Naked Before God: On Mars

Posted on July 24, 2018 by Don Merritt

I have enjoyed our journey together so far, beginning with our hypothetical “first church” on Mars, and then looking at our individual relationships with God through the lens of a metaphor, that of being naked before Him. We have now reached the point where the hypothetical comes together with the metaphorical: Naked Before God on Mars.

You’ll recall that when we began, the general consensus in the group was that the Martian worship assembly should be pretty simple, many expressed the idea that this would be an opportunity to drop some of the baggage of tradition and practices that have resulted in disagreements on Earth. Yet as we went a little further into the discussion we began to see that even in our group of 12 colonists, there were differing expectations about what is actually essential for corporate worship. We finally ended up with the idea that we all make lists of the things we don’t like about worship and then sit down and come up with something that everyone liked, or at least without any of the dis-likes present. In the process of the discussion, I tossed out what we know about the original Sunday worship in the early church, but alas! Some of our favorite traditions weren’t on the list per se, like music for example, and the discussion became even more interesting.

So, we went on a side-trip to examine personal worship and relationship with God. We saw that the metaphor showed us a relationship in which we do not allow anything to come between us and God, in which we set everything else aside and come into His presence in complete humility, in which we hold nothing back from God. Finally, we have discussed taking that personal relationship into the community of the church, and that brings us all the way back to the beginning:

Since we have the opportunity to begin anew in our community, since we will have none of the pressures of the past to deal with, and since we have given everything to God personally, and are prepared to relate with Him in open humility, what should our worship as the first congregation on Mars look like?

Several have shared their thoughts, and now it’s your turn…

I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

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The Word of Life

Posted on July 24, 2018 by Don Merritt

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.

1 John 1:1-4

John has a way of telling the story of Jesus from a lofty, heavenly viewpoint, and this is surely one of those instances.  His Gospel begins in a similar way, (see John 1:1-4) it provides a perfect parallel passage in fact.  Of course, in Revelation, John’s vantage point is so lofty that most misread it entirely. Here in this short letter, John is setting forth two basic and wonderful facts:  First, that Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed One of God.  Second, He is setting forth the fact that he, himself, is an eyewitness of Jesus, and Apostle who lived and walked with Jesus for over three years, consequently he is able to give eyewitness testimony about Him.

In verse one, John is letting us know that he saw this Jesus with his own eyes, touched Him with his own hands, heard Him with his own ears, and that now he (John) is proclaiming as the Word of Life, the Word that was with God and that was in fact God from the very beginning, a beginning that predates time itself.

I hate to be crass after such lofty statements, but to put it in the simplest possible modern American terms, John is saying something like:  Hey!  I’m about to tell you something important; listen up. Hey dummy, I know what the heck I’m talking about here!

Back to lofty: In verse two, John takes a step further, as he did in John 1:2.  This Word of Life really appeared, and John saw Him, John was there.  This eternal life that came from the Father Himself John is now going to proclaim to us. John will proclaim this great news of the Word of Life so that we may have fellowship with John and with Jesus, the Son, as well as with the Father. And in doing so, our entry into fellowship will make John’s joy complete.

Fellowship is an interesting word, from the Greek word koinōnia meaning “association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse; the share which one has in anything, participation.” This participation is not only in relationship, but in purpose, for we really cannot separate the Person of Christ from the purpose of the Father.  John’s joy will be complete, because by the proclamation of the Word of Life, we will be in relationship and purpose with John, our fellow believers, and with the Lord Himself.

Well dear reader, this is the introduction, I can’t wait to get to the proclamation itself, but that will have to wait until next time…

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TLP Living: July 23, 2018

Posted on July 23, 2018 by Don Merritt

There are times in this life…

… when things don’t go exactly as planned.

I’ve been on an unscheduled hiatus from blogging for the past few days; sorry about that. It was one of those really irritating periods when I would try to write something only to discover that I simply couldn’t concentrate on… anything.

That happens sometimes.

The docs told me awhile back that it is caused by the fact that I was hit in the head a couple times more than strictly necessary when I was young. Apparently, that catches up with you when you get older.

Oh, no… that wasn’t always caused by my big mouth, most of it had to do with sports.

I was never diagnosed with a concussion− nope, not even once. But then, you wouldn’t want that; someone else would get your playing time. You fake it.

Yeah Coach, I’m okay, no problem.

How many fingers am I holding up?

Two?

Close enough. Get back in there.

Whew, that was a close one!

I hear they do it differently now, but I’m a bit skeptical. I’m guessing the guys still fake it, and their teammates still cover for them and that unless they are unsteady on their feet, they still get away with it, but of course, I could be wrong about that. I hope I am, anyway.

Saturday afternoon my wife asked me what the sermon would be on so she could get a kids’ lesson ready; she usually uses the same texts for the kids as I do for the adults, you see.

“It’s the next passage after last week”, was my answer: I had no idea what that was.

I wasn’t sure what it was when I went up to give it, either. I tapped the Bible on my kindle, it opened up where I left off last week and then I did the Sermon. I have no clue what I said, even though I am pretty sure I am fine today, but I was told that it was “amazing” and “really good”.

I suppose you are wondering why I am telling you all of this…

It’s really simple actually, for you see, God always has our back, He is always with us. Even when we aren’t functioning at our best, He is there.

I trust Him, and you can too.

This is the first day of a new work week, and we can’t yet say how the week will turn out. Yet there is one thing I am sure of, just as sure as I am that the sun will rise in the east. That is that God is with us and if we will do our best to serve His purpose, He will have our backs. He will see us through the trials and tribulations that come our way, He will sustain us when we are weak, and He will give us the strength to get though the day and the week, and this life if we will trust Him.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but as for me, I think that is a really good thing.

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TLP Inspiration: July 23, 2018

Posted on July 23, 2018 by Don Merritt

Misty Mornings

There’s something about a misty morning that grabs the imagination, don’t you agree?  The day is stretched out ahead of you, but it’s hard to see exactly where it will lead; will it be a good one, or will it be rough sledding?

It’s almost a metaphor for life.

What are those shapes ahead?  Where is this road; where does it go?  It looks straight and level, but is there a curve lurking that I don’t expect?

Misty mornings make a routine day seem a little mysterious; a little adventurous.  That might seem scary to some, but to me it’s more of an adventure than anything else; exciting!

Our days can be unpredictable, that’s for sure, but our destination is not. Our walk with Jesus Christ will lead us through some rough terrain, but it leads us to a glorious home.

Even though I walk
    through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

– Psalm 23:4-6

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Sunday Sermon Notes: July 22, 2018

Posted on July 22, 2018 by Don Merritt

Title: Very Strange

Text: Mark 3:20-35

Parallel Texts: Matthew 12:22-37, 46-50; Luke 11:14-23; 8:19-21

After Jesus appoints the Twelve, things start to become strange; something isn’t quite right in this story.

Jesus and the disciples are in a house, and the crowd pushes in, there are so many people, Jesus and His party can’t finish their meal. Jesus’ Mother and brothers hear He is there and set out to “take charge” of Him, for they are sure He’s crazy. His family might have something in common with my family… but this isn’t the picture most of us expect to hear at this point; Jesus out of His mind? Why right now, He’s a rock star! (figuratively speaking)

But wait, there’s more!

And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

Mark 3:22

You know, these guys really should have thought about what they said before they said it…

So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

Mark 3:23-29

This is a masterpiece, a classic of rhetorical discourse, a thing of utter beauty.

Borrowing from this paragraph, Abraham Lincoln crafted his most important speech, the one that lost him the senate in 1858, but won him the White House in 1860. Lincoln isn’t the only one who has ripped this little bit or oratory off in the centuries since.  Not only did Jesus annihilate their accusation, not only did He crush their credibility with those they spewed this foolishness to, He showed them that they would spend their future in very warm climes.

He also has taught us that we should avoid attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to the work of the devil. Mark makes this clear in the next verse, pointing out that these guys had claimed Jesus was possessed by an impure spirit.

There is one more odd thing in this story. Remember, Jesus’ family was on their way to “take charge” of Him… well they’ve arrived. They send someone inside to tell Jesus they were outside, and Jesus doesn’t come running:

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Mark 3:33-35

This is a tough few verses, but we should understand this concept. I don’t think it would be fair to say that Jesus didn’t love His earthly family; Jesus loves everyone and died for all of us, so great is His love. Yet at that moment, well-meaning as His family was, they were working against God’s will. In Christ, we are God’s sons and daughters, we are Jesus’ brothers and sisters, members of the family. Outside of this context, we place ourselves in opposition to Him; not good.

We know that this changed, and His family came to become His followers, so this isn’t like what He told those teachers of the Law earlier, but it is something we should be aware of and guard against.

Well, for me anyway, this has been an odd passage, as though there is more going on that would have met the eye on that occasion.

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Naked Before God: “But I’ve been hurt by church!”

Posted on July 20, 2018 by Don Merritt

It wouldn’t be an easy thing to do; to be “naked before God in community” if we’ve been hurt by church in some way. Sadly, such damage is more common then many would like to think about.

An unpleasant scene, an unkind remark, a slight, an insulting comment, an affair, a come-on… even worse, a child abuse memory. Of course, there are many more possibilities, any one of which may make such openness almost impossible for some of us. Take heart however, with God, all things are possible.

To be fair, any time you bring a group of people together, there will be mistakes made including ill-tempered comments, gaffes, misunderstandings and so on, including jokes that miss the mark. The larger the group, the more likely that there will be someone who is just a really nasty person who is simply miserable to be around, but in cases like that, we need to keep in mind that these people need Jesus too; maybe more than most.

I’ve seen quite a lot in my years of church leadership, some it if has been simply amazing, while there has also been situations that required the leadership to step in and remove a person from the situation to protect the flock from harm. Believe me when I tell you that such occasions were not fun. Yes, I’ve also seen some times when the unkind remarks were made by people in leadership who should really know better.

Yeah, I’ve seen quite a bit.

Yet by far and away, these unpleasant episodes were the exception, not the rule. Overwhelmingly, people I have met in church are wonderful people who do their best to follow Christ, often in very tough circumstances. Yes, we all make our share of mistakes, but when we do, we correct them as quickly as possible and try very hard to learn from them.

Not too long ago, I ran a series here on Forgiveness, perhaps you remember it. When the disciples asked Him how many times they should forgive their brother… seven times? Jesus told then that no, they should forgive their brother seven times seventy times… as many times as it takes is how I read that one. The reason for this is that if we do not forgive those who hurt us, even those who hurt us badly, then we have to carry the weight of that hurt around with us, and it will interfere with all of our relationships with others as well as our relationship with God; it just isn’t worth it.

I’ve said several times now, that the whole idea of naked before God isn’t so much a state of being as it is a state of our relationship with God, and that state of relationship will never be entirely “naked” if we are harboring a lot of pain and anger from unforgiveness.

Just imagine that heavy load being taken off of you!

I fully understand that it won’t always be easy to trust “church” after being hurt in church but consider this: You don’t really need to trust “church”, you only need to trust God. Consequently, as in every other eventuality, it is our relationship with God that require our highest priority. At a certain point in that relationship, everything else will be taken care of… and you can take that to the bank.

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The Finale

Posted on July 20, 2018 by Don Merritt

Who is wise? Let them realize these things.
    Who is discerning? Let them understand.
The ways of the Lord are right;
    the righteous walk in them,
    but the rebellious stumble in them.

Hosea 14:9

This final verse really seems to sum up the entire message of Hosea’s prophecy and I don’t believe that I am exaggerating when I say that it is every bit as relevant today as it was so many centuries ago when Hosea first penned them.

I can almost imagine what the people of Hosea’s day might have said in response:

He just wants to control me. He just wants to have power over me. He just wants my money…

And so, the ways of the Lord caused them to stumble and fall. It wasn’t because the Lord wanted anyone to stumble, but because those who heard it refused to take it to heart.

Nothing has changed since then, has it?

We hear these kinds of comments quite a lot these days, even from Christians. That church wants to control me. That church wants power over me. That church just wants my money.

I suppose it would depend on what church happens to be that church, and I must admit that there are bad apples in most any group of fallible humans, but isn’t it about time we all grew up? Look at those statements again:

They (that church) just want− my control, my power, my money.

Here’s a question for all of us to consider: In Hosea’s story, when does Israel come to repentance?

Have you considered it…? OK, here’s the answer: Not until after they had been humbled.

Israel’s downfall came from pride and arrogance, and quite honestly that’s the genesis of our downfalls as well. Look again:

my control, my power, my money

How did I get to be so important that everyone wants to control me, to have power over me and to take my money? Here’s how Paul put it in Romans 12:3…

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

To follow the righteous ways of God is to be set free from arrogance and pride which lead to idolatry and total chaos in our lives, so that we can not only live in freedom from fear and anger, but to enrich our relationships with both Man and God.

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Naked Before God: Husbands and Wives

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Don Merritt

Ephesians 5:21-33

These are some of the most wonderful and amazing verses in all of Scripture, yet sadly, they are among the least understood, for over the years many have seen fit to twist them to their own personal purposes, while others have bristled at the notion of submission to anyone. This is sad for a number of reasons, but I think the saddest of all is that those who react this way miss out on some of the greatest blessings of all.

It really isn’t my purpose here to go through a definitive study of this passage; I have done so more than once on TLP already. However, I would like to give a brief overview of the passage in light of our ongoing topic of naked before God in community, for these few verses shed a great deal of light and lead us to our next and last area of discussion in this series.

Paul set the context in the first verse: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Notice that no one is in a position to dominate or abuse any other person; in our metaphor of “nakedness”, everyone is “naked” in this context. Then Paul moves on to instruct wives to submit to their husbands in vv. 22-24. This is where many today are likely to object, for they see an inequality between husband and wife, and I will admit that if you only look a 22-24 you have a good point, but the context is set by 21; they submit to one another− Paul simply spoke to the ladies first.

He turns his attention to husbands in vv.  25-29: Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. Christ sacrificed His life for the Church, and husbands are to sacrifice their lives for their wives. Where is there room for childish, selfish, self-centered, domineering husbands to abuse or dominate their wives in this? Unless you can find the self-centered, childish and selfish Christ, there isn’t. Paul in this passage is giving us an illustration of what it means to “submit to one another” which dear reader is a partnership, not a dictatorship. In other words, it is naked before God in a very special community of two.

You also will notice that in the husband remarks, there is more comparison between the husband and Christ Himself, for husbands are expected to act accordingly. Yet I have heard of husbands who do not quite behave like Christ, claiming that they are the ones firmly “in charge” of everything because of verse 23: “ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church”. Obviously this view is taken outside of the context of verse 21, and even worse, it omits the rest of verse 23 which reads in full: “ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior” How did Christ become the Savior of the church? By sacrificing His life for her!

Paul goes on in vv. 30-31:

for we are members of his body.  “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”

No doubt you will recall that in our study of the image of God, we saw the tremendous significance of this as it relates not only to God’s purpose for marriage, but for His purpose in creating humanity as bearers of His image, for it is only when husband and wife come together as one that His image finds its full expression.

So, there is a glance at the section about husbands and wives, but Paul is going to throw us a curve:

This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.  However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (5:32-33)

From the beginning of this passage in verse 21, Paul’s instruction to married couples was actually Paul illustrating the relationship between Christ and the church.

In his writings, Paul often uses the word “mystery” to refer to a truth that was long hidden from Mankind, and which has now been revealed in Christ, and the same is true here, for all along marriage has been an illustration of what would come in Christ; it is an illustration of the relationship God wants between Himself and His people. This is a relationship that is so close, so intimate in every way, and which is so expressive of God’s nature, that the most ideal relations between husband and wife are but a picture of the fullness He has in store for us as a Body of believers.

So there you have it, a process by which Christ increases in us, beginning with our learning to be naked and unashamed before God, and then learning to be naked and unashamed before God in community, and then the community itself being naked and unashamed before God (where “naked” is understood in the metaphorical sense). This quality of intimate relationship is there for us to have in this life, in the here and now, and even more so at the culmination of this age.

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God’s Response

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Don Merritt

“I will heal their waywardness
    and love them freely,
    for my anger has turned away from them.
I will be like the dew to Israel;
    he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
    he will send down his roots;
   his young shoots will grow.

Hosea 14:4-6a

After everything that has happened, Israel finally decides to repent and return to God, having acknowledged their rebellion and renouncing idolatry− God rejoices and welcomes His errant ones back into His blessing. Notice the imagery of the dew, the lily and the cedar: Israel is the plant life, God provides the moisture so it can grow. Israel returns to God, and God provides what they need to once again grow in His favor.

It would take Israel, and remember that Hosea is addressing the Northern Kingdom here, a very long time to repent and return to God; it would not happen until Jesus came upon the scene. Yet for those who did so, God was once more their God, and they were once more His people. If you think about it, Israel’s story is our story as well, for all of us once lived in rebellion against God. Most of us, at one time or another, flirt with the idea of turning away from Him, either for a season or forever. Even then, God wants us to turn back to Him, not to simply have His way, but instead because He loves us and wants the best for us.

His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
People will dwell again in his shade;
they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom like the vine—
Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;
your fruitfulness comes from me.”

Hosea 14:6b-8

God continues His response here, showing that in repentance, Israel will once again flourish, and then we come to verse 8: Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. This seems a bit awkward, doesn’t it? If you’ve every studied languages you know that sometimes translating isn’t so easy, because languages tend to have nuance and meaning that doesn’t always adapt easily in another language; this is one of those times. You’ll note that the NIV has a footnote in this one, but even then, the meaning isn’t quite clear. Here’s how the ESV renders it: O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I should mention that they too have a footnote on this; it can go either way, but the ESV makes a lot more sense.

Idols never did anything for Israel except to cause them to fall− it was God who looked after them all along, not those idols. It is God who gives life and who sustains it, and now that they have returned to Him, He will bless them richly in Christ.

There’s only one more verse to go, and it is quite a verse! We’ll discuss it next time- see you then!

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Photo of the Week: July 18, 2018

Posted on July 18, 2018 by Don Merritt

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