Some Ish-ues With Sin

Some things we say – sayings – are said for a reason. There is some truth to many of them. I’m thinking of a few that go this way: “Out of the frying pan and into the fire”, “Just when you think it can’t get any worse…” and “Rolling off a bed of nails into a pool of vinegar”. Ok, I made that last one up. But the truth is that trouble is always around the corner. You are never going to escape it. That’s why James just says, “count it all joy…” because if you don’t, you’re going to be pretty miserable.

I’ve been thinking about sin, and how there seems to be a progression in the temptations we face. It seems that we start off having a lot of trouble in the “sensual” world. Early on, a lot of our problems stem from the appeasing of our senses. Substance abuse, gluttony and lust are base sins that no one is immune from. But I think maturity allows us to shrink from these kinds of sins to a certain extent. We outgrow them. But then we move on to the next stage, which we can call “soul-ish”. First we have body-ish sins and then soul-ish ones.

The soul-ish variety involves pride, jealousy, bitterness, resentment, condescension, compromise, hypocrisy, etc… They come from our minds and hearts more so than our bodies. We think we are so great when we do not give in to base temptations, but then we are so full of arrogance that we might be better off with the first lot! With this, I am by no means advocating “mortal” and “venial” sins. All sin is bad, and some are not worse than others in God’s eyes. Jesus died for all equally. But there does seem to be a progression that we naturally go through as we mature.

The last stage would be what we might call “spirit-ish” sins. I didn’t use the word “spiritual” because that is generally a positive word. But spirit-ish sins are the most subtle of all. They appear to be good when they are really far from God’s ideal. The clearest way I can put it is that you either choose your way or God’s way. There are many good things that we can put our hands to, but “unless the Lord builds the house, the workers labour in vain.” If the Lord is not in it, it does not matter how apparently good it may seem. You might as well be building casinos if the Lord is not in what you’re doing.

This progression is seen in the life of Jesus. That may sound strange, but even though he was sinless, he still went through trials. He was tested. The difference with Him is that he went through the progression so fast it makes my head spin. The scene is the desert, where the devil comes to test Jesus. He works first on the issue of Jesus’ hunger (bodyish sin). He’d been fasting for over a month out there and Satan tells him to just turn some stones into bread and eat. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy to him and he moves on to the next stage. He then tells him to throw himself down from a great height to prove that the angels will take care of him (soulish sin). The Word of God speaks once again and the devil goes to the last stage. He offers Jesus the world if he will just bow to him (spiritish sin). The truth of Scripture bats this one away too and the devil then leaves him.

Whatever we happen to be dealing with in our lives, Jesus is our great High Priest who knows what we are going through. We will never be perfect this side of Heaven, but we will find victory in our spiritual walk when we trust the One who has won it for us already. Bring on the vinegar!

Burning Bush

Today’s post is brought to you by the letter B and the number 2. Two B’s to be precise. Alliteration helps you remember things. My favorite Doctor Seuss line of all time has to be “O is very useful if you want to say: Oscar’s only ostrich oiled an orange oil today.” But I was talking about the letter B wasn’t I… Burning bush has a nice ring to it. That sounds very pyromaniacal of me doesn’t it? Beautiful burning bush blazing brilliantly. Bobbies (policemen in England) bring BJ bound to brison… um, prison. Ok, it’s not that I promote arson. The burning bush that Moses saw was very different than what any match could ever start.

Moses had run away from Pharaoh for killing an Egyptian task-master and after living abroad for a lifetime, God shows up. It’s the strangest thing. There is a shrub with flames dancing on it, but it’s still green beneath. This bush seems to be so alive that it can’t actually catch fire, but the fire is there nonetheless. It’s an impossible scenario. Wood is one of the most flammable substances on the planet. Fire and wood are just not good dancing partners. But there they were, making beautiful music together.

The question at this point would be, why? Why did God choose that image for Moses to see? We have a tree and we have fire. We could speculate, which might be fun, but it’s good to consider Jesus’ words in John’s account when the Lord is speaking to Pharisees. He says, “if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.” At the very beginning of Moses’ work for the Lord, he is given a picture of Jesus. Jesus is both God – the Son of God – and Man – the Son of Man, he called himself. He is divine and human. How can that be? It is as incomprehensible to us as a tree on fire that is not consumed. The tree is Christ’s humanity, and the fire is his divinity. In Mark’s gospel Jesus himself refers to the “burning bush passage” that Moses wrote about. He is discussing the concept of the resurrection with the Sadducees and in relation to that flaming shrub told them that God is the God of the living, not the dead. Jesus being God and Man means life for us. Otherwise, we are just tinder for the flames.

Jesus went through the fire of God’s righteous judgment and came out alive on the other side. We have no hope other than to trust that he took that journey for us. We would not have survived it. We would have been consumed. The burning bush is a perfect picture of Christ as to the one who redeems man, by being God and Man. He is the union – the reconciliation.

I have to give credit to my brother-in-law, Dan, who opened my eyes to this symbol. I stole this idea from him. I’m a no good plagiarist, really. Oh no – here come the Bobbies again!

BJ

The Taste of Shoes

Just after the new year started, a friend at my assembly on a Sunday morning asked me how my New Year’s Eve went. Joking, he asked me if I stayed up until midnight. “C’mon,” I said, “I’m not Al Birgham.” Al is a quite elderly man (in his late 80’s) in our chapel who just happened to be standing behind me as I spoke. That’s right, I spent the next few minutes taking my foot and half my leg out of my mouth. The next week I was at work remarking to a co-worker about how absent minded my dad is. Something had gone missing and I said that it was probably with my dad’s coffee mug that he seems to lose quite often in his wanderings around the office. You see, I work with my dad, and just as the words came out of my mouth I saw my dad sitting in a little office space right beside me that he normally doesn’t frequent. Once again, with a red face a tried to joke about it and do some quick back-pedaling.

I think we’ve all had moments like this. These were innocent enough (I hope!) and I don’t think either of these gentlemen were hurt by my comments, but still, I don’t think I would have said them if I had known they would hear. Both cases were me just trying to be funny, but you have to be careful with that kind of thing. We need to speak as though anyone listening would be edified, encouraged or endeared by what we say. They may not be due to the need for an attitude adjustment of some kind, but you try nonetheless.

It makes me think of the time when Jesus, while speaking to his disciples, uttered a quick prayer saying, “Father glorify your name.” God the Father then spoke from heaven saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” It sounded like thunder in the ears of those who stood by. Jesus then said, “This voice did not come because of me, but for your sake.” God took the static energy of clouds and used it for vocal cords – for our benefit. You see, Jesus was once again addressing the topic of his death. He went on to tell his dear disciples exactly what kind of death he was going to die. “If I am lifted up…” he said. This was a direct reference to the cross. He was not going to shrink from it. He would not say, “Father save me from this hour.” The Father’s voice crackled through and split the air to declare his agreement with his Son.

This was not the only occasion where a voice from heaven was heard. Jesus didn’t need to hear it, but we did. We still do. We need to remain confident that the Father’s approval of His Son still stands. It stands so much so that He raised Christ from the dead. At the same time, we need to recognize that the Son of God speaks for His Father. The writer to the Hebrews begins that letter this way:

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son”

God the Father trusted His Son enough to let Him be the final word. We need to listen. On another occasion the Father said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” Christ alone has the words of eternal life, Peter said. Where else can we go? There may be someone listening that you didn’t plan for. Well - Dad, Al – I’m not going to eat my shoes anymore.

BJ