The Power of God

When I was a beginning Greek student, I was strongly cautioned against a common error in translating and interpreting God’s Word:  When encountering a Greek word that has become part of the English language, it is critically important to not practice reverse translation, i.e. to use our understanding of an English word to assign meaning/connotation to its Greek forerunner.  For sure, this is excellent advice.  But there is, I believe, merit to considering how we have taken Greek words and incorporated them into our vocabulary culture.  A good candidate for this is the Greek word dunamis.  It is the word upon which our word dynamite is based.

We all know what dynamite is.  It is a concentrated source of incredible power.  Dynamite can provide power for human use and for human purposes.  Dynamite is explosive and dangerous.

Dunamis appears well over 100 times in the New Testament.  Aside from its obvious translation, “power,” it is translated, “wonderful works,” “mighty works,” “ability,” “miracle,” and “strength.”  Dunamis is the power that enabled a virgin to give birth to God Incarnate.  It is the power that fueled the ministry of John the Baptist.  Dunamis enabled Jesus and His disciples to heal, and it is associated with the authority of Christ as He faced the hostility of Jewish leaders.  Most importantly, dunamis is the power of the resurrection of Christ in history and the power of our resurrection in Him as we walk into our eternal future as heirs of the kingdom of God.

Now, if we compare God’s dunamis to our dynamite, dynamite doesn’t seem so impressive.  Dynamite is power, to be sure, but it is limited, impersonal, and imprecise.  Dunamis, on the other hand, is unlimited and eternal, personal, and often tender.  Dynamite is dangerous, and when wielded by sinful human beings, all the more so.  Dunamis, however, is that which enables our good, wise, loving, and sovereign God to show His love to us, to bring us to Him, to enable us to do the works for which He created us, and to complete the work He has begun in us.  Dynamite might be necessary to build a road through a mountain, but dunamis is the fuel for all holy construction projects.

If we return to the advice I was given as a beginning Greek student, it is apparent that the words of caution were right on target.  If we took our understanding of dynamite and superimposed it upon our understanding of the power of God, we would be limited by a seriously impoverished view of our God.  Fortunately, the dunamis of God is not so limited.  We can place our hearts, lives, and eternal futures into His hands, trusting that the Lord’s dunamis is sufficient to guide and guard us through the challenges of this life and to transform us into creatures fit for an eternal heavenly home. 

For Thine is the kingdom and the dunamis

and the glory forever.  Amen.

Thought For The Day

"A comprehended God is no God at all."

                                   Gerhard Tersteegen

Amazing Grace: From John Newton To Us

Not too long ago, Windsor Chapel’s Worship Team introduced us to a new song as an offertory.  “Broken Vessels” is a beautiful contemporary version of  “Amazing Grace.”  Indeed, it even includes the Christian classic’s first line: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”  It stands with other contemporary versions of “Amazing Grace” and joins countless versions and arrangements that have appeared since the hymn was first published in 1779.  But why has just one of over 200 hymns of a relatively obscure believer in 18^th Century England generated such a legacy?  I think there are two very significant pieces to the story of “Amazing Grace.”

First, its message.  I believe that the old hymn has endured because its message is a succinct and memorable proclamation of the Gospel:  I am a wretch, helpless and hopeless in my sin.  But by the grace of God, I have been rescued from my sin: Christ as paid the penalty for it, and He invites me to live a new life in Him.

This is an old message but no less relevant than when Newton or Christ or the Apostles proclaimed it.  In today’s culture, it is often regarded with disdain and distaste.  Since human beings are regarded as intrinsically good, we need merely develop and share that goodness.  But it isn’t true.  We aren’t good.  We don’t need remediation; we need salvation. 

The salvation offered by Christ is a multi-faceted gift of redemption.  His death on the cross on our behalf covers our sins, “buys us back,” so to speak.  We can enjoy a right place before God and confidence before His throne.  But it reaches far beyond that as God takes even the ugliest and most painful parts of our history and remakes them into blessings. 

The redemptive work of God is what “Amazing Grace” is all about.  It is a story within a story: not only is it a powerful proclamation of the Gospel, it is the story of its author. Most of us are at least somewhat familiar with John Newton.  He is best known as a slave trader who received Christ and became a force for great good in his world.  Less known are the difficulties he faced as a boy losing his mother and as an impetuous young man who endured mistreatment and even slavery himself.  The amazing grace he experienced as God saved him and worked his past for his good became the story of his life. 

This is where the story of John Newton intersects with the story of our lives.  We, like Newton, have been rescued from our sin through the grace of God.  And now we get to experience God’s redemption as he weaves all the threads of our past—all the sin, all the hardship—into a tapestry of life that manifests His good purposes for us and reveals His glory.  And you never know.  God may use us in a way that echoes for generations to come.

Destination Driven

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were doing a series of errands.  After one stop, we returned to our car, and Ken started the engine.  It didn’t take long for me to realize that we were driving in circles.  When I commented, Ken explained that he didn’t know where we were going next, but what he said was this: “When you don’t know where you’re going, your direction doesn’t matter.”  Although I quickly corrected Ken’s confusion so that we could complete our errands, the powerful truth he expressed has stayed with me.

The fact of the matter is that direction and destination are linked.  If you neither know nor care where you’re going, then any direction will do.  But if you have a particular destination in mind, your direction matters a great deal. 

And so it is in our spiritual lives.  We, as believers, have a destination: heaven, where we will enjoy eternal relationship with the God of the universe and other saints.  In order to arrive at that destination, we need to be aware of the direction we are going.

Please do not misunderstand me.  Our place in heaven has been secured by the work of Christ on our behalf.  We need not—cannot—earn it.  But we do have responsibility as we live in a covenant relationship with our Lord.  In the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he exhorts his readers to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, noting that it is God who is at work in them, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:12). 

Although I have always found this passage to be puzzling, it highlights an essential mystery of the Christian faith.  The Holy Spirit works in us and through us as we abide in Christ.  Once we commit to Christ by faith and through His grace receive the Holy Spirit, we begin our part—to partake of the nature of Christ (Heb. 3:14) and participate in His kingdom’s work. 

As we walk on this side of the kingdom toward our eternal destination, it matters what direction we travel.  The Bible makes this abundantly clear.  The Apostle Paul exhorts his Ephesian readers to put aside all anger, bitterness, and malice and to extend kindness and forgiveness to one another.  The Apostle John is well known for his “love one another” exhortations.  The Apostle Peter makes an even stronger case, urging his readers to fervently love one another and to offer hospitality and service to one another (I Pet. 4:8).  The author of Hebrews instructs his readers to encourage one another (Heb. 10:24).  James has much to say in his epistle about relationships among those who are on their way to heaven.

Please notice with me that the way we partake in the nature of Christ and participate in His work is not necessarily by becoming a professional missionary, singing in the choir, or serving on a church committee.  It is rather by learning to appreciate, love, encourage, and serve one another that we experience and reflect glimpses of heaven. 

C.S. Lewis emphasized in his writing that it is not so much what we do as who we are and who we are becoming that is of spiritual significance.  As we turn our faces toward our heavenly destination, may we remain mindful of the direction of our hearts and love our Lord and others with all that we are and all that we have.

“If you board the wrong train, it’s no use running along the corridor in the other direction.”     Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Simon Says"--Game On!

Being a grandparent is a wonderful treat.  Grandparenting gives us an opportunity to experience again the joys of childhood without the strain of parental responsibility.  My grandson Sam is just developing his vocabulary and communication skills, and with that development comes so many fun possibilities.  One such possibility, when he gets a little older, is the game “Simon Says.”

You know that game.  Someone—the “Simon”—gives commands.  On those commands that begin with “Simon says,” the players are to follow the command.  On those commands that omit “Simon says,” the players are to ignore the command.  It is a fun game that teaches careful listening and attention to detail.  It also requires self-control.

I think and speak often about the importance of those who claim Christ as their Savior to follow Him as their Master.  This means depending upon Him in the same way and to the same degree as He depended on His Father while He walked on earth as a man.  Consider the words of Jesus as recorded in John 5:19: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”  And, in John 8:28b: “I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.”

In essence, Jesus played a pretty mean game of “Simon Says” with His Father.  He said whatever the Father told Him to say and did whatever the Father told Him to do but rejected repeated opportunities to speak and act on His own.

When Jesus exhorted His disciples to abide in Him as branches abide in the vine (John 15:4), He was in essence inviting them—and us—to play a divine version of “Simon Says.”  We need to keep our eyes on our Lord and listen carefully and attentively.  We also need to resist the temptation to move away from Him and go our own way at times.

To be sure, it is not always easy to recognize our Master’s voice, to distinguish it from our own internal impulses.  But as with most games, with practice we become much more skilled.  Let the game begin!

Losing the Ledger of Life

In a recent news blurb, I read about proposed legislation to prohibit the use of “entitlement funds” for “frivolous” goods and services.  In particular, the bill was targeting the use of Welfare money for tattoos and tanning services.  While I would agree that such services are frivolous, I am not sure what I think about the legislation.  What struck me, though, was the irony of the situation.  Entitlement is a human problem far greater in scope than the Welfare legislation. 

It is not hard to see that we live in a culture heavily influenced by feelings of entitlement.  If we work hard, we deserve material success and affirmation.  If we do something nice for someone, they owe us a return favor.  Women have the right to equal pay for equal work.  If we act in honesty and integrity, we should be immune to being cheated.  And feelings of entitlement extend to Christians as well.  If we raise our children in good, Christian homes, take them to church, have them attend Sunday School, VBS, and youth group, they will always become faithful adults.  If we engage in enough Bible study and prayer, we can solve our problems.  If we give generously to the church, the Lord will reimburse us many times over.  I have a former counseling client who abruptly stopped speaking to me when I refused to support her “name it and claim it” approach to the Christian life.

The Lord often confronts me with my feelings of entitlement.  Now that our children are grown, He often uses our dog to expose my sin nature.  Last week we had a day that was Lucy-centric.  We played in the yard, I took her for agility training (think playground for dogs), and we went for a nice walk.  Later, I called her to come in from the back yard, and she refused to come.  And when I tried to catch her, she ran away from me.  My thoughts went something like this: “After all I’ve done for you and with you today, at the very least you could come when I call you.”  I was in fact feeling that my care for and training of our dog entitled me to her obedience.

Please do not misunderstand me.  God is the God of reaping and sowing.  It pleases God when we work hard, extend kindness to others, pursue justice for everyone, raise our children in faith, invest in Bible study and prayer, give generously of our resources, and expect our Lord to act on our behalf.  And many of our desired outcomes are appropriate.  But there is a fine line between a desire—even the most appropriate of desires—and the demand of entitlement.  The Bible is very clear that we are sinners, and we deserve death.  We simply are not entitled to large salaries, fair treatment, perfect children, obedient dogs, and a comfortable life.  In fact, Jesus made it quite clear to His disciples that His followers would be subject to this fallen world and be treated with the same contempt and hatred as He was.  In the world we will have tribulation….

So if righteous living does not entitle us to freedom from the troubles of this world, why bother pursuing it?  Several reasons leap to mind.  First and foremost, our Lord, Savior, and Master desires us to be holy as He is holy.  If we are to be in relationship with Him, we must partake of His nature, which is wholly righteous.  Pursuing righteousness in this way is the goal that God wants for us.  Second, the pursuit of righteousness is also the means to that goal.  As we pursue righteousness and fail, we learn to appreciate God’s grace and depend more and more on our Master and so become more like Christ who depended completely on His Father.  In short, we become more fit for heaven.  And finally, a time of judgment is coming.  The Bible is not entirely clear what judgment for believers will look like, but there is undeniable mention of reward for righteousness in life.

There is another reason to relinquish our attitude of entitlement.  While we so often focus on the good things to which we are entitled, more to the point is the not so good things that we deserve.  As I have mentioned, we are sinners.  The wages of sin is death.  And while we are sometimes the victims of abuse and unfair treatment, there are times when we are the perpetrators.  All too often we act in our own self interest.  If we are honest with ourselves, we cannot avoid the truth that sometimes we do not deserve to be treated kindly, or justly.  The uncomfortable truth is that the Lord could say the same thing about me that I thought about Lucy: “After all I’ve done for her, at least she could obey me!”

But thanks be to God!  This is where the good news of the Gospel rescues us.  The glorious truth is that we do not get that to which we are entitled.  In Christ, we get far more than we deserve, far better than we can earn.  We have been freed from our death sentence.  And in that freedom, we can outgrow our attitudes of entitlement and live in gratitude and thanksgiving.  We can appreciate the freedom from the frustration that inevitably follows the feeling of entitlement, and we are able to love others as Christ loves us, without needing anything in return.