"God is with us!"

Though I have often heard people confidently assert, or at least strongly imply that God was on ‘their’ side; Is He, really?!? My smug heart has secretly treasured such an attitude from time to time, especially when I felt pressure or opposition from other people.

Joshua, the loyal attendant of Moses during the wilderness wanderings of Israel, assumed the role of leader of this fledgling nation as they crossed into Canaan through the Jordan River. God had refused to permit Moses to enter the promised land, and so now Joshua took up the mantel of Moses as Israel anticipated the taking of this land. In preparing for Israel’s first siege,
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I think the assumption is that if we are believers then certainly (there can be no doubt); God is definitely for us and with us. But it just seems to me that this reading from Joshua negates that presumptive kind of thinking. Joshua was definitely God’s man for the task at hand. He had been chosen to lead Israel in their campaign to capture Palestine. And yet when Joshua asked the question, the Angelic Commander of God’s army maintained his neutrality: ‘I am neither for you nor against you’. It was imperative that Joshua make his intentions absolutely clear before the operation to take the land could commence.

With the Commander’s statement; "I have now come," Joshua knew what his priorities were. Joshua’s loyalties did not simply revolve around the fact that he had chosen to follow Yahweh God in total contrast to the gods of the surrounding nations. Rather, it was a test of loyalty between the Lord and himself!  Was Joshua only going to serve the Lord so long as it was convenient for him?--so long as what God wanted jived with his wishes? Or was it a matter of always relinquishing what he wanted in favor of Yahweh’s will and purposes?

He was in no position to demand an immediate response from the angel of the Lord: "Wipe ‘em out--Sic ‘em!" Instead, he fell before the angel with his face to the ground--‘What is the message you have for me?!’ And when Joshua became aware that he was treading "holy ground" (like Moses, his predecessor), he immediately removed his sandals.

In checking out the situation at Jericho before the imminent attack on the city, Joshua no doubt, knew exactly what he was doing. But he knew just as well who was in charge, and it wasn’t him!  Yes, he was the leader of the people of Israel, but at the same time he was quite aware that he was a servant--the servant of his Master, Yahweh God. And with that understanding, Joshua refused to make the kinds of assumptions that followers of Jesus are so prone to make. His position as leader of the army of Israel did not routinely secure God’s approval of him or the things he did.

The decision to become a follower of Jesus Christ, does not provide a blanket endorsement from God. It is no guarantee that God is on our side. Jesus Himself said;

                                                 

Our discipleship (follower-ship) to Jesus is completely dependent upon a daily decision to give up what we want in His favor. It’s as if the Lord sends the angelic commander of His army to confront us each day with the same challenge: ‘Are you for us or for our enemies?’ And so in a sense it’s not a matter of us asking the Lord if He is on our side, but rather Him asking us if we are on His side.

Unfortunately because of their presumption, the people of Israel unlike Joshua, on more than one occasion, found themselves on the wrong side of the battlefield. In His anger, Yahweh " . . . opposed [them] in battle, refused to fight on [their] side . . . ; robbed [them] of splendor [&] humiliated [them]" (see the context of Psalm 89:38-44). Ironically, they found themselves fighting against God which resulted in immense suffering for their arrogant smug attitude. Disciples of Jesus embracing the same kind of attitude, may expect nothing better than the shame, humiliation and defeat suffered by the people of Israel because Yahweh ended up fighting against them instead of with them.

In Christ Jesus, God is always for us, but is He with us? That question can only be answered with another question: ‘Are we for  God and on His side?’

The Cost of Discipleship
      [My remarks in this post will shadow, even quote at times, the content of pages 162-171 of the following mentioned book]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, The Cost of Discipleship (TCoD) is difficult. For one thing, it is full of paradox (related ideas that seem to be at odds with each other). Also, what he proposes a follower of Christ must do and be is, of course, beyond our understanding or abilities to accomplish. What surprises me is it’s profound practicality.

"To the natural man, the very notion of loving his enemies is an intolerable offence, and quite beyond his capacity: it cuts right across his ideas of good and evil. More important still, to man under the law, the idea of loving his enemies is clean contrary to the law of God which requires men to sever all connection with their enemies and to pass judgement on them. Jesus, however, takes the Law of God in his own hands and expounds its true meaning. The will of God, to which the law gives expression, is that men should defeat their enemies by loving them."
                                                                                                                                                                                        TCoD (P.163-4)

Note Jesus’ instruction to His disciples (and us):

                          

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There is no pain greater than that generated by hatred and so in praying for our enemies/for those who persecute us (those who speak against us and pursue us for the purpose of harm), "...we are taking their distress and poverty, their guilt and perdition upon ourselves, and pleading to God for [e.m.] them. We are doing vicariously for them what they cannot do for themselves. Every insult they utter only serves to bind us more closely to God and them."
                                                                                                                                                                                         TCoD (p.166)

The exercise of this kind of love identifies us with Christ--we love [others] because He first loved us. And in so doing, we find that it is, in fact, not our love that we express, but rather His love in and through us. It is the same love that sent Jesus to the cross for the sake of His enemies as He hung there and prayed for them. "In the face of the cross the disciples realized that they too were His enemies, and that He overcame them by His love."                                                                                                                                                                                 TcoD (p.166-7)

Jesus loved His enemies even as they hung Him on the cross, and there wasn’t anything they could do about it. As His disciples, He calls us to love our enemies, and when He is permitted to do this very thing in and through our lives, there isn’t a blasted thing they can do to stop us from loving them--not even if they choose to use death itself. And this is what it means to be His disciple.

True Confessions

I have a confession to make. I feel badly about it--well, sort of.  Here it is: It did my heart good the other day to hear that Seth, an employee where I used to work, mixed a bad batch of dough and got written up for it. And here’s another confession while I’m at it: The only thing that would have made it any better is if I had been there to see it happen. It just did me a lot of good!

Do you have people in your life that seem to do their work perfectly or live in such a way that your less than stellar routines constantly stand out in stark contrast to theirs? And the ‘kicker’ is, he or she makes sure you are aware of your mistakes?! Well, for years, that’s what Seth has been to me. I confess; even though it felt so good at the time, I’m not proud of my response to his misfortune.

The question I want to deal with is, what do we do with our humanness? What do we do when we fail and don’t do good? It is a common condition--one that we all share regardless of who we are or how hard we try not to fail. It is inevitable that we will be (in fact, are) less than perfect. But what do we do with this uncomfortable reality? What will we do with it?

It’s interesting how different people approach this common dilemma. Rosemary, a resident of an apartment community that I managed years ago practiced a common solution with a most defiant attitude: "Well, I’m only human!" And with that, she proceeded in her most human manner to continue to make her life and those about her a ‘living-hell’.
  What happens when I express my humanity in the not so significant daily events of my life? By opening myself up to life as it really is, I am able to release myself from grossly unrealistic expectations-- I am not God and never will be. To some extent, I am able to relax. I no longer have to work harder and harder every single day to prove that I am just as good or better than everyone else to everyone else–or myself. Because I’m not. I no longer have to measure up to you, or me, or God--because I won’t. I can’t and I never will.

Do you realize how much pressure that takes off my shoulders? Do you realize the amount of time, energy, concentration and effort that no longer needs to be spent or exerted--in fact, squandered to prove something that is impossible to prove? Add to all of this, the issue of ‘damage control’. Covering up my humanity means I not only must maintain my competence today (like I did yesterday and the day before, and the day before that, etc.), but I must also continually think of creative ways to hide the mistakes that I have already made. Is it any wonder we become so worn out and our nerves become so frayed? Maintaining the illusion of human perfection is a tough ‘row to hoe’!! tired our lives and by the end of the week? ourselves out?! the pressure to prove again today that I am worthy, but what must I continue to do today to cover for the mistakes I made yesterday and the day before that and the day before that, etc?

Coming to the emotional and spiritual place where we are routinely able to accept and confess both our humanity and sinfulness brings us to a tremendous sense of release (this is what forgiveness means) and peace. At peace with ourselves and God. And ironically, at the same moment, we become both more like our Heavenly Father and more human (Luke 6:36). And that’s a good thing!!

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 Looking in All the Wrong Places

                          
We are so restless-relentlessly looking here and looking there. Channel surfing--surfing the web--checking this out, checking that out. Looking for the better deal--looking for a sense of meaning--looking for that something that will enhance our lives or somehow make our lives more useful--more satisfying--more something. Anything than what we presently are.

And so we go out looking. We go out looking for ourselves--we want to find ourselves. No stone is left unturned in this quest--except--the one that would actually give to us what we truly wanted in the first place.

 
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 In Over Our Heads

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sense that we are completely out of control, helpless and hopeless--at a total loss over what we can do to remedy the situation. In fact, it feels like a lost cause—a total wash. What to do?!

Ezekiel’s people were ‘in over their heads’. Like us, for the most part, they were responsible for their predicament. Their lives, their jobs, their interests so consumed their time and attention, that they were too busy to be bothered with God, their neighbors---with each other. After a time, in their neglect, they found themselves separated from all that had meant anything and everything to them. They had been torn from their homes, their land, their family and friends, their livelihood—from the very presence of God, represented by the temple and the holy city of Jerusalem. The Babylonian invaders had devastated their nation and compelled them to live in a faraway country. Once they received news of Jerusalem’s capture and the leveling of the temple, the last flickering ray of hope for the exiled people of Israel was at last snuffed out. Their lives were over!

Yahweh God sent Ezekiel, His prophet, to them with His message; a message of judgment---and hope. Israel’s idolatry, insensitivity and injustice to each other had done them in. They were in their tombs--their graves in Babylonia because they had been disloyal to God (Ezekiel 37:12-14). They had deserved everything they got, but  there was hope--tremendous hope--revitalizing  hope!

Consider what Ezekiel envisioned as he was instantly caught away and taken to their beloved Jerusalem to stand before a new temple replacing the obliterated one:

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Ezekiel’s tanned celestial guide who had a ten foot long measuring stick in hand had charged Ezekiel to pay special attention to everything he saw. The man then proceeded to show and measure every conceivable building, wall, object, nook and cranny associated with that structure (See chapters 40:-47:).

In the temple court, Ezekiel saw water seeping out from under the altar of God and trickling beneath the threshold of the eastern gate. Once outside the temple’s perimeter, the prophet observed this insignificant brook flowing east, southeast down toward the Dead Sea. With no feeder streams to supply it, this spring nevertheless grew in strength and power every 1500 feet(1000 cubits), so that what had been an easily waded ankle deep current, became an immense torrent that could no longer be forded.  Ezekiel was definitely in over his head and had to be led back to the safety of the river’s bank by his guide.

Here was a metaphor for Israel’s plight---and our own. We like being in control of our lives and for the most part, it seems that we are. We can negotiate the ‘ankle’ and ‘knee’ deep circumstances we face, with relative ease. We can navigate with some difficulty the more troublesome predicaments when we are up to our ‘waist’. But what do we do when we find ourselves in way ‘over our heads’? We’ve lost our footing. The control we once confidently exercised has been washed away as we tumble helplessly along toward ‘who knows where’? No matter where we turn or what we do, it becomes all too obvious that we have lost our way. The mighty current has snatched from our grasp the choices we thought we once had as our very existence is threatened. In our despair and hopelessness, we do the only thing left for us to do as we cry out to the God who has been there all along. And He leads us to the safety of the river’s bank.

Ironically, unknown to us, He had been there all along. We trudged through waters that were ankle deep, but it was He who "led us through the water". With the flow rising to the knees and waist, we plowed forcefully through deepening waters, but it was He who "led us through" it all. We didn’t have a clue. We were, after all, masters of our own destiny until  the immediate danger of the threatening waters forced open our eyes.  God, in His profound love and compassion, had been intimately involved in our rescue from day one.

In retrospect, it was not the river  that had endangered us.  It was us! --our own arrogant self-sufficiency and stubborn resistence. Surprisingly, what we perceived to be an ominous threat, became instead, God’s abundant source of nourishment, life, rest and genuine healing (See verses 9-12). It brought us to God Himself and a step closer to ‘home’ and all that has true meaning in our lives.

As it turns out, though we still don’t like being in ‘over our heads’, it may not be such a bad place after all.  For it’s only when we come to the place where we think  it’s all over--when it feels like we’re at the very end, that we find ourselves at the threshold of a rich and abundant life that is just now on our horizon.
                                                                                                                          

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