Monthly Archives: July 2024

Chapter-a-Day

The Law of Love

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The Law of Love (CaD Rom 13) – Wayfarer

The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Romans 13:9 (NIV)

Those who have never read The Lord of the Rings and have only watched the movies miss out on the book’s masterful conclusion. The fallen wizard, Saruman, does not die as the movies depict. Rather, Gandalf makes multiple attempts to give his colleague a chance to repent of his folly and come back to reason. Gandalf offers Saruman grace and mercy.

Saruman’s hard heart flatly refuses the offer. Unbeknownst to Frodo and company, the wizard uses his skills as a deceiver to raise a following of ruffians and travels to the Shire. He and his men take control and wreak havoc on the Hobbits’ homeland. When Frodo and his three companions finally arrive back in the Shire they find it barely recognizable because of the rules that had been implemented:

“Then the four companions went into the hobbit guard-house and made themselves as comfortable as they could. It was a bare and ugly place, with a mean little grate that would not allow a good fire. In the upper rooms were little rows of hard beds, and on every wall there was a notice and a list of Rules. Pippin tore them down. There was no beer and very little food, but with what the travellers brought and shared out they all made a fair meal; and Pippin broke Rule 4 by putting most of next day’s allowance of wood on the fire.”

This scene came to mind this morning as I pondered today’s chapter, in which Paul reiterates Jesus’ teaching regarding the Law of Love. Paul has waxed eloquent for several chapters regarding the Law of Moses and the rule-keeping that his Jewish brothers and sisters took so seriously. Now, he brings the conversation back to Jesus’ own teaching on the subject:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:36-40

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about the “bare and ugly place” that the Shire becomes when it was enslaved by systemic rule-keeping. It is such a great metaphor for lives that become enslaved by religious rule-keeping. I love that Jesus came to free us from that burden and placed on us one simple law of love that is summed up in two commands: Love God. Love others. If I truly live by these two commands, all the other rules will take care of themselves.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Responding and Reacting

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Responding and Reacting (CaD Rom 12) – Wayfarer

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:19-21 (NIV)

This past weekend, the world was stunned when the opening ceremony of the Olympics featured what appeared to be a parody of Da Vinci’s The Last Supper using drag queens and a large lady with a plunging neckline in place of Jesus. There have been all sorts of reactions to the scene, but it came to mind this morning as I read today’s chapter.

I will admit that my initial reaction was one of shock then offended anger. I scrolled my feed on X to see how people were responding. I ran across one tweet from a young Muslim woman. “As a Muslim, even I am offended by this. Where are you Christians? Why are you so weak?”

As a disciple of Jesus, however, I don’t want to be a slave to my emotional reactions but rather respond in the Spirit. So rather than spew my rage to the masses, I took some time to ponder the French parody and how Jesus would respond. Here are the conclusions I came to.

Jesus would not be surprised at all by it. In fact, He told me that this is exactly the thing I should expect from the world. Here are a couple of key statements:

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.”
Matthew 24:9

“Everyone will hate you because of me.”
Luke 21:17

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
John 15:18-19

…in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.
John 16:2b

“But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’”
John 15:25

Jesus asks me to respond differently than the world reacts. Anger, rage, and retribution are the ways of the world. To me, this silly mockery is a metaphorical slap in the face, and a classic opportunity to respond in the very way Jesus taught me.

God does not need me to be His avenger. A few years ago, the offices of Charlie Hebdo in France were attacked and the workers were massacred by Muslim terrorists. They did this because the French satire magazine parodied Mohammed in a comic. I wondered, “Is this what the Muslim young lady thinks Christians should do so as not to be ‘weak?'” Jesus made it very clear that God can handle vengeance on His own without my help, and that my job is to love, bless, and pray for those who mock, hate, and persecute.

The very heart of Jesus’ example and teaching is that real spiritual strength is found in what the world perceives as weakness. Jesus willingly surrendered Himself to be crucified and said that I should take up my own cross and follow His example. Resurrection power does not come from marching in the streets, taking up arms, political leverage, or trending social media outrage. Resurrection power only comes through death. Sometimes that means I have to die to my desire or need for a sense of justice, or revenge, or self-righteous satisfaction.

In the quiet this morning, I’m thinking about an article I read yesterday in the Free Press in which the author commented that the people who should really be angry are not the Christians, but the citizens of France who had a chance to show the world the best they’ve got to offer with regards to art and culture and have to ask themselves “Is this is the best we could come up with?” In the meantime, I’m not too worked up about it. I have people to love, clients to serve, and a bunch of meetings today in which I hope to be an example of Jesus’ loving kindness and self-control.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Big Brother Mentality

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Big Brother Mentality (CaD Rom 11) – Wayfarer

And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
Romans 11:6 (NIV)

Last week, I gave a message to our local gathering of Jesus’ followers. I kicked off the message by stating that I’ve long had the idea for a book about the things that Christians always get wrong. In that message, I talked about God’s presence. My entire life I’ve listened to people pray for God to “be present” or to “Come to us.” If we really believe what we say we believe, that is the most illogical thing to pray for. If you want to know why, I encourage you to listen to the message because that’s not the subject of today’s post.

One of the other chapters of my proposed book is the subject of today’s post. Along my life journey, I’ve observed that while Christians say we believe that salvation is “by grace through faith,” we still act as if there’s a bit of meritocracy mixed in. I like to think of this kind of thinking as “Grace Plus.” “Yes salvation is by grace through faith, plus if you were really “saved” you wouldn’t [fill in the blank with a behavior that, in your mind, a real Christian wouldn’t exhibit].

In today’s chapter, Paul addresses an implied question in his letter’s argument about salvation being for both the non-Jewish Gentiles as well as the Jewish people: “Has God rejected His people?” I am always amazed at how given we human beings are to binary, either-or, thinking. The Jewish people of Paul’s day were so proud of being “God’s chosen people” that they wanted to maintain exclusivity. Rather than perceiving the inclusion of Gentiles as followers of Jesus as God’s merciful generosity flowing from its Jewish roots, they concluded that God’s love of Gentiles must mean rejection of Israel. This attitude, by the way, is the same as the older brother in the parable of Prodigal Son. Like the father in that parable, Paul explains that God loving the “prodigal” Gentiles and celebrating their homecoming into salvation does not negate His love and purposes for “big brother” Israel. It is not an “either-or” but a “yes-and.”

The “Big Brother” thinking that Paul is addressing with his Jewish brothers and sisters is a form of the same problem that exists with those I observe with “Grace Plus” thinking. It’s a form of self-righteousness that mentally assents to God’s love as gracious and merciful, but at the heart of it still clings to the notion that our good works have some merit in making us more worthy than the dirty sinner.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking of the fruits of the Spirit that Paul lists in his letter to the believers in Galatia. I thought through Big Brother’s reaction to his father’s grace and mercy toward the sinful little brother:

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’“

Then I tried to determine which of the Fruits of the Spirit he displayed in his reaction:

  • Love
  • Joy
  • Peace
  • Patience
  • Kindness
  • Goodness
  • Faithfulness
  • Gentleness
  • Self-Control

How about the Prodigal’s father? Yeah, Pops was exemplifying them all.

As a child of God, I want to have my Father’s heart which is gracious, merciful, generous, and truly loving. This means, however, that I have to surrender all of my meritocratic notions. God’s generous and gracious love for others does not diminish His love for me, it just means there’s more love to go around than I ever thought possible.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

God’s Righteousness vs. Self-Righteousness

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God's Righteousness vs. Self-Righteousness (CaD Rom 10) – Wayfarer

For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
Romans 10:2-4 (NIV)

I had lunch with a friend this week who is a pastor. As we were catching up they mentioned that they had received a “poisoned pen letter.” I have received my own share of these letters along my spiritual journey. They come from the religious rule-keepers I’ve described in recent posts. “Poisoned pen letters” typically point out one or more rules that the religious rule-keeper considers to be conditional for salvation that you’re not keeping in their eyes. There’s always scripture included, often quoted in the Authorized King James version. A poisoned pen letter always includes the threat that unless you start keeping their prescribed rules you are going to hell, you will be forever damned, you will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, you will burn in hell, or similar. They are almost always sent anonymously.

The poisoned pen letters I know of have dealt with things like not preaching the right things, not using their prescribed version of the Bible (usually the King James Version), not wearing the right clothes, not having the right hairstyle, wearing a hat in church, not having your head covered in church, not keeping the sabbath, being friends with sinful people, drinking alcohol, listening to the wrong kind of music, not using the right kind of music in the church service (e.g. traditional hymns), not being political enough from the pulpit (of their political persuasion, of course), being too political from the pulpit (the side they disagree with), and etc.

In today’s chapter, Paul describes his fellow Jews as zealous for God. Their zeal, he goes on to explain, is misguided. The religious rule-keeping Jews didn’t know the righteousness of God. They only knew self-righteous rule-keeping. The former is sourced only from God through faith. The latter is sourced by keeping prescribed behavioral rules through human effort. The former is a gracious and generous gift from God. The latter is a threatening condemning human demand.

Wendy recently read the story of a person who was raised as a fundamentalist rule-keeper but has since renounced her religious roots. She explains that a religious rule-keeper thinks that they are showing love by pointing out another person’s sins. The condemnation and threat of hell are seen as a loving act that will potentially save the object of their public rebuke or poisoned pen.

How misguided. They ignore the scripture that says it is God’s kindness that leads people to repentance. So also do they ignore the scripture that lists the fruit of the Spirit that a believer produces. Nowhere on the list will you find anger, threats, condemnation, yelling, protesting, or sending anonymous letters. The list is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. A poisoned pen letter exemplifies the exact opposite of patience, kindness, and self-control.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself being mindful of Paul’s attitude toward his zealous, self-righteous Jewish brothers and sisters. His heart goes out to them. He prays for them to see the Truth and to know the righteousness from God that can only be received, never earned. Paul’s attitude towards these people reminds me of Jesus on the cross saying, “Father, forgive them. They don’t get it.” I think that’s the attitude and posture that God wants me to have when dealing with rule-keepers when they confront me or write me anonymous letters. It’s easy for me to get angry with them, but how will they repent if I use their own angry, condemning tactics against them? They won’t. But perhaps if I respond to their condemnation and anger with kindness, patience, and loving faithfulness they will see in me that there’s a better way.

I will be taking a week’s vacation next week. I’ll return to our chapter-a-day journey on Monday, July 29!

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

A Confession

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A Confession (CaD Rom 9) – Wayfarer

Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
Romans 9:18 (NIV)

A decade or so ago, I found myself in the check-out line in a department store feeling this quiet, internal, seething anger. The source of this anger? Chip and Joanna Gaines. They were everywhere. Wendy and every one of her friends were talking about them. People I know were making pilgrimages to Waco, Texas. Their “collections” were suddenly in every store. There in the checkout line, Joanna was staring at me from the covert of Cosmopolitan. So, what do we do when we get angry these days? We vent on social media!

“I love Chip and Joanna,” I tweeted, “but I’m tired of seeing their faces a million times a day!”

The next day my tweet received a reply from Chip Gaines, himself.

“I know,” he tweeted back, “I told Joanna the other day that even I’m tired of us!”

It wasn’t long after this that I noticed myself feeling that same quiet, internal, seething anger. This time it was an online author and “influencer” who was trending and I started hearing this person’s name come up in conversation all the time. I remember Wendy and her friends talking in our kitchen one day and everyone was talking about what this influencer recently said about this or that topic. I was suddenly filled with anger. I wanted to throw up. I had to leave the room my insides were seething so intensely.

The problem was, I knew that these angry reactions inside of me weren’t healthy. Anger like this always points to something deeper in the Spirit that is askew. I began to dig into what it was that was going on inside of my heart. The answer ended up being simple once I realized it. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I’ve had this anger, these feelings of irritation and animosity, toward certain individuals my entire life. And they were almost all individuals I didn’t know at all!

Here I was a 50-year-old man who had been a disciple of Jesus for almost 40 years and it had taken me that long to realize that I have a problem with envy. The commonality between all of the individuals who produced this latent animosity within me is that they were people who suddenly became famous and everyone was talking about them and being influenced by them. Why them? Why not me? I feel shame in confessing it because it feels so petty. It’s true, however. I have to own it. Over the past several years I’ve had to consciously deal with this very real sin to which I had been blind my entire life.

As I have processed and worked on my envy, I have run headlong into what, in human terms, is an uncomfortable reality: God’s sovereignty.

Jesus told a parable about the owner of a vineyard. Throughout the day the owner finds workers, negotiates a price for their labor for the day, and sends them to work in his vineyard. At the end of the day, the workers who worked all day find out that they’re getting paid the same as the guy who was hired for the final two hours of the day. They are pissed. The owner of the vineyard responds,

‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn’t we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?’
Matthew 20:13-15 (MSG)

In today’s chapter, Paul addresses the truth of God’s sovereignty. God blessed Jacob, but not his older twin brother Esau. The prodigal wastes all of his father’s money on partying and prostitutes and is given a homecoming party, while the older brother goes seemingly uncelebrated for his faithfulness and obedience. God, in His sovereign purposes, raises one person to prominence while another works in obscurity.

On one hand, I can dismiss these human inequities as simply “life isn’t fair” (and it’s not), but Paul is adding to this another layer of truth that Jesus was addressing in His parable. God is sovereign, and His knowledge and purposes are infinite, while mine are finite. This is where a disciple of Jesus finds the requirement of faith and surrender.

If God is good, and I believe He is. If God has a good purpose for me and my life, and I believe He does. Then I can rest in living the life God has generously and sovereignly purposed for me, this life I am now living, and this path I am now walking. I can also surrender any desire that my path should be like the one anyone else is walking.

In the quiet this morning, I’m thinking about our kitchen. On the counter, right next to the stove, Wendy has placed the Magnolia Cook Book in such a way that Joanna Gaines stares at me every day in my own house. It’s good. It no longer triggers me. It’s a daily reminder for me to pray for Chip and Joanna and all that God is doing in and through their lives. God has been generous to them, and they have a tremendous amount of positive impact in our world. I’m also quite certain that they face struggles and stresses because of that generosity which I wouldn’t want in a million years. In dealing with my envy problem, I’ve embraced that sometimes God’s generosity is in saving us from the things our heart’s desire, but which would lead to tragedies we could never foresee.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Gospel According to Harry Potter

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The Gospel According to Harry Potter (CaD Rom 8) – Wayfarer

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)

Our daughters were the perfect age to get in on the original Harry Potter craze. Taylor turned nine the year that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone hit number one on the New York Times Bestsellers List. She was roughly the same age as Harry, Ron, and Hermoine as the subsequent books were annually published. She and Madison literally grew up with these characters.

In yesterday’s post/podcast, I wrote about religious rulekeepers. Religious rule-keepers, by the way, are often reactionaries. They are quick to condemn at a distant whiff of impropriety. When the Harry Potter craze took off, they got themselves into a lather. I have learned along my life journey that when the Christian rule-keepers get into a lather, I should definitely check out what they’re upset about because I’ll probably love whatever it is they hate. This was certainly true with the Harry Potter books.

(Side note and personal critique that you can skip if you wish: As popular as the Harry Potter films were, they are a poor representation of the books. This is because they started making the films before the series of books was finished. So the first several movies were handicapped by not knowing how the entire series ended and by not realizing how some of the subtle things Rowling planted in the early books would grow into a huge part of the plot in the end. If you only know Harry Potter from the films, be sure to read or listen to the books. The audiobooks read by Jim Dale are excellent. -TJVW)

I have always held that all great stories are a reflection of the Great Story, and I found this to be true with Harry Potter. It is an epic story of good and evil set in an entertaining fantasy world just like The Chronicles of Narnia (which has witches, by the way) and Lord of the Rings (which has wizards, by the way) and A Midsummer’s Night Dream (which, by the way, has a talking donkey just like the Bible).

In today’s chapter, Paul writes of the supremacy of Christ’s love. When a person is baptized into Jesus and joined with Christ’s Spirit, they are filled with and surrounded by Love. Once this happens, Paul writes, “There is no more condemnation.” Not only that, but we can’t be separated from that Love by anything. As Paul described it to Jesus’ followers in Corinth: “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

In Harry Potter, it was the sacrificial love of his mother, who gave her life to protect her baby from evil that made Harry special. The wise sage Dumbledore forever tries to help Harry understand that it is the power of love that will ultimately defeat evil, though Harry simply can’t see it until it proves true in the end. What a beautiful story that illustrates the very Love that Paul is talking about in today’s chapter. A sacrificial Love that indwells, protects, perseveres, and conquers the darkness. A Love from which I can never be separated, even by darkness or demons.

In the quiet this morning, I found myself meditating on the fact that we so often discount the power of Love in a world where power is demonstrated by wealth, status, authority, influence, leverage, and force. Just like Harry, who dismisses Dumbledore’s assurance of love’s conquering power, it’s easy for me to feel that love seems to pale in comparison. Perhaps one could argue that it does pale in terms of this world’s perspective. As C.S. Lewis famously concluded, however, I was not made for this world. I was made for a Kingdom that is not of this world in which Love reigns supreme.

As a follower of Jesus, I am told that while I may not have been made for this world, I am in this world for a purpose. That purpose is to represent that eternal Kingdom in this fallen world, by loving others, even my enemies and those who have been deceived by evil. By the way, this is exactly how Dumbledore loved Draco by sacrificing himself to protect the young man from doing an evil thing that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

From Rules to Raspberries

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From Rules to Raspberries (CaD Rom 7) – Wayfarer

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
Romans 7:4 (NIV)

As a modern reader, I don’t believe I can fully understand just how rabid the Jews of the first century were about keeping the Law of Moses. In a general sense, however, I think we all have at least rubbed shoulders with fundamentalist-type rule-keepers. They aren’t hard to recognize. The emphasis is always on the obsessive-compulsive avoidance of things that are deemed sinful, the condemnation and avoidance of anyone who does them, and the strict upkeep of self-righteous appearances. I have observed that critics of Christianity love to use fundamentalist rule-keepers as being representative of all Jesus’ followers. It’s an easy target.

Over the 18 years I’ve been writing these chapter-a-day posts, I have often referenced the semester of college that I spent among fundamentalist rule-keepers. I have so many stories that are both silly and tragic. When I read Paul’s description of his Jewish brothers and sisters who were essentially fundamentalist rule-keepers (I believe they exist among every religion), I always think of that semester on a fundamentalist rule-keeping campus. It’s a handy point of reference.

I also realized as I was reading today’s chapter that in my mind I often swap out the word “Law” (referencing all of the 613 commands of the Law of Moses) with “Rules.” I have many life experiences with rule-keeping and rule-keepers.

In today’s chapter, Paul argues with his rule-keeping friends that laws don’t matter when you die. He uses the example of marriage. If a woman sleeps with a man while she’s married to another, she is committing adultery. If her husband dies, she is free to marry another man. He then goes back to the previous chapter in which those who are baptized are spiritually and metaphorically buried into Jesus’ death and raised into Jesus’ resurrection. Part of the “death” into which I was buried is becoming dead to rule-keeping. Part of the “new life” into which I was raised is the spiritual fruit production.

Just as the death of a husband frees the wife to pursue a new relationship, Paul says that rule-keeping died on the cross with Jesus. With His resurrection, we now have a new life with a totally new paradigm. We are freed from rule-keeping in order to increasingly bear the fruit of God’s Spirit:

Love that is increasingly evident in my life by my…
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Self-control

If my life is focused on being a disciple of Jesus, walking in His footsteps, following His example, and obeying His teaching, then I will increasingly produce these “fruits” in my life and relationships with every one, every day. I no longer need rules. The fruit of the Spirit in my life is evidence that I and my heart are ruled by Christ.

As I meditate on this contrast in the quiet this morning, I find myself so grateful for the freedom I’ve experienced from rule-keeping. I pray for those who are still bound in rule-keeping to find the live-giving grace of Jesus. I’m motivated to spiritually fertilize, prune, and water my life so that I can produce more love and all its flavors.

By the way, I used “raspberries” in the title of today’s post because when it comes to fruit, I love the flavor of berries. Also, it made for catchy alliteration! 🙂

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Water

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Water (CaD Rom 6) – Wayfarer

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Romans 6:3-4 (NIV)

Over the past few months, there have been mass baptism events around the world. It’s not the type of thing that mainstream media is going to report, but it’s out there. A reported 12,000 individuals were baptized at Huntington Beach, California on Pentecost Sunday. Another nearly 5,000 were baptized in multiple events in Florida. In New Guinea, 300,000 people were baptized. Just weeks ago, I was honored when a young friend drove a long way in order that I might baptize her. It was a precious event. Just a week before that, our local gathering of Jesus’ followers baptized several people, and the place was packed with witnesses celebrating each one.

Over the years, I have repeatedly stated that God’s base language is metaphor. All of creation is an expression of God’s being and a reflection of His eternal nature. Time and time again, throughout the Great Story, God uses metaphors to communicate spiritual truth. That is what baptism is really all about, but it’s even more than that because metaphors are layered with meaning.

In Genesis 1:1 the Great Story begins with God’s Spirit moving over the “deep” regularly translated as “sea” or “waters.” In his Revelation, John describes Heaven’s throne room as having a sea that looks like crystal. From beginning to end, water plays a major role both physically and spiritually.

God destroys the world with a flood. Noah and his family are saved through the waters. Peter makes the spiritual connection between the Great Flood and the baptism of believers.

God delivers the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and the freed slaves escape through the waters of the Red Sea. In today’s chapter, Paul writes of being freed from our slavery to sin. Spiritually, baptism is a person’s Red Sea moment.

God leads the Hebrews to the Promised Land, and they enter the Promised Land by passing through the River Jordan. Paul speaks today of the spiritual transformation of a believer from the “old life” of slavery to sin and into the “new life” in Jesus. Spiritually, baptism is also a person’s River Jordan moment.

Life for every human being begins in the protective water of the womb, As the “water breaks” it ushers the baby into their earthly journey. Jesus told Nicodemus that salvation is about being “born again” spiritually. The water of baptism metaphorically becomes a sign of the water breaking and ushering a newborn believer into their new life.

Jesus said that He came to bring us “living water,” a spring welling up within a person to eternal life. Baptism is a metaphor for being “buried” in the “living water” just as Jesus was buried in the tomb and raised up out of the “living water” just as Jesus was raised from the dead.

David presciently describes the metaphor of baptism in his lyrics to Psalm 18:

[God] reached down from on high and took hold of me;
    he drew me out of deep waters.

As I meditate on the metaphor of water and baptism in the quiet this morning, I find myself encouraged. That’s what metaphors do. They are physical reminders of spiritual truth. It was a crazy weekend of an assassination attempt and being reminded of the division, violence, and vitriol that is seemingly so prevalent in our current times. But then I think of 12,000 people on a California beach whose lives have spiritually changed for the better. I think of 5,000 people in Florida who experienced a spiritual rebirth. I try to imagine the positive impact that the transformed lives of 300,000 people could have on their nation and world as they follow Jesus into obediently loving God and loving others. I think of the smile and joy of my young friend as she came up out of the baptismal pool and gave me a hug. She was so excited about God’s spiritually transforming work inside her. Death-to-life. Buried-to-risen. Slavery-to-freedom. A new birth in which old things pass away and new things come.

Yes, there’s a lot of chaos out there in the world, but God’s Spirit is still moving over the “deep.” The Good Shepherd is still leading His flock to still waters. This wayfaring stranger is looking forward to crossing Jordan into an eternal Promised Land and seeing the crystal sea.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Need for Struggle

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The Need for Struggle (CaD Rom 5) – Wayfarer

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Romans 5:3-4 (NIV)

Here in the Midwest, there has been a tremendous amount of rain this summer. Entire towns in northwest Iowa are underwater. We know individuals and businesses who have been significantly impacted.

A week ago Wendy and I were preparing to have our entire family with us for two days to celebrate the 4th of July. The day before everyone was scheduled to arrive we had a rainstorm that poured several inches of rain in a short period. Our sump pump couldn’t keep up. Our basement flooded. Suddenly we found ourselves in crisis mode as we scrambled to move things around and find a way to stem the tide. At one point, Wendy looked at me with tears running down her cheeks.

“This is not how I wanted this day to go,” she said.

Indeed.

At the same time, Wendy and I have been walking with multiple families who are in seasons of acute suffering. Not just the momentary pain of a flooded basement kind of suffering. We’re talking about the severe, agonizing circumstances that can rip lives and families apart type of suffering. The circumstances are uniquely different with each of these friends but the life struggles are equally difficult. It’s hard to witness. And, it puts a wet basement into perspective.

Along my life journey, I have observed that our culture struggles with suffering. It’s almost as if we believe no one should ever experience difficulty. We spend a lot of time, energy, and resources trying to avoid or alleviate suffering. There are plenty of televangelists who will promise you that God will provide a life of wealth and blessing if you simply send them a few bucks, and then a few more, and then a few more. And, to my point, many people do.

Wendy and I recently read an article by an expert who addressed the reality that we have a generation of young adults who have been overprotected by parents and a culture obsessed with safety. Now these kids can’t cope with the struggles of everyday adult life.

In today’s chapter, Paul tells the believers in Rome to “glory” in their suffering. This is not an isolated teaching. James wrote the same thing, as did Peter. The goal of being a disciple of Jesus is to follow His example. Jesus Himself said that following Him requires me to carry a cross. The cross was invented to make a person suffer an excruciating death. The bottom line is that spiritual maturity is forged through painful struggle. If there is no pain, there will be no spiritual progress.

In the quiet this morning I’m continuing to pray for our friends in their season of suffering. I’m going to once again reach out to encourage them. One of the things I’ve learned in my own seasons of suffering is that I don’t have to be alone. I have great friends. When I’m suffering, I need those friends the most. When they are suffering, they need me, even if it’s simply making them aware I am present. There are important aspects of maturity that one learns in this life only through struggle. It’s good to have good companions on the journey.

By the way, our basement is back to normal. Our family’s visit was wonderful. In the grand scheme of things, it was a rather minor event. It did teach us, however, that there are some things we need to do to avoid it happening again.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Difference

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The Difference (CaD Rom 4) – Wayfarer

What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Romans 4:3 (NIV)

In the entirety of the Great Story, Abraham stands out as one of the most important and influential individuals. In fact, Abraham figures into current events to this very day. Three of the major world religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) trace their roots back to Abraham. The animosity between Muslims and Jews today is, in a sense, a family squabble from over four thousand years ago. Amazing.

In John 8, Jesus has a lengthy argument with his fellow Jews about Abraham. It’s a fascinating read along with today’s chapter because both Paul and Jesus are addressing the same problem in different ways. Their fellow Jews were proud of being “Abraham’s children” and letting everyone know it. Once again, Jesus points out the pesky sin problem that His people refused to see.

“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.“

Fast forward to Paul and his fellow Jews who were now followers of Jesus and making two basic demands. 1) That their non-Jewish counterparts become circumcised and 2) They follow the law of Moses. The problem with these demands is that they perpetuate what Jesus came to confront once and for all, and Paul continues the Message: Salvation is not dependent on keeping rules and/or removing the foreskin of your penis. Salvation is a gracious gift given through faith in Jesus alone. Period.

By demanding that their Gentile counterparts be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses, the Jewish believers were going back to the very problem Jesus came to address.

So how does Paul address this? He goes back to Father Abraham, and he points out to his fellow Jews what their own scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” He then goes on to point out that this act of faith and accrediting of righteousness happened before the covenant of circumcision was given, and before the Law of Moses existed. They have the salvation equation backward. From the beginning, from Father Abraham, salvation has always been about God’s kind and gracious gift that is activated by simple faith.

In the quiet this morning as I meditated on Paul’s words, I realized that I have long observed the same problem Paul and Jesus were dealing with 2000 years ago. It’s so easy to slip into the mode of rule-keeping and virtue-signaling. The history of humanity proves to me that this always ends up in hypocrisy, secret sins, condemnation of others, and self-righteous pride. How cool to think that all the way back to Father Abraham God was showing us the way.

Listen to God.
Believe what He says.
Have faith that God will do what He says.
Receive the gracious gift of God’s forgiveness.
Have righteousness credited to your spiritual account.

When I experienced this, it resulted in so much gratitude. My natural response was “What can I do for you God? How can I ever thank you for this gift I don’t deserve?”

“Live in the ways I ask you. Love others as I love them. Share with others what you’re experienced in Me,” God responds.

And so, I’ve been endeavoring to do that every day of this earthly journey.

Not because I have to in order to earn salvation. Salvation is already mine. I want to do the things God asks of me out of gratitude for that gift I’ve been given.

And that makes all the difference.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.