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For some, the picture in their mind this past Sunday (7/26/09) of sitting in the chair and letting Jesus wash their feet was powerfully intimate and deeply healing.

I suggest that you revisit that place for a few moments this week. When you have a half hour or so to yourself, get yourself to a quiet spot, sit down in a comfortable chair, close your eyes for a few moments, and picture yourself again in the chair, with Jesus kneeling at your feet, a water jug in one hand, His towel in the other.

Listen again as Jesus tells you that He knows all about you, everything, and still He loves you, and He’s going to the cross in your place so you can be forgiven, redeemed, restored.

Let that truth of God’s Word sink in to the very core of your being. Beyond your intellectual comprehension of the words to the deeper level of your soul. You might want to meditate on Romans 5:8 for a few minutes, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

And then, in the quiet of your time alone with Jesus, tell Him what you think about His acceptance of you — just the way that you are. With all your past. With all your dreams. With all your questions or fears. Spend a few minutes telling Jesus what you think about His unconditional love for you.  Does a song come to mind that you want to sing to Him? Maybe you can write a note or two in your journal and capture those thoughts.

Enjoy some time alone with Jesus in your chair…

Resting in Him,
Steve

Some random thoughts on John 13:1-17, Jesus washing the disciples’ feet…

The French reformer, John Calvin, offeres a comment on the example that Jesus set for us when he stripped down, wrapped a towel around his waist, and began to wash the feeet of the disciples. Calvin writes:

“In order to exhort us to submission by His example, He shows that when as God He might have displayed to the world the brightness of His glory, He gave up His right, a voluntary emptying of Himself; that He assumed the form of a servant, and contented with that humble condition, suffered His divinity to be concealed under a veil of flesh.”

I’m having trouble comprehending how the God of the universe is found washing feet. And, what that means for me in my world. I’m afraid that His example demands a lot more from me than I want to admit or allow.

Resting in Him,
Steve

(From John Calvin, commenting on Philippians 2:7 in Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2, Chapter 13, pt. 2.)

Sunday (July 12, 2009) in the bible study on John 12:1-19 we talked about the idea that we become like the people that we hang out with.

Dr. Gregory Beal of Wheaton College (IL)  develops that idea in depth in his recent scholarly treatment of “a biblical theology of idolatry” in a book he called “We become what we worship” (IVP). Without going deeper into the thesis of the book, I think that the title concept is a powerful observation of 21st century American society.

If aliens from space were to drop in and walk around I think that they’d quickly determine that among other things (like cars and homes, brand name clothes and all kinds of food and drink) Americans worship athletes, movie stars and musicians.  Their ubiquitous pictures are plastered on magazine covers and outdoor billboards, smiling at us from cereal boxes, and of course decorating the omnipresent t-shirts.

And a casual look at youtube shows kids of all ages trying desparately to grab a moment of fame, trying to be like Mike, or the latest and greatest of whatever. And adults differ only in degree.

Are Christ-followers any different? Should they be? No (not so much)  and yes.

It seems like the apostle Paul was living right next door when he wrote “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” – Romans 12:2 (the Message).

What a difference a few sold-out, hard-core non-conformists for Christ would make.

Resting in Him,
Steve

My sister Naomi passed on an insightful thought after the teaching from John 12:1-19 on “The scandelous scent of genuine worship” yesterday (Jul 12, 2009).

“When Mary used her hair to wipe the nard perfume on Jesus’ feet,” she said, “her hair must have carried that fragrance away with her.”

I like that thought. Wherever Mary went, that scent of her intimacy with Jesus was sure to go.

Nomie connected that thought to 2 Corinthians 2:14 “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”

God has ordered it so that it is through us that the fragrance of Jesus Christ is spread.

Thanks for those thoughts Nomie.

Resting in Him,
Steve

I was stunned Sunday to learn that Dr. Grorge Tiller, 68, of Wichita, Kansas, had been murdered.

Dr. Tiller, you might already know, ran one of only three clinics in the U.S. that provided late term (sometimes called third-trimester) abortions. These abortions are legal under the current law in America if a Doctor verifies that the mother’s life or health is in danger.

Many of these babies at this stage of development are in fact able to survive if they are born prematurely and receive proper care.

I think that the murder of Dr. Tiller was just as reprehensible as the thousands of abortions that he performed – and for exactly the same reason: all human life is created by God, bears the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and thus it is sacred from conception until natural death.

I know the arguments: the death of Dr. Tiller might mean that hundreds of babies will be born who otherwise might have been aborted. It is the same argument given by Dietrich Bonhoeffer for participating in a plot to assinate Adolf Hitler in the closing years of WWII: One dies so others may live. 

Another way of stating that is “the ends justify the means.” Yet another way of restating this is the situation ethics principle of Dr. Joseph Fletcher that argued that love is the highest virtue and that there are no absolutes of right or wrong. Thus that which promotes love most is the best choice. Of course, in this case, that decision depends on whether you are the baby or Dr. Tiller.

If life is indeed sacred, then all life is sacred.  Yes, God-appointed governments have the God-given responsibility and authority to wage just war and enforce law for public safety (See Romans 13:1-7). But individuals have no God-given right to take the life of another (Exodus 20:1-21).

I realize that some use Scripture that commands us to defend and protect life as their justification for sometimes taking life. This is no simple or black and white issue to be sure.

In the end, this is a very sad situation. The deaths of thousands of babies is a tragic loss and a moral stain on the conscience of America. And the murder of this man, in a church no less, is a moral stain on the “love your enemy” conscience of those who claim to be Christ-followers.

Resting in Him,
Steve