The issue that I have is with “fencing the table.” Is it right to refuse the Lord’s Supper to those who do not believe in this sacrifice? I have heard all of the reasons in support of it, but I am still left unsettled about it. The primary reason to fence the table, as far as I have heard, is because of what is written in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” The argument (for lack of a better word) is that if a person is a non-believer that he or she would be partaking in communion in an unworthy manner and therefore eating and drinking judgment on himself. My concern is that when Paul says “an unworthy manner” is he speaking of whether or not the person is saved. A look at the context does not lead me to believe so. In this passage, Paul is addressing the atrocious practices of the Corinthians during communion. The rich and fat were eating and drinking first, even to the point of getting drunk while leaving the rest of the poor folk nothing. Communion was not a time of reflecting upon Christ’s sacrifice for our sin, but rather was a time to pull rank and strut your status feathers. Anyone who sat down at the communion table in order to be served was coming in an unworthy manner. It was his belly that was on his mind, not his wretchedness.

We as Christians often come to communion in unworthy manners. Do not let this be interpreted as an out for all people, but rather a higher bar for believers. Any time that we treat communion flippantly, we are disgracing the wonder and the glory of the marvelous work of the cross. We have taken the miraculous and over abundantly gracious act of atonement for our sins and treated it like old mundane news or something that is barely worth our time or effort. Either this or we make it into some sort of religious rite that we can check off in order to tilt God’s scale to the side of his favor. If this is the case, then we don’t understand the significance of the atoning sacrifice that communion represents in the first place. Christian, do not eat or drink communion in an unworthy manner, lest you eat or drink communion on yourself. Paul wrote his letter to the church, not to unbelievers. Do not think he is not talking to or about you here.

So if I’ve upped the bar on the worthiness of communion, is it still inclusive of salvation? This is probably where I’ll catch the most flack (or perhaps get corrected and shown where I have faulty understanding). I don’t think it is. I don’t see anywhere in the context that salvation is even remotely addressed. Logically, it might be inferred, but then why did Jesus let Judas Iscariot take the first communion? Luke 22:21, “But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.” Unless you could say that Judas turned Christ over to be killed in faith and was a Christian at the time of the first Lord’s Supper, then Christ himself offered communion to a non-believer. It cannot be a sin to offer communion to a non-Christian since Jesus did not sin. I don’t think that many people would say that anyway (some may, I don’t know), but for the most part it is to protect the non-Christian from God’s judgment. But are not all non-Christian still children of wrath? Are they not all still under God’s judgment? Yes, of course. Judas did not take communion in a worthy manner, he couldn’t he had not seen the glory of God in Christ. He had not seen his own unworthiness before Jesus and could not see the grace in his [future] sacrifice.

My issue, though, is why keep them away? Why prevent someone who is watching Christian behave like Christians from tasting and seeing the Lord in this way? If it is a time of participating in the body and blood of Christ and taking that upon ourselves, why tell someone that they are not allowed and they have to stay in their seat? Yes, communion is a family meal; non-Christians don’t get it. The thing is why would anyone even want to take communion if it doesn’t mean anything to them? Let the person decide whether or not they want to participate. Don’t block them out. If a neighbor came by while you were eating a meal with your family, would you tell them to go away until you were finished, or would you invite them in to dine with you? Would you show them hospitality or a cold shoulder? I think that anyone who feels a desire to experience the grace and hospitality of our savior should be allowed to take communion so that just maybe it becomes real to them. Maybe the conviction of their unworthiness and God’s grace through the broken body and spilled blood will overtake them and our neighbor would become a member of our family at the dinner table.

Please leave comments and teach me where I am wrong here if I am. I am not out to prove people wrong, but to learn or perhaps teach. It is ONLY the truth of God’s word that I am after here, not divisiveness or subversiveness. I am a member of a wonderful church that fences the table. I am and will continue to gladly stay submissive to my elders as my authority. It is my pleasure to do so.

The aim of Ash Wednesday worship is threefold: to meditate on our mortality, sinfulness, and need of a savior; to renew our commitment to daily repentance in the Lenten season and in all of life; and to remember with confidence and gratitude that Christ has conquered death and sin.  Ash Wednesday worship, then, is filled with gospel truth.  It is a witness to the power and beauty of our union with Christ and to the daily dying and rising with Christ that this entails.

The imposition of ashes is often a central part of the worship service.  Ashes have a long history in biblical and church traditions.  In Scripture ashes or dust symbolize frailty or death (Gen 18:27), sadness or mourning (Esther 4:3), judgment (Lam 3:16), and repentance (Jon 3:6).  Some traditions also have considered ash a purifying or cleansing agent.  All these images are caught up in the church’s use of ashes as a symbol appropriate for Lent.  In Christ’s passion we see God’s judgment on evil; in our penitence we express sorrow and repentance for our sins; in our redication we show that we are purified and renewed.  The ashes, which often are the burnt residue of the previous year’s palms from Palm Sunday, are often mixed with a little water and carried in a small dish.  As the leader goes from worshiper to worshiper, or as worshipers come forward, the leader dips a finger in the moist ash and makes a cross on each person’s forehead (the “imposition”), saying words such as “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return,” or, “Consider yourself dead to sin and alive in Jesus Christ.”

In some contexts, the imposition of ashes may be a barrier to thoughtful Lenten worship because of its newness or because it may be misunderstood.  Most important is that worshipers rend their hearts (Joel 2:13).  Decisions about whether or how to practice the imposition of ashes should always take into account that the service should build up the body of Christ.

Scriptures Applying the Theme of Ash Wednesday:

Psalm 51 (and other penitential psalms: 6, 32, 38, 102, 130, 143)
Psalm 90
Psalm 103
Psalm 139:23-24
Joel 2:12-17
Matthew 5:3-6
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-23
Matthew 11:28-29
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2
1 Peter 1:1-2:3

Order of Worship

Welcome:

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent.  The Lenten season is the 40-day period before Easter, excluding Sundays.  It is a time of preparation for Resurrection Sunday, Easter, by far the Christian’s most significant holiday.  If you’re like me, most years Good Friday and Easter jump up pretty quickly.  If I’m lucky, I’ll read a Gospel account of the Passion Week sometime that weekend.

Lent is designed to head off that surprise and prepare our hearts to receive the Easter celebration well.  With your order of worship I provided a description of Ash Wednesday I pulled from a worship book.  I want to read one portion:

The aim of Ash Wednesday worship is threefold: to meditate on our mortality, sinfulness, and need of a savior; to renew our commitment to daily repentance in the Lenten season and in all of life; and to remember with confidence and gratitude that Christ has conquered death and sin.

That will be the structure of today’s worship, with special attention to our mortality, sinfulness and need.  Yes, we want to remember that Christ has come, died in our place, and rose again.  But there’s a helpfulness to stop and dwell on our mortality and sinfulness, for from this posture the cross and the empty grave are so much sweeter. We cannot appreciate God’s infinite mercy if we do not realize we need mercy. We cannot understand salvation apart from our recognition of our need to be saved.

Lent is a time to remember the prophet Isaiah, in 57:15

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

And in 66:1-2,

Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool;
… All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

Our Holy God does not dwell with prideful people, but only with those who are contrite and lowly.  Similarly, Jesus opens the Beatitudes in Matthew 5,

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

A biblical spirituality always begins in sackcloth and ashes.  We, who are surrounded by delusions of our own grandeur, who are taught from when we’re little to have high self-esteem, we have to remind ourselves and remind each other of our lowliness before God the Father. Lent is not a season to deny hope, but rather to remind us why we need hope. It’s a season when we observe the darkness around and within us in anticipation of celebrating the light and hope of Easter morning.

A brief aside on fasting: traditionally, Christians choose to fast in some way during Lent in preparation for Easter.  We give up something (food, chocolate, soda, sleep, Saturday mornings, internet surfing, TV, video games, sleeping in beds). The point is not to make some grand gesture to appease God. The point is to create a new space in our life to acknowledge our dependence on the Lord – or as the case may be, something other than the Lord. Fasting from food will tell us we “need” food. Fasting from TV will tell us that we “need” to be entertained. So we fast, anticipating these voices that reveal our dependence. In response to them, we will echo Jesus’ words when he was tempted while fasting – “Man does not live on bread alone.”

So consider how you might fast this season. Many will do some of the things I mentioned. In some traditions, a weekly 24-hour fast is part of the practice, fasting from dinner on one day to dinner the next day. Other traditions give up particular foods or practices. Ask the Lord, ask your friends, and ask your spouse. They’ll probably know what you need to give up. It’s not too late to decide.  Whatever you commit to, remember that your goal is not to read a book instead of watching TV, or to lose weight. Rather, your goal is to remember your frailty, and to put your hope in the God who is present to you here and now.

Call to Confession: Selections from Joel 1 and 2

The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered;
the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree –
all the trees of the field – are dried up.
Surely the joy of mankind is withered away.

Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister before the alter.

“Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.

“Tear your heart and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
Who knows? He may turn and have pity
and leave behind a blessing.”

SONG: Come Ye Sinners

Come ye sinners, poor and needy,
weak and wounded, sick and sore.
Jesus ready stands to save you,
full of pity, love, and power.

Come ye thirsty, come and welcome
God’s free bounty glorify.
True belief and true repentance,
and every grace that brings you nigh

I will arise and go to Jesus;
he will embrace me in his arms.
And in the arms of my dear saviour
there are ten thousand charms.

Come ye weary, heavy laden,
lost and ruined by the fall.
If you tarry until you’re better,
you will never come at all.

If we are to be saved, we must repent. Genuine repentance involves two things: the dying-away of the old self and the coming-to-life of the new. The dying-away of the old self is to be genuinely sorry for sin, to hate it more and more, and to run away from it. The coming-to-life of the new self is wholehearted joy in God through Christ and a delight to do every kind of good as God wants us to. Together, as Christ’s body, we now confess our sin and express our longing to live in joyful obedience to God.

Let’s confess our sin corporately together through Psalm 51.  Afterwards, take a moment in silence to confess that sin which is laid on your heart the heaviest this morning – pride in your responsibilities, greed and materialism, adulterous lust, hiding your sin and hypocrisy before other believers, unquenchable anxiety, whatever it is – confess your sin, knowing that our Father is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)

Prayer of Confession: Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.  Amen.

SONG: Lead Us Back

Falling down upon our knees
Sharing now in common shame
We have sought security
Not the cross that bears your name
Fences guard our hearts and homes
Comfort sings a siren tune.
We’re a valley of dry bones;
Lead us back to life in you.

Lord we fall upon our knees,
We have shunned the weak and poor,
Worshipped beauty, courted kings
And the things their gold affords,
Prayed for those we’d like to know –
Favor sings a siren tune.
We’ve become a talent show;
Lead us back to life in You.

You have caused the blind to see,
We have blinded him again
With our man-made laws and creeds,
Eager, ready to condemn.
Now we plead before Your throne –
Power sings a siren tune.
We’ve been throwing heavy stones;
Lead us back to life in You.

We’re a valley of dry bones
Lead us back to life in You.
We’ve become a talent show
Lead us back to life in You.
We’ve been throwing heavy stones
Lead us back to life in You.

Time of Silence

I said it before, I’ll say it again because it is so good.  First John 1:9 promises us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Here this declaration of pardon from Isaiah 40 and 53.

Declaration of Pardon: Isaiah 40 and 53

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.
He was wounded for our transgressions
and bruised for our iniquities.
Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,
and with his stripes we are healed.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd
and gather the lambs in his arms.

SONG: Mourning Into Dancing

When my soul was dry, oh God, Your Spirit came like water
To drown me with Your love, and cover me with life
And Your waves were stronger than my faith could ever be
But your current was faithful then, to pull me into You

Chorus:
You turn my mourning into dancing, my sadness into laughter
My sorrow into joy,
“Halleluiah” is my song

When our souls were dry, oh God, Your Spirit came like water
To drown us with Your love, and cover us with life
And Your waves were stronger than our faith could ever be
But your current was faithful then, to pull us into You

As the deep calls out to deep,
we are calling out to You
Now we set our hope in You,
and we live unto Your name.

Christ has redeemed us from sin!  We have been made right with Creator God, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, qualified to partake of the inheritance of the saints!

Yet we are still plagued by sin.  Let us remember the challenge of Paul in Romans 6, “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

Let us then commit to a lifestyle of repentance during this Lenten season and during all of life.  Read with me 1 Peter 1:22-2:3.

Committing to Repentance: 1 Peter 1:22-2:3

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.  For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.  For,

“All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord stands forever.”

And this is the word that was preached to you.  Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.  Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Church family, you have tasted that the Lord is good.  Crave him!  Like newborn babies, demand him every hour.  He is here for you, all who are weary and heavy laden with the burden of sin, come to him and rest.

But Hebrews says we must work hard to enter that rest (Hebrews 4:11).  Later it says, we must throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles in our pursuit of him.  May this be a season of pursuing him boldly, cutting out any and all practices which keep you from him.  Fast for him; sweat for him; cry for him.

We send you with the imposition of ashes on your forehead.  We are energized by Christ to pursue him with our all, but we know our weakness.  We know that when we step out that door into a harsh world, we will face temptation from within and without.  Work will not be easy today.  Children will not be easy today.  So, we take the mark of ashes on our forehead to acknowledge our weakness and our need for union with Christ in his death, and so in his resurrection.

Come forward, receive the mark of the cross on your forehead and the charge to “Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ.”  Then you may leave.

Imposition of Ashes

Lord, help us to have the faith that we need to make it through this time of recovery from hurricane Ike. Help us to understand that all of this is happening for our good. Not that you are making good come from bad, but that this seemingly bad situation us ultimately good for us. You are teaching us and molding us and making us more like yourself. Please God, make us more like your Son, Jesus. Make us more aware of our neighbors and their needs. Give is hearts for their well-being. And ultimately, may we seek to glorify You in all situations, no matter how difficult or heart-breaking.

Father, we know that this home that we now have is not our permanent home. Please help us to see that and live accordingly. Let us not be too concerned with our temporary state and our earthly treasures. May we hold on to them loosely knowing that you give, and that you take away, and that you are good in doing so. For it would be far better for us to loose everything in order to be with you than to have everything that this world has to offer, yet loose our souls. Help us, Father, to seek only you as our treasure. Father, you and you alone are our only source of true joy. You and you alone are worthy of our worship and our praise. You and you alone can sustain us, give us hope and peace, and bring us true and everlasting satisfaction.

Father, may we also see terrible things like this and just be all the more aware of the destructive nature of the sin in our lives. May we see the pain that it causes and know that this is akin to the pain that we cause you when we sin against you. May we experience the pain and anguish that you feel when we go astray and may that draw us back to you with an understanding all the more of your wrath, and of your grace, mercy and love.

Lord, with all of this being said, I ask you now to please be with everyone who has suffered loss in this storm. I pray first for those who lost everything. Those who no longer have a home; who no longer have food, clothing, or a job. Lord God, all that they have now is you and some of them don’t even know that you are here for them. Please use this time to turn hearts and change lives. I pray also for those who have lost loved ones. I pray peace for them and that you comfort them. I ask that you fill the void that was left behind.

I ask for strength for those of us who only have damage to property that we can make it through this trying time with peace and good character. Give us strength to help our neighbors and to see your hand of blessing on our lives.

May we also see the devastation that came from this storm far beyond our own backyards. There was destruction and loss of lives for hundreds of miles across the country. I even heard of hurricane force winds as far away as Ohio. Of course there were also the people hit by Ike in Cuba, and all along the gulf coast before it even got to Texas. All of these areas have suffered tremendously. Be with us all. Give us all strength to cope with that which you have given us. May we not look upon ourselves with pity, but with hope in a better future, in a better country; a heavenly one.

May we make this time of recovery not only one of recovering from the losses of a storm, but also recovery from the losses of our own sin, selfishness and pride. May we be restored not to a normal life as things were but be restored unto you in a way that is far better than the way things were prior to this tragedy. Father, restore us unto you, sanctify us, cover us with your blood and pour out your grace and mercy upon us and save us from ourselves as well as from a hurricane.

We thank you for the provision that you have already given us. I thank your for all of the hard work from so many members of Basilica already. People have sacrificed so much of their own time, energy, heath, and time with family in order to serve you by serving those around them. I pray a specific blessing on these people. Draw us all near to you and may your will ultimately be done in all of our lives. In the Holy and precious name of your son, Jesus Christ, I pray… Amen.

A few weeks ago, a friend of a friend of mine was killed in a car wreck. This buddy of mine was distraught because this guy had been a friend of his since high school. They used to hang out and had a lot of good times together. Around Christmas time, the two of them talked at length about the gospel. This friend of his said that he just could not accept the gospel as truth; it just was not for him. The next news he got about his friend was that he was dead.

And today, although the story is not nearly as personal to me, news that LeRoi Moore of the Dave Matthews Band has passed away just came through. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a pretty big fan of DMB so I do feel a bit of a personal connection with this. (Not quite like when Kurt Cobain died, but nonetheless.) I know and feel very much that death is a part of living and that we all die, some to eternal life and some to eternal damnation. We can’t escape it no matter how hard we try. No matter how good our stock portfolio is, no matter how aggressively we invest in our 401K, no matter if we pay a little more for the PPO health insurance coverage instead of the HMO, we all die eventually. It doesn’t even really matter if we have an iPhone 3G or not. What matters is, has the blood of Jesus poured over you and washed away your transgressions leaving only Christ’s righteousness in their place. Perhaps equally so, is if this is the case for your friends, loved ones, neighbors, and even enemies.

In thinking of LeRoi Moore’s death, I can’t help but think of the story in Luke 16 when the rich man and Lazarus died. The rich man, in torment in Hades, saw Lazarus at Abraham’s side and wished that Lazarus could dip his finger into water to cool his tongue. Abraham said that was impossible because a great chasm existed between here and there. Then the rich man asked if Lazarus could go to his father’s house to warn his five brothers for if someone were to go to them from the dead they would repent. Abraham’s response was that they, too, have the law of Moses and the Prophets. Let them hear for themselves, but even so, if they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, “neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead”.

The reason this comes up in light of LeRoi Moore’s death is that I know that Dave Matthews is not a believer. I can only assume that the fellow members in his band are not either or they would not be able to continue with a band that belittles Christ and openly denies the existence of God. I now see LeRoi pleading with Abraham to send someone to alert his friends and family of the true nature of the one true God only to be told, “No.” We all have the same chance to hear the word of God and repent. We also only have this one lifetime to further God’s kingdom. Once we die, we’re dead. Nothing more can happen as far as our ministry on earth and nothing more can happen as far as our eternal condition.

All of this rambling is only to say that we must have a sense of urgency for spreading the word of God and His kingdom. People are dying every day and going to hell. If we merely sit by and do nothing about it, then we are not loving the Lord with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength and we surely are not loving our neighbors as ourselves. When a lost friend dies, it hurts, not only because we miss him/her but because we know that they are enduring the torment of the flames of Hell forever. Nothing else can be done, it’s over and finished, they are justly damned. All that we can do it get out there and help make sure that as few people as possible have to end up that way and pray for the lost souls everywhere around you.

What, again, does this mean?  What kind of miracle does it take to get a rich man into heaven?  This is extremely important here in the U.S. where even our poorest people are among the worlds richest.  In the age of IPods, MacBook Airs, Hummers, and Sile Stone countertops, how can anyone in the United States expect to live eternally worshiping God in his glory rather than experiencing his wrath (especially when the preacher on TV is asking you to pray for a new helicopter for him because his old one just won’t do anymore)?

Also, Jesus said “if you want to be perfect…” Does this mean that Jesus requires perfection of us?  Do we need to be perfect to inherit eternal life?  I think that the answer is a resounding YES!  If we are not perfect we are unacceptable to God.  How can we exist with even a single blemish in God’s perfect and holy presence?  We cannot, our sin must be atoned for either by our eternal penance in hell or by Christ’s infinite sacrifice on the cross.  This is why Jesus’ imputed righteousness through his propitiation on the cross is so important.  This, too, is impossible for man, but with God, all things are possible.

So, back to the issue of riches, what are we to do?  Must we all expect to go to hell unless we take on a life of poverty?  Is a forced life of poverty a requirement to get into heaven?  The answer to this, I believe, is mostly yes and no.  I’ll explain.  We are, of course,  to never, ever force a new requirement upon ourselves to make ourselves more holy or more acceptable to God.  This not only doesn’t work, but it angers God.  Anything, no matter how good our intentions are, that we try to do to sanctify ourselves is idol worship.  If we are not relying solely upon the cross of Christ for our salvation, then we are seeking to justify ourselves through some other means.  This includes selling all of our possessions and giving everything to the poor, just like Jesus said to, if we are doing it ritualistically or out of religious duty.  Trying to save ourselves by meeting a “requirement” with our money is not worshiping God with our finances, it is worshiping either the law or our money for what our money can do for us.  It is certainly not worship of God if we get puffed up with pride so that everybody around can see how “holy” we are for doing such a thing. 

However, I do think that in order to worship God with our finances, we must do exactly what Jesus said, sell all of our possessions and give it to the poor.  Didn’t I just say that we didn’t have to do that?  The difference is the intent.  If our intent is to fulfill some imposed requirement to make ourselves more holy, then that intent is sin.  But if our intent is to worship and glorify God, then it is our stewardly duty to give our excess to those who need it.  How is paying $100 a month for cable and just as much for a fancy mobile phone service storing up treasures in heaven?  How is buying a car with a sunroof and spinning rims loving the Lord your God?  And how does spending $30-40 on a single meal love your neighbor?  Must we force poverty upon ourselves?  To some extent, I think so.  I don’t think that we need to make ourselves literally poor where we don’t have anything at all.  We’re no good to anyone at that point.  But we, as servants of the one true God, must live at a level that might appear underprivileged because everything that we continue to earn above what we need is going out the door to others who have nothing.  How dare we sit by on our couches worshiping the god of entertainment when people are starving to death on the streets and going to hell?  How dare we view ourselves a superior to others in need and rationalize our laziness?  If we thought that poor people were deserving of more, we would help, right?  But we don’t.  So, I suppose we must view them as inferior to us who deserve what we have.  We worked for it so we deserve it, right?  Or have we all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory?  Perhaps we all deserve hell and it’s only by God’s grace that any are saved.  Perhaps He has done more for us than we could ever imagine and we must give Him our money, our lives and our deaths because He is so great and merciful.  What do we have that wasn’t given to us anyway?

If we continue to not only store up for ourselves treasures on this earth but also squander what we’ve been given how could we even think that there would be an eternal reward waiting for us in heaven?  What part of “Well done, my good and faithful servant” includes HDTV’s and other overpriced perishable crap?  Therefore I propose that we, as Christians, MUST get rid of everything that we do not need to survive or to continue to function in society and give it away.  We MUST give our money (and don’t think I’m just talking about 10%, 90% of our income is still extreme excess) to the poor and needy; to the fatherless and the widow.  This cannot be just so that they can have some crap too, but so that they might see the heart of God in our lives and then come to glorify God for His grace and mercy as well.  There are so many missionaries out there whose hands are tied financially and cannot fulfill what God has called them to do because we refuse to give up our perishable comforts and false securities. 

It seems beyond doubt that God hates legalism as much as He hates alcoholism.  And I believe it is a literal understatement that legalism has brought more people to eternal ruin that alcohol has, though the devastations of alcohol are huge.

Let us not be deceived by outward appearances.  Satan “disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14).  He keeps his deadliest diseases most sanitary.  He clothes his captains in religious garments and houses his weapons in temples.  Legalism is a more dangerous disease than alcoholism because it doesn’t look like one.  Alcoholism makes men fail; legalism helps them succeed in the world.  Alcoholism makes men depend on the bottle; legalism makes them self-sufficient, depending on no one.  Alcoholism destroys moral resolve; legalism gives it strength.  Alcoholics don’t feel welcome in the church; legalists love to hear their morality extolled in church.

Therefore, what we need in the church is not front-end regulations to try to keep ourselves pure.  We need to preach and pray and believe that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, neither teetotalism nor social drinking, neither legalism nor alcoholism is of any avail with God, but only a new heart.

Although in our day and age, most young people seem to struggle with excess liberty, it is still good to look at the detrimental affects of legalism.  We need to compare the evil of legalism not against the good of liberty, but to the evil of liberty in excess.

I cannot remember very many times that I have taken God seriously enough that I lost sleep because of an inner turmoil that I was facing in regards to God’s splendor and my wretchedness.  I just don’t.  If I’m honest with myself, I realize that I flippantly dismiss God’s grace and mercy either as something that He must have given me because I deserved it, or I don’t even think upon it at all and just take the most precious and only gift of any value for granted and essentially spit upon the cross without the honor, reverence, and gravity it is due.

All of this comes to a head with me in a separate point that is contingent on this first (as if that wasn’t enough).  This is the one that is really kicking me in the pants.  Is it even possible to serve Christ in truth if we are not being persecuted for it?  If we are not making a mockery of ourselves for the sake of Jesus, are we even fulfilling the great commission as Jesus commanded?
Consider what Paul said in the following verse, Colossians 1:24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church…”  Now we all know that there was nothing lacking in Christ’s atonement.  Nothing can improve it or make it more complete, so what is Paul talking about?  Perhaps, Paul’s sufferings are an extension of Christ’s afflictions into his own body.  Perhaps without the same extension of Christ’s afflictions in our own body, we are not fulfilling what Jesus has called us to.  Can we serve Jesus and the church without filling up in our own flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions?  Is persecution and even to martyrdom necessary?

There are plenty of other verses that talk about our afflictions for the sake of Christ.  I realize that the church was being strongly persecuted at this time because the Christian church was brand new, however, the bible doesn’t say that we should rejoice IF we are persecuted, it says rejoice WHEN you are persecuted.

I have had many a conversation with people who don’t want to evangelize in certain ways so as to not look foolish and so as to make the gospel look more appealing.  Maybe, just maybe, if we are not being foolish, if the gospel looks too appealing to a lot of people, we are not evangelizing in truth (or perhaps not at all).  If we groaned inwardly because we had such strong affections for the Lord and His greatness, then we wouldn’t even think twice about serving Him unto death right in the face of persecution.  And not only if persecution were to come to us, but because the gospel itself preached in truth brings it about all its own.

I suppose that I picked this title for my blog because I found two cool words to express the way I have felt for a while now.  It seems every time I think that I get going on the right track, either my circumstances or myself push me back to a place of complacency and idleness.  Frankly, I’m sick of it.

What can I do, though?  What can a person do, in and of himself, to get out of a rut?  I have come to believe that the answer is nothing.  There is nothing that I can do, in and of myself, to serve my Lord and Savior that will make Him or myself happy.  Any efforts to please Him in my own stregth prove futile (therefore I stop trying) and prove my lack of reliance upon Him and are indicative of my own arrogance and pride.  The problem here is then what is a person to do if there is nothing he can do?  How do I serve God while relying on God at the same time?  How can you serve someone if you have to rely on the one you are serving in order to serve them?  Besides that, God has everything and is all powerful so how can we serve Him in the first place?

Mostly, I suppose it lies in the distinction between legalism and regeneration.  Depending on your background, this may be obvious or it may seem rediculous.  Legalism and regeneration are not opposites.  It’s like distinguishing between black and hot.  The opposite of black is white and hot is cold.  The opposites of legalism and regeneration are liberty and unregeneration (or being lost).  This, however, is the point.  There is no balance between legalism and liberty that will sanctify you or make you right with God.  No matter how good you are at doing what He says (or doing what He doesn’t say to not do), if you don’t know Him your heart cannot be in the right place to serve Him.  The issue is one only of regeneration (and perhaps also of progressive sanctification, but whatever).
The key to all of this is that we do not work hard to be loved by God, we work hard BECAUSE WE ARE loved by God.  We serve Him not to gain approval, but because He has already approved of us only by his grace.

I know that the people that are aware of this blog currently (as I sent them an email) know this already.  I’m not saying anything new, but these thoughts were on my mind today.  I still have to hash through some of this stuff daily or else it goes away.  Not the biblical truth of it all, but from my lifestyle.  If I keep going over and over these thoughts, then maybe some day I can actually begin to understand what Paul ment when he said “To live is Christ”.  I know that I truly don’t understand these things, or else I would be serving God fearlessly, laying my life down, even to death, taking up my cross daily for the benifit of the The Kingdom.  Instead, I drive in my air conditioned car to and from my job with a 401K and health benifts and come home to a house that I am remodeling because I am too stuck on myself to be happy with the color of my kitchen countertops.  My life is not Christ and I live like I am afraid to die.  Even if I died serving God and left my wife and kids, God, in His sovereignty has already said that it is good.  All things work for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purposes.

God teach me what it means to live as Christ and to believe that to die is gain!  Place within my soul a longing for You so that I can’t wait to be in your presence.  But until then, give me a yurning to do all that I can to make sure that as few people as possible have to suffer apart from your glory.  Lord God, show me your love and teach me how to serve you because of your love, not in order to attempt to earn it.