How to Get In to Heaven ...

Every modern Christian thinks they have a pretty good answer to the most basic question ever posed.  It is after all, the goal every Christian seems to seek above all other things.  It is held out as “the final reward”; and is often positioned against hell the only other final destination everyone should want to avoid.  So as soon as an awareness of God is discovered in you, the basic question of how to wind up in the good place, is one you want an answer to right at the get go.  This is not something new to our age.  It has a long history of being asked by people just like us.  You can date it back to the disciples and Pharisees who lived in the days of Christ.  But if you want to, you can keep seeing it asked all the way back to Adam and Eve as soon as they knew they had broken trust with God, and were destined to leave their perfect garden home for the labors of a scarred earth for the remainder of their lives.  And like the later days of Adam and Eve, there were many who just gave up seeking an answer, until the point where they no longer cared, and no longer wanted a future good-place outcome.  Give me a great life now, instead of a great life later, the prevailing thinking.  This thinking too, has lasted all the way to our day.

In the gospel of Matthew, in chapter nineteen, Matthew provides a series of contrasts of those who ask this question, and a detailed view of how it works.  It begins with the real answers, and then follows up with what most of think about how it works, and frankly, why we are nearly all wrong about it.  To begin we pick up in verse 13 saying … “Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.”  If ever there were a living example of how to get into heaven this was it.  Take note of the sequence here.  It begins with someone (presumably the parents) bringing “little children” (picture 2yr old toddlers, though the ages probably had a little wider range than that) to Jesus.  In our case, we do not even seek Christ on our own.  We have to be brought.  Not by an earthly parent, but by our Heavenly One.  It is God the Father who brings His children to Jesus.  He does NOT just bring the perfect ones.  Because let’s face it, what 2yr old behaves perfectly?  They make messes, sometimes messes with poo they have yet to learn where the proper place for that goes. 

But, and again here is the important part, regardless of their current condition, we are brought to Jesus for Jesus to lay hands on us, and pray.  For this to happen, we must first recognize we are not sophisticated adults coming to debate the correctness of our doctrines.  We are 2yr olds whose primary obsession is to love, be loved, play, eat, sleep, and repeat.  This is not an entrance based on a doctrinal understanding exam, it is based on a personal perception exam – are you a toddler – or not?  And as usual, church leadership (in this case the very disciples of Christ, not the typical anti-hero-Pharisees) are the ones trying to keep Jesus from being bothered by it.  If you are looking to gain entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, don’t find yourself depending on the church to accomplish it.  They are more likely standing in the way, than lending you a hand.  Think about it, how much does your church, encourage you (regardless of your physical age) to be the toddler, you are supposed to be?  Most often, the church demands “adult” behavior from you, and is ready to throw you out, if you should dare to act like this kind of young kid.

Jesus responds in verse 14 saying … “But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. [verse 15] And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.”  Jesus states it right here folks, in plain English, and in good old black and white.  This citizenry of heaven is made up of little toddlers.  Not adults, like you and me, or rather old farts like me, but young minded, obsessed with loving and being loved, ready to play, eat, or sleep at a moment’s notice.  Toddlers have the unique characteristic of NOT trying to be adults, or have deep doctrinal understanding, they leave all that to Jesus.  Toddlers trust.  Something that adults have a remarkably hard time doing.  The only thing adults are given to trust, is in themselves, which is possibly the worst thing they could ever take trust in.  Toddlers just roll with it.  Whatever Dad wants to do, is an adventure to them.  They trust the love of Dad.

But we don’t.  So Matthew follows this rather complete lesson on how to get in to Heaven with a study of the contrasted thinking (in his day and what remains in ours).  He continues in verse 16 saying … “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”  Here ya go.  We just heard the answer.  We just saw an example in living color.  Jesus laying His hands on little children who trust Him for everything (including transformation and blessing).  And a typical adult, just like you or me, ignores ALL of that, and asks the question, as if, there is some other path required of adults, that is not demanded of toddlers.  So a rich young ruler, who considers himself a religious man, asks the question orally, as if a different answer is forthcoming.

Matthew continues in verse 17 saying … “And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”  Jesus begins by losing all the flattery.  The term good master, or good rabbi, was not really genuine.  That is to say, this parishioner was not treating Jesus like the Son of God, he was treating Him like a fellow albeit unrecognized informal member of the Sanhedrin.  Folks in the Sanhedrin liked respectful name calling, so he uses one.  But the goal of Jesus is not to join the Sanhedrin, and fake flattery is not something He wants, so Jesus points the young man back to giving only God respect.  Then Jesus answers him, as any contemporary of the day would.  If you want to enter into “life” (mind you, not the Kingdom, but a better life), you should keep the commandments.  This is the prevailing wisdom of the day, and is meant to challenge the young man’s thinking.

The man responds in verse 18 saying … “He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, [verse 19] Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”  The silly young ruler, actually asks, “which” commandment he is supposed to obey.  As if there is only one that needs it.  This question itself reflects a huge lack of understanding of what obedience means, let alone what harmony with the law would imply.  If this man is looking for “the” commandment to focus on, he is already looking in the wrong place for Kingdom entry.  Nevertheless Jesus gives him an answer, of all the commandments that deal with how to love others.  This is yet another test to challenge the thinking of this man.  You would think his response would be ,,, what about the ones where you love God first? ,,, but that is not what he says.

The incident continues in verse 20 saying … “The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?”  Yikes!!  The arrogance of this man.  To state to Jesus of all people, that you have kept all the commandments that have to do with loving others, since you were a child, is in effect saying, I have not sinned against my fellow man, ever.  First, highly unlikely, given the nature of human kind, second, useless as criterion to enter the kingdom.  The young man is smart enough to know, he still lacks something,  He can sense it.  For all his works he has done.  For all the obedience he has manufactures, it is not enough.  There is something more.  He can sense he is out of harmony.  But instead of coming to Christ as a toddler, looking for the blessing of transformation.  He is coming as mini-rabbi looking for something He can “do” to fix it.

Jesus continues to indulge his questions picking up again in verse 21 saying … “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”  Notice the response of Jesus, He says if you will be “perfect”.  Again not gaining entrance into heaven, but if he wishes to actually begin that process, to understand what loving others truly means.  If he is looking for something he can “do”.  Then go sell everything you have, give it all to the poor, and follow Jesus becoming the 13^th disciple, or disciple next if you will.  This is Jesus offering him an invitation that will finally and fully impact his life, change it, and truly transform it.  It is not the shedding of wealth that will do that, it is the following of Jesus that will.  The problem with his wealth, and with ours, is that it keeps us from following Jesus full time.  It distracts us with the cares of maintaining wealth, whether by working hour after hour on some other duty, and away from Jesus in the process.  We want a part time God.  Available for us when we need Him, but content to be quiet in the corner when we do not.  That is not how it works.  Not for toddlers anyway.  They want Daddy’s time and attention ALL the time.  Eat together, play together, nap together or sleep in Daddy’s bed warm and snug next to Him.  Toddlers don’t care about money, they hardly understand it.  They do care about attention, it is the constant companionship that makes them most happy.  Sharing that with other toddlers, even better.

The incident continues in verse 22 saying … “But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.”  Here is where the concept of “doing” something to obtain your salvation ends.  In great sorrow.  For the pull of sin, and of this world, is stronger than the will you have within you.  Motives matter.  Despite all the behavior the rich man thought adequate since his youth, he never really understood what it meant to love others, at least to love them, more than he loved his wealth, or himself.  That was a bridge too far.  He could have stored his treasure in heaven by giving it away, but instead he preferred staying liquid in this world.  A short sighted response,  But based in thinking that was misguided from the outset.  It was only the connection with Jesus that might have reset it.  But it was that very connection, the man had refused.  At least, refused for now.

Jesus offers an epilogue to his disciples on this incident picking up in verse 23 saying … “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. [verse 24] And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”  Here Jesus repeats a basic truth we should all know, but somehow conveniently forget.  There is no way for us to “do” something to get into heaven.  Getting a camel through the eye of a needle is simply not possible, at least not possible for us.  In simple terms, there is no way to do it on our own.  There is no way to bring ourselves into harmony with God’s laws.  We may think we obey them.  But we do not understand what obedience really means.  Motives matter.  It is not just the actions of our hands and feet, it is motive of our hearts that reflect the heart of God, or just action without empathy, or worse, action with false empathy.

The incident continues in verse 25 saying … “When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? [verse 26] But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”  The disciples are freaked out.  If this rich young ruler (keep in mind wealth is considered an earmark of the direct favor of God in their day), is not headed into the kingdom, who is?  If a solid commandment keeper is not going to heaven, who is?  Every good Jew, and Adventist, are completely bought in on the idea that if you can get to keeping all the commandments, you have it made.  Conversely, if you are not keeping every commandment, you are out.  No ifs, ands, or buts.  Except here was Jesus debunking that entire line of thinking.  His assessment of camels getting through the eye of a needle, is Him stating we will never get there on our own, ever.

It is the second half of this verse that gives us back hope again.  It is not about what we do.  It is about what God can do in us, for us, and often in spite of us.  With men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.  The God who invented physics, can easily bend the norms of physics.  The God who died for our sins, understands more than forgiving our sins, He understands how to change our hearts and minds so we stop sinning all together.  That is what transformation is all about.  It is not what we do.  It is becoming the toddler who trusts Jesus to lay hands on us and pray, and see us transformed by the power of His love injected in us.  We reap the benefits of His work, do none ourselves.  We begin to feel His love for others in us, instead of our own love for us and no one else.  We begin to see truth, as we begin to see The Truth, and no other way.

But the topic of the rewards of the kingdom, was not something concluded just yet …

 

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished? ...

Intent is difficult to define.  What we perceive about any given event is then influenced by our own mind-set at the time.  If we witness someone crossing the street, and at the time we are coming from a joyful place, where things are going well for us, our world seems full of potential, and our dreams are right around the corner – we tend to associate good or at least neutral “motives” or intentions with the scene of someone crossing the street.  However, if we have just been burglarized, our security shattered, our wealth threatened – the person crossing the street may well be in the midst of a get-away.  It is the same person performing the same action, but how we “judge” or evaluate that identical action is not influenced by the person, but influenced by where our own mind is at the time. 

It is not that dissimilar when someone does something nice for us.  We may think the gesture comes from a place of love in the heart of the giver.  This is particularly true if our own heart longs to show love to others.  But we may also think the gesture is done for an ulterior motive, we become suspicious of what we will be obligated to do if we accept it.  We begin to resent the person for placing us in an uncomfortable situation – looking ungrateful if we refuse, or being obligated if we accept.  The negative evaluation of the identical gesture can lead us so far, as to begin to avoid the giver, or worse begin to take pre-emptive or retributive actions against them.  It is sad to say, but a heart that loves only itself, or itself above all others, tends to see “good deeds” through the lens of selfish motives.  We accuse others of the behaviors we are familiar with … because we see them in ourselves.  We come to believe that others are incapable of “good deeds” because we too are largely incapable.  But in typical fashion, we deny the transference, and convince ourselves, this is just being “practical” in our world.

How a “gift” is received is a reflection of the heart of the recipient – it is not a statement about the motives of the giver.  To offer something freely, regardless of how it is received, perhaps in spite of how it is received, is a reflection of the heart of the giver.  Christ offers us the “gift” of freedom from sin.  But in our sin, we judge that He is just trying to take away from us, something that we hold dear.  He may be trying to take away our “fun”, and leave us with the “drudgery” of obeying the law.  Yet Christ continues to offer us this “gift”.  When we begin to realize, that there is no more precious a “gift” that He could have offered us, the realization is a reflection of change in our own hearts.  His “gift” has not changed, our responses have.  We may have at first rejected what He offered, and even been resentful that He would put us in the uncomfortable situation of – looking ungrateful if we refuse, or being obligated if we accept.  We may have gone so far as to avoid Him as the giver, or worse to take pre-emptive or retributive actions against Him.  But He loves and offers just the same.  And when once we accept, He transforms how we think about the same “gift”, forgiving us completely for what we might have done against Him and His “gift” in the past.

If our Savior must endure this rejection, this improper judgment of His motives, this devaluation of the most precious “gift” in all of history as He works to redeem you and me – can we seriously think our minor good deeds will not undergo the same phenomenon as we attempt to reach out to those around us?  Peter understood this phenomenon.  He had witnessed it first hand as Christ healed the lame man, opened the eyes of the blind, and raised Lazarus from the dead.  The beautiful gifts of Christ, were judged by the religious leadership of His day, to be the acts of Satan, because those actions did not conform to the authority of the church.  Having seen this, Peter is keen to share the foreknowledge with the early Christian church, not only about what to expect, but about continuing to return good for evil in spite of how it is received.

Peter continues in chapter 3 of his first letter to the church beginning in verse 14 … “But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; [verse 15] But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”  Offending an oppressive authority carries a substantial risk.  A citizen of North Korea who openly insults the “precious leader” is likely to see his life forfeit as a result.  The same is true in religiously based totalitarian states; offer offense to the dominant religious thinking or ideology and lives are lost as a result.  It was no different under Roman rule, perhaps only that it might have been worse.  Insulting Kim in Korea is a rule everyone can understand.  In Rome, that could apply to a host of people.  Insulting Islam in a predominantly Muslim country is a rule everyone can understand.  In Rome, there were a myriad of religions that came in and out of favor, each particular “god” having its own set of rules and regulations.

Peter has just given wise counsel in our last study about the secret to living a long and happy life.  In a nutshell, he offers that it may be as simple as keeping your tongue in check.  When you speak, avoid malice, mischief, and speak with the love that comes from the inherited blessing of working in conjunction with Christ for the redemption of the lost.  He states in the above verses, that even after following that advice, there may be those who continue to judge you harshly, and threaten your very existence.  But the consistent response of returning good for evil, will drive your oppressor to wonder “how” you are able to respond this way.  Peter then offers, that this event, is what we longed to see.  Stand ready to give an answer of the reason for hope within you, in both meekness and respect, to the one who asks.  It is not in returning equal violence and equal evil for what is done to us, that our oppressor begins to cease his actions.  His heart remains untouched.  But when he is offered love for evil, his heart must understand this, and in so doing can become changed.

Peter continues in verse 16 … “Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. [verse 17] For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.”  Keeping a positive consistent, Christ-like love in our speech, has the added benefit of freeing our hearts and minds from the guilt that comes in speaking or doing evil to others.  Those who are consistent in loving others, sleep better.  And “if” we are to suffer because of the wickedness of other men, then let us suffer for our good deeds and good speech – than to suffer for the gossip we spread, and the lies we tell, and the jealousy and judgmental-ism that so often cross the “Christian’s” lips.  To suffer for our misdeeds is only justice; there is no nobility in it.  But to suffer for our good deeds, is to walk the path of patient love that our Savior tread before us.

Peter continues in verse 18 … “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”  Peter reminds us that Christ suffered and died, not only for those who would accept His gift, but for those who would choose to reject it.  He died for everyone, not just for His followers.  He longed to have all the world experience the freedom from sin He offers.  But how an individual responds to Christ is the choice of that person.  Christ died for him.  How he responds is left to him. 

Peter continues in verse 19 … “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;”  The New Testament does not talk much about the prison ministry of Jesus.  There are some interactions between the disciples of John the Baptist when he is imprisoned that are recorded.  There is also the parable Jesus tells of the separation of sheep and goats based in part on how they visited those in prison.  John’s gospel states that many more things Jesus did while he was here, so many that no volume of books could contain the whole of them.  So perhaps Peter here alludes to a personal knowledge that Jesus did indeed visit those in prison to offer them hope.  Or perhaps Peter here is talking about how Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit is able to free us from the prison of sin and self-slavery we have embraced.  In either case, our Lord is highly concerned about our freedom from sin, and often is misjudged by us, throughout the process of salvation.

Peter continues in verse 20 … “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.”  Notice that even when the world was judged to be so continually evil that it must be destroyed, the sentence was delayed for 120 years, so that perhaps some of mankind might reconsider and be saved.  Entry into the ark was not forbidden by Noah, it was encouraged.  He preached for 120 years about what was coming, and how mankind might be saved.  It takes very little risk to enter the ark “just in case” Noah is right.  It takes tremendous arrogance to ignore the first-hand accounts of Adam and Eve who lived nearly half the time between the garden of Eden and the flood.  It takes tremendous arrogance to ignore the angel with the flaming sword who stood at the entrance to the garden of evil to insure mankind no longer ate from the tree of life.  There was first hand and physical proof of the existence of a creator God.  Yet not a single soul took the precaution of entering the ark “just in case”.  Only Noah and his family were saved.  The disobedient were set in their course, despite the mercy God continued to extend to them.  And as it was in the days of Noah …

Peter continues in verse 21 … “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: [verse 22] Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.”  Peter compares the flood where evil men died, to the symbolism of baptism, where the evil in our hearts is drowned by our choice to submit and follow Jesus Christ.  Peter qualifies that it is not our actions that save us, but our willingness to be transformed by God, brought into harmony with how God thinks, and loves others.  As we emerge from the baptismal waters, so Christ emerged from the grave.  As Christ is ascended into heaven, and has been given all power and authority sitting on the right hand of God, so He is able to save us from the slavery of sin that would have cost us our lives and existence, and bring us home to Him.

The process of our salvation is founded on the patient love of God.  God allowed time for the people in Noah’s day to hear the message, and have the chance to see redemption.  It was the people of that day that refused to be saved.  The actions of the life of Christ did not return hate speech for hate speech, instead constantly trying to guide the Pharisees and unbelievers to the knowledge of the love of God for man.  It was the Pharisees who refused to ever embrace that love, with only few exceptions.  Peter reminds us that our consistent positive love-centered speech is not always going to be received well.  We will be judged harshly, often by those most in need, and most steeped in evil.  But that should not diminish our showing love to them; instead it should serve to increase it.

The end-game for God is about our redemption.  He was willing to endure tremendous pain and suffering and insult, even death, in order to see us redeemed.  He is willing to forgive everything we have done to Him, just hoping so fervently to see us accept His love, and be with Him forever.  There was no price He was not willing to pay to see the job done.  Nothing He would not endure.  That kind of love is limitless, infinite, and beyond our comprehension.  The best we will ever do is accept it.  We may never come to fully understand it.  Our carnal nature can simply not make sense of it.  Yet it exists.  If evil is to be eliminated, it must be by a choice for something else.  His love provides a reason to seek that choice.  His love provides a method of seeing that choice become a reality.  His love abides with us before, during and after this process takes place.  His love is everything …

 

James ...

Now for another brother’s perspective; we turn from the writings of Jude to James.  Again there are various theories about who the writer of the book of James was; one of the more prominent ones is this James was another half-brother of Christ.  Since it is entirely possible this was the case, we will focus on James and see what a second look at his little 5 chapter book might reveal to us.  On first glance, I might characterize James as a realist, or a pragmatist.  Jude focused his writings on the danger of using grace as a license to lust.  James however, focuses more on the things we “should” be doing, more than the evil we often do.  James presents a more practical view of what it means to be a Christian, not just to yourself, but to the world around you.

Chapter One …

So in chapter one, James begins with a premise that learning is not completed in an instant, but rather it is a process we must endure in order to actually learn.  If perfection were granted to you in an instant, would you even know how much transformation had just occurred?  Could you truly appreciate perfection if you did not know the scope of the change you had instantly undergone?  And while faith is a gift of God, the constant exercise of faith, leads to the growing of faith.  Trust is built over time, and to be saved from ourselves, we need to trust God to save us.  This tends to happen little by little as opposed to all at once.  In chapter one, James begins by focusing on this idea.

James counsels us to “count it all joy” when we are confronted with temptation; for to be saved we must allow perfection to do its work within us – this requires our patience.  As we are patient with God and allow Him to change us on the inside, we see the process work over time.  As such our faith is built up.  James continues the idea that if we see our need where it comes to the learning process, we should simply ask God for the wisdom we need.  But we should ask with purpose and intent, not wavering or uncertain of our request.  And wisdom will be granted.  James then reminds us that our status in this world, our wealth, means nothing to the growing of our faith.  The Jewish people had been taught in error, that their wealth was a sign of their favor from God; and they had interpreted this to be a sign of their spiritual favor.  James shatters this idea and reminds them that the wealth of this world is taken in an instant, so do not use it as a barometer of how your faith is doing.

James continues by reminding his readers that God has no evil in Him, and does not tempt men with evil.  It is instead our own carnal nature and desire to please self that is at the root of our temptations.  To be subjected to temptation is then a sign that the process of change is occurring within us.  We must be patient with this process and allow God to complete His work within us over time.  In so doing we learn to rely on Him more and more and to trust Him more and more; this is the key to receiving the crown of life.  James reminds us again that “every good gift” comes down to us from the “Father of lights”.  Faith, and the victory over temptation, the removal of sin from within us – are GIFTS from God the Father.  This is how we receive them, James does NOT say that we earn them from what we do, but rather that we make no mistake as to their origin, and that they are indeed gifts given to us.

Then James the pragmatist emerges.  Beginning in verse 19, James gives practical advice about a Christian should expect to conduct themselves.  We should be “swift to hear” and equally “slow to speak”.  James it would appear from his book, was very concerned about how we speak, and what we say as Christians.  In reading over his little book there is a great number of texts that reference controlling the tongue.  I would guess that James had been exposed to non-believers or perhaps even to former Christians who had endured ‘hateful speech’ offered them by those who claim the name of Christ.  James wishes to state right up front, that what we say, and how we say it – matters.  He adds that we should be “slow to wrath”.  Getting angry does not bring people to Christ; rather it gives them a reason to keep their distance.  James completes his thoughts about the bridling the tongue in verse 26 where he plainly states that a belief we have in our own religious piety can easily be measured against how we speak.

James’ practicality continues, our words will mean less, if they are not followed by what we do.  When engaged in the precious work of spreading the gospel, what we say and how we say it is extremely important.  But it should be backed up by what we do.  In verses 22-25 James makes the point that we should be more than just “hearers” of the word, but “doers”.  When we only focus on ourselves, we quickly lose sight of what is important.  Instead when we keep our focus on the law that liberates (or the law that defines a basis for how to serve and love others), we find our joy in its fulfillment.  We bring a blessing to world when we focus our lives on service to others, instead of only reflecting on ourselves (the guy in the mirror).  James makes this point again and again in his little book.

James ends his first chapter, or the first section of his letter with a definition of what “pure religion” really is … “to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and keep himself unspotted from the world.”  There you have it according to James.  It is not about the Jewish traditions of strict adherence to every Levitical custom outlined by the Priesthood that took matters to extremes.  It is about meeting the needs of those who need it most.  It is about taking care of those who are unable to take care of themselves.  This is the first priority of a “pure” religion.  Then it is to allow God to reform us to the point of remaining unspotted from the world.  In other words, to have the world at large have nothing bad to say about how we conduct our lives.  This was a radical departure with how traditional Judaism measured purity.  It was a radical difference between what the established religion of the day had advocated, and perhaps the reason why the establishment had failed.  Our religion should have been defined by what it did for those in need on a practical basis first.  And let those actions lead to an unspotted reputation; instead of perhaps trying to appear holy, by keeping a distance from those in real need.

Chapter Two …

In chapter two, James opens with a discussion that hits at the heart of each Christian.  He addresses how we treat each other is all too often influenced by the wealth and status of the people we encounter.  I remember being told as a child … “you would not greet the Queen of England in those clothes.”  Or perhaps … “you would not meet the President looking like that.”  The intent of this counsel was to make we want to dress better, be cleaner, and keep a certain decorum at certain times and events.  But there is a reason behind using the President, or the Queen, to make a point.  We associate those people as being special, perhaps more revered, or more respected than “normal” people.  I dare say the coverage of the wedding of William and Kate was a spectacle for the entire world to see; an event requiring the best of our finery to attend, and by select invitation only.  But the thinking that treasures the Queen, is the same thinking that influences how we treat those of status and wealth around us, versus those who are visibly in great need.  This is at the heart of what James addresses in the first few verses of chapter two.

In verses 1-13 of chapter two, James has an extensive discussion about our motives and thoughts being more important to us spiritually, than our outward appearance.  James reminds us that the poor often have more faith than those with means, and as such are often more blessed to take part in the work of spreading the good news, than those who rely on their wealth instead of their savior.  James reminds us that ‘to serve’ is the point of our religion, not ‘to be served.’  From that perspective, I would think both the President and the Queen would be all too happy to have me dressed appropriately to serve them.  But perhaps more importantly, were they true Christians as well, they might also be dressed appropriately to join with me in service to the poor; generally not always something those with wealth and status are comfortable thinking about doing personally.  Perhaps if we ALL dressed to serve, the finery of our clothing would be a thing of the past.

James continues to shatter illusions of Christianity in the verses 14-26 of chapter two.  Just like in the above verses where we sometimes mask our spiritual condition by what we value in ourselves and others, namely wealth and status; we can also deceive ourselves into thinking that knowledge of God is the same thing as faith in God.  Knowing that God exists, is not the same thing, as having a faith in God that allows Him to transform who we are from the inside out.  To realize you cannot remove the sin that is inherent within you, requires a trust, a belief, a hope, and a faith that God will do this work on your behalf.  It is no easy thing to turn over your own salvation to God.  In effect you are trusting that He will do the work of saving you from yourself.  That is real faith.  It is experimental.  It has a cause and effect.  It transforms the life.  It moves beyond just having a knowledge about God, to having a transformative relationship with God.  And James points out, when your faith is real, it cannot help from revealing the transformation in how you think and what you do.

James points out that a real Christian, cannot ignore the plight of the naked and the hungry.  It is not a sense of guilt or obligation that motivates; instead it is love that will NOT remain silent, complacent, or inactive in the face of human need.  James blatantly tells his readers, that a real Christian, one who is undergoing the transformation away from self-service and towards love reflected in the service of others, cannot just offer those in need – nice words.  Can you even imagine Christ having such a casual reaction to those in need?  Christ loved with passion and intensity and genuine concern for each of us.  Christ did not care if you were rich or poor, young or old, male or female.  He did not restrict His love and affection because of the nature of your disease of sin.  He longed only to meet your needs and free you from the bondage of your sin and slavery to self.  A Christian who begins to love like Christ loves, cannot ignore the need of another – they are literally compelled to take action that has meaning.  They simply cannot help themselves.  This is how James measures the “faith” of a Christian.  Does that faith result in emulating the works of Christ, because we share the love of Christ?  Or is our faith, really only a knowledge of Christ, that has not actually transformed how we love, and therefore is comfortable walking away from the needs of others, due to the apathy we hold within our slavery to self.  In short, are you a Christian or not?

To say you have faith, but to remain unchanged and unmotivated to love like Christ, is to mistake a belief that Christ existed for a working-trust that allows Christ to free you from your slavery to self.  Christ did exist.  Believing that to be true does not transform who you are.  To allow Christ to change you, by putting your faith in His gift, in His re-creating power to change who you are – that is how James measures faith.  That kind of a transformative faith in Christ is what the gospel of good news is all about.  We are saved by Christ.  Our “righteousness is imputed” to us, it is given to us as James points out.  This is where faith results in action, it simply cannot help itself.  When you love like Christ loves, your passion begins to spill out in selfless service to others you simply are unable to restrain.  You WANT to serve, you WANT to love, to do not want to sit still and allow one in need, to remain in need. 

For James the transformative power of faith, is like breathing.  Your body cannot live without breathing.  Neither is the love of Christ that is put within you content with sitting still and doing nothing in the face of need.  James points out that Abraham did not just have a philosophical understanding about God, instead his works revealed what faith had done within him.  James continues and cites the example of Rahab the harlot.  Imagine how distasteful that example would have been to a male-centric culture of using a woman to illustrate the transformative power of faith in God.  Note too, the fact that Rahab made her living by engaging in sin, did not prevent her from being a vehicle of faith in action.  As I recall, Rahab was included in the lineage of Christ as well, as was Bathsheba who was equally guilty of adultery, and likely complicit in the murder of her husband by David.  God forgives.  God transforms.  Our destiny is not defined by the sins we have committed, it is defined by the faith in God to save us from the sins of our past, and the nature of our present.  Our future is one of perfection, where Rahab is no longer remembered for her harlotry, but only for her passion to love like Christ loves.  This is the point James is trying to make.  Faith is alive.  It reveals itself in the actions we take.  It is important in both men and women.  And our condition of sin does not preclude us from revealing the transformation even while it is still in progress.

James in chapter two, never once says that we are “saved” from our sins, because of our works.  Instead he is calling us to examine our ideas about faith, to see if our faith takes action, or is content to be complacent.  James is not looking to judge us, and our works, or our apathy.  He is trying to get us to wake up to the idea, that a transformative faith is the basis of our salvation.  The work of removing sin from us is not only about forgiveness for our past, but about transformation of how we think, and how we love, and how we serve.  It is this transformation that leads to perfection.  It is this transformation that kills the “self” in us, and replaces it with Christ.  It is this kind of faith, that will abound in good works because it comes from a passion to love others like Christ loves them. 

What we call “love” can hardly hold a candle to how we see love defined in the life of Christ.  Christ went so far as to be killed by those he was trying to save.  He did not hate those who were literally torturing Him to death, instead in the moments of His greatest agony, He prays for His Father to forgive them.  That is the definition of love itself, to think of His torturers and murderers ahead of Himself even at the moment of His death.  Even then, His thoughts were about the salvation of the guy with the spear, and the one who had nailed down His hands and feet, and the ones standing off to the side, mocking Him as being the true Son of God.  His thoughts even under the extreme physical duress of death, were about their salvation, not His own pain.  That kind of passion to love does not concern itself with the wrong doing of others, only in the relief of their pain that comes from wrongdoing.  The ministry of Christ was not about judgment and condemnation; it was about redemption and the relief of pain.  This is why Christ met the needs of those He encountered.  And it is why James is so adamant, that a transformative faith in Christ results in actions that make a difference in the world.  We are not saved because of what we do.  We do what we do, because the love that saves us, now motivates us, and we simply cannot remain content to be still any longer.

Too often, Christians have been content to read the second chapter of James, and try to apply its meaning that our salvation may be affected by what we do.  It is as if we could somehow save ourselves by the actions we take.  But this was not the intent of what James writes, instead he only uses our actions to reveal to us whether our faith has been transformative or not.  James uses the fruits to define and reveal the tree, not to replace it.  When we attempt to replace the work of Christ within us, with actions we can simply take on our own, we are not actually transformed from our sins.  We do not offset how we think and our desire to sin, by simply doing a few good works.  That work can only be accomplished by Christ, and it is why our righteousness is “imputed” or given to us.  That work of transformation is the “gift” of Christ to us.  Changing the core of who we are, is not something we can do for ourselves, but rather must allow Christ to do within us.  Our actions then are only a reflection of where we are in that work, not the work itself.  This was the point James was trying to make.

Chapter Three …

In chapter three, James returns to discuss our tongues once again.  Perhaps he felt he had not adequately addressed this topic of concern in the verses in chapter one.  Or perhaps while writing his letter, he had yet another negative verbal encounter with himself, or another Christian.  But nonetheless he spent the entirety of chapter three addressing the duality of how we speak and what we say.  Out of the same mouth can come the words that uplift or the words that tear down.  James’ practicality emerges again and he tries to focus us on how things should be, rather than perhaps how they are.  He advocates that Christians should be known for what they say and how they say it.  James reminds us that the bitter speech of envy and strife reveal characters that still bent on the service of self.  As the transforming power of faith in Christ is allowed to bear fruit, our speech of bitterness gives way to words of peace, and meekness in wisdom.  In this James points out, the goal is not just to be right about what we say, but to be able to say it in a meek way that will have an effect, rather than in a proud way that seeks to use “being right” as a vehicle to show off our wisdom.  Even apart from not using our mouths to speak the words that curse and tear down others; James focuses on being careful when speaking the words that lift up, so that we do it in a way that is mindful of those we serve, more than of ourselves.

Perhaps this was a lesson he learned from his Brother.  He was a witness to how Christ spoke to those He was here to redeem.  Christ spoke in words they could understand and relate to.  He never attempted to water down the truth, but He did not use it to condemn either.  Instead He stated the truth of the law, and the beauty of grace and transformation found in submission to God.  The speech of Christ was always designed to draw in His listener not to repel them.  The words were pure and uncompromising and filled with hope, peace, and love.  Christ never excused sin, instead He focused on the beauty of seeing sin removed, and the relief of pain that comes when this happens.  Perfection is not a punishment, it is the cure, the relief from the pain that slavery to self inevitably brings.  The language and manner of Christ was effective even from the age of 12 when he taught the learned masters what the scriptures truly meant in the temple at Passover for 3 days.  Perhaps since James was the half-brother of Christ, he learned well what it means to communicate effectively.  Perhaps the lesson of his Brother was how to speak effectively when working for the redemption of others.  In any case James seems painfully aware of the damage we can cause from our mouths, or the potential blessing we can be to the world.

Chapter Four …

Chapter four of his book contains some of the most often quoted thoughts in scripture.  But all too often they are quoted without context and so their meaning is lost.  When reading the chapter James makes a greater point about humility that is often lost.  In verses 1-5 James reveals how pride in ourselves leads to lust, envy and strife with each other.  When we substitute our own ideas about Christian purity and transformation for the humility of submission, we wind up looking more like the world than like our Lord.  In verse 6 James outlines the precursor, or the prerequisite for the removal of our sins – that is to lose the pride in self.  For God to transform us, we must begin with humility.  This is a work that will be done for us, not by us.  We will see relief from our sins, not when we engage our pride, but when we let it go and seek God in the humility of knowing only Christ can change how we think and what we want.  James then continues in verse 7 … “Submit yourselves to God”  This part of the quote is almost always omitted, as is the precursor in verse six about humility and the lack of pride in ourselves.  But it is only in this context, that the words that follow can actually be achieved.

Verse 7 continues … “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  That is the quote that gets all the attention in general.  Taken without the preceding verses that outline humility and submission, it makes it sound like we somehow have the power and ability to do this resistance on our own.  Instead of recognizing as James does in the preceding verses the need for humility and submission first; or even ignoring the verses that follow which again outline getting close to God and in so doing become clean through His transformative power; we focus only on the idea that we can resist the devil and he will flee.  But in truth, have you ever seen this happen in your own life?  Have you ever met the devil with a temptation, resisted him, and found he left you alone?  So you were never tempted again on that score huh?  I doubt it.  Cause it simply does not work that way.  This quote should be taken in context and then it makes perfect sense.  When we are humble and lose our pride, when we recognize that we cannot win, and therefore we submit ourselves to God – then God does our fighting for us, God does our resisting for us, and the devil flees from God, not from us.  Satan flees from the power of God he sees in us, as we allow God to do His transformative work in us.  It is this the devil fears, and runs from.  The devil is only being practical, he cannot win against Christ, he knows it, so he moves on to someone who still thinks they can do it for themselves and does not need Christ to fix them.

As if to punctuate the point, James calls out in verse 10 of chapter four … “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.”  Here we are again.  We are lifted out of our sins by Christ, not of our own doing.  We are lifted out of our sins, transformed by His power, as we accept that this work is a gift, not something we will ever earn or deserve.  This knowledge brings humility, and in humility we accept the gift of our transformation.  Our pride is the very thing that causes all the troubles outlined in verses 1-5, only our humility and acceptance of the work of Christ, a work founded in our submission to Christ, sees us think differently, want differently and love differently.  Only the power of Christ scares the devil into walking away from us.  Only the power of Christ can so change us that what once caused us a temptation no longer has any appeal to us whatsoever.  This is the work of perfection only Christ can bring. 

Yet too many Christians quote the phrase “resist the devil and he will flee from you” without mentioning the humility and submission that precedes it.  Out of context, this phrase leads to the exaltation of our own abilities to remove sin from ourselves and away from the gospel of humility and submission to Christ.  It represents a pattern in Christianity to replace the work of Christ in the removal of our sins, with a work we think we can do for ourselves.  It is not what James was saying, but it is what the devil knows we would prefer – the illusion of control.  The devil knows he can easily defeat us on our own, and so he attempts to lure us into the idea that we do not need Christ to defeat the evil that is within us, we can simply resist him and do it on our own.  He adds to that the twisted idea from the earlier texts that perhaps we can somehow save ourselves by our good works.  And he comes up with the perfect trifecta of replacing the work of Christ with a reliance on self. 

Self becomes the center of our “Christian” religion, and the devil wins completely from inside the church of Christ, not having to attack it from the outside where he could not hope to win.  This is the ploy of Satan that we interpret scripture to rely on us, and omit the need to submit to God, and recognize the humility of requiring His gift to save us.  Too often the words and meaning of the writings of James have been twisted in this regard, even by those who bear the responsibility of leading from the pulpit.  Sermons that advocate a reliance on self to see sin ended within us, are exactly what the devil prescribes.  If he can keep our gaze in the mirror and away from Christ, he wins, and he knows it.  But these ideas are not based in what James plainly writes.  James plainly states the absolute need for humility and submission before and after this phrase, and in that context it works.  Absent that context, the devil uses the lure of control over our own salvation to replace the faith and humility and submission he knows we actually need.  It is an excellent case of illustrating that truth is not found in the interpretation of scripture, it is found in the person of Jesus Christ.  Had we kept Jesus Christ at the center of our every belief, we would not ever debate the possibility of our own control over sin, and instead kept focus on the only cure for sin, that can ever or will ever exist – Jesus Christ.,

Farther down in verses 13-17 of chapter four, James reminds us that we have no “control” over even our own lives.  What we do we are able to do, only as God permits us the ability to do it.  We do not have the power to keep our promises, or attain our ambitions.  Only God is in control over us, and to stay on point, only God can remove the evil that lies within us.  The point of chapter four of James is about our absolute need for humility and submission.  This allows the work of transformation that removes our pride, and with it, the number of evils that spring from a dedication to the pleasing of self.  James clearly understood the nature of how salvation worked.  In this his writings are precisely consistent with those of his brother Jude.  They may have shared different concerns about what the church needed and the problems it was facing.  But the mechanism by which each member would come to know perfection and the removal of sin was absolutely consistent between them, and further consistent with every other Biblical author as further study will reveal.  It is Christ alone that saves us.  Nothing we will ever do will accomplish that for ourselves.

Chapter Five …

In chapter five, James begins to summarize the key points of his letter.  He begins in verses 1-6 by reminding his readers that wealth has nothing to do with measuring our spiritual favor with God.  Wealth is more of a curse than a blessing, and in the day of James in the early Christian church it was common practice for a believer to sell literally everything they owned and give every cent to the church.  It was a communal lifestyle that no-one in our modern ideas of Christianity would ever even consider.  Our own ideas of self-reliance seem to have found deep roots within us over time.  In verses 7-11 of chapter five, James reminds us that patience is a part of our learning process.  It builds our faith, and is part of the work of perfection within us.  In verse 12 he again focuses on making sure we watch what we say and how we say it.

In verses 13-18 of chapter five, James includes the idea that the power of prayer is real, and will have real results for his readers.  It is incredible to me, how unequivocal James is about praying for the sick.  He does not dabble with wording couched in the ability to explain a “no” answer from God.  He simply says, if someone is sick, let them pray for healing.  If it is really bad let them be anointed with oil and prayed over by the elders of the church.  And they will be healed, what is more their sins will be forgiven them.  James makes no apologies for the power of prayer.  He does not temper down his readers expectations, with the “reality” that often sick people die in the “real” world.  Instead he says pray, and be healed.  Our problem with our prayers is in the mirror.  We pray with timid expectations and couch our words so that a “no” answer is not something that would test our faith.  Why not simply follow the counsel of James, seek anointing when our bodies lay in infirmity, and expect fully the healing power of our God to be employed on our behalf, or on the behalf of those we love.  Perhaps it is time that as people who claim the name of Christ, we begin to pray like our God has the power we say He has.  Perhaps it is time we have more faith in His desire to heal us and remove our pain, and less doubt about His intentions to do so.  James did not seem to doubt, or equivocate about it.  I say we join him, and heed his counsel regarding our prayers.

Finally James ends in verses 19-20 of chapter five, by once again focusing on our core ambition, our primary mission in this world, to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.  To lead an erring soul to Jesus, to point out to them how Christ transformed us, and is in the process of removing our slavery to self, is the highest goal any Christian can hope to attain.  James’ practicality once again emerges as he declares the value of saving one lost soul, even in our sinful condition, gives our lives much more value than all the degradation we may have embraced in our quest to serve self.  We may not yet be perfect, but we can still lead others to the source of perfection.  We can show them that Jesus will begin the work of transformation within them as well, and they can join us on the journey home.  It is obviously then, not our own perfection we point them to, but the perfection that Christ alone can offer.  James understood plainly the nature of how salvation from sin worked.  He was absolutely consistent with his brother Jude.  And despite some traditional misinterpretations of his writings to be works-centric, when read in context, one cannot draw any other conclusion than that James understood humility and submission to God were the only mechanism by which one could be saved.  James challenges our ideas about faith, and questions whether our faith is transformative or not.  But he never suggests we can replace or augment our faith based on what we do.  Our actions reflect our transformation, they do not cause it or define it.

Now that we have reviewed what the family of Christ may have had to say about Him, we will turn to re-examine the writings of those who were His disciples and knew Him personally as we continue to take second look …

Helping God ...

There is a huge distinction between serving God and helping Him.  Serving God is the highest honor any intelligent being can aspire to.  Helping God is something humans believe - is a good thing and may be required as circumstances dictate.  We sometimes attempt to “help” God when His timeline does not seem to match our “needs”.  We “help” God when we see His promises just out of our grasp and believe with only mild effort on our part, we can acquire them.  We “help” God in His work to save lost souls, by pointing out to them the error of their ways.  In short, we like to think of ourselves as God’s little helpers; partners, coworkers, and dare we think it, perhaps peers?  After all “helping” God seems to have plenty of examples in scripture, perhaps God even expects it?

God makes promises in scripture.  Take His promise to Abraham to make of him a great nation, this promise was unconditional.  In point of fact, when we examine the promises of God, they are all fairly unilateral – God does the work, provides the blessing, etc. – and we simply accept it.  God’s promise to Abraham was not contingent on how many wives Abraham had, or would have.  It was not contingent on how old Abraham was at the time, or how old he would be when this promise was actually fulfilled.  His promise did not rely on how often Abraham slept with Sarah his wife.  Abraham believed and perhaps hoped that the fulfillment of God’s promise would come soon.  So he attempted to “help” God by entering into a new sexual relationship with Hagar, Sarah’s slave.  She did conceive.  Abraham thought, this was it, the fulfillment of God’s promise.  But not so.  And now the tension between the first wife and new wife became so great, He would lose his young son, as Hagar and Ishmael fled into the wilderness.  The blessing of God remained on Ishmael despite his unconventional origination, but God was not looking for Hagar’s help in this matter.

When it would take a miracle to conceive, Abraham and Sarah did have their promised son.  God wanted for Abraham to know, it was not luck, it was not mere coincidence, it was not the natural result of a man being with his wife.  He wanted Abraham to know this son would be from Him - a gift from God.  He did not need Abraham’s help in this matter.  In point of fact, Abraham’s blessing extended to Ishmael and he too became a great nation.  But peace between the descendants of Ishmael and those of Isaac would appear to be forever elusive.  In his efforts to help God fulfill His promise, Abraham inadvertently created generations of war between brothers who have very different views of how to honor the God of Abraham.

God promised Jacob that he would lead in his household despite being the younger twin.  Had Jacob simply waited on the Lord perhaps the story of enmity between he and his brother may never have existed.  But instead, Jacob and his mother, took matters into their own hands, deceived his father, stole the blessing, and brought extraordinary strife between brothers once again.  Jacob would have to flee his father’s tent to escape the wrath of his brother.  Leadership would elude Jacob for decades, his life would be hard working for his uncle Laban.  As he deceived his father, so he too would be deceived by his uncle.  All of this pain, from Jacob’s desperate efforts to claim the promise of God, himself, through the means he had available.

Neither Jacob nor Abraham was “serving” God when they attempted to help Him see His promises fulfilled.  Serving God would imply that God had asked them to take a specific action and they were only complying with the request of the Lord.  God did not ask either of them to do what they did.  They initiated the action.  They did it themselves.  In addition, note the complete absence of seeking the counsel of the Lord before they pursued their attempts at helping.  They did not ask God if it was His will for what they would do.  They did not ask even if it was OK.  They kept God out of what they did.  Human effort to make up for Divine inaction in the timeframes humans believe are critical.  These were two patriarchs of our faith, but it was precisely a lack of faith that led to these impatient actions.  Both would learn from them.  Both men’s faith would increase over time from the pain of consequences that would come from what they did.  Scripture does not record their actions as an example of what we should do in these cases.  In fact it is just the opposite of this.  God does not need our “help”, and yet His promises are always fulfilled.

Perhaps the hardest lesson taught in scripture is “be still and know that I am God”.  “Still” is not something most of us are comfortable with for any length of time.  We long to see our “needs” fulfilled in short order.  We wish to maintain a measure of control of the process.  The land God promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob would not remain unoccupied while their descendants sought refuge in Egypt.  Over 400 years the tribes of Jacob, now Israel, would descend from honored guests, to despised slaves.  The Pharaoh’s would utilize the wealth Joseph and his God were responsible for bringing to their nation on themselves.  They would take the credit for it, and claim divinity in their bloodlines.  They would go so far as to execute the first born children in Israel to “keep the numbers down” lest there be a rebellion in the near future.  Moses alone would escape that slaughter.  The promise of a deliverer would be fulfilled, but only when it would take a miracle, only when God alone could break the power of the Pharaoh.  Moses was more inclined to run from the responsibility that to initiate his own actions to begin it; and so Moses served God, following God’s leadership not running ahead of it.  Moses relayed the will of God.  He did not try to define it.  Moses waited for God to use His power.  And the power of the Lord freed His people.

But on their way back to the land of promise the children of Israel wanted to “help” God take back their land.  God offered to send in wasps, to drive the current inhabitants out of the way of His people.  This offer was rejected by the Israelites.  Imagine how much death could have been avoided if they had simply listened to God.  Cities, homes, fields, crops, would have been left undestroyed, without the stain of blood.  The peoples driven from this land would be alive afterwards to wonder why this God would take such an interest in His people to perform this great work for them.  The fame of the God of Israel would have grown yet again, by those whose personal testimony was one of wasps driving them out of the way of His people.  Instead they would be driven into the ground by the bloodlust of those who claimed to follow God.  In the process, many of the house of Israel would also fall.  They would not succeed in driving out all the inhabitants.  Those that remained, remained enemies, always looking for an opportunity to make the lives of the invaders worse.  False gods and promiscuous sexual worship of those idols would enter the house of Israel.  The resulting births would create new temple prostitutes if they were girls, and human sacrifice or slaves if they were boys.  This evil would bring a cycle of invasion, repentance, and temporary reform.  But because the servants of other gods remained in the area, the cycle would repeat again and again; all of this because the children of Israel wanted to “help”.  They wanted to feel like they “earned it”.

And are we any different today?  Our salvation from evil is a free gift from Christ, yet we cling to the illusion that He must need a partner in this effort.  We hold on to the idea that our works, our actions, our faith, our motives must somehow play a role in our own redemption.  We too want desperately to feel like in some small way, we have earned it, we deserve it.  We twist texts on forgiveness to imply that we deserve forgiveness because we forgave another.  Instead of accepting the personal freedom and liberation from bad feelings that comes with truly releasing another in forgiveness for a wrong they have done to us; we instead make forgiveness a conditional act. 

We apply texts that advocate actions, to the actions we wish to take.  But like Jacob or Abraham, we do not actually take the time to seek the counsel of the Lord as to His will in the matter.  We quote scriptures to ourselves, and then leave Him out of it.  We initiate our own actions but in His name.  Carry placards in front of abortion clinics, or simply sneer at homosexuals we see out in public, or politely tolerate those of a different race until we are able to escape their company.  None of these actions reflect the love our Lord feels for His children.  But many are too common in Christian circles.  Actions we initiate on our own, in an effort to help God in His work of saving souls.  But God does need our “help”.  He needs our service.  Our service defined in actions of love to those same souls we look down upon.

More to the point, God does not need my “help” in saving me.  He needs me to let Him save me, and instead only focus on serving Him.  Service implies a relationship where I do nothing to lead.  I am not the co-leader, the co-pilot, the co-anything.  I am the servant.  Servants are told what to do, they do not choose for themselves.  Servants are directed by their Lord where to go, what to say, and what to do.  A servant is humble.  A servant is pliable.  A servant can be taught.  And in our case, we are the willing servants of Christ, so we are able to fully trust that our Lord would not ever steer us wrong.  Service steeped in love becomes my aspiration.  Allowing God to control what I think, what I want, and therefore what I do – is the basis of accepting His gift to me that I will never deserve.  It is the “I” that must be crucified if Christ is ever to be reflected in me.  It is “self” that is the enemy of our God.  He never looks inward at Himself to make Himself feel better.  Instead He is always focused on us, the object of His love.  He is always doing for us, longing for us, whispering to us, and faithfully fulfilling His promises to us.  Our God has no concept of “self”.  That is something we know, because we have embraced evil.

Let us learn that service requires we let God lead.  Let us take our plans, and our intentions to God, and ask for His counsel BEFORE we proceed.  Let us wait on His response and not try to rush His promises or see them fulfilled with our “help”.  Let us change the world by reflecting His love to all we encounter, and leave the process of the cleansing of sin up to the only God who can do it in me, or in others.  This is the hallmark of a servant of Christ.