Author: george gaffga

I am a retired Presbyterian pastor living in Colorado. My wife, Gigi and I are married 49 years. As an ordinary guy my life has been graced by God in many ways. We have three grown children and five grandchildren. I am trying to live with Christ day to day and though I sometimes fail miserably I am not giving up because God hasn't given up on me. I lead worship at a nearby Life Care Center and I assist at Eagle Bend Community Church where I occasionally preach and lead Bible Studies. I play some guitar, write music and have written a couple of devotional books that were best sellers in my local church. So journey with me and let's see what this life with Jesus is all about and why Grace Matters.

TOO MANY RULES

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signs

 

Remember the old song about signs everywhere telling us what to do. In case you don’t, here are some of the lyrics. (The Five Man Electrical Band)

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?

Now, hey you, mister, can’t you read?
You’ve got to have a shirt and tie to get a seat
You can’t even watch, no you can’t eat
You ain’t supposed to be here
The sign said you got to have a membership card to get inside
Ugh

And the sign said, “Everybody welcome. Come in, kneel down and pray”
But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all
I didn’t have a penny to pay
So I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign
I said, “Thank you, Lord, for thinkin’ ’bout me. I’m alive and doin’ fine”

We might also write down the same thing for religion. Everywhere we look we see another rule, ceremony, code, law and maybe even a secret handshake tell us what and how to believe within the Christian faith.

Keep this in mind. A passage from Romans 10:4 ‘For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.’

This means that anything and everything the law was meant to do in bringing humanity into right relationship with God has been culminated and fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus. According to the Apostle Paul anything but Christ being the way to our righteousness is ANOTHER gospel, one that isn’t true. He wrote this to the church in Galatia where people were insisting that ‘real’ followers of Jesus ‘had to’ be circumcised.

So I got to thinking one day that ‘religion’ of any stripe is too heavy a burden to bear. And within Christianity, according to some estimates, there are 33,000 Christian ‘organizations’ around the world plus many thousands of other religious sects and cults with lists of dogmas, doctrines, rule and regulations too numerous to list.

Now some folks need all those burdens, and boundaries to feel safe. In truth there are people who are willing to give up their freedom for a sense of security. And not in any good way do some people stay in an abusive relationship to be safer from harm that may occur by ‘breaking free’.

It may be why some people join very fundamental religious groups in order to have life that is defined for them in order that they don’t have to make their own decisions.

Maybe, just maybe, it’s why Adam and Eve became nervous in the Garden just living in love with their creator, making decisions from their place of communion with God. Freedom and love can be so risky.

In the Old Testament of the Bible, within the first five books, there are 613 laws and commandments on how to live with God and one another. They were, due to the immaturity of the chosen people at the time, necessary. In the New Testament Jesus announces that there are basically two commandments: to love God with all your self and to love your neighbor as yourself. He further says that all the laws and the sayings of the prophets are summed up in those two commands. Paul wrote that the entire law is fulfilled in keeping one command, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. (Galatians 5:14) See also Romans 13: 9. And let us not think that this command to love neighbor as self is a walk in the park.

To love God fully means placing our trust in Christ, nothing more and nothing less and loving neighbor is a process of maturation in Christ to the point where we are willing to give up our lives even for the people, close to us, who annoy us most.

But and read this carefully: love comes from freedom, not rules. We are ‘freed’ to love. Here’s an illustration I heard once upon a time. If I bring home flowers to my wife and she is so surprised and asks me why and I respond by saying it is the rule of the Bible to show love. I can tell you this. It’s not going to be pretty.

So let’s take a look at what freedom is. Jesus came saying to the people who wanted to follow him, ‘If you hold to my teaching your are really my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.’ (See John 8) Jesus is telling us that whatever we need to know about life in the Kingdom of God, right here and now is known simply by trusting him for everything. That’s why he says later, that is the way, truth and life (all meaning the same thing) and that no one is really able to come to the Father (live in the Father’s loving kingdom) except by trusting in Christ to be and show us the way there. And the commandments of Jesus, as John writes, in 1John are not burdensome. They are simply the truth of life in the Kingdom. But not even those commandments are the way to life. Jesus is. And trusting in Jesus is the best that we can do and life will follow.

And Jesus is not like some fuhrer setting up a system that kills. That’s a thief who steals life. Jesus gives life abundantly and if we don’t experience the abundance and joy then it could just mean that we are carrying too heavy a load.

If we look at Matthew 11 we find Jesus saying to the crowds, and I write from the Message Paraphrase; 28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” MSG

Now there’s a relationship of love that leads to a joyful responsible life. Jesus invites us to step into a life where we ‘want’ to do God’s will, not where we ‘have to’. “In the will of God, the kingdom of God there is no need for do’s and don’ts, no need for tables of commandments, tablets of law. In this kingdom everything will be regulated by inner rebirth and inward inspiration under the rule of Christ’s spirit.” (Ebehard Arnold wrote in 1935)

When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus (John 3) about a new birth he said, ‘The wind blows where it will- that how it is with the spirit’. The spirit of the living God moves here and there directing as God wills for each life, no two lives the same. And so when one person discerns the will of God in a particular way, another maybe differently understands the workings of God. That’s how it is with Freedom born of a relationship of love and inspiration.

When in the early New Testament churches leaders made rules and regulations for other’s conduct Paul wrote that they didn’t need to submit to the rules of an old way of life where folks were saying, ‘don’t eat this’, ‘don’t touch that’, ‘observe days of Sabbath’. (See Galatians 2:16-23) I like how the MESSAGE puts it, ‘don’t tolerate people who want to run your life.’

And there are a plethora of religions and people who want to do just that. I recall as a teenager, of the Christian slogans was ‘I don’t drink, dance or chew or go out with girls that do.’ Well, I pretty much broke all of those rules.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of freedom. The gospel has no moral code that defines our relationship to Christ. Because we are God’s new creation in the new Adam we live solely out of love and union with God, governed only by the word of Christ dwelling in us and constrained only by his love for us. When churches or other human tell us how or what to believe or live we respond that have no other King but Jesus. When our own flesh desires, or commands our obedience we say again that we have no other King but Jesus. Because remember we can be just as enslaved to sin and its wages of death as to some other cruel master.

NOT SAVED BY FAITH

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We are not saved by faith, as some would emphasize. We are saved only by God’s grace from beginning to end. It’s like that passage in Philippians 1:6,which states: “God who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day Christ returns.”

In a passage bursting with the understanding of grace we find these words, ‘we have received grace on top of grace’ or ‘grace upon grace’(John 1:16). God has lavished us with his blessing, his gifts of grace and truth that have come through Christ.

The Gospel cannot be supplemented by any human effort (even that of believing). All rescue from sin and idolatry is first and last by the grace of God revealed and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Salvation, living with God, is all God’s idea. IF left up to us we would turn our backs on God, remain enemies as it were. But that’s when God showed his love for us. We showed nothing but vain attempts to appease the idols of religion and self-sufficiency. We, like the prodigal son, wished God dead, took what blessings we thought were owed to us and left town.

So you see, it’s all grace- a gift from God. Every breath we take is grace and on our worst day we are never outside of the reach of God’s grace and on our best day, never outside of the need of grace. (I think I stole that from someone but can’t remember whom). God’s grace saves us and transforms us.

“The closer you get to God the more miserable things you will find in your heart. That is not a negative thinking. God allows you to lose confidence in yourself. You will have accomplished something when you can look at your inner corruptness or bankruptcy without anxiety or discouragement. Simply let it go and trust God’s work in Christ.” Taken from Francois Fenelon (a theologian ca. 1700)

Grace is more important than any of the Five Solas of the Reformation Doctrines. *

Grace is the heart of the trinity expressed by the self-giving love we call Agape. It’s God’s initiative from beginning to end. Sola Gratia. Without it we have nothing. Paul writes ‘for by grace you have been saved through faith.’ Ephesians 2. Paul will even add in that verse that the good works we do are done by he grace of God. Look at the way the MESSAGE puts it:

7-10 Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

In light of this we see faith as our ‘yes’ to Christ, nothing more, no greater work. And we must be careful that we don’t make ‘faith’ a work that adds something to God’s grace.

It’s like we are walking a journey and see two roads to choose between. Jesus is travelling one of those roads. ON the other road we see a heavy cart carrying the LAW, and with it the heaviness of the flesh. On Jesus’ way I saw light and though the way looked rough I saw Jesus on that road. And that was enough for me.

In John 1:16 we read the phrase ‘grace on top of grace’, meaning that it’s all grace from beginning to end. Faith takes no credit for what God has done in Christ. Faith may give assent, get on board, but all the initiative and credit comes from God’s grace revealed in Jesus Christ and imparted to us by the Holy Spirit. Even faith is a gift. It’s the opening of our eyes to see the way to travel.

A classic line of Scripture is found in Ephesians 2:4,5: “Because of his great love for us God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our sin. It’s by graces you have been saved.’

Grace built the road. Grace sent Christ to walk it to Calvary. Faith is the yes we offer to walk that road, even reluctantly.

Have you ever walked on a frozen lake? My son did when he was little. We lived across the lake from some friends and one day he showed up at the friends’ door and was asked how he got there. “I walked on the Lake”, was his reply. As his parents we were grateful he was safer but a bit angered that he made such a dangerous venture. He was fearless at 9 years old, and maybe a bit faithful too.

You probably all know the legend of the rider who crossed the frozen Lake of Constance by night without knowing it.  When he reached the opposite shore and was told whence he came, he broke down, horrified.  This is the human situation when the sky opens and the earth is bright, when we may hear: By grace you have been saved!  In such a moment we are like that terrified rider.  When we hear this word we involuntarily look back, do we not, asking ourselves: Where have I been? Over an abyss, in mortal danger!  What did I do?  The most foolish thing I ever attempted!  What happened?  I was doomed and miraculously escaped and now I am safe!  You ask: ‘Do we really live in such danger?’  Yes, we live on the brink of death.  But we have been saved.  Look at our Saviour and at our salvation!  Look at Jesus Christ on the cross, accused, sentenced and punished instead of us!  Do you know for whose sake he is hanging there?  For our sake–because of our sin–sharing our captivity–burdened with our suffering!  He nails our life to the cross.  This is how God had to deal with us.  From this darkness he has saved us.  He who is not shattered after hearing this news may not yet have grasped the word of God: By grace you have been saved! (Story recounted by Karl Barth)

I am not sure that there are really degrees of faith such that one person has MORE faith than another. Jesus sometimes comments to the disciples that they have little faith but I think in those cases he is frustrated about certain situations in which they are not able to accomplish a task he gives them like a healing or being scared to death in the boat with him on a stormy sea. But let’s look at this another way.

If there is a frozen lake and I decide to cross it, I may do so with fear and trembling, with a degree of anxiety or uncertainty but I will get across because the lake is solid. That’s what grace is- like a solid frozen lake that is never going to crack. God’s grace will carry us across. God’s grace is the assurance that God is at work in us to place us in his Kingdom now and forever. It’s God’s grace that assures us that through Christ’s faithfulness we are forgiven.

Grace is like electricity. God is supplying all the power needed. There is a switch on the wall and we either turn it on whether we understand it or not. Or we leave it untouched because we simply don’t believe that it works. But grace works whether we believe it or not. The power is there. Grace is strong. And if we don’t believe it then Jesus will by his own faithfulness turn it on for us and we sometimes don’t even know it’s been in use. Once we repent, (change our way of thinking) then we will understand that it is better to live in the light than in the darkness.

Grace is the most important of all the Reformation Solas for it includes and even initiates the rest- scripture, faith, Christ, and Glory to God. Grace is the essence of the universe.

Even when the Apostle Paul worked so hard for the Gospel, he declared it was all grace. 10 “But God’s grace has made me what I am, and his grace to me was not wasted. I worked harder than all the other apostles. (But it was not I really; it was God’s grace that was with me.)” 1Corinthians 15:10

Grace through Christ is the end of the law for getting or even being right with God. It’s all grace now. How great when we finally ‘get it,’ ‘trust’ and believe.

 

*These five themes were developed by the reformers in response to Catholic doctrines concerning the importance of works and merit.

 

 

 

THE GRACE OF A FALLEN SPARROW

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In Matthew 10 as Jesus warns his disciples of coming persecutions he promises them that God is watching out for them, that God considers them of great worth.

He tells them that little birds which are bought for a penny are noteworthy to God and that not one of them will fall to the earth outside of the realm of God’s will. And if that is the case then how much more attentive will God be to his own children. So attentive is God that Jesus tells his listeners that God numbers the very hairs on their heads. (Matthew 10:28-31 paraphrase)

This brings up an important subject; the grace of God’s providence. Words sometimes associated with it are ‘sovereignty’ ‘governing’, ‘control’, and even ‘predestination’.

I have been having a friendly debate with a Christian friend who believes that every power and authority on earth has been place there by God’s will since nothing happens outside God’s will. Our conversation provides and interesting dialectic concerning the will of God and the will of humanity.

We could first go back to the illustration of the sparrow and ask, ‘Did God send it spiraling to earth? Or within God’s providence does the free will of creation and creatures find the care and concern of a loving heavenly Father?’

When Joseph confronted his brothers in Genesis 50:20 he explains to them, ‘You did everything for evil but God intended it for good.’ (paraphrase)

I like the idea of ‘orchestration’ for the providence of God. God brings God’s creation and creatures together as an orchestra, with each having its own part to play. The players are quite novice and some are quite bad and the music is horrible but God is the great Maestro. God is bringing it all together, each note, each melody and harmony and will one day present it to God’s self in glory and the whole creation gets to be a part.

So with the evil hearted brothers of Joseph who meant to inflict harm but God took those awful notes and turned them into a piece of music that would please God and God’s people. God, though allowing the freedom of his creatures was directing an ultimate purpose, a good purpose.

Some folks see the providence of God as too controlling or deterministic. And some, when tragedy occurs question why a ‘good’ God didn’t intervene in that particular situation to prevent ‘evil’ from happening.

Here’s how the early church defined ‘providence’. It is the expression of the divine will power and goodness through which the Creator preserves creatures, cooperates with what is coming to pass through their actions and guides creatures in their long-range purposes. (Thomas Oden, ‘Classic Christianity’ p. 143)

In some sense the word ‘providence’, which literally means to ‘see ahead’, is the all wise -knowing and providing of God for his creation in order for everything to work towards a good final ending to prepare for the new heaven and earth to the glory of God. And whatever works for God’s glory is good for all of us.

Let’s look at a classic example of the dialectic between a free willed humanity and the direction and sovereignty of God. Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. According to Romans 13 some people understand that ‘all authorities are placed by God.’ (Romans 13:1) But if you read a bit further you discover that ‘the authority or ruler’ is God’s servant to do you good (13:4) So, my first objection to any Biblical authority for Hitler’s Reich is that he did ‘evil’ and not ‘good’.

Providence tells me that not one Jew killed, tortured, or persecuted by Hitler was outside the value, the worth that God has placed on each life. And grace tells me that in God’s providence each victim’s life is to be restored in the new earth.

My second objection to Romans 13:1 is that God in God’s wisdom allows the free will of humanity by which Hitler rose to power after WWI when the allies acted to impoverish and weaken the German nation. The people were then susceptible to the evil around them and made bad choices and decision in the name of security for Germany.

And let’s look at Hosea 8:4 for a moment. ‘They set up kings without my consent, the chose princes without my approval.’ God told the people at one time that he never wanted them to have any kings but the people rebelled. (See 1Samuel 8) and God allowed them their kings many of whom were evil. Yet God in God’s providence saw to it that from the lives of those kings and through all the persecution and suffering and even punishment, a new King would one day arise who would rescue the whole world from evil. That’s God’s grace hidden and again revealed even 700 years before Christ, to the prophet Isaiah.

So I believe that not all authorities are placed to rule by God’s direct will. And I do believe it is within the peoples’ power to disobey (like Daniel) or even overthrow bad rulers by the disobedience of the people. It may well be how the Berlin Wall came down and the German people were freed. And the same may be said for the end of the Soviet Union.

Back to providence. As Thomas Oden writes, ‘What God creates, God preserves, permits and guides. (‘Classic Christianity’ p. 149)

When we read in Scriptures particularly I the Old Testament that God seemingly causes everything to happen, (Isaiah 45:7, I form light and created darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster; I the Lord to all these things.) It is within the context of God’s instructions to Cyrus the King of Persia) whom God will use for God’s own purposes. The writers understand that nothing can happen outside God’s will. And this particular verse concerns the wicked people who strive against God’s people. This is a warning to those who would think otherwise that there is only one God and God is not to be trifled with.

There are other scriptures that tell us that ‘the Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all He has made.’ (Psalm 145:17) And when Jesus heals the blind man (John 9) and is asked whose sin caused the man’s blindness, Jesus responded it wasn’t due to sin but that the glory of God might be seen through this man’s life at this time.

Let us remember that the ultimate character of God is love and love always wants the best for the other. God wants the best for his creation. The providence of God of God’s loving kindness toward all his creation and his kindness prevails even when evil raises its ugly head to destroy that, which is good. God will ultimately prevail, as we will see.

See, humanity has a responsibility to act in concert and in accordance with God’s will, which is always against sin, idolatry and evil and always for the reconciliation and restoration of God’s creation.

When you read scripture it is necessary to take the whole of God’s word in context and the wider context for everything is Jesus Christ through whom God is reconciling all things.

In God’s providence God is working all things to the best for all things, not just for a few but also for all. (Colossians 1:20).

When life goes or seems to go terribly wrong, it is not that God has forgotten us. Rather God’s grace is simply less perceived in the darkness of our minds. Christ is the reminder that God’s loving-kindness will never end.

One of my favorite scriptures is from Habakkuk 3:17 -18 which was written in the time of the rise of the Babylonian Empire and the threat to Judah was immanent.

Though the fig tree does not bud

And there are no grapes on the vine,

Though the olive crop fails

And the fields produce no food

Though there are no sheep in the pen

And no cattle in the stalls

I will rejoice in the Lord

I will be joyful in God my savior.

 It is by faith, confidence in Christ that we behold the providence of God, yes, the love of god from which we can never be separated. Jesus in word and deed told us as much in his bid for us to be less anxious. (See Matthew 6:25-31)

Paul confirms time and time again God’s plan of redemption through God’s grace in Romans 8:32, “God who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not also along with Christ graciously give us all things?”

And amidst all our uncertainties about this life that famous verse John 3:16 gives us comfort and encouragement concerning God’s providence,

For God so loved this world that he gave us his only son that whoever believes shall not perish but have life everlasting. (This is not biological life but spiritual life.)

 And so in the meantime we are given the opportunity to cooperate with God in God’s providential care and working through of all things to good.

12-13 What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure. (Philippians 2- The Message)

God has engaged in a venture giving humanity the free will to cooperate with God. But God believes in that collaboration which involves love because that is God’s nature. It is the nature of the Trinity to cooperate in love.

God’s charge to humanity is to do the same, to love one another, to care for each other. And because God knows the end from the beginning of all things God has decided in infinite time to reconcile the world to himself and to each other through his Son.

I do not believe that the earthquake in Haiti or 9-11 is the intentional or direct will of our Father in heaven who desires good for his creation. And while we may probe for answers, for reasons, I believe the only answer lies deep within the heart of God where wisdom, tears and providence lie.

It is only in the darkness of abiding in God that we will discover God’s answers. And they won’t be surface or pragmatic answers. They will be a communion with the God of providence and love. As was the case with Job so it is with us. God will hear every cry of anguish. He will, as the scriptures tells us collect our tears as in a bottle. (Psalm 56:8)

And God will speak. It may be as a whisper but his voice will be distinct even as it was with Job and Elijah. And in the final act of peace we will pray as Jesus did, “Father into your hands I yield up my spirit.”

 

NAKED

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In order to understand grace we need to understand our own predicament and for that to happen a basic requirement must be satisfied. I get to it by way of two examples from my own life.

These are instances of what I call ‘naked humility’. The first happened in Haiti back in the 1990’s. After a long sweaty day our team was invited for showers. ‘Showers?’ I wondered. ‘How is that possible here up in the mountains?’ Well, we were led to an area behind a family’s home, given large buckets filled with water; a towel and some soap and then told, ‘Go ahead, be our guests.’ Several women watched over us in anticipation of any needs we might have. Privacy would have been on the top of my list. So the team of men looked at one another, felt the sweat dripping down our dirt laden bodies and said, ‘Let’s get on with it.” There we were, buck naked, as the expression goes, in front of each other, which isn’t such a big deal if you know anything about gang showers back in high school days. What was different was being observed, wondering how to cover our manhood discreetly and wash at the same time. It took all of a minute to adapt to our situation and just get refreshed, and laugh at ourselves and our situation while all the time being a bit sensitive to our hostesses who most graciously came and filled up our buckets at a moments notice. Who was it who said, ‘naked I came into this world and naked I shall return.’

It was necessary to be naked in order to get clean. I think of the whole experience in terms of standing before God with the desire to hide part of ourselves, to keep something within ourselves a secret, to be in some regard a bit like Adam and Eve hoping to find some tree leaves to cover ourselves.

But no, there we are before God with everything laid bare, all our thoughts (see Hebrews 4:13) and everything about our lives exposed to God. Not only can’t we hide but also we learn eventually that we don’t want to hide our fears, doubts, wonderings, anger and things that could cause us shame. Before God they are the welcomed thoughts of God’s child who is growing closer to God because of God’s gracious acceptance of all that we are.

Like the prodigal son (Luke 15), who, to some extent, ruined his life and pretty much mad his family distraught; when he returns the Father is waiting to clothe his naked child in the finest apparel. In the same way, God sought out Adam and Eve and clothed them, graciously looking out for them.

The second example of ‘naked humility’ happened in my physician’s office. The doctor needed to perform a digital prostate exam. I expected this as part of the physical. But then he asked if his female student doctor could also perform the procedure. ‘Whoa, hold on there,’ I thought, but what could I say? Well, I survived but all modesty went out the window. There is nothing hidden from a good doctor.

God, I was caused to remember, is the most gracious of physicians and even forgiving our habits that may wound our own spiritual health. God will take the best care of us. And if he inflicts any pain we know it is all to a good purpose.

We bring our naked thoughts before him and he is attentive to us. We bring our sin and he forgives. We convey the best and worst of ourselves to him and discover anew the meaning of grace before our God.

I love this verse: For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) NIV

And when all is said and done by God we learn again the meaning of grace.

‘There is nothing we have done to make God love us less and nothing we can do to make God love us more.’ –quote attributed to Phil Yancey.

One more final word on this subject is an old saying: ‘God loves us just as we are but never leaves us there.’

 

And…..there is no co-pay.

 

 

CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG

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So I have been contemplating how we Christians have affronted God’s graciousness by the divisiveness of our denominations, at least within the United States. But first let me share two important scriptures that address this concern. There are more but these two highlight the problem.

The first is from the mouth of Jesus in his wonderful prayer to his Father as recorded in John 17. “I do not ask for these only but also for those who will believe in me through their word (he is speaking of the disciples) that they may all be one, just as you Father, are in me and I in you, that they may be in us that the world may believe you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them so they may be on as we are one, I in them and you in me that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (Verses 20-23)

In the U.S. there are 217 protestant denominations and 35,000 independent or non-denominational churches. Separate from these is the Roman Catholic Church that has 68 million adherents.

Oh, and the other Scripture? In Philippians 2:2 Paul writes “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love being in full accord and of one mind.”

All the disharmony and disunity within the Christian church seems to be in complete disobedience to what the Scripture calls for. At the very least we can say that it is not within the most revealed word of God. Jesus asks for unity and Paul is often encouraging his established communities towards unity, towards a place where they might just get along with one another.

If there are differences they would be in the matter of gifts given by the Holy Spirit, not in walls of ‘truth’ and ‘doctrine’ and ‘practice’ we have built against each other. And while in past days there maybe have appeared good reasons to divide, there is even greater reasons now to come together as one as a witness to our oneness in Jesus Christ, not just in name, but in the way we love one another. I confess my own part in this divisiveness desiring to stand my ground on the basis of what I believe to be the will of God in certain doctrines and ethics rather than making the effort towards graciousness and love.

Consider for a moment just some of our differences, things that keep us apart.

Baptism: believer or infant, immersion or sprinkling, age of accountability and the like.

Communion: symbolic, real presence, consubstantiation, transubstantiation, memorial, qualification for participation, and probably more.

Mary: reverence, veneration, worship, prayer to, life virginity, mother of God.

The Bible: inerrancy, literalness, good advice, infallibility.

Then there are the disagreements and divisions about faith and works, about justification and sanctification and the return of Christ, war, abortion, pro-life, social justice, republican and democrat. Fine, let’s have conversations about such and let’s reason together but we don’t have to walk away from one another. Love is sacrificed for truth.

There was a time when the churches used the Apostle’s Creed and Nicene Creed as a common expression of faith. Now there are so many different creeds it would make your head spin. At least mine does. I recall from the scripture the most original confession, JESUS IS LORD. There you have it.

Then there are the different expressions that divide us. Charismatics, Pentecostals, Traditionalists, Fundamentalist, music in worship, no music in worship, raising hands, speaking in tongues, and so forth.

I am not sure how I or anyone else has a corner on truth. I think it is more the war between our fleshly selves than a desire for right worship and love for God and one another. I am not saying we should not strive to better understand the will of God revealed in the Bible and particularly in Jesus but for heaven’s sake let us be loving towards one another and be one family again like the early church. I realized that even then there were problems but they were addressed and Paul once wrote, ‘put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony.’ Colossians 3:14.

I really believe that protestants and Roman catholic should come back together and give way to one another, to bear with one another, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13.

Oh there may be actual differences that have to divide the church such as the confessing movement in Germany during Nazi Germany or when the abuses of the Roman church brought Martin Luther to the forefront in the 1500’s let these be the great exceptions and not the norm and when they are resolved in some form let us get back together in oneness and love and as a witness to the world of Christ’s life in us.

Let’s look to something like the Sermon on the Mount as a confession of life, or 1 Corinthians 13. Let’s help the poor. Let’s do all we can that people don’t have to choose to end any life. Well, enough said for now but I think you get the idea. I do.

I want to choose graciousness and love to be the central doctrines of my life in Christ.
 

DON’T WORRY! IT MIGHT NOT BE YOUR JOB.

george gaffga2 Comments

I am writing for the anxious Christians who think they MUST evangelize, share their faith with all the people they meet. It’s not the responsibility of every Christian to make converts or even disciples for that matter. In general, believers are not told to go into the world and convince people to ‘accept Christ’ as if they fear for the souls of each person in their families, circles of friends or workplace.

But that’s what we are often made to think. How many books are there on ‘evangelism’, not sharing God’s love which is always a good thing, but rather trying to convince people to believe the same as we do.

If you read the New Testament, outside the Gospels, you will not find any explicit commands to evangelize anyone. You will however discover encouragement, commands, direction and even warnings about developing a Christ centered character, developing a lifestyle of love and forgiveness. And believe me, forgiveness is a lot harder than evangelism. You will learn how to love God, worship God and show God’s grace to those around you.

Paul, the Apostle, was certainly an evangelist but if you read his words to the churches and individuals he is most always writing about building up the body of Christ, the community of faith and developing a character whose chief quality is love.

In the Gospels let’s look at the words of Jesus. He called 12 disciples among others to be apostles and he directed them (Matthew 28) to go into the world and ‘make disciples’ which is more extensive and intensive than ‘converts’. This was a special assignment. On another occasion he sent 70 people to announce that God’s Kingdom had indeed come. He sent them as units of two to announce his coming, to prepare the towns and villages for he himself to come and preach. I am not sure how this translates into people going door to door, two by two, to win converts to a particular religion but that’s another matter.

See Jesus made disciples out of those who wanted to follow him. He was the premier evangelist but he does not declare that every follower needs to be a ‘soul winner’.

Billy Graham has been an evangelist. That’s his calling. But it’s not for everyone. We, individually, have been encouraged to be ready to give anyone an answer for how and why we believe in Christ and to do that with gentleness. (1Peter 3:15). Paul writes to the Ephesians church that ‘evangelism’ is a special gift given to some. One of those ‘some’ may be indeed one of us. But in general what we are commanded is to ‘have the mind of Christ’. We are to have the character of Christ, which will lead to loving others, even praying for one another and sharing Christ’s love with others. That will come in an almost natural way as we live with Christ day to day.

But don’t let anyone tell you that you HAVE to be an evangelist. You can I are called to be followers of Christ in word and deed. We are called to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth wherever and to whomever God leads us. Listen carefully to what the Spirit is saying.

DO WE REALLY HAVE TO BELIEVE THE BIBLE?

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You and I don’t have to believe in the Bible as the ‘strictly exact’ words of God. Some people call that ‘inerrancy’ or ‘without error’. Humans, who are not perfect, have written the Bible. Nothing in the Bible claims that it is inerrant. The Bible itself claims to be ‘inspired’ or ‘God breathed’. Some of the sermons I have preached over the years are inspired but God knows they weren’t perfect. They were conveyed by the Spirit of God.

I don’t believe the Bible is 100% factually correct and the moment I realized that was the moment I felt freer to read the Bible as it was written. I didn’t have to be insecure, anxious or defensive about each word and every story. The only reason people want to defend inerrancy is that they believe if one error is found then the whole Bible will be proven wrong. NOT.

The Bible is a revelation of God’s plan for his creation, particularly humanity. It’s not a science book. It’s a love story written in narrative, symbol, poetry with the complete revelation found in the person and work of Jesus Christ who is ‘every’ word, thought or expression of God. It’s why Jesus is called THE WORD OF GOD.

Some Christians are more hung up on a ‘historical Jonah being swallowed by a whale’ than the real story of Jonah, which is about the grace, and forgiveness of God. Read it sometime.

Some people spend too much time fighting over the seven days of creation and the issue of evolution and the Big Bang and they miss the Big Picture that there is a God who out of love brought this creation into being so God could share His love with you and me, so that we could know why we are here and what God’s plan is for now and eternity, so that we could join with God in this great project.

I will tell you this. There is not a cell within me that doesn’t believe that the Bible is God’s Word as a story of redemption and reconciliation, an account of people who broke God’s will and God’s heart, people who are not puppets but creations given free will to live with or without God. This book, the Bible is a magnificent library of 66 different books written over thousands of years with a single most important theme: God from all eternity has been relentless in his search and rescue mission for his creation. It’s is layer upon layer of truth concerning restoration. And it includes love and violence, much gone wrong and much more being made right.

It IS God breathed. You can read it and just ‘feel’ the breath of God blowing through the pages of history and into each of our lives. It’s a beautiful story, IF we as believers don’t get caught in a trap of defensiveness. And IF we as skeptics just let it breathe it’s life into us we will know, without a policy or doctrine, that God is in this place and that Jesus is the centerpiece that brings it all together though his teachings, his death and resurrection.

THE GRACE OF AMBIGUITY

george gaffga2 Comments

Ambiguity is defined as uncertainty. It is the nature of humans to dislike uncertainty. It’s risky and even fear producing not to know the answer to life’s deeper questions such as ‘is there a God?’, ‘why is there so much suffering?’, ‘why am I here and where am I going and who cares? Is the Bible true, and why don’t the Jehovah witnesses have the same Bible as I do? ‘Am I going to be judged? And what about all those different religions?’ And then, ‘what’s for dinner?’ And did I make the right decision? And on and on and on?

An ethicist once asked Mother Teresa if she would pray for him for clarity in his life. Her response was, ‘I have never had clarity. I have had trust. I pray that you will have trust.’

I once saw a cartoon where the pastor of a church was sitting behind his desk and behind him on the wall was a poster showing the steady decline of attendance in the church. His assistant pastor was standing in front of him and said, ‘Maybe it would be better if you didn’t end every sermon with ‘but the again what do I know?’

Why do we need certainty? Trust implies a degree of uncertainty. The apostle Paul once wrote in Romans 8 that in the midst of the suffering and groaning in the world, we ‘hope’. But he says that hope isn’t something we have. It is something we long for with perseverance. And in Hebrews 11:1 we find these words: ‘Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.’ This is true trusting. And many of those whom Paul writes about never received what they hoped for, at least to the point of their deaths. They share in those things with us now.

Ambiguity involves trust and hope more than absolute certainty. Recall what Jesus said to the disciple Thomas after Thomas saw the wounds on Jesus’ body. ‘You believe because you see. How much more blessed are those who believe without seeing.’ That is the nature of ambiguity and trust.

Now some Christians and religious groups feel they need to be certain that they know the way to God. But Jesus is the only one who knows that way for he IS the way the truth and the life; he invites us to trust him to bring us into the Kingdom of the Father right here and for all eternity.

We would be more relaxed in our Christianity if we just allowed the ambiguity to exist and instead trusted God, say, the way Dietrich Bonhoeffer did in the times of Nazi Germany. Here’ is the way he describes his faith and life not long before he was executed by the Gestapo.

Who Am I?

Who am I? They often tell me;
I come out of my cell
Calmly, cheerfully, resolutely,
Like a lord from his palace.

Who am I? They often tell me,
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As though it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me,
I carried the days of misfortune
Equably, smilingly, proudly,
like one who is used to winning.

Am I really then what others say of me?
Or am I only what I know of myself?
Restless, melancholic, and ill, like a caged bird,
Struggling for breath, as if hands clasped my throat,
Hungry for colors, for flowers, for the songs of birds,
Thirsty for friendly words and human kindness,
Shaking with anger at fate and at the smallest sickness,
Trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Tired and empty at praying, at thinking, at doing,
Drained and ready to say goodbye to it all.

Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and another tomorrow?
Am I both at once? In front of others, a hypocrite,
And to myself a contemptible, fretting weakling?
Or is something still in me like a battered army,
running in disorder from a victory already achieved?
Who am I? These lonely questions mock me.
Whoever I am, You know me; I am yours, O God.

 

The last line sets the tone for our life. Though we don’t often understand much. What we do trust more than anything is that God knows we are HIS.

And the Bible. The Bible is not a rulebook. It is a relationship book. It is more like a book on the languages of love than Robert’s Rules of Order. And being a book of relationship it is filled with grey areas that are left up to the individual or group to discern what God’s will is for any given moment. The Bible is a history of God’s love for his creation and creatures and his longing for us. Love is never black and white and to want it to be so is to live by the knowledge of good and evil rather than in communion with God. And we know how that played out back in the Garden.

John Polkinghorne, a Christian and a scientist, writes these words:

The tapestry of life is not colored in simple black and white, representing an unambiguous choice between the unequivocally bad and the unequivocally good. The ambiguity of human deeds and desires means that life includes many shades of grey. What is true of life in general is true also of the Bible in particular. An honest reading of Scripture will acknowledge the presence in its pages of various kinds of ambiguity.

Regard Abraham and his uncertainty about his role as the Father of many nations. Jacob wrestled with God. Moses never really knew what he had gotten himself into. David’s ambiguities pervade the Psalms not knowing at times whether God would save him or leave him to die.

Perhaps we can learn from Jesus’ own ambiguity in Gethsemane when he asked his Father to relieve him of this dreaded death but conclude, ‘Thy will be done.’

Let me conclude by saying that ambiguity is a gift from God, an opportunity for trust and yes, even impulse at time. It is an occasion for prayer, prayer to trust, a prayer to seek God, a prayer to never grow complacent in the boring black and white of law but rather in relationship to Jesus Christ.

By the way, I love the words of U:

 

I have climbed the highest mountains

I have run through the fields

Only to be with you
Only to be with you.

I have run, I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you.

But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her finger tips
It burned like fire
A burning desire.

I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone.

But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.

I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one.
But yes, I’m still running.

You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross of my shame
Oh my shame, you know I believe it.

But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For lyrics©Universal Music Publishing Group

 

 

 

 

 

TOO HEAVY

george gaffga1 Comment

We Christians place too much weight on our own response to God’s grace. For example, we place too much emphasis on our own faith. Is it mustard seed faith? Or should it be as a child’s trust? Is it the kind of faith to deny oneself and take up a cross or the kind that gives up everything to follow Jesus?

It is like an applause meter. The faith meter. Some days that needle hardly moves and some days it goes way up. Are all these things the measure of our salvation? I think not. I really believe that it is the faithfulness of Jesus that really matters. His meter is off the charts. He has secured salvation for humanity by his sacrifice on the cross. All these other things are ways given to us, sometimes called the means of grace, to help us interact with the Christ we know. Scripture tells us that God who began a good work in us will bring it to completion as Christ returns. (Philippians 1:6)

Sometimes I think we get hung up on our own goodness and achievements that we miss the goodness of God, the grace of God given to us as a gift. I am pretty certain that in Ephesians 2:8,9 Paul is writing that ‘grace’ is the gift. Faith is the avenue, one of the means by which we are open to what God is doing.

Some are fortunate enough to experience this transformation that Christ brings here on earth. Some may experience it at the end of life and even post mortem. Christ’s faithfulness will never fail to accomplish the ultimate transformation and restoration of all creation.

Abraham, who was chosen and blessed by God and with whom God made the covenant to bless all people failed, as did the people to keep God’s ways, but Christ kept them for all the creation.

Cheap grace, in a different context from what Bonhoeffer wrote about, can mean that we make too much of our response to God and not enough about the love and goodness of God who is able to do more than we even ask of God.

There is a fun illustration that is instructive here.

A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the pearly gates. St. Peter says, “Here’s how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you’ve done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in.”
“Okay,” the man says, “I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart.”

“That’s wonderful,” says St. Peter, “that’s worth three points!”

“Three points?” he says. “Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service.”

“Terrific!” says St. Peter, “that’s certainly worth a point.”

“One point? Golly. How about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans.”

“Fantastic, that’s good for two more points,” he says.

“TWO POINTS!!” the man cries, “At this rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God!”

“Come on in.”

I love my children. I love them whether or not they love me. Their response of love will certainly help the relationship, the interaction we have, as well as their growth. But I will love them no matter and if I who am just a human will love and will work all things to their good as I am able, will not God do even more for his children, his whole creation.

Sometimes I think that Evangelical Christianity is safer with its doctrines, rules and decisions about who’s in and who is out. It’s almost like we, our egos not our spirits, want justice the way we see it. Universalism is a bit too wild for this traditional faith, this understanding of how God’s grace is so vast and restorative.

From Ephesians 1 we read Paul’s words:

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he[b]predestined us for adoption to sonship[c] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (ESV)

Perhaps and maybe hopefully the whole creation is like the Gentiles were before they were ‘brought into the fold’ as it were. Maybe we ‘believers’ are just the beginning to God’s bringing to unity all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

I like the way the MESSAGE has it:

7-10 Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

And if we are now privileged to enjoy this ‘summation’, the ‘bringing to unity’ then it behooves us to thank God and to praise his glorious plan for all ages in Christ Jesus. Amen (for now).

 

 

 

THE GRACE OF EVANGELICAL UNIVERSALISM

george gaffga5 Comments

So I have begun to seriously consider the position of being a Christ-centered Universalist. My wife thinks I am a borderline heretic but I might suggest to her that Jesus was called a blasphemer for opening wide the gates of God’s Kingdom that all might come in. And among other things the leaders called him a glutton and drunk for hanging out and accepting into the Kingdom people like tax collectors and prostitutes.

I am beginning to understand the wild, crazy, and all inclusive love of the Father to be such that God will one day, as Paul wrote, ‘reconcile all things in heaven and on earth.’ This includes to Paul’s thinking, rulers, authorities and everyone else, all through the blood, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. (See Colossians 1:18-20)

God’s relentless pursuit of his creation, his children (in the way Paul speaks of God’s children in Acts 17), does not end in vain. God’s love has and will grace the life of everyone. It did at the creation of everyone according to John 1 where we are told that every life on earth came THROUGH Jesus Christ. So writes Paul in Colossians 1.

I am not the first to think of this kind of universalism. You can read Gregory Macdonald or Robin Parry (who is Gregory Macdonald- his nom de plume) or Thomas Talbot and many others who have made the case for universalism explicitly or implicitly. For me, I am just now trying to be open to this hope, this possibility even with all proof texting opposed to it.

I had a wonderful experience the other day. I went to my neighbor who professes to be an atheist. She is a loving mom and expecting a second child any day. I decided to talk to her and she was ‘conveniently’ sitting on her front stoop. I told her that God loved her, has forgiven any of her sins and that she is right now part of God’s family and Kingdom. She said, ‘Thank you’, and we moved on to other conversation. And I must say I felt such peace in talking with her in such a manner. I have been up to this time the type of evangelist who needed to hear some kind of change of heart or decision to accept Christ but now I am okay with simply sharing the good news of God’s love. I have always liked the passage in Luke 1:77 where John’s dad, Zechariah, announces through the Holy Spirit that John will help people understand salvation with God by announcing the forgiveness of sins. There might just be something to that order since John tells us later that Jesus is the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29)

There is in this evangelical universalism something of the Arminians and Calvinists in the sense that according to the Arminian thinking God’s grace opens every heart to be able to respond to God’s grace. In the Calvinist way of thinking God’s grace is irresistible. So both come together for everyone’s salvation with God.

I do not think that anything or anyone can stop the plan that God initiated, not only at creation but also with the blessing of Abraham in which God promises that through Abraham, all people would be blessed. When God made that covenant with Abraham he sealed the deal with the promise of giving up his own life. (See Genesis 12 and 15)

Jesus subsequently fulfilled this covenant with his own blood and thus satisfied the promise of God.

Even the evil people in the world will be able to be redeemed through what Christ has done. It’s hard to wrap my mind around all of this but it might just be that I need to more fully understand the vastness of God’s love. Isn’t that why Jesus spoke as he did, making limitless the love of his Father?

So here’s a great story in line with all of that.

It is said that during the Second World War some soldiers serving in France wanted to bury a friend and fellow soldier who had been killed. Being in a foreign country they wanted to ensure their fallen comrade had a proper burial. They found a well-kept cemetery with a low fence around it, a picturesque little Catholic church and a peaceful outlook. This was just the place to bury their friend. But when they approached the priest he answered that unless their friend was a baptized Catholic he could not be buried in the cemetery. He wasn’t.

Sensing the soldiers’ disappointment the priest showed them a spot outside the fence where they could bury their friend. Reluctantly they did so.

The next day the soldiers returned to pay their final respects to their fallen friend but could not find the grave. “Surely we can’t be mistaken. It was right here!” they said. Confused, they approached the priest who took them to a spot inside the cemetery walls. “Last night I couldn’t sleep,” said the priest. “I was troubled that your friend had to be buried outside the cemetery walls, so I got up and moved the fence.”

Ah, perhaps we are as astounded to hear about universalism as the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were stunned to hear that the love of God could be so inclusive.

Now I realize that there are many scriptural passages that are read and understood in opposition to what I am sharing. But I also know there are enigmatic verses such as 1Cor. 15:22 “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”

Christ must be the center of any new mathematical equation that includes the whole creation. There is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ and his atonement for our sin. Historic and Biblical witness has always attested to this truth. This has been the church’s position since the days of the apostles. But there must be room within this confession for an even larger view of God’s inclusiveness in Christ.

I read in Philippians 2 that one day EVERY knee shall bow and EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. I want to trust God to work that out in God’s own way and time. I can’t say enough of the joy of even contemplating such a loving forgiving heavenly Father.

To conclude for now, I want to add that we Christians make too much of our response to God’s grace. The emphasis is on what God has done for us. And finally I am not worried that people will ‘slack off’ in their living for Christ right here and now. When we grasp the love of God in deeper ways we respond even more thankfully.

It is an astonishing thought, possibility and even hope that God will RESTORE this whole creation, the good, the bad and even the evil into the good that God had originally intended. And that restoration will include everything that was lost. There are many scriptures on both and all sides of this theological conversation and I want to listen to them all.

And I might add; that restoration is now underway from the Resurrection of Christ until he comes again.