The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

Tag: Gospel

February 4, 2014

A Shelter from the Storm

I sat at my desk typing frantically. I wanted so badly to finish up the days work and head home…after all…

…it was snowing!

Snow in Alabama! This is not a very regular event, and I wanted to have a fun-filled snow-day with my kiddos like any dad should. I knew that sledding, snow-ball fights, and snow-man construction awaited me at home…and so my fingers put my average “words-per-minute” to shame as they flew across the keyboard.

I would get up every now and then to peer out the window at the growing mass of white. This was going to be a snow to remember.

IMG_8218Then I saw it.

A car had pulled into the our church parking lot and was simply sitting there as traffic backed up on the road with all the motorists trying to get home. I didn’t think much of it, until the next time I peered out the window and the car was still there…then again…and again.

After an hour, I figured I needed to go down and see what was happening. Never-mind actually looking at the weather forecast…ain’t nobody got time for that!

I wanted so badly to pretend the car wasn’t there, hop in my vehicle, and go home to my family. Something told me that if I talked with whoever was in that car I would be opening a can of worms and stuck where I was for a lot longer. Still, I walked up to the car and knocked on the window.

I was met with a smile from a kind lady who told me the road conditions were simply beyond her driving ability and she was waiting for her husband to come pick her up. I offered for her to come and wait in our lobby, secretly hoping she would refuse, and she thanked me…and followed me into our comfortably heated space.

I now found myself stuck, frustrated, and not feeling the least bit hospitable. I went back to my office thinking that if I had to be there I might as well get some work done. I would come down on occasion to see if her ride had arrived only to discover quite the opposite.

IMG_8229More people seeking shelter from the storm were filing into the lobby.

The reality of the situation began to dawn on me as I had conversations with those who found themselves stranded.

Birmingham was shutting down!

The “light-dusting” forecast was a slight miscalculation (I love our meteorologists all the same) and iced streets bring an unprepared southern city to a screeching halt…literally.

I-65, 280, and many other streets looked like a scene out of summer-zombie block buster. Cars littered the landscape, simply abandoned as people sought the basic necessities of life…food and shelter.

For a little while, I continued to throw my personal pity party, lamenting the fun my family was enjoying at home without me. This snow might be a problem for everyone else, but not for me! Home was within walking distance and the only thing standing in my way was all these people in need! I know this may sound heartless, but even I’m a selfish human being with a sinful heart that is all too often content to be self-centered. These people shouldn’t be my problem…none of this was my fault…why should I pay the price to provide shelter for them.

And then in the mid-thought my mind froze and my heart melted because of one thought.

dali-christ-of-st-john-of-the-crossThe Gospel.

“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 servant, 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.” – Philippians 2:5-8

The storm brought about by my sin should have been no one’s problem but my own. I should have been left alone to freeze amidst my failures, but Jesus emptied himself. He didn’t just shelter me from the storm within the fortress of his righteousness, he took my place out in the cold. The love of God was lavished on me in Christ and I was saved from a storm of my own making.

Suddenly, I found my heart filled up with a vision of the glory of Jesus and pouring itself out in love toward those sheltering within the walls of SVCC.  For the joy set before him, Christ endured the cross…and that joy was that we may find our everlasting joy in the glory of God!

“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 2:9-11

Now, I wanted to shelter these people for the joy set before me, namely, having the opportunity to point them toward the ultimate shelter of love found in Christ!

IMG_8207Over the next 48 hours we had the pleasure and joy of housing around 25 people at SVCC. I didn’t get to talk with all of them at length, but I was able to share food, laughs, stories with most of them…and many of our conversations centered on the Gospel.

May God open our eyes everyday to the reality that people around us are seeking shelter from the storm of their own sin, shame, guilt, etc.  May we not be so consumed with our own lives that we shut out those seeking refuge. May we invite them into our lives and to safety under the mighty wings of our Lord.

I don’t know what effect those two days will have on the lives of those who found shelter at SVCC, and the effect is ultimately up to the Lord, but my prayer is that God would bring them to find ultimate shelter from every storm in him through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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June 19, 2013

Man of Steel?

*Don’t worry…there are not that many movie spoilers below.

“Space Jesus…” That was the nickname my friend gave the man of steel as soon as we exited the theater at 3am on June 14. Yes, I was crazy enough to go see the movie at midnight, but that is beside the point. A conversation ensued among the five of us about all the Christ imagery used in the film.

Superman has always been a very “Jesus-esque” character, but there were several moments this seemed to not only rise to the surface…but blatantly jump off the screen. Here are just a few examples of what I’m talking about:

  • Man-of-steel-Christ-poseKal-el (Clark Kent/Superman) was born in a unique way on Krypton. It wasn’t a virgin birth, but the parallel is still there.
  • He was sent by his father to earth as a savior to bring hope.
  • He grew up in obscurity.
  • There was a scene in a church where Clark was talking to a priest and the stained glass Jesus behind him was practically sitting on his shoulder.
  • At one critical point in outer-space, Kal-el was told by his real father (Jor-el) that he must save the world and he began his flight back to earth in a slow-motion-explicitly-cruciform-shape.

I could keep on going, but it is clear that the film makers want us to catch the association they are making between their superman and Jesus. And why not? This association has long existed in the minds of comic book fans…including myself…that is until recently.

As the release date for man of steel approached and more and more trailers released…I found myself thinking a lot about why we like superheroes so much, and specifically about why superman has really fallen from the heights of his popularity throughout the years.

After all, the man of steel reboot itself has been marketed as an update of the superman mythos with a greater appeal to todays audiences. What makes superman different from the other characters we love and why the need for the makeover?

Many of you may not care or think that putting this much thought into a comic-based movie is a foolish waste of time, but I think within these questions we discover important truths about ourselves. I think I discover my desire to be my own savior.

Superheroes like batman, spider-man, the black-widow, the hulk, the x-men, etc. appeal to a wide audience, and the reason is because we find them easy to relate to due to their flaws. Each of these characters has faults or a dark-side. They are far from perfect and yet they still get to be the hero. This appeals to something deep inside me. I am able to put myself in their place and imagine that I am the one who saves the day.

I love a broken hero because that is the only type of hero I could ever be.

old-Superman-comic-cover-superman-84977_590_816The good ol’ man of steel is not like this. We find it difficult to relate with him because he is too perfect. He has every power, perfect character, perfect hair, and on and on. His only weakness has historically been rocks from his true hometown…again, not relatable.

In the truest sense, superman seems like a savior coming from the outside to rescue us. The only place for us in the superman mythos is to imagine ourselves as the one being rescued…we could never be the rescuer in the red cape.

I believe that is why the new Man of Steel movie really goes out of the way to connect Kal-el with humanity. In more or less words it is said that he needed to be “truly human” so  he could serve as a bridge between Kryptonians and humans. There is a much greater emphasis on his relationship with his earthly father, Jonathan Kent, than with Jor-el. Even the title of the film emphasizes his ability to identify with humanity…the first word is MAN.

Yes, he has amazing strength and abilities, but they want us to think of him as a MAN of steel. Here is a superman that we can hopefully identify with…a savior we can hopefully accept so that he can fly back to the heights of his former fame.

That’s all well and good for the world of comic book storytelling…but in reality…is this what we need? Do we need a MAN of steel?

We want so badly to save ourselves and our make-believe media keeps trying to tell a story where that is actually possible. We, humankind, can become the hero/heroines we need to be and, despite our character flaws, save the day. But is that truth? Can we become men/women of steel? Is that even what we need?

I believe we need just the opposite. I believe we have been given just the opposite in Jesus. When you really think about it…Jesus and Superman are not alike…they are actually completely different! And this is good news…because…

baby jesus in mangerWe don’t need a man of steel…we need a God of flesh.

God himself took on flesh. He could identify with us in every way, yet he was without sin. He stepped into this world not made of steel, but made of skin. He was tempted, he cried, he sweat, he bled…he died.

He took on our greatest enemies…the enemies within that corrupt, and the enemies without that kill. He took on sin, death, and the devil…and defeated them all by rising from the dead! He alone is our savior! The one who knows all our weaknesses for he was born, truly human, yet he was and is truly God.

We DO need a savior, not from the stars, but from among us. We need a savior who is one of us, but is not us. The good news of the Gospel is that we have been given one such savior…only one…Jesus Christ. He was not a man of steel…

He was and is the God of flesh.

*PS – I enjoyed the movie. Not the greatest film ever, but I thought it was worth seeing once in the theater.

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May 21, 2013

Talitha…

IMG_5064This one was different.

I awoke at 5:45am to my wife telling me she was in labor and immediately I knew…this was not the same as before. Sure it was our third kid, but something in her voice said that was irrelevant. This morning was sure to be full of surprises. And, why wouldn’t it be? This entire pregnancy had not been anything like the other two.

Intense labor pains began to set in, and by the time we got to the van, I knew we had to hurry. As I climbed in the driver’s seat, Holly began to get into the back when a strong contraction hit! She grabbed onto the side of the van and spoke to me in a voice I had never heard come out of my wife before, “Jonathan! We are gonna have this baby NOW!!!”

She made it into the car, and the scene became something you would picture happening only in the movies. I threw caution (and the law) to the wind as I ran stop signs, doubled (even tripled) the speed-limit, and raced through Homewood. I must give props to the folks at Toyota…the Sienna is a mini-van with some real get-up and go power!

Throughout the drive, my foot grew heavier as my wife’s extreme pain became more apparent…via volume. This was different. Holly was able to receive pain medication with the first two and wanted to go natural with this one…natural would be the only option at this point.

IMG_5062I zoomed into a parking spot and rushed her upstairs as fast as I could. We didn’t fill out paper work or go through any normal protocol…there wouldn’t even be time for an IV. We were rushed straight into a room where the nurses tried to keep Holly from pushing until the doctor could arrive.

He made it, but barely.

Her water broke at 6:55am and just 22 minuets later, Talitha Mae Haefs made her way into the world at 7:17am.

Going through labor alongside my bride with no pain medication was a whole new experience. Never before had I seen her or another human being in such pain…and I’ve witnessed some pretty painful events in my day (just ask my brother). I felt so helpless, so lost, so useless as she thought her whole body was about to break.

During those minutes that felt like days, Genesis 3:16 went through my mind over and over, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.”

Scripture was alive in the room with me.

I thought I had always understood this verse…understood why God determined that children should come into the world through pain. You see, as a result of sin, all humans have come under the judgment of of God and deserve death. We experience death gradually through pain and ultimately as our life expires.

I always thought that children were born through much pain as a reminder to us that every human comes into a world of pain, through pain, under the judgment of God. Every new life will experience pain and death in this world for we are all children of wrath by nature. I still believe that is true, but it is only half the truth. It is only half the reason for the pain in childbirth.

As I encouraged my wife through immense pain, the moment finally came…Talitha was here. In that moment…pain lost.

IMG_5052There was not only sheer relief, but extreme ecstasy and joy! The room filled with laughter, and my wife broke into a full on smile! This was the truth I had missed concerning pain in childbirth…

The pain ends and life wins.

Pain is not the last word of Genesis 3:16. The last word is life! “In pain (first word)…you shall bring forth children (last word).” You will go through incredible, unbelievable pain, but through this will come new life!

This is a small picture of the Gospel itself! Jesus Christ took all of our sin and its consequences of pain and death upon himself on the cross. He went through immense, incredible, intense pain (first word)! But, he rose from the dead (last word)! Through his death comes new, ultimate life.

The pain ends and life wins!

Pain and suffering are a guaranteed part of this life, but it is also guaranteed that they have ultimately been defeated by Jesus! And, just like in the delivery room where there came a moment when my wife and baby were delivered from pain to joy…so also will there be a moment for every believer in Christ when we are delivered from all trials into the everlasting arms of our father!

IMG_5119The pain will end and life will win.

For this reason, we can victoriously endure! Think about it like this…God gloriously designed the female body to endure birth pains for the joy that is set before them…so also, he has provided the power and grace for us to endure for the joy set before us! For a mom, birth pains lead to new life. For a believer, suffering leads to eternal life!

Suffering serves God’s glory and our good! Therefore ,we are MORE than conquerors when we suffer! Because Jesus not only guarantees that we will have victory over suffering (that makes us a conqueror), but victory in the midst of suffering for it serves our purposes to bring us to him (that makes us MORE than conquerors)!

Through suffering, we will know life…through death, we will know resurrection…because the pain will end and life will win.

Through Talitha’s birth, Jesus has taught me this truth ,and he will always remind me of it simply through her name. Talitha is Aramaic for “little girl.” It comes from chapter Mark 5 where Jesus raises a little girl from the dead with the words, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, get up.”

When Jesus speaks, death loses.

IMG_5157The name Talitha reminds me that God is in the business of calling forth life from death. He will bring us through pain and suffering by his power and grace, for his glory, and the joy will be ours! Everlasting joy that will overshadow all the pain.

As I go through suffering in life, Talitha helps me remember that Jesus is with me, working a miracle of resurrection for his glory and my good. Talitha helps me remember that pain is not the end and that death does not get the final word.

Talitha helps me remember that the pain ends and life wins.

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