Preparing for the Resurrection

No one prepared for the first resurrection.

We look through the Biblical record now, with the perspective of centuries, and see Jesus plainly telling His disciples of, preparing them for, His death and resurrection.

Yet when He came bursting out of the tomb, His followers were still in mourning. Mary Magdalene looked an angel in the face as he told her, “He is alive,” and she still sought His mutilated body.

“How could they have missed it?” we wonder sagely. With the exception of the extravagantly generous woman of Mark 14:3-9, no one saw Calvary - or Easter - coming. Defeat didn't fit their picture of the expected messiah. There was no room for humiliation and death in their version of what the christ would achieve.

We can fill hours with the prophecies they missed, misinterpreted, and overlooked. Starting in Genesis, God prepared His people for a Rescuer who would be bruised (3:15). But they wanted a rescuer who would fill the stomachs of his followers with food, who would drive out their oppressors in the vein of the Maccabees, and who could raise his army from the dead if need be.

Jesus didn't fit their ideal. And if their ideal wasn't fulfilled, they concluded, He must not have been The One.

Which is what makes the High Holy Days of the Church calendar an excellent time to ferret out our own beloved idols. Certainly, if the very people who walked the dusty roads beside Jesus missed His true nature, we who are distracted by books, screens, and thousands of voices bombarding us daily might also have some false ideas of our Savior.

• Maybe you've bought into the idea of a god who dispenses favor for those who check off all the items on his holy to-do list.
• Maybe your version of idolatry is a god who leaves you alone as long as you live a decent life.
• Maybe you think god is out to get you, just waiting for you to give him an opening to zap you.
• Maybe your god made you the way you are and would never dream of asking you to change a single aspect of your life.
• Maybe god made you basically good and wants you to follow your heart.

This isn't a comprehensive list, so if you're sweating over whether or not I'll mention your pet misbelief, don't let my omission quench the Spirit of conviction. I can identify a few, mostly because they've had to be weeded out of my own life. (I've still got plenty. I know, because the Holy Spirit tends to let me know about them from time to time, usually when I'm feeling most comfortable and smug with myself.)

Does it matter? Don't our little beliefs comfort us?

But if they're false ideas about God, we are in fact worshiping a false god. We form God in our image, and wonder why He doesn't perform to our specifications. We can even find Scriptures to support our beloved baals, for heaven's sake! So don't think, because you can give a reference that backs you, that you have an exclusive claim to understanding an aspect of God.

This Lent, and in your celebration of Easter, ask God to show you where you have worshiped an idol rather than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

He will answer, because He is in the business of revealing Himself.

It's why we have Easter, after all.

Eve and Me

Eve gets a bad rap.

Centuries of church tradition lay a heavy portion of the blame for the first sin at the feet of the first woman.

I always thought that was a little rough. After all, where was Adam? Shirking his duty? Watching passively? Going along to get along?

A few years of marriage, however, have caused me to reevaluate my position.

I think Adam was a fairly ordinary guy (apart from the whole firstfruit-from-God's-hand thing).
A gentle man (the original gentleman!).
Content in the world God gave him.
Blissfully happy with this "woman" creature - one like him, yet so unlike.
Enjoying a happy life.
A nice guy.

Maybe something like my own husband (on a really good day. This is Eden we're talking about, after all!).

Consider the dynamics of your marriage. You know, and I know, that if there is something that we really, really want, there are ways to get it. When we set our heart on something, we could probably get our way over just about anything (whether or not it's good for us) given enough time and persistence. I don't have to tell you the tricks to wear down a husband's resolve. I don't have to list the arsenal we have at our disposal - seemingly since birth! - to influence the man next to us. It is positively frightening when you think about just how much sway we hold. Think of the line from "My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding": "The man may be the head, but the woman is the neck that turns the head!"

We can return, triumphant from the fray, with his "agreement," but as discerning women, we have to be aware of the cost of our "victory."

I've seen it. I've felt it. In my own marriage, primarily. In others' relationships, some.

Think about it. What happens when you've pushed and prodded and begged and huffed and cried and given the silent treatment?

Either he holds to his guns and keeps saying no, or he gives in and says yes.

What anguish of spirit there is in a man who desperately loves his woman and desires little more in this world than to please her, yet who cannot, in good conscience, give his wife the one thing she asks! Let's face it: most men like to please their wives. They don't go looking for ways to frustrate us or foil our goals. So when a godly man has reservations about a scheme that is a pet of his wife, it takes some serious mettle for him to hold his ground, even to the grief of his own heart. Then, we're angry, he's dejected, and we think we've both lost. If he would just give in already, we want to scream, then I would have what I want and things would be good again!

So what if he says yes?

If he really feels that to give me something would be wrong, and he says so, and I then corner him long enough that he caves, I get what I want! That was the goal, after all, wasn't it? To get the object of my desire?

A mere five and a half years of marriage have taught me to fear this outcome more than the abandonment of the object of my desire. Why? Because of what it does to my man and our relationship.

When I ask P for something that he feels he cannot, for the good of our family, our marriage, my own good, whatever, give me, he may attempt to tell me "no." If, after I pitch a fit, I get him to cave, I can see his spirit deflate.

He has set out to protect me, and he has failed.
He had desired to do the best thing, and he caved.
He was going to stand, but he's crushed.

His very manhood takes a hit, and unless I wise up quickly and repent, there will be lasting repercussions for his willingness to lead, my relationship with him, and his relationship with God.

Think of Adam: he goes from walking with God, for goodness's sake, to hiding in the bushes with shame.

We have that power, ladies!

You are a driving force in your husband/fiance/boyfriend/brother's life! You can be a source of anguish and shame for him, or you can build him up into the man you envisioned when you chose him to walk through life with you.

Don't think I'm letting Adam off the hook completely. He had some heart issues that caused him to go along with Eve's desires rather than God's. But I'm not writing to our men. I'm writing to us, ladies! Adam's short-comings don't hold the message for us today.

Oh, my sister, be very careful what you ask of your man!

And if, as you read this, you feel the stirrings of the Holy Spirit in you, listen closely.
You may be thinking of the way you've "won," but things haven't been the same between the two of you since.
You may be in the middle of an argument right now, and you can't believe he's being so stubborn about it.
You may be feeling vaguely guilty over the manipulative habits you've allowed yourself to indulge for years.
Don't wait another moment to make things right.

Give up that thing that you've elevated to a higher place than your spouse, your marriage, and the good of your family.
Repent.
Go, and be reconciled.

It's not too late.
But go now.

Don't wait til you're in a pickle like Esau: "when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears" (Hebrews 12:17 ESV). But rather, "now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Run - run! - toward forgiveness and blessing.

Anticipation

Our due date draws near! Anticipation mounts!

I know it could be any day now, but I have just been so busy doing other things that I have been putting off some of the prep for baby. (S/he's not coming today after all!)

We have been meaning to paint and clean carpets and gather furniture for the nursery, but life has sort of gotten in the way. I mean, I know I'm about ready to pop, but we have been with family for various happy occasions, been involved with church events, been keeping up with friends . . . good things! We plan to be ready for baby, but there's surely plenty of time.

I can't see my toes anymore, but I can clean and arrange and all that right before baby arrives, right?

I know we will need diapers and wipes, onesies and blankets, a car seat and a diaper bag, but if I get too involved with all that now, I might miss time with people and chances to live life the way I want to.

After all, the baby isn't here yet! I can worry about choosing an attending physician and a hospital for the birth eventually. Why should I let a baby who isn't even here yet dictate my life choices any sooner than necessary? That will come, I know, but let's not rush into things.

We've got time!

Right?


"For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, 'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober."
1 Thessalonians 5:2-6 ESV

Note: The state of our preparations for baby's arrival as reported above is fictional. How foolish we would be to leave something so important until the last minute!

Of Feasting and Fasting

All too often, I hear myself telling God about how things look like they are going to be tight, that I don't know if things will stretch far enough, that He is going to have to cover a need if He wants me to do X. Then, I stop, look around the house, and sheepishly take my worries back as I start to thank Him for everything He has already provided. I mean, really. We have a home. Food in the fridge and in the pantry. A washer and dryer. Furniture to sit on; a bed to sleep on. Indoor plumbing. Safe drinking water. Central air and heating.

How rich are we?

I once heard someone say something along the lines of, "If you only had tomorrow the things you thanked God for today, what would you have left?"

Yeah, I started listing everything.

You've all heard the lecture about taking our lifestyles for granted when so many have so little. I don't mean to add this post to the ranks of white-middle-class-guilt-inducing literature. We don't have to feel guilty. But we should definitely feel grateful. And then we should act gratefully.

If we're grateful, then we're not entitled.

If we're not entitled, then we can give it up (or give it away).

But we don't like to give things up. Think, for example, of the last time you heard fasting mentioned as something a modern American should do. Can you think of a time? Even a time in church?

I used to fast more often. I would take a day a week, even, when I had something that needed some extra praying. It was a strange experience, almost enjoyable, once I stopped thinking about all the things I couldn't eat and just started using that time to focus on my prayer. (I did not know how all-pervasive food was to my thought life until I started doing this. It was unnerving.) The experience was freeing, in a sense, from my normal concerns; it proved to me that I could ignore this urge for a while, that it was not my master.

This month, I've been fasting from desserts and other highly-sugared edibles. Why? Well, the short answer is, "Because I didn't want to."

Note: The moment you tell God that you are not willing to give something up, know that that item is going, and going soon.

Thankfully, He brought me to the point of giving up my sweets through gently working in my soul, rather than creating a medical crisis necessitating such actions. He could have done it that way, but maybe He knew I would whine a lot less if He brought me to it this way.

Today, I have eight days left in the month. I have passed on birthday cake and s'mores. I have resisted doughnut holes and caramel cake. I've looked the other way while Preston ate ice cream or as I walked through the checkout aisle in the grocery store. And, yes, I have set a few select items by in the cupboard or freezer until October 1.

But I have been free.

I have had (almost) a month when I could say no to that sweet something calling my name. I have walked away from dessert and realized that I didn't feel hugely disappointed or like I had missed out greatly. I have not worshiped a brownie in weeks by putting enjoying it ahead of my health or my goals or of God's desires for my life.

I conceived of the goal as a weight-loss maneuver, but it has become a spiritual journey.

Oh, the temptation is there: if not to eat something sweet, then at least to fantasize about what I will eat as soon as the thirty days are past. But to know that God has given us these foods, that they are good, and that they are not my master, that is the real treasure; and, oh, it is sweet.

Finding Freedom While Working Out

The trainer on today's exercise video said something profound. "It isn't just about the outside."

Now, I don't know her views on faith or the soul, but, hearing these words at the close of an intense workout, I took note.

Have you ever noticed that when you lose control in a particular area of your life, if you stop and look, you will notice little bits of compromises in a host of other areas?

Let's just say, as a hypothetical example, that a person loses control in the area of weight, food, and body image. Look around. I bet you can find similar compromises elsewhere: shortcuts at work, skimping on personal devotions, rote prayers, perfunctory interactions with others, procrastination in chores . . . the list could (hypothetically) go on for a long time.

What's wrong? Is the issue really weight gain?

I'm betting not.

I once read a book which talked about addiction as a "disordered worship." Anything which consumes our thoughts, our emotions, our waking hours, our energies, our resources, may easily morph into an addiction.

Addictions are serious business for anyone. We have a lot of centers in this country where a person can spend a lot of money to get rid of one. How do they do this?

Well, really, they don't. They just redirect that addiction toward a more culturally-acceptable end. You see, they've found that a void will never cure an addict. You can't just take away the substance; you have to replace it.

I believe strongly that Christians are poised to understand addictions more clearly than any secularist ever will. What is it about a person that allows them to "go off the deep end" about anything and prohibits them from ever finding a conservative center?

Worship.

Addiction is a disorder of worship.

God made us to worship Him, to revel in a relationship with Him that fills and satisfies as nothing else ever could. Do you get pleasure in food? Good. Thank Him for it, and realize it is only an hors d'oeuvre of the pleasure found in God. Do you find joy in exercise? Good. Revel in it and allow it to remind you of the abilities He has given you to mirror Him.

This is, I believe, why a loss of self-control in one area ricochets around a person's whole life. When we lose sight of the "why" and the "for" (both of which are found in our Lord), everything gets out of balance.

Which brings me back to the words of the trainer: "It isn't just about the outside."

Yes, I want to feel better by being in shape. But it isn't just the crunch or the sore muscles or the ability to reduce my waistline by a notch in my belt. It's about taking myself and my desires back in hand and offering them once again to the One who gave them.

I could swing from worshiping food to worshiping exercise. I could switch allegiances from eating what sounds good to eating only what will make me slim. But if I do, I'm not actually gaining anything. I'm just moving from one idol to another, and it would only be a matter of time before the second rings as false as the first.

Galatians reminds us, "It is for freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

Slavery can take many forms, folks.

It can be a slavery to the appetite (whether that appetite is of the gut, of the eyes, of the flesh, etc.); it can also be a slavery to control.

I've had to learn that I don't have to live under a yoke of slavery to the appetite. Really. I don't have to. (Have you ever thought of a fast as an exercise of freedom?)

But, on the other hand, I have to remember that I haven't been set free from my appetites in order to be bound to a life of self-flagellation. God made food, and He made it good! If I forget that and get so caught up in my weight-loss goal that it gets in the way of the joy of God and of life and of others, I haven't actually gained anything but another false master.

Of course, there's the danger that I take my freedom flippantly and distort it into permission to do whatever I want. Galatians talks about that too. The thing is, that isn't really freedom. That's running back into the arms of my appetites and calling them freedom. It doesn't matter what I call them; they will still be my master. Where there is a master, there must be a slave.

So, what to do?

Realize that the only master who will not enslave us is the One who calls us his sons and daughters.

Then, I can fast or feast, and it will all be for the purpose of His joy living in me.

Now that's freedom, folks.

37

This morning, my radio alarm switched on just in time for me to hear that the national legislature is working on changing Obamacare again. According to the report, this is the thirty-seventh time they have repealed or amended one part of the bill or another.

What a way to start the morning! Hearing about my tax dollars getting used to address the same problem thirty-seven times over, thanks to that one fateful bill they passed way back in Obama’s first term. I wish those politicians would be more careful about what they do.

I mean, I’ve never done something that dumb. Nuh-uh. Not me. No way.

Except for that one sinful habit . . . or those couple idols . . . 

Naw, that’s completely different.

To get a habit or an idol, you have to first reject the idea, then look again, then nudge it with your toe. Then you back up from it, look away, glance back, move closer. Try it just once . . .

That doesn’t sound like the democratic process of persuasion at all. Does it?

Of course, there’s the aftermath, when I realize it wasn’t as good or benevolent as it looked from the outside. The times when I repent and start fresh just to fall again.

Yeah, that might look a little like their scramble over in Washington. But at least it doesn’t take me thirty-seven times to get it right! I’m better than that, right?

What’s that, LORD? Seventy-seven . . . ?

Oh.