gospel

divine selflessness

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Gordon Fee writes about Philippians 2:5-11:

Christ’s selflessness for the sake of others expressed itself in his emptying himself by taking the “form” of a slave.  Historically, far too much has been made of the verb “emptied himself” of something.  However, just as harpagmos requires no object for Christ to “seize” but rather points to what is the opposite of God’s character, so Christ did not empty himself of anything; he simply “emptied himself,” poured himself out, as it were.  In keeping with Paul’s ordinary usage, this is metaphor, pure and simple.  What modifies it is expressed in the phrase that follows; he “poured himself out by taking on the ‘form’ of a slave.”

Elsewhere this verb regularly means to become powerless or to be emptied of significance (hence the NIV’s made himself nothing; cf.KMV, “made himself of no reputation”).  Here it stands in direct antithesis to the “empty glory” of verse 3 and functions in the same way as the metaphorical “he became poor” in 2 Corinthians 8:9.  Thus, as in the “not” side of this clause (v. 6b), we are still dealing with the character of God as revealed in the mindset and resulting activity of the Son of God.  The concern is with divine selflessness:  God is not an acquisitive being, grasping and seizing, but self-giving for the sake of others.  Gordon Fee, Philippians, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, p. 94-95.

Stirs up worship doesn’t it?

This is Our God:

 

Metabolizing Rejection & Getting Back on Mission

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Dear Craig,  …you really find the wrong person. I am so sorry. I think you should spend more time on the other people, and I am not the right person…  I am very very sorry for this, and I hope you enjoy your life.

Rejection has many faces.  It comes to visit us if our passion runs counter to prevailing attitudes and actions.  Rejection can sit like a bitter pill in the soul for church planters.  We will become sick if it not metabolized or digested.  After an enjoyable conversation with a bright UBC scholar, I was served the most gentle rejection.  It was even accompanied by a blessing, “I hope you enjoy your life.”  Yet, I felt the weight of it in my gut.

Jesus was familiar with rejection.  His rejection ultimately became the pathway for our inclusion in the Kingdom of God by grace.  However, the great purpose attached to his experience did not shield him from the pain.  Researchers confirm that social rejection lights up the brain as if we have been punched in the gut.  It hurts!

When Jesus went “home” he experienced rejection as he lived out his Heavenly Father’s purposes (Mark 6:1-13).  After he taught in the local synagogue, Nazareth could not deny the greatness of his teaching or his works.  However, Nazareth would not accept him.  They rejected Jesus.  In the the anatomy of their rejection they got really personal.  They raised suspicions about his birth.  They limited him because of his training as a carpenter.  They compared him to the rest of the family.  And in the end they took offense at Jesus.

Planting the Gospel dominates our disciple-making journey at UBC.  Sharing what God has done through the birth, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus sometimes provokes rejection of not only the message but also the messenger.  Because rejection strikes at the heart and generates fear, I have found it helpful to look closely at how Jesus metabolized rejection.

1.  He recognized it.  He said, “A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”  vs 4

2.  He refrained from provoking them further.  Jesus began to withdraw.  “And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.”  vs 5

3.  He marveled at their unbelief.  vs 6  Jesus reflected on their rejection and found their unbelief surprising for it was contrary to what had been revealed to them.

4.  He got back on mission.  Jesus set out and “he went about among the villages teaching.  And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two…”  vs 6-7

5.  He equipped the disciples for rejection.  “And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”

Jesus knows the spiritual warfare connected with rejection makes disciples vulnerable.  When rejection sticks to us we are in danger of anger, discouragement, vengeful thinking, and perhaps even abandoning the mission and the message of Jesus.  The prophetic act of shaking the dust off was meant to “shake off” the slime of rejection for the benefit of the disciples.  And the act also served as a note of caution and an invitation to those who rejected them to reconsider.  At Origin we are seeking to be a Gospel-shaped church.  Thank you for your support and prayer for us.  As you pray, ask the Lord to give us grace to metabolize rejection when it comes and then to get back on mission.

(This article was first published in the April 2012 edition of the WestCoast Challenge, a publication of the WestCoast Baptist Association.)

Quit small expectations

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If a single mustard seed was sitting on the table you would miss it.  However, you won’t miss the big shrub growing in your garden.  The parable of the mustard seed in Mark 4 conditions us as followers of Jesus to quit underestimating the impact of the Kingdom of God as its announced and displayed in the context of our usual relationships.

30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth,32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”  Mark 4:30-32

3 observations:

  1. This big shrub was not a usual garden plant.  However, Jesus has it planted in the frequently visited place — the garden.  So it is with the Kingdom of God, when we proclaim the Kingdom through the Gospel of Jesus, it is to be in the normal pathways of our lives.  Our relationships in the normal patterns of study, work, life, and play become our “garden” for the Kingdom of God.   Quit diminishing the value of your normal and usual relationships.
  2. The seed contains immense potential.  Although the seed is not the focus of this parable it is important to note that the big “change” that is the focus of the parable starts with the seed.  Mark 4 has conditioned the followers of Jesus to view the seed as the Word of God — the word of the Gospel and the Kingdom of Jesus.  The Gospel story of Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection has a power of its own to bring change in the lives of people.  Quit diminishing the value of the Gospel.
  3. The growth of the Kingdom is not only for our benefit.  Jesus describes the impact of the seed’s great growth as the creation of a refuge for the birds of the air.  Jesus may be drawing an allusion to the birds of the air references in Ezekiel and Daniel.  The nations shall take refuge in the Kingdom of Jesus.  We don’t get to choose who we are nesting beside.  By design others are to benefit from the change occurring in the lives of those who take refuge in Christ.  Quit diminishing the Kingdom call for open engagement with people who are “not like you;” then, we will experience the blessings of the Kingdom of God together.

The Story that Shapes Your Soul

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“Looking out upon her audience, Angharad saw the faces grim in the reflected fire glow; and they seemed to her in this moment not faces at all, but empty vessels into which she would pour the elixir of the song which was more than a song. They would hear and, God willing, the story would work in their hearts and minds to produce its rare healing fruit.” (Scarlet, The King Raven Trilogy, by Stephen R. Lawhead, 2007, p. 200)

We each have narratives that inform the decisions we make and how we feel about life.  These stories are powerful. In fact, these stories have the power of life and death in our relationships with each other and with God. These stories are formed from our life experiences or from the tales told around the table. Marraige counselors know the power of our stories. In an effort to improve the attitude and feelings of well-being they will have a couple tell “the story” of how they met and how their courtship progressed. These stories elicit what may be remnant good-will in order to help them gain traction for making adjustments and grow in their relationship.

Advertisers & Story

Advertisers know that the stories we absorb are powerful. In fact advertisement is an effort at telling a story that moves us; that moves us to buy into their product or brand.  The most masterful I saw recently was the one of a group of men fishing while the audio relives the fateful moment they learned they had won the Lott0 649.  I hate it; but its good. In 30 seconds we get backstory and a present story. People who let this story shape their lives will buy lotto tickets in spite of their dismal chances.

Soul Training & Story

I have been thinking about story and its power to shape our souls while reading James Byron Smith’s book, The Good and Beautiful God. His approach to spiritual formation in Christ, is that we must adopt the stories or narratives of Jesus as part of our soul-training in God’s grace. These stories of Jesus will orient us toward the revealed character of God. Smith writes:

“We are shaped by our stories. In fact, our stories, once in place, determine much of our behavior without regard to their accuracy or helpfulness. Once these stories are stored in our minds, they stay there largely unchallenged until we die. And here is the main point: these narratives are running (and often ruining) our lives. That is why it is crucial to get the right narratives.

Once we “find” the narratives inside our minds, we can measure them against Jesus’ narratives. Because Jesus is the preexistent and eternal Son of God, no one knows God or the nature and meaning of life more than Jesus. Jesus’ narratives are the truth. He himself is the truth. So the key is adopting Jesus’ narratives.

Jesus revealed his Father to us. The New Testament reveals a God who is pulsing with goodness and power and love and beauty. To know the God of Jesus is to know the truth about how God really is.

In order to change we first have to change our minds. Jesus’ opening line to his first sermon was, “Repent, [metanoia], for the kingdom of God is at hand.” Metanoia refers to the changing of one’s mind. Jesus understood that transformation begins in the mind. The apostle Paul said the same thing when he proclaimed, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God–what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). (The Good and Beautiful God, 25-26)

Lent and The Good News

Lent is the seasonal Christian journey toward the Cross and the Empty tomb of Jesus Christ.  It is our opportunity to reflect deeply on the meta-narrative of God’s love for people and His purposes revealed in Jesus Christ. Each week of Lent I am taking time to reflect at length on a narrative Jesus told to reveal the Kingdom of God and to bring healing to his listeners. I invite you to join me in this process and experience God’s grace in fresh and new ways. Choose a story from the Gospels for each week and bring it to mind throughout the day and on each evening.  You may discover that you need to fast from other stories. It may be that you are entertaining your soul to death through the constant emersion of media stories and that you need to turn those off by fasting from TV or movies over the next few weeks. May the word of Jesus accomplish the Father’s will through the ministry of His Spirit in us.

Below is an excerpt from Stephen Lawhead’s book Scarlet that I believe captures the work of God’s grace through story and how we can cooperate with Jesus’ grace.

Here, Angharad stopped; she let the last notes of the harp fade into the night, then added, “But that is a tale for another time.” Setting aside the harp, she stood and spread her hands over the heads of her listeners. “Go now,” she said softly, as a mother speaking to a sleep-heavy child. “Say nothing, but go to your sleep and to your dreams. Let the song work its power within you, my children.”

Bran, no less than the others, felt as if his soul had been cast adrift–all around him, washed a vast and restless sea that he must navigate in a too-small boat with neither sail nor oars. For him, at least, the feeling was familiar. This was how he always felt after hearing one of Angharad’s tales. Nevertheless, he obeyed her instruction and did not speak to anyone, but went to his rest, where the song would continue speaking through the night and through the days to come. And although part of him wanted nothing more than to ride at once to Llanelli, storm the gaol, and rescue the captive by force, he had learned his lesson and resisted any such rash action. Instead, Bran bided his time and let the story do its work.

All through the winter and into the spring, the story sowed and tended its potent seeds; the meaning of the tale grew to fruition deep in Bran’s soul until, one morning in early summer, he awoke to the clear and certain knowledge of what the tale signified. More, he knew what he must do to rescue Will Scarlet.”  (Scarlet, p. 309)

Jesus said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain–first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4:26-29 NIV

its a matter of scale

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“I am not all that important.”  I agree, humility is a virtue to be nurtured and appreciated.  However, I have been surprised to hear now from several sources, “humility” as a reason not to pursue God.  In contrast to my friend who believes to accept the reality of God would diminish himself, this “atheist” upheld his position of non-engagement in the question of God as one that emerged from humility.  “I am not all that important, and humans are not all that important.  Why would I need a god to tell me I’m significant?  We don’t really matter.”

Indeed even a cursory look at the stars puts us in humbling position in regard to the universe and time.  The Psalmist declared, “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers–the moon and the stars you set in place–what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that you should care for them?”  Psalm 8:3-4

The extension of this humble view of insignificance seems to me to have a troubling consequence.  If I extend the view that I don’t matter to others, then they don’t matter as well.  I am not sure I would want to live in a society in which other’s don’t matter and the choices I make in respect to them don’t matter either.  Such a society would eventually suffer from its corporate amnesia and enter into the chaos of distrust and the persistent pursuit of self-interest.  That’s the way human hearts seem to work.  We abandon the forward motion of love for tolerance; we abandon tolerance for apathy.

So it is a matter of scale.  When looking at the stars, earth and its inhabitants seem relatively insignificant.  However, when I look across the room or across the table, I am glad there is someone who cares or takes an interest in me.  If I am really so insignificant, why do I care to be loved?  And it is at this point that the Christian message becomes very particular and quite scaled down.  God, who in three persons–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, engaged in the Creation of all we see, got very personal with us.  The incarnation of Jesus Christ is described in the most physical and close terms:  “So the Word became human and made his home among us.  He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.  And we have seen his glory the glory of the Father’s one and only Son….God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God.  But the one and only Son is himself God and is near to the Father’s heart.  He has revealed God to us.”  John 1:14, 17-18 (NLT)

The Gospel is announced in Jesus’ incarnation;  God is getting up close and personal.  He crossed the universe to announce and complete His love for us…for me…for you.