The Joy of Glory

Exodus 34:6-7 (click here)
The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7)

Reflection
“From dust you came and to dust you shall return… so repent and believe the Gospel!”

Every year, on Ash Wednesday, I look into the eyes of the people I pastor and say this over and over and over again. This moment is hard… and it is beautiful…

It is hard because we live in a culture that does everything it can to avoid the reality of death. But, on Ash Wednesday, again and again, I look into the eyes of people I love and speak the hard truth… “you will die.”

Over and over I tell people, one on one, person to person… the day will come when you will return to dust.

This moment is hard.

But this moment is also beautiful because we live in a culture that does everything it can to avoid the reality that it has no hope to offer in the face of death. But, on Ash Wednesday, again and again, I look into the eyes of people I love and speak the beautiful truth… “there is gospel good news!”

Over and over I tell people, one on one, person to person… turn from hopelessness and trust in the glorious hope of the Gospel!

This moment is beautiful.

On display each Ash Wednesday is the truth of Exodus 34:6-7. Here, the Lord reveals who he is to Moses by proclaiming “his name,” his character, and two primary things rise to the surface. The Lord abounds in steadfast love… and the Lord will not clear the guilty.

How can both of these things be true? How can God execute righteous judgment towards sinners and show steadfast love towards sinners? How can we deserve to return to dust and experience good news?

The cross.

On the cross, God speaks the difficult truth that sin deserves death… we deserve to return to dust. Yet,  from the cross God speaks the beautiful truth that Christ has defeated our death by becoming dust himself in our place!

How does God not clear the guilty, but execute his right wrath against sin? He does it by taking on flesh himself and becoming our substitute… he pours that wrath out upon himself! And this is also how he shows steadfast love to sinners who repent and believe this Gospel good news!

Yes, it is true that from dust I came and to dust I shall return… as Christians we do not avoid the reality of death BECAUSE we do not fear it! For it is also true that we have believed in the hope of the Gospel!

We do not fear the hard because we believe the beautiful!

We believe the Gospel!

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Each day of the Lenten season, I will be emailing out a devotional to many of the members of SVCC. I will also be sharing these devotionals via www.thejoyofglory.com

These are designed to accompany the SVCC Lenten reading guide which may be found here: 2019 Lenten Reading Guide

In these devotionals, I will give a link that will take you to the entire reading for the day if you would like to read it. I will actually include a few of the verses upon which I will focus my reflections. In the reflection section, I will make a few brief comments which I hope will spur your own thinking and prayers.

Lent is meant to be a season of repentance and fasting that prepares our hearts for the coming celebration of Easter (fuller explanation here). Repentance is a reminder that we need to be saved from our sin…we need a Savior. Fasting reminds us that we are not in need of the things this world offers, but in desperate need of Jesus. So, the point of Lent is that we need Jesus…we need Easter. It is my prayer that these daily devotionals will simply help remind us of our daily need for Christ.

Genesis 22:15-18 (click here)
And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:15-18)

Reflection
“By myself I have sworn…”

As a kid, I can remember “swearing” by different things. I would do this whenever I was trying to convince my friends that I was serious about something, and the more I wanted to convince them, the more exaggerated my “swear” became.

“I pinkie swear” was a typical starting point, but things could escalate all the way up to “swearing” on family members graves… some not yet dead… sorry mom.

Obviously, these were the words of children who didn’t understand what it meant to “swear by” something. But, we did understand that the greatness of the “swear” was elevated by the greatness of the thing “sworn by.”

What is interesting is that “to swear” literally means to take an oath… the greatest of promises. So, when we “swear by” something, we are trying to make the greatest of promises even greater. It is this reality that makes the words of God to Abraham in Genesis 22 absolutely mind-blowing!

God swears… he takes an oath… he makes the greatest of promises. But not only that, he swears by something… he makes the greatest of promises even greater. And what… or more accurately… who does he swear by?

HIMSELF!

“By myself I have sworn…” There is nothing higher by which to swear! There is nothing above God! There is nothing greater, grander, or more glorious than God himself! So, in Genesis 22 we have the greatest of promises made even greater by being raised to the greatest of all levels possible!

But still, it gets better… for this greatest of all possible promises is being made by the greatest one himself! This promise is not an exaggerated statement made by a kid (or adult) who cannot possibly keep it! No! It is actually made by the only one great enough to see it through!

And glory beyond glories… this promise is actually made to you!

The promise is to Abraham AND his offspring! And guess what Galatians 3:7 says… “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.”

All who trust in God alone (we know that this is through Christ alone) share the faith of Abraham and are a part of his faith family! Therefore, the greatest of all possible promises made by the greatest one of all is yours through Christ! And what is that promise?

It is the promise of salvation through Christ!

It is the promises that God will bless us by the true offspring of Abraham, Jesus, defeating our true enemy, Satan, in order to bless all the nations of the world (verses 17-18)!

That’s the Gospel… the greatest of all possible promises given to us with the greatest guarantee by the greatest God!

Glory in this good news… “By myself I have sworn…”

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

*This afternoon, at our annual SVCC family meeting, I briefly reflected on 2018. Below are the thoughts I shared in the form of a letter.

My Dearest Shades Valley,

Something happened in my heart during 2018. I don’t know quite how to describe it, but I’m going to try anyway. For the first time in my adult life, I feel like an adult. I have long felt like a kid pretending to be grownup, just faking it and hoping nobody notices. See, I have no clue how to be a husband, a father or a pastor, but something changed last year. I still don’t think I have a clue what I’m doing, but I no longer feel like a fake. I feel real. I feel at home in my skin. I feel completely… me.

In Scripture, the number seven occurs frequently and is symbolic for completion. Now, I’m not big into numerology, nor am I trying to be superstitious, but 2018 was my seventh year at Shades… and I feel completely at home as your pastor. In 2018, our final child was born, causing our family to now number seven… and I feel completelyat home as a father and husband. I could be wrong, but I believe I have felt this “completely at home” vibe reverberate throughout our body this past year.

In the last seven years, we have experienced a lot of growth as a body. There has been growth in our membership, our ministries, our staff and more. Such growth has brought much joy, but it has been accompanied by growing pains. Yet, such aches don’t last forever, and like any kid after a growth spurt, the awkwardness of our new size has begun to wear off, and we again feel at home in our skin. 2018 felt that way in this body we call SVCC… like we are completely at home as one body of believers no matter if we have been here twenty-five years or two months. We all really belong to this body. We are all really at home in the skin of this place. We feel completely… Shades.

Let me mention just a few of the ways I believe I’ve seen this body be completely Shades in 2018… and this is not to brag on us, but to boast in Christ! He is the head of this body, and he empowers all that we do so that he gets the glory!

So… in 2018, we, the body of Shades Valley Community Church, became completely at home with our artistic side. Not only did our artists put on another amazing event called “The Realm Revealed,” but an EP of original songs was birthed out of this community and there are more on the way. Speaking of births, this community has been completely at home embracing baby after baby. In 2018, the Lord allowed us to witness spiritual births and baptisms as well as many physical births. Further, coming alongside the Doroughs and the Ballards during their adoption processes filled the heart of this place with more joy than we’ve been able to handle!

Last year also saw us completely at home in our role of training future ministers of the Gospel. We ordained Brad as our Discipleship Pastor and have officially called John-Mark as our Worship and Community Pastor. Both of these men came into these roles through Shades investing in them, training them and loving them. We also hired John Kegley as a Pastoral Assistant last year as a spiritual investment is his calling and future. Beyond official staff, in 2018 we commissioned out over thirty college students to various places across this country and around the globe. We also saw the Lord raise up and send out the Gilmores, the Littons, the Belknaps, James Spencer, Patrick Smith and many others to serve in various callings. We have become completely at home with the Lord calling and commissioning people from our body. It is just part of who we are, and it is an amazing evidence of God’s grace on this place.

In 2018, the Lord also worked in several incredible and unexpected ways in our midst. Out of seemingly nowhere, the kitchen fundraising was brought to completion in an instant. In a matter of weeks, our children’s ministry was completely revamped. And, in December, the Lord poured out a generous spirit in our body, and the largest giving month in our history helped us make budget!

There are so many more things I could talk about. So many more ways Shades continues to be completely Shades. Things like loving on each other through times of sicknesses, sorrow and death. Things like celebrating marriages, births and countless other joys. Things like growing together in Catechesis classes, community groups and our continued partnerships with Green Springs, 100 fold and our mission efforts in Haiti and South Asia. There are endless things I could talk about if I had the time, but undergirding them all is one body… Shades Valley Community Church… empowered by one Spirit, through one Savior, for the glory of the one triune God! Undergirding all of this is each one of you who really belong to this body… who are really at home in the skin of this place… because of Christ, you all are completely Shades.

So…in 2019, let’s keep being completely Shades completely for the glory of Jesus! Let us go into the world in peace, having courage, holding on to what is good, honoring all men, strengthening the faint-hearted, supporting the weak, helping the suffering and sharing the Gospel. Let’s love and serve the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit, knowing that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with us all until we stand before Him at last truly, completely at home.

I love you all,

Jonathan