Tribulation

Readings for today: Mark 13-14, Psalms 101

I meet so many believers around the world who believe Jesus will return in their lifetimes. In almost every case, it’s because of the trials and tribulation they are either suffering currently or are anticipating suffering based on the growing hostility in their particular culture. Jesus, of course, predicted these things would happen to those who followed Him. He predicted pain and suffering and warfare and betrayal and a host of other things that would take place around the world before His 2nd coming. Honestly, I hope they are right. I would love to be out of a job! I would love to avoid as much pain and suffering as possible.

At the same time, I am enough of a student of history to know God’s people have endured unspeakable things. In the early years, they were on the run during the periods of systematic persecution under pagan Roman Emperors. They endured all kinds of hardship and suffering during the chaos of the Dark Ages after the fall of the Roman Empire. They experienced immense pain and grief and loss due to natural disasters, famines, disease, etc. Think of how they must have felt in the 14th century as the Black Plague ravaged Europe for example. Listen again to Jesus’ words, “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed; these things must take place, but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. “But you, be on your guard! They will hand you over to local courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them. And it is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations.” (Mark‬ ‭13‬:‭5‬-‭10‬ ‭CSB‬)

So what‘s the point? Why doesn’t God just bring an end to all the pain and suffering and injustice and violence on the earth? Why didn’t God just put an end to it all after raising His Son from the dead? The answer to this question comes in the last sentence. Verse ten. “It is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations.” This is the mission of the church and God will not return until this mission is complete. God’s great desire is that all should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. God wants people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to be part of the great eschatological worship service before His throne. So rather than speculate on when Jesus might return or worry about how much tribulation we may have to face or how many trials we may have to endure, I believe Jesus is calling us to be humble, wise, discerning, and most of all, passionate about taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Readings for tomorrow: Mark 15-16, Psalms 102

Save us!

Readings for today: Mark 11-12, Psalms 100

Hosanna. It’s a beautiful word and a powerful prayer. It’s the cry of the people as Jesus rides into Jerusalem. And it’s also the culmination of the prayers of so many generations of God’s people. Think of all the people of God have suffered throughout the ages. From the nomadic existence of Abraham and Sarah to brutal slavery in Egypt to the wars of conquest in the Promised Land to the ebbs and flows of sin and redemption under the leadership of different kings and judges to the destruction of the northern kingdom and the exile of the southern kingdom. It’s an unbelievable story that testifies to the miraculous intervention and preservation of God as He guided and protected His people over the years. And now they find themselves back in the Land but under occupation. They find themselves able to worship at the Temple but under the corrupt leadership of the religious authorities. They find themselves able to practice their faith but God’s salvation seems as distant as ever. Then along comes Jesus. He heals. He feeds. He casts out demons. He teaches. He points people to the Kingdom of God in very tangible and practical ways. It’s powerful. No wonder they looked to Him for salvation.

“Many people spread their clothes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Mark‬ ‭11‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭CSB‬‬) It’s hard to get our heads and hearts around what the people in first century Palestine must have felt. The Roman Empire was peaking under the leadership of Caesar Augustus. The religious authorities were firmly entrenched. There were several revolutionary movements underway. It must have felt like they were living in a powder keg that could blow at any time. Jesus was one of those “revolutionaries.” All they knew about Him was that He was a worker of miracles and a powerful preacher. They knew He had gained a significant following in the Galilean countryside. Now he was coming into Jerusalem riding on a colt just like the ancient prophets foretold. He was deliberately invoking the echoes of King David and the golden age of the Israelite kingdom. And they must have had such high hopes.

All of us experience those same hopes. We long for Jesus to save us. Save us from our sin. Save us from our pain. Save us from our fears. Save us from our circumstances. And whether we realize it or not, we all cry out on some level, “Hosanna!” We all cry out to Jesus for salvation. But are we willing to receive the salvation He offers in the way He offers it? Through the cross? Through His suffering and death and resurrection? That’s what tripped up the people cheering for Him back in the first century. They wanted a king. They wanted someone who would throw out the Romans and depose the religious elite. They wanted someone who would build up the military power of Israel and re-establish her ancient borders and dominate the pagan nations around them once more. This was not the salvation Jesus offered and that’s why so many turned on Him. If we aren’t careful, we can fall into this same trap. We want Jesus to exercise His authority and restore our nation. We want Him to depose our own corrupt political, social, cultural, and even ecclesiastical leaders. We want Jesus to rebuild our power and influence so we can dominate the world once again. But that’s not the salvation Jesus offers.

So why do you cry Hosanna? What kind of salvation are you actually looking for? What would happen if Jesus did actually give you your heart’s desire and would that have any kind of eternal significance?

Readings for tomorrow: Mark 13-14, Psalms 101

Transfigured Spaces

Readings for today: Mark 9-10, Psalms 99

Years ago, I came across the idea of a “thin space.” A place where the veil between this world and the next becomes permeable. All of a sudden, we can see into God’s world from our world. The dimensions of heaven and earth merge and intersect. It is the space of miracles. The space where the divine meets the mundane face to face. 

I believe the Bible records such a space when it describes what happens on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus has just given his disciples a promise. Some of them will not taste death until they get to see the Kingdom of God come in power. Six days later, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain. Once they arrive on the summit, Jesus is “transfigured” before them, meaning He appears to them in all His divine glory. His robes become radiant, taking on an intensity never before seen on earth. Elijah and Moses, the greatest of the Old Testament saints, appear beside Him. They begin to converse. A cloud overshadows them and a voice thunders from the atmosphere surrounding them, “This is my Beloved Son, listen to Him.” They fall on their faces in reverent fear. 

It begs the question. Where is heaven? Is it up in the sky somewhere? Perhaps deep into outer space? The famous Russian cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, was asked if he found God when he went to into space. “No”, he replied. “I searched and searched but He was not there.” But heaven is not a physical place residing somewhere out there in the farthest reaches of our universe. It lies in another dimension altogether. “Heaven” and “Earth” are simply different names to two different dimensions of Life. Death is the gateway between them. The dimension of heaven exists all around us all the time. In fact, the very word translated “heaven” in the Scriptures can also mean “atmosphere.” That’s how I prefer to think about it. We are immersed in it even though we cannot see it. God speaks to us from the air surrounding us. The saints who have gone before us are constantly moving in and among us. All of them waiting for the day when God finally brings these two dimensions together once and for all. 

And that begs yet another question. When we place our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. At salvation, the Third Person of the Trinity comes to dwell in our hearts. And this means Christians are walking, talking “thin spaces” (or as I like to think of it - “transfigured spaces”), constantly living at the intersection of heaven and earth. Think about the implications of that for a moment. Aren’t they glorious? If we could live with this awareness all the time, wouldn’t it change things? Change how we work? Change how we relate to friends and family? Change how interact with the world around us?

Readings for tomorrow: Mark 11-12, Psalms 100

F.A.I.T.H. Gardens

Readings for today: Mark 3-4, Psalms 96

Several years ago, I met an amazing man in the Horn of Africa. His name is Taban. He is a farmer who developed a system (F.A.I.T.H. Gardens = Food Always In The Home) to provide food security and sustainability in a region afflicted by starvation and malnutrition. He plants maize and onions and eggplant and sweet potatoes and a host of other vegetables to replace the cassava plants distributed by the United Nations. He recognizes when cassava isn’t cooked to the right standards, it can become toxic and slowly poison his people. He spends his days tearing out cassava by the roots and offering a much healthier, more diverse menu of options that provide not only food for a household but also an income as they take it to market. He’s one of my many heroes.

I thought about Taban when I read through our passage for today. Here Jesus talks a LOT about seeds and sowing and farming and harvesting. He talks about what happens to seed when it is cast on the hard path or rocky soil or among the weeds or planted in good soil. He likens it to what happens when we preach the gospel and it falls on the hearts of people. Some hearts are hard. Some are rocky and it’s tough to grow deep roots. Some are full of weeds that choke out its life. Some hearts are open and ready to receive. What Jesus is doing here is providing a diagnostic for each individual Christian to discern the condition of their own heart. After all, I am in charge of my own soil. No one else is responsible for the condition of my heart. At the same time, my heart is definitely shaped by the community I surround myself with and the schedule I keep and the pace of life I set. If I set an unhealthy pace, my heart will reflect that unhealthy condition and the soil will not be conducive for spiritual growth.

When Taban trains our church planters in sustainable farming techniques, he often talks about the condition of the soil. He researches which crops have the best chance to thrive in which soil. He pays attention to average rainfall and offers suggestions for how to find the best soil possible to give them the best chance for success. Of course, each church planter has to decide what they will do with the information they are given just as each person has to decide what they will do with the gospel they are given. So what have you done? How do you intentionally till the soil of your own heart so it is open to receive the good news? What spiritual practices do you engage in to create healthy and good soil for the seeds of the gospel?

Readings for tomorrow: Mark 5-6, Psalms 97 (No devotionals on Sundays)

Baptism

Readings for today: Mark 1-2, Psalms 95

A few weeks ago, we had the privilege of baptizing almost thirty people. Some were young. Some were old. Some were in between. As is the custom at our church, we had several who were being baptized for the first time and several who were being reaffirmed in their faith. And because we take both groups to the water, it can be a bit confusing for those watching. What’s the difference? Is there even a difference? And where do we find biblical support for our practice? These are great questions and the answer can be found right here at the beginning of the Gospel of Mark.

The baptism of John is not a Christian baptism. That may come as a surprise for some readers. Quite often we assume, because the word “baptism” is used, that John is administering a Christian sacrament just like we do today. Nothing could be further from the truth. Baptism is a Greek word that simply means “immersion.” It is also a term that signifies ritual purity. A common practice for the Jewish people was to “baptize” themselves or immerse themselves in a “mikvah” which is a bath used for the purposes of ritual purification. And this is essentially what John is doing. He is using the Jordan River as a mikvah to baptize or immerse people for repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Please note these are faithful Jews who have been circumcised and who are participating in the Temple rites outlined in the Old Testament. They make their sacrifices and keep their sacred festivals. So why do they feel the need to go out to John for baptism? What is it that draws them to John’s preaching? Why do they respond in such numbers? John is the last of the Old Testament prophets. He is the one messenger Isaiah promised all those years ago. The one called to prepare the way of the Lord and there’s something about his preaching that the people find deeply compelling.

At the same time, John himself acknowledges the limits of his ministry. He is simply immersing people with water but there is one coming after him who will immerse them in the Holy Spirit. The baptism of Jesus will carry far more power and far more weight than John’s baptism ever could. In fact, John isn’t even worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals and yet it is John who baptizes Jesus at the launch of His ministry. This, of course, is to fulfill God’s plan and make Jesus known to the people. After this, John will decrease as Jesus increases. And his part in God’s plan comes to a close with his execution at the hands of Herod.

So back to the questions about baptism. The church has baptized new believers in Jesus Christ since the beginning. Following Jesus’ command in the Great Commission, we immerse them in water (or we sprinkle or pour which has the same symbolic effect) and speak the baptismal formula over them. “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” We believe the act of baptism to be a sacrament that seals the new believer as Christ’s own forever or, as in the case of infants, we baptize, trusting in the promise of God to bring the child to saving faith through the saving faith of their parents and local church community. In addition, the church has also recognized the need to offer some kind of public acknowledgement for repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Typically offered to believers who have lapsed back into their previous sinful ways or drifted from God or walked away from the church, these rituals provide an avenue for them to return to the fellowship of the saints and renew their faith in the Lord. In this way, it is very similar to the ritual John was offering at the Jordan River. And this is what we offer at our church to those who wish to publicly reaffirm their faith in Christ. It is not a second baptismal rite. It is not a replacement for a previous baptism. It doesn’t take away from the power of the sacrament of baptism. It simply acknowledges the continual need we all have as believers to repent and for the forgiveness of sins.

Readings for tomorrow: Mark 3-4, Psalms 96