Pain in the Butt Persistence ...

 

Have you ever encountered that toddler child who has already mastered the art of getting what he/she wants from mom and dad?  Nearly all the time “winning” that encounter consists of nothing more than outlasting the other guy.  The toddler asks, and asks, and gives hugs, bribes, promises, then goes back to asking, and asking until the parent is so worn down, they would give up anything just for moment’s peace.  It is not that the parent thinks any differently about the topic.  Their answer may always be a firm no, especially if life worked like it does in a court of law – “asked and answered your Honor”.  But that is not how the mind of toddler’s function.  When they see a thing; if mom or dad denies them, they just start a relentless campaign of “bugging” them until mom or dad caves in and gives it to them, just to shut them up.  Effective.  Now in fairness, a toddler carries the “cute factor” which makes it much harder to resist.  An ugly persistent adult in the workplace, might quickly find themselves on the unemployment line for similar nagging behavior.  But an adorable toddler, can last for days, never yielding an inch of cute, nor a moment’s peace until what they want, is theirs.

So have you ever thought about this where it comes to prayer?  Is it possible we wear God down by asking Him the same thing over and over and over again, until He grants our request; perhaps even if that is not what He would have preferred to do?  Now let’s face it, there are certain parallels in this.  God sees us all as adorable toddlers, no matter how old we are.  We don’t ever lose the “cute” factor as He looks at us.  But we sure take on similar behavior where it comes to getting something we want from God.  We beg over and over again, we throw Him kisses and hugs, we make promises and vows we intend to keep, well at least until it becomes “too hard” to keep them.  And then we go back to asking and asking again.  While it is impossible for us to outlast God in any one of these encounters, we might actually need to be taught a lesson about what it means to get what we ask for, even when God was longing for us to accept His “no” and trust Him over it.  And another similarity, toddlers don’t always ask for the right things.  They very often ask for outlandish things, and things that are decidedly dangerous for them to have.  Yielding to one of those requests could seriously put us in harm’s way.  But we go right on asking, not recognizing we are asking for the wrong things, at the wrong times, and may well be jeopardizing our very souls in the doing.

Nevertheless, there is a certain amount of success, in a persistence that borders on pain-in-the-butt levels.  Whether here with our fellow mankind, or upwards with our God who hears everything.  Jesus offered us a parable to get us thinking about this.  Luke recorded it in his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why in the eighteenth chapter right at the top in verse 1 it reads … “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;”  Even if we do it wrong, better for us to keep on praying.  Even if we do not immediately get what we want, keep on asking.  The answer from God may never change, but the connection with God is critical to teach us trust, and faith, and look to see our prayers in the context of a reality that cannot be shaken by the words of others who do not believe.  When we faint away, when we give up, our prayer life recedes into a dark corner, and we begin to lose all hope that any prayer might be answered, or that God cares about us at all.  He does care.  And even if He is forced to withhold from us that which we toddlers keep asking for, the connection of the prayers themselves matters to Him and to us.

Luke continues in verse 2 saying … “Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: [verse 3] And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.”  To begin we are not describing God here.  This particular judge was effectively an atheist who did not regard God in any way.  Moreover, this judge was not exactly any kind of humanist, nor sensitive to the needs of others.  That would leave him a self-centered man only interested in making himself happy, however that needed to be.  Now in contrast to the judge (who most of the time are reasonably wealthy and happy) is the widow.  A widow by definition has experienced a primary loss, the loss of her husband, of her security, of her income stream.  That kind of loss is enough to make someone miserable.  And as we know, misery loves company.  Not long before it finds it.  Turns out the widow has a nemesis, an adversary she does not like.  Maybe this nemesis gossips about her.  Maybe she taunts her at the water well, or makes fun of her in the marketplace, or ridicules her at temple.  And what is more it is likely this adversarial relationship is a 2-way street.  Hard to have an enemy when you refuse to be an enemy.  So the widow plots the downfall of her nemesis, taking her grievances to this judge, to get the judge to avenge her cause.  “This” is not a good request, it is NOT a good prayer.

But how often do we pray the same exact thing?  And every time I hear someone offer a prayer for the destruction of others, I always hear a reference to the prayers of David.  But David was contending with the needs of the nation, in conflict with those who would eliminate the worship of his one True God.  Had David’s life been sacrificed Israel may have completely forsaken God at the end of Saul’s reign.  Our troubles with our earthly enemies rarely if ever have anything to do with forwarding of the gospel.  They are instead purely selfish in nature, where we ask for God to pick one of His children (us) over another (our enemy), even while both of us are in desperate need of His salvation, His transforming love in our lives.  If we were to embrace that transformative love, we might have long since lost the concept of enemy in our vocabulary.  But sometimes we like this widow, let perceived wrong-doing, or real wrong-doing against us make others our enemies we wish vengeance against.

Jesus continues in verse 4 saying … “And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; [verse 5] Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. [verse 6] And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.”  So the judge was not inclined to do what the widow asked.  Maybe because he just didn’t care.  Maybe because he was not inclined to punish the enemy of some widow who did not have a good enough case.  But this widow was not letting it go.  She kept coming back, day after day after day.  She was relentless, always in his face.  And frankly, this judge did not have time for this.  It was eating into his day.  He did not want to be bothered.  He just wanted it to go away.  He just wanted a moment’s peace.  Sound like the parent / toddler situation to you?  I don’t know about you, but I have seen this parable play out in every grocery cereal aisle I have ever been in.  Toddler wants Captain Crunch, or Lucky Charms (still my personal favorites); mom wants Total, or Raison Bran (not sure how those brands are still in existence) – but with some relentless begging, most of the time sugar gets put into the grocery cart.  Mom just needs peace after all, and values it more than vitamins on occasion.  This parable Jesus tells however is made up, an illustration of the same principle carried out in a much more serious way, even with imperfect protagonists.

Luke continues in verse 7 saying … “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? [verse 8] I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”  Here is where the parable or analogy gets real and gets very intense.  Persecution and murder are no laughing matter, as one child of God inflicts it upon another allowing evil to reign in the heart, the pain of the victim reaches up to God in heaven.  Those prayers of deliverance come with the intensity of life and death, for they suffer a very real life and death matter.  And not all those prayers of deliverance can be answered.  The heart of God must break as He watches one precious child suffer or die at the hands of another, in a desperate attempt to break the evil in the other, and bring salvation to all.  It is what the faithful would wish, if they could see the tapestry God weaves for the salvation of us all.  But that is decidedly NOT clear when you are under the curse or evil of persecution and facing your own mortality because of it.  And here Jesus says that God hears those prayers.  And while God has born our grief and suffered long with us, in order to save us, His patience has an end.  There will come a time when God says to mankind – “enough”.  Let he who is evil, be evil still (chilling words of revelation to our hearts); and let he who is holy be holy still (mysterious words few can comprehend).  But when those words are uttered, patience will be at an end.  What follows them is destruction brought about by the hand of God Himself.  A very targeted destruction against only the wicked.

Jesus says of this end, it will come speedily.  Perhaps as was just discussed earlier in the analogies of Noah and Lot, speedily because we are all too busy living our lives, getting through our days, and completely unaware that time is upon us.  Then Jesus ponders an even more chilling question of His own.  When He does come back … will he find faith on the earth?  Those are very sad words my friend.  In the time of Noah only 8 souls were saved the destruction that wiped the earth clean of evil.  A proof that evil’s time would not last forever, and its destruction universal.  In the case of Lot, only 4 souls were saved, and even one of those lost later by turning back to see an entire evil city be wiped from existence for the evil that consumed the hearts of all those who lived there.  A second proof offered before the final destruction of all of evil.  But SO few saved, willing to seek the grace of God, or move with faith to follow what God had asked.  The rest, evil to the core, and completely unconcerned with matters of faith – more concerned with matters that please self to the core.  And Jesus ponders out loud, will ANY faith be left upon planet earth when He does return?  That would argue that just like in the time of Noah, or Lot, few, very few souls, look past the lives they live to the prayers they offer and the faith they build.

Jesus began this segment by stating that persistence can accomplish so much more in our own hearts than giving up will ever do.  He told a parable of a desperate widow asking a crooked judge for something that should not even been asked, but finding relief because of her persistence.  To extend, we are not so much looking to change the heart of God by our requests, as we are looking to change our own hearts in the process.  For we are both widow, AND judge.  We ask the wrong things, and care so little about it.  But by persistently coming before the throne of grace, and looking upwards to our loving God in heaven, we begin to see Him more clearly.  By focusing our vision upon God – we begin to change.  We begin to care more, even about our perceived enemies.  We begin to ask less for their destruction, even though they persecute us, and more for their salvation.  As we begin to pray those prayers we are changed even further.  Our hearts become broken upon the anvil of God’s love and our faith is increased tenfold.  Our prayer life becomes one centered on the needs of others.  For our own needs we come to learn have already been addressed by God before we ask.  So we begin to focus on the needs of others, looking to free God to answer our prayers in the lives of others who may not otherwise ever ask.

Free will is a delicate line.  God cannot cross it without permission to do so.  A soul who rejects God pushes God away, and greatly constricts what God is able to do for them.  But when you or I pray for salvation to come to the erring rejecting soul – God is allowed to answer our prayers on their behalf, and try again.  God does not give up on the lost.  But our prayers for the lost, change us, and empower Him, perhaps to reach out to the lost using even us (His broken tools).  Will you find the faith to even care about the lost who surround you every day?  Jesus wonders aloud if anyone will.  Too many of us are consumed by only one priority – us.  We care about ourselves, about our own condition.  But we leave the lost up to God, and find no more care in our hearts about them than we do a piece of garbage that blows across our lawn.  When Jesus returns will He find an entire earth of people so apathetic to the needs and hearts of others?  It is possible.  But it need not be.

The secret, or rather the key, is to continue praying – and not faint or fade away.  Let us make our prayer lives as active as our need to breathe.  Let us remain the cute toddlers constantly bugging our parent God, but begin to see our requests for ourselves, changing, becoming requests for the lost our hearts break to see.  For we have no enemies, we see only those in more desperate need of the love of Jesus.  Let us pray to be the conduits of God’s love, and not the obstacles of it.  Let us trust that our own needs have already been addressed (the Captain Crunch or Lucky Charms are already in the cart, and the cart is already overflowing).  Given this, we are free to pray to fill the carts and hearts of others with the blessings God has already seen to it, we receive. 

In my experience, the prayer “give us this day our daily bread”.  Is answered by God offering me not just bread.  But bread of many varieties, fresh, and delicious.  More than that, sandwiches, and pizza’s, and panini’s that are served with pasta’s and steaks, and vegetables, and fruits.  We ask God for daily bread.  And I find He answers with meals far beyond the asking.  This is how God takes care of me.  Not just in food.  I ask to be loved, and love is poured out upon me from sources I never dreamed would, with intensity I never imagined.  My wife becomes more precious to me than life itself.  So now perhaps I can come to trust that my needs have already been addressed by my God.  And I am free to pray for her, and for the world around me.  And beyond my prayers, I can become a broken tool willing to be used by God in the salvation of others, with a new found passion to see the lost come to Jesus and find what I have found in Him.  This is a process I can testify works, because it continues to work in me.  If nothing else I wish to be the Noah and his family at the end of all things, and I wish you and your family are as much Noah as we hope to be.

 

What We Seldom See ...

Three lessons, but only two are ever seen.  Have you ever been in a conversation, perhaps with your children, or a friend; and what you were trying to say was “selectively” heard?  My mother once told me that it was time to go get in the tub.  [this picture is not me.]  So I did that.  I went, fully clothed, and stood in the tub, with absolutely no water, and waited a few minutes before emerging again to go eat dinner.  My mother noticing that instead of pajamas I was still wearing the same cloths as before, asked me if I took a bath.  I replied, you did not ask me to take a bath, you asked me to go get in the tub.  I did that.  Where is dinner?  My mother began to get angry, and then burst out laughing.  I chose to selectively hear what she said.  We both knew what she meant.  But I heard “only” what I chose to hear.  I would love to say this was an isolated incident in my life, but it was not.  Usually I was on the other end of it.  I would write an email to a colleague at work, and despite being as clear as I could think to be (in print), my colleague would interpret only what they wanted to hear.  I began to realize the reader of my correspondence has a perspective that is not influenced by my intent, it is shaped by what they want to hear.  They read my emails from that perspective and to reach them perhaps a personal interaction is better (though not an absolute, see my mother above).

In the front section of Luke’s gospel letter in chapter eight, there are three distinct lessons the author intended to convey.  But only two are ever studied.  The first is made mention of, perhaps used as an interesting factoid, or in a Bible trivia game – but the lesson Luke was going for – missed entirely.  If it were not, we would be hearing a lot more about it.  We don’t.  Ergo, missed opportunity, and selective listening.  By contrast, most every Christian has heard about the parable of the sower of seeds, and the parable of lesson of the lamp.  Those two lessons have been studied ad nauseum.  So let us take a second look at the first part of Luke’s trio and see how they work together to convey what the author had in mind.  First a little back story to set the context.  As you may know, Jesus had more than 12 disciples, He had as many as 70.  It was however the 12 that were closest to Jesus, perhaps the only ones who gave up careers and homes and families in order to be with Jesus full time.  And less fortunately in the days of these authors, either culture or society or habit call it what you will, they did not measure or count women in any statistics that might be mentioned.  While this was the culture of the day, this was not something Luke thought should govern it.  And so begins lesson one.

Luke begins in verse 1 saying … “And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, [verse 2] And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, [verse 3] And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.”  The Ministry of Jesus was now in its active phase.  Jesus was travelling through every city and every village.  Jesus was spreading the “glad tidings” of the Kingdom of God (you know the part that impacts the here and now).  And then Luke identifies the number of disciples, twelve, that were with Him everywhere He went.  Sounds normal right.  But that is not where the lesson begins or ends.  Look closely at verse two, it begins with the word “and”.  And certain women.  Along with Jesus and the 12 disciples were certain women who were there along with the rest, in every city, and every village they went to.  While they are not numbered as part of the 12, they are also not forgotten by Luke, or the Holy Spirit, or Jesus as this gospel letter was penned to Theophilus.  This was not to be a church of only men.  Women had always been there.  They were not second citizens in Christianity, they were founding members.

Then to name a few of these women, not all, but a few.  Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna.  By my count this makes 15 disciples in close contact with Jesus.  At least 3 women being with Jesus everywhere He went.  Then too, these women were not just sinners coming back to the fold, they had been healed of possession of evil spirits as well as other infirmities (perhaps the women who touched his hem, or the woman at the well of Samaria when Jesus was in that region).  Demonic possession, now lifted, and the response of these women was to serve.  They served of their means, of their time, and of their love.  It may be that the true number of these women were quite a few more, but Luke was only able to ascertain the names of these three.  The culture of the day may have prevented better record keeping on more than that.  Notice these women did not name the blood-sisters of Jesus, other daughters of Mary, His mother.  But perhaps they served at other times, or other places.  And even though no others were named, Luke is careful to write there were “many others” that were in attendance and in ministry.

Before we enter the study of the parable of the sower, it is important to understand that the targets of this analogy included both men and women, the conditions impacted both men and women, and the good news was to be shared by both men and women.  And lest we think the devil targets only men, the three cited above prove possession is not just a male oriented problem.  And freedom from the chains of Satan, often results in a commitment to service that nothing else could supplant.  Luke continues in verse 4 saying … “And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:”  Much people was meant to include women.  Luke is trying to make sure we understand that by the first lesson he pens in the preamble to this parable.  But so often we skip it, and just dive right into what is ahead.  But to do that, is to lose the importance of women in the entire ministry of Jesus, both as audience member, and as fellow servant.

Luke continues in verse 5 saying … “A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. [verse 6] And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. [verse 7] And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. [verse 8] And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”  This was the thought-provoking message about spreading the gospel and impacts of sin upon that message given to the entire crowd.  Everyone heard it.  But few understood it, we still have that problem today.  Understanding as well is not just a male difficulty, it may also be a female difficulty when examining the words of Jesus.  This is why when we listen to different perspectives from the body of Christ, we should treat them of equal importance, whether from men or from women.

Luke continues the story in verse 9 saying … “And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? [verse 10] And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.”  His disciples needed better clarification.  But that term “disciples” does not have to be exclusionary only to the twelve, it very likely included the women in attendance as well.  Nor does Jesus shew away the women so that only the men in attendance could hear His further clarification.  In effect, Jesus says only my followers are to be given this message with better understanding at this point in time.  But that by simple logic would again include both men and women, any who chose to follow Him with their whole lives.  This part of the lesson is for us as well.  When examining the words of Jesus (or for that matter the entirety of scripture), we should do it through the lens of Jesus.  What does the example and teachings of Jesus have to do with whatever part of the Bible we are reading.  If we cannot bring our understanding of what we read into alignment with the life of Jesus, we are reading it wrong (or understanding it wrong).  Scripture cannot be properly understood without Jesus.

Jesus then proceeds to expound on the second lesson of this parable in verse 11 saying … “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. [verse 12] Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. [verse 13] They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. [verse 14] And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. [verse 15] But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”  The explanation of Jesus has yet another lesson for us.  Just because I say a thing, does not mean that thing is true – even when I say something about myself.

I may say for example, that I am a “Christian” that is to say, a follower of Jesus Christ.  But what Jesus outlines above in His parable, is that there are some who hear the word of God, but lose sight of it almost as fast as they hear it – being distracted by the Devil to focus on other things.  Others hear the word of God, but have no relationship with Jesus personally, so when temptation comes they try and fight it themselves and lose.  Stony hearts must be transformed before they can grow fruit.  Still others hear the word of God and for a time they seemed to get it, but riches and the pleasures of this world prove to great a distraction, and over time they abandon the word of God entirely.  All three of these groups have one thing in common – they believe “they” are responsible for their own salvation.  But good ground, that is an honest and good heart – is not self-made.  It is made through submission to Jesus, through a willingness to be humble to something greater than ourselves.  Good ground is made by trusting Jesus to save us and getting out of His way.  That kind of ground not only hears the word of God, but embraces it, and grows fruit naturally.  A fleshy heart submits, a stony one does not.

Jesus then changes direction in His lesson.  Luke has given us the first two already – 1.) Men and Women are equally a part of the church in all things (as they were since the start).  2.) How we encounter salvation has to do with “who” we are relying upon to save us.  And now 3.) what does the impact of salvation look like in our day-to-day lives.  Jesus picks up in verse 16 saying … “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. [verse 17] For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. [verse 18] Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.”  Jesus says the effect of transformation is akin to lighting a fire in a candle.  You do not seek to hide it, nor could you.  It is life altering.  It makes you a different person, whose love shines brightly pointing men to Christ.  This is not something you are told to do, it is something you do naturally, like fire does in darkness.

It is easy to see if there is fire in a person or not.  Does their love point you to Jesus or not?  Hypocrisy on the other hand is all about the words, but nothing about the fire.  It is easy to hide the hypocrite, in fact they prefer it.  But what they lack in love will finally and fully be revealed for what it is, a full lack of love for others.  Saying it is otherwise is mere words, if a passionate burning love is not the deeds behind those words, fully in harmony with His laws and His love.  Remaining in the crowd to hide who we really are will not remain an option as time goes on.  Our empty words will be revealed to all as empty words.  And what spiritual prowess we think we have will be stripped away from us.  It has to be.  It is our self reliance that ultimately is preventing our salvation.  So God has no other choice than to strip us bare, and reveal our mistakes to us, so that we can be clothed in His robes of righteousness instead of trying to wash ourselves clean.  That kind of dress-down, or come-to-Jesus-meeting (literally), may be humiliating to the heart of the hypocrite, but it is the only option that may ever truly save them from themselves.

And again, this final lesson was not just meant for men, but for women as well.  There is a temptation sometimes within the church for wive’s to hide behind their husband’s spirituality as if it were somehow their own.  It is the same for children hiding behind their parents for far too long.  It just does not work.  What you know of Jesus, is ONLY what YOU know of Jesus, not what someone else does.  And given Luke’s first lesson, there are no excuses for women in this regard any more than there are excuses for men.  We are ALL the ground upon which the word of God is shared.  Hearts of men bound to career above Jesus will find themselves stone instead of candlewax.  Hearts of women bound to status and accomplishment above Jesus will find themselves equally a part of the rock quarry where the precious seeds of His word are scattered.  It is hard to humble yourself to Jesus, let alone between each other.  But it is humility that helps us see the next step in His love.  And the transformation that submission to Jesus brings is akin to lighting a fire in your life.  It is not passive and hardly noticeable.  It is life altering and impossible to contain.  Measuring a list of do’s, don’ts, and particulars of performance to see if you have been transformed is using the wrong yardstick.  Are you on fire, or not?  His flame, will burn away all remnants of hypocrisy from your life, and make you a beacon that points others to Jesus from the intensity of your love for them.