Humble Privilege

Yesterday I travelled to Rotorua, New Zealand to meet with friends at the Calvary Chapel Bible Institute.  It just so happened Australia played New Zealand in the World Cup Rugby Union final for the first time in history.  As with most teams who face the legendary “All Blacks,” a respectable effort from the Aussies ended up as second best.  For the first time ever, a team has won the World Cup back-to-back, and with it “bragging rights” for the next four years.

The term “bragging rights” is an interesting one.  The concept in the sporting world is when your team wins and you “have scoreboard,” you have the right to remind others of your victory and their defeat when it pleases you.  It occurred to me that bragging is never good when it springs from a root of pride, and the scoreboard says it all.  Better than being proud over our personal accomplishments or those of the teams we support, the biblical approach is to consider the humble privilege of competing in lieu of boasting.

Since my hiatus from organised sport as I rehabilitated my surgically repaired knee, I have seen even the opportunity to compete as a gift of God.  Even when my team struggles or I do not achieve what I consider a respectable standard, I should be grateful to God for the opportunity to compete and be thankful for the opposition (regardless of their attitude), umpires (regardless of their questionable calls), gear, and grounds (regardless of the condition) which makes the game possible.

As a child of God, I have the privilege and responsibility to walk in humility before God and men – even on the sporting fields.  Instead of taunting, criticising others, or indulging in my “bragging rights,” I ought to honour God by attitudes which reflect His grace.  I can live out the joyful humble privilege, thanking God for every opportunity He supplies whether as a competitor in the arena or a spectator.  God is not interested in making competitive people catatonic and careless, but to bring the flesh under the power of His Spirit that we might honour and glorify Him with more fervency still.

Here One Day, Gone the Next

Everything which seems so solid, secure, and predictable in this earth can suddenly change forever.  Powerful nations which ruled others have been subdued and forgotten.  Well-built houses, and established trees suddenly plunged into a sinkhole or were wiped from the earth in a devastating tornado.  People who are healthy and strong can perish in an instant.  Jesus taught in the Temple, but He also used the massive stones of the Temple to illustrate how the things which seem immovable can be quickly cast down and ruined forever.  Some say the future is uncertain, and in a sense it is.  No one knows precisely how the future will play out.  From a biblical perspective, however, the future of the world is absolutely certain:  it is all going to perish.

Matthew 24:1-2 tells the story:  "Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. ² And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  Some of the stones used in building the Temple weighed hundreds of tons.  When I visited the Western Wall Tunnels just weeks ago, I placed my hands on the Western Stone which is estimated to weigh 570 tons!  The words of Jesus came true years later in 70AD when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and pulled apart the Temple.  Based upon the size of stones used in the Temple, the disciples likely thought it would last for generations!  But as Jesus said, the buildings of the Temple were all thrown down and left as a heap of rubble.

The claims of Jesus piqued the curiosity of His disciples.  Matthew 24:3-8 reads, "Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" ⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows."  The disciples asked three specific questions which Jesus answered in the remainder of Matthew 24 and chapter 25.  What Jesus addressed in this passage was 1) when these things would be (the destruction of the Temple) and 2) the signs of His coming.  Since the Temple was destroyed in 70AD and Jesus has not yet returned, we are currently living in the days of which He spoke.

When I hear of wars and rumors of wars, I am not surprised.  When I hear of earthquakes in various places, I am not afraid.  This is exactly what Jesus said would happen.  I am saddened to hear of the horrors of war, the loss of life, and the terrible conflicts which consume fighters, families, and little ones.  "All these things must come to pass," Jesus said, "but the end is not yet."  If we have seen the beginning of sorrows with genocides, the Jewish holocaust, tsunamis, earthquakes, forest fires, terrorist attacks, diseases, and hate, what will the end of these things be?  As Jesus said on His way to being crucified, "If they do these thing in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?" (Luke 23:31) Thank the LORD for the comfort and eternal security He offers through faith in Jesus Christ!  Because I am in Him, I am not worried about the end of all things, fearful with uncertainty.  But I ought to be mindful that my end can come in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.  At any second my life can be over and I will be judged before the Living God.

This world has not seen the end of war and tragedy.  With burgeoning conflicts between the nations, it is like the powers of the world are dusting off their swords to go to battle.  The escalation will continue, and the rhetoric will someday end with real fighting.  Politics and policies will be powerless to stop the tide, and nations will fall.  Yet Christians need not be troubled or afraid at the dangerous spectre of these things.  Did not Jesus tell us beforehand?  Jesus spoke to His disciples in John 16:33:  "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

The Snooze Button

Every morning I hear the same thing:  beeping, rustling of covers, the click of the snooze button, and precisely eight minutes later repeat.  It's not just one person who has fallen for the infernal snooze button, but both of my sons.  After this charade in stereo persisted for over half an hour, I walked to the hallway which connected both rooms.  I welcomed those young men into the day with a question:  "What is the purpose of your alarm clock?"  "To wake us up," one of the youths mumbled.  "If it wakes you up, why don't you get up?  Why not set the alarm for half an hour later and enjoy more unbroken sleep?  Do me and yourselves a favour.  Good morning!"  The complimentary and happy dad-dispensary of wisdom was open for business.

Now if you are one of those who love your snooze button almost as much as life itself, please do not take offense.  I have lived with people who had the bizarre obsession to press that button for over an hour every morning, and hearing the blaring tone every eight minutes became an offense to me!  But the LORD showed me a wondrous truth about this "rise and shine procrastinator," this snooze button which is the cause for me to place my alarm out of reach so I must rise out of bed to turn it off because I have a knack of pressing it without waking up fully.  Yes, it once had its hooks in me too.

It occurred to me the Holy Spirit convicts us to cause us to rise from spiritual slumber and bring us to our senses.  Conviction of sin has been the reason many people came to God at the beginning.  When first exposed to Jesus Christ I was one who was convinced of my sin, I was heading for hell, and needed the forgiveness and salvation afforded me by grace through faith in Him.  But after we have trusted in Christ, we are not instantly perfect.  We can be easily deluded and seduced by selfishness, our eyes can cease to focus resolutely on Jesus, and we fall for temptations.  And our languishing lands us in a spiritual drowsiness, a stupor from which we are only woken by the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  Alarm bells can start blaring in our minds even before we knowingly plunge into sin, but we have a way of pressing the snooze button.  Comfortable in our bed of sin, conviction is more of an irritant to be silenced rather than a practical, gracious call to upright living as God intends.

How do you treat the conviction which comes from the Holy Spirit as we read the word, hear a sermon, or as we are left alone with our thoughts?  Is conviction a "bad" feeling we try to cover with activity, self-justification, or numb with alcohol?  Or does conviction rouse us to the point we leap out of bed and go to God for cleansing and restoration so we might again walk in obedience?  A shower cleans the body and makes the groggy mind more alert, but only Jesus is able to wash us and bring us back into sweet fellowship with Him.  When the alarm sounds in your heart and mind, don't press the snooze button and go back to sleep.  Seek the LORD about the reason for the wake-up call and walk in obedience according to His Word.  God doesn't just want to wake you up, but He wants you to rise and shine for His glory.

Commit the Fight to Christ

Reading Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards during our discipleship course at Calvary Chapel Sydney has yielded some amazing discussions.  What impresses me greatly about David is how he responded when word came his son Absalom proclaimed himself king in Hebron.  The conspiracy was strong, and King David - the anointed of God - chose to voluntarily flee his fortified position in Jerusalem to prevent bloodshed.  He knew Absalom's ruthless nature, and he would not hesitate to kill even those of the king's house to accomplish his end.

Consider how David did not act like any other king before or since.  What king has ever fled the citadel barefoot and weeping when he had every right to stay, strengthen his defenses, and command his loyal subjects to fight for him?  When the high priest brought the Ark of the Covenant out of the Tabernacle after David, he commanded it be returned to the most holy place.  King Saul was glad to carry the Ark with him so on a whim he could inquire of the LORD, but David would entertain no such convenience.  2 Samuel 15:25-26 reads, "Then the king said to Zadok, "Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and show me both it and His dwelling place. ²⁶ But if He says thus: 'I have no delight in you,' here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him."  So humble and contrite was David that he laid no claim or right to the throne.  David allowed God the possibility to remove him from the throne.  God had freely given, and David maintained God had the right (and his blessing!) to take away.

The following days revealed God was not finished with David, but would end the rebellion started by Absalom by granting David's loyal men a great victory.  Yet even when the victory was secured through the death of usurping Absalom, David did not immediately return to the throne.  He waited until the people requested his return, confirming his ordination by God to rule over all Israel.  It is shocking to see such a heart of humility in a king, and is a foreshadowing of the meekness and humility of the King of kings, Jesus Christ.  He was the King of the Jews, yet He laid down His life without resistance.  He offered His cheeks to the smiters, and gave His back to the scourge.  He bore the weight of the mockery and spitting, and Jesus did not recoil when the crown of thorns was pressed rudely into His scalp.  He bore His own cross to Calvary in His humiliation, and He presented His hands and feet to the cruel nails.  He could have insulated Himself from all pain and suffering, calling legions of angels to His aid.  But He did nothing, except commit Himself fully to His heavenly Father who loved Him and called Him to suffer.

As one anointed by the Holy Spirit, do you still fight for your rights?  Or have you learned from the example of men like David and Jesus who committed themselves to He who judges righteously?  Jesus was not passive as He went to the cross, for it was an act of a will submitted to the Father's will.  He actively sought God's favour for those ignorant souls who hated and murdered Him without cause.  Even as David was restored to his former glory, Jesus was exalted above all others as the firstfruits from the dead, raised in eternal glory.  He is both King and High Priest, having ascended to the Father and will someday return to judge the unbelieving world and rule with a rod of iron.  There are many Absaloms around, usurping the authority of the true King, but they will all be overthrown and slaughtered by the sword which comes from the mouth of the Ancient of Days.

God will fight for us, and it is not weakness to meekly commit ourselves into His hand for He delights in us.  He will do to us what seems good to Him, whose ways are grace, mercy, and truth.