I’ve been studying this week on what salvation means in Islam. And just to give a sneak peak on this week’s lesson, part of what is means is a striving to stay on the “straight path”, the path Allah laid out in the Qur’an and Muhammad exemplified in his life (Hadith).
Well, time and time again in this study I’ve had to go back and re-articulate the Gospel. (This has become especially true for this class.) And in so doing my mind has often drifted to my responsibility to fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim. 6.11-12). This afternoon I was studying while listening to Indelible Grace’s remake of “For All The Saints” and was struck by these words. I hope you too are encouraged by them.
For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
I came across a passage from Jonathan Edwards today relevant to our discussion, challenging, and in accord with the sentiment of Benedict.
Spiritual pride is very apt to suspect others; whereas an humble saint is most jealous of himself; he is so suspicious of nothing in the world as he is of his own heart. The spiritually proud person is apt to find fault with other saints that they are low in grace, and to be much in observing how cold and dead they are, and crying out against them for it, and to be quick to discern and take notice of their deficiencies, but the eminently humble Christian has much to do at home, and sees so much evil in his own heart, and is so concerned about it, that he is not apt to be very busy with others’ hearts; he complains most of himself and cries out of his own coldness and lowness in grace, and is apt to esteem others better than himself, and is ready to hope that there is nobody but has more love and thankfulness to God than he, and cannot bear to think that others should bring forth no more fruit to God’s honor than he.
This strikes me as the heart of Christian humility, an awareness of one’s own sin. If there is any pride in the Christian life it is not pride in the normal sense; there is boasting in the New Testament, it just happens to be boasting in one’s weakness (2Cor. 12:4-6).
Keith, thanks for the personal examples of how you try to cultivate humility in your own life. I fear for myself, humility is something I would like to cultivate more than something I actually try to cultivate. Nonetheless, here are three thoughts for nurturing pure Christian humility:
Encounter God in Scripture and prayer. It is knowing God through His Word that humbles us because He is glorious and we are not. I am most humble when I am most often meditating on Scripture.
Let others in on what I already know exists– my sin.
It seems like humility it something that we talk about quite a lot — and for good reason. In non-Christian circles, however, while humility is respected I think that it is valued only in moderation. Pride and its cousin, ambition, are appreciated–if only in secret–as vices that motivate individuals to work hard, seek better things, and ultimately strive for the good not only of themselves but of society. Too much humility, our non-Chrisitan friends might assert, could stymie productive effort.
Yet, in the church, we emphasize humility and eschew pride. We are dogmatic that one is always a virtue the other always a sin. For those bloggers up to the challenge, I have a question or two. 1) Why be humble? 2) Is pride always a sin and if so, why? 3) How do you cultivate humility in your life?
This Sunday morning we will finish our overview of the book of Job. I can’t let this sermon series pass without making reference to an interesting verse-play written by Robert Frost about Job that is entitled A Masque of Reason. This is not the kind of devotional poetry that you will find on a Thomas Kinkade card. It is written as a play; it is sharp; it is biting; it is the kind of thing an old man writes who is somewhat jaded. Yet ironically it is also something that an older, jaded man writes who is still seeking for an explanation for life in the Bible. Frost is wrestling in A Masque of Reason with God’s reasons for letting bad things happen to Job — and ultimately to all. Job, his wife, God, and Satan meet for a “reunion” and discuss what happened to Job. The play is like a group of VFW men (and a wife) meeting to discuss the war they were in — except Job of course was “put upon” by Satan and God.
Here is a brief excerpt that will give you an initial flavor for the kind of questions Frost is wrestling with:
GOD. Oh. I remember well: you’re Job, my Patient. How are you now? I trust you’re quite recovered, And feel no ill effects from what I gave you.
JOB. Gave me in truth: I like the frank admission. I am a name for being put upon. But, yes, I’m fine, except for now and then a reminiscent twinge of rheumatism. The letup’s heavenly. You perhaps will tell us if that is all there is to be of heaven, escape from so great pains of life on earth. It gives a sense of letup calculated to last a fellow to Eternity.
GOD. Yes, by and by. But first a larger matter. I’ve had you on my mind a thousand years to thank you someday for the way you helped me establish once for all the principle there’s no connection man can reason out between his just deserts and what he gets. Virtue may fail and wickedness succeed. T’was a great demonstration we put on.
Frost is asking good questions and wants to find a reason for suffering, but it is masked. Job, for Frost and for many, is apparently an example of gratuitous suffering. The OT does help us understand suffering, but not the way Frost and others would think. It points us to Christ — and to our God who knew suffering — who knew that glory followed the cross. The cross is foolishness to some, and to others life.
I am going to give you a sneak preview about this Sunday’s service. We are going to sing of all things, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, or maybe more familiarly known as The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Why on Reformation Sunday will we sing this? (Never fear, we are going to sing as the final hymn A Mighty Fortress.) We are singing it because Obadiah is about judgment. It’s abouit judgment on those who have abused God’s people. It will be an interesting sermon I am sure. To help us meditate on God’s judgment, one of the best songs is: “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored . . .” — It has a historical context to be sure, but the broader message of the song is that God is righteous and He will judge.
In a couple of recent conversations the issue of temptation has been alluded to or discussed. Those conversations reminded me of a brief work I read several years ago of Dietrich Bonhoeffer on temptation. (It is entitled Temptation.) It was one of those books that I found so insightful that I can remember it with some clarity, unlike many other things that I read that I cannot remember a few days later. To liven up our blog a little, I offer this insight to all those who struggle with temptations of divers sorts. Seek to develop a dependence on Christ and on His Word, not your own strength.
If temptation were really what natural man and moral man understand by it, namely, testing of their own strength — whether their vital or their moral or even their Christian strength — in resistance, on the enemy, then it is true that Christ’s prayer would be incomprehensible. [Here Bonhoeffer is referring to the Lord’s Prayer — ‘Lead us not into temptation . . .’] For that life is won only from death and the good only from the evil is a piece of thoroughly worldly knowledge which is not strange to the Christian. But all this has nothing to do with the temptation of which Christ speaks. It simply does not touch the reality which is meant here. The temptation of which the whole Bible speaks does not have to do with the testing of my strength, for it is of the very essence of temptation in the Bible that all my strength — to my horror, and without my being able to do anything about it — is turned against me; really all my powers, including my good and pious powers (the strength of my faith), fall into the hands of the enemy power and are now led into the field against me. Before there can be any testing of my powers, I have been robbed of them.
From Temptatiion by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer’s work goes on to explain how victory in temptation is found in God’s Word and in Christ’s victory over temptation . . .
A couple weeks ago Aaron asked a question about how we disciple our families. The time that it would take to give a thoughtful answer to that question has, in part, kept me from replying. I will make this initial brief reply — and it is the church. Over the last several years I have invested a lot of time in the church so that my family has a place to hear the word of God preached faithfully and to be encouraged by others. I know that this isn’t the answer that Aaron was necessarily looking for, but then I’m the one who refuses to name my children in this very public venue. I may say more, but at least I’ve posted. — Furthermore, I haven’t had time to post because I have been discipling my family!
