Have you never read?

In my reading for my upcoming gospels class I came across the parable of the tenants. This parable of Jesus is recorded in parallel accounts in Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12, and Luke 20:9-18. In the story a king is away and leaves his vineyard to tenants. He sends servants to gather the harvest from the tenants but they are beaten, dishonored, or killed. The landowner then sends his son whom the tenants kill. The part of these passages that struck me, though, was the passage Jesus ends with. He quotes from Psalm 118.

22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

It is obvious that the Pharisees and the chief priests were among those that heard these parables because they knew that it was them that Jesus was speaking against. These were the people who took pride in their study of the scriptures. Surely they had read this Psalm. Doubtless they had chanted or sung this Psalm as it is the last of the Psalms sung during Passover, the great Hallel. Notice how Jesus introduces it, "Have you never read...?" Notice the irony. Of course they've read it! They've sung it. They should know it. And yet what Jesus is pointing out is that they missed the point of it.

The point of Psalm 118:22 is that Jesus is the cornerstone, or the head of the corner. He defines where the boundary of the walls will be. He was rejected, though, by the Jewish leaders of his day and sent to death by them.

There were two things that struck me as I was reading this parable of Christ. First, this Psalm is about Him. It had always been about Him. It was about Him for the many years that the Psalm was sang during Passover. It is about Him as Christians sing it today. Second, we need to remind one another that this Psalm is about Him. Just as the Pharisees and chief priests may have read the words but failed to see the Christ standing before them, we can have hearts that are hardened to the true Christ who is revealed in the Psalms. But for those all who have hearts that have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, we can sing in this Psalm of Christ, the cornerstone, but also the rejected one; the sufferer.

For further study, see how the Apostlic writers continued to preach and write about Psalm 118:22. Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:7.

Overpaid Pastors... an Issue!

One of the blessings of sharing with the world that you're leaving your current job and heading to seminary is that some of your coworkers who you didn't otherwise know very well open up to you. I've been blessed to get to know better some men who either have been or are headed to seminary themselves. It has been a blessing to see God calling many to serve Him. I am reminded that Jesus told the 72, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" (Luke 10:2).

One conversation I didn't expect to have was with a Christian who had recognized a problem in his church: overpaid pastors. From the small conservative congregations I've been a part of this seems like a strange fiction, but he assured me it was true. Where the average person in the pew makes over $300K it can be the tendency for the pastor to begin to look like the layman. My friend was appalled that the administration budget had swelled to $1.3 million. He was ready to accept a practice he'd seen in an Apostolic bretheren congregation, where all members would pay their tithe only once a year (usually coinciding with harvest time).

I think overpaid pastors can be a real issue. Quite often, though, the problem is underpaid pastors. Paul instructs us "Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,' and, 'The laborer deserves his wages'" (1 Timothy 5:17-18). Pastors need to be paid. But, they often don't need the temptation to be over paid. I think one way to guard against this is to be part of a larger denomination. When there is visibility there is often accountability. Sometimes God's church in a wealthy area experiences overwhelming physical blessing. Often God's church in a poor area struggles. Being united together can cause the rich to give to the poor. Perhaps the problem of overpaid pastors is rooted in disjoint congregations.

on the label "Apostolic"

I've recited the Nicene Creed before. Many Christians have. In this creed, we affirm the findings of the council of Nicea, mostly which are affirmations of the Triune nature of God. It also affirms that we "believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church." Today, I'd like to focus on the word "Apostolic".

To be Apostolic means to agree with the Apostles. Apostle is from the Greek word, ἀπόστολος, which means "messenger, or one who is sent". The Apostles were sent with the good news of Jesus Christ. To be Apostolic means to accept the Apostle's teaching as sent from Jesus Christ, himself. Some modern Christians may jerk their knees at this. Shouldn't we follow what Jesus said? Well, yes, we should follow what Jesus said, and He said to follow the Apostles:

John 15:
20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

These last words are very direct. If we keep Jesus' words, we will keep the Apostle's. To be Christian means that we must be Apostolic. We cannot claim to be followers of Jesus Christ if we do not accept those whom He sent. The question then rises, who were the Apostles? The Catholic church would rephrase the questions saying, "who are the Apostles?", and answer that they believe the archbishops and pope are Apostles. Is this accurate? Let's look into this matter:

Following verse 20 of John 15 (cited above) there are the following verses:

26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

Jesus tells the Apostles that the Holy Spirit will bear witness to Jesus first. God himself is the first witness, there is no greater witness than Him. He tells the apostles that they will bear witness with the Holy Spirit because they have been with Him from the beginning. From this, we should take note that the Apostles have had personal encounters with Jesus himself. He is speaking, at this point, to the 12 Apostles, those who shared the last meal with Him in the upper room. Judas was among these 12, but I don't think that we're to listen to Judas, as he was soon to betray Jesus:

John 13:
2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, ...

So, we're supposed to follow the 11 Apostles, right? Well, no. The 11 soon became 12 again as is recorded in Acts 1:

15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”

Peter suggests the 11 find a 12th from the 120 who followed them. They do so, and the criteria which they used is recorded in the verses that follow:

21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”

When the 11 seek to find a 12th, they chose only from someone who had been with Jesus. It is mentioned from when Jesus was baptized by John (Mark 1) until he ascended (Acts 1:6-11). Essentially, they are only choosing among those who have witnessed all of Jesus' public ministry! The passage continues:

23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

After selecting from only those they knew had been with Jesus through it all, they narrowed it down to two, prayed for God to make the final selection, and cast lots (a way of determining God's Will, see Lev 16:8, Prov 16:33). This is recorded openly for us, so they did not make the selection privately. All together, this means that they understood that the selection of Apostles was not an action done by men, but by God. We see this same thinking when Paul speaks of his Apostleship in Galatians 1:

1:1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—

Remember that Paul was not one of the 12. How, then, did he become an Apostle? Did the 12 add him to their number the same way Matthias was added? As the first verse in Galatians says (quoted above), Paul is an apostle 'not from men nor through man'. He underscores later in the same chapter that He was directly called by Jesus Christ:

11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. [3] 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Paul became an Apostle because Jesus chose him. The 12 Apostles became Apostles because Jesus chose them. Since Jesus chose them and told us to listen to them, we need to listen to them. How do we do so? Well, the way we hear the Apostle's teaching is by reading what they wrote. The Apostle Paul wrote most of the New Testament. Other parts of the New Testament were written by close followers of the Apostles. We ensure that we are paying heed to the Apostles by hearing and doing what is written in the Bible.

To reject the Apostles' writings is to reject God who ultimately sent them. Jesus speaks to this effect as he sent out the 72 in Luke 10:

16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Jesus even prays to The Father to for us to believe the Apostles in John 17:

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

"Save Yourself and Us!"

"You can't have your cake and eat it, too."

I heard a great sermon this morning from the Independent Reformed Church which has been recently formed in Columbia, MO (http://independentreformedchurch.org/). A point which particularly caught my attention was that Jesus had to die in order for us to be saved. He could not have saved himself and us.

Luke 23:

32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. ... 39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, [4] saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

Jesus came to earth to do God's will, and it was God's will that Jesus should die for the sins of His people. When this dying thief said, "Save yourself and us", it was not a mere plea of a dying man. Consider the implications of what he said: 'If you are the Christ, you can save us however you want... it doesn't matter what God has willed... just save us and you could save yourself, too.' To do such a thing would, perhaps, save the lives of the thieves. Jesus could raise people from the dead physically, surely he could 'save' many people from dying at all. But to do so would be to deny the true salvation that Jesus came to provide. He does not save people in the flesh. He saves them to an eternal life. We will die (even Lazarus later died). Jesus had to die in the flesh to give us eternal life. The pleas of the dying thief were truly the mocking of Satan. Consider a similar dialogue Jesus had with Peter:

Matthew 16:

21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! [5] This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance [6] to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Jesus would not be tempted by the suggestions of Satan. He knew that to save His people, He would have to do so as The Father had commanded. To attempt to do so and still save his own life would have failed. He would have sinned against God. In sinning He would have been unable to fulfill God's righteous requirement. We would be without a savior.

Am I tempted by Satan's words? Do I attempt to follow Jesus' footsteps but still keep some vestiges of sin alive in my body? Do I try to save myself? I pray that God would give me strength to follow in Jesus, who has saved me, who has fulfilled God's requirements on my behalf when I never could. Praise be to God the Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ!

The gospel of ... linux?

My wife and I recently purchased a new laptop. It came with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic. I had decided a while back that I would stop purchasing software from Microsoft when other better (or, more importantly, free) alternatives were available. So, I decided to try linux. I planned to install it in parallel with Vista to allow use of either operating system. Long story short, the install was easy and painless and Ubuntu (the version of Linux I chose) has been pretty easy to use so far.

Once Ubuntu was installed, I wanted to take my nerdiness to the next level. I started looking at the Ubuntu forums. I downloaded a Ubuntu pocket guide and reference by Keir Thomas. It's a fun read, really, but one thing I noticed in the first few paragraphs irked me a bit:

The fact you’re reading this book might mean you already know about Ubuntu, but one or two readers might have bought the Print Edition of this book (or downloaded the PDF) on a whim to see what the fuss is all about. These people might lack specifics, and remain unconvinced of the benefits of Ubuntu. So, I’m going to burn through some precious pages of this slim volume to evangelize and explain just a little.

The author wants "to evangelize" his readers. The root of the word evangelize is the greek word for gospel or good news. He wants to share the good news ... of Ubuntu linux? I realize that linux is good news to a lot of people. It is free. That is great news. It is constantly being made better, has a spirit of community in people that use it, works right "out of the box", is powerful for accomplishing lots of things, and did I mention it's free? This is not the gospel. This, in fact, is terrible news next to the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news that Jesus has come to Earth and become human so that He would save His people from their sins is the best news ever. Literally. Ever.

Philippians 3:
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Next to the news that Christ has come, the news that there is a free operating system is like trash... pungent trash. I think this fits with what Jesus said:

Luke 14:

26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

I don't think Jesus is negating the 4th commandment, as He elsewhere affirms:

Matthew 15:

4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’

I think that Jesus wants us to love our fathers, mothers, wives, children, brothers and sisters. The important thing here is the degree of love. Compared to one's love for God, these other loves should so pale in comparison, that they appear hate. Jesus is showing the degree to which we should regard the first and greatest commandment above the second:

Mark 12:

28 And one of the scribes came up and ... asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?" 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

So, I ask myself as I write this... Is my love for the one God primary to my being? Do I love God with all my heart? Do I love God with all my soul? Do I love God with all my mind? Do I love God with all my strength? Do I love my neighbor as myself? Is my love for God so strong that the love for myself and others like hate in comparison? Do I hate my wife in comparison to the love I have for God?

I have no problem saying that linux sucks in comparison to God. Am I ready, though, to tell myself that I suck in comparison to the God of the universe?