The great public events are wonderful, but by definition they are the exception rather than the norm. They often provided a welcome and necessary boost to our faith, but they cannot sustain our spiritual lives. One of the best biblical examples is the story of Elijah’s challenge to the 450 Prophets of Baal and the 400 Prophets of Asherah on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18. We know the story from our Sunday School days. Elijah, the prophet of the One, True God, challenged the Prophets of Baal and Asherah. Each would prepare a sacrifice according to their custom, but they would not put any fire under the sacrifice. Instead, each would appeal to his God to send fire from heaven to consume it. The Prophets of Baal and Asherah went first. They prepared the altar and sacrifice and prayed desperately to Baal to send fire from heaven. Of course, no fire came. That afternoon, it was Elijah’s turn. He not only prepared the altar and sacrifice, but had water poured over it until it was thoroughly drenched and the water collected in the ditch he had dug around the altar. Then, in contrast to the long, convoluted, and desperate prayers and antics of the false prophets, Elijah simply prayed,

“O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” (1 Kings 18:36-37)

Immediately fire fell from heaven and consumed not only the soaking-wet sacrifice Elijah had prepared, but also the sacrifice the false prophets had prepared. It was a great victory. The people clearly saw the power of God and his glory. When it was over, Elijah was so full of power that he out ran the horse of King Ahab on his way back to Jezreel. Problem solved, right? Well, no, the problem was not solved.

When it was all said and done, nothing really had happened. Ahab was still king. Jezebel was still as cruel as ever. Elijah still had a price on his head, and while the people had certainly seen the glory of God and had a great deal to think about, the 450 prophets of Baal still dined at the king’s table. Frankly, nothing had changed. In fact, the whole thing left Elijah exhausted, confused, and discouraged. The Scripture tells us that Elijah left his servant at Beersheba and fled into the wilderness. After a while he sat down under a broom tree† and said, “‘It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.’ (1 Kings 19:4)” In other words, Elijah was ready to quit because, in spite of the great and spectacular events on Mount Carmel, nothing had really changed. Elijah understood that the event has been more show than substance, and he felt he simply could not continue.

God had other plans, however. After a period of rest and recuperation, God led Elijah to Mount Horeb, the “Mount of God. (1 Kings 19:8)” (It is interesting and significant that God did not lead him back to Mount Carmel.) There God had a serious talk with Elijah, starting with the words, “Elijah, why are you here?” Once again, Elijah repeats his frustrations and pours his heart out to God. The essence of his discouragement was that nothing had changed and he was the only one left in all Israel that worshiped Jehovah. God then teaches Elijah a great lesson. He shows him three great manifestations of his divine power, a mighty wind, a frightful earthquake, and a raging fire. These were certainly spectacular events, but the Scripture is plain that the powerful, life-changing voice of God was not in these three spectacular events. The voice of God that moved Elijah to humble worship, careful attention, and great energy was in what the King James version calls the “still, small voice.” In that still, small voice God gave Elijah specific instructions about his part in God’s work of redemption that would break the influence of Ahab, Jezebel, and the pagan prophets that ate at their table. God further gave Elijah two words of encouragement. First, God would preserve 7,000 of his children who would never bend their knee to Baal. Second, Elijah should anoint Elisha as his successor, which indicated that Elijah’s eternal rest was at hand. From this quiet and very private event God taught Elijah, and hopefully us, that while the spectacular and public events accomplish a purpose, his greatest work is done in the still, small voice one hears while alone with God. Ultimately, the mighty work of God was not done on Mount Carmel, but on Mount Horeb.

Looking for the substantive in the spectacular is part of our fallen human nature and one of Satan’s favorite tools. Satan tempted Jesus with the same thing in Matthew 4. Again, this is a story we know from our Sunday School days. The second of Satan’s three temptations was that Jesus should throw himself off the pinnacle of the temple and when he was rescued by the angels, which he surely would be, he would ride that spectacular event to popularity and success. Jesus, of course, rejected this plan. We need to compare Satan’s method of notoriety to Jesus’ more effective methods. In Matthew 8 we have the story of Jesus’ cleansing of a leper. Jesus told the man that he should say nothing to anyone, but simply go to the temple and make the sacrifice commanded in the Scripture.

One of the reasons this type of thing is so appealing in our day is that it is a short cut to our temporal goals, which generally center around active congregations. Jesus warned us to guard our hearts against this most subtle of traps.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-6)

We don’t intend to be hypocrites, but because we so often focus on the public events, we often neglect the more private and substantive work of God in our private place. That is, by definition, hypocrisy.

The great spectacular events are wonderful, but they are too often the milk of the Word, even the milkshake of the Word. As wonderful as they are, they are too brief and too far apart to sustain a profound, substantive relationship with the Father. Paul’s criticism of the Corinthians was that they remained shallow and immature. The focus on the spectacular events of our faith often masks our own immaturity. We deceive ourselves by looking only to the public rather than the private. In ministry, the result is what we find in Jeremiah 6:14. Speaking of the prophets and priests, Jeremiah said, “‘They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.’ (Jeremiah 6:14)” What an indictment! Lord, may that never be said of me. May I always lead the congregation you have put under my care to a substantive relationship with you. Lord, “increase our faith. (Luke 17:5)”

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* See the story of Achan’s sin and the battle of Ai in Joshua 7, particularly verse 1. “But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel.”

† The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says that a broom tree is “a shrub which casts so little shadow that it would be used for shade only when there was no other refuge from the desert sun, and would be eaten only in case of the direst necessity, but which could be burned and used for the making of charcoal.” In other words, Elijah was so far out in the wilderness that even the trees were sad.

Does this story describe our spiritual lives? Are they really more lather than substance? Sadly, too often they are. As I stated in my previous article, what we do best is justify our own mediocrity. Just as the barber slowly but surely talked himself out of acting on the greatest opportunity he would ever have as a revolutionary, we slowly and effectively build a model of faith that may look good, but lacks the substance to really make a difference in our own lives, much less in the lives of others. My purpose in the next several articles will be to expose a few of the facades of our mediocrity and to propose more substantial ways to live out our relationship with God. The next five articles will be:

• In the Still, Small Voice (1 Kings 19:11-13)
• The Proof Is In the Power (Matthew 11:4-5)
• Is It the Right Way? (Proverbs 14:12)
• Religion Pure and Undefiled (James 1:27)
• If You Don’t Hate Your Mother, You Can’t Be My Disciple (Luke 14)

Hernando Téllez’ barber would forever live with the regret of a superficial dedication to his cause. So will most Christians, including myself. I often think about what I would do if I had it to do over again. Christ did not come to redeem us to mediocrity. He did not die to simply put a Christian spin on the American dream, as David Platt would say. He did not rise again so that we could claim hollow, superficial victories that puff us up and only superficially heal the wound of his people. When addressing the issue of a superficial faith, James, in his frank and no nonsense style, asks a haunting question, “Can such a faith save him?” Of course, James’ implied answer is, “No, it cannot.” This is why the search for substance is such a desperate undertaking. The destiny of our souls depend upon what we find in Christ. May we find more than just lather.

This sad truth is one of two closely related concepts that have bothered me for many years. They have been, as we say here in the South, stuck in my craw. Off and on over the past twenty years I have thought about them and read about them and scribbled notes about them, always knowing they were important, always knowing I really did not understand them to the depth I needed to, and always knowing that in spite of my many years as a formally educated believer and pastor I could not apply them. The other of the two related concepts is the issue of what did Jesus meant by “self-denial.” As one of the faithful Sisters in my congregation once said about Jesus’ words in Luke 14:26, “‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.’ (Luke 14:26)”, “we read that verse and know that it should apply to us, but because we don’t know how to apply it, we simply ignore it and go on to something we do understand.” She is right. The concept of self-denial is one we regularly misapply, ignore, or both, and as a consequence even we as believers tend to live shallow lives of “quiet desperation.”

Self-denial is a topic that no believer will ever fully understand until he sees Christ face-to-face in all his glory, but it is still a concept that is essential to our salvation and spiritual well being. It, therefore, demands that we not simply ignore it but seek to understand it with all our hearts. After many years of rolling these ideas around in my head, I have come to at least some understanding of what Jesus meant by self-denial and just how that is related to the concept of substance over form and presentation. Long before the concept of a blog was born, I clearly remember telling a good friend that one day I would write an essay entitled Desperately Seeking Substance. After twenty or so years now, I understand that this issue cannot be addressed in a single essay or, in the more contemporary medium, in a single post to a blog, but I am ready to begin the process of putting on paper, or in bits and bytes, some of my understanding about these issues. I pray that they be a blessing and, perhaps, a general guide in your own quest for self-denial and in finding the “substance of things hoped for.” (Hebrews 11:1 KJV)

If we are honest with ourselves–which we rarely are–we know that there is something missing in our spiritual lives. We do not like to admit it, but we know that in spite of what we want for ourselves and want others to believe about us, the thing we do best is justify our own mediocrity. Paul said, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5)” We tend to not examine ourselves spiritually for the same reasons we tend to not examine ourselves physically. We are afraid of what we will find, and we are unwilling to do what we need to do to change our conditions. Yet, examine ourselves we must do. If we do not, we just might fail the test, and it is a test we cannot afford to fail. It is the test that will determine where we spend eternity. That is not a test I am willing to forego.

As I understand it, the test to which Paul refers is in two parts. Here in 2 Corinthians 13 Paul mentions the moral issues he brought up earlier in the letter, specifically that the church in Corinth was tolerating sexual immorality among its members. Certainly, one of the tests of true faith is personal holiness. This is a broad test that deals with many things. It deals with the character of the believer as Jesus described it in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), which is a reflection of God’s own character. It deals with joyful obedience to the law which instructs us in how to live before God and with men. It deals with how we act and, more importantly, how we think and respond to the world in which we live. The second area of the test is the power of God in our lives. Briefly, and I will deal with this issue further in a later article, the proof of the gospel in us is that God does what only he can do in our lives. When the disciples of John the Baptist inquired of Jesus if he was the Messiah or not, Jesus answered, “‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.’ (Matthew 11:4-5)” All of these things were things that only God could do and all of these things demonstrate the power of God and Christ over the sinfulness of this world and the consequences of the fall.

Do we pass that test? No. For the most part we do not pass the test, and for the most part we just continue on in our mediocrity. We pretend that all is good. We define faith in our own terms, terms which have lowered the bar to define a believer as one who actively participates in the activities of the contemporary religious organizations in spite of our doctrinal statements to the contrary. We have accepted the superficial for the profound, the form for the substance, the trappings for the truth. Will we be content with what is at best mediocrity, and what is probably abject insufficiency? Lord, may it never be. Most of us know that deep within us there is a small pricking of discontent, a small voice that reminds us that there is more to our faith in Christ than what we have. That small voice of discontent is a great gift from God, for if we will listen to it, it will move us beyond the quiet desperation that dominates us toward a meaningful and fulfilling relationship with the Almighty God.

Where do go from here? Because my goal is edification rather than simply pointing out faults, over the next few weeks I will be looking at this very issue. How do we look for the substance of our faith? The articles posted to this blog on this subject will not be simply a stock series on discipleship. Rather they will be a reflection of my own desire and my own search to stand on the solid rock of Jesus Christ our Lord, and to move beyond my own mediocrity. May it please the Lord to bless the words that will be posted here, and may they be grounded in his word, his character, and his will.

                                                           . . . a Savior, who is Christ the Lord

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)

“‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29)

Have a Merry and Blessed Christmas!

                                                           . . . a Foolish King Named Herod

This concept requires some explanation, I suppose. We don’t usually think about Herod in any kind of positive way when we tell the Christmas story. The role he played was simple. When the Wise Men arrived they went to his court to inquire about where the Messiah was to be born, Herod sent for the chief priests and scribes. They correctly informed the king and the Wise men that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem of Judea. It is interesting that they exhibited a marked lack of curiosity about the situation. They did not even ask why Herod and the Wise Men wanted to know about the Messiah. Of course, they would soon find out more than they wanted to know about the Child born in Bethlehem, but that is another story for another day.

Herod was not about to allow any competition to his own power exist. He had killed his wife, a couple of his own sons, and various other threats to his power, so killing this peasant Child would be as natural to him as  sitting down to lunch. Matthew tells us that because Herod could not determine exactly which child was the be King of the Jews, he simply had all children two years old and younger killed. To protect the Child, Joseph and Mary took the young Messiah to Egypt for a couple of years and returned to Nazareth only after the death of Herod. Exactly why God worked things out this way we are not told, but there is certainly a great deal of correlation to God’s redemptive work in Moses’ day.

Given the situation, why should be be thankful God gave us King Herod. Simply because it is a great example of how God takes what appears to be tragedy and turns it to the victory of his redemptive work. God’s entire redemptive work is one example after another of God’s victories over defeats. Herod had no idea he was a part of God’s redemptive work, but he was. Just as God used King Artaxerxes to restore his people to Jerusalem after the exile, God used Herod to work out the details of his redemptive plan in Christ. What a tremendous example of the sovereign power of our Father. God brought all these events together to defeat sin and death. Only a God who has power over all the universe, the godly and the ungodly, has the ability and desire to do just that. Some thirty years later God would again use the ungodly–specifically Pontius Pilate, another King Herod, and the hypocritical Jewish leadership–to send the Christ child to the cross, thus providing the ultimate sacrifice for the sinfulness of mankind.

In this Christmas season, remember that God can and will use the ungodly to accomplish his redemptive work. Does he use the unruly shoppers and others who represent the seedier side of our Christmas celebrations? Maybe; who can know. The one thing I do know, however, is that God so loves his people that he will do what is necessary to redeem him people, including sending his own Son as a child who would eventually died on the Cross. For that reason the angel proclaimed, “‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.’ (Luke 2:10)”

                                                                               . . . Three Wise Men

As I commented a couple of weeks ago, one of my favorite Christmas hymns is We Three Kings by John Henry Hopkins. It is no longer as popular as it once was, but it is still a great hymn of worship. The melody of the minor key is at the same time wonderful and haunting. The lyrics are simple and Christ exalting. The last verse is particularly worshipful.

Glorious now behold Him arise.
King and God and Sacrifice.
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Earth to heav’n replies

O Star of wonder, star of night.
Star with royal beauty bright.
Westward leading, still proceeding.
Guide us to Thy perfect light.

I have always been fascinated by the three Wise Men. We don’t know much about them. We really don’t know that there were three of them. Tradition has assigned them that number because of the three gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We don’t know from where they came. We don’t know their spiritual background. The only thing we do know is that they had a great faith, and that because of their faith they followed the star and worshipped the King.

Their story reminds me a bit of Abraham’s story. Genesis 12:1 says, “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.’ (Genesis 12:1)” God called Abraham to leave where he was and go to the place God had prepared for him. So with the Wise Men. God called them to go and worship the Christ Child. They did not know exactly where or what they would find when they arrived, but they faithfully followed the star God had put in the sky to lead them.

May we faithfully follow God’s lead, trusting him to take us to a place of great blessing where we might fully know and worship the Christ he sent for our redemption.

                                                                               . . . Shepherds In a Field

Not only was Jesus born in humble circumstances, his birth was initially announced to humble men. Preachers have speculated on why the good news of Christ’s birth was announced to the shepherds rather than to others since the first century. Not only do I really have nothing to add to those speculations, I generally make it a point to not attempt to determine why God does anything. His thoughts are not our thoughts nor are our ways his ways, Isaiah says. So we will look at things from a different angle.

The one thing we do know about the shepherds is that they were men of simple faith. When they heard the announcement they responded in a simple and uncomplicated way. Notice what Luke tells us:

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. (Luke 2:15-18)

They did not discuss the validity of what they had seen. They did not discuss the theological issues involved. They did not discuss the reasons for the event. They simply went to see what the Lord had announced to them. And, they found it just as he said they would.

We need more simple, faithful men like the shepherds. Granted it is not easy to have a faith like theirs. After all, we can’t believe everything we see and not everything that claims to be from the Lord is, but a simple, uncomplicated faith will always find God’s greatest gift. 

                                                                               . . . A Star

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’ (Matthew 2:1-2)”

My favorite Christmas hymn is  We Three Kings written in 1857 by John Henry Hopkins. The last stanza is particularly worshipful:

Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Alleluia, Alleluia
Sounds in heav’n and earth.

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light.

I am thankful for the star God gave the Three Wise Men — or Kings, or Magi, or whatever other name you choose to use for these gentlemen — for much the same reason as I am thankful for the angels who announced the glory of God in the birth of the Savior. It makes the redemption of God known. The announcement of the angels was wonderful, but it was a general proclamation of the gospel. It was a “go and see” announcement. The star is also an announcement of the gospel, but it is more specific. It is a “come and see” announcement that specifically led three worshipping hearts to the Savior. More specifically, it lead them to the “perfect light” of Christ himself.

As I look back over my almost 52 years on this earth I am thankful for the stars God sent to me to lead me to that Perfect Light and for the stars he sends from time to time to refocus my heart on him. May God send us all a star this Christmas season.

                                                                                      . . . A Whole Host of Angels

Angels played a big role in the events surrounding Christ’s birth. The angel Gabriel brought the news of John’s birth to his father, Zechariah. He also brought the news of Christ’s birth to Mary. An unnamed angel informed Joseph of the nature of Mary’s pregnancy, and an angel, accompanied by a multitude of the heavenly host, announced the birth of the Savior to the Shepherds. In these events they were fulfilling their primary role in Creation. They were divine messengers who announced to the appropriate parties at the appropriate time the events and the meaning of the events that were unfolding during the reign of Caesar Augustus.

One of the most important details of the birth of the Savior is that it was no secret. As we pointed out in the first week of this series, Christ’s birth had been prophesied for centuries before the actual event. His birth was an event that was loudly announced for all to hear when it occurred and it continues to be announced. Never has faith in Christ been a religion of “secret knowledge.” From the very beginning it has been a faith of open proclamation and it is today. Paul said, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.  (1 Corinthians 1:21)” May this Christmas season find all those who believe foolishly preaching the same message as the angel and the heavenly host.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! (Luke 2:10-14)”

                                                                                            . . . A Manger

Of course, that begs the question, “What do I want with a manger?” It is kind of like the pink tie I received for Christmas several years ago from a certain relative that will remain unnamed. It was a perfectly good tie but not something I would ever wear. So, why should I be glad that God gave us a manger. Well, in this case it’s not as much the gift as what the gift represents.

The significance of the manger is not what it was, but where it was; more specifically where it was not. Jesus was not born in Herod’s palace nor in the residence of the High Priest in Jerusalem. He was born in an humble stable into an ordinary family. He was not part of the organized religion of the day that was tied to the temple in Jerusalem. He came to seek and to save that which was lost and to provide that salvation to all the world. While the Christ event was a continuation of God’s redemptive plan and not a change in that plan, it did represent a global expansion of that plan.

As Jesus fulfilled the law on the cross, he also freed us from the geographic limitations of the temple. In other words, Jesus’ birth in the stable, the rending of the temple veil upon his crucifixion, and the destruction of the temple by the Romans after his resurrection and ascension are all part of the same event and purpose. As Jesus told the Samaritan Woman as they discussed the issue of where believers were required to worship,  “the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:23-24)”

So, I am thankful for the manger because it is through what the manger represents that I can be a faithful worshipper of the One, True God and live in Denton, Texas, a mere 7,000 miles or so from Jerusalem. Because of the manger, I and my congregation worship God in spirit and in truth in our church building and in our homes. Because of the manger, even those with an ancestry as convoluted as mine find redemption as God’s chosen people. Because of the manger, I that was lost on the other side of the world, have been found and saved by the redemptive power of Christ and him crucified.