Fear and Joy

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Steve Foster

1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.

5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”

8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.

9 And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

The apostle Paul says that the resurrection is the foundation and validation of our faith. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then the apostles are liars, our preaching is worthless, church is a waste of time, death is final, and we as Christians are of all people the most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:12-19). We don’t follow Jesus because it is a nice thing to do or a good philosophy on which to base our lives. We follow Jesus because He is Lord. He has conquered death. He alone has power over sin and Satan. He alone is our hope and our salvation. Apart from Jesus, we have nothing.

As I read this passage today, I am drawn to verse 9. Jesus meets the women as they are running to tell the disciples the news and He says one word to them. “Rejoice!” In Greek, it is the one word chairo. It can be a word of greeting which is how the NIV and NAS translate it. But the word overwhelmingly is translated as “rejoice” in the NT (62x out of 74x). And personally I don’t think Jesus met them and said, “Hello.” I think He met them and said, “REJOICE!”

Can you imagine? The women go to the tomb in sorrow, grief, and confusion. Death has claimed another victim. All their hopes have been buried with Jesus. But instead of arriving at the tomb and finding a quiet grave site, they find two angels sitting on the stone telling them that Jesus is alive. They run from the tomb with a mixture of “fear and great joy” (v.8). They are bursting with an unspeakable, unbelievable joy but mixed with it is a feeling of doubt, a sense that this is too good to be true. They believe, but they also struggle with unbelief, with fear, with the threat of overwhelming disappointment if this is all just an illusion.

Then Jesus Himself meets them. He stops them in their tracks. Their eyes are as large as saucers and He says, “REJOICE!” In other words, it is true. What you have seen is reality. I am alive. And then, as they fall at His feet in worship, He says to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see Me.”

Do not be afraid. The women have a mixture of fear and great joy. Jesus tells them to let go of the fear and fully embrace the joy.

I think that is the message for us too. As we follow Christ, as we believe His death and resurrection, as we live this life and seek to share Jesus’ love with others, we have that same mixture of fear and joy. We believe, but we also struggle with unbelief. We have joy…but also a sense that maybe this isn’t all true. We worship and we worry. We shout and we doubt. Faith isn’t easy. It is a journey between fear and joy. Seeing the waves around us and trying to keep our eyes focused on Jesus. We want to experience joy but fear keeps popping its ugly head up.

What’s the solution? REJOICE! Focus on the resurrection. Believe. Trust Jesus’ words. And do not be afraid. Jesus is alive. Death has been conquered. Sin has been paid for. Satan is a defeated enemy. And your life is in His hands.

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Activity and Intimacy

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Steve Foster

38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

As I think through chapter 10 in Luke, I notice a balance between activity for the Lord and intimacy with the Lord. The two go together.

  • Activity (10:1-20). The seventy missionaries go out in obedience to Jesus and experience the joy of seeing His power work through them.
  • Intimacy (10:21-24). Jesus’ prayer centers on those who are like “little children”–not proud in their own knowledge but trusting of their Father.
  • Activity (10:25-37). Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan graphically illustrates our need to move out in love and compassion toward those in need.
  • Intimacy (10:38-42). The story of Mary and Martha reminds us that our love must first be directed toward Christ if it is to be properly manifested toward others.

Martha is a good reminder to us that activity for Christ without intimacy with Christ is burdensome, distracting, and joyless.

As Jesus journeys toward Jerusalem, He goes through the village of Bethany. When Martha hears that Jesus and His disciples are in the area, she immediately opens up her home to them. Notice that it is Martha that invites them all in. Martha is the active one, the one always on the move.

With Jesus, and presumably His disciples, in the house, Martha cannot stop working. She is cleaning, preparing food, setting the table, getting drinks, organizing, dusting, decorating–all the things that seem important to her in the realm of hospitality. Meanwhile, her sister, Mary, is sitting in the living room listening to Jesus, soaking in the moment, enjoying His presence, hearing the words of the Lord of the universe.

This is too much for Martha to bear. I imagine that Martha clanged a few pots here and there and cleaned a few things around Mary in hopes that Mary would notice all the work she was doing and get up and help. But Mary didn’t budge.

Finally, totally exasperated and frustrated, Martha takes her complaint to Jesus. “Lord, can You do something here? As you can see, I am running around trying to get things ready for you and my sister, Mary, is sitting here doing absolutely nothing. Can you tell her to get up and help me out?”

Jesus responds differently than Martha expected. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Whoa. I think of Psalm 46:10. Be still, and know that I am God.

It is so easy for us to get caught up doing things for the Lord. Running around in a swirl of activity. Such things are good. The Lord wants us to redeem the time. We are to go out on mission for him (vs. 1-20). We are to see the needs around us and respond in action (vs. 25-37). We are to serve Him, obey Him, work for Him. The Christian life is not a passive life. But, at the same time, our activity can easily be a substitute for our intimacy with Christ. We run around on our own agenda not His. We say it is for the Lord but it is really to soothe our own conscience or impress others or feel significant or gain approval. Why did Martha worry so much about the house being in order and the food being ready at a certain time? Was it for the Lord or for herself? She would have said, “I am doing this for the Lord!” But Jesus saw things differently.

If our activity is filled with worry and anxiety and frustration with others, then we are doing it for ourselves and not for Christ.

Now at some point that night, Jesus and the disciples ate dinner. At some point, Mary got up from Jesus’ feet and helped serve. Food was prepared. The table was set. Meals were served. Plates, cups, and utensils were cleaned. In real life, there are practical human needs that have to be attended to. We can’t just sit at Jesus’ feet all day. Life is not a perpetual spiritual retreat.

But activity for Christ and intimacy with Christ cannot be separated. I am still and silent before Him so that I can be active and effective for Him. I listen to Him so that I can obey Him. I learn in order to live. I love Him passionately in order to love others practically. I sit at His feet in order to learn how to wash feet. And in doing so, I experience His joy.

Lord, calm my spirit, remove my distractions, be my vision today. And after hearing Your voice and being filled with Your Spirit, move me out to love and serve others for Your glory.

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Humility and Simplicity

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Steve Foster

21At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.

22“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

23Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

The seventy missionaries return from their assignment full of joy and excitement. God had used them. They were not academically elite or spiritual superstars. They simply obeyed Jesus and were amazed at the fact that God worked through them in powerful ways.

Jesus rejoices too because in the seventy missionaries, He sees the beauty of God’s plan.

God reveals His nature and His power to those who are receptive and humble. To know God, one cannot approach Him as a subject to be mastered or a power to be harnessed or a tool to be used for one’s own purposes. God is “Lord of heaven and earth.” To know Him, one must approach Him with humility, like a child coming to His Father in trust and dependence. Those demanding that God reveal Himself to them on their terms have already missed the boat. God reveals Himself to those kneeling in humility not those standing in defiance.

This is basically what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1.

26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)

God reveals Himself through the person of Jesus Christ. To know God, we have to know Jesus. Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus is the One who has revealed the nature of God to us in a way that we could see and understand. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. (John 1:18)

Those who come to know God through Jesus are blessed. Jesus’ disciples were eyewitnesses to all that Jesus said and did. We are “earwitnesses,” hearing and believing the message through them. Either way, knowing God through Jesus by faith is the ultimate blessing and joy of life.

As I contemplated this passage this morning, I was reminded of how easily I complicate things. Sometimes I get too bogged down in details of theology and forget that I am seeking to know God. The true God. The Lord of the universe. It is not about academics. It is about relationship. And whenever I try to fit God into my own little box, I have already lost Him. God reveals His truth to those with the heart attitude of a child. I am learning about my Father not about some mystical being or some philosophical concept.

Lord, deliver me from myself. Simplify my heart. May I not reduce You to manageable terms. May I come to experience Your power and Your love in real ways as I humbly trust You and seek to obey You.

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Facing Our Weakness

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Steve Foster

36Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

37Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

38Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! (John 13:36-38)

You gotta love Peter. He is always the one to speak what everyone else is thinking. Bold, brash, self-confident but yet also sincere and authentic. I can’t wait to interact with him in heaven!

Jesus gives the disciples His new great command. Love one another as I have loved you. By this all men will know that you are My disciples by your love for one another. One of the centerpiece statements in the Lord’s final instructions to His disciples. The clarion call to love. The beacon of light to the world. And what is Peter thinking?

“That’s nice, Lord. But let’s go back to that little statement You made before that. The part about not being able to go where You are going” (13:33).

The word “can’t” is not a word in Peter’s vocabulary. If Jesus is going somewhere, Peter is bound and determined to go there with Him….especially if Jesus is fighting a battle, facing opposition, or setting up His kingdom. Peter wants to be there in the action.

But Peter is not as strong as he thinks he is. Jesus knows it. Peter doesn’t know it…yet.

It is interesting that all four gospels mention Peter’s denial. It is obviously an event that every disciple remembers. And it is perhaps the one most crucial event in the life, transformation, and growth of Peter. Peter had to be broken of his self-confidence (rooted in pride) in order to be given a God confidence (rooted in humility). Peter had to be made weak in order to be truly strong.

It is a process that is not fun but it is usually necessary.

Here is what Jesus says in Luke’s account (Luke 22):

31“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

33But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”

34Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”

Satan was about to take Peter through the ringer. And Jesus was going to allow it. Why? Because Jesus knew that Peter needed to know that he was not as strong as he thought he was. Peter was not in control. And the battles that he would face in life were much bigger than him. Peter needed to get a full taste of his spiritual adversary so that he would recognize his absolute need to depend on the power of Christ.

Peter also needed to develop true compassion, the ability to suffer (passion) with (com) another person. Peter could not truly “strengthen his brothers” as long as he was convinced that he had it all together in life and they were all a bunch of spiritual wimps. Remember in Matthew and Mark’s accounts, Peter made it clear: “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” (Matthew 26:33, Mark 14:29)

So why does God often allow us to go through difficult times? To break our pride. To draw us to His side. To help us learn to rely on His power. And to give us a heart of humility, love, and compassion for others.

Lord, my pride so easily sprouts its head. I rely on myself. I struggle to let go. I criticize others. I become independent. I live a prayerless life. Help me to trust You even when the medicine is strong, even when the knife cuts deep. And may I truly love and strengthen my brothers with the love and strength that I receive from You.

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Washing Feet

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Steve Foster

1It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

2The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:1-5)

There is a lot to consider here. But try to catch the scene.

The disciples are gathered together for the Passover meal with Jesus. There is tension in the room because they all sense that the tide of public opinion is turning against Jesus. They are fearful of the future and uncertain when/if Jesus is ever going to display His power, rescue Israel, subjugate the Romans, and bring in the kingdom. In the midst of all this tension, they have entered the room with dirty feet. It was customary in that time to have a servant present to wash people’s feet as they entered for a meal. No servant was present and the disciples figured they would ignore this social custom. But Jesus sees it as an opportunity to show His love and teach His disciples another lesson on servanthood.

Men don’t like to be humbled. Like I said yesterday in the message, men value strength. So the thought of getting on your knees and washing the feet of other men was not something that would ever enter their minds. It was “below” them. To a group of men frequently arguing over who was the greatest, this would be the ultimate sign of weakness and humiliation. So Jesus gets up and washes their feet to say, in effect, that man’s fight for the top should be replaced by a humble pursuit for the bottom. Instead of wanting to be king with other people serving us, we should strive to be servants making others feel like kings.

“Whoa, whoa, wait a second.” That’s what Peter is thinking. “I am not going to allow You to lower Yourself to that level, Jesus. It’s embarrassing.” Notice that Peter doesn’t volunteer to wash everyone’s feet, he just wants to make sure that Jesus doesn’t do it.

This kind of servant spirit and action is not in our nature. There is only one way that we can come to it. Look again at verses 3-4. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.

Jesus could be a servant before men because He knew who He was before God. Only security in my identity before God can give me vulnerability in my identity before men. Our fight for man’s honor reveals our lack of trust in God’s honor.

So loving others really does begin with being fully loved by God. When I am filled with His love and secure in Him, then I can get on my knees and wash the feet of others without worrying about public opinion.

Lord, I have a long way to go. And when I think I’ve gotten a little farther down the road, simple incidents remind me that I still have a lot of pride and that I lack a servant’s heart. Remind me of Your love for me today. Help me to soak in Your grace. Stretch my mind to fathom Who You are. And then give me Your heart to care about people, Your eyes to see the needs around me, and Your hands to try to meet them.

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