students of jesus

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)

I’m not interested in Romans today, I’m interested in peace with God. Monday’s are for meditation--to suggest a course for the coming week, something to consider for more than a passing moment. And lately I’ve been thinking about peace.

On the night before he was betrayed, Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” When the resurrected Jesus appeared to his disciples he began with the simple greeting, “Peace be with you.” In the Apostle Paul’s definition of the Kingdom of God peace is one third of the equation. Peace is a part of every greeting Paul gave. Peace is evidence of the Spirit’s maturing work in our lives. Peace is promised to guard our hearts and minds. Peace is the birthright of every child of God. And yet . . .

How many believers live in peace? How many of us experience the peace that passes understanding? What portion of the body of Christ is known for peace? Or to ask the question in the negative, why is peace not the sign of a follower of Jesus?

It’s an important question. Some suggest a legal answer--the peace we have with God is positional: since we are reconciled with God through the sacrifice of Jesus, peace is part of our new standing with God. I suppose legal answers serve some purpose--but I see too many Christians who are decidedly not at peace. They are confused or even angry with God, worried about their lives, unable to live at peace in their families and in constant conflict with the affairs of life. These believers are my friends, and I can see they are not at peace.

I’d like to suggest a question capable of changing our lives: “Jesus, you’ve promised peace but my life is not at rest. How can I walk in what you have promised?”

Perhaps some of you know an answer. Many of us are waiting to discover your secret.

Today marks the ordination of my friend, Jeff Martin. I'm sending him this greeting and a few observations about ministry, and you're invited to listen in:

Grace to you, Jeff, and Peace!

"In the terrain of life with God, grace is not a ticket to heaven, but the earth under our feet on the road with Christ . . . Grace saves us from life without God--even more it empowers us for life with God." ~ Richard Foster (with Kathryn Helmers) in Life with God

When I decided to take seriously the call to follow Jesus I left God’s grace behind for a while. I thought grace was what God did for me the day I was born from above. I thought grace was only about forgiveness. I thought grace was a ticket to heaven. How little I knew about God’s grace. Decades later I’ve discovered his grace is the air I breathe.

One of the challenges of spiritual formation is the easily-held idea that God has done everything he’s going to do. The rest is up to me: I must meditate, pray, serve, study, contemplate, isolate, and even celebrate on my own. Jesus showed me how it’s done, died on the cross, paid the price, and now it’s up to me to respond. There’s a measure of truth to such thinking, but the best lies always use a bit of the truth. God's grace is the disciple’s fuel for life.

God’s grace starts well before we come alive to his call; it is the power to forgive and save at the new birth; and it is the pathway to walk with him forevermore. As mentors like Richard Foster and Dallas Willard have pointed out time and again, the spiritual disciplines are practices that put us into position to receive more of his grace--the disciplines are not spiritual hurdles to be cleared by the “serious” student of Jesus. The startling truth is that those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus need more of God’s grace than others who have no interest in spiritual transformation.

May I share three surprising passages about God’s grace?

• “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age” (Titus 2: 11-12) Simply put, Paul reminded Titus that God’s grace is available to teach us how to live right now. Do we ever think of grace as a teacher? What have we learned from grace? God’s grace stands ready to teach us even after we turn to Jesus: we can learn how to say ‘no’ to ungodliness. We can learn from God’s grace how to live upright lives. We need not be forever trapped in a cycle of same-sin, same-forgiveness, same-life. This too is part of the good news.
• “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another” (John 1:16) Apparently the good folks who translated the New International Version were challenged by the more literal rendering of this verse, “From his fulness we have all received, grace upon grace.” (NRVS) The NIV substitutes “one blessing after another” for “grace upon grace.” But why argue over translation? I believe John was searching for a way to communicate that God’s grace is multi-layered. If we walk with him 50 years we will discover again and again the God who beckons us (in C.S. Lewis’ happy phrase) to come “farther up and farther in.” But take note: if we are determined to think of grace as merely a ticket to heaven there is no farther up and farther in--either in this life or the next. Why come to the shores of God’s grace only to dip our toes in the ocean? 
• “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” (James 4:6) More grace. Greater grace. All the more grace. I believe James was speaking from experience, not theory. I think he discovered the multi-layered grace of God as he learned to humble himself again and again. When we humble ourselves we position ourselves for greater grace. One sure indicator of a religiously closed mind is the firm conviction that we have this Jesus-thing figured out. The religiously closed mind is only interested in exporting it’s brand of spirituality. We need to discover that it’s impossible to drink in God’s grace if we do nothing but tell others how to live.

What kind of Father would tell his child, “I’ve done all I’m going to do, the rest is up to you?” Our transformation is his work, accomplished as we present ourselves to greater grace again and again. If we limit his grace to the work of forgiveness, then forgiveness is all we will know.  If we open ourselves up to his infinite grace then our destiny is the infinite God.

Infinite God. Infinite Grace. Infinite Destiny.

How do we approach the Bible? Are we looking for information about God, or an encounter with God? When we say the book is inspired, do we mean that the Holy Spirit breathed upon those who wrote it, or do we mean that the Holy Spirit wants to breathe on those who read it now? I believe the correct answer is “both.”

Our experience with God’s word should not be simply an intellectual exercise. It should be a conversation. The Holy Spirit hasn’t gotten any older or further away during the passage of 21 centuries. He longs to engage us when we come to the scripture. He invites us to use our time in the Bible as an opportunity to love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength.

I’d like to suggest a few questions about our time with God as we come to the scripture:

• When is the last time I experienced an emotional response to the scripture--sadness? anger? awe? joy? fear? doubt? confidence? grief? regret? remorse? hope? laughter? love? relief? gratitude?
• When is the last time I experienced a physical sensation during my Bible reading? Has my body ever responded to God’s word?
• When is the last time I was moved to action because of the words on the page before me? Have I ever been moved to call someone, go to someone, or help someone?
• Have I ever come to the scripture asking the Holy Spirit what he hopes to accomplish while I read?

I believe the North American church has come to value intellect over spirit and soul. The result for many believers is a dry and lifeless experience of his great gift--the very words of God spoken, captured, preserved and delivered to us today.

Sweet Holy Spirit, I invite you sit beside me, breathe on me, and guide me through your collected wisdom I hold in my hand. Come, Holy Spirit.

It’s becoming popular to hide away for a weekend and watch a single season of a television series in the space of one or two days. It’s an inexpensive and fun getaway. But before you invest a weekend with the likes of say, Burn Notice, may I suggest The Lord of the Rings?

This is not a nerd-alert. Hooded robes are not required for a weekend of viewing. You can retain whatever level of hipness you have and still carve out ten hours of your life to experience a tale well-told, a story that depicts eternal values and represents the best in Christian artistry.

Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings stands as a triumph of cinematic story-telling, and is well worth a second visit now that the series has had a few years to mature. The three movies garnered a total of 17 Academy awards: Jackson and his team poured nearly five years of their lives into the making of these movies. If Tolkien’s work was widely considered the “book of the century,” these films could rightly be considered the movies of the decade.

In a time when Christian fiction and movie-making frequently features “message” over mastery of the art, The Lord of the Rings reminds anyone engaged in creative endeavors that we need not dumb-down our efforts in service of the King. Of course, Christian publishing houses and movie studios are the ones in the greatest need of this reminder: God is honored most when artists are allowed to pursue artistry over profit.

In my opinion everyone ought to lose themselves for a day in The Lord of the Rings.