Relationships

The Day You Start Something New

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22The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. 23This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see. 24This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. 25Please, Lord, please save us. Please, Lord, please give us success. Psalm 118:22-25

September is full of new starts for many of us. And for those of us who aren’t in school anymore we probably still feel the echo of an impulse to start something new. We still like the smell of a box of crayons, the feel of a new notebook, and the adrenaline that accompanies the unknown. And yes I know some of you are so glad to be done with school, but I bet you still have to face days in which you face something new.

On the day you start something new, I hope you are continuing a prayer conversation you started some time ago with God. In my house this morning I heard this line called out as a wake-up call: “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

I love the rest of the prayer too: “Please, Lord, please save us. Please Lord, please give us success.”

When we start something new perhaps one of the greatest fears before me, is not just that I might fail, but that I might be rejected. Its really good for me to note that the Psalmist’s prayer here for success recognizes the grace of God even in the context of rejection: “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.”  That’s Jesus. Jesus crucified is the stone rejected. Jesus resurrected is now the cornerstone for the people God is building. Jesus is enough!

So, now on the day we start something new, we can call out the prayer with Jesus and in the name of the One who knows the pain of rejection and the joy of the Father’s redemptive power!

When faith gives voice to fears.

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The Lord will work out his plans for my life—

for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.

Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

Psalm 138:8

Christian faith does not ignore the doubt stirred up by conflict or the challenges to our hope in the promises of God. When we have adjusted our life to follow God the inevitable testing comes. Practicalities and pragmatism pull at us. Is this really going to work? Am I an idiot for trusting God? Is there a shortcut to the dream God has given me?

When King David was a young man Samuel anointed him to be the next king. But David’s journey to the throne was long and tedious. His commitments and values were tested. Having faith did not mean that David had to ignore reality in the world around or in the world of his mind and heart. It was his faith in God that actually gave voice to his fears. His fears were not allowed to be a unspoken hidden force controlling him.

This weekend Psalm 138 was read at the beginning of our worship gathering. Do hear the tension in the last verse? The whole prayer moves along the tension created by faith and fears. “Don’t abandon me.”

The Lord will work out his plans for my life—

for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.

Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

Psalm 138:8

Have you been this real with God lately? When was the last time your conversation with God moved along the tension created by your faith in Jesus and by your fears? He is waiting and willing to meet you.

The heart seeks life.

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2“I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

3“You must not have any other god but me.

4“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind…

Exodus 20:2-4

The heart of humanity is on a search for life. When the affections of our heart are not shaped by the Presence and worth of God, they will latch onto something else as a source of life, meaning, hope, and happiness. Our heart has been called an idol factory. So true!

The testimony of Scripture shows humanity over and over intensely preoccupied with constructing idols out of people, ourselves, and the stuff of earth. The Scripture show us that even in the pursuit of “god” we are capable of constructing whole systems of belief that obscure the Truth and abandon grace.

God reveals Himself. God rescues. God liberates. He is the Lord our God. In these Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) God casts a vision of what knowing Him creates in the heart of those who cherish Him. Knowing Him creates a will to pursue Him and to forsake idols. I rejoice in Jesus Christ. For He has come from the Father full of grace and truth. He says,

24“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

25“And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. 26The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son.  John 5:24-26

The Great Defection and Its Infection

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Background

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Romans 5:12

The narrative of Scripture from the Cross of Jesus shows humanity infected with sin — this impulse to act independent of God and His Word. Adam’s defection from the communion of God radically altered the innocence, honour, and trust humanity had enjoyed. The consequence is death — a brokenness permeating everyone and all our relationships: with God, with self, with people, and with the stuff of earth.

Living disconnected from the communion of God has brought death. I hate it. This viral death has spread among us and it takes ugly forms in its rage and its apathy, its blindness and its rebellion, its strange delight in evil and its self-righteousness.

Everyone sinned.

The narrative of the Cross tells us the truth about our brokenness and it tells us of God’s hope and healing for humanity:

15But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

18Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

Romans 5:15-19 NLT

Brokenness, shame and the cover-up.

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6The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. Genesis 3:6-7

My professor Dr. Hunt described this snapshot of The Garden days in the alliteration of preacher-speak: “They listened, looked, lusted, and lunched.” That’s the common progression we have inherited from Adam and Eve when we give way to temptation. But that’s not all we share in common.

What is not yet seen in this moment is the depths of brokenness that will infect all of their relationships. A great shift has happened in respect to themselves as they have abandoned trust in God. “They suddenly felt shame.”

Their capacity for industry latched on to it (shame) and the cover-up began. No shouting voices, no pointing fingers were required. They knew shame. Shame infected their psyche as a consequence of their break away move from God.