“Some Christians are called to endure a disproportionate amount of suffering. Such Christians are a spectacle of grace to the church, like flaming bushes unconsumed, and cause us to ask, like Moses: ‘Why is this bush not burned up?’
The strength and stability of these believers can be explained only by the miracle of God’s sustaining grace. The God who sustains Christians in unceasing pain is the same God — with the same grace — who sustains me in my smaller sufferings. We marvel at God’s persevering grace and grow in our confidence in Him as He governs our lives.”
— John Newton, 1725-1807, Author of “Amazing Grace”
“The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.”
“Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist.”
John 13:3-4, NLT
Jesus was always constant. Nothing could erode His place or position. The authority had been His Fathers, and it had been given to Him. He carried it as a special burden, treasured and separating Him. Jesus had the freedom to act like the servant. It didn’t bother or confuse Him, He understood perfectly who He was.
With the supreme authority given to him, he got down on His knees, and began to wash dirty feet. I can offer no magic or flair to adjust this scene. He washed off dirt, cleaned between toes, making filthy feet clean. And all of this ‘as God in human flesh’. This staggered the disciples, perhaps a baseball bat on the side of the head, would’ve been more compassionate.
This was revolutionary, it completely devastated the disciples. They just couldn’t grasp what was happening. Jesus, who was ‘God in flesh’, had decided, in a moment of time, to clean their feet. Outrageous! Not really happening! No way! Never!
The reality.
This spun them around. They tried as fast as possible to process what had just happened, and ‘who’ it had happened from.
Essentially, it buried them. Jesus Christ, as Servant pounded them into the ground. Servanthood was to take the supremacy from this point forward. Becoming an indentured slave was now the way of Christlikeness. This servanthood was to now guide us to a point of slavery.
Gone are the days of Zebedee, when one can ask for a position, on the right or the left. We can ask, most certainly, but we haven’t been the first. We can ask but the sheer weight is against us. So very many have gone before us. We must become a people who accept, and then presses into His grace, His specialness, His presence.
Today, more towels are what we need.
We have got to turn over our ‘need’ for recognition and pick up from the pile the rag of servanthood, we must ‘ask’ our brother/sister if we can scrub their feet. We must get on our knees and do the unspeakable. We must find a way to clean off their feet. This dear one, is what you’ve been told to do.
“There are many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things.” D.L. Moody
Imagine climbing up to the top of a very tall tree. You work your way up to the highest point– you can go no further. The view is completely glorious, it’s more than you hoped for. You want to post it on Facebook, so you dig into your pocket to get your camera-phone. You suddenly slip, and because your arms are occupied getting your camera, you fall. And you fall fast.
As you plummet, you realize that you’re hitting every branch on the way down. The smaller ones break, and the bigger ones, well– you just bounce off. The trip down is very fast, and perhaps even a bit illuminating.
First, you think of death.
Then you think about the pain each branch causes, and wonder about your imminent arrival on terra firma.
Perhaps you consider how stupid you are, and how you are going to explain it.
Lastly, I suppose, you wonder if you have clean underwear on, like your mother always told you to wear.
This is how my life has gone, the last 20 years. This metaphor is a good way for me to process things, and to find some understanding. I now believe that some of us go through life sideways, or horizontal. We careen off of every branch on the way down, and it seems we are hitting branches that we didn’t even know were there. Tree limbs are snapping, as we are dropping.
Others who are wiser (or maybe more experienced,) try to fall more vertically. As they fall, they use their hands to try to slow their descent. (This does work!) They will take their fair share of jolts, no doubt. But their journey to the forest floor is way less traumatic. They may end up in the hospital– but not in emergency surgery like the first guy.
It sometimes seems like every trouble I have faced I have gone into it sideways. I have broken a lot of branches on my way down. I suppose I’ve entertained some who have watched me plummet, and seen me careen and spiral my way to the bottom. These have been some painful times, I have inflicted considerable amount of bruises on myself.
People who go through life sideways will invariably suffer. They seem to hit every obstacle and trial that could be in their flight path. The existence of pain in this life cannot be disputed.
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33, NLT
Jesus understands. Especially if you are one of those people who are “trial magnets” going through life horizontal. (You just seem to collect them.) My hope for you that as you break your branches on the way down (for maybe the 100th time). You will try to plummet vertically. Not that it is any easier, life will hurt. But perhaps it won’t be as agonizing. And I suppose that would be a good thing.
“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”
“He begs God on behalf of a human as a person begs for his friend.”
Job 16:21, NCV
I’ve been thinking about a class I had in Bible School. The instructor made a comment that has stuck in my thinking for over 30 years now. I have relied on it countless times in ministry since. It has helped me piece together certain issues of the heart.
When we “preach” to a person, we are actively accelerating the judgement of God in their life. When we pray for that same person, we delay this judgement and allow more room for the Holy Spirit to work.
Preaching
Now I know this is a generalization, and yet the basic premise of preaching and praying has a specific action. When you preach, you are calling that person to make a decision. They meet up with the truth and must decide for themselves. This is a very sensitive moment. If they consider your message at all– you must understand, one way or the other, that it will require a decision. Either they act on it, or they’ll decide to reject it.
Within the Bible we often see judgement coming to someone, and very often it comes right after a “declaration of the truth” by a witness or a sermon. Those who hear the word must choose to believe it, or spurn it. Even a neutral position is a position. A decision must be made on all light that comes their way.
Prayer
Perhaps this may be easier to see. The Word is full of men and women who interceded for others. If preaching accelerates God’s judgement on a person (or group,) than prayer decelerates it. In a sense, authentic intercession can give them more time. It delays things, without approving them.
A classic case is Abraham. He intercedes, and by doing so desires to save and deliver God’s own. He “stands in the gap” for the unaware. We see him “negotiating” with the Lord, trying to make a deal of sorts. He is bold and somewhat presumptuous. And actually, this is a regular occurrence with different circumstances. Many in scripture do seem to get intensely involved in the lives of the people they represent.
“I will surely not stop praying for you, because that would be sinning against the Lord. I will teach you what is good and right.”
1 Samuel 12:23
Conclusion
Should we preach or pray? We must consider, I think, the certain obligations of both. I believe at the end of a person’s life, they have had both dynamics working. Its like the tide– it ebbs and then advances, and perhaps that will help us to do the right thing at the right time. We understand the necessity of preaching, and just as important the work of prayer. We must do both, but grasp the issues behind each work. Both are necessary for one to come to faith in Jesus.
Seeing the effects of our actions brings us into a deeper understanding of the life in the Spirit. It motivates and will guide us. We start to understand the Lord’s ways and become aware of what is happening in the world that is around us. This new discernment can only sharpen our work.
Broken Believers 