to this grace, we live in discipleship in Christ, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

So how does Paul set the tone for the specific relationships he discusses in Ephesians 5 and 6? 

“Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God…submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” – Ephesians 5: 1-2, 21

With Christ as our example, how can we fulfill our roles as children and parents?  Paul begins by outlining our responsibility as children. 

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” – Ephesians 6:1-3

This is a compact statement, but it is packed with meaning.  Paul begins by telling children to obey their parents in the Lord.  In Paul’s way of speaking, doing something in the Lord, or in the Spirit, may have a couple of meanings.  This first way, is that we are to obey our parents through the help and guidance of the Lord.  We walk daily with our Lord, and because of this the way we live our lives is being conformed to the likeness of Christ.  The second meaning, is that we obey our parents, just as Christ was obedient to his Father.    

Once again, I want to remind us that our example is Christ.  Just as Christ obeys his Father, we are to obey our parents.  This is the Son who willingly and earnestly obeyed his Father’s will, speaking the words his Father gave to him, doing the works his Father sent him to do, even unto death.  It is through his obedience that he delivered us from sin and death. 

This is the example we are provided by Paul to follow, and this is the duty to which God calls us.  He does this for several reasons.  First, obeying our parents is right.  It is God who has given us our parents and has placed them over us.  Our parents are there by God’s ordination.    

However, we should not only obey them out of a sense of duty, but we should seek to do so earnestly because of the benefit that it brings to us.  Paul, reminds us that by obeying and honoring our parents, we are the recipients of a promise, “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”  Why does this come to pass?  Well, this will tie into the role of the parent.  But suffice it to say that it is because our parents, when they are fulfilling the role that God has given to them, have something to give us that is to be highly treasured.  Namely, they bring to us the discipline and instruction of the Lord.    

Parents, who have been placed in a position of authority, have an even weightier duty to bear.  

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”  -- Ephesians 6:4

Again here, Christ is our example.  Instead of the obedient Son, we look to Christ who sets the standard as the spiritual head of the body of Christ. 

Christ’s example was as a firm, and loving leader over the disciples.  He provided for their physical well-being, while teaching them and instructing them about the kingdom of heaven.  He praised them, and at times, rebuked them.  When approached by the likes of prostitutes and tax collectors, he called them to repentance, but provided them mercy and grace.  He himself gave them the example of the servant leader, washing their feet as a slave would, and reminding them that the student is not above the teacher.  He taught them that we are to be perfect as our father in heaven is perfect, and yet died for their sins and made them righteous through his own sacrifice. 

With this as our standard, let’s review Paul’s instructions and see how we stack up. 

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger…”  How many of us parents have broken this command?  Are we always fair and patient in our discipline?  Or do we sometimes mete out punishments that exceed the offense our children deserve?  Do we give praise and encouragement to our kids when it is needed, or are we overly critical?  Are we present and available for our children?  Do we make our children our priority, or do they come in second place to other interests?  How many children are wounded by the absenteeism of their fathers or mothers?  Do we sacrifice our leisure time for them?  Do we set the example that our kids deserve to see, or do we expect of them a standard for living that which we refuse to demonstrate in our own lives? 

“But bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”  How many of us take this instruction seriously?  How many of us are purposeful in our parenting?  Have we taught our children the basics of our faith?  Have we taught them the Ten Commandments?  Do they know that Jesus died for their sins?  Do we consistently teach them to know right from wrong?  Or is all of this secondary to other concerns? 

I am going to come out and say it straight.  If we are not diligently and purposely fulfilling this duty, we aren’t doing our job as parents.  It completely blows my mind how we could systematically teach our kids not to do drugs, or not to smoke, or to stay in school, but we can neglect to teach our children about God.  Our knowledge of who God is, about God’s law, and about how God has delivered us from our sin impacts every aspect about how we live our lives, for good or bad.  This is not a subject that a parent can be ambivalent about, and it is a cop out to say otherwise. 

In Deuteronomy, we see Moses speaking to the people of Israel just before they go to enter in to the Promised Land.  In this address, he warns the men of Israel, saying:

“Hear, O Israel:  The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.  And these words that I command to you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”  

This is Moses last address before Israel, and before God fulfills his promise to bring them into the land promised to their fathers.  Moses is not afraid that they will fail.  He knows that God will remain faithful to his promise.  Moses is afraid that Israel will forget the God who delivered them from slavery and brought them into the Promised Land.  He is afraid that they will follow other gods, and forget God’s law.  He is afraid that the fathers in Israel will fail to pass down the faith that they had in the God that delivers and saves.  He urges the fathers of Israel to be faithful in their duty to teach and instruct their children about their God and in his law. 

We need to be parents who have made a bold and committed decision to raise our kids in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.  We are training our kids to be part of the kingdom of heaven.  We have no higher calling as parents that to do this. 

When we look in the mirror we each can see that we have not always lived out our calling as children or parents.  Maybe as children we have not been obedient to our parents, or we have not honored them and esteemed them in the way that God has commanded us to do.  Maybe we have not honored them as we would honor our heavenly Father. 

Maybe as parents we haven’t been there for our kids.  We haven’t loved them as we should, or we have put other interests or responsibilities above that of being a godly parent for our children.  Maybe we haven’t been purposeful in instructing our children in our faith. 

Or maybe we have been in a position where we have trouble honoring our father or mother because they haven’t lived up to their role as a parent.  How do we respond to the hurt born from parents who “provoke their children to anger?” 

How do we reconcile these things?

Just like any other sin, our reconciliation comes through Christ.  We need to confess those areas where we have fallen short, as children, or parents.  We must rely daily on the forgiveness that Christ has offered us through his death on the cross.  And then, we take comfort in knowing that his story didn’t end with his crucifixion.  It ended with his resurrection.  And just as Christ was died and was raised, we too, have died to sin in him, and have been raised as new creatures, walking with him daily.  Knowing that we are only reconciled through Christ’s saving grace, we ask God to help us to forgive the parent or child who may have hurt us. 

My hope is that we will turn to Christ in our roles as children and parents to fulfill the works that God has created us for through his grace. 

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6

Know Your Role (Part 1) – Husband and Wife

Over the last year, my wife and I have made it a priority to do a family Bible Study with the kids every Tuesday night.  Recently, we decided to do a Bible Study centered on Ephesians 5-6 that I have titled, “Know Your Role.”  The study is focusing on the different pairs of relationships that Paul describes at the end of his Epistle to the church at Ephesus:  Husband and Wife; Parent and Child; Master and Slave (which in the modern context could be titled Boss and Worker).  My purpose in spending some time on this is that I think that we in America have really gotten our understanding of basic relationships completely skewed out of God’s intended order.  We need to right our understanding of these core relationships, and we need to do it fast.  I’d like to take some time to share some of the observations that we have made throughout the course of this study.  Hope it helps. 

I really love Paul’s epistle to the church at Ephesus.  In it, Paul is addressing a mixed congregation of Jews and Greeks, encouraging them in the unity that comes from knowing that we are saved by grace through faith.  And because of this grace that we have freely received, God is building us into one body in Jesus Christ.  Now that we have received that grace, and are being led by the Holy Spirit, Paul describes how we as believers should live, describing our daily walk in Christ.  This is where Paul begins to describe how, as Christians, we should treat one another in these important roles in our life. 

Paul starts off framing our roles in these relationships in terms of how Christ lived, and how we as disciples are to emulate him. 

“Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God...submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” – Ephesians 5: 1-2, 21

He then gets into the meat of what I would like to study by focusing first on the most important roles that we play, that of husband and wife.  The husband and wife are the central unit that God ordained.  They are the means in which we procreate, by which we teach and instruct our children, by which we fulfill God’s original intended purpose for mankind.  Getting this right is essential. 

Paul begins by addressing the wife. 

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.” – Ephesians 5: 22-24

Now that is a tough pill to swallow.  In our culture today, the term submission is almost viewed as a dirty word.  We often value individual freedom over and above cooperation, independence over and above interdependence, the individual over and above the community. 

But should it be that way? 

In this passage, Paul puts the husband and wife relationship in the same category as the relationship between Christ and the Church.  The Church is to submit to the rule and authority of Christ.  This is done for two reasons.  One, it is God’s will that he raised his Son to his own right hand and put everything in subjection to him.  Secondly, we submit to Christ because he has proven himself to be faithful.  As Paul says, Christ is our Savior.  We trust him.  As our Savior, Christ gave his own life in exchange for the life of the Church. 

Just look at how dysfunctional a Church who refuses to submit to Christ demonstrates itself to be.  Such a church cannot proclaim the gospel, and fulfill its role in the world.  Our families are in just as much discord and chaos when we refuse to submit to the one God has placed as the head of his family (more on that in a moment). 

When I sat with my children looking over this passage, I explained to them that submission means to not to struggle against or to cease struggling against another.  We usually think of submission in terms of two people grappling until one person gives up because they are forced to do so by the other person.  But really the submission we see here is voluntary, out of love, trust, and affection.  In Philippians, Paul tells us that this is the context and example that Christ demonstrated in his own life in relation to his Father:

 “Have this in mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  -- Philippians 2:5-11

In this context, selfless submission is a virtue, not something to be despised, and it was something that even Jesus was not above doing. 

Guys, that sounded pretty good, didn’t it?  Not so fast, because the passage is only beginning.  One of the first things I noticed about Paul’s description of the roles between husband and wife is that his description of the husband’s responsibility toward his wife is about three times longer than the corresponding section addressing wives.  That should probably make us pause and reflect on the burden that we bear with the responsibility as head of our wives. 

Husbands, remember where we started in this study?  Way back at Ephesians 5: 1-2, 21?  I think we need to take a second to review that section to put the responsibility as spiritual head of our household into the context that Paul has set.  Once again:

“Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God...submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Once again, Paul is using Christ as our example, and we are engaging in MUTUAL submission to one another.  Those are big shoes to fill, and I would argue that as head over our wives, our role as submitting, while different, is even more demanding.  So, what does Paul say specifically about our role as husbands?

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.  ‘Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’  This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.  However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” – Ephesians 5: 25-33

 Men, that is a serious calling.  When we really consider how Jesus loved the Church, and that we are called to do the same for our wives, it is as Paul puts it “profound.”  Our example is Jesus willingly going to the Cross and dying for us. 

We need to look in the mirror and honestly ask ourselves, when was the last time we carried our cross for our wives?  Are we giving our time, our strength, our minds for her benefit, or are we laying our responsibilities at her feet?  Do we diligently and consistently discipline and instruct our kids so she doesn’t have to?  Do we notice when she is struggling with her responsibilities and help, or do we ignore her needs?  Do we provide the material things our wives need as well as the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual aspects?  Are we trustworthy and faithful, or are we faithless toward her?  Do we give her good reason to trust us so that she CAN submit WILLINGLY?  Are we filling the role of sanctifying our wives by setting them apart as the holy and revered gifts from God?  Do we love our wives as our own flesh and cherish them, or are we condescending and critical, wounding her when we should be building her up?  Do we follow Christ’s example as servant leader, by being the least in order to be the greatest?

I think each of us men, if we are honest, would admit that we haven’t quite obtained the standard that Paul is laying down for us.  As a result, many of our wives may have little reason to be submissive in the way that God has called them to be. 

So how do husbands and wives get there?  How do we live out Paul’s advice in Ephesians 5?  The simple answer is that we can’t on our own.  The only way we get there is through faith and submission to Christ, and through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We must see ourselves as the sinful children that we are in our relationship with God, and with one another.  We must be willing to confess that sin, ask for those sins to be forgiven through Jesus Christ, and willingly submit to God.  It is only then that we can live out the role God has laid out for us.  It is through this that we will see marriage as the blessing that God meant for it to be. 

What happens though, when we have been wronged and we don’t know if our counterpart will be a partner in submission to God?  How do wives submit to a sinful husband, and how do husbands give himself up for a wife that has hurt him?  Well, the first thing I would say is that Paul doesn’t lay conditions on this behavior, and neither should we.  Paul never says, husbands love your wives when she is deserving of it; wives, submit to your husbands when he has earned it.  God expects us to follow his will without regard to what the rest of the world is doing.  He expects us to forgive one another and obey his will.  Husbands, make the commitment today, without condition to love your wife and give your life for her.  Wives, make the commitment today, without condition to submit to and respect your husband.  As Paul says in 1 Corinthians, your good conduct toward your spouse may change their hearts and save their souls.

My hope is that today, we as the body of Christ will accept the vocation that God has given us as husbands and wives, and be imitators of Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.  I ask that God would heal our hearts and our families so that we can better partake of the blessing that God has given us in marriage. 

The Promise of Baptism

Earlier this month my wife gave birth to the newest addition to our family, a beautiful, healthy baby boy named Gunner.  With summer coming up, and with vacation time to spare, Joan and I are planning a trip to visit my parents in Missouri.  As part of this trip, we will have the honor and privilege of having my brother, Shane, baptize Gunner. 

I am so excited for this beginning to his life in Christ.  And it has led me to look at my own baptism, what it is, what it means, why we do it, and why it is such a momentous event in the life of a believer. 

In his first epistle to the Corinthians Paul draws a parallel between baptism and Israel's crossing of the Red Sea that I find particularly meaningful (1 Corinthians 10: 1-4). 

The story of the Exodus is timeless.  It starts with Jacob and his sons, who during a time of drought, moved with their herds and families to Egypt and settled in the land of Goshen.  The land of Goshen is described as a rich, lush land where the Israelites prosper with such blessings that they grow into a great nation.  However, at some point a pharaoh arises who reduces the Israelites to a state of bondage and slavery.  Israel is in such a hopeless state that they believe that God has forgotten them.  But Israel is not forgotten.  God sends to Israel a man who has been set apart to free them from their bondage.  Through a series of mighty works, God frees the Israelites and begins to lead them out of Egypt.  Pharaoh, however, is not so quick to release them from his grasp.  He sends his army to destroy the Israelites, finally catching up to them by the shores of the Sea of Reeds. 

As Pharaoh's army draws up on the Israelite camp, the Israelites are desperate.  Some are so despondent that they cry out to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have brought us out into the wilderness to die?"  Moses, knowing the power of the Lord, reassures them, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today...The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."  It is at this point that God sends a great wind and parts the sea, allowing the Israelites to cross safely.  In this act, God delivers the Israelites from death and slavery, and leads them to the land of blessing that had been promised to their forefathers. 

The parallel that Paul draws here is striking.  Like the Israelites, we have been reduced to slavery.  They were slaves to Pharaoh, but we are slaves to a harsher master:  Satan, sin, and death.  They were incapable of saving themselves.  We too are equally incapable of saving ourselves.  They were sent Moses, who acted as mediator between Israel and God.  We have been sent Jesus, God himself, who died for our sins, and was resurrected in victory over sin and death.  They were saved by passing through water.  We are saved through baptism and faith in Jesus Christ.  They were brought into a land promised to them.  We have a greater promise, the promise of eternal life with God. 

Paul says of baptism:  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life. -- Romans 6: 3-4

Through baptism and through faith, we are transformed from slaves to sin and death, to children and heirs of God.  We are washed through water and the promise that God has given us in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, and made clean and whole. 

In baptism we also receive another gift.  In Acts 2:38-39, Peter tells us that we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This is the Holy Spirit who creates faith in our hearts, teaches us, guides us, and sanctifies us.  Paul describes the Holy Spirit as our down payment for our inheritance until we gain possession of it. 

It is these blessings that we gain through baptism and through faith.  It is for this reason that we bring our children to the baptismal font, washing them with water and the promise that God has provided through his Son.  The promise to deliver us from sin, and make us his children.  It is for this reason that we rejoice for the gift we receive in baptism. 

But baptism is not just a promise.  It is an obligation.  Not for the recipient.  Baptism is a free gift for the one who receives it.  It is an obligation for the Church, all of the believers in Christ Jesus.  In his parting words to the apostles Jesus provides them with the great commission:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age." -- Matthew 28: 18-20

Did you catch the obligation there?  Baptism is not just a once and done event.  It is a continuing duty and obligation for the Church to those who have been baptized.  We are not only told to baptize, but to  teach those who have received the promise to observe all that Jesus has commanded us. 

As I get ready to baptize my son, it is a sobering realization.  I have the obligation to my children to teach them to be disciples, to instruct them to be obedient to Christ.  As much as baptism is a promise to the recipient from God, it should also be a promise from the Church to train and nurture those who have been baptized throughout their life in Christ. 

This is why when we bring a child to the baptismal font, the parents or sponsors make a solemn promise.  We promise that through our faith, which was a gift to us at our baptism, we too will bring them up in the knowledge of the faith in Jesus Christ. 

God, thank you for the opportunity you have given me to baptize my son into the promises that you have made through your own Son.  Help me to remember daily the promise that I was baptized into.  Help me to be faithful to the calling and duty I have to raise my son in the faith you have provided, just as my parents were faithful when they did so for me.  Help my children continue in the promises of their baptism, and be faithful to the obligation they will incur in the baptism of their own children.  Amen. 

   

Ashes and Dust

It was a Wednesday night, and I stood quietly in the line, lost in my thoughts, taking a few steps forward as the line proceeded slowly toward the altar.  At last it was my turn and I stepped in front of Pastor with my eyes lowered.  He placed his fingers into the bowl of consecrated ashes, and made the sign of the cross on my forehead.  “Remember, Sean, that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  And so it was that I returned to my seat with the cross smeared on my forehead on Ash Wednesday, the official beginning of the Lenten season. 

 

Most of us have heard the common paraphrase, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” mentioned at funerals and memorials.  It is meant to remind us of our mortality, a sort of coping mechanism for the knowledge that we will all have to face the reality of death.  We use it to soothe ourselves, telling us such comforting lies such as, “Death is just a part of life.”  And to an extent this is true.  Death is a part of life.  But it wasn’t always, and it won’t always be thus.  There is a beginning to this story of death.

 

The Bible teaches us in Genesis 1 that, “In the beginning God created…”  It teaches us that as part of this creation, God made man in his own image, male and female, and that God blessed them. God was so pleased with this creation, and with man in particular, that he created for him a garden, and gave man meaningful work, a vocation and calling, and even a wife suitable to help him in the work that God had provided for him.  The two were in communion with their creator, walking with him in this garden face to face.  God was so pleased with this creation, he remarked that it was “very good.”

 

But then something happened, something went wrong.  You see, in the middle of this garden were two trees: The Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  And it was there that God instructed Adam and Eve, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”  There was this choice for them between obedience to God and life, or disobedience and death.  They could remain in fellowship with the God who had created them to be blessed and good, or they could usurp God’s authority and make themselves that authors of good and evil.  Most of us know the result.  Ultimately, Adam and Eve found it more desirable to usurp that authority and break communion with the God who created them, than to choose life and fellowship with him. 

 

It was in light of this that God cursed Adam and Eve.  It was in this context that God tells Adam that because of his disobedience and the choice for death, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 

 

I can think of no more tragic story.  Faced with the choice of life or death, Adam and Eve chose death.  It did not have to be this way.  We were not created to be this way, subject to death.  But because of that sin and it’s eternal consequences we all now live in that reality.  But that isn’t the end of the story…

 

You see, sometime after this there was a man named Abraham.  Abraham, was not a perfect man.  He had his faults and failures.  The Bible is almost honest to a fault in this regard.  This man had at one time allowed his wife to be taken for another man, Pharoah of Egypt.  He had taken for himself another wife to bear himself a son, although God had promised him a natural son through his own wife.  He later abandoned this child and his mother in deference to his wife.  But for whatever reason, God chose him for something special.  God chose Abraham to create a nation, and from this one nation, set apart for himself, God would bless all nations. 

 

In the course of time, this nation called Israel fell subject to being slaves in Egypt under a different pharaoh in a different time.  But God delivered Israel with mighty acts so that they might inherit a promised land.  The man who delivered them, was likewise imperfect and flawed.  He was a murderer in fact, and at times could test God’s patience.  But God chose him nonetheless and through him He brought them out of Egypt, and He gave them laws to make them holy and set apart for a special calling. 

 

Although Moses did not live to see the fulfillment of this promise, he knew that God would honor his promise and bring them into this land.  He set before the Israelites the same choice that Adam and Eve had before them.  In his farewell speech to Israel, Moses implored them saying, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.  Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days.” 

 

Likewise, Moses had a protege named Joshua.  Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land, subduing it in accordance with the promise that God had made to Israel.  And at the end of his days, he too addressed Israel, making them participants in this same choice.  “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness…If it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” 

 

So Israel was reminded of the choice before them, obedience and disobedience, life and death.  But like Adam and Eve, they chose death.  Time and again, Israel chose against God. They worshipped other Gods and transgressed his laws.  They continued in the rebellion that started in that garden.  And as a result, they harvested the fruits of the death they sewed by their choices.  God sent his prophets to them, reminding them of the covenant promises that He had faithfully kept, and of their unfaithfulness in return.  And though they repented periodically, they never did turn back to him.  As a result, God allowed a foreign nation to subdue them and exile them from their homes.  But that wasn’t the end of the story…

 

Eventually God returned Israel to their homes, allowing them to re-settle.  But although they were given the promise of a king that would lead them in righteousness, they continued to forsake him. 

 

Many years later a man named Paul would sum up the wretchedness that we face due to sin.  “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”  Paul returns us back to the garden with the two trees, summarizing the consequences of the choice we made then, and continue to make.  He tells us, “the wages of sin is death.”  But that wasn’t the end of the story…

 

Although we were hopelessly indebted in our sin to death, God had a plan.  In accordance with the promise that he had made to Abraham to bless all nations through him, God sent his only son.  He came in the flesh, to die in our place and pay that debt.  “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  Jesus took the death we owe and paid it, once for all, so that we might renew the fellowship that we were originally made to have with Him.  As Paul says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   

 

During this season of Lent, as I ponder the ashes on my forehead, and the fact that I will one day return to the dust, I have hope.  I too have made the choice for death, many times in my life.  I think of the things I have done that I should not have done, and of the things I have not done that I should have done.  I think of the words I have said that I should not have said, and I think of those times where perhaps I should have spoken but chose not to do so.  I think of the thoughts I have that lead me to sin in my actions and my words.  But that isn’t the end of my story.  I recognize that I am a sinner.  I recognize that I am under the penalty of death.  Most of all, I recognize that I deserve it, and I repent of all of those choices that I have made for death.  As I said, that isn’t the end of my story.  God, through his grace and love has granted me faith in the promise that came through his son, Jesus Christ, and I realize that I have been born into a new life.  I have been born into a life that will not end.  The ashes and dust that I will return to is not my final destination.  I rejoice in the choice that God has made for me, and for the faith the he gives me to receive that promise. 

 

This Lent, I pray that each of us would repent of the choice for death we all have made, and rejoice in the choice for life that God offers us free of charge through his son. 

“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”  -- Psalm 32: 1-2