Exaltation

"...for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,

but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Luke 18:14

This is the final verse from a parable found in Luke 18:9-14. It's the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector who both went to the temple to pray, one with great pride in his heart and the other with humble confession.

The Pharisee prayed, thanking God for his consistent law-keeping and that he was set apart from the other sinners. The tax collector, however, beat his chest and was unwilling to even lift his eyes to the Lord, begging God for mercy.

What caught my eye today was the reason that Jesus told this parable - because there were "...some people who trusted themselves to be righteous AND viewed others with contempt." (v.9)

These two things are the crux of man-made religion.

Man-made religion says you can earn salvation - you can save yourself. You can choose God, you can be good enough, you can deserve salvation, you can trust in your own righteousness. Look at false religion - from Buddhism to Islam to even Judaism, and I'll even throw in Catholicism - works-oriented salvation abounds. This is the very message Satan convinced Eve to believe in the garden of Eden and ever since then man has been trying to save themselves.

Man-made religion also views others with contempt, because if you are trying to earn salvation, you are not overly happy with others who aren't trying as hard as you. I hate to say it but the best example of this is within Christianity - denominations don't play nicely together. Why not? Aren't we all sinners saved by grace? But we competitively believe that our way - our beliefs - are right and best, this in turn earns God's favor and so you'd better jump denominations or you may not be safe.

But Jesus taught this parable for those of us who cling to man-made religion. When you embrace God-made religion, or what we call the gospel, you know that you cannot be personally trusted to be righteous - only Jesus is righteous. That's why you rely on the identity exchange He promises us at salvation.

And we cannot look at others with contempt because we understand that without this identity exchange, we'd be just as lost as everyone else. So the end result is looking at others with mercy, with love, and with compassion. It's the same concept found in Luke 7:47 - he who is forgiven much, loves much.

The verse above warns us that if we are exalting ourselves with man-made religion and contempt for others, we will be humbled. But if we humble ourselves with an accurate view of God and man through the practicalities of the gospel, we will be exalted.

Conclusion: You cannot think highly of yourself if you live in the shadow of the cross, yet it is there that you find strength, love, acceptance and ultimately exaltation.

One for Fun...

Minimizing the Cross

Do we take the outpouring of God's wrath on Jesus on the cross lightly?

Strange question, I know, but I think it's one worth pondering.

On Sunday, we sang a song that had a line in it that has stuck with me for a few days now - "He never sinned but suffered as if He did." It's from a song by the Desperation Band called "Overcome" and the truth of that statement is pretty foundational for believers. Jesus took on our punishment, though He didn't deserve it.

I have a memory from when I was a young child of sitting on my parent's bed next to my sister and she was in trouble. I wasn't being reprimanded, so I must have been there for moral support. And as the reprimand was coming to its end, I realized that there was a spanking coming.

In a moment of sheer compassion for my sister, with tears in my eyes, I asked to be spanked in her place. Now, before you think too highly of me as a child, or even doubt my story, let me give you some insight to this generous offer. First, I didn't think my dad would spank me in her place, but if I offered, he might forgo it for both of us. Or if he did do it, it wouldn't be nearly as hard as it would be if my sister would receive it. So, either way, it wasn't going to be too bad and it would spare my much-spanked sister from another spanking.

Point of the story? I think sometimes we look at Jesus' offer to die in our place and we assume it wasn't as bad as what it would have been for us. I mean, come on - He was only on the cross for six hours. How does that match an eternity of suffering? And how could He suffer for all people? Is that even possible?

Do you see how easy it is to write off what He did? Bottom line, Jesus is God and His taking on our sin was no light matter. It wasn't a partial or lighter moment of discipline and God the Father did not show mercy on Him. He poured out His wrath and Jesus felt the full weight of His Father's punishment and separation.

And yes, it was an eternity's worth.

It's something that we will never understand because we won't have to go through it and because we are not God. But it was real and it was sufficient and it was worse than horrible.

End of the story? I was dismissed from the room and my sister got spanked. If I had received her punishment that afternoon, I am sure she would have been grateful, but she would have been in trouble again and I doubt I would have offered again. That's the wonderful thing about the blood of Christ - it covers for eternity and even though while here in the flesh we continue to sin, He doesn't continue to suffer. He paid the price, once and for all.

Let's determine to live lives of gratitude to our Savior, Jesus Christ, recognizing the reality of His sacrifice for us.

Inescapable Grace - Part Four

"But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry." Jonah 4:1

So Jonah brings the message of God to the evil Ninevites and they repent. How does the messenger feel? Well, chapter four of Jonah begins with the answer to this question. Take a minute and read it.

Wow. What an ugly statement and yet it makes me wonder, who could repent and cause me to be angry? A terrorist? Hitler? A serial killer? Kathy Griffin? Nancy Pelosi? Jon Stewart?

What about John Lennon?

I read on FOX NEWS this past week that there is evidence that John Lennon was enamored with Christianity in his later years. It's been reported that he was in contact with Billy Graham, as well as Pat Robertson, and that before he died he told someone that he didn't believe in Darwin's evolution.

Do these facts add up to a closet evangelical Christian, as the article suggests? Well, I wouldn't go that far, but I've got to tell you - I wasn't a John Lennon fan and the thought of his possible conversion didn't cause me to leap for joy.

So is there really any difference between Jonah and me? Sadly, we're more alike than I want to admit. I'm really glad that the book of Jonah was placed in the Bible as a reminder of just how twisted sin can be.

And I'm even more grateful that Jonah doesn't drive the story - God does. His loving, pursuing, patient and reasonable conversation with Jonah shows us the heart of a Father who doesn't just spank and walk away. As He draws the disobedient Jonah to Himself, He reasons with him:

"It broke your heart when this plant that provided you shade was eaten, though you didn't plant the seed, water the ground or cause it to grow. Why shouldn't I have compassion on this city that is filled with children, created by Me, in My image, let alone on all the livestock that would needlessly suffer if I destroyed their owners?" (wisen paraphrase)

Jonah doesn't deserve a glimpse into the mind of God. He is selfish and self-centered and like Dave said on Sunday, deserves to be gobbled up by a land shark. But instead, the Father explains to him why compassion comes natural to Him - why He can overlook the sin and love on a repentant heart.

The gospel starts with recognizing our sinful state. In order to do that we have to quit comparing ourself to our sinful neighbors and compare ourselves to a holy God. Jonah didn't think his sin was even a blip on the screen compared to the Ninevites, but compared to God, his sin was immense. When I compare my life's choices with John Lennon's, I can get pretty puffed up. But in light of Jesus Christ's righteousness, my puffiness gets popped and I quickly return to worm status.

That's what makes salvation such good news. God saves sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.

Well, John Lennon is not imagining that there is no heaven any longer. He knows that God exists, that heaven and hell exist, and that living for the day doesn't work in the long run. Is he in heaven? I can honestly say that I hope he is, because he, as well as myself, would simply be an eternal reminder of God's inescapable grace.