Refocus

Recently, another very prominent Christian leader was discovered to be involved in a sex scandal. And it broke my heart, as this kind of thing always does, not only for the damage to his life, his family, and his reputation, but for the wider fallout that affects all those in the circle of his influence. There is no private sin. When what we do fails to match what we say, it always wounds others and discredits our testimony.

But none of us is perfect. So, I’m grateful that Ephesians 4:8-9 states emphatically that salvation is a gift from God received by faith and not based on our works. God’s grace to forgive can never be overwhelmed by our failures.

But James 2:17 says that faith without works is dead. In other words, true faith is always a claim confirmed by action. And that truth challenges us to freshly consider whether our deeds confirm our declarations.

The final dozen verses of the tenth chapter of John describe Jesus purposefully drawing attention to his works.

The Pharisees were in the act of picking up rocks to stone him to death when – with biting sarcasm – Jesus asked which of his good works they were about to kill him for. Was it feeding the hungry, freeing spiritual captives, embracing outcasts, healing the sick? But they said the issue wasn’t his works. It was his claim. By claiming to be the Son of God he was guilty of blasphemy and deserved to die according to their law.

In response, he reminded them of Psalm 82 where God rebuked those who’d received a commission to serve as judges. They’d betrayed that calling by favoring the wicked instead of defending the poor, the fatherless, the afflicted, and the needy. Still, God (with an upper case “G”) referred to them as gods (with a lower case “g”). So, Jesus asked why it should be considered blasphemy to refer to himself as the Son of God, when he was the one sent by the Father to redeem their failures?

When the Pharisees had no answer, he corrected the basis of their indictment by pointing out that it really was about his works. If his works didn’t back it up, his claim was meaningless.

This only fanned the flames of their fury, and they tried to arrest him. But he escaped to a place along the Jordan River where John the Baptist had conducted his ministry. And we’re told that many people came to him there and confessed their faith in him specifically because John’s claims about him had been confirmed by his works.

It’s clear from this passage that there’s an important connection between claims and works, words and deeds, rhetoric and action. The significance of this relationship is at the heart of sayings like, “practice what you preach,” “actions speak louder than words,” and “if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk.”

Do our works align with our testimony? I believe this critical question needs to be asked and answered daily by all of us who claim to be Jesus-followers.

But I confess, most days, I’d rather avoid it. I don’t want to have to admit that I often don’t live my faith as fully as I’d like. Perhaps that’s true for you too. But if so, there’s good news for both of us.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus said the Holy Spirit would empower us to be his witnesses – to live as his representatives in this world. That means that when our works don’t match our claim, the story isn’t over and we’re not on our own to rewrite it. With humility and repentance, if we regularly and prayerfully welcome the Spirit’s transforming work in our lives, he has the power to enable us to “walk the talk.”

So.... I had a thought.

When our oldest Grandson was about preschool age, he came over to our house for a visit one day. We had an orange tree in the backyard and it had just stormed at our house. The wind had knocked many of the tiny baby oranges off the tree. Nevertheless, our Grandson had fun wandering around picking up all the tiny little oranges and collecting them in a container. Some were black, some were green, and some were even orange, but none of them were bigger than the size of a quarter.

After collecting them all, he looked at them with pride and was telling me all about his oranges. Finally, he said with his chest puffed out, “One day they will be big oranges. “Well Buddy,“ I explained, “these oranges will never get big. Do you see the oranges still on the tree? Those oranges will get big, but these oranges aren’t connected to the tree anymore. And if they aren’t connected to the tree, they can’t grow.”

It made me think of Samson in Judges chapter 16. This part of the story occurs when Delilah has cut off Sampson’s hair and he doesn’t know it yet. She wakes him by yelling, “Sampson, the Philistines are upon you!” He thinks, “No problem! I’ll go defeat them as I have before.” Then the Scripture tells us, “but he did not know that Yahweh had left him.”

Is there anything sadder? He’s clueless – and helpless! He’s taken the anointing hand of the Lord for granted to such a degree that now he can’t even tell that the Lord’s hand has been lifted from him.

How often are we like that? Going through life thinking we’ve got it together and not realizing that, because we have let go of our Abba’s hand, we are wandering, about to be blinded because we thought we could wing it on our own. In John chapter 15, Jesus talks about being the True Vine and that Father is the Vinedresser. He says that whoever abides in Him will bring forth fruit: for apart from Him we can do nothing.

When we aren’t connected to the Vine we cannot bear fruit. We may still look like a branch, but in reality, we are withering and unfruitful. In a vineyard all the branches of the vine grow directly from the vine itself. A branch cannot piggyback off another branch. It must be connected to the true vine.

So, it is with us and our Lord. We must stay connected to the Vine alone and resist the temptation to just try to get our nutrients from another branch. Direct connection to the Vine is the only way to grow.

In fact, at pruning season, branches are cut back till there’s only a little nub left. For nearly a year, the branches “abide” in the vine. The vine then grows all around the nub of a branch, pumping it full of nutrients until, in the growth season, the branch suddenly shoots out with growth and then with fruit.

We need to stay abiding in the Vine. We need to stay in the place of allowing the Lord to fill us with what is of Him and removing all that is not of Him. Only then can we be truly connected and truly fruitful.

Four of our grandchildren spent a couple of days with us recently. I usually lay down with the two grandsons, ages 7 and 9 as they are settling in for the night and we talk about the day and whatever is on their minds and pray before they fall asleep.

On the first night of their stay, as we talked, Aaron, the older of the two asked me if I would pray for him so that he would not have any bad dreams.

"Yes of course…" and I prayed a simple prayer asking God that He would protect and keep him from any bad dreams – in Jesus’ name.

The next morning at breakfast I asked him if the Lord had answered our prayer. He smiled and said, “Yes, there were no bad dreams!”

All were happy and we talked a bit during breakfast how we can pray about anything and everything that concerns us and God will hear us.

That second night ‘us guys’ were again settling in for the night and Aaron asked me again, “Papa, will you pray for me again so I won’t have any bad dreams?”

I asked him if he thought that Jesus would answer our prayer again. He thought for a moment, smiled a big smile and slowly said with a sense of confidence, “Yes.” And we prayed, and yes, Jesus did answer our prayers again.

Oh, the beauty and wonder in seeing the budding of child-like faith and witnessing God’s love and care for one of His little ones.

May the following scripture remind and encourage us that God invites us to pray and trust Him with all aspects of our lives.

Philippians 4:6-7 Don't worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 4:6-7

Wonderful testimony of the beauty and power of childlike faith.

John chapter 10 verses 24-30 describe Jesus being ambushed by the Jewish leaders demanding he plainly answer the question of his messiahship. He responded by saying he’d already been as clear as possible on the subject both with words and with miraculous deeds. He told them the problem was not a lack of HIS clarity but a lack of THEIR faith. They were simply choosing not to believe the obvious and there was nothing he could do to change that. No amount of verbal debate or physical evidence can change a closed mind.

How sad to think that these men could be face-to-face with the Son of God and remain blind to that truth by choice, oblivious to his divinity not because they hadn’t seen or heard, but because they’d refused to acknowledge what they’d seen and heard.

But the Lord went on to say there are those of us he refers to as, “my sheep,” who choose to hear his message and act on it in faith by becoming his followers. And to us, he said he gives the twin promises of life in the hereafter and security in the here and now. He declared we will have eternal life and experience it within the safety of his protective grasp, a refuge beyond the reach of any attempt to separate us from him.

That powerful statement deserves to be rejoiced in, highlighted, bookmarked, and committed to memory. No one can “snatch” us from his hand. He will never let go of us.

The problem is…that doesn’t prevent us from letting go of him.

I took one of my young grandsons with me to the store the other day. As we made our way through the parking lot, I held his hand to ensure his safety. And as we walked, I could feel his grip. He was holding on to my hand too. The sensation was a heartwarming affirmation of his trust, but it was more than that. It was what made it possible for me to protect him. If he’d let go of me, pulled away, and insisted on going off on his own, he would have exposed himself to unanticipated dangers, and it would have been nearly impossible for me to keep him secure.

And that can happen in our relationship with Jesus if we in pride conclude we don’t need him or in fear assume we can’t trust him and then choose to loosen our grip on him. His promises remain, but we are in jeopardy of removing ourselves from their fulfillment and becoming spiritually vulnerable. And the devil is always ready to exploit that vulnerability to pry our souls loose from their resting place within the Savior’s hand.

The beautiful thing is you don’t have to enable that strategy. If for any reason it seems the strength of your hold on Jesus has weakened, his on you is powerful. Press into it. Right now, determine with fresh commitment to hold tightly to him in faith and firmly keep your hand in his.