Super-sizing God, even in prison – Advent Joy, Part 4

In the last few years, I’ve spent a lot of time in prison.

In 2023 a man from my church was incarcerated, and I visited him weekly. As a result, my church joined the rotation of churches leading worship services for inmates at the prison. Our team leads worship about once per month. Our county prison looks like a castle, but inside it is mostly dingy block walls in an aging building that is mostly not air conditioned. But perhaps prisons don’t need air conditioning? Needless to say, my experience in our county prison has given me a sense of life in prison.

Likewise, in Philippians 1, the Apostle Paul gives us a view of his life on house arrest in Rome, and he says a very odd thing, that Christ is exalted in this. Though his circumstances are awful, Paul rejoices in the great opportunities the chains brought him. Read Philippians 1:18b–26, and see for yourself.

How does Paul avoid an unhealthy focus on chains?  Rejoicing. Midway through verse 18, Paul writes “I will keep on rejoicing”…it’s almost as if he is saying, “Oh I’m not done rejoicing.  I got all kinds of rejoicing yet to go.  I’ve got more material you haven’t seen yet.  I’m on a roll here folks!” In this post, I mentioned the previous verses in which Paul describes why he was joyful even though he was in chains on house arrest.

But what more does he have to rejoice about?  In verses 18b-19, he rejoices that the Philippians’ prayers will lead to his deliverance.

The word the New International Version of the Bible translates as deliverance is the same word that is much more commonly translated as salvation.  Paul also mentions the phrase “help given by the Holy Spirit” which carries the idea of “to make available whatever is necessary to help or supply the needs of someone”[1]  It is a rich provision.  It is as if Paul is saying, “I am going to be delivered, saved; my chains are coming off!”

Why? Because his friends are praying, and because of the rich provision of the Holy Spirit.  Paul rejoices in that he has friends who love him in Philippi, friends who are praying for him, and he rejoices in the rich provision of the Holy Spirit.  He is saying to them, “I will keep on rejoicing because I know that I will have salvation from these chains because you are behind me, supporting me in prayer, and more than that, I have the rich provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ supplying my needs, helping me, sustaining me.” Have praying, caring friends is a wonderful gift. Even when we are struggling, knowing that people are praying for us can cause us to rejoice.

But that’s not the end of it.  Jump to verse 24 where Paul continues discussing revealing his thoughts about his chains.  In verses 24–26 he rejoices that his deliverance will lead to the Philippians’ development.

Paul describes a process that causes him to rejoice again. Notice the connection between prayers > deliverance > development. His friends pray.  He gets delivered.  Then he has opportunity to see them further developed. That causes him to rejoice!

Paul’s attitude is one of rejoicing because his focus is not about him and his chains.  He rejoices because his focus is on Jesus and what Jesus is doing despite his chains.

The process Paul describes was true for my seminary professor Dave Dorsey. He was sick for a long time.  Many people, for decades, prayed for his healing. Dr. Dorsey continued teaching through his suffering. Though God did not heal him, God delivered him enough to continue ministry. Dr. Dorsey had opportunities to continue teaching men and women the Old Testament, and he wrote books and articles, thus investing in and developing many people. See the Prayer>Deliverance>Development? It was not the deliverance Dr. Dorsey and so many wanted. He eventually passed away, not of old age, but his impact and legacy remains.

That’s Paul’s first point about how we can rejoice in the midst of suffering: prayer can lead to deliverance and development of people. It might not lead to the deliverance we want, but it might. Either way, God can work in and through us no matter the circumstance, and that can lead us to rejoice.

Paul continues, digging deeper into this theme with his second point: Honor Christ with our body.

In verse 20, Paul says he “eagerly expects or desires.”  This phrase has a picture to it, the craning of the neck.  Think about being in a crowd where you want to see to the front. Maybe it’s the beginning of a concert, and you’re in general admission, standing on the floor, and you want to see the band come on stage. But the people in front of you are kinda tall, so you get on your tip toes and strain your neck eagerly desiring to have a look.  That’s the emotion of Paul here.  He is eager!

Then in the middle of verse 20, notice the contrast Paul makes between “ashamed” and “courage”: “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”  Paul moves from the negative of “shame” to the positive that “at all times, Christ will be highly honored in his body”.  This is his eager desire.  This is what he is craning his neck out to see, that in his life Christ will be honored in his body.  Our English translators have a hard time pinning down the word “exalted” that the NIV uses.  Some translators use our words “magnified” “esteemed” or “extolled.”

The word Paul uses means “to make large.”  You go to a fast food restaurant and order a large fries, and you think to yourself, “Their large is not very large. I’m really hungry for fries.”  So you super size it.  That’s what Paul is getting at here when he says that “Christ will be exalted in my body.”  He wants Christ to be super sized in his life and actions. 

In the spiritual realm, Paul is showing respect to God based on who God is. Paul is saying, “I’m going to use my body so all will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that God is large.  I will make him large. I will supersize him so you all can see him.”

How about you? Do you super-size God with your actions? No matter if you how you might be struggling, what can you do to make it clear to all around you that you want to honor God with your life?

In Philippians 1:18b-26, we have seen Paul teach two ways to rejoice in the midst of suffering. First, the sequence of pray>deliverance>development. Second, by eagerly super-sizing God. How you can do apply these to your life?

[1]Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based on Semantic Domains, electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. (New York: United Bible societies, 1996, c1989), 1:460.

Four unhealthy approaches to the “chains” in our lives – Advent Joy, Part 3

Throughout the years, I’ve heard discussions about the difference between happiness and joy.  I am not so sure the scripture makes a clear-cut distinction.  To me, the two are either totally the same, or very close to the same.  But some people have said, “You can be joyful, but not happy about something.”  I get that.  Yet, the way the person is using the concept “happy” in that sentence, in my opinion, is more in line with “agreement.”  In other words, they are saying, “I am joyful in the midst of a circumstance I do not agree with.”

I don’t know if it is helpful to make a case for the difference between joy and happy.   What we see in Paul in Philippians 1 is that though he is in difficult circumstances, from his house arrest and from those Christians who were preaching selflishly to make life difficult for Paul, Paul can still rejoice, and he does rejoice. 

Paul is joyful in the middle of difficult circumstances.  How so? It seems that Paul has figured out the importance of focus.

Did you ever notice how something in life can become the focal point of your life?  You can not stop thinking about it.  You can’t get it off your mind.  It’s like it is always there.  Like Paul’s chains.  He literally could not get out of them.  Of course he would be thinking about them.  He mentions them often in his Prison Epistles.

You might not be in literal chains, but all humans have chains.  Our chains are difficult circumstances, crises, broken relationships, health concerns, or finances.  Our chains can become the focal point of our lives.  They can rule us, dominating our thinking.  We can have a very unhealthy focus on our chains.  They can lead us to inappropriate responses:

First, the stiff upper lip: “Nothing’s wrong…I’ll be fine.”  I pull that one out in my parenting role.  Over the years, my wife would bring up a concern about our kids, and I would say “They’ll be fine.”  They were not always fine. 

Second, blaming God. In the story of Ruth (see Ruth 1:20) her mother-in-law Naomi suffered the loss of her husband and two sons (one of which was Ruth’s husband). Naomi cries out, “’Don’t call me Naomi (pleasant),’ she told them. ‘Call me Mara (bitter), because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.'” As I mentioned in the previous post, God invites us to lament, to bring our complaint to him. But we can cross a line into bitter blame, where we actually turn away from him. Did Naomi cross that line? In the end of the story, we find out that she remains faithful to God. Some people respond to chains in life by losing faith in God. How do we maintain faith in God when life is so difficult, and we become frustrated that God is not changing our circumstances? The answers are not easy. Sometimes, there are no good answers. For example, I disdain the idea that God has a reason for everything or that God is in control, because of how those phrases come across to people in the midst of suffering, trauma and tragedy. So what is God’s relationship to our pain? My answer is that while we should not blame him, we can complain to him, and faithfully look for how he invites us to trust in him in the middle of the pain, because he wants to redeem the pain.

Third, seclusion. For many of us these days, there is a chain binding us called “finances.”  With a high inflation, it can feel like financial woes have us chained up and we can’t get free.  Are finances taking up to much space in your thinking?  Above I mentioned that with my kids I often said, “They’ll be fine.”  I’m not that way when it comes to finances.  Finances can make me very anxious.  I can fixate on finance.  It sure doesn’t help that talk about the economy seems to be everywhere we turn. Many of us think that if we were free from the chain of bad finances, if we just had more money, we would be free. Simon Cowell, famous as the grumpy, but usually right, judge on American Idol, may be rich and famous, but the doesn’t mean he’s happy, says a London Daily Mail article.  Cowell says, “I get very dark moods for no reason. Nothing in particular brings it on.  You can be having the best time of your life and yet you’re utterly and totally miserable.  I get very anti-social, depressed and irritable.  I can’t make phone calls and stuff.  I just sit on my own for days.”  Clearly Cowell can have an unhealthy focus on the chains in his life.  He escapes to seclusion.  Anyone else just want to get away from it all? 

A final unhealthy focus is when we fuss!  Do you know any fussy people in your lives?  My wife sometimes says to me, “Why are you being so fussy?” People tend to whine about matters.  We complain. Are you fussy about your chains?

Do you have an unhealthy focus on the chains in your life? These four unhealthy approaches to chains in our lives usually don’t help us. What can help us? How can we have joy when the chains of life bind us? We find out in tomorrow’s post.

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How to view life through the lens of joy – Advent Joy, Part 2

When I am going through a difficult situation, my #1 response is “I want this to be done.” It could be when I am out on a four mile run. I want it to be done. It could be a big project, like my forthcoming book. I want it to be done. It could be grading papers for a class I’m teaching. I really want that to be done. Know the feeling? If so, I think you are a totally normal human being.

I am not saying that I totally hate running, writing or teaching. I don’t even hate grading papers. Grading gives me an opportunity to invest in the lives of students, and I enjoy that. But in those tasks, I believe it is normal to desire the feeling of hard work, pain, or burden to be done. There are also much more traumatic situations in life that we can strongly desire to put in the past. Health scares, job loss, financial woes, broken relationships, and more. Of course, we want them to be done.

The Apostle Paul was in one of those traumatic situations. In the previous post we learned how the apostle Paul was beaten and jailed, and yet he rejoiced. How was Paul able to rejoice having just endured trauma? We’re about to find out.

Today we turn to a letter Paul wrote from house arrest in Rome to his friends in the city of Philippi, where he had previously been in prison. In the letter we will observe as Paul just keeps rejoicing, and he will explain how and why. 

In Philippians 1, notice what he says in verse 3–6:

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Paul is filled with joy when he thinks of his friends in Philippi.  Which people in your life fill you with joy just by thinking about them?  Family members?  Friends? Simply the memory of loved ones can fill us with joy. I think about my kids and grandkids, and I feel near immediate joy. Paul reminds us that though we are suffering, we can direct our thoughts to joy.

In verse 12, Paul continues, “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.”

Paul is giving us a glimpse in what his life is like on house arrest.  Though he is physically unable to travel, his missionary work has continued and thrived. He proclaims Jesus to everyone around him, whether Roman guards or the Christians who come to see him.  As a result, people have grown in their faith, and they are more bold in talking about Jesus. Again Paul can experience joy by looking up, away from his difficult circumstances, to the good that results from his circumstances.

In verse 15 he has more to say about what has been happening to him, “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.”

Woah. People are preaching Christ out of selfish motivation? Paul should be very upset at that.  Paul should tell those selfish preachers to stop.  Instead, what does Paul conclude?  Look at verse 18, “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.”

There’s joy again. 

Twice now, in Philippians 1, Paul has mentioned joy, and both times the joy is the midst of difficulty.  First, even though he is in prison, he has joy when he remembers and prays for his friends in Philippi.  Second, even though people are preaching Christ selfishly, hoping to harm Paul, he rejoices because Christ is preached!

Paul views life through the lens of joy!

Joy, in other words, is not dependent on circumstances.  But what is this joy?  The word Paul uses is easy for us English-speakers to remember.  It is the Greek word kara.  It is where we get our English name Kara.  If you know someone named Kara, their names means “joy”.  More precisely, though, kara refers to a state of happiness and well-being.  In some languages, one scholar notes, the concept is conveyed with a word picture like, “‘my heart is dancing’ or ‘my heart shouts because I am happy.’[1] 

My guess is that you are experiencing at least some minor difficult circumstances. You might be dealing with extreme pain and trauma. How have your circumstances affected you? Is your heart dancing? Is your heart shouting for joy?

In the middle of difficult circumstances, it can feel impossible to be joyful. In the next post, we’ll talk about that. Paul seems to suggest that it is possible to be joyful in the middle of difficulty. Is he right?

[1] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 301.

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It can be very difficult to have joy sometimes – Advent Joy, Part 1

The year is circa 55CE, approximately 20 years after Jesus resurrected and ascended to heaven.  A man named Paul is driving the outward expansion of the Christian church into the Roman Empire.  In Acts 16, we read that he arrives in the city of Philippi, which is an archaeological site in modern-day Greece.  In Paul’s day, it was a busy city.

We learn in Acts 16 that a wealthy woman Lydia who lived there.  She becomes a Christian through Paul’s ministry, and she invites his team to stay at her home.  We don’t know how long they were in the city before the trouble started. 

We read about the trouble in Acts 16, verses 16–18: “Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.’ She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!’ At that moment the spirit left her.”

Amazing news, right?  A woman is freed from demon-possession, people could see the power of God, and Paul and his team could now minister without interruption.  Win, win, win!  Well…maybe not. Look what happens in verses 19–24,

“When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, ‘These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.’ The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.”

Imagine that.  You’re serving God, you’re going on mission trips, you’re helping people meet Jesus.  You’re starting churches.  You’re even freeing people from demonic possession.  And what does that get you?  Arrested, false accusations, a severe flogging, and prison.  Maybe you haven’t experienced that severe retribution, but I wonder if you have ever thought to yourself, “Lord, I know I’m not perfect, but I am trying to be faithful to you.  Why is life so hard?  Why are you allowing me to go through __________.”  Fill in the blank with the difficulty in your life.  

I’m not saying it is wrong to complain to God. I actually think complaint to God is a good thing, which is why on this blog I have talked about the psalms of lament a number of times over the years.  There is a place for holy complaint, and letting all your dark emotions out to God.  Do that.  He invites you to let him have it.  “Cast your cares on him,” Peter writes.  Let him have all of your frustrations and anger.  When you practice lament, notice that nearly all the psalms of lament eventually wind their way around to rejoicing. 

And that brings us to the very next verse 25, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

That’s a key moment to remember.  The men were in prison, having just been beaten, and they were praising God.  This week we’re talking about joy. It can be very difficult to have joy when life feels horrible.

Let me summarize what happens next for Paul. In the middle of their singing, an earthquake hit, flinging their chains loose and prison doors open.  The prison keeper thought all was lost, and Paul said “Wait, we’re not going anywhere!”  The prison keeper was so shocked that he asked, “What must I do to be saved?”  He and his family became Christians and were baptized.  The next day the men were free to go.  All the magistrates asked is that they leave the city.  They returned to Lydia’s house, said their goodbyes to the church, and they left Philippi. 

Many years go by, and Paul has numerous other missionary adventures.  Fast-forward to Acts 28, verse 16, and we read that Paul is in Rome, on house arrest.  House arrest?  In chains again? Why?  Paul got himself in trouble again for preaching about Jesus.  In this new situation, he appealed his case to the Roman Emperor, the Caesar, named Nero, who is famous for being exceedingly unhinged and cruel.  Roman law allowed Roman citizens the opportunity to appeal to Caesar.  It would similar to Americans having a case go before the Supreme Court.  Paul has been on a long journey with this arrest, case and appeal, and finally he makes it to Rome. 

We read that, “Paul was allowed to live by himself with a soldier to guard him.”  Later in the chapter, in verses 30 and 31 we learn that “For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him.  Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul’s troubles and chains did not keep him from rejoicing or serving.

He also wrote letters.  They are called his Prison Epistles: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon.  In those letters, it is very interesting to read what Paul has to say, knowing that he is on house arrest, waiting to have the maniac Nero hear his case, which is a very risky proposition.

We studied Ephesians chapter 2 last week, and this week, we’re looking at Philippians chapter 1. Join me tomorrow.

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It may or may not be the end of the world, and I feel…hilarious? – Advent Joy, Preview

Do you know what the title of the book of Revelation refers to?  Revelation is not about reveling, but about “that which is revealed.” In the book of Revelation, God reveals to the apostle John a fantastic vision.  Biblical scholars have long debated how we should interpret the vision’s imagery. Is it literal or is it symbolic?  Is it meant primarily for the original audience of Christians living in the Roman Empire in the last first century, or is it meant for us today?  Those debates have led many to wonder, “Are we living in the end times?”

Over the years I’ve heard preachers, pastors, pundits on the national and global scene, as well as people in my congregation, suggest that we are in fact living in the end times.  No actually knows if the end is near, of course, as Jesus famously taught (see Matthew 24:36), but still people declare with authority that they know.  

My standard response has been to invite people to imagine what life was like during the Second World War in the 1940s. The recent film about Dietrich Bonhoeffer (which was panned for its unfaithfulness to the facts of Bonhoeffer’s life) motivated me to read a biography of the famous German theologian and pastor who lived in Nazi Germany.  As I read about the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, I was astounded anew at their depravity. We may or may not be living in the end times, and though there is trouble in our world in 2024, it is not even close to the vile wickedness of Nazi Germany.

Yet, it would be wrong of me to say, “Life in the 1940s was so horrible, that we in 2024 should not be concerned, anxious, or stressed out, at all.”  We can be grateful that we are not living during the Nazi reign of terror, and at the same time we can be concerned about the world now.  To that end, I point to something Bonhoeffer called hilaritas. 

He wrote about hilaritas when he was imprisoned by the Nazis for 2+ years, at the end of which they hanged him.  As you can imagine, hilaritas is related to our English words hilarious or hilarity. Bonhoeffer was suggesting that in the middle of what was for him truly the end of the world, there is a possibility of hilarity, of joy.  It reminds of the REM song, “It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.”  How is that possible?  

Join me back here on Monday, as we talk about how it is possible to have hilaritas right now, whether it is the end or not.  If you’d like, read Philippians ahead of time.  Yes, the whole book.  You can read it in one sitting of 30 minutes or less.  Look for hilaritas!   

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Following Jesus’ lead as peacemaker – Advent Peace, Part 5

During this second week of Advent, we have been talking about peace. The reality is that we live in a broken and fallen world, so while this peace is possible in our lives, we Christians believe we will not experience ultimate peace until Jesus returns. That expectation of future peace helps us make a connection to the season of Advent, a word that speaks of arrival.

Consider the story of Jesus’ first arrival. When Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, Luke tells us that some nearby residents got quite a show:

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’” (Lk 2:8–14, NIV)

Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  Jesus told his disciples in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

He said in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus came to bring peace, and he is coming again.  Advent reminds us that Jesus who came is coming again.  So while we wait for him to bring ultimate peace, we embrace the peace that he already invites us to experience now.

We have peace with God, and through that peace, we make peace with others.  As Paul writes in Ephesians 2:11–22, Jesus broke down the wall separating Jews and Gentiles.  The two could become one. 

“Blessed are the peacemakers,” Jesus taught (Matthew 5:9).  He calls us to be peacemakers.  Peacemakers are people who help make the two become one.  Like him, we break down walls, which is hard work. 

As Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.”  That’s real life.  Peacemaking and breaking down walls can be difficult. But we embrace our calling as peacemakers.

Where are dividing walls in your life? 

With whom have you allowed a wall of separation to grow between you?  Perhaps you have helped build the wall?  Jesus brings peace and calls us to be peacemakers like him.

The band REM sings, “If I have built the wall, then I will be the one to tear it down.”  In the case of Christians, Jesus has torn down the wall, now we follow his lead. As people who have received peace, let us be people who share that peace with others. 

So how do we lean into and carry the peace of Jesus? Where in your life is there “us” and “them”?  Where are there In and Out groups?  Maybe those groups are in your heart and mind? 

Work as a peacemaker to remove those barriers, to carry the peace that Jesus brings.  Christians are the people of peace, just as Jesus is the prince of peace.  We bring peace between family members who are fighting. We bring peace between people who hold differing political ideologies, people who think red and people who think blue.  We bring peace between those of different ethnicities.  We bring peace between the generations, between the genders, between siblings. 

What walls do you need to break down, peacemaker?

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Peace is so much more than a greeting – Advent Peace, Part 4

A man in my congregation, rather than waving or saying “Hi,” makes the peace sign with his fingers. When we drive by each other in the community, out comes his peace sign. Why? Because we English-speakers sometimes use the word peace as a greeting. It was common in the 1960s when people would say, “Peace, brother” or “Peace, sister,” as a greeting. People might leave a gathering, and instead of saying, “Goodbye,” they say “Peace out.”

Peace is so much more than a greeting.

We’ve been studying Ephesians 2:11–22 in this second week of Advent, and we’ve talked about how Jesus has gone to great lengths to welcome everyone to be part of his group. That’s what Paul writes about in Ephesians 2, verses 14 through 18:

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”

Paul is talking about two groups, the Jews and non-Jews. But now, there are no longer two groups.  No more IN Group and OUT group.  There is one new group.  Jesus, through his birth, life, death and resurrection, has torn down the wall between the groups, and he has made us one. 

Paul uses a word over and over in this passage to describe what Jesus did: peace. Notice how peace is so much more than a greeting.

In verse 14, Jesus himself is our peace.

In verse 15, he made peace between the two groups, making one new humanity.

In verse 17, he preached peace to both the Out group (“you who were far away”, the Gentiles, the non-Jews), and he preached peace to the IN group (“those who were near” the Jews).

We all, Jews and Gentiles, can now have peace with God through the Spirit. 

Do you see how thorough is the peace that God desires for us?  Because of Jesus, we can have peace with God and peace with each other. 

For Paul, a Jew, and for all Jews, peace is a very important concept.  In the Hebrew peace is word shalom.  Like we use the word peace, Jews use the word shalom as a greeting, and given what Paul writes in Ephesians 2, shalom is more than a greeting.

Shalom is expansive, describing wholeness between people and God, between people and each other, between people and the world around us.  Shalom is when things are right.  Shalom is when people love one another like God loves.  Shalom sees everyone as God sees them, as made in God’s image, as people who are loved, valuable, worthwhile.  Shalom reminds us that in God’s view, there is no IN group and OUT group. 

For now, think about how Jesus is our peace, and tomorrow we’ll talk further about how we can follow his example.

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Jesus’ grand welcome – Advent Peace, Part 3

My granddaughter Lily is eleven months old, crawling all over the place and climbing stairs. She especially loves to do everything her older three-year old brother is doing.  The other day her brother Luke and I were playing with wooden trains, building a track layout on the floor. Lily crawled right into the middle of the tracks, and started pulling them apart.  You can imagine how Luke felt about that. He did not say, “Great job, Lily. Thank you for destroying my train layout.”  He said, “No! That’s mine!  Pop-pop, can you take her away?” 

Sound familiar? It’s not just toddlers that struggle to share or welcome new people into the fold. We humans of all ages can be very hesitant or even outright resistant to opening our arms, welcoming new and different people in our lives.

The Jews in Paul’s day seemed to have a similar reaction, which Paul describes in Ephesians 2:11-22. The Jews Paul writes about in viewed humanity through the lens of two groups: the Jews and the Gentiles.  In Ins and the Outs.  They seemed to have forgotten about Deuteronomy 10 where God says, “When you circumcise your hearts, you reach out to the foreigner because I love them, and oh by the way, remember that you used to be foreigners too.”  The Jews in Paul’s day, and for centuries before that, missed the heart of God.

But in Ephesians 2:11, Paul describes a momentous change. There was a new group of Gentiles that are different. To those people Paul writes, “You particular Gentiles used to be in the OUT group. That was your former group.”  

In Ephesians 2 verse 12, Paul explains the change: “Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.”

So those Gentiles used to be in the OUT group, but something changed.  Paul describes the change in verse 13, “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Praise God!  All people who are not part of the “circumcised,” (Circumcised? I explain it in this post.) who are not part of the covenant between God and ancient Israel, can have hope of closeness to God because of Jesus.  When Jesus gave his life, beaten, crucified, and then raised to life, Paul is declaring that Jesus made it possible for anyone in the OUT group to be part of the IN group. 

In fact, more than a possibility, God invites all people to be part of the IN group.  That’s one of the beautiful themes of Advent.  Advent means “the arrival,” and it points to Jesus’ arrival, when he was born, when God the Son, took on a human body.  Jesus, Paul reminds us, arrived so that we who were once far from God could be brought near to God.  For Jews, that nearness was old hat. They were used to the idea that God had chosen them.  But for Gentiles, this is something altogether new. 

Yet the Jews in Paul’s day were not so sure about this idea that Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection meant that God was now making it possible for non-Jews to be in the same kind of relationship that they had enjoyed for centuries. They held that special relationship tightly. 

Jews in Paul’s day said, “Hold on a minute Paul.  The Gentiles are still in the OUT Group.  We Jews are the IN Group.  You can’t just change that.  There are two groups.  There always will be two groups.”  For the Jews, this separateness was central to their identity.  They held it as dear.  Can you identify with their emotion?  It can be very difficult to give up a cultural identity, or a personal identity that you have long held as central to your being. 

Think of high school student who is the star of the baseball team. His parents get transferred to new jobs in a new city, so the family must move. Now the once star is the new kid, and he doesn’t make the team.  His whole identity was “star baseball player.”  Now what is he? 

The Jews felt something like that.  It’s really unsettling if you’re in the IN group, and you’re now told that your group is about to change, and you must welcome new people.

But if you are in the OUT group and you’re told that you are now have an open invitation to join the IN group, that’s amazing.  That’s what Paul says next in verses 14 through 18:

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” There are no longer two groups.  No more IN Group and OUT group.  There is one new group.  Jesus, through his birth, life, death and resurrection, has torn down the wall between the groups, and he has made us ONE. 

Paul uses a word over and over in this passage to describe what Jesus did.  Do you see the repeated word? I’ll talk about it in the next post.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

How an intimate surgical procedure became an idea that can change the world – Advent Peace, Part 2

Can you guess what intimate surgical procedure the title of this post is referring to? Some people consider it barbaric. The National Institutes of Health reports that 80% of eligible people age 14-59 have had this procedure. What do I mean by “eligible people”? I’m being intentionally vague so as not to give away, just yet, which procedure I’m referring. Keep reading, and see if you guessed it correctly. (At the end of this post, I’ll link NIH article with the stat I mentioned.)

In our Advent Week 2 devotions, we are working our way through Ephesians 2:11–22, and in the previous post, I mentioned that verse 11 includes some curious words. In yesterday’s post, we looked at the first curious word, Gentile.

Paul is writing to Gentile Christians in the Greco-Roman city of Ephesus.  He had spent lots of time with them, which you can read about in the books of Acts chapters eighteen through twenty.  He was with them for more than two years.  He knows them.  He knows they are Gentiles.  He knows their heritage.  Notice, though, that Paul uses the word “formerly.”  Something about these non-Jews had changed.  Something was different.  Did they become Jews? 

No.  They were still Gentiles.  They were still non-Jews.  But what was different?  In the second half of verse 11, we learn the second curious word, circumcision.  If you read through Paul’s epistles, he talks about circumcision frequently (by my count, about 30 times).  To our 2024 American mindset, it would be totally normal for us to think, “It is odd that circumcision is such a prevalent topic in Paul’s letters.”  It IS odd.

We rarely talk about circumcision in our culture. It’s not as if it is a forbidden word or concept, but it is rare that we talk about circumcision, except briefly, if at all, when a baby boy is born.  It comes up in health class or anatomy classes.  But for Paul, circumcision is so significant, he talks about it often.  Why is Paul fixated on circumcision?

What Paul is saying here in verse 11 is that from the Jewish point of view, Gentiles were uncircumcised.  On the one hand, when Paul says “you are Gentiles by birth and uncircumcised,” he is simply described the cultural reality that physical circumcision was rarely practiced by Greeks and Romans in the first century.

On the other hand, Paul is speaking about a spiritual reality.  Jews viewed the world through the lens of the circumcision.  The Jews saw themselves as the circumcised group, and they saw everyone else as the uncircumcised group.  The Jews were not simply referring to a medical surgical choice made by parents when their baby boys were born.  When Jews self-identified as the circumcision group and when they identified Gentiles as uncircumcised, they were also referring to each group’s relationship with God. 

In other words, they were talking about the spiritual IN group and the spiritual OUT group (see the previous post where I talk about being on the outs with people).  To put it in Christian terms, the Jews believed that they were saved, and they believed Gentiles were unsaved.  The Jews believed they had a privileged access to God that no one else had, and here’s where it gets really odd, they believed their privileged access to God had everything to do with circumcision of their baby boys.  Strange, right?  Why did they believe that?

In Genesis chapter 17, when God made his covenant with Abraham, the grandfather of the Jewish people, we read the following

“Then God said to Abraham, ‘…This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.’”

From that day forward, circumcision became the physical outward symbol of a spiritual inward reality, the covenant between God and Israel. 

But does God really care that much about circumcision? Listen to what God says to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter 10,

“Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”

Do you see the connection between circumcision and peace?  God wasn’t really concerned about doing surgery on baby boys.  God wanted the people of Israel, the Jews, to be people who gave their whole lives to him to follow his ways, which included making peace with foreigners, Gentiles. 

What God is teaching the Jews in Deuteronomy 10 is that there is a much deeper, more important way to look at circumcision.  The circumcision that God really desires is an idea that has everything to do with peace.  When you circumcise your heart, you are saying, “Lord, I give you my life.  I want to follow your ways.  I want my heart to be like your heart.  I want to love the things that you love.”  Clearly God says in Deuteronomy 10, he loves not only Jews, but foreigners.  God loves Gentiles.   Thus he wanted the Jews to love the foreigners, the Gentiles, too.  He wanted the Jews to make peace with the Gentiles. When we love people as God loves them, we desire to be at peace with them, no matter who they are.

Except that in Paul’s day, the Jews did not see it that way. How did the Jews view the situation? We find out in the next post.

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash

NIH article about circumcision here.

Have you ever been on the outs with someone? – Advent Peace, Part 1

It’s that time of year when Christmas cards come flooding in.  Have you been sending and receiving them?  Last year when my in-laws’ 2023 Christmas card came, I noticed something very interesting about the accompanying letter.  They gave an update about everyone in the family, except me and one of my brothers-in-law.  They named every single other person, including our other brother-in-law who lives in Portland.  But me and my brother-in-law?  Nothing.  I spent a whole month in India last year.  I think that’s kind of noteworthy.  No mention of it. 

Were we on the outs?  Were our in-laws upset at us?  Just forgetful?  I sent a text message to my brother-in-law immediately, “Did you see their Christmas letter?  Guess who is not included?”  We had to bring it up to our father-in-law, since he is always teasing us.  We said to make up for that slight, our Christmas presents better be really good.

So yesterday, when my in-laws’ 2024 Christmas card and letter arrived in the mail, I opened the card and out fell this year’s letter.  I skimmed through it, looking for my name.

Would you believe that for the second year in a row, there was no mention of either my brother-in-law or me in the letter?  This year neither of our wives were mentioned.  Are we on the outs?  No. Well…at least I don’t think so. We know our in-laws love us. They do not have to mention us in the Christmas letter. But situations like these can make you wonder.

Have you ever been on the outs? 

In this second week of Advent, we’re going study Ephesians 2:11–22, and we’re going to meet some people who are on the outs.

Ephesians is one of the letters that the great missionary apostle, Paul, wrote to a group of Christians in the ancient city of Ephesus while he was on house arrest in Rome. In Ephesians 2:1–10, Paul writes that in his mercy God saves us by his grace through our faith, not by our works, and yet we are created in Christ to do good works.  In verses 1 through 10 Paul teaches the doctrine of salvation. 

That brings us to verse 11.  In these verses, Paul will talk about the astounding affect salvation has not just in our personal lives, but also in the world around us.  A very common evangelical way of understanding salvation is that when individuals are saved, they now have hope of eternal life in heaven.  That’s not wrong.  But what Paul will talk about is how salvation is so much more expansive than just personal future salvation.  Paul will show us that what Jesus accomplished matters now.  How Jesus’ salvation matters has everything to do with peace.  But on his way to talking about peace, Paul says something that might sound strange when he introduces us to the group of people who were on the outs.

In verse 11, Paul writes, “Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (which is done in the body by human hands).”

There are some curious words in that verse.  The first curious word is Gentiles.  Paul is writing to Gentiles.  What is a Gentile?  A Gentile is a person who is not a Jew.  That ethnic distinction is a big deal pretty much throughout the entire Bible.  The Old Testament is the story of the Jews.  The New Testament is the story of the church, which is started by a Jew (Jesus) among Jews in Jerusalem.  God pushes those Jews to share the good news about Jesus first to non-Jews in Palestine (like the Samaritans), and eventually throughout the Roman Empire.  Paul was a Jew who was the leader in that missional movement, and many non-Jews, aka Gentiles, became Christians.   

So Paul is writing to Gentile Christians in the Greco-Roman city of Ephesus.  He had spent lots of time with them, which you can read about in the books of Acts chapters eighteen through twenty.  He was with them for more than two years.  He knows them.  He knows they are Gentiles.  He knows their heritage.  Notice, though, that Paul uses the word “formerly.”  Something about these non-Jews had changed.  Something was different.  They used to be on the outs. Did they become Jews? 

We find out in the next post.

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash