with Bob Condly
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praise

Reflecting on a Coincidence

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“Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her.” – Isaiah 66:10

A couple of weeks ago, I wore blue to church. Not that that’s important, but I also decided to add a pocket square that had small pink and maroon flowers printed on it. Not thinking much of these clothing decisions, off I was to teach my Sunday School class.

The first person in the room wore clothes that were reddish in color. Then a few more people came in and, wouldn’t you know it, they also wore some shades of red. There were only five of us in the room, so I commented on the coincidence in a light-hearted way.

As others came in, my smile got bigger because I was amazed. Everyone was wearing some kind of red!

Why red? If St. Patrick’s Day happened to fall on that Sunday, I would understand if everyone had on green clothes. If it was the Fourth of July, I wouldn’t be surprised if a bunch of folks donned red, white, and blue. But colors in a rosy red family? Why those?

I kept telling the class that I knew God was doing something, but I didn’t know why He was doing it. The Holy Spirit must have had a good reason for this move, but I had no idea what it could be. Neither did anyone else!

With a chuckle, I told them that this was going to bother me. While I appreciate what the Lord does, I also want to be in on His reasoning.

We went through the class material, then attended the service, and that was it. I left the building, still wanting to understand what God was thinking, but no closer to a solution.

Except when I told my father about it later that day, he mentioned that it was Laetare Sunday. I’d never heard of this, but a blurb in his church’s bulletin explained that vestments and banners were rose-colored in honor of the fourth Sunday of Lent.

This was new to me, so I had to Google it. It turns out that’s all correct! Here’s a simple explanation: “Laetare Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, takes its name from the Latin word which begins the entrance antiphon (introit) for that day [from Isaiah 66:10, quoted above]. Laetare means rejoice, and this Sunday is marked by a relaxation of the penitential character of the Lenten season.”

And regarding the color, “Call it pink — or, more fittingly, rose — this change in color indicates a glimpse of the joy that awaits us at Easter, just before we enter into the somber days of Passiontide.”

So there you go! It looks like the Spirit prodded most of us members of a Sunday School class in an evangelical church to dress in a way consistent with a liturgical observance none of us were aware of. We know about Easter, but not Laetare Sunday.

Well, then, why did the Lord do this?

I have no specific insight, but turning to the Scriptures sheds some light on the subject.

The Bible stresses that believers in Jesus really are one body of Christ. There may be many congregations and denominations, but the church as a whole is the body of Jesus Christ on earth.

The apostle Paul repeats this phrase quite a bit.

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” – Romans 12:4-5

He acknowledges differences among the members of Christ’s body, but it remains a single body. Jesus brings us all together in spite of the various ways we serve Him.

Or rather, because of the different ways.

 “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.” – 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

If there’s one issue Christians disagree on, it’s the theology of the Lord’s Supper. That’s too bad, because Paul points out how the one loaf of bread captures the unity of the children of God gathered in Christ’s name. Our liturgy, the way we worship, most glorifies God and builds up people when it’s done with an eye toward harmony and wholeness.

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body–whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink … 27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” – 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 27

Given our ecclesiastical differences, what brings us together? It’s not a what, it’s a Who–the Holy Spirit! He inaugurates our life in Christ without obliterating what makes each of us distinctive. This is true for individual Christians and for churches, too. If we follow the Spirit who brought us to Jesus in the first place, we’ll appreciate the value of our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

“And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.” – Ephesians 1:22-23

We have to make a decision. We can opt to focus on the fractured nature of the body of Christ and fixate on what drives us apart. Or we can open ourselves to the amazing spiritual blessing we’ve received by God’s grace. We are part of something magnificent, something greater than anything in this world, something for which the Lord deserves our unending praise!

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” – Ephesians 4:15-16

God sees His people as one, but He also knows it takes time for us to grow into that reality. Valuing and respecting one another will go a long way to helping us all become everything Jesus envisions.

So we have reason to rejoice! Regardless of our affiliations, we’re part of the body of the One raised from the dead! Jesus is alive and He seeks to express Himself through the Church, His people united in His name. When we cooperate with the Spirit, we learn to love, to serve, and to praise.

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ!

Another Word About Works

(https://artlevin.com/painting-view/second-jewish-temple)

God wants us to work; we’re saved to serve! It’s not the only reason, but it’s an important one we shouldn’t neglect. In last week’s blog post, I tried to show that the letter to the Ephesians promotes this idea.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” – Ephesians 2:10

But what are the actions God has in mind for us?

As we’ve seen, the first half of Ephesians (chapters 1-3) lays out our spiritual status in Christ. The second half (chapters 4-6) teaches us how to express in practical ways who we are in the Lord.

In this post, we’re going to look at our works from the perspective of our spiritual station in life. According to Paul, we’re God’s temple:

“In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” – Ephesians 2:21-22

Since temples are where priests offer sacrifices, this suggests that the good works God intends are sacrificial in nature.

This view isn’t unique to the book of Ephesians. The New Testament affirms it elsewhere.

The Nations

For example, here’s how Paul describes his apostolic ministry:

“He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:16b

According to the Old Testament, Paul couldn’t serve as a priest; he was from the tribe of Benjamin (see Philippians 3:5), not Levi. But in Christ, he could offer to God, not animal sacrifices, but Gentiles who believed the gospel he preached. Every soul the apostle won to Jesus was a sacrifice to the Lord. Each one was his gift to God.

Ministry Sacrifice

Paul did more than offer the nations to Christ; he offered himself, too. Twice he refers to himself as a drink offering.

“But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.” – Philippians 2:17

“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.” – 2 Timothy 4:6

When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he was under house arrest by the Roman government. When he wrote his second letter to Timothy, he was doomed to die by the hands of Rome. In both situations, the apostle considered himself a drink offering. He poured out his soul in service to God and His people. Paul paid whatever price was necessary to glorify Jesus by teaching people the gospel.

Praise

Praise is a third way by which Christians can offer spiritual sacrifices.

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise–the fruit of lips that openly profess His name.” – Hebrews 13:15

The structure of this verse provides clues to its meaning. It’s written in a chiastic pattern: ABCCBA. This means that it begins and ends with a certain thought (A). The second idea gets repeated right before the last one (B), and then there are twin concepts in the middle (C).

The initial focus is on Jesus. His is the great name by which we Christians are saved (see Acts 4:12).

The next one attends to our response to the name of Jesus. Out of gratitude, we give something to God. “Continually offer” is synonymous with “openly profess.” These verbs describe our behavior, but what are we delivering to the Lord?

The middle set of terms tells us. Our lips praise God; what we say constitutes a sacrifice He welcomes and accepts.

Furthermore, our declaration is public. The priests of the Old Testament didn’t conduct their rituals in secret; they worked together with other priests to benefit the entire community. In the same way, the praise we offer to God is a public announcement of the majesty of Jesus. The church’s testimony about Christ is a sacrifice that pleases God and fosters allegiance to Him.

Witness

There’s one more verse in the New Testament about spiritual sacrifices. This one uses that exact phrase:

“As you come to Him, the living Stone–rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him–5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” – 1 Peter 2:4-5

Peter echoes Paul’s assertion that the church is a temple. Like Jesus, we’re not static. We’re living stones; we can function and serve and act. We’re not limited by natural constraints; the Holy Spirit authorizes us to sacrifice to the Lord.

Verse 9 reinforces Peter’s understanding of Christians as spiritual priests:

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” – 1 Peter 2:9

We’re people who praise! Reminiscent of Hebrews 13:15, our confession of faith in Christ honors God. And Peter relates this ministry to witness. Every time we win someone to Jesus, we add a spiritual stone to God’s spiritual house. We may not know where everyone fits in the church, but as we disciple people, God puts them in the right place so they can contribute to the work of His house.

Application

The apostles didn’t invent the notion of spiritual sacrifice. Jesus had already identified it as the central purpose of the temple:

“And as He taught them, He said, ‘Is it not written: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations”? But you have made it “a den of robbers.”’” – Mark 11:17

We serve the heart of God by interceding for the nations. Rather than stealing their spiritual future, we grant them a place to meet Christ in the gospel. The salvation of souls is worth the price such work. Spiritual sacrifice is labor the Lord will reward.

Let’s be about His business!

with Bob Condly

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