Following Jesus' Example

Have you ever looked at the cross and thought that the example of Jesus was way beyond your reach? After all, how many Christians get to die for their faith? I bet you haven’t yet! Sometimes we are daunted by the enormity of following Christ’s example. On other occasions, we convince ourselves that faith is about doing mighty acts of renown for God. In both cases, we tend to overlook the fact that following Jesus is an intensely practical, day-by-day experience.  Perhaps that is our intention. After all, who really wants the Glorious Intruder to interfere with their lives EVERY day?

 Recently, I have been challenged by John’s account of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet (13:1-17). The commentators agree that the foot-washing was symbolic of what Jesus would do for the disciples on the cross. Both had a number of ingredients in common. Firstly, Jesus - powerful and important though He was - humbled himself in order to meet a need. Significantly, it would seem from Luke’s account (22:24-27) that the disciples had been more interested in who was the greatest than in humbling themselves and meeting one another’s needs.  Then, secondly, there is the common theme of cleaning. The foot-washing cleaned the disciples on the outside whilst the cross cleaned them on the inside.

However, though the foot-washing was symbolic, Jesus tells us that it was done as an example for us to follow. And isn’t this exactly the kind of example you could follow? When you see a need - be it at home, work or elsewhere – do what you can to serve. You may have to crucify your desire to seem important; you may need to sacrifice your own comfort; or you may need to put to spend your own time and money on somebody else. But by doing this, you will paint a sign on the canvas of everyday life that directs others to Jesus. Consider giving somebody a taste of love this week, and who knows, perhaps you will awaken in them an intense hunger for the love of Jesus.

An offering of worship fit for a King (Phil. 2:12-18)

I am still a man on a mission: a mission to find joy in the midst of trials. Not only do I want to find joy in the midst of my own trials, but also in helping with the trials of others. Sharing one another’s burdens means that we get saddled with loads that are not our own. Is there any joy in that?

The Apostle Paul once wrote: “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches” (2 Cor. 11:28), so he should be qualified to teach us something on the subject! In the church at Philippi, Paul was concerned about persecution and its effect on the unity of the church. What are you concerned about? Maybe your friend is out of work. Will he loose his faith as a result of this trial? You may be praying for a cancer sufferer or someone whose fledgling faith is assailed by an addiction.

In verse 12 of Philippians 2, Paul makes an inference. On the basis of Christ’s humble obedience (described in verses 5-11), Paul concludes that the Philippians should also be characterised by obedience. Even though the Philippians had been obedient whether Paul was present or absent from Philippi (v12), Paul encouraged them to continue working out their salvation through obedience¹ (v12).

But what joy is there in obedience? Lord, you want me to raise these children or to lead this home-group or church or business, yet sometimes, it is a heavy burden to obey my calling. Living in a way that pleases you is tough. It brings more trials than if I did my own thing. I am not enjoying this.

Then, as if to rub salt in the wound, we are expected to obey without grumbling or arguing (v14). Paul, you had better have some good reasons for such obedience! And he does.

To begin with, salvation is a process. The race begins when you are born again through faith. At that point you are declared blameless and pure, and you become a child of God. This has nothing to do with your effort or work. But from then on, you must run the race until you cross the finish line when you die or Christ returns – then your salvation will be complete. Running the race requires repeated, ongoing obedience. Without this, you will stop running and fail to finish.

According to Paul, this process of “working out” your salvation should be accompanied by fear and trembling. This is not fear of failure or condemnation. No, it is a holy reverence for what is happening in your life: God Himself is at work in you. He began the work, and He will complete it. He will help you to desire what He desires, and He will give you all the energy and resources you need to obey His desires (v13). When we daily obey the will of God, we actually start becoming what we have been declared to be: blameless and pure (v15). Further, we give evidence of the fact that we have become children of God. These sound like good reasons for obedience! But there are more.

Have you noticed that obedience is somewhat out of vogue? It always has been. Nobody wants to be told what to do. Every man wants to decide for himself what is right or wrong.  For this reason, obedience to God differentiates us from the lost. Brothers and sisters, obedience to God makes you shine like stars in a dark universe (v15)! But there is more.

Experiencing joy in the middle of a trial requires us to focus on what the trial will produce. Paul has his eye on the day of Christ (v16) - the finish line, if you will. One day, like Paul, you will have the opportunity to look back on the way you ran the race (v16). If you handle your current trial with humble obedience, working with God’s help, you will look back on it with satisfaction on the day of Christ. Yes it may have been grindingly hard, sometimes you might have despaired, but you kept going, and God worked in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. The harder the race, the greater the satisfaction at the finish line. Don’t know about you, but I could get excited about that thought. But there is more.

What you have achieved in life will be combined with what you helped others to achieve, and together, these will form a sacrifice of worship to God. Paul uses the image of the OT daily sacrifice to communicate this point (v17). The Philippians’ faith-inspired service was like the lamb sacrificed on the altar. Paul’s work with the Philippians was like the drink offering poured out on top.

I long to give God a special gift of worship on the day of Christ: a life of obedient sacrifice, invested in the service of God and others. I look forward to seeing what I have done combined with the offerings of those I have helped. It would be an insult to God to think this impossible, for He has changed me and is at work in me to will and to act according to His good purpose. So just as Paul, even though he was in prison at the time, rejoiced in these truths (17) and commanded the Philippians to do the same, so I urge you to follow suit!

Cheers for now - Ian

¹ At the time of writing the letter, Paul would have had in mind obedience to the OT, his teachings, example and letters. Today we must be obedient to the Bible and the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Miracles of deliverance

Jane^* was raped by her older brother’s friend at the age of fifteen. She told her dad about it. But though they had a special relationship, and he was a loving man, they buried the nightmare alive in the tormented place where it was born. Jane suffered. How does one climb the precipitous heights of adolescence with memories and emotions that threaten to shove one into free-fall?

In her early twenties, Jane confided in a friend who encouraged her to go for counselling with the pastor’s wife. The counselling went on... and on. Jane felt like she was digging up Mt Everest with a tea spoon. Would she ever be whole again? Sometimes, when she couldn’t sleep, she would go for a walk and find herself at the beach watching the waves. Drawn by the immense nothingness of the sea, she wondered what it would be like to wade in.... and swim.... until she could swim no more...

Jane went to a church that prayed for those with needs during the service. So one Sunday, she went up to the front for prayer. And God did a miracle. He put her down under the power of the Holy Spirit for some “deep surgery”, and when she came round, the pain was gone. No more staggering in the smelly sludge of low self-esteem. Instead of knowing what she was supposed to believe about God and herself, she now truly believed it.

Do you long to see more miracles in your life and church? Most of us have longed for a miracle at one time or another. Take away my desire for alcohol; make me feel loved; heal my wife’s body; give Johnny a job; change my husband. Such requests are often valid, under-pinned by real pain and desperate need. Yet sometimes God doesn’t do a miracle.

Within the space of days, James was decapitated, but Peter, arrested for the same purpose, was miraculously sprung from jail by an angel (Acts 12:1-19). God is capable of both. And He decides which is best in the case of each individual. Many of the “heroes of the faith” (Hebrews 11) were miraculously saved from dire circumstances – they “shut the mouths of lions”, “quenched the fury of the flames” and “received back their dead, raised to life again”. Yet others were not – they were tortured, stoned, flogged, imprisoned and sawn in half.

So what should we do when we find ourselves awash with waves and bailing furiously? I think we should ask for God to calm the waves but be prepared to weather the storm. God WILL deliver you, whether the deliverance is instant, worked over time or comes through death. We see examples of all three in Scripture. Peter was rescued from jail. But James was executed. Paul, however, found himself between both extremes: he was not spared the experience of going through a shipwreck, but God gave him a plank to hold. So in the end, he was delivered from drowning, but the deliverance took time, and it was a soggy, exhausting experience. Paul’s job was to hold on.

Most people and their circumstances seem to fall into Paul’s category of deliverance. God will get you through by supplying a plank: counselling, a good friend, just enough money for today, or one of the countless ways that God provides for your needs. But oh how we long for a flick-of-the-switch cure. It would be so much easier for us. But “plank” deliverances produce the fruit of perseverance, patience, empathy and character. Sometimes, we must accept that God is withholding the instant cure in order to make up for what we and those around us are lacking in godliness.

However, we should never forget that even if we do die (it has to happen one day you know), death will usher us into God’s ultimate deliverance, so we can’t lose. Nothing the world throws at us can win when “to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).

So ask for the calm but be prepared to weather the storm and in some cases to drown. The attitude of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is the apotheosis of what I am talking about: “if we are thrown in the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it ... but even if He does not...” (Daniel 3:17 and 18). God is good. He loves us. And He knows what we need most.

Cheers for now - Ian

^*Name changed – time of incident/location sufficiently far removed from the readers of this blog to conceal identity.