The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

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May 6, 2014

Organic, No Hormones, No Antibiotics, Grass-Fed, All-Natural Preaching

organic-logoMy wife is a hippie (in everything but dress).

She’s crunchy. She’s granola. She’s green. She’s…and on and on the labels go for people who are “all-in” with all things organic.

I’m not complaining. I love the fact that my bride is deeply concerned about the health of our family, caring for creation, and living simply.

Just recently, I found myself in a conversation with her talking about the hormones injected into animals to make them grow faster so that their meat can be harvested as quickly as possible. She was sharing with me all the ways this can actually harm our family through consuming this “quick and easy” meat.

Even though my wife was talking about food, I couldn’t help but begin to think about preaching.

So much that passes for preaching today has been injected with the enhancing hormone of application in order to move as quickly as possible from this ancient text to the “relevant” message for today.

2011-069--safe-hormone-free-beef-Hormones are meant to move a chicken from the farm to the plate in no time flat, and application attempts to do the same in preaching…from the Bible to my life. If this metaphor still isn’t making any sense allow to me to say it more simply…

There is an assumption today that the content of preaching should be immediately applicable to my life. I should walk away with a few things that are ready made for day-today-implementation. You know…inspirational thoughts, cute quips, quick tips, and practical tricks to improve my life. It is almost like the goal of preaching is to dole out a set of theological life-hacks.

Like hormone injected animals being quickly raised for consumption, we want application injected preaching that’s quickly ready to help us function.

The problem, I fear, is that such preaching is even more unhealthy for our souls than hormone-laden food is for our bodies. Sure, it seems helpful in the short-term, but all too-often it is focused on behavior modification and not heart transformation. Without a transformed heart, our souls are ultimately not being fed, but starved and our supposedly modified behavior is simply not sustainable. We need healthy preaching, feeding our souls the upon the pure meat of God’s Word.

IMG_5568We need good ol’ organic, no hormones, no antibiotics, grass-fed, all-natural preaching.

Just this past Sunday, I told my congregation that my primary aim in preaching is not immediate application…it is eternal transformation. Like a farmer whose aim is health, I am willing to suspend doing things quickly for the sake of a more enduring goal.

Application in preaching is important! Extremely important, but it needs to be done in the right way and for the right reason. So…I want to expand for a moment on what I meant Sunday when I said, “my aim in preaching is not primarily immediate application, but eternal transformation.” I want to make clear the difference between these two goals in hopes that you will be more equipped to know what you’re receiving each Sunday…and I hope to wet your appetite for the good organic stuff…not the quick and cheap junk food that looks good but doesn’t actually help your health.

So, here are 10 thoughts (5 today and 5 tomorrow so this blog does not turn into a book) that help me to personally think through what it looks like to experience organic, no hormones, no antibiotics, grass-fed, all-natural application in preaching…

1) You cannot having preaching without application.
applyFrom everything I have said above, you might think that I am anti-application altogether. Absolutely not! If you don’t have application, then you don’t have preaching. You may have a good lecture or Bible study, but preaching is preaching precisely because it takes our lives and presses them up against the truth of God’s Word. Preaching pierces our lives with truth and produces fruit. Application is taking the truth we see in the text and making an appeal to the congregation on the basis of that truth.

2) We often think about application in a backwards manner.
The normal way to talk about application is to say that we want to know how the Bible applies to our lives. That is backwards. We should want to know how our lives apply to the Bible. The difference lies in what we see as ultimately relevant. Let me explain…

If I want to know how the Bible applies to my life, then my life is being the ultimate standard of relevance. I will look for Scripture that addresses things I”m dealing with and simply ignore or discard parts that seem unimportant to my life. So, I guess we can go ahead and throw out Leviticus. I mean, how are animal sacrifices to a tent-dwelling God remotely relevant to me?

However, if my goal is to apply my life to the Bible, then all of Scripture is seen to be relevant truth and my life needs to conform to what I see within its pages. Leviticus is now extremely relevant for it shows me the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, the need for a sacrifice…and my life needs to be applied to these truths. I need to acknowledge my sinfulness, embrace my substitute sacrifice (Jesus), and pursue awe-filled worship of holy God !

3) Applying our lives to the Bible, means we must understand the Bible.
bible460If I’m going to apply my life to the truth revealed in Scripture, then I must know what that truth is! I cannot just rip out a verse and make it mean whatever I want it to mean. I need to know what it actually means!

For example, Jeremiah 29:11 is a very popular and misapplied verse: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” If my life is the ultimate determining factor of relevance, then the context of this verse means nothing and I’ll just define all the terms in relation to myself. So, this verse means God has awesome plans for my future…I shouldn’t worry about my current difficult situation…things will get better and be awesome (according to my definition of awesome). Right?

Wrong.

ContextWe need to actually see the truth being communicated in this text so that we can apply our lives to it. That means we must know what the verse actually means in context. Basically, this verse is part of a letter written to the Jewish people living in exile. They had believed a lie that they would be coming back from captivity to Israel within two years. However, God sends his people a letter (via Jeremiah) and tells them it will actually be 70 years! As a result, they are to live as his people right where they are and trust him with the future…for the future belongs to him!

Now that we see the truth communicated by the passage we can apply our lives to it. Amidst difficulty, we are to still trust God and be his people right where we find ourselves… even if things never get better. We may live and die amidst difficulty, but we trust him. The future belongs to him. He will give us a hope, namely, that we will be his people no matter what and he will never forsake us! Which is awesome! (according to a God-centered definition of awesome)

Do you see how different the application is when we don’t run quickly from text to our lives, but take the time to understand the text and press our lives up against its truth? It turns out the truth is much deeper and difficult, but also much richer as a well-spring of strength for our lives. It turns out this verse is not a meant as a quick fix, but as a bed-rock truth designed to carry one through a lifetime of difficulty.

In other words, this ain’t no hormone injected chicken! This is the real-deal organic good stuff.

4) Beware of simplistic, quick application.
to do listAn easy way to spot overly simplistic, quick application is that it often begins with action instead of ending with action. What I mean is that this type of application gives you a bunch of do’s and don’ts. It comes in lists and tips… constantly leaving you with a new set of things to incorporate into your life. Typically, no reason is given as “why” you should follow these tips other than “they will better your life.” That is fairly self-centered thinking, which is opposite of what we want to be as believers! We want to be Christ-centered, not self-centered!

Further, this kind of quick-action-application can become extremely burdensome, building an indefinite list of things you must do to be a good Christian. It seems helpful at first, but can quickly become defeating and lead us to despair.

5) Look for transformational application.
Transformational application does not begin with action…it begins with your heart. My primary preaching goal every week is to lift high Christ through the Word, praying that the Holy Spirit will work through it and draw people to Jesus.

JesusOnCross_01As hearts are captivated with Christ, they are transformed to love Christ, to love what Christ loves, and to love like Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” When we behold the glory of Jesus, we are transformed to become more like him.

I am not saying that there is no place for commands or for calls to action. Jesus commissioned us to teach/disciple people to observe all his commands. I am very interested in the commands of Christ and God-glorifying actions. But, such actions are only God glorifying if they come out of a heart that loves God… not out of heart pursuing rules simply because “I want to make my life better.” No… Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” In other words, when our hearts are in love with Jesus, his commands are not burdensome duties, they become our delight! We delight to express our love for Jesus through obeying him!

Transformational application aims to first point you to Jesus. This transforms your heart. You love him instead of yourself. You love him instead of your sin. You love him instead of ______. As your heart transforms… the way you think begins to transform. Then…what you do begins to change as well.

Transformational application is primarily aimed at helping you know Christ in all his glory. Then, on the basis of Christ’s love for you and your love for him… it calls for changed action. There are no shortcuts here. This is organic, grass-feed, all-natural application that helps you change by God’s power, not yours, one degree of glory at a time.

To be continued tomorrow…

 

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April 29, 2014

Why Am I a Christian?

christianHave you ever thought about why you are a Christian?

I’m not asking if you have thought through a list of apologetical arguments that help demonstrate that your faith is reasonable (even though such arguments have their place).

No. I’m asking if you have thought about how you became a Christian. What happened to you to make you believe? Why did you come to faith? Why are you a believer in Jesus?

Why are you a Christian?

Throughout my life, I have thought about this more than a little and continue to find myself reflecting on it quite often. Why? Because it amazes me! Grace amazes me! And grace is the reason that anyone is a Christian!

I am a Christian because God saved me! Why?

Grace.

I am a Christian because God gave this blind sinner sight! Why?

Grace.

I am a Christian because God raised this dead man to new life in him! Why?

Grace.

I am a Christian because God set this prisoner free! Why?

Grace.

grace_logo_whitebackI am a Christian because of nothing in me! It’s not because I’m smart, or wise, or good looking, or moral, or, or, or, or… It is because God is gracious! I have nothing to boast in except the grace of God through Jesus Christ!

I am a Christian because of grace!

And yet… I think about much more than grace when I reflect on the question, “Why am I a Christian?” I do so because the grace of God comes to us through various means… and I find these means most fascinating. The means through which God works his amazing grace in salvation is his Holy Word…the Gospel! Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of Christ.”

It is through hearing the Gospel that the Holy Spirit of God works to open our eyes of faith, give life to our dead heart, and break the bonds of sin! Yet, we can still trace the means of grace further back… for the Word of the Gospel must be proclaimed to us!

Romans 10:14-15, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'”

God wills to save his people through the proclamation of his Word! He works through people to save people! God is the one who saves, but he loves to work redemption and reconciliation through his Word being proclaimed by puny, powerless people like you and me. In this way, it is obvious that he is at work and he gets all the glory and we get the joy!

There are countless examples of this throughout Scripture…just think about a few in the book of Acts alone!

Acts 9: Who saved Saul on the road to Damascus? God did! Yet, God used his servant Ananias to proclaim his Word to Saul!

Acts 10: Who saved Cornelius the centurion? God did! Yet, he commissioned Peter to take the Word of the Gospel to him!

Acts 16: Who saved Lydia, the seller of purple clothes in Philippi? God did! Yet, he used Paul’s proclamation to bring her the truth.

Over and over and over we see that “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb…” (Revelation 7:10) yet, he uses his people as the means by which the glorious gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed!

So when I reflect on why I am a Christian… I don’t just think about God’s grace (even though I know him to be the ultimate reason behind my redemption)… no… I don’t even just think about the Gospel (the Word through which I believed)… I also think about the people who brought the Gospel to me.

Such reflection leads me to see so many faces in my mind. Everyone from pastors, to Sunday School teachers, to friends, to siblings, to my mother and on and on. However, one person stands a head taller (literally and figuratively) than all others in that sea of faithful witnesses.

IMG_8849My Father.

When I think about why I am a Christian… I think about my father. The man who, throughout my entire life, has consistently declared the truth of the Gospel and demonstrated the love of the Gospel.

My father grew up as an orphan. Like… think “little orphan Annie” orphan. “The hard-knock life” is an extreme-understatement when you hear his testimony. He grew up in a state run orphanage in Texas. Yes… places like that really exist. I will not regale the countless stories of his upbringing that still make me weep, but suffice it to say I can easily see how he grew from boyhood into an angry, bitter young man.

During childhood, his only real exposure to “the Gospel” came from a “hell-fire-and-brimstone” church that would “kindly” allow the orphans to sit in the balcony. Needless to say, when he left the children’s home at the age of 21, Christianity was not even on his radar.

It wouldn’t be until he met my mother. Through her family, he would discover what it actually looked like to have a family and, more importantly, he would come to know who Jesus Christ really was and is.

224650_1914834717790_5209740_nStill… he resisted.

It would be several years before God used the consistent witness of my mom to break through the hardness of my father’s heart and save him by grace! I’m sure if you asked my dad why he is a Christian… he would talk about God’s grace through the gospel… and then he’d talk about my mom.

Not many years after becoming a believer in Christ, my father felt called to full-time ministry. Over the span of 35 years, he would faithfully serve three churches. It was during this time that I would be born and grow up… always looking up to this giant of a man (if you don’t know… my dad is 6′ 5″ and I’m still only 6′ 0″).

224001_1914835077799_1283029_nMy father was far from perfect… and who could blame him… he had no example to go on when it came to fatherhood. However, despite his imperfections, my father grew into one incredible dad! How could a man with no father figure, become such a great father himself? As a young boy, I knew that the God whom my father called “Father” must be real and must be good if he could transform my dad into this kind of man.

Throughout my years at home, my father taught me the Gospel, spoke it to me, and demonstrated the love that flows from it over and over. He was not afraid to admit his mistakes, humble himself, and ask for my forgiveness when he needed to do so. He loved me, my siblings, and my mother unconditionally and through many difficult waters (and she did the same).

As far back as I can remember, I’ve watched my dad love other people deeply. I’ve seen him spend countless hours by hospital beds, in homes, comforting those weeping, and even holding those who are dying. I’ve listened to him counsel, pray, weep, rejoice, encourage, preach, teach, and comfort. I’ve watched him give to those who could never repay him as he housed the homeless, fed the unemployed, paid taxes for those in debt, carry addicts through recovery, talk people down from suicide, adopt the elderly as his own family… I’ve seen him walk beside families for decades as they struggled, fell apart, we’re reconciled, and on and on and on.

Even through all this, I’ve watched some people whom he has loved reject him, ridicule him, and spread lies about him at various points throughout his years of ministry. This is perhaps when my father has amazed me most. In any difficult situation, I have never heard him speak ill of those who would do him harm. Even at times when my own anger has flared up on his behalf, he has calmed me down and taught me to forgive, to love, and to suffer in silence… counting suffering itself as a grace from God for his ultimate good and ultimately…for God’s glory.

I have never known another man like my father. I would speak the same words of him which Jesus did of John the Baptist in Matthew 11:11 , “…among those born of women there has arisen no one greater…”

Needless to say, God used my father to pierce my heart with the truth of the Gospel because he spoke that truth, breathed that truth, and lived according to that truth. He always has… and I believe he always will.

So… why am I a Christian?

393701_10150600247774199_1812445521_nGrace.

Grace coming through the Gospel.

Grace coming through the Gospel declared and demonstrated by my Father.

I am a Christian because God brought the Gospel to me through Tony Haefs.

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April 20, 2014

Easter Devotional: John 20:1-29

John 20:1-29 (click here)
Simon Peter… went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. (John 20:6-7)

Reflection
Peter and John have just been told that Jesus’ body is gone! They race to them tomb, John gets there first and peers in, but as soon as Peter has caught up he barges into the cave-like grave. Then we are given some interesting details… the grave cloths have been left behind and the face cloth has been folded like a freshly washed towel.

Why do we need to know these tiny details?

I believe there is a practical reason and a symbolic reason. First, on a practical level, this story is true… it is not and myth, and small details like this help affirm that “realness.” Why did John tell us about the grave clothes?…Because they were really there! He’s describing the situation as they found it.

Secondly, John has mentioned grave clothes one other time in his gospel. In John 11, he tells us the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus and in verse 44 the text says this, “The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.'” Lazarus came out of the tomb still bound up in his grave clothes. It is almost as if he brought them out because he would need them again one day.

But, when Jesus rose, he left behind the grave clothes. He wouldn’t need them anymore! He was alive forevermore! Death defeated! It’s almost like he folded up death and left it in the grave! Hallelujah, what a savior!

Jesus has permanently defeated sin and death! He has no need of grave clothes and neither do we…for through him we are promised life eternal! This Easter…remember that Jesus resurrection guarantees you resurrection. You have been freed from the grave so that you can live fearlessly for Christ!

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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