Being Thankful in a Thankless World

Friends,

Thankful or thankless -- which word would you say better describes our society today? It seems like the majority of our culture lives with an attitude of entitlement. People feel they are entitled to better pay, better benefits and more stuff.  People feel that if they cannot afford it, then they can rob Peter to pay Paul so to speak, or better yet, have the government pick up the check. The majority never stops to give thanks for what they have, but loudly voices their desire to have more.  We have, in many respects, devolved into a society of thankless people, and there are repercussions. The greatest irony in all of this being that – Thanksgiving has been overrun by NoThanksButIAmShopping. For many people, it is about greed…I am going to get something ahead of you.  This is just the opposite of Thanksgiving.  This is not to say that shopping is evil, just whether greed is dominating our lives, or gratitude.  If we are thankful for what we already have, it should help us not to be so needy or greedy.  We have enjoyed so many blessings that we have come to expect them. We even have begun to display these same attitudes when it comes to God. People acknowledge God less and less…they don’t give Him honor and glory for their success in business, or as pertains to life in general. They will tell you it’s because of their own hard work that they have accomplished these things.  In this familiar passage (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), Paul reveals to us that thankful hearts shows that we are healthy Christians.  God expects us to be a thankful people. As Christians, we are called to live counter-culture. With the approach of Thanksgiving, let’s discover how to have a thankful heart in an unthankful world.

There are some important realizations that we must own, if we are to live like Christ. One is that we are not entitled to what we have, but understand they everything is a blessing from God.  “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)  Even at our most economically unstable times, we have so much wealth in the United States that it is easy to take for granted simple blessings.  What we consider to be poverty today far exceeds the standard of living that most people enjoyed a century ago.  We have gained more possessions for ourselves today than at any other time in history.  While a great portion of the world looks at the United States and sees great wealth, many people tend to view it as what we are entitled to for being Americans.  If we encounter situations that cause us to have to tighten our belts (so to speak), and our standard of living has to change, we become upset because we feel we are being denied what is rightfully ours.  The person who believes that the world owes him a living is not going to be thankful for much. He thinks he is doing others a favor by permitting them to serve him. And allowing others to serve should not be a bad thing…it is good.  But, the thankful heart is usually humble…a heart that gladly acknowledges God. When we understand that God is the source of all blessings our natural response should be gratitude. The principle of thanksgiving, including the holiday, allows us the opportunity to put everything in proper perspective and to thank God for His abundant blessings.  A truly thankful heart will change our lives. It will keep us from becoming overly critical or constantly complaining. It will draw us closer to our Heavenly Father and make us more conscious of His presence. Thomas Merton wrote, “Gratitude takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder, and to praise of the goodness of God.”

Finally, this exhortation by Paul proves our need for the Spirit of God, because in our own strength we could never obey it. Gratitude makes us alive! When we are grateful we realize that God is the source of all our blessings, and this keeps us from complaining or taking blessings for granted.  In fact, the word “gratitude” comes from the same root word as “grace.” And “thanksgiving” comes from the same root, as well…they are all connected. If we have experienced the grace of God, then we ought to be grateful for what God brings to us.  Where the Spirit reigns, there is gratitude to God, a deep sense of appreciation, and a spontaneous expression of it. Take some time to think about everything that you have, realize that it was God that gave it to you. When we line up our lives with God’s will, we will discover that it will become easier to be joyful and easier to be thankful.  

Blessings, Don

Shining Like Stars

Friends,

If you have been watching the news, and you have an interest in science…particularly astronomy…then you are likely aware that astronomers believe that they have found a star and planet similar to our sun and earth.  The planet is called Kepler 452b (after famous astronomer Johannes Kepler). Both star and planet are slightly larger than our version of “home”, but this is interesting news for those who would like to escape this world. The universe is a really big place…so large, that we can’t really begin to comprehend it.  As one person shared…one way to try to grasp it is that the earth is like a grain of sand, and the universe of other stars, planets and galaxies would be all of the sand on all of the beaches of the world.  And even this wouldn’t even begin to be enough. That is difficult to wrap the mind around if you are a typical human being.  Some scientists try to tell us that everything that we know came into existence via some cataclysmic event called “the Big Bang.”  I experienced a big bang one time when I walked near a significantly large firework blast that went off by me when I was a kid. :-) What I do know, and understand by faith, is that God created the universe. And, if He chose to do so through the process of some sort of big bang then that is His business.  What I also know is that God created “light.”  And He has been sending His light into the world ever since.  He did so via the sun.  Then, at the appointed time, He did so through His Son.  Now, God sends us out as His instruments to be light to the world.  We do not have to light up the entire universe…but, you and I have the ability and responsibility to light our world.  As such, Paul tells the believers in Philippi that, as Jesus was the Light, they also must shine like lights in the darkness of the world.  We do indeed have the same responsibility!

Paul wants us to know that we need to continually strive to be like Christ.  This requires obedience and effort, or as he tells the Philippians…”work out your own salvation” (Philippians 2:12-18). This is not to be confused with any mistaken concept of “working for or to salvation.”  I knew a lady one time that when I explained this principle, it was like a light went on. She had never considered that she couldn’t do enough or be good enough to be a Christian.  This was sad in one sense, but good in another. She began to understand that it is all about what Jesus has done, and our connection to it.  There is no way that we can work for, do enough, be good enough in order to gain salvation.  It is the free gift of grace from God through His Son, Jesus Christ.  This is precisely Jesus’ point with the rich, young ruler (Matthew 19). 

Paul is dealing with people who are Christians already, but some seem to be struggling and have quit growing to be like Jesus.  He continues to help them, and all of us, to continue to meet the challenge of growing in Christ by contrasting the life of believers with those of unbelievers.  God’s purpose for us, His people, is to achieve Christ-likeness.  Church and Christian living is never to be about you or me or anyone else…it is all about Jesus. He is to be our all in all!  Paul says that those who belong to the world make it a course of their lives to grumble and find fault, but not those in Christ.  We are to rejoice and give thanks at all times.  How can this be so?  We understand that we are not working to grab hold of some sort of victory, but that we are living our lives in Christ striving from victory.  We have every opportunity to be able to enjoy our salvation with fellow believers…those we meet with on Sundays…and those who we meet with at other times.  We have the greatest principle in common -- grace and thanksgiving as the result of what Jesus has done for each and every one of us in setting us free from sin, death and the world!  We have a unity in this which no one can take away.

And what is even more interesting is that grace, thanksgiving and joy all have the same root in the original language – char.  This is where our English words charity, charisma, and character find their meaning.  In this, we continue to work out God’s purposes for our lives, spiritually, charitably living as His witnesses…shining in the world around us.  As we are confronted with the needs and the difficulties of real life, we continue to grow and become more Christ-like.  The struggles we face make us better, stronger for Him.  We can offer thanksgiving to the Lord for the opportunity to continue to grow and become more like His Son. 

Another principle that Paul wants us to understand is that it is God who is at work in us, and He must be doing this before He can work through us.  Some people obey God because of pressures from the outside (people, circumstances), and not from the power that comes from within us (the Holy Spirit).  And this is to be the power working in us, the Holy Spirit…God’s personal presence.  The power is at our disposal -- truly “greater is He (Spirit) who is within us that He who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).  God uses “tools” such as the Word, prayer, suffering and fellowship in order to bear fruit in the lives of His people. We discover that as we continue to grow that all of these virtues on earth are transforming our spirits in order for us to be ready for the glory in heaven being prepared for us.  We receive eternal life and joy because of our submission.  Just as Jesus submitted Himself to the will of the Father and was exalted, so will we be one day.

The beauty of the spiritual struggle is that we are not left to simply muster more of our strength, but we are invited to tap into His!  It is only through surrender to His will, and allowing His Spirit to work in us that we are able to grow and understand spiritual matters.  This all means that the victories and accomplishments that we have in the spiritual realm should be acknowledged as coming from the Lord…and we should give Him the glory.  We cannot do good enough or be good enough to achieve this victory.  But, we need to be surrendered enough, committed enough to be able to live out our Christian lives abundantly from victory.  When we have spiritual character, charisma, we understand that grace, thanksgiving, unity isn’t something that we do…it is who we are!  It all simply means that we can live the Christian life, free from negative attitudes such as fear, bitterness, self-sufficiency, because our dependence is on Him.  And this is precisely why we can be grace-filled, Spirit-filled, thankful, united people…because it is not about us -- it is all about what Jesus has done on our behalf! 

Blessings, Don

Baptism in a Box…or Maybe Not

Friends,

*This post is a follow up to the post from June 16th, "The Need for Christian Baptism".

I wanted to comment on a teaching concerning a passage a Scripture that I referenced some weeks ago.  Acts 8 and 10 are confusing chapters for many believers, including myself.  This is, in part, because…as we often have done with Acts 2:38-39, John 3:1-8, people try to discern and understand passages that are spiritual (involving the Spirit) in nature with a certain set of glasses on.  As I shared concerning Acts 19, it is very difficult to sort out passages from a strictly legal perspective, if the Holy Spirit is the primary force and motivator involved.  I tried to sort out such passages “legally” for a long time…and none of the above passages every made any genuine sense to me.  There are just some Scriptures (such as Romans 8, for example) that require different lenses in order to see them as they should be understood. And so, it is with this in mind, that I want to delve into this subject simply as a student of the Word of God.

As I have mentioned previously, if baptism is an entirely “legal” event, then we are forced to see it through one set of lenses, and one set of lenses only.  The result is often a misunderstanding, and a misinterpretation of certain passages, such as Acts 2:38-39, where the Spirit of God is not only theologically, but practically, diminished…if not dismissed from the conversation altogether.  I think it is easy to try to sort out Acts 8 and Acts 10 with the same type of understanding.  An easy way to dismiss what is taking place in Acts 8 is to say that Paul is somehow conferring “some sort of spiritual gift” upon the Samaritan believers, rather than the loosing of the Holy Spirit Himself.  It is certainly somewhat complicated that the Samaritan believers had already received “a baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ”…which would still necessarily distinguish it from the baptism of John. But, one of the purposes concerning what is taking place in this section of Acts is in order for some who were disbelieving (in this case, Simon), might come to faith in Jesus Christ. Some would say that (and call) this some sort of “Holy Spirit Baptism”, but I believe such a concept runs in contradiction to the purpose and practice of Christian baptism under the New Covenant. I also believe that such language is confusing for people, as they try to understand what Christian baptism is and what it is not.  As related in previous messages, Christian baptism is “a water and Spirit birth” (John 3, Acts 19, etc.) where there are elements of water and Spirit involved.  The Spirit is the agent who brings cleansing through the blood of Jesus and new life to the believer who has made such a commitment. Seeing this through one set of lenses would indicate that the only explanation that can be provided for a person becoming a believer is that water and Spirit necessarily have to engage at the precise same moment in order for cleaning and salvation to become complete. This is to put conversion/baptism “in a box”…or as one friend of mine calls it, it is -- a “sacramental view” of baptism. Now, it is certainly very true that what I have described above can and does take place…but, to say that this is the only way that conversion to Christ can take place, might very well limit what is genuinely taking place (that it is often, more so, a process) when a person comes to and is converted to Christ.  As I mentioned previously, it seemed entirely normal for those in the first century to come to Christ in a manner that was not entirely consistent with what we would discern from Acts 2:38-39. But, we have no “rest of the story” episodes where believers who might have received the Holy Spirit after baptism (in the case of the Samaritan believers in Acts 8), or before baptism (in the case of the Gentile believers in Acts 10) being “rebaptized” because somehow Philip or Peter “got it all wrong.” In fact, Peter indicates that the “common believers” were receiving the Holy Spirit “just as they did” (Acts 10:44-48).  There is no indication, whatsoever, that the Samaritan believers or the Gentile believers were somehow being ordained with some special gifts of the Holy Spirit.  It simply states that they “receive the Holy Spirit.”  That should suffice, in my opinion.  To say otherwise is to add words where there are not any.

Now, this is a different experience than what takes place with the Ephesian believers in Acts 19.  There, it is apparent that the believers have not received a Christian baptism, and Paul administers that to them, whereby they receive the Holy Spirit when they believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (19:2-5). What takes place in verse 6 is indeed unique in that the believers there do receive some special spiritual gifts (tongues and ability to prophesy, in this case) via the laying on of hands by the Apostle Paul. I believe it is important to make the distinction between what these believers experienced, and what is taking place in Acts 8 and Acts 10.  There are instances where certain disciples do receive a special dispensation of power via the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. (See Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:14, for example). In fact, the disciples themselves receive a special dispensation of power from the Holy Spirit (John 20:22-23) in order to perform the tasks that were about to come.  We also see evidence of this on Pentecost in Acts (1:5, 8; 2:1ff).  The question that comes to mind with some regularity is – why do we have no record of the disciples become apostles being baptized with Christian baptism (water and Spirit birth) that we have discussed?  And the answer is – we don’t know.  There are many spiritual events that apparently take place in the Scriptures, concerning which, there is no record.  In fact, in that same John 20 passage (vs. 30-31), John tells us that much more could have been written concerning Jesus' mission and work, but it is what is written that matters – it is primarily for people to come to believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ.

All that said, I think we may very well limit what God the Holy Spirit is seeking to do with disciples because of our limited thinking.  I do believe that it is easy to exercise a view of the Scriptures, have a philosophy or world view, where “there can only be one answer” -- it is either/or.  This is nice and tidy for those of us who have a tendency to want to control.  If there is only one possible way that something can be understood or accomplished, it makes it much easier for us to decide "who is in or out." This was how I was raised and taught to believe. I had to come to grips with this as I began to grow and understand that there were other Spirit-filled believers "out there" who may or may not have crossed all of their "T"'s and dotted all of their "I"s precisely as I did as it related to the subject of conversion.  I believe that the Lord would us rather have a “both/and” view of certain passages, subjects.  Such a perspective, understanding certainly clarifies certain passages of Scriptures that were at one time excused or dismissed as “not fitting the paradigm concerning other matters that I believe.”  Once again, I am certainly not “infallible” and have made plenty of mistakes as it relates to trying to understand life and godliness…but, per normal, I just ask that we prayerfully study. 

Blessings, Don