Tag: discipleship

When Kindness Meets Truth, [Kissing]

No escape from here.
No escape from here.

7 But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an important court official, heard that Jeremiah was in the cistern. At that time the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate, 8 so Ebed-melech rushed from the palace to speak with him. 9 “My lord the king,” he said, “these men have done a very evil thing in putting Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern. He will soon die of hunger, for almost all the bread in the city is gone.”

10 So the king told Ebed-melech, “Take thirty of my men with you, and pull Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.”

11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to a room in the palace beneath the treasury, where he found some old rags and discarded clothing. He carried these to the cistern and lowered them to Jeremiah on a rope. 12 Ebed-melech called down to Jeremiah, “Put these rags under your armpits to protect you from the ropes.” Then when Jeremiah was ready,13 they pulled him out. So Jeremiah was returned to the courtyard of the guard—the palace prison—where he remained.

Jeremiah 38:7-13, NLT

You can see a lot of truth here. Ebed-melech chooses to stand rather than capitulate to the nastiness around him. He is not cowed by the sinful conspiracies that are operating at the highest level.

Ebed-melech sticks his neck out— he rescues the prophet Jeremiah, and pleases God. As just a minor character he still plays a major role. He is set apart by this commitment to what is right and true. If he lived in the 20th century, I think he would have been one who would have rescued Jews from the Nazi regime. He was fearless.

But he is much more. He is not just dedicated to the truth, but he is also kind.  We see it in the way he saved Jeremiah. He finds old clothing and rags from a closet in the Treasury. With these he pads the rope, so Jeremiah won’t unduly suffer as he is pulled up out of the mire.

“Mercy and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed.”

Psalm 85:10, NKJV

Ebed-melech reveals his heart by showing this kindness. One could suggest that these rags were not really necessary. The rope we need, of course.

Ebed could have just used the rope, and he would’ve been right. But he uses the rags, and he becomes kind.

This blend of truth and kindness is rare. But I have known people that were both. They are definitely “true blue” and they are absorbed by living out the truth, and doing the right thing. But they are much more than this. Their righteous lives are filled with kindness and gentleness. This is a spiritually potent mix.

Oh dear one, we need both in the Church. It is from these kinds of people that will cause us to stick together. I say, if we are going to err, I would hope we would stay kind.

“I prefer you to make mistakes in kindness than work miracles in unkindness.”

–Mother Teresa

May I become at all times, both now and forever
A protector for those without protection
A guide for those who have lost their way
A ship for those with oceans to cross
A bridge for those with rivers to cross
A sanctuary for those in danger
A lamp for those without light
A place of refuge for those who lack shelter
And a servant to all in need.

—Anonymous

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The Blood of Jesus, [Tenacity]

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“For I will never leave you, or forsake you.”

 Hebrews 13:5

It’s funny, but it seems that our civilization claim to fame revolves around this grand idea of inventing good adhesives. Chemists and manufacturers have astutely given us wonderful glues and epoxies. One of the more recent on the market is a compound known as cyanoacrylate or “Superglue”. Perhaps you have seen their ads? A man wearing a hard hat is lifted off the ground by a crane after a drop is applied to the hat.

Now that is the ultimate stickability! He wiggles, and strains but he is stuck (literally). It seems to be a swell product, and marketed quite well. Everyone should have on hand a tube or two. You never know when you might need it.

The Lord Jesus has created that powerful bond between us. His blood is sticky, and once applied there is a permanence and a connection between Him and us. I think it was Dostoevsky who said, “Those who have been infected by Jesus Christ will never, ever be the same again.” Even with the strange metaphor, the principle is very true.

The blood of Jesus is a tenacious thing. We are cemented to the Lord, locked by His determined love. Some will try to escape this determined relationship, but experience teaches us that it is highly unlikely this can be done. Romans 8 is directly involved,

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[p] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39, NLT

Dear saint, God is determined to bring you home to Him. You and He are bonded together, and God’s tenacious love will never let you alone. People who apostatize are still being pursued, and those of us who are struggling along, are also being pursued. And those of us who are managing, are also being pursued. That is the nature of the love God has for you. Don’t ask me why, but He truly loves you!

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Turning Joy Into Strength

Joy becomes strength
Joy becomes strength

“Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity,  therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.” 

Deuteronomy 28:47

“…the joy of the Lord will make you strong.  The Levites helped calm the people, saying, “Be quiet, because this is a holy day. Don’t be sad.”

Nehemiah 8:10

Two completely different viewpoints, with two effects on our understanding.  The first passage traces out for us a judgment which could of been adverted by joy.  JOY!  And even though joy is a remarkable thing, most will remove it and replace it with ‘guilt’.  That seems much more suitable for a Christian.  And ‘why’ is that? Is forgiveness that hard to believe?

Austere guilt and sadness seem a better alternative for ‘the sinner saved by grace’.  Any display of any frenetic joy disturbs us, and needs to be most definitely eradicated lest some get the wrong idea of us, and our churches.  Yet in this verse in Deuteronomy we are impressed with the idea that this is one of the reasons ‘judgment’ will come on to our lives.

I get a trifle nervous whenever an ‘iron yoke’ is talked about in scripture.  It means that it is long-lasting.  It is a judgment, but with a permanence.  And people who don’t walk out in joy are soon walking in bondage.  They don’t sing with their hearts out loud.  They choose not to sing, but to suffer.

Nehemiah had to reverse the polarity of his people.  They leaned toward sadness and grimness.  Nehemiah had to change the way these people thought and reasoned.  ‘The Kingdom of God is like a wonderful party’, he said.  It is for feasting, and not at all for fasting.  Nehemiah must reverse the natural direction of the people.

Nehemiah made the connection between joy and strength.  When he linked these two a very critical thing happened.  As people began to sing, they began to get strong.  A transfusion of joy began to work out its magic.  The nation was empowered and energized to do things.  The Levites had a good idea what was happening, and they proceeded to get them on the right track.  When joy is finally added to the mix, the people are prepared to move out in strength.

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She Gave Everything She Had

“Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins.

Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”

Mark 12:41-44, New Living Translation

“God judges what we give by what we keep.”

–George Mueller

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Jesus has a whole different way of counting.  He sat, and waited, and watched.  Lots and lots of money was being dropped into the box.  The rich actually hired ‘criers’ to proceed them.  They shouted out to prepare the crowds in the Temple for their generous offerings.  Great effort was made to choreograph their procession when the Temple would be crowded. (I think some Churches might allow this, if only to increase the offering.)

But I’d like to think the best of these rich ‘fat cats.’  I want to somehow believe that they didn’t have ulterior motives.  But, knowing the heart of man, I strongly suspect these ‘givers’ intended to get as much ‘PR mileage’ as they could.

When we focus on the widow we find we pretty much dismiss her offering.  To put it in perspective, a laborer would work all day for a denarius.  This widow gave just 1/164th of that. And certainly without the fanfare that these pharisees and scribes created.

Jesus is sitting, and watching very near to the offering box.  He is impressed with this widow, and her scanty contribution.  But He looks at each heart, of each giver.  He puts a value on each one.  The size of the gift is not at all the issue here. It is the dimension of the sacrifice. She was dropping in everything she had.  All of it, without hesitation or negotiation.

As we are His disciples, this particular lesson must be learned.  And, indeed, it is learnable.  If it seems too hard to emulate we need to deal with hard issues.  Like fear, doubt and pride.  And there is nothing quite like ‘sacrificial giving” to penetrate our stony hearts.

“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.”

–C.S. Lewis

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kyrie eleison, Bryan

(Lord, have mercy on us)
 
 
 
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