You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. Galatians 5:4 (NIV)
I’ve always been a movie lover. There are movies that I can watch over and over and over again and each time I do I seem to catch little things I’d never seen or heard before. Lines from the film seem to enter conversation. For Wendy and me, one of those movies is Princess Bride. A favorite line of our is when Inigo Montoya tells Vizzini, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.’
Among the community of Jesus’ followers the phrase “fallen from grace” is often used to refer to those who at one time were followers, but seemed to leave the path of faith to follow after sinful appetites. Other believers will say that this person has “fallen from grace.” In fact, these are the only circumstances in which I hear this phrase used. To quote Inigo Montoya, “You keep using those words. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Paul does not use “fallen from grace” to describe those who have left the faith to pursue sinful appetites! He uses the phrase to describe those who have left the path of simple faith and have pursued legalistic religiosity. In Galatia, those whom Paul described who had “fallen from grace” were those who were telling non-Jewish believers that they had to follow all the Jewish legal, religious rules.
This is a huge distinction. Walking the journey of faith is a balancing act from which you can stumble and fall in either way. Certainly you can stumble and pursue unhealthy appetites. That’s why Paul says a a few lines later: “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” But you can also stumble and “fall from grace” by pursuing a path of rigid, religious rules in which you judge a person’s faith by how they measure up to your religious yard stick.
To quote another famous movie line that creeps into my conversation on a regular basis: “Daniel-san. Must learn balance.“
For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. Galatians 3:3 (MSG)
While in college, I had two other guys with whom I began to share my life journey. We met on Saturday mornings in the Great Room of Volkman Hall right after PeeWee’s Playhouse. It was the first time in my life that I’d met regularly and intentionally with other guys just to talk about our respective life journeys. We waded into, what was for us at the time, the deep weeds of life. We shared openly about our hurts and confessed our sins to each other. For me, it was monumental.
When college was over, the three of us each took our own paths in divergent directions. One of the guys I have continued to keep up with through periodic phone calls and Facebook. As I read the chapter this morning, I struck me that the other friend went the of the “crazy” Galatians.
The third member of our trio contacted me a few years after college. He’d found his way to a group who taught him that only by following their rigid religious rules could anyone truly call themselves a follower of Jesus. He accused me of not measuring up, of not truly being a follower. It sounded insane; The kind of insanity Paul was confronting among the Galatians. Having once followed by simply believing, my friend was now convinced that only by following a strict set of doctrinal beliefs and behavioral rules could he be “holy” and acceptable to God.
Today, I’m offering sincere prayers for the other two members of my college trio. I have such good memories of Saturday mornings with my Judson College homies wrapped in blankets, listening for Pee Wee’s secret word, and moose slippers. It was an important stretch of life’s journey for me and I will forever be grateful for that time and these two companions. I trust that whatever crazy Galatians-like path my one friend followed, God has been faithful in helping him find his way back to the simplicity of Jesus’ message: faith, grace, love, and forgiveness.
But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor. Micah 4:12 (NIV)
Wendy and I spoke to both our daughters over the weekend. They find themselves in similar situations. Taylor finishes her graduate work in August and then has to figure out where life’s road will take her. Madison finishes her bachelor’s degree in December and has the same questions about direction. It’s a time of both anxiety and excitement for them. I can appreciate that. They’ve both worked hard, done well, and I’m a proud papa. I’ve enjoyed seeing how their experiences earlier in life are framing their current and future directions. Some things I could have predicted, while other things surprise me.
It also has me reminiscing about my own experience. I started working when I was a kid. Paper route, lawn mowing, doing inventory for my dad’s company, and babysitting were my first endeavors before I became a teenager. I even worked at a campaign during the Iowa caucuses. At thirteen I was allowed to bus tables in a restaurant and eventually I made my way to retail. But I still had a lot of odd jobs like pollenating and lifeguarding.
As I’ve continued on through life I’ve come to appreciate all of my experiences. The biggest lesson was the development of a work ethic, but I also learned things like what I really don’t want to do for a living if I can help it. At the same time, it gave me a tremendous respect for those who really do like jobs that I could never do and gave me a huge appreciation for those who do whatever they can, because that is where they find themselves on life’s road.
I’ve come to accept on this journey that I rarely know or comprehend the plan. I find myself in this place going through these circumstances with little knowledge of how this is going to be of great help to me further on down the road. But they do. If I am wise and continue to walk this path intentionally, then I will someday look back and see how my experiences today pave the way for the person I will be tomorrow.
“Relatively easy path to the summit” photo by Brian Taylor via Flickr
“You will be sought, but you will never again be found, declares the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 26:21b
There’s no getting around the fact that the messages of the prophets were and are, by and large, depressing. Doom, gloom and judgement are a tough assignment to continuously deliver. I’ll admit that we’ve only made a little more than half way through Zeke’s anthology of prophetic messages and I’m already looking at the calendar with an eye to when we’ll be through it. I have been finding some fascinating stuff in it, but it’s hard to read day after day and not want for a little positive reinforcement.
Which, as I ruminate on it this morning, I believe is part of the point. The doomsday messages of the prophets is set on the timeline of history 400-800 years before the birth of Jesus. When the prophet Malachi ended his prophetic messages c. 430 B.C. there was a long silence until the angel Gabriel broke the news to Mary that she was pregnant. And, with that message doom began to give way to hope and salvation.
That Message of hope and salvation embodied in Jesus stands in stark contrast to the messages of doom and judgement of the prophets. I find it interesting that Ezekiel’s message in today’s chapter is of being lost and never found, while Jesus’ messages were consistently about finding that which was lost. Jesus preached of finding lost sheep, lost coins, and lost children.
On this life journey we experience different times and seasons. We may journey through difficult stretches in which our own foolishness, rebellion, and hard hearted choices consequentially result in having to plod along difficult paths. Feeling lost and hopeless are not unique to the human experience, and there are times when we can identify with the prophets doom and gloom. Jesus was sent, however, to show us The Way that leads to Life for any who has faith to ask, seek, knock, and follow.
The lyrics of David’s psalm this morning are straight and to the point. Had it not been for God, he sings, he and his people would have been swallowed up by their enemies. Suddenly as I read the lyrics this morning I thought of all the ways my life’s path and destination would be different “If the Lord had not been on my side.”
If the Lord had not been on my side:
I would have given myself over to dark impulses a long time ago
I don’t believe I would have found my way out of dark places
I would be buried in and paralyzed by crippling shame
I would be a far worse arrogant jerk than I am
I would be nowhere near the waypoint in life I find myself
I would likely have never met Wendy
Wendy and I might not have survived a few of those years
As David sings: “The raging waters would have swept us away”
What a worthwhile mental and spiritual exercise to start my day, which leads me to a similar conclusion as it did David in his song.
“May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.” – David (1 Samuel 24:12)
“I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.” – King Saul (1 Samuel 24:20)
“Timing,” as they say, “is everything.”
When I was a young believer in high school, I had an afterschool job. My boss at this particular job became a mentor to me. He spent an early morning each week studying God’s Message, taught me disciplines critical for this faith journey, and generously provided opportunities for me that became essential to my maturity. He also had a vision of starting a consulting business based on Biblical principles, and he wanted me to be a part of it. One day while having lunch at Wendy’s he laid out his vision, asked me to consider going to business school and getting an M.B.A. with the expressed intent of joining his consulting group. As much as I desired to please him, I knew in my heart that it was not the right step to take. I went a different direction, and during college my mentor and I lost touch. I did not speak to him for many years.
For anyone who has read my blog for any length of time, you know that I chose (though I believe my steps were directed) a different path than the one my mentor wanted for me. Rather than business, I chose to become a theatre major. Fast forward past college. Rather than a consulting practice I chose to go into pastoral ministry and then into parachurch ministry in which I raised financial support to cover part of my income. In a series of events I will not take the time to share in this post, I suddenly found myself being directed away from this particular parachurch ministry with no earthly idea what my next steps would be.
As fate (a.k.a. God) would have it, one of my financial supporters was my old boss and mentor with whom I had gotten back in touch after six or so years. When I called him to let him know not to send a support check the next month as I was leaving my position he asked what my plans were. I told him I had no earthly idea what I was going to do next, but I knew I had to leave my position immediately. That afternoon he asked to meet with me and offered me the position with the consulting firm he had envisioned and discussed with me back when I was in high school. I took the position and in 2014 I will celebrate 20 years in my job. In 2005 my dear mentor and friend retired and I have been privileged and blessed to be a partner and owner of the company ever since.
I look back on this experience and it has been a life lesson to me of God’s timing. My boss had a clear vision of the path I should take and the position he wanted to hire me to fulfill. When he laid out his vision to me I knew in my heart that it was not the right path, nor the right timing. As I have written elsewhere in this blog, I now see with 20/20 hindsight how being a theatre major uniquely prepared me to be successful in the position I was hired to fill. Likewise, my experiences in six years of ministry taught me life lessons that were essential to preparing me for the role I would eventually fulfill in business.
In today’s chapter, we continue to watch as the story of David’s ascent to the throne of Israel unfolds. He was anointed as King of Israel while a young man, but he was not ready to take up the mantel of monarch. It would be 20-30 years before David would be in the position God ultimately had for him. Over those many years David would develop the experience and skills necessary for his position as King.
We also continue to see the contrast of the bookend monarchs. David refuses to take a shortcut on God’s timing. He refuses to try and make his ascent to the throne happen by killing Saul even though he appears to have justifiable reason for doing so. David wants the throne in God’s time, not his own. Saul, on the other hand, continues to pursue David despite knowing that God’s anointing has left him and gone to David. He refuses to humble himself and instead gives into fear, seeking to kill David before David wipes out his family and his legacy.
Today, I am grateful for God’s timing. I believe that there is a divine plan for me. I can look back and see it unfold. I can look forward and trust that it will continue to play out. My job is to trust God, be faithful in walking the path laid out for me today, and respect the ultimate plan.
I have the highest confidence in you, and I take great pride in you. You have greatly encouraged me and made me happy despite all our troubles. 2 Corinthians 7:4 (NLT)
Late this summer Wendy and I were blessed to have Wendy’s youngest sibling, Suzanna, come and live with us. Suzanna is attending her final year of high school here at the local public high school and getting involved in some of the artistic exploits she loves and are available to her in our wonderful little community. Last night was parent teacher conferences and we headed over to check in with Suzanna’s teachers. I must admit that it was a bit surreal returning to the high school. Madison graduated three years ago and I thought I was finished. But, you never know where the path will lead and what adventures lie ahead of us on the journey.
Having a teenager back in the house has prompted this father to a lot of personal reflection in the past few weeks. It has brought back a lot of memories, and even made me wax a little nostalgic for the days when Taylor and Madison buzzed back and forth in front of my home office and argued in the bathroom as they got ready for school in the mornings. It has been so quiet here on the 2nd floor of Vander Well Manor for so long.
As I read Paul’s words (above) I thought of Taylor and Madison who are grown and have struck out on their own respective paths. I have such confidence in them, am so proud of them, and am so encouraged to see the amazing women they have become. I thought of our sister, Suzanna, and the glowing comments we heard from teachers last night at parent teacher conferences. I am blown away by her courage to take a step of faith, enter a new community, attend a new school, and stretch herself in almost every way. She is proving herself to be such a capable, intelligent, articulate young woman in so many ways. We are blessed to share this time of life with her.
I have always believed that job one for a parent, starting day one, is to work yourself out of a job by raising children who can capably and successfully strike out on their own faith journey, make their own way in this world, and have their own positive influence on the lives of others. To watch it actually happen is the source of tremendous encouragement, pride, and joy.
Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. 2 Corinthians 6:10 (NLT)
Some friends of our daughter and son-in-law recently had their car stolen. The police reported a week or so later that they had found the stolen car because it had been wrecked. Two young girls had stolen the car and subsequently got in an accident. As owners of the car, our kid’s friends had every right to be angry and to desire swift and severe punishment for the girls. They chose, however, to find out the identity of these young perpetrators of grand theft auto and….wait for it…invite them over for dinner.
I thought about this gracious couple as I read Paul’s words to the believers in Corinth this morning. As followers of Jesus, we are called to respond differently than the world responds. When hated, we love. When injured, we forgive. When insulted, we bless. When suffering, we rejoice. When in need, we are to be content. When in plenty, we give away. When slapped on one cheek, we offer the other. When our car is stolen and wrecked, we invite the thieves over for a home cooked meal.
In a world of mindless lemmings and the herd mentality it is easy to go with the flow.
“But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith….”Jude 1:20a (NLT)
Any boy scout or girl scout worth their cookies knows that when you go hiking in the wilderness you should never go alone. “Buddy up!” It’s a simple rule that resonates with so much wisdom for so many reasons. Even on a good and safe hike, we need companionship. There’s always opportunities to give one another a lift, challenge one another to push ourselves, and encourage one another to keep moving. If, God forbid, things go wrong we need someone who can help us, provide for us or who can go for help.
“Buddy up!” is as equally important on a spiritual journey. God said it at the very beginning: It’s not good for us to be alone. The whole thrust of Jude’s short and sweet letter is the encouragement to be careful with whom we buddy up. If we’re not careful, we can choose companions who will lead us astray, look out only for themselves, and selfishly abandon us when things get difficult in order to save their own necks. The companions we need are those who will always believe the best in us, always hope the best for us, always trust us to seek the after the right path and who always persevere with us through trials on it.
Today, I’m grateful for my friends and companions on this sojourn. Those who walked the journey with me for a season, as well as those who are companions for life. Choose wisely those with whom you walk life’s road. They influence the journey more than any of us generally realize.
English: Photograph of holing binoculars (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you. Psalm 9:10 (NLT)
Ask a follower of Jesus to tell you their story and the opening chapters of the tale you will hear will typically be about that person’s search. Before one becomes a follower, before you are in relationship, and even before you know Him by name, you first find yourself a seeker.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)
As with all that God has created, there is generally a natural and organic progression to things. The search is critical, for what you seek determines the paths you choose and the paths you choose determine where you end up.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” – Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)
