Counterfeit Gods

We’re working through Exodus on Sunday mornings and, as we were having discussions about Egypt’s gods, an article about Tim Keller from Christianity Today came to mind. That led to the purchase of Counterfeit Gods, his newest book. I have too many other ‘designated days’ going right now, but this is a fascinating book that really probes the nooks and crannies of one’s soul to reveal our idols. A few choice quotes to think about this lovely Saturday…

Speaking of public officials who sacrifice everything (even when they say they’re doing it for their families), Keller has a fantastic line (among many in the two chapters I’ve read so far):

“They had sacrificed everything to the god of success, but it wasn’t enough. In ancient times, the deities were bloodthirsty and hard to appease. They still are” (p. xiii).

If you’re looking for something to read, check this book out. Money, Sex, and Power are the subtitles, but there’s a challenge for every kind of idolatry imaginable … and there are more idolatries than we can possibly imagine.

God's Salvation

I'm preaching on the cross this Sunday - for Christmas. Jesus is the Hero who saves us from our sin. It was good to review Peterson's chapter as a reminder of the centrality of God's work in salvation. Peterson moves, in this section, from the life of creation (previous section) to death that permeates creation. It is a depressing beginning, but then we're reminded that Christ Plays in Salvation in the theater of death and despair. His main objective in this section (far greater than a chapter - 100 pages, give or take a few) is to remind us that God is the main player in salvation and we need to avoid moralism, thinking we add anything or contribute to the process.

He uses Exodus as a grounding text. Israel eats and responds. God tears down the mental, demonic stranglehold that Egypt had on God's people and leads them out. It was his work, not theirs. They eat, leave, and sing in response to salvation. Likewise, the gospels (he focuses on Mark) point to the death of Jesus that secures salvation in history. Again, we don't add anything to it. Rather, we give up. We die to ourselves and enter into the Jesus story as His followers. We don't contribute.

As we were to cultivate awe in creation via Sabbath in the last section. In this one we are reminded that salvation is Christ's work as we take communion. It is a regular reminder of what Jesus did to secure our salvation. I remember listening to a podcast by Jim Gilmore (The Experience Economy) a while ago. He was at a conference at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. He talked about how communion is an experience where we, in a small way, re-enact the cost of salvation. Powerful.

I'd encourage you to remember the next time you take communion, but that's kind of redundant. That's why we do it. But remember, I guess, that it is Jesus' work. You aren't adding anything. He is central in salvation so eat, respond, and sing with gratitude for God's great salvation.

Cultivating Awe in Creation

Peterson’s book, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, focuses on Christ playing in three places, primarily – Creation, History, and Community. He spends many pages articulating the importance of being thankful and awe-filled when it comes to creation. Then he looks at the life of Jesus in John’s gospel as building on the creation narrative of Genesis (at least Jn. 1 & Gen. 1). But this time it is the overflow of life that comes from the Creator stepping into creation. Beyond this, we’re called into relationship with this Creator who is very much grounded in our creation. There is no room for Gnosticism here. Creation is God’s good gift and His means of revealing Himself in Christ.

But after all this talk of creation, gratitude, glory, incarnation, and life, the question is raised, “How do we cultivate the appropriate awe?” The answer: Sabbath.

Peterson notes it is a time where we do-nothing so we do our God-honoring. It is a time to remember that the world does not revolve around us. As competent as we may be doing our God-given work, we remember that God really holds it all together. We need to put the tools down and rest in Him. Not just rest; worship. Adore. Be filled with awe.

Is your Sabbath filled with awe? I know my Sundays are filled with to-dos and church responsibilities, but I get a semi-Sabbath on Saturday mornings. I rest, read what I want, relax. It is wonderfully recharging (and thanks to a fantastic wife who makes it happen), but do I cultivate awe? And, how does not being in a corporate setting affect that ability to cultivate awe?

What’s your Sabbath like? Is it awe-filled? May it be increasingly so, particularly during this Christmas season.

First Things First: Praising God for our salvation

I've posted what could be an interesting exercise in praising God over at Cypress Church's blog as an application of my most recent sermon. Hop on over to www.cypressfamilyconnection.blogspot.com to contribute to the discussion.

Sabbatical #23: The Taste of Sin

I’ve started reading The Confessions by St. Augustine. He talks about stealing some pears as an adolescent simply for the rush of stealing. He didn’t want to eat the pears. He didn’t need them. He just wanted to steal. He had a taste for sin. His discussion on motives is a good reminder that we need to resist sin and be with God in prayer, fasting, Scripture, and the rest of the disciplines that we might cultivate a taste for godliness rather than sin, particularly when good things are used to lead us into the corruption of that good thing, ending in sin. Here’s what Augustine has to say…

Sin gains entrance through these and similar good things when we turn to them with immoderate desire, since they are the lowest kind of goods and we thereby turn away from the better and higher: from you yourself, O Lord our God, and your truth and your law. These lowest goods hold delights for us indeed, but no such delights as does my God, who made all things; for in him the just man finds delight, and for upright souls he himself is joy (31).

It is a reminder of the oft-quoted words that Augustine shares near the beginning of his work, “…you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is unquiet until it rests in you” (3).

Sabbatical #21: Don’t Forget Elizabeth!

I was just reading Luke 1.39-56. What a rich passage! The thing that swept me up in the story (perhaps another post on Eugene Peterson’s Eat This Book) was Elizabeth’s response when Mary arrived.

Think about Elizabeth for a minute. She’s pregnant with a miracle baby of her own and her husband saw an angel in the process. But when Mary walks through the door, she becomes totally self-forgetful. She doesn’t swap stories with Mary. No. Instead she, and John in her womb, delight at the presence of the King – still in the womb of his teenage mother.

What a picture of worship. I’m trying to connect more deeply with God during this sabbatical, but I find that a lot of my time is focused on me getting connected with Him rather than just losing myself in Him, delighting in Him, worshiping Him. That’s the union that God wants for our lives. Thanks, Elizabeth, for the picture that I exist to delight in Him and everything else revolves around that.

My purpose is to worship Him, to be come self-forgetful in His presence. When I do that, potential idols are put in their place. And I’m not just talking about money and that stuff, though that’s true, too. I’m talking about the idolatry of self, or of being a great husband, or worshiping my kids in the sense that our family’s life revolves around them. It doesn’t. It revolves around God – when everything’s working as it should. A worship-centered life isn’t one that is irresponsible. Everything will be taken care of, but in its proper place.