Sacrifice Part 2

“Is everyone crazy!?” The words came from my sister-in-law as we stood in the Banana Republic at the mall, shopping for an outfit for our recently deceased sister-in-law, and the funeral home needed her clothes ASAP. I had just gotten off the phone with my husband, who had given me some additional instructions for our afternoon. We were tired, overwhelmed, and distressed as we tried valiantly to make choices in our grief. Michelle’s large, frantic eyes darted back and forth under her tousled hair, and her external expression mirrored exactly what was happening in my head. I couldn’t help myself: I burst out laughing. A guffaw, actually. And then we couldn’t stop. The world just didn’t make sense anymore.

I got that same sense of incredulity when reading through the first chapter of the book of Malachi this week. But this time is was God’s voice asking if everyone was crazy. And He’s not laughing. The nation of Israel had been warned over and over again by God’s prophets to repent and turn back to worshipping the God who created them and called them into relationship. And over and over again, they chose idols, foreign gods, and individual and societal turpitude. So God sent them into captivity. The ten northern tribes never came back, and the two southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin were forced to live in exile in Babylon for 70 years before they could return and rebuild the temple and the city of Jerusalem. One message should have been painfully clear to them: God wanted their obedience and was willing to go to great lengths to bring them back in line with His best plan for them. So imagine God’s divine disappointment to see how quickly the Israelites returned to their lax spiritual ways once the temple and worship there had been reestablished. Maybe disappointed. Maybe just hopping mad. Look at the following passage in Malachi concerning what the Israelites are hoping will pass for an acceptable sacrifice:

⁶ "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name.

"But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'

⁷ "You place defiled food on my altar.

"But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?'

"By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. ⁸ When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty.

⁹ "Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?"-says the LORD Almighty.

¹⁰ "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. ¹¹ My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty.

¹² "But you profane it by saying of the Lord's table, 'It is defiled,' and of its food, 'It is contemptible.' ¹³ And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the LORD Almighty.

"When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the LORD. ¹⁴ "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations. (Malachi 1:6-14)

They have come back from living in a foreign nation, brought there because of their sin, and when they come back to worship again in the rebuilt and glorious temple, they are bringing lame and blind sacrifices! What?! Is everyone crazy?! Apparently. What, exactly is the problem here?

First of all, it would appear that the people and the priests are colluding to offer subpar sacrificial animals to God, thereby disrespecting Him. To make His point God asks if the priests think the governor would be pleased with such an offering. (1:8) God’s standards and procedures are replete with meaning and symbolism. In the book of Leviticus (and some other places in the Old Testament) God gives very specific parameters around the kind of animal required and method of sacrifice. Every time God outlines His commands for a sacrifice the people are to bring, he states clearly that the animal is to be “without defect”. Why?

1. It requires effort to find the best. If an Israelite has sinned and needs to make atonement for that sin by a blood sacrifice, the repentance process can begin by searching his flocks or livestock for the very best animal he owned. As he searched his animals, roaming among the smells and stepping in whatever was on the ground, I would imagine the weight of his sin might begin to feel heavier. In addition, he is remembering to whom the sacrifice will go and may recall David’s words in Psalm 51:4 – “Against you, you only, have I sinned”.

2. Giving the best is more of a sacrifice than giving what’s not valuable. A young, perfect bull or ram could fetch a high price. Or provide meat for a family. Or lend credibility to your reputation. Sacrificing the best demands deep faith that my identity rests in God alone and that He will provide my livelihood, security and well-being. This is why I believe it is absolutely crucial to write the tithe check before others after the paycheck comes. I say with my first check that I believe God will provide for all the ones that follow.

3. A perfect sacrifice is a reminder of God’s perfect character and holiness. God Almighty is worthy of excellence. Our best effort. Our finest possessions. Our most noble expressions of beauty in art or music or movement. A friend of mine who works for an international ministry, in their fine arts arena, has this as her slogan: “Excellence for His Glory”. Nothing is more valuable than giving our best to a perfect, holy and sovereign Lord.

In addition, God is calling the priests to task for their devolving attitude around the sacrificial system. Instead of reverence and awe at the prospect of coming into the Presence of Jehovah, Malachi tells us that they are contemptuous (1:6, 13) and are above having to go through the motions of sacrifice, considering it a burden (1:13). How unnecessary the reminder seems for God to say, “I am a great king…and my name is to be feared among the nations”. (1:14)

God wants His leaders (priests) and the people to bring sacrifices that mean something. Sacrifices that are worth something. Sacrifices that cost us to bring them so that we are aware of the gap between God’s holiness and our sin and the price of redemption to bring us into relationship with Him. Because we are no longer under obligation to bring animal sacrifices (because Jesus’ sacrifice was perfect), our sacrifices are our lives. The standards have not been lowered; in fact, the bar has been raised. God told the Israelites in the desert, “consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.” (Leviticus 20:7-8) To consecrate something or someone means to dedicate to a holy and specific purpose. Even under the Law of God in the Old Testament, He wanted His people to dedicate all of themselves to His purposes. Jesus reiterated this holy desire in Matthew 5:48, when He said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Only in the power of Christ’s resurrection can we even hope to achieve that goal. Certainly not through ritual sacrifices and by jumping through religious hoops, hoping to please God and earn His approval.

Obedience is sacrifice when it costs something. When my son came home from a school field trip recently, he was telling me about the budget they had to work with in their randomly assigned incomes and lifestyles. He had purchased a Porsche, a nice vacation cruise, and the basics of insurance, rent, groceries, and utilities. When I asked if there was an option to give to a charity, he replied that he had given $100. But his imaginary monthly income was over $4000, so when I asked him to do the simply math of tithing, he quickly realized that he probably should have given $400. When asked why he didn’t, he replied, “there wasn’t enough left after I bought all this other stuff”. Something tells me that attitude isn’t only prevalent among 8^th graders in Junior Achievement. Sacrifice to the God who created us and loves us perfectly will cost something, but the return on the investment is immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

• Why do you go to church? Obligation? To be “fed”? Cultural or family expectations? Relationships? Networking? What difference would it make in your Sunday experience if you were more aware of going to church to worship a holy God? Make a list of some reasons He is worthy of worship and thanks. Commit to preparing your heart to worship Him by preparing your heart before church this week.

• Are there any areas of your life where you feel you may be “phoning it in” with God? Areas of spiritual complacency? A place where you know you could give more, but are hesitant? What are the reasons behind your lack of enthusiasm or willingness to engage? Fear? Laziness? Misunderstanding? Ask God to reveal any of those areas to you and commit to examine your motivations, knowing that He is not pleased with activity for its own sake, but in complete, abandoned obedience.

Sacrifice

“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.” (C. T. Studd, English Missionary 1860-1931)

In the story of King Kong, tribal tradition held that a young woman was to be placed on a platform in the jungle for a gargantuan primate as a sacrifice to maintain peaceful relations between the beast and the people living nearby. Somehow this arrangement was agreeable to all parties involved and the young woman served a greater purpose in death than in life by acquiring peace and sparing the lives of her people. One planned sacrifice replaced random violence and unexpected death.

This arrangement is not unique to jungle tribes. Or to Hollywood. Or to the Aztecs. The concept of sacrifice to appease a higher power came from none other than God Himself. The fact that humans have corrupted and misunderstood the process does not detract from the perfection of the original plan.

God sacrificed the first animal to atone for human sin back in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve took the forbidden fruit and tried to hide their shame and nakedness from God. So “the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:20) That skin came from an animal that had to die to cover the shame of the ones who had sinned.

Many of the details of a sacrificial system in the theocracy that was the nation of Israel are described in the book of Leviticus. A sin offering required a young bull without defect. (Leviticus 4:3) A guilt offering required a young ram without defect. (Leviticus 5:15) Some situations required cakes to be baked with oil and salt. Some required animals. But the purpose of the sacrifices, or offerings, was to remind the people of the God who made them and whom they served. A symbolic gesture to clear guilt and make amends for their sin or to acknowledge God’s blessing and provision by giving something back to Him. A constant reminder of their need to repent and of the God who would forgive them.

Our sin required sacrifice, too. An offering to atone for the corrupt nature of mankind and for the individual sins of each person on earth. Animals may have served the purpose for a while, but the greater purpose of the system was to point the way to the perfect sacrifice to come – Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Perfectly human to sympathize with our weakness, but also perfectly and fully divine so that He could pay the price for sin once and for all.

So if Jesus paid the price once and for all – the perfect sacrifice – is the concept of sacrifice now obsolete? Are we exempt from the requirements of the biblical followers of God? As atonement for sin, yes. As a way for us to respond to God, no.

What does God want from us in terms of sacrifice? What does it mean in New Testament terms and for us today? Here is an Old Testament passage that I love, demonstrating the nature of sacrifice more than the details of the act itself.

²² David said to him, "Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the LORD, that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price."

²³ Araunah said to David, "Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this."

²⁴ But King David replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing." (1 Chronicles 21:22-24)

Notice the key line that King David utters: No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing. For us, Jesus said that first part: He paid the full price for our sin. For the fall of mankind. He redeemed us. We cannot pay the full price; we have grace. “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.” (Hebrews 9:27-28) God demonstrated His love for us by sending Jesus to die for us, while we were still stuck in our sin. (Romans 5:8) That’s grace.

As for the second part of David’s response to Araunah, that’s something we can relate to. In his statement is the idea of responding to God’s activity in such a way that reveals our gratitude and commitment to Him because of His great love and power. While Christ’s sacrifice for our sin was once and for all, our sacrifice in response to His grace is ongoing. And there is a difference for us, like there was for the Old Testament Jews, between going through the ritual motions of a sacrifice (i.e. fasting for Lent, tithing) and fully responding to God’s Presence and activity in our lives with whatever we have to give.

Look at what the apostle Paul has to say about what our lives should look like:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1-2)

Or the psalmist:

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

And what about Jesus’ own words, in quoting the prophet Hosea?

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means; ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:12-13)

What exactly is required or expected based on these verses? What is God’s desire for us today? I see the following concepts in these and other passages of Scripture, as it relates to the concept of sacrifice.

1) Nothing is off limits. There is nothing in our lives that does not belong to God. Therefore, our very bodies and everything we do with them are meant to be offered back up to God in thanksgiving for the love and blessings He has shown us.

2) God wants our hearts more than our rituals. If the psalmist is right, and the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, and if Scripture tells me God wants truth in the inmost parts and that He holds my tears and prayers in Heaven, then my emotional honesty is valued highly by my God. He wants me to confess my sins quickly and accurately to clear the way for our relationship to grow. He wants me to rage when my heart is angry and to cry when it’s broken. He is the only source of healing and direction and everything in His character longs to have His children come to Him and receive what healing and comfort He alone can offer. Obedience matters most to God when we come with our hearts in it.

3) Sacrifice costs something. David understood that monetarily. Hosea learned the lesson emotionally. And Jesus wanted the Pharisees to understand it, too. We can’t protect ourselves from life’s worst-case scenarios or from heartache by following the rules to skate by. Nor can we skirt the real issues in our lives, thinking that by not dealing with them, we can stay off God’s radar and not go deep into our spiritual lives. Following Christ with our whole hearts for our whole lives is work. Just like marriage. Just like valuable friendships. But oh, the payoff! Struggling to find the right words, or fighting the embarrassment to apologize and confess to make a relationship good again are valuable sacrifices that bring us closer to God.

4) God cares a great deal about how we treat others. He would rather have us treat one another compassionately than to kill an animal to follow the rules. He wants our lives to reflect His character of unconditional love, humility, mercy, and forgiveness to the people around us. And depending on whom God brings into your life, that may feel more sacrificial some days than others!

Which means more to you – a Christmas present at an office gift exchange or a “just because I was thinking about you” present? The one that shows an effort and something personal, right? Genuine thoughtfulness means more than rote obligation any day. And in that, I believe God is like us. He would rather have our spontaneous praise and our heartfelt sacrifices when life is hard than a robot following the rules. But make no mistake – the commitment is hard and the price is high. But in the words of Peter, when Jesus asked if the disciples wanted to leave Him after hearing a hard teaching: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69) The sacrifice of our entire lives devoted to giving back to God all that He wants from us is hard. But what’s the alternative?

• Read Hebrews 10:1-18. Does this shed more light on the way that Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament Law requirements for sacrifices? What insight have you gained?

• Which of the Scripture passages in today’s lesson resonate with you most? Why? How will you choose to respond to what God is saying to you through that passage this week?

• Is there an area of your life where you feel God is calling you to sacrifice? Relationships? Worship? The way you treat your body? How does that make you feel – Apprehensive? Excited? Wary?

“Who do you say I am?”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15-16)

When Jesus asked His disciples this question, it wasn’t simply to take the pulse of public opinion and gauge His popularity with His followers. The answer to this question – for all of us – is the most crucial box in the flowchart of our faith journey. Who is Jesus?

Some believe that Jesus was one of God’s prophets, along with Moses and Muhammad. Some would say He was a good man. A teacher. A rabbi. A religious man with enough passion to die for a cause He believed in. (That one doesn’t make Jesus much different than the guys who flew the planes into the towers in New York, does it?) The Pharisees accused Him of being possessed by the devil, at worst, and of misleading their religious followers, at best. But are any of those enough to justify or explain the course of history since Jesus walked the earth?

Even if people could agree that the resurrection actually happened (good luck with that in cocktail party conversations), consider the following:

But what if…

Who Jesus is is everything! Make no mistake: in conversations we may have about religion, Jesus will consistently be the sticking point. People can agree that there is a higher power. They may even call that power God. He may be in us, around us, or over us as Creator or Benevolent Fate. But if He didn’t come to earth as a human being to sympathize with our plight and conquer every temptation and pay the price for our individual and corporate sin, then, as the apostle Paul says, our faith is futile, we are still in our sins, and we are to be pitied more than all men (1 Corinthians 15:17,19).

So if we call ourselves followers of Christ, whom are we following? Let’s see what the Bible says about who Jesus is.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; …and he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross…For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form...” (Colossians 1:15-16, 18-20, 2:9)

“…Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…he was buried…he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and…he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)

Who did Jesus say He was?

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58)

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” (John 10:9)

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” (John 11:25)

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

Recently I read one of the most creative and least biblical interpretations of that last verse in John. I read the book The Faith Club, which recounts the interfaith dialog between 3 moms – a Muslim, a Jew, and a Christian. As a treatise on the actual doctrine of these faith traditions, the book was lacking, but as a window into the personal faith struggles of many people on a spiritual path, it was enlightening. The Christian woman, Suzanne, comes to the following conclusion after 2 years of dialog with her Muslim and Jewish friends, when a child in a religion class at her church asks a question:

Q: In order for each of you to believe in your religion, don’t you have to believe that the other two are wrong?

A: I’ve thought of the quotes of Jesus saying things like, ‘No one comes to the Father except through me.’ This is something Christians might use to suggest that Christianity is the only path to God. But, what else could Jesus be saying?...He couldn’t be saying that the only way to avoid hell is to be a Christian because the Church was not established in his time. However, he could be saying that if you reject Jesus’ example of living a life of compassion for your fellow man, then you are rejecting God. Of course, a holy life of love and compassion can be lived by any human of any faith. When Jesus talks about who will be in paradise, it is those who fed the hungry, clothed the poor, housed the homeless. He says, ‘Whenever you do this for the least of my brethren, you do it for me.’ In other words, our behavior is transformed by our recognition that God is in our fellow man, not necessarily the belief that Jesus is God.

Deep breath, Jenni. Where do I begin? This answer represents thinking so common in America today that it must be addressed, as much as I would like to dismiss it as well-meaning but misguided random theology. In essence, this paragraph states that it’s what we do, not what we believe that determines our place in eternity. Jesus’ identity doesn’t matter as much as how we behave. This puts him (and the authors say as much in the book) on the same level in history with Gandhi, Muhammad, or Mother Theresa. (Not that Mother Theresa would have stood for the comparison, mind you!)

Followers of Christ, we must settle in our minds firmly who we believe Jesus is. He is everything to our faith or we have nothing at all, in the words of Whitney Houston (“don’t make me clo-ose one more door….”). Jesus Himself said, “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). If Jesus’ identity wasn’t crucial to the kingdom of God, then His response to Peter’s claim that He was the Christ rings hollow: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). But it is crucial. Jesus asked who He was to Peter. Peter said that he believed Jesus was the Son of God – the One promised in Jewish Scriptures as the Messiah. Jesus affirmed that identity and then proved it by giving His perfect life and rising again to show the grave who’s boss. If I’m living my life depending on Him to open the way for my relationship with God and cleanse me from my sins, there’s no question more important to answer. And none with greater ramifications if we compromise. Who do you say He is?

• Read Revelation 5. What does this chapter reveal to you about Jesus’ identity? Does it confirm or change what you believed before?

• What parts of the quotation from The Faith Club did you find yourself agreeing with, if any? What parts would you refute? Would you know how to have a discussion with someone who had a similar opinion?

Leftovers?

There is a familiar scene in the lobby of our church after the service on Sunday mornings that I’ve never encountered at other places we’ve visited. On the floor, against the wall, are boxes and boxes of bananas, loaves of bread, and other various food items, waiting to be put into bags and taken home by anyone who needs them. It is one of the visible results of an important ministry called “gleaning”. There is a person in the church who goes to grocery stores in the area collecting food items and bringing them back to the church to use for youth group dinners on Wednesday nights as well as for other uses at the church. In addition to this economical aspect of the ministry, boxes of food for anyone in need are also available on Sunday mornings. And people are seen joyfully stuffing bags full of groceries they will use during the week as they talk to people around them about the message they just heard or about their plans for the week. It is the most natural unnatural thing I’ve seen in a church in years and I love it!

So what is gleaning, after all? We hear the word in expressions like, “What did you glean from that reading?” But because most of us don’t live in a heavily agricultural area, the original meaning of the word is sometimes forgotten. Definitions we may find today include “to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.” Or “to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly.” But the other definition for the word sheds light on the common meaning as we hear it in conversation.

The concept can be found in the book of Leviticus, where God instructs the Hebrews to be purposefully inefficient in gathering the harvest so that the poor and aliens among them could come along after the harvesters and take what fell to the ground. Look at the following passage of Scripture:

⁹ When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:9-10)

This set of instructions, like the rest of God’s Law as we find it in the Old Testament, reflects His heart and His character. He is a loving, compassionate God, who cares for those who are experiencing hard times or are ostracized by society. This, in and of itself, is interesting to some. (Me, for example) But look at how the practice, when used properly, had ramifications into the New Testament and can even show up in our lives today.

In the book of Ruth, Naomi returns to her native land near Bethlehem without her husband or two sons, who have died while they were all living in Moab, but with her daughter-in-law, Ruth. Two widows left to fend for themselves in the wake of great sadness and a tiring journey, they take advantage of the system that exists for those who had been displaced or inconvenienced by life’s circumstances and Ruth goes to a field and follows the servants who are harvesting grain to glean some for herself and Naomi. As luck would have it (or was it God’s hand working there…) “she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech”. (Ruth 2:3) Boaz and Naomi notice each other, they are both people of a solid work ethic and integrity, and Boaz redeems the land that Naomi’s husband left behind at his death, marrying Ruth as part of the deal. Neither had ulterior motives and neither had expectations of romance. They were simply living life as God had ordained for His children to care for each other. And it worked out so beautifully!

Not only did Ruth and Boaz come together to begin a family as a result of their hard work and obedience (and some mutual attraction, I’m guessing), but look at what came from that family tree in just a few generations after Ruth and Boaz had their son:

And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. ¹⁸ This, then, is the family line of Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron,

¹⁹ Hezron was the father of Ram,

Ram the father of Amminadab,

²⁰ Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

²¹ Salmon the father of Boaz,

Boaz the father of Obed,

22 Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of David. (Ruth 4:18-22)

That’s King David, by the way. Ancestor of none other than Jesus. Don’t take my word for it. Check out Luke’s account of Jesus’ family tree in Luke 3:21-38. Not only that, but the story of Boaz redeeming the land and lives of those who were alone in the world is a beautiful picture of what Jesus Himself did for us by dying on the cross to buy us back from the sin that was separating us from God. Good stuff, Maynard. (As the Malt-O-Meal commercial dad used to say…)

So what does all this genealogy have to do with gleaning? And what does it have to do with us? I’ll be happy to tell you.

God worked out His plan for the future through people who were living obedient lives. Boaz was a Jewish landowner who had instructed his servants to follow God’s law and leave a little extra for those who might need it. And Ruth was kind and hard working in her support of her mother-in-law. Gleaning wasn’t easy work, either. Hence the connotation for our modern usage that implies learning little by little. It’s bending and reaching in the hot sun to get stalks that then needs to be threshed to get grain to make bread. Freeloading it isn’t. These people are examples to us of how to live for others by living in the spirit of God’s Law. God will bless our lives and the lives of people we may never meet by our participation in His plan. We just need to do what He’s asked us to.

God’s heart is full of compassion for the downtrodden. As followers of God, we are called to emulate His priorities in our lives and pray for His heart for those less fortunate than we are. The Law was given to show God’s people how to live with His character. That includes keeping our eyes open for opportunities to bless others with the abundance we have received from Him.

So does God condone wastefulness? No. It would be easy to justify in the culture we live in as Americans, but this book of the Bible doesn’t make that case. Instead, it reveals a purposeful intent to leave selfish ambition behind and let go of some of what we perceive to be ours so others can be blessed, too. It’s a picture of community as God planned it: His children taking care of themselves and taking care of each other. And when we live by God’s plan, everybody wins.

• Read the following passages of the Law and see if you can find a similar concept of God’s symbiotic purposes for His people.

~ Leviticus 7:28-34 ~ 2 Chronicles 31:2-8 ~ Numbers 18:8-13

• What are some examples of modern gleaning that you and your family can discuss and institute? Here are some to get you started:

~ Instead of dumping extra change in the jar of your favorite coffee place, why not save it and give it to a charity each month?

~ When buying staple items at the grocery store, consider buying double of the most useful items and take them to a local food bank.

~ Why not make 2 entrees for dinner and take one to a neighbor or friend who may be alone or struggling financially instead of simply throwing out leftovers?

Who I Will Become

Many of you have undoubtedly read “The Ugly Duckling”, by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. In the story, a mother duck’s eggs hatch and one of them is homelier than the others. The barnyard animals tease him for looking the way he does, and so do many other animals he encounters in his first year of life. By the next spring, however, he is welcomed by a family of beautiful swans, as he has become one of them over the course of the long, cold winter.

If only he had known from his birth who he really was! If only someone had made it clear to him that the way he began life was not to be the end of the story. And how comforting it might have been to the shivering baby swan (a cygnet, for avian fans) to know that he would find a place to belong and that he was on the brink of discovering his personal potential and beauty. And how like that cygnet I frequently am. How often I lose sight of all that God created me to be because I am overwhelmed or distracted by my present circumstances. Not seeing the forest for the trees, as it were. And what would life be like if I could rise above it and hear God’s name for me? Sense His purpose for me so clearly that all else would fade in comparison.

In the Old Testament book of Judges, we see a biblical version of “The Ugly Duckling” in some ways. The tribes of Israel are stuck in a cycle of sin and captivity wherein they only cry out to God – their Creator and Deliverer – when they are under the reign of particularly heinous and cruel captors. God would have it otherwise, but human nature is hard to change. So, being the compassionate God He is, He sends them a judge – a person through whom God will deliver His people once again – and attempts, once more, to appeal to their hearts to have consistent relationship with Him. Gideon fits the bill (no pun intended. get it? Ducks? Swans? Bill? Anyway…) and has his own encounter with God’s angel:

¹¹ The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midinaites. ¹² When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

¹³ “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”

¹⁴ The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

¹⁵ “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

¹⁶ The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”

¹⁷ Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me….” (Judges 6:11-17)

The main difference between the angel’s perspective and Gideon’s is a matter of focus. Gideon only sees his own reality. Notice his discussion points in the conversation with the angel:

• God can’t be present, or bad things wouldn’t happen.

• I am too weak and/or too small to be effective.

• My background doesn’t qualify me to be a leader or accomplish great things.

Do any of those excuses sound familiar? I’ve said them all to myself at one time or another, I think. But I will tell you this: they are lies. They may or may not be lies because of your particular circumstances, but they are certainly lies when we take into consideration the power of the God who made us and chooses us to participate in His kingdom work and purposes.

In Gideon’s situation, God had indeed given the Israelites over to the cruel Midianites and Gideon really did come from one of the smallest tribes of Israel – the half-tribe of Manasseh. And Gideon and his family were so afraid of the marauding Midianites, who would steal the livestock and crops without provocation, that he was threshing wheat in a depressed area of earth so that he could hide and hopefully keep some of the grain for his own family to eat. There was no evidence of coming victory or freedom that day as Gideon hoped that his day wouldn’t end in violence or humiliation. But God had other plans for Gideon! Look at God’s focus in the conversation:

• You are a warrior.

• Work with what you have.

• I have chosen you.

• I will be with you.

God’s message to Gideon was the full reality. The angel called Gideon by the name of his full potential in God. He told Gideon to go in the strength he had to defeat the Midianites. Although Gideon knew his strength and stature were unimpressive, because God had chosen him and His Presence would be with him, he was about to become a warrior for God’s victory!

What happens when we believe the lie that God is only with us when things are good? Besides ignoring chunks of Scripture to the contrary (James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:3-7, 2 Corinthians 1:3-10 as a few examples), we also miss opportunities to run to God in the midst of our difficult circumstances. By rejecting trials as coming from God to refine our faith, we also reject the comfort and the Presence that He offers to carry us through those trials. And we risk missing the maturity that only comes in persevering through the rough patches to use our wisdom to comfort and walk with others when similar situations befall them.

What is the danger in believing in our own limited potential? This one may be more difficult to see, but for that very reason may be more insidiously toxic than the first. Placing my focus on my own limitations – physical, spiritual or professional – does the most damage by virtue of its focus – me. And I am never ever going to be as effective in life in my own power as I will when I am trusting God’s. Never. God simply won’t allow it. Choosing to focus on God’s power and His purpose in my life brings hope and real kingdom action. And I find that removing me from the equation always has better results for God’s glory.

Listen, God really had abandoned the Israelites and left them to their own devices among the foreign nations that surrounded them. Their pattern of disobedience and complacency left Him no alternative. But all it took, time and time again, was the sincere cry for help from His children. There were consequences for their disobedience, but He was and is a compassionate God whose heart beats for honest relationship with His people. And He will use one person to affect many if that one is willing to follow and believe God’s reality. Gideon was afraid and stuck in his idea of who he thought he was at the time God’s angel came to him. But he was called “warrior” and told to go in the strength he had to bring victory for God’s people. At the time, it was strength Gideon didn’t even know he possessed! But knowledge of God’s Presence + whatever strength we have = change. God doesn’t want us to believe we’re spiritual “ugly ducklings” when He has called us and equipped us to be beautiful and victorious swans.

• Read Judges 6 and 7. Where do you see the tension between Gideon’s ability and God’s supernatural leading?

• Read Luke 7:11-17. How do Jesus’ words in verse 13 demonstrate both His power and His compassion in what seems like a hopeless situation? How does His complete knowledge of your circumstances and His complete ability to deal with them bring you comfort or reassurance?

•Is there anything in your life currently that needs God’s perspective? Spend time this week asking Him to give you His reality check so you can trust Him more fully with your potential as you learn to rely on Him and move forward in obedience.

Crocosmia

The slender, sun-dappled leaves of the orange crocosmia sway in the summer breeze, clapping their verdant hands, rejoicing in the summer day. I breathe deeply of the air, the mood, the ambience. This is summer: slow and languid, gentle and lovely. It's how it should be, but not how it has been. Instead, interruptions of tragic phone calls, funeral, and tears. Heaviness where frivolity should reign. Hotels and rental cars in place of lazy boredom in the heat.

But God's blessing comes in the waving crocosmia. In the warm sun on my face. A cold beer. A kiss on the temple before sleepy eyes greet the day.

We are not together anymore, but those who remain will speak more boldly. Embrace more readily. Breathe summer air and gaze intently at the dancing crocosmia while it's in bloom...

Attitude Adjustment

Recently, as I’ve been walking with family and friends through tragedy and the waves of difficulties in life, I’ve been reminded of some foundational truths that I fear I’d lost sight of. In wondering how God will turn around my circumstances or what He will reveal about the purpose and direction of my life, some words of Scripture in song have pierced through what I think has been selfish thinking as my thoughts and prayers have been rather jennicentric. Like Nicolaus Copernicus discovered that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe, I am having to replace myself as the center of things with the Son.

Yes, God comes to us in pain and He is near when we call Him. He does care about what concerns us and He can work miracles in our lives and in the lives of the people around us. However, when my eyes are on those things alone, it is easy to forget that I am simply a sinner in need of grace. I was lost and now am found. I needed a Savior to understand God and it is only by His blood and power that I am who I’m becoming.

Take a look at this sober reminder of basic theology with me, will you?

²¹ But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. ²² We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. ²⁴ Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. ²⁵ For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, ²⁶ for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

²⁷ Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. ²⁸ So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

²⁹ After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. ³⁰ There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. ³¹ Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law. (Romans 3:21-31 NLT)

Verse 22 resonates strongly with me: We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. How can I live my life for weeks at a time without at least acknowledging that fact? Do I really begin to believe that I’m pretty good on my own and that God continues to exist to meet my needs and show off for me? I don’t want to say that’s what it comes down to, but I don’t see what else my lack of humility and appreciation in light of Christ’s sacrifice could communicate to God.

Is it possible to be so consumed by pain or distracted by blessing that I forget my position before the Creator of the universe? Apparently it is and I am dismayed.

Look at the following verses that reflect attitudes toward sin and compare it to yours. What does the comparison do to you?

“I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.” (Psalm 38:18)

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’ – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:5)

“When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’

Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ (Luke 5:4-8)

Is it true that we are freed from the penalty of our sins? If so, then I need to rejoice!

Do we believe that there should even be a penalty? If so, I should be grateful that it has been paid.

Do we take God’s mercy for granted? If so, I have discovered where to begin the list of sins to confess.

Does my reality reflect my theology if I live as if my sin just slows me down a little instead of acknowledging that it prevents me from a relationship with my Father unless I come through the Son? If so, my reality needs an adjustment to the Word of God, which says that I am separated from God without Jesus. But through Jesus I am reconciled. Adopted. Forgiven. Accepted.

Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.

Knowing Jesus is the only way to know myself. And when the comparison makes itself known, I, like Simon Peter, fall at Jesus’ knees and fully realize the disparity between his holiness and my sinfulness. My attitudes are selfish and self-serving. My words bring death instead of life. My love and concern for even those closest to me is feeble, not to mention the distance I have to grow in learning to care for the poor and marginalized in society. I am not a self-help project who has hit a snag in my quest for improvement; I am a wretch, justified and purchased at the high price of my Savior’s blood. But I want to be so much more.

• Dare to pray Psalm 139: 23-24 this week and mean it.