But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
Nehemiah 4:9
I saw a recent survey about prayer, and virtually everyone says they need, want and intend to pray more. I was going to comment on that, but I was drawn to Nehemiah’s comments instead. When trying to get the walls around Jerusalem rebuilt, he posted a guard and prayed day and night. I have never been a huge fan of the statement, “pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you,” which is attributed to several different people (I think most think Ignatius). But I can’t argue with Nehemiah.
Confidence and/or Comprehension: In John 10 – right after Jesus noted that sheep know the voice of their shepherd – we are told that his disciples, “did not understand what he was saying to them.” Ouch. Once again they come off as the Keystone Kops. But before you feel better about yourself, note this about them: they tend to obey even when they do not understand. The disciples get a lot wrong, but they have confidence in Jesus even when they do not comprehend what he is saying. Do you? By the way, the opposite can also be true. It is possible to comprehend what Jesus is saying and still not put your confidence in him.
The Community of Faith: I have heard the term “community of faith” for at least twenty years, but it struck me differently this week. It happened after reading the last paragraphs of Yandall Woodfin’s book, With All Your Mind: A Christian Philosophy, which reads as follows: “It can be for any of us who trusts in Christ as it was for Christian and Hopeful in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. As they approach the river of death, which has no way around nor bridge across, they ask about the depth of the water and are told, ‘You shall find it deeper or shallower, as you believe in the King of the place.’ Upon entering the water Christian begins to sink and cries to his companion that the billows and waves are going over his head. To this Hopeful responds, ‘Be of good cheer, my Brother, I feel the bottom and it is good.’ Christian soon finds solid ground to stand on and ‘the rest of the River was but shallow.’ ” When our faith grows weak it is imperative to keep walking the path with our friends – to stay in our small group, to show up at church, etc. We may go through a season where we do not have faith to believe. But others can believe for us and carry us forward.
Our Last Freedom: In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl wrote that “the last of the human freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” While suffering in a Nazi prison camp he discovered that, “the sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner decision, and not the result of camp influences alone.”
Self-Obsessed: One of my daily routines is to file news stories. It’s a habit I developed before the founders of Google were in third grade. Back then, illustrations were hard to come by. So as I read a paper, a magazine or the back of the milk carton, I was always alert for something to help bring a sermon to life. (I started The Friday Update in part because I realized I had 25,000 more illustrations and insights than will make it into a sermon). I share all of this to say, I noticed something today as I was filing a story. I have files for self-awareness, self-control, self-denial, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, self-righteous and selfish. We appear to be pretty self-obsessed. At least my files appear to be pretty self-obsessed. Not me. And surely not you.
Thankful: Christ Church participated in a baptism service with eight other churches last weekend. It was a great time. Wonderful music. Thirty something people were baptized. My batteries were further recharged.
The Sphinx’s Nose: If you’ve been to Egypt – or looked at pictures – you have noticed that many of the statues are missing noses. There are many theories. A new one recently rolled out claiming that if the deity behind the statue failed to deliver the protection he was worshipped to provide, the people would knock it’s nose off so that the statue-spirit was unable to breathe and would die. In this scenario, the vandal is killing the deity. Perhaps, but years ago I heard that a new king would routinely knock the nose off the statue of their predecessor as part of their effort to downplay their accomplishments. In some circles people have a reputation for knocking the nose off of Sphinx. So, how about it. Have you ever engaged in such vandalism?
Quotes Worth Requoting: All three of these are from Tim Keller.
- Secular culture often says the meaning of life is to gain happiness. If that’s true then suffering destroys meaning.
- People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic.
- Everyone says they want community and friendship, but when that means accountability or commitment people run the other way.
The Gospel: One of the harder parts of my job is to get people to keep looking at the Gospel. Many have no idea. The truth is – it’s scandalous in so many ways. It is unfair, it depends upon the blame being placed on an innocent party and it attacks religion.
Closing Prayer: Merciful Lord, the comforter and teacher of your faithful people, increase in your church the desires which you have given, and confirm the hearts of those who hope in you by enabling them to understand the depth of your promises, that all your adopted children may even now behold, with the eyes of faith, and patiently wait for, the light which as yet we do not openly manifest; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Ambrose