REST

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,  for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9,10 ESV)

Rest

I used to hate mowing the lawn.  But now I find it exhilarating. The same task can be tiresome or wonderful.  But for me, having the right mower, the right yard, the right amount of time to commit to the job, and a certain mysterious element have pushed my work into the joyful.

I am not sure what the mysterious element is in lawnmowing… but I know what it is in most of my life.  Unsurprisingly, it has to do with Jesus.

The work that we realize we are doing for God is actually done by, through, in, and for Jesus.  And that, according to the book of Hebrews, makes it not really work… but rest.

Maybe because He takes the effects of our work on His back.  Maybe because He cleans up the work, fixing Adam’s curse of sweaty toil.  Maybe because He empowers, guides, and supports our work.

But just like God has continued to ‘work’ after the 7th day of creation, but in a different way, we work differently when we are in Him.  Our work becomes a sort of rest.

We are peculiar, even our work is rest.

Condemnation

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  (Romans 8:1 ESV)

Condemnation

President Theodore Roosevelt (Teddy to his friends and supporters) did not like to be in trouble.  He was a mischievous teen, a rebellious young man, and a troublemaker in his early adult years.  And most of those years he tried to avoid trouble with an articulate and passionate denial.

“ ‘twasn’t I” was a common phrase from his mouth.

But eventually he understood the gospel.

Whatever we are guilty of (and there is a lot!) we are not guilty of. 

Because God punished Jesus for all of it, if we are Christians.

We do not need to deny, hide, or ignore our sins.  There is no condemnation for us in them.

We do not need to act pious, religious, or perfect.  There is no condemnation that needs to be covered up.

We do not need to perform like Academy Award Recipients.  There is no condemnation for who we really are.

We are peculiar, we are not condemned.

New Clothes

And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” (Zechariah 3:4 ESV)

New Clothes

When in elementary school, my family got new clothes every August, just before school started.  Those clothes, even for an inept fashion gnat like me, were very symbolic.  The new clothes were not just shirts and pants, they were a fresh beginning.  The new shoes were not just better fitting than my old shoes, they caused me to walk lighter.  The new coat was not simply warmer, and the correct size, but were a statement about who I was going to BE this year in school.

Perhaps that is why God speaks of new clothing here… pure clothing instead of sin-soaked.  Clean clothing instead of dirty.  New clothing for the new man in the Messiah to come, instead of old clothing for the pre-redeemed, pre-believing, pre-fulfilled us.

Eventually I stopped getting new clothes each Autumn. 

But God keeps giving them to me.

He guarantees a change in me, a progression towards newness, a revival if I turn to Him.

We are peculiar, God gives us new clothes.

Seeing and Believing

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; (Job 42:5 ESV)

Seeing and Believing

Nearly everyone has heard about God.  His name is nearly everywhere.  Religious people spout about Him, struggling people abuse His name, curious people ask about Him, literature refers to Him, science searches for Him, the arts describe Him, relationships imitate Him, rulers reign under Him, and fathers love like Him.

But Christians, unique in the world, know Him.

We have not yet seen Him with our physical eyes, but our spiritual eyes lift up towards Him whenever we worship.  We have seen and understood His actions.  We see Him in each other.  We see His Word, His people, and His love on display.

We are peculiar, we have seen God.

Words

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:7-8 ESV)

Words

I like words, but words are not everything.

I use words, but words are not everything.

I need words, but words are not everything.

Many people try to talk to God.  But their words only mean something if they KNOW God, which means knowing Jesus. 

The thing about prayer is not to have eloquent language, but to have a real relationship.  The thing about prayer is not to have just the right phrases or magic words, but to have someone who knows you,listening.  The thing about prayer is to pray with trust, not list demands.

We are peculiar, we know the One listening to our words.

Obey

God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, I am God, your God. Don’t live like the people of Egypt where you used to live, and don’t live like the people of Canaan where I’m bringing you. Don’t do what they do. Obey my laws and live by my decrees. I am your God. Keep my decrees and laws: The person who obeys them lives by them. I am God. (Leviticus 18:1-5 The Message)

Obey

I do not know how to solve a rubic’s cube.  I have tried.  I watch other folk twist and turn the box as if they are not even paying attention, and suddenly the puzzle is solved!

But not me. They are the peculiar ones, because they know how to solve.

But most days, I am the peculiar one, and so are you.

Because you know how to live!

Being peculiar is a choice.  Live God’s way instead of the way of the Egyptians, the Canaanites… and the Americans.

We are peculiar, we know how to live.

Ashes

For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:13,14 ESV)

Ashes

To understand this verse, we have to remember that the Hebrew religion taught that God forgives sin through that sinner bringing a sacrifice to pay for sin.  Usually in the form of a beautiful and valuable domesticated animal being burnt up.  When the sacrifice was finished, all that was left was ashes.

It seemed like an economic and precise way to buy forgiveness.  But it was never enough.  Both because we sin too often, and too deeply.  But God graciously accepted those sacrifices.   But the world waited for something better, something more complete, something more absolute.

And then came Jesus.

If ashes were ‘good enough,’ how much better would be the living blood of Christ?

Christ’s crucifixion took the place of the inadequate ashes.

And the fullness of that work changes everything in our relationship with God!

When we try to fix our own sin, all we end up with is ashes.  When we try to balance our sin with better deeds, it might appear to work, but all we end up with is ashes.  When we try to ignore, ritualize, or pass off our sin onto someone else, all we end up with is ashes.

But we have Christ Jesus. 

We are peculiar, we have more than ashes.

Light

Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. (Isaiah 50:10 ESV)

Light

I was touring an ice cave, and it was dark.  As we began our exploration, the guide distributed helmets with bright LED lights attached.

“You will need these when it gets dark!” he declared.

When we descended into the depths, he was proven right.  We needed the lights… because it was dark.

But my light did not work.

If I had been alone, I might have been in trouble.  No light means darkness, and that is unnerving.

But people around me had a working light. And they used their light, even unwittingly, to help my feet find paths.

Things might seem dark in the world these days.  Confusion, dishonesty, rapid changes, broken hearts, hunger, pain, all bring darkness.

And the world doesn’t have a light.

But God’s people do!  Shine your light so that you can see, yes… but also for the sake of the others.

We are peculiar, we have light.

Home

My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. (Isaiah 32:18 ESV)

Home

We came home recently.  After a fantastical voyage of over 6,807 miles, we unlocked our front door and came home.  News from the world promised war, economic hardship, reasons for fear, and even bad weather.  But our homecoming was a thing of peace, of security, and of rest.

Because God promises His people those things.

I am not naïve.  There were ‘problems.’  We were exhausted (but not grumpy.) Our sleep schedule was way off.  Aches and pains were increasing. We still had to unpack.  It was fourth winter here in Kansas.  We had to rise too early the next morning.  Our bills would be following us through the door.  Work loomed.  Friends were hurting.  Prices are rising.  Sin crouched at the door.

But God has blessed our home.

Interestingly, a common adornment to many buildings in Iceland is the phrase, "Drottinn blessi heimilið.” It means, “God bless this house.”  It is interesting because on the whole, Iceland is not inhabited by Christians.  Yet they ask for God to bless their homes.

They want what God has given us.

Yes, Isaiah is obviously talking about our heavenly home.  But Isaiah was also talking about our physical, geographic, feet-on-the-ground homes.

We are His people.  Because of Christ’s difficult work, our homes are different.

We get to expect and experience peace, security, and rest.  It might not always look like it.  And our problems are real.  But God guarantees that we will understand.  He has blessed our homes.

We are peculiar, God blesses our homes.

Fairness

And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. (Leviticus 12:8 ESV)

Fairness

Justice and fairness are often opposites and enemies.  Last week, I was trying once more to undo some damage done during an identity theft incident.  I was attempting to speak to a representative of the business that has been being difficult.  It actually seemed like I was making progress!  But then the clerk asked to speak to DeAnne… because her name is also on the account.  DeAnne was not available, and suddenly the almost-successful avenue was roadblocked.

I understood the justice.  It, sort of, was protecting me.  But it was not fair. 

The letter of the law, which justice sometimes demands, does not take individual circumstances into account.

But here we see that God, the Master of Justice, also allows for circumstantial awareness.

The woman in question owes God a lamb, sacrificed in Jerusalem.  We might expect that to be the end of the matter.

But God is also kind, understanding, and fair.  And so He offers her a more affordable option.  Turtledoves and pigeons are much cheaper than lambs.

While adhering to justice, regarding His people, (His through the sacrificial purchase of His Son) God is also gracious and merciful. 

God is just… but He is also fair… unlike us, sometimes.

We are peculiar, we are treated justly and fairly by God.

Precious

“But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: (Isaiah 44:1,2 ESV)

Precious

Most potluck dinners cause an internal struggle.  While many tasty delights are spread before me, I usually want to eat what WE brought.  Because of the hope presented in these verses.

God promises hope to the Israelites of Isaiah’s day, and that same hope dominos down to His church today.  He will help us.  Which means more than paying bills, finding medication, and improving employment options.  The help God promises is eternal as well as present… it is foundational as well as detailed… it is soul as well as heart, body, and mind.

So what does that have to do with casseroles and banquet bars?

God promises His help because He has chosen His people, and made them.

And the food we bring to the potluck table is just like that.  We chose it, we selected it, we liked it enough to say, “THAT is what we will bring…”  And we made it.  Usually DeAnne, of course… but sometimes I help a little.

The things we chose and made are precious to us.  Even in the midst of exotic, delicious, and fun other foods.

And we, Christians, are precious to God for the same reason.

We are peculiar, we are precious.

Love

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 ESV)

Love

This sentence is active, not passive.  The best love, Jesus says, is dying for someone.  He, of course, is the One who loves the best.  He dies for all of His true friends.

But many folk today have changed the idea of love into the passive tense.  It is more important, we seem to think, to BE loved, than to love.

Perhaps the change began on Valentine’s Day.  In school, we note how many Valentines we receive, not how many Valentines we gave.  When we go to the mailbox today, we wonder how many Valentines we will get in the mail; we do not wonder if we gave enough Valentines.  We feel mushy when someone utters, “I love you…” not when we declare our love.

And I am not merely speaking of romantic love.

The same phenomenon happens around Christmas cards and birthday presents.  We count love by the loves we receive… instead of by the loves we gave.

But Christians can know better.  Christians know that loving is better than being loved, perhaps because we have been loved already by the best.  Christians know that love is a choice, a decision, and an action, perhaps because we remember Christ’s choice before the foundation of the world, His decision in the garden, and His action on the cross and in the empty tomb.

We are peculiar, we can love.

Beauty

And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. And he put the coat on him and tied the sash around his waist and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him and tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band. And he placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. And he set the turban on his head, and on the turban, in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown, as the Lord commanded Moses. (Leviticus 8:6-9 ESV)

Beauty

A sunrise last week took my breath away.  My grandfather carved a strange bird that causes me to want to see more of them.  The Louvre almost glows with beauty, inside and out.  My wife’s face, when I wake up before her, brings glad tears to my eyes. 

Beauty is grand.

When God was instructing the freshly freed Israelites in worship, He emphasized beauty.  Because beauty is part of worship.  Yes, sometimes the externals have been overdone, overemphasized, and over-loved.  And that is idolatry.

But sometimes I wonder if we have swung the pendulum too far the other way.

Beauty is not wasteful, irrelevant, or unnecessary.

And rather than be afraid of beauty, rather than avoid beauty, rather than ignore beauty, God’s people get to embrace beauty… particularly in worship!

We are peculiar… we can enjoy beauty.

Gone

You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them… (Isaiah 41:12 ESV)

Gone

The most frightening part of most scary movies occurs ten minutes before the end of the film.  The bad guy, monster, alien, or enemy has been defeated.  The soft music has started, and everyone starts to feel better… but not me.

Because I know that the villain is never really gone until the credits… or the sequel… or the failure of the film in the box office.

But God’s enemies are more surely dealt with.

Isaiah says that even if we LOOK for them, they are gone.  Even if we continue to fear, and hide in corners, and imagine shadow-dwellers, they are gone.  Even if we think the movie is not quite finished, they are gone.

Who is gone?  Sin’s power and punishment… death’s power and presence… anyone who stands against Jesus.

We are peculiar, the bad guy is gone.

Paid

“Comfort, oh comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem, but also make it very clear that she has served her sentence, that her sin is taken care of—forgiven! (Isaiah 40:1,2 The Message)

Paid

I had a recent encounter with a computer hacking identity thief.  Our bank was quickly involved and restored all of the funds that had been taken.  But they added a word on the bank account statement.  The stolen money, a debt, was restored provisionally.

It was in my account, but those funds were not really, really, really there.

But last week I received a letter.  The refunds were no longer provisional.  The debt was absolutely gone. 

When the bank was provisionally giving me credit, I was glad.  But when the payment of that debt became absolute, instead of merely nice of the bank, kind of the bank, understanding of the bank… my heart relaxed.

God does not forgive us provisionally.  He forgives our debt because Jesus paid it for His people.  Our sin debt is not hanging around out there somewhere, waiting to ruin some future day.  Jesus paid it.

We are peculiar, our debt is paid.

Confidence

But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.  (Matthew 5:37 NKJV)

Confidence

The most annoying statement from my Garmin is, “recalculating.”  Garmin says it when the data in her brain does not match the perceived situation on the road.  Either I have made a wrong turn, or the road has been altered, or circumstances do not permit me to follow Garmin’s path.

Our society, whether voiced by the news media, by the entertainment industry, by textbook companies, by old men on front porches, or by the supposedly inerrant internet, seems to be in permanent recalculation.  Data appears to be updating faster than we can keep up.  Wrong turns abound.  Life’s roads are usually under construction.  Circumstances alter and shift and slip.

And so the world is unwilling to say simply ‘yes,’ or ‘no.’

But our minds, hearts, and even souls yearn for surety.

And we have it.  Not in our own cleverness, interpretation of experience, or breadth of vision… but in the One who knows all things, because He is creator, upholder, and protector.

Our ‘yes’ can be ‘yes’ when we are lined up with HIS, Jesus’ ‘yes.’  Our ‘no’ can be ‘no’ when we are lined up with HIS, Jesus’ ‘no.’

The rest of the time we get to keep our mouths shut.

We are peculiar, we can have that confidence.

Empowered

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. (Ephesians 6:10 ESV)

Empowered

Who does not like the idea of becoming empowered?  These days, we hear more and more about how grand it would be if the disenfranchised could become empowered.  And our society looks for ways to provide that!  We attempt to empower through voting, through economic stimulus, through education, through employment, through relationships, through ownership, through military might, and even through diet and exercise.

How are those things working out for you?

Probably not very well.  Because those things bring at best, temporary authority and profit… but not really power.

There is only one source of power.  There is only one way to empowerment.  There is only one way achieve the peace that empowerment offers.

And that way is the Lord Jesus Christ.

All authority on heaven and earth comes only from Him.

If we seek to be strong, Paul writes here, strength comes from the Lord.

Maybe that sounds like religious simplistic idealism.

But it is also the truth.

We are peculiar, we are reliably empowered.

Monument

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8 ESV)

Monument

We build monuments to celebrate ‘firsts.’  The crossing place of the first settlers going across the Mississippi River… the location of the first meeting of the Continental Congress…. the first printing press… the birthplace of the first King of England.

We also build monuments to celebrate ‘lasts.’  The final resting place of a famous general… a book about the “Last of the Mohicans”… retirement parties on the last day of work… the final concert of your favorite band.

But our Lord God is better than those monuments.  As much as we enjoy them, the Lord our God is indescribably better.  He literally IS the first.  He literally IS the last.  Because He is indescribably eternal.

And uniquely, Jesus is the monument to Himself.  A church is not a monument to Jesus, He does not need one.  A statue is not a monument to Jesus, He does not need one.  A holiday is not a monument to Jesus, He does not need one.

Those things might help direct our attention to Him, of course.  But they are not monuments.

That’s why the final words in this verse are, “the Almighty.”

That means He does not need anything else.

But He enjoys our praise, our thanksgiving, our attention, our love, and our worship.

Those things are as close to a monument as we can add.

We are peculiar, we have THE monument.

Priests

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood  and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. (Revelation 1:5,6 ESV)

Priests

The Biblical use of the word priest is slightly different than modern usage.  A priest in Scripture is a person set aside by God to represent God’s people to God Himself.  This is why Jesus is the best priest of all.  He speaks on our behalf to God!  In a way that no one else can…

But here at the beginning of the book of Revelation, as the Apostle John is about to see a vision of the future of God’s people, he makes an astonishing pronouncement.  He says we are a kingdom of priests, now.

Because we have an exciting job.  We can speak to God on behalf of God’s people!  We do it when we pray.  We do it when we worship.  We do it when we love each other.

And that also means that each one of God’s individual people has a kingdom of priests speaking to God on our behalf!  There is an army on our side, begging God for help.  There is an army on our side, begging God for mercy and grace.  There is an army on our side, praising God even when we, in our darkest moments, do not have it in us to praise, or thank, or worship.

We are peculiar, God’s people are priests.

-=- -=-=

Friday

Nobility

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.  (Acts 17:11 ESV)

Nobility

I have some noble blood.  My great-great great-great-great grandfather was Sir Royal Graham.  I am unsure of how many people are ahead of me in a claim to the throne of Scotland, but there is an actual number.  You might be jealous.  (Unless your number is less than mine…) Because that kind of nobility is unobtainable.   You either have it, or your do not.

But the Bereans in the book of Acts are called noble for a different reason.  They are noble because of something that they did, not merely because of the blood in their veins.

They loved the Word of God.

This is a more noble kind of nobility.  Because God’s Word is more important than throne inheritance.  And because a love of God’s Word is something we can actually choose to have.  We can not choose our blood.  But we can choose to be like the Bereans.

We are peculiar, we can be noble.