Back in the early days of this century Christendom ceased… abruptly. We all shrugged wide-eyed, looked at each other and asked, ”Now what?”
With a bloated blogosphere at hand, virtually everyone has weighed in! The problem with all these prognostications is that the ones answering the question often happen to be the ones who brought about this church-plight in the first place!
Don’t get me wrong – we must “figure this thing” in one sense. Kudos to those of us who deign to comment on it. But, more words are not the answer. Condemnation of one another is not the answer. “Better ideas” solve nothing. We do not need simply to pedal harder, “do better.” Neither do we need more exotic and consumer-driven ways and means.
The ways and means of God are tight and tidy.
Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today (Dt 6:4-6).
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Dt 30:19,20).
No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God (Mic 6:8).
Jesus replied, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments (Mt 22:37,38).”
Yet, fleshing it out is another issue, right? Might we first ask ourselves: How did we get into this fix? I think the answer is both simple and obvious: We have crawled up on the throne and asked God to get down. And, being the gentleman that He is, He moved.
This is yet another chapter in the human story theologians call the Deuteronomic Cycle: Sin-punishment-repentance-restoration.
The answer, let’s admit it, is humility. How complicated are these words from James (4:10) “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor”? Or Isaiah’s words (Is 57:15):
The high and lofty one who lives in eternity,
the Holy One, says this:
“I live in the high and holy place
with those whose spirits are contrite and humble.
I restore the crushed spirit of the humble
and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.”
In the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, there are these words and phrases regarding humility:
(Humility is not) Willful self-disparagement
(Nor are the humble) Guilty, vile, and helpless worms
Inward fasting
Aptness for grace (Luther)
Pure receptivity
Unassuming readiness to accept favor
(Humility) Requires constant self-examination
Trusting the kindness of the giver
I possess nothing I haven’t received
Lowly
Saint Augustine: “If you ask me what is the first precept of the Christian religion I will answer, first, second, and third, Humility.”
In John 13 and Philippians 2, Jesus is our Model, our Exemplar, our Teacher.
God, Keynote Speaker at the opening of the Temple, gave of these bedrock words regarding the ways and means of our faith (2 Chr 7:14):
Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
We need restoration. We need forgiveness. We need help. We cannot enjoy “restoration” until then. It seems a no-brainer; humility and repentance are the pre-requisites we so desperately need as a body of Christ-followers.
May I pray for us – God’s church.
GOD ALMIGHTY, MAKER OF ALL, GIVER OF HOPE, FORGIVE US, FOR WE HAVE SINNED AND DONE WHAT IS EVIL IN YOUR SIGHT. IT IS AGAINST YOU AND YOU ALONE THAT WE HAVE SINNED AND DONE WHAT IS EVIL IN YOUR SIGHT. PLEASE SHOW US MERCY, SHOW US GRACE, WASH US CLEAN WITH THE FORGIVENESS OF CALVARY. BLOT OUT THE SIN THAT HAS BROUGHT THIS “CHRISTIAN NATION” TO WHERE IT IS… NEARLY APOSTATE. YOU HAVE PROMISED: A BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART YOU WILL NOT DESPISE.
RENEW IN YOUR CHURCH A CLEAN HEART AND A LOYAL SPIRIT.
BY YOUR GRACE, OPEN OUR GRACE-GIVEN HEARTS AND LIPS TO DECLARE YOUR PRAISE.
LOOK WITH FAVOR ON ZION AND HELP HER; REBUILD THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM.
With a bloated blogosphere at hand, virtually everyone has weighed in! The problem with all these prognostications is that the ones answering the question often happen to be the ones who brought about this church-plight in the first place!
Don’t get me wrong – we must “figure this thing” in one sense. Kudos to those of us who deign to comment on it. But, more words are not the answer. Condemnation of one another is not the answer. “Better ideas” solve nothing. We do not need simply to pedal harder, “do better.” Neither do we need more exotic and consumer-driven ways and means.
The ways and means of God are tight and tidy.
Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today (Dt 6:4-6).
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Dt 30:19,20).
No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God (Mic 6:8).
Jesus replied, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments (Mt 22:37,38).”
Yet, fleshing it out is another issue, right? Might we first ask ourselves: How did we get into this fix? I think the answer is both simple and obvious: We have crawled up on the throne and asked God to get down. And, being the gentleman that He is, He moved.
This is yet another chapter in the human story theologians call the Deuteronomic Cycle: Sin-punishment-repentance-restoration.
The answer, let’s admit it, is humility. How complicated are these words from James (4:10) “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor”? Or Isaiah’s words (Is 57:15):
The high and lofty one who lives in eternity,
the Holy One, says this:
“I live in the high and holy place
with those whose spirits are contrite and humble.
I restore the crushed spirit of the humble
and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.”
In the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, there are these words and phrases regarding humility:
(Humility is not) Willful self-disparagement
(Nor are the humble) Guilty, vile, and helpless worms
Inward fasting
Aptness for grace (Luther)
Pure receptivity
Unassuming readiness to accept favor
(Humility) Requires constant self-examination
Trusting the kindness of the giver
I possess nothing I haven’t received
Lowly
Saint Augustine: “If you ask me what is the first precept of the Christian religion I will answer, first, second, and third, Humility.”
In John 13 and Philippians 2, Jesus is our Model, our Exemplar, our Teacher.
God, Keynote Speaker at the opening of the Temple, gave of these bedrock words regarding the ways and means of our faith (2 Chr 7:14):
Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
We need restoration. We need forgiveness. We need help. We cannot enjoy “restoration” until then. It seems a no-brainer; humility and repentance are the pre-requisites we so desperately need as a body of Christ-followers.
May I pray for us – God’s church.
GOD ALMIGHTY, MAKER OF ALL, GIVER OF HOPE, FORGIVE US, FOR WE HAVE SINNED AND DONE WHAT IS EVIL IN YOUR SIGHT. IT IS AGAINST YOU AND YOU ALONE THAT WE HAVE SINNED AND DONE WHAT IS EVIL IN YOUR SIGHT. PLEASE SHOW US MERCY, SHOW US GRACE, WASH US CLEAN WITH THE FORGIVENESS OF CALVARY. BLOT OUT THE SIN THAT HAS BROUGHT THIS “CHRISTIAN NATION” TO WHERE IT IS… NEARLY APOSTATE. YOU HAVE PROMISED: A BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART YOU WILL NOT DESPISE.
RENEW IN YOUR CHURCH A CLEAN HEART AND A LOYAL SPIRIT.
BY YOUR GRACE, OPEN OUR GRACE-GIVEN HEARTS AND LIPS TO DECLARE YOUR PRAISE.
LOOK WITH FAVOR ON ZION AND HELP HER; REBUILD THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM.
