Lord Jesus, let me know myself and know you and desire nothing save only you.
Let me hate myself and love you.
Let me do everything for the sake of you.
Let me humble myself and exalt you.
Let me think of nothing except you.
Let me die to myself and live in you.
Let me accept whatever happens as from you.
Let me banish self and follow you and ever desire to follow you.
Let me fly from myself and take refuge in you that I may deserve to be defended by you.
Let me fear for myself.
Let me fear you and let me be among those who are chosen by you.
Let me distrust myself and put my trust in you.
Let me be willing to obey for the sake of you.
Let me cling to nothing save only to you and let me be poor because of you.
Look upon me that I may love you.
Call me that I may see you and forever enjoy you.
Amen.
Category: Possessions (Page 2 of 3)
“Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” ~Isaiah 46:4
God speaks through his prophet in Isaiah 46 about the foolishness of our idols. He shows his people the absurdity of putting our faith in idols. God’s people were worshiping Bel and Nebo, Babylonian and Canaanite gods, right alongside Yahweh. They were worshiping God, yes. But at the same time they were hedging their bets, covering their bases — political, cultural, agricultural — by including all the regional gods of the land, too.
Technically, it’s called syncretism. Practically, I’d call it materialism. Or consumerism. Or nationalism.
The picture painted in Isaiah 46 is graphic. God’s people are burdened by their idols, having to carry their idols, even as they’re marched off to captivity in Babylon for worshiping those idols. They’re being driven out of God’s Promised Land and they’re carrying their idols with them.
And God says, “Listen to me! I will carry you!”
You’re carrying these lifeless idols around, these idols that can’t save you or protect you. You’re carrying them. And you’re bent over and weakened by the weight. They make the idols and then are forced to carry them. And our Lord points out the insanity of that when he says, “I have made you and I will carry you!”
We’re all getting older. Our hair is going to turn gray. Or turn loose. Or both. The instability of the economy scares us. The tenuous nature of the world’s governments unnerves us. Wars threaten us. Healthcare seems to be increasingly lacking for us. Everything’s changing. Nothing much seems dependable. And Isaiah 46 shows us very clearly the utter foolishness and sin of trusting in politics and governments and technology and goods for our peace. In the midst of the change and the turmoil and the uncertainty that surrounds us and sometimes overwhelms us, our mighty God says:
“Remember this. Fix it in your mind. Take it to your heart. I am God. And there is no other. I am God. And there is none like me.” (46:8-9)
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I’m still not real sure what “Howdy Week” is at Amarillo High. But Whitney and Valerie have been in costume for the past five days. It was 80s dress for Time Travel Tuesday. Suspenders and thick black glasses for NerdsDay. But today they’re sporting their dad’s old maroon and gold for Frat Friday. Eggleston will appreciate this picture of my two older daughters wearing Delta jerseys. Byrnes and Frost will make some immature comments about it that will betray their pathetic Sigma jealousies. When John-Tern sees it, he will laugh out loud.
But it just makes me proud.
Go Sandies.
Allan
Jesus called Simon and his brother Andrew. “At once” they dropped their nets and followed him. The woman at the Samaritan well dropped her water jar to respond to Christ’s call. The man in the Gerasenes enthusiastically jumped in the boat with Jesus upon being cleansed. When he received his sight, Bartimaeus “immediately” leapt up to follow Jesus on the way.
Over and over again the clear and consistent portrait of true discipleship to Jesus is painted as a relationship on Christ’s terms, not on the terms or conditions of Christ’s followers. Bargaining with God is NOT the all-in submission for which our Savior is looking. The Gospels are full of these would-be-disciples:
“IF you’ll give me a nice place to live, THEN I’ll follow you.”
“IF I can take care of my business first, THEN I’ll follow you.”
“IF you let me deal with my family issues first, THEN I’ll follow you.”
“IF you allow me to hang on to my worldly possessions, THEN I’ll follow you.”
In each case, it’s a deal-breaker with Jesus. We don’t negotiate with God. We don’t put conditions on Christ. This is not a game show. It’s life and death. It’s heaven and hell. It’s salvation and judgment and relationship and atonement and sanctification. It’s eternal. We give ourselves wholly to him as a response to his complete service and sacrifice for us. No looking back. Brakes off. Full steam ahead.
That’s the deal.
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Thank you so much to every single person who donated this week to MDA. We wound up raising a total of $1,105 for clinics and shots and treatments and evaluations and therapy and equipment repairs and camps. I was taken away in the back seat of an unmarked car at noon yesterday and made it back to the church offices, full of barbecue and a couple of funny stories, by 1:30. Thank you, again. Your good-natured ribbing was wonderful. Your open heart for generously giving to those in need was inspirational.
I’m going to leave the link to my MDA page over there on the right side of the blog for 30 more days. If you’d like to add to the total and help me meet my actual goal of $1,480, just click over there.
I met a couple of kids at the Lock-Up who are suffering with Muscular Dystrophy and I wished them God’s richest blessings for healing and comfort and peace. But my thoughts were and still are with Angela Giles. May our merciful Father bless you, Angela, with his gracious healing and comfort and peace.
We love you,
Allan
We look up “glory” in the dictionary of Jesus and here’s the definition: 
Glory – obscurity, rejection, sacrifice, service, ridicule, obedience, death.
These are all the things the world ignores. These are things the world runs from and even despises. The world says “glory” is all about fame. Indiana Jones is forever chasing his “fortune and glory.”
In a way, I’m afraid — if we’re honest — we’re all chasing glory.
How do I get on TV? How do I retire at age 50? How do I get the lakehouse and the third car? How do I get the promotion and the big office? How do I get noticed? How do I get mentioned? How do I get a parade? How do I get my picture in the paper?
See, that’s the world’s definition of glory. And we can get caught up in all that. Whole churches can get caught up in that.
How can we grow to two-thousand members and go to three services? How can we attract wealthier people? How can we appeal to the right demographic? How can we get on TV? How can we get in the paper? How can we get noticed?
Preachers can get caught up in this chase for glory. How can I get invited to speak at ACU? How can I write an important book? How can I “wow” the audience? How do I get noticed? How do I get mentioned?
Glory. How do I get glory?
Jesus says if you want glory, you suffer. If you want life, you die. If you want victory, you surrender.
Jesus says, brother, forget the lakehouse and the new car and give that money to the single mom struggling in that apartment across town. Forget the promotion or the second job and spend your time and energy ministering to the teenager in your neighborhood who doesn’t have a dad. Churches, forget about growing big and concentrate on growing out. Forget about appealing to the right people and get enthusiastic about appealing to people who don’t have anything. Preacher, let go of wanting to “wow” the church and work more on submitting to the church and quietly and faithfully serving its people.
“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?” ~John 12:27
Jesus is bothered, he’s distressed, not because he’s questioning his Father’s will or because he doesn’t understand. He’s troubled because he knows how hard it’s going to be. He understands perfectly everything the cross is going to mean. He sees the suffering and the pain and the death and the burial. And he trembles.
And at this moment, Jesus can pray one of two prayers.
“Father, save me from this hour.”
Or
“Father, glorify your name.”
It’s the difference between losing your life and saving it. It’s the difference between rejecting the cross and picking it up, between serving yourself or serving others. It’s the choice between seeking glory the way the world defines glory — the way Indiana Jones sees it — or the way God defines it.
“Father, glorify your name.”
Our God’s great name is glorified every time we, individually and as a church, go against the world’s definition of glory and pursue God’s. Every time we sacrifice. Every time we serve. Every time we consider others better than ourselves. Every time we put somebody else first. Every time we submit to rejection and ridicule, every time we face suffering, every time we die in the manner of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, and for his glorious cause, we bring glory to God.
And that’s our God-created purpose. To participate personally in that eternal glory of God.
Peace,
Allan
Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful comments the past couple of days regarding this discussion of a church’s vision — or the vision a church may project — and its relation to how the members of that church act on a day-to-day basis. If Stanley Hauerwas is right in that the moral life is as much a matter of vision as a matter of doing; if one acts in the world according to how one sees the world; if our actions are informed and shaped by our attitudes and outlooks; then what can the church do about tweaking — or in some cases, maybe, completely overhauling — the vision?
What specifically can the Church, or a local congregation, do to help Christians see their faith and their citizenship in the Kingdom as a completely different world, a totally different time and space, that determines how we act in this world, in this time and space? Our actions need to be determined beforehand by what God has done for us, what he’s doing for us currently, and has promised to do for us tomorrow. It all has to be connected.
What can the Church do?
I’ll start this part of the discussion by suggesting a return to the spiritual disciplines. To me, it seems like the logical first step.
Corporate fasting would remind us that our devotion to God informs not only where we eat, but what we eat, and when. I’m in control of my growling appetites, not the world and not the culture and not my co-workers or neighbors. Fasting sharpens our spiritual focus. And it teaches us that we don’t have to conform to what’s happening around us. Nobody’s making us do anything.
Daily reading of the Scriptures fills our hearts and minds with faith language, faith images, and faith ideas. It’s a constant reminder that we live according to the big picture of what God is doing for us through Christ and that our work and play and activities of living on this temporary planet are small in comparison. It reminds us that Christ is Lord, not Caeser; that we’re citizens of heaven, not the Empire. It will shape our vision to pay more attention to heavenly things than earthly things.
Constant prayer keeps us in continual communication with the Father, which also fosters these same ways of looking at things.
I would recommend the church teaching the spiritual disciplines from the pulpit and in Bible classes. Frank discussions and direction regarding prayer and fasting, study and service, and confession and submission will energize a group of Christians. The reality that all of life is informed by our status as children of Almighty God will quickly set in. I would suggest the church develop curiculum for use in the home; fasting with a small group, praying with the family, studying with the kids, meditating with the spouse. Maybe just ten or fifteen minutes a day within each family, with small group discussions about the previous week on Sunday nights, is all it would take. A church family then sees itself as doing things the rest of the world doesn’t do. They experience being separate from the world and bound to each other in Jesus. And they’re much more able, even more willing, to let go of the society which has such a hold on us and embrace the eternal realities of God in Christ.
What else?
Peace,
Allan
My favorite scene in the old Steve Martin movie, The Jerk, is right at the very end when Martin’s character, Navin Johnson, is having everything taken away. All his money, his house, his cars, his business, his possessions — he’s losing everything as the result of a class-action lawsuit against his invention. (The Opti-Grab, remember?)
Navin finally loses it in an argument with his wife (“I just heard a song that reminded me of the way we were.” “What was it?” “The Way We Were.”) and he walks out of the house declaring, “I don’t need anything! I don’t need any of this! I don’t need the money! I don’t need the house! I don’t need anything!”
“Except this.”
And he picks up an ashtray from the corner of his desk. And then he picks up a paddle ball game from the floor. And he screams, “I don’t need anything” and picks up a remote control. “I don’t need anything!”
“Except this.”
And he picks up a box of matches. And a lamp. “This is it! These five things. This is all I need! I don’t need anything!”
“Except this.”
And he picks up a chair as he walks out the door and into the yard.
Navin walks down the road carrying these possessions, carrying these material things, burdened by the physical things he just can’t let go of.
I admit, this is high-brow stuff. The stinging social criticism of The Jerk goes over most peoples’ heads. But I’m convicted by the image of this man clinging to these worthless possessions with no regard for the bigger picture of what’s really happening.
We believe that everything we have comes from God and is to be used for God’s purposes and to God’s glory. We know that God promises to make us rich in every way. He promises to give us everything we need. We teach it. We sing it. “I Surrender All.” Everything I have belongs to God! I give everything to him!
Except this money I need for our vacation. And except this money I need to buy the 96-inch HDTV. The vacation and the big screen. That’s all I need. Everything else belongs to God. I give everything else to God.
Except the money I need to upgrade the family’s cell phones. And we want to re-do our kitchen. And we’re going to invest in our retirement. And buy a new car. And save for a rainy day.
Next thing you know, you’re walking down Main Street in your bathrobe, like Navin Johnson, hanging on with a white-knuckle death-grip to material things, temporary things, which Scripture says reveals a lack of faith in our God who promises to provide for your every need.
It’s a radical thing to declare that God — not me! — is responsible for everything we are and everything we have. It’s huge. It’s an insight that’s so simple, yet, it’s absolutely life-changing. God gives us everything and promises to give us everything. So it’s not that we care less about our material goods, it’s that we care much more about God’s purpose in giving us these material goods. Ironically, his purpose is that we, in turn, give these things away to others. That kind of mindset and living and giving demonstrates our continuing confidence in our God’s faithful promises to his people.
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Nineteen days until the Cowboys season begins in Tampa Bay. And we’re counting down the days with a look at the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number. And #19 is a punter. John Jett. He kicked for Dallas for four years, from 1993-96. He averaged 42 yards a punt. He never had one blocked in 253 kicks. And he won two Super Bowls.
Boring.
The other #19s in Cowboys history have much more interesting stories. They’re more fun to talk about. Lance Rentzel. Clint Longley. Keyshawn Johnson. And while they’re more talented than Jett, even at their positions, they each played a role in ripping apart the Cowboys’ lockerroom. And none of them won any championships.
Jett’s the guy. Deal with it.
Peace,
Allan
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