Song of the Drunkards

JESUS FACED A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF OPPOSITION FOR HIS HARD WORDS AND UNFLINCHING DEVOTION TO YAHWEH. NO SURPRISE THEN IF WE FIND OUR NAME FESTOONED IN BARROOM BALLADS (CF. PS 69:12).

Givers and Graspers

October 21, 2010 in Bible - OT - Proverbs, Friendship, Meditations

“Many will seek the favor of a generous man, and every man is friend to him who gives gifts. All the brothers of a poor man hate him; How much more do his friends abandon him! He pursues them with words, but they are gone.”
Proverbs 19:6,7

Friendship is a precious commodity. Unfortunately we seldom give sufficient attention to those things which make friendships grow and blossom. The text before us today devotes this attention. And, with Solomon’s characteristic pith, he packs a mouthful into very short space.

The text contrasts two types of men—the one who is generous and the one who is grasping. The former is a man of many friends; the latter of many enemies—indeed even his brothers turn against him. We, of course, would prefer to have some friends as opposed to none and so let us consider this passage for a moment.

Who is this generous man? We are told that he is one who “gives gifts” and one from whom people “seek favors.” We are accustomed to think of these gifts in purely monetary terms. However, the text embraces no such limitation. The generous man is just that—generous, open-handed. He gives of himself; he gives of his time; he gives of his resources. In sum, he sacrifices his own desires to bless others. Consequently, he has many friends. When his co-worker asks him for help, he agrees. When his children ask him to read to them, he reads. If you are a generous child, you do chores for your brother or sister, you ask your mom or dad how you can help them around the house, you clean your room without being asked. The generous man gives—he is always looking for those in need not thinking how much he needs himself. And isn’t this truly the secret of friendship—to be a friend to others rather than to expect that others will be a friend to you?

Now contrast the generous man with the grasping man. “All the brothers of a poor man hate him; how much more do his friends abandon him.” Because Solomon is contrasting this poor man with a generous man, it is highly unlikely that Solomon is thinking solely of a man who is poor monetarily. Rather he is describing one whose poverty taints all his relationships. Th type of poor man Solomon describes is a grasper; he always wants more, always needs more. He is like a leech, never satisfied, ever consuming. He never seems to have enough. He is a bottomless pit. You can give him your fortune; he will still be poor. You can give him your time; he will demand more. You can do him a favor; he will expect another. Whereas the motto of the generous man is “My life for yours,” the motto of the grasping man is, “Your life for mine.” And so husbands and wives make demands of one another and grow embittered because their spouse just isn’t meeting their needs; girls demand that their friends spend more time with them or they won’t speak to them anymore; fathers neglect their families in order to have “time away” by themselves; children refuse to say “thank you” for their dinner. And all these actions, all these actions of the grasping man, estrange friends.

And so let me ask some questions. Do you wonder why your children seem distant? Wonder why your husband doesn’t want to talk as much? Wonder why your siblings can’t seem to get along with you? Wonder why you don’t have any friends? Let me suggest that the reason these things are happening is because you are grasping not giving. Covenant today to turn from your grasping self-centeredness and to become a generous man like our Lord Jesus Christ. The first part of this covenant is confessing to the Lord that we have been graspers. So let us kneel and let us confess our sin to the Lord.

Forgiveness is a Gift

October 21, 2010 in Bible - NT - Philippians, Justification, Meditations

“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”
Philippians 3:7-9

Humans are goal driven, hope driven creatures. Apart from some inherent belief that the future has some meaning, some purpose, our lives reduce to despair. The text today gives us a glimpse of the hope that Paul had for the future.

His hunger and thirst was to be found, in the last day, standing before God not in his own righteousness but only in the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. He counted all his labors rubbish – all the works of righteousness, all the prayers, all the kindnesses – he counted them all rubbish that he might gain Christ and be found in Him. He sold all that he had in order that he might buy the Pearl of Great Price.

Note that Paul’s hunger has both a negative and a positive dimension. On the negative side, when Paul appears before the judgment seat of God, he does not want to arrive there in his own strength or on the basis of his own performance. He does not want to appear before God and have God weigh his good and bad deeds. For were he to be weighed in the balance on the basis of his own deeds of righteousness, he knows that even like Belthashazzar he would be found wanting. He knew that were he to come before the throne of God on his own, he would perish. All our righteous acts are like filthy rags in the presence of the Lord.

But note that Paul did have hope, did have ambition. His hope, his burning desire, was to appear before the judgment seat on the last day, clothed not in his own righteousness but rather clothed in the righteousness of Christ. He wanted to come into the presence of God and say to His Sovereign Lord, “Lord, I know that I have failed to do all that which I ought to have done. I know that I have done that which I ought not. But receive me, O Lord, not for what I have done but for that which Your Son has done for me. I have trusted Him, believed Him, had faith in Him that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So receive me for Christ’s sake.”

Paul’s goal throughout his life was to avoid the folly of coming to rely upon his own righteousness, his own deeds. His goal was to rely wholly and completely on the righteousness of Christ. So even when Paul began striving, laboring, pressing ahead for the upward call of God in Christ Jesus; even when he had it as his ambition to glorify God through Jesus Christ, He was doing this in faith – knowing that none of his striving, none of his laboring, none of his pressing ahead or ambition to glorify the Lord could ever earn forgiveness with God. Forgiveness was and ever would be a gift – and Paul’s ambition, Paul’s goal for his life, was never to forget that.

So what of us? Have we remembered that forgiveness is a gift, a free gift of God offered through Christ? Have we lived in the freedom and joy that this produces? There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Or have we instead begun to act as though our acceptance with God is conditional on our own performance, our own righteousness? Having begun by faith, are we striving, like the Galatians, to be completed by works? Then let us confess our folly to our Lord, asking Him to forgive us for despising the sacrifice of Christ and imagining that we could somehow earn His favor. Let us kneel and confess our sins to the Lord.

Remember Saul

October 21, 2010 in Bible - OT - 1 Samuel, Confession, Meditations

“Then Saul said to Samuel, ‘I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.’”
1 Samuel 15:24

Our vision of kings is of men who held absolute power—men like Henry VIII in England or Louis XIV in France—men whose word was law. But most kings have been far less powerful; their thrones have been far more precarious. In England during the late Middle Ages, for instance, Henry of Huntingdon tells us that of a total of 36 kings, four died natural deaths.

This is important for us to understand when we come to the text before us today. We are accustomed to discount Saul’s excuse of “fearing the people” as special pleading. “Feared the people,” we cry in disbelief. But he was the king! He could do what he wanted!

But here we betray our misunderstanding. Saul’s excuse was very likely legitimate. After all in destroying the cattle, sheep, and oxen of the Amalekites, Saul was in effect piling up treasury notes and setting them aflame. Not the sort of activity most people will sit around and watch—“Here,” they cried, “is wealth right before our eyes; who is this man to get in the way? Give us the animals or we’ll soon remove you from kingship just as fast as we raised you to it.” Saul was afraid.

But note—Saul was also the king. He had been appointed by God as the leader not the follower. He was to do what God had told him to do—regardless what others might think or do. Saul was given a task—he was to complete it or die trying. But Saul didn’t. He caved in to the people and preserved the best of the spoil. And when confronted about his sin Saul made excuses. He did not come forth in true manliness and take complete reponsibility for his sin. Rather, he tried to make his sin appear less heinous than it was. “I know I sinned,” he said, “but the people made me do it.” It wasn’t really my fault. Forgive me please.

And how does God respond to Saul’s method of repentance? With pity and forgiveness? No, with scorn and judgment. Saul loses the kingdom and falls into madness.

And so let me ask you, what excuses have you been making to God this week for failing to do your duty—for failing to do what God has so clearly called you to do?

Christian, what excuses have you offered for failing to feed yourselves on the Word of the Lord and seek Him in prayer? I don’t have enough time; God knows I love him. Remember Saul.

Husbands and fathers, what excuses have you offered for being unloving and short tempered? For snapping at your children and failing to lead your families? I had a long day at work; my head hurts; my boss treated me unfairly; my children don’t want to have family worship. Remember Saul.

Wives and mothers, what excuses have you offered this week for failing to submit to your husbands? For criticizing them and gossiping to your neighbor? He just isn’t like Sally’s husband; I have a right to vent; I just need to ask for prayer. Remember Saul.

Young men, what excuses have you made for disobeying your parents? For speaking back to them? For letting your eyes linger too long on lovely young ladies? My parents just don’t understand me; I have a right to express my feelings; I was just admiring her beauty. Remember Saul.

Young women, what excuses have you made this week for manipulating your friends and family? For whining and complaining? For flaunting your charms and seducing young men? I’m simply letting my family know what I need; I’m not complaining just persuading; I may never be married if I don’t advertise myself. Remember Saul.

When we come to God all excuses are vain. God sees beyond our shallow repentance; He knows why we do what we do and when we are truly sorry. This was the difference between Saul and David. Both sinned grievously. The difference is that Saul made excuses to Samuel—I have sinned but the people made me do it—while David stopped with the first three words—I have sinned. David made no excuses and God forgave the guilt of his sin. As we come before the Lord today let us confess to him our sin—and put aside all temptations to make excuses. Let us kneel together as we do so.