February 27, 2014
Dear Eastridge Family,
Recently I read James Bryan
Smith’s chapter “God is Holy” in his book The Good and Beautiful God. As I read this chapter, I found myself
wishing that I could have every single Christian read it. The piece is excellent, not because it is new
or edgy, but because it states basic Christian truth with profound clarity.
Smith addresses a misunderstanding of the
truth that God is love, and loves sinners with reckless extravagance: “God does
not care about our sin” (116). Smith
writes, “In our day you are just as likely to hear a person tell you that their
god is a cosmic, benevolent spirit who never judges, does not punish sin and
sends no one to hell. This ‘teddy bear’
god has become a very fashionable alternative to the wrathful god of days gone
by” (116). The problem is that “the
cushy, fuzzy god is neither biblical nor truly loving.” Here, Smith cites H.
Richard Niebuhr’s well-worn phrase from The Kingdom of God in America, “A God without wrath brought men without sin
into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a
Cross.”
Smith
repeatedly emphasizes in the chapter that God is both “kind and severe. We cannot have one without the other” and that
this is “very good news” (118). It is
good news because God loves us so much that he is completely opposed to
anything that harms God’s beloved people. God loves us without condition, but hates sin
because sin threatens and eventually brings our destruction.
He makes an important distinction between
God’s love and wrath. “Wrath is not something that God is but something that
God does. While it is correct to say that God is holy, it is not correct to say
that God is wrathful… Holiness is God’s essence… Wrath is what humans
experience when they reject God. And it
is a necessary part of God’s love” (123).
Smith suggests that we should not want a god
who says, “‘It’s cool. Don’t sweat it. Everybody sins, just do it without the
guilt, dude. Guilt stinks. Just have a good time!’ This god does not love me. Being soft on sin is not loving, because sin
destroys. I want a God who hates anything
that hurts me. Hate is a strong word, but a good one. Because the true God not
only hates what destroys me (sin and alienation) but also has taken steps to
destroy my destroyer, I love him” (125).
1
John in one example from Scripture that only makes sense when we hold both
God’s inclusive love together with God’s complete rejection of sin:
This is the message we have heard from him
and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and
yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son,
purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him
out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
My dear children, I write this to you so
that you will not sin. But if anybody
does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous
One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our
sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. - 1 John
1:5-2:2
God’s love towards each one of us is
unconditional. Have you allowed that truth to sink into every corner or your
life, or are you still trying to clean yourself up for God, to earn your
acceptance? Are you willing to be
desperately dependent on God’s grace and not your own goodness?
God hates sin because God loves us. Are you allowing God’s grace to free you from
everything that keeps you from the life for which you were created? Will you allow the amazing grace of God to
forgive you of the ways you have sinned and are sinful? Will you allow God to
break the power of those canceled sins?
God is holy. God refuses to make compromises with sin and
death. And God is able to make us holy.
The offer of holiness is not a threat. It
is a precious promise.
·
Communion
This Sunday
Sunday
we will celebrate communion during the Sunday morning worship service.
·
Human
Trafficking and Slavery
My
hand today had two marks or two “x” marks.
One was from Ashley’s basketball game and the other, the big red “x” was
to bring awareness to the 27 million people who are enslaved in the world as
sex slaves, or laborers. It is estimated
that human trafficking alone generates annual profits of around $32 billion. The majority of trafficking victims are
between 18 and 24 years of age. Every minute two
children are sold into slavery.
Nazarene
Compassionate Ministries has invited churches around the world to participate
in Freedom Sunday, a day set aside to focus on the issue of modern
slavery, also known as human trafficking, on March 9, 2014.
·
Wesleyan
Theological Society Meeting
Next
week I will be traveling to Nampa, Idaho to attend the Wesley Theological Society
2014 Meeting where they will discuss “Atonement in the Wesleyan Tradition.” The Sunday following the meetings I will be
preaching at Andrew Williams’ Methodist Church in Vale, Oregon. He came to that small community and small
church and has seen several people baptized and the attendance double in just
two short years.
·
Notable
Quotes of the Week
“Spiritual
revival, or renewal, is a work of God in which the church is beautified and
empowered because the normal operations of the Holy Spirit are intensified. The
normal operations of the Spirit include conviction of sin, enjoyment and
assurance of grace and of the Father’s love, access to the presence of God, and
creation of deep community and loving relationships.” - Tim Keller
"God is looking for people
through whom He can do the impossible. What
a pity that we plan only things we can do by ourselves." – A. W. Tozer
"Nobody drifts into the
kingdom of God. Sooner or later there must be a dying and rising." – N. T.
Wright
“The One who knows you best, loves you most.” - Max Lucado
“Those who truly find forgiveness
at the hands of Jesus hate sin as the unforgiven never do." - E. Stanley
Jones