Friday, April 24, 2020

Dirty Hands; Washed Hearts (Part 2)

"Nana! You can't eat! We haven't said the 'thank you' yet!" And before I knew it, my eighty-nine year old mother's hands were being held hostage until she told God how much she appreciated her scrambled eggs. How excited I am that our littles know it is important to say "thank you." I can't say, however, I'm thrilled the "grace police" have shown up at our home. I pray regularly that our family would serve God for generations, but I pray that servitude springs forth from humble hearts, in love with Jesus. I know what it's like to grow up believing in God and knowing what He expects; but it wasn't until far into adulthood that I had a relationship with Him. As a child, I repeated the sinner's prayer -- I was told what to say, and I said it. I memorized verses and repeated "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" each night -- I was told what to do and I did it. But my heart was empty. Religion never fills us up.

The song, "More Like Falling in Love", by Jason Gray, explains this futility and the remedy wonderfully:
Give me rules,
I will break them
Show me lines
I will cross them
I need more than a truth to believe
I need a truth that lives, moves, and breathes
To sweep me off my feet
It's gotta be more like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance...
It's like I'm falling in love...
This describes a relationship. And the only cure for either blind obedience or flagrant rebellion. Both of which can lead to eternal death.

Jesus went round after round with the Pharisees in His day. He called them white-washed tombs. Outward presentation -- rituals and study and obeying the rules -- had not changed their hearts; they did not love or demonstrate grace. And the heavy burden of laws they placed on the people were causing God's people to become hard, and leading them astray. Jesus had zero tolerance for that. He wanted His people to have a relationship with His Father. He didn't want them crushed and discouraged under expectations any more than He wanted them to disobey God's law. He wanted them to fall in love with the Father and walk in relationship with Him. That is the cure for the deadly pitfalls of ritual rule-keeping or open rebellion. Do you want a relationship with someone who is in it only because someone told them they should be? There's no more joy in that than being in a relationship with someone who obviously doesn't want to be. Someone going through the motions day after day is empty; someone determined to do things their own way, regardless of your interests is division. Love is what fills and unites and changes our hearts that we might obey gladly. Even those God has placed in authority that don't appear to be "worthy" of our obedience.

Think of it this way, our obedience is a form of worship. It's a way we actively show God how we feel about Him. The longer we do it, the closer we grow to Him, the more we learn, obeying God is a risk-free endeavor. He will never do anything that will not bring Him glory, or work for our good.  He has made it clear that He is mightier than any other; He gives power and authority to whomever He chooses. And if we trust His word is true: if we believe He is in control of it all, and if we are sure He is working for our good, we can obey His command to submit to the authority -- good or bad -- He has placed over us. By our actions, we obey them; with our hearts we obey the One who allowed their tenure and the One to whom we relinquish our will. And, hopefully, pray for those in leadership without ceasing.

It is the cleansing of our hearts, not our hands, that brings us into a relationship with the One True and Living God. Surrender yourself to Him today and be washed by His Spirit into an obedient, but fully confident life of victory and abundance.

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Dirty Hands; Washed Hearts

With the first rumblings of a "flu" coming from the other side of the world, came the very practical admonition, "Wash your hands." It seems so simple. It seems like something everyone would be -- should be doing anyway. Right? Fast forward to Day 30-something of state quarantine. I'm entering a public bathroom, I hear a flush. A woman emerges from the stall. She checks the mirror, grabs a strand of hair, tucks it behind her ear, brushes something from her brow, and leaves the restroom. I am dumbfounded. I spend days trying to wrap my head around it, until... Days later an office mate returns from the men's room. He is perplexed. He can hardly form the words. Finally, "Can you tell me how you can use the bathroom and not wash your hands?" And there it is! Confirmation! The door is open. I can breathe again! "Yes!" I exclaim. "Especially at a time like this!" Another coworker pipes up, "I see that more now, with the warnings and recommendations in place, than I ever did."

Now, I realize, this may not be a topic for "polite conversation," and this is probably the most inappropriate or, at the very least, strangest way anyone's ever gotten to this point, but "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Did you see that one coming? Perhaps my coworkers and I were simply more aware of personal hygiene because of the warnings. Perhaps there is some undercurrent of paranoia when it comes to our health and the health of those we love. And, yes, I know we were being judgmental; but, the first question that came to my mind was, "Do people really disdain what's best solely because authorities and experts have recommended (or even legislated) it?"

For years, I rebelled against any kind of authority. I had my reasons, I told myself. On more than one occasion, I needed protection and guidance from those in charge. I was left to find it on my own. They needed me, they took from me, but when I needed them? Nothing. Inside, I was good -- or at least, wanted to be good. Right? Wrong. I came to find, even when I had "no reason," I broke the law. When my paycheck showed up every Friday and my benefits were the best around, when I was treated with respect and given encouragement and appreciation, when I was in no particular hurry, when I had money in my pocket, I broke the law. I ducked out of work early, I took shortcuts, I disregarded the speed limit (by a lot), I shoplifted. Why? Because my heart was deceitful, wicked. I wasn't going to be told what to do -- Pride. Because I could -- Power. I had what I wanted and felt I owed no one anything more -- Selfishness. Because whatever good I was trying to do, I was doing it in my own strength -- Legalism.

The Apostle Paul talks a lot about the law -- so much so, I couldn't possibly go into it all here. But, at the least, he tells us law is necessary. Laws set boundaries, defining behavior that is harmful and making us aware of our need for righteousness. Law reveals the compassionate and just nature of the Lawgiver. Laws provide a way for us, in gratitude for all He has done, to return just a portion of all He is due through obeying and serving Him. However, the law has its drawbacks. One of which is the inability of the law -- even the wholehearted obedience of the law -- to make us right with God. Another one is human nature. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Even Paul, the suffering, slave to Christ that he was, struggled with his old nature and its disobedience. By placing our focus on obeying statutes and demands it can have the completely opposite result, causing us to break the rules rather than obey them -- like being on a diet, and repeating over and over, "I won't eat the chips. I won't eat the chips." What happens? You become obsessed with the chips and you eat them.

It's hard to believe. We hear the platitudes all the time, that mankind is basically good, that we all desire to help and do right by our fellow man. Not true. James 1:17, tells us that every good gift comes from God. Even the good gift of being good. Whatever good we do is because goodness comes from God. All our "best deeds" are filthy rags. Our legacy, stemming from Adam, is a legacy of sin, a sin nature handed down to us by our human father, Adam.

All this leaves us with a few questions: So, what do we do about this propensity to rebel, to disobey the law just because it is law? And, if all of humanity is innately evil, how do we follow authority and obey laws established by sinners just like us? Well, stay tuned! Tomorrow I will tell you all I can. In the meantime, stay well. And, please, wash your hands.