New Thoughts (9/5/05-9/11/05)
The first thing I need to consider and contemplate here is what I see in those first two verses. The world heard that Jesus was baptizing, but it was not He who did so, it was His disciples. Well, let me remain ever and always aware that what the world sees in me, it attributes to my Savior. This is as true when I have completely forgotten whose child I am as it is when I seek to represent Him well. Going about my work week, I can easily fool myself into thinking that few people around me know I belong to Christ so when I blow it, it just doesn’t matter all that much. Last week I was forced to the realization that this simply isn’t true.
As it turns out, one of my coworkers happened upon the broadcast of our church service on the local cable channel, and there on the stage was this guy playing saxophone who looked a lot like me. Could it be? It seemed unlikely to him, but he thought he’d ask. Well, yes, it was me. Now, the upside of this is that this young man, for whatever reasons, is intrigued enough that he thinks maybe he’ll stop by for a service some Sunday. I tell you, I don’t care what has motivated him, so long as he comes in. If God has chosen this man to be His own, it won’t be too long before he’s all but forgotten why he came.
The downside of this is that, having come to this verse the following day, I find myself wondering what this young man thinks of my God given what he’s seen of me over the years. He is, after all, somebody I’ve been acquainted with for several years now, not closely, but on projects together, at any rate. As he considers this new, as it were secret life of his coworker, I wonder if he thinks back upon what he knew, or thought he knew of me before. I hope this doesn’t sound prideful to say, because that’s certainly not what I’m feeling. I know myself better than that. I know how poorly I have displayed my Jesus. So again I say that I wonder what impression this has left of my God. I wonder if I can so take this message to heart that I begin to walk like the ambassador I am.
Look at those verses again. The Pharisees heard that Jesus was baptizing and making more disciples than John had done, yet it was not Jesus who was baptizing. I look at this, and I start to consider it in light of the things that Jesus, through my Teacher, the Holy Spirit, has been making clear in recent weeks. I think back to last week, when I was thinking about that wonderful and often horribly misunderstood passage in which Jesus tells His disciples to ask what they will in His name with the certain promise that they shall receive that for which they have asked. My God, my Groom, has entrusted me with direct access to His accounts! He has put His credit cards in my hands and sent me on a shopping spree in this world! What is He thinking? Think about it. Would you turn your children loose with your bank account? Would you trust them to use that access wisely, to go and buy only those things that you would be pleased to find them buying? I rather doubt it. I must say, though, that this reflects more on our own efforts in training than anything else.
Jesus did a better job at this than we. He had trained up His disciples so well that He was certain that they could be trusted with this incredible liberty. He knew that they loved Him so dearly that they would not even entertain the thought of asking for anything He would not gladly give. He knew that they were fully committed to His cause, even if they didn’t fully understand it. Their concern to exhibit in their own lives an image of their Savior and Teacher that did Him credit is evident throughout the writings we have from them. That concern led them to pass on their concern as well as their understanding. When they found themselves left in charge of the ministry Jesus had begun, they still took to heart the responsibility that had been placed upon them when He gave them this great boon. Yes, they could ask whatever they would in His name. They could ask for anything, but so consumed were they with love for this Jesus that it would not even occur to them to ask for anything for themselves. Their eyes were on the kingdom of God, on His plans and purposes, and nothing about their own lives really mattered much anymore.
They had fully stepped into that ambassadorial role. They understood the lesson learned there at the beginning: the world would understand Jesus by their example, and nothing else. If their example didn’t reflect the Light of Life properly, who would be bothered to come seek Him? This needs to be our great concern today, and yet, I know from my own experience that it is not always, not even usually so. We get so caught up in our own daily lives, in the insignificant matters of earning a living, of caring for our own property, of dealing with our own petty issues and interests, that we quickly forget all about Him. He has bought us at great price, He has welcomed into His own family, no longer as slaves but as friends, and yet we are inclined to make light of this. Oh, we will not think that thought out loud, mind you; probably won’t even admit it to ourselves if we can help it. Yet, our lives speak the truth we seek to hide. We hold our God to be of so little esteem that we feel we must take care of everything ourselves. If our accounts aren’t flush, well God’s plans and purposes will simply have to wait. We have more important matters to attend to. If He hasn’t furnished us with every possible material comfort, given us the house of our dreams, a car fit to be the envy of one and all, the flashy clothes, and talent beyond measure, then we drift off to seek them in our own power.
I’ve seen it! To my shame, I’ve seen it in me! How can this be? I know better than that! I know my God provides, and yet I allow the concerns of this present year to overwhelm me. I look to my balance sheet of a Saturday and it drives me to distraction. I see the tenuous nature of my employment, and all trust seems to flutter away. How often, oh soul of mine, have you been witness – personal witness – to the sure and certain provision of your Creator? What cause have you, foolish heart, to fret? How dare you allow yourself to wallow in doubts! Surrounded as you are by a cloud of witnesses both living and long dead that shout of God’s eternal faithfulness, you know full well that you don’t even need that witness to be sure of Him! You have your own witness, foolish child, the record of a lifetime showing you that whatever may come, He will care for you! How have you allowed yourself to become so attached to things? Does this house, lovely though it is, really matter more to you than the Lord of Life? Say it’s not so! My God is faithful! Oh, He may find He has to strip me of a few things that have loomed too large in my estimations. He may decide that my growth in Him requires a shrinking of the lifestyle to which I’ve grown accustomed, but He is faithful. If I will but keep my eyes on Him, if I will heed His command to seek first His kingdom purposes, I know beyond all possibility of doubt that He will be faithful to provide my every need.
Oh, it’s so easy to believe in my Jesus! Yet, it is so hard to believe Him. The cards are stacked against us, as it were. Everywhere we look in this life, we are offered reasons not to believe. Science, they say, has proved Him non-existent. The very acts of nature that have been in such awesome display this last week, they see as proof that He could not have had a hand in it. Why, if He’s so good, how could this happen? And, if this could happen, how could He be good? Surely, we are wiser than God! Surely, we understand too well now to believe that He is who He says He is! It is the great and foolish hope of man to find some way to convince himself that God is not God, that there is no higher Authority to Whom he must give answer for his acts. It is a foolish hope because there is absolutely no possibility of that hope being satisfied. We, on the other hand, have been given a certain hope, a sure hope, an absolute upon which we can peg all that we are or seek to become. My God IS. He has not left us on our own, and He is deeply concerned with our daily lives. His greatest desire is that we might live, and yet He must look upon our daily choice to die. How it breaks a Father’s heart to see His child insist on self-destruction.
It breaks His heart, yet it does not leave Him in despair. Quite the contrary! He sees our hopeless condition and rather than leaving us for lost, He pulls out all the stops, puts forth every effort to awaken us to our danger, to point out the safe path, to set our feet firmly on the rock that we might stand in the midst of every trial and storm. Oh, the pundits can rant and rave, and lay about themselves seeking one to blame. It is inevitable. They will blame the government. They will blame society. They will blame God, insomuch as they can bring themselves to acknowledge Him at all. They will blame anybody and everybody they can think of, just so it isn’t the fault of the victims or the victimizers. Not one of them will give a moment’s thought to sin. Indeed, I have seen one columnist already who can only register offense at the very thought that sin might have something to do with things. “The world hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil” (Jn 7:7). Don’t be surprised!
My, my, my! They’re so offended at the very thought of God having anything to do with anything that they’re even registering offense at the facts! I’m not making this up! I’m not imagining it! I’ve been hearing it with my own ears on national news. They look about at the disaster down south, and they’re upset because the vast majority of aid that is arriving isn’t coming from governmental agencies, but from “faith-based initiatives”. Allow me to translate that lovely phrase. They’re upset because the Church is being the Church! As unwilling as they are to accept that God is Just, and that He is well within His rights to punish sin, they are just as deeply offended, just as unwilling to accept that God is Love, that God is Merciful. They are not willing that He should stretch out His mighty right arm in judgment, nor are they willing that He reach out in tenderness to comfort the misery of those who have experienced the horror of His vengeance.
“Come, let us return to the Lord! Oh! He has torn us to be sure, but He will heal us! He has wounded us, but He will surely bandage us. He will revive us, raise us up that we may live before Him” (Hos 6:1-2). Why will you rail against His discipline, rather than learn? How long will you continue to spurn His loving correction? It may offend our eyes and ears to hear the truth, but it must be said. Is it not fitting that those whose desire is to live in lawlessness shall be condemned to do just that? Are there innocent people being caught up in the horrors? No, not really. There is no such thing as an innocent people. It is but the display of God’s great mercy that any are allowed to survive. Yes, and we discover, if we are willing to dig through the blame fixing that counts for coverage of this disaster, that those ‘innocents’ who have remained have been laboring to save others. That acts of the faithful are not fitting material, apparently, for the media outlets. Where’s the pathos? There’s no room for heroism in the news, any longer, unless it comes combined with outrage against the government, or against God.
Do you realize what we’re hearing from the government agencies in the midst of all this? We’re being told that we shouldn’t help. They’re upset that people are doing for themselves, and for each other. We’ll just mess it up. We don’t know what to do. These very agencies that are so upset to see people actually taking responsibility, that are bothered to find themselves outdone by God-centered charities, were founded, as I hear it on PBS, in the wake of another flood. It seems the mighty Mississippi sat at flood stage for months, flooding not only a city, but a huge swath of the Midwest. Now, we could argue the motivation of those involved, but the upshot was the founding of government oversight of disaster relief, a first foundation of a nation that would prefer to depend on Federal aid rather than their own resilience. Indeed, the new agency was so effective in its work that the one who headed up that effort found himself propelled to the presidency. Now that agency has the audacity to raise itself up as the expert on these matters of disaster relief. Really? Then, how is it that almost a century after that flood in which they were founded they find themselves unprepared? How is it that the experts find themselves outdone by the amateurs they so disdain? How is it that those who have not succumbed to the siren song of the welfare state are shown not only able, but willing to come to the aid of those in need?
You know, I think about this, and I think about what I was writing of before I turned to these events, and I find cause for hope. See, the things that are hidden will be revealed. The media may not see fit to celebrate the Church being the Church. They may not find it pleasing that the people of God are out doing as He taught them to do. They may try to keep it quiet, but the news will get out. Certainly, those being helped by these ‘faith-based’ organizations will be aware of who it is that came to their aid. Who can know how many of these may find themselves undergoing a change of heart, a change of life, as a result of God’s goodness towards them? Those whom the government agencies help will surely be just as thankful to be out of that scene of horror, but they will come away little the better for it. They will have been further indoctrinated to play the victim’s role, and cast about themselves for handouts, and whether they return to New Orleans, are settle elsewhere, they will be none the better for the experience. But those who have tasted of God’s goodness in the midst of that horrible experience, those who have not only heard the concern in the voice of those who asked if they needed prayers, but have also seen the answer to those prayers in the acts of the ones who asked…how many will hear in these moments the voice of a loving God calling? How many will have found the course of their lives changed for the better?
Oh, God, I pray that it be so! I pray that those many thousands who have felt Your touch at the hands of Your servants will, like the Pharisees, attribute the work of Your servants to Yourself! I pray that they would find in Your compassion a cause to hope, a cause to believe, a cause to go and do likewise. While I cannot and will not celebrate this catastrophe, yet I will praise You for Your merciful justice. Yes, there has been great destruction, but You have prevented catastrophes of far greater scale. Even now, Lord, increase the harvest! Even now, Lord, reach out to those hardest of the hardened souls, even to those whose exploits are cause for deepest shame, and speak to them. Let them hear You, my God, let them hear Your call for repentance, and let them turn from the wickedness they have pursued. Oh, God! Our eyes see a flood, but You, oh Lord, make of it a great and mighty baptism into repentance and holiness. Let the fame of Your name spread however much they seek to suppress it! Be glorified, my God, even in the midst of this tragedy, be glorified. For Your mercy is indeed everlasting, and Your tender care for us is renewed every morning. Yes, and though mourning may be our lot for a time, yet Your joy comes on the horizon! Oh, the record of Your faithfulness winds back through the ages. Even with Your most favored people, Lord, You did not fail to bring a just chastising when it was necessary. Yes, but You always, always, always came with hope and a promise in the midst of that chastisement. Never did You close the door on hope. Never did You give up on Your children. No, and You never will. Praise be to Your glorious Name!
Having recognized that what was His disciples did was attributed to Jesus, let me turn more fully to Him, and to His own actions in this passage. First, I should like to make it clear that Jesus is in no way retreating from anything or anybody here. He left behind Judea to go back to Galilee. Far from a retreat, I think this was closer to a victorious return, although there had been no battle to which the eyes could give evidence. I will shortly turn my consideration more towards the geography and the significance of these places that are mentioned. Right now, though, I want to consider the timing. In verse 3, it seems, we are being told the outcome of the matter. For some reason, Jesus had determined it was time to head back to home base. That reason is to be found in verse 1. It was made known to Him that the Pharisees were being told that He had surpassed John in His ministry. His following was even greater than John’s.
Are we to suppose, then, that Jesus had entered into some sort of competition with John? Absolutely not! Indeed, I think John’s own reaction to this same news makes it clear that a competition would have been impossible. See, it takes at least two parties to compete. If one simply folds up and cedes the field to the other, what competition can there be between them? What competition could be established between the groom and the best man? Are they really likely to come to blows over the bride? Jesus did not come and minister in Judea to compete with John. He did so to make a point with the established religious order. These authorities, we might recall, had been troubled already by John and his popularity with the larger population. They had sent their probes out to see what John was all about, and had received rather a solid tongue lashing from him. It is hardly to be supposed that they came away from that encounter with strong endorsements for what the Baptist was doing. Now comes this Jesus on the scene, and they learn that His ministry is in many ways quite similar to what John had been about. Furthermore, they have learned that Jesus is, if anything, more successful than John.
Why was it important to Jesus that they understand this? It becomes clear, from the timing of events, that this really was the fundamental purpose behind His choosing to minister in the region. He continued to abide there, teaching His disciples, encouraging them, we must suppose, in their baptismal activities. Of course, Righteousness will always encourage repentance. Now, once He is certain that the Pharisees are aware not only of His existence, but of His impact, He decides that enough has been done in this present setting. It is time to return home. Again, let me say that this is not a retreat. He has accomplished His purpose in that location, and shall now return to his base of operation. We could view it as the missionary having accomplished his goal, and going back to the head office for further orders. Yet, I don’t think that really gives us the proper perspective for Jesus’ activities here. Indeed, I think one could almost see it as a declaration of war on the established church of that time. It is, in this sense, the action of a prophet. At this stage, as regards the Pharisees, He is not delivering God’s commentary upon their deeds in word, but in deed. Like Ezekiel, and like other prophets of old, He is walking out the message in their sight. He is becoming in this moment a living parable.
This brings us to the next question. John tells us that Jesus, in returning to Galilee, had to pass through Samaria. Now, this is interesting, is it not? After all, we all know from even the most limited understanding of Jewish culture at that time that no proper Jew would have been caught dead wandering in Samaritan territory. They would find it far preferable to take a detour through the regions across the Jordan than pursue the direct path to Galilee via Samaria. A quick look at the map shows that such a detour would not have been so terrible a thing. One could, I should think, just follow the Jordan on up its valley toward the Sea of Galilee. Granted, there is some climbing involved in such a journey, but the Samaritan route is not exactly level going either. And, the Jordan’s presence would at least ensure drinking water. No concern for traveling to the next well, as one must when traveling the wilder paths.
So why did He have to pass through Samaria? Let me first point out that the necessity reflected by that little phrase “had to” is speaking of a binding obligation. Now, we have already discerned that there was no physical obligation making it impossible to avoid that particular route. The obligation, then, must lay elsewhere, and being as this is Jesus we are discussing, that obligation must be found in the command and will of the Father. That thought of the Father’s command creating the need brings us right back to the prophetic parable that Jesus was literally walking out with His disciples as they took to the road.
As so often seems to be the case with God, the reasons for His commanded choice of the Samaritan highway are manifold. On the most personal level, knowing as we do how this story unfolds, we know that there was a woman there dwelling in darkness and guilt that needed to see the Light. Indeed, there was a whole people, ten of the twelve tribes of Israel, whose representation before God was marked by this very place, the place that the founders of the Northern kingdom had established for worship. That kingdom, founded in rebellion, remained in rebellion until its destruction. Indeed, this people, the descendants of the last remnants of that kingdom, though intermixed with the Gentiles amongst whom they dwelt, remained in rebellion against the true worship of God to that day. This is reflected in the question that woman would put to Jesus later. “We were taught to worship on this mountain, Your people say we must worship at the Jerusalem temple. Who’s right?” (Jn 4:20). Yes, that whole region needed the saving touch of Grace. They had been trained for so long to worship at this altar of rebellion. They understood, still, that something was wrong with that. The simple fact that there was a competing house over in Jerusalem, claiming to serve the same God and both claiming exclusive rights to Him, said something was wrong. Granted, I’m getting ahead of the story here, but I think it needs saying here. Jesus’ answer to that question as much as said that both of those claims were wrong, and for the same reason. The Samaritan altar had been built in rebellion. The religion now espoused in the Temple was just as much an act of rebellion against a holy God. Neither was teaching the Truth.
Now, there is one other aspect of this living parable that is being played out under the nose of the Pharisees that they would have done well to recognize. Notice the progress of Jesus’ journey. He departed Judea. There are reminiscences here of Ezekiel’s vision, when God departed the Temple. Having left Judea, the chosen of the chosen, He has gone to the Samaritans. These were the people despised by the Jewish elect, virtually untouchable in their minds. God, however, declared a different perspective. Not only were they touchable, they were in their way more deserving of His attention than the self-declared separated ones were. From there, most thoroughly unthinkable to the Pharisee, He went to dwell amongst the Gentiles! What a message He was walking out. History would show that this was exactly the path that God was taking. His own people had rejected Him, so He would take His salvation to a people more anxious to know Him. A people dwelling in darkness would see a great light (Isa 9:2). The Light of Life would shine upon those who live in a dark land. There it is, laid out for us. Samaria, where they had dwelt in the darkness of rebellion and false teaching, would see the Light. He was there for a few days, to wake folks up to the Truth. Those who welt in a dark land, and what could be darker than that Heathen Circle, Galilee, would have His light shining upon them. There in that short journey, perhaps a week, the Pharisees were seeing this message from Isaiah walked out. Yet, seeing, they would not perceive. Seeing the signs of the times, they would fail utterly to interpret them and therefore repent.
[9/7/05] Another symbolic aspect of Jesus’ choice of routes occurs to me this morning. This aspect is to be found in the place names themselves. Jesus was leaving the Judea the celebrated. He was going, most immediately, to the watch mountain of Samaria. However, arriving in that place, He found the people of the city of Sychar, drunk on strong drink. Yes, the well of Jacob was here, but rather than drink water drawn from the provisions of God, they had chosen the intoxicating drafts of the locals. So much could be drawn from this image! The watchmen of Israel were drunk on the strong drink of Roman power. Here is one chief message to be had. They were so enamored of the influence they held, even though that influence came at the cost of ceding authority to Rome, that they no longer really cared about God, the true King of Israel. He could send His Messiah if He cared to, but they would stick with what they had. HE could provide Living Water, but they would prefer the intoxication of power, thanks all the same. Because of this, judgment was come once again upon Israel and those who should have been watching for danger had incapacitated themselves.
What shall we draw from this for our own time? We have seen the same story play out repeatedly in the history of the Church. The Roman Empire made Christianity its state religion, and soon that religion had become once again a tool of the state. The Church became enamored of its new power and prestige, and soon forgot all about the heavenly kingdom it served, preferring instead to pursue its worldly domains. Praise God, reformers came, awakening hearts to the true Gospel of God once again. Yet, these were turned aside as well, when power was in their hands. Yes, we have known revivals through the ages, yet those revivals have been but for a season. The watchmen, it seems, soon wander off to their drink once again, leaving those they were set to guard defenseless against a persistent and stealthy enemy.
What are the watchmen doing today? Look about! The watchmen are once more sucking up to the political powers of our day. They are looking to increase their influence in the halls of government, but at what cost? As they look to influence, who, it must be asked, is influencing whom? To what degree are they compromising God’s principles in order to be accepted as legitimate voices in government? How many reprehensible actions of that government are they overlooking in hopes of gaining an ear there on other issues? Are they really coming into the halls of power to speak the Truth of God, or are they satisfied to pursue a few agenda items, willing to gloss over equally damning activities of those they are trying to influence? What will they prove willing to do to hold onto the power they have gained?
This ought to be cause for concern for us! For all its abuse of the phrase, ‘separation of Church and State,’ it is after all the state who decides what that separation shall look like. It is acceptable, for instance, that the state forever threatens to rescind the Church’s tax exemptions should it decide it doesn’t like what the pulpit is declaring. The first leash is upon the clergy. We can look to our friends and neighbors around the globe and see the second leash appearing, as laws are passed deciding what the pulpit is allowed to say, not only about the government itself, but about morals in general! We have a Canadian clergy that is no longer permitted to call sin sin, because identifying sin has now been declared hate speech, punishable by imprisonment. Well, of course the identifying of sin is hate speech! We are called to hate sin. We are simultaneously called to have as much compassion upon those caught up in sin as God has had with us, to forgive as He has forgiven. The question is, as this second leash tightens, how many pulpits will hold to God’s authority in spite of it all? Looking at the present landscape, I fear it won’t be many.
Already, we see entire denominations capitulating. This year, the battle is around homosexuality. Church after church seems ready to set aside pure doctrine, to decidedly ignore the clear Word of God as He has so kindly revealed it to man. They have preferred the strong drink of attendance numbers, of acceptance in the heathen community around them. They are more interested in being popular than in being righteous. If the watchmen have all gone off to drink, my friends, what hope remains for those they were guarding? All is not yet lost. It is not yet too late to turn back. There remain a few at their posts, thank God, unwilling to yield to this lie.
Jesus still sits at the well. In the midst of a debauched countryside, in the midst of the worst apostasy, He sits by the well of Providence. He continues to hold out His offer of forgiveness. He continues to offer that sweet gift of liberty. He continues to reach out with the Key of life, hoping that we might accept His offer to unbind us from the chains of our own guilty conscience. Whether we are willing to confess it openly or not, you see, we know our guilt. We know we have sinned, however much we may seek to deny it, and when we do deny it, the greater part of our issue with life is how much effort we must expend to keep that denial vaguely plausible. We will go to such great lengths to try and dull the pain of that guilt. Perhaps we can drink it into submission. Perhaps we can legislate it into acceptable behavior. Anything, just so we don’t have to face the truth about what we are doing. And, there He sits. He looks upon us with eyes of sorrow, knowing exactly what we are doing to ourselves, knowing it need not be that way. He holds in His hands the cure, if we will but stop running scared and accept it. You could ask Him, and He would give you living water (Jn 4:10). You still can. That thirst that plagues you, that you keep hoping to satisfy but never can…that, too, is a product of the guilt of sin. It is the desire to have guilt washed away, but it cannot be washed away by your own forgetfulness. You can forget, and the guilt will still remain, the sin will still persist. Jesus, though, is offering a cleansing flood of Living Water, a cleansing that will truly put all of that in the past, that will pay the price of what you have done, and liberate you to cease from doing so again. Whom He gives drink from His fountain will never thirst again. Indeed, who drinks from His fountain will discover that he has in himself that very same fountain, pouring into him the waters of eternal life (Jn 4:14).
The offer stands. In the midst of this darkened land, in the midst of all that is so wrong, Jesus is still sitting. He is still offering that drink. He is still willing that you should step out of your deception, step out of your guilt, and step into real life. This life you have been living, a life spent running from yourself; this is no life at all, and you know it. That’s why you’ve been hiding from it, drinking and drugging it into unconsciousness so it won’t bother you so. That’s the despair of your present condition. But He has the antidote for your despair. He’s offering you real life, life that doesn’t need to be hidden away from, life that doesn’t bring us shame. Taste and see that the Lord, He is good! Come, and drink from the Living Water of Life. Come, repent of your sins and turn away from them in the power of the Holy Lamb of God who died that you might have this very thing!
There will be an echo of this particular journey in what Jesus commands His disciples as He departs for home. “You shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and around Judea, in Samaria, and even to the farthest parts of the earth” (Ac 1:8). This but confirms the commission that He places upon His disciples when He had come to them at the place He designated. “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). “Baptize them, teach them.” Just as Jesus did only that which He saw the Father doing (Jn 5:19), so He calls His disciples to do those things they have seen Him doing.
Now, having turned to the Great Commission, it is well to understand something that gets lost in our passions. How many times have we heard that this command to go forth discipling, baptizing, and teaching is for everybody? How many times have we heard this claimed as a reason that every single one of us ought to be doing missionary work? Indeed, it seems that in almost any ministry movement, there develops this sense that what that particular ministry is moved to do, every ministry should be moved to do. If there is a group of believers that feels called to evangelism, they’re pretty sure everybody should be called to evangelism. If there is a ministry devoted to prayers of intercession, they’re pretty determined that the whole church around them should be just as devoted to that same thing.
The commands of Scripture as they apply to ministry share this tendency: they tend to be declared to the general body of believers. This cannot be construed as indication of a global application, though. If all go forth to the nations to make disciples, who shall remain to fund that mission? Who shall remain behind to train up more workers to send forth? No, the generality of these commands is there to make certain we don’t find ourselves thinking that the ministries in question were restricted to the apostles alone. Just as the gifts of the Spirit were not reserved for the apostles, nor even for that initial period of church planting that they were involved with, neither are the ministry calls.
If we take the Commission as being a blanket command for all Christians, then it must be understood that every Christian from here to eternity must be out doing all that the Commission commands. He must be out making disciples. He must be out baptizing those disciples. And, he must be out teaching those disciples. Yet, I find Paul explaining to the church he established in Corinth that Christ did not send him to baptize, only to preach (1Co 1:17). One of the things I love most about my God is that He does not operate in generalities. He has not established this one way that all sinners are saved. Let me clarify that, lest I be accused of heresy. Indeed, there is only one way to salvation, the Christ Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man. Through Him alone may we have forgiveness of sins, rebirth in the Spirit of God, and access to the Father. Yet, how the Father draws each one of us to the Son, without which drawing we should never come to Him, is a matter uniquely crafted by the Father for each individual He calls.
Likewise, as our loving Creator, He has masterfully crafted each one of us as individual works. He has imbued each one of us with a unique combination of talents and abilities. Not every one of us is called to teach. Here I can look to James to clarify and de-globalize the Commission. Don’t allow too many among you to become teachers, particularly understanding that teachers must face a stricter judgment (Jas 3:1). But, the Commission says to go and teach. It is, we must understand, a command to the Body. It is the Head of the Church explaining to the body what various functions it is to perform. The Body is given its mission in the world here. But, as the head and the foot have different functions in the body of a man, so different members of the body of Christ will have different functions, though they serve the one Head. The thing for each one of us is to seek out what particular function God has fashioned us for and assigned us to fulfill. He has things prepared particularly for me to do, and He has prepared me uniquely for the doing of them. The same can be said for each one of us. The same has been said for each one of us. It’s right there in the Scriptures. What is needed of us is that we first discover that thing He has prepared for us and pursue it wholeheartedly, and second that we let go of this idea that everybody else must also be doing this thing that is uniquely ours to do. There is only one work that is required of every believer, and that is to believe. That is, in the end, the sole common cause we have with one another. We all believe in one God, and therefore we are all members of one body. As part of the body, we cannot help but love the other parts of the body. It can only be a sign of disease if one limb or organ rejects another. It is so in the flesh, and it is so in the spirit. Love one another. This is a command, and yet it is really no more than a statement of what must naturally flow from being one body of believers.
I turn now to that place to which Jesus has come, Samaria. Specifically, He has come to Sychar, neighbor to Shechem. Here it was that Jacob had camped upon land purchased from those in Shechem. Here, he had apparently dug himself a well so as to ensure that no unnecessary conflict should arise with those nearby. Yet, it must be made clear that Sychar was not a city of Jacob’s founding. Now, in looking at the encyclopedias, it becomes unclear whether Sychar was indeed a neighbor of Shechem or simply another name for that place. One argument would have it that the Jews spoke of Shechem by this name out of derision for the inhabitants. However, for my present line of thought this distinction shouldn’t matter too much.
What we do know is that this place is where Jacob camped with his family. He attempted to become something approaching a friend to the locals, to intermingle with them, and this fraternity caused a great deal of trouble. It cost him the purity of his daughter. This in turn led to the rebellious act of revenge taken by his two eldest sons. The proper line of inheritance, the first-born, was despoiled. A look at Jacob’s eventual prophecies over his children makes this abundantly clear. Granted, there were other issues involved in that as well, but here we find the beginnings – children out of control, acting on their own authority, rather than deferring to the wishes of their father.
Recollecting the story of their vengeance, it occurs to me that they chose to lead the inhabitants of Shechem into a state of intoxication, so as to make their revenge the easier. Could this be what led to the name Sychar? If that moniker were applied to Shechem after this act, it would certainly be fitting. However, the fallout of this rash act of vengeance was that Jacob found it needful to vacate the lands he had purchased. Elsewhere, Jacob declares that he took this land by the sword. This was the fallout, again, of his sons’ actions. What was his by right, as he had paid for that land, he must take by force anyway.
Oh, there’s a lesson for me in that. This is the problem of sin in our lives, for it cannot be debated that sin remains in the life of the strongest believer. That sin is ever and always an act of rebellion against the will of our Lord. That is, after all, pretty much the definition of sin. The fallout of our sins is that we find ourselves having lost what is ours by right. Things paid for, things to which we hold title, we must needs let go of for a time because of our rash acts. That which is ours by right must be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy for our own preservation. Notice that it was by God’s own directive that Jacob yielded the field in light of these occurrences. It was God who told him to depart and go settle in Bethel instead. And, oh! What a blessing to see where He commanded Jacob! “Come settle in My house for a time.” What better place could one ask to be?
There would remain, however, the matter of reclaiming that property. He had the deed, but the rule of the land was might makes right. To this day, we hold to the maxim that possession is nine tenths of the law, and at this point his enemies were in possession. They would not willingly relinquish their possession simply because Jacob reminded them of the sale. He had, after all, vacated the premises. They had not forced him out, even if it were only because he did not give them time. It would require force to re-establish his claim to that property.
Now, look down the ages to what became of this region where Jacob’s sons rebelled. There would come a time, when Israel had become a kingdom, that the people of this region would tire of their king’s leadership. They no longer looked upon the king as God’s man on the throne, but more as a dynastic matter. Who would be king was no longer a question of God’s choosing, but merely a function of lineage. Into this, God spoke. He spoke to a man who, if we may judge by how things unfolded, was not His own, but whom God would choose to use as a tool to complete His purpose. This one listened happily to prophecies of his successful rebellion against the rule of Judea.
Why, so successful was his rebellion that ten of the twelve tribes of Israel followed after him, and the legitimate seat of God’s governance was left with only two. Now, it is absolutely imperative that we keep in sight that this was to God’s purpose. It was by His word that the rebel found reason to rebel, yet that rebellion cannot be charged to God’s account. A righteous man, such as David, would have awaited God’s act to confirm His plan. Throughout all the years that Saul remained alive, David would do him no harm, for he remained the one God had put on the throne. This rebel, though, felt no such compunction. The prophecy had come, and he would see to it that the prophecy was fulfilled. Why, it doesn’t appear to have so much as crossed his mind that the fulfillment of that prophecy could not possibly be a righteous act on his part. So, at any rate, was the Northern Kingdom established, a nation whose very roots were found in rebellion.
What shall we say of this nation that willingly cut itself off? Oh, they started out well enough, I suppose. They established their temple, so that God’s worship could be continued. After all, they may have cut themselves off, but they didn’t wish to think of it that way. Again, it seems to have evaded their senses that the very establishment of this alternative house of worship was a further rebellion against the God they claimed to be worshiping there. God had established His house at the place of His choosing. The only reason there was now this second house was because the leaders of the rebellion feared that their freshly minted subjects would defect to Judea if they were constantly going to the true Temple for worship. In this opinion, I suspect they were quite right. In their reaction to it, however, they were entirely wrong.
They set up a false temple under the pretense of worshiping the true God. Yet, how could this possibly work? Although they continued to utter His name, to mimic His order of worship, yet the god they worshiped could not be Him, for how could one honor Truth by falsehood? How could a counterfeit honor the Real? How could rebellion expect to be counted as obedience? Eventually, the thin veneer of service to God would peel away from the religion that was practiced in the Northern Kingdom. Less and less of Yahweh would remain, and more and more of Baal would be evident. They were still pursuing the vain hopes of Jacob, to simply get along with the neighbors, when God’s command had been to drive them out and destroy them.
Oh! What a sad story that Northern Kingdom presented. They still wanted to be known as God’s chosen people. Indeed, I suspect that they considered themselves more chosen than Judea. Yet, as time progressed, the real object of their worship was made clear: profit. The prophets who were sent to awaken the Northern Kingdom seem always to harp upon that theme. So profit-focused had the people become that there was no compassion to be found. Every man pursued only his own comfort and pleasure with no concern for his neighbor. Usury was everywhere. A man would cheerfully enslave his own neighbor over matters of debt, and the Jubilee was all but forgotten. Just measures were a fool’s game, who could expect to get ahead that way? No, profit was god and king, and if God had a problem with that, well He could keep it to Himself.
Indeed, even as Jesus comes into the lands of Samaria, we will discover that they continue to try and hold up this veneer of legitimacy. Jacob gave us this well! See, we are children of the patriarchs just like you. Yet, the veneer is so very thin. “Our fathers taught us to worship here.” True enough, but at what point has tradition and popular notion sufficed to establish what is Right and Holy?
Oh! I look upon the history of Samaria, and in so many ways I see my own America. We, too, were founded in rebellion. We are, by and large, a nation of rebels and criminals. Yes, for many the motivation for coming was pursuit of God, and it is doubtless true that many who came did so at His command. Samaria was more or less founded at His command as well. But, those rebel roots must be dealt with somehow. We must find a way to overcome our founding.
I see this, as well: the veneer of our Christianity is cracked and peeling. Too much of what was set up to appear like the Church of God has proven over time to be no such thing. Yes, our currency still declares our trust in God, yet our lifestyles and motivations declare that there is little to no truth in that declaration. It is in money we trust, in profit we trust, in luxury we trust. It is, by and large, in ourselves and ourselves alone that we trust. What has become of Christianity in America has reflected this fact. Look at the Unitarian sect, a truly American invention. There remains almost no resemblance of faith in their halls whatsoever, those who thought they must correct the misconceptions of the Puritans. The poison that this movement injected into American faith has spread over the years. More and more denominations find themselves stripped of belief, left with nothing but empty rites and an unsatisfied hunger for power and profit.
The innovations of modern society have not helped matters any. The increased access provided by mass media has largely been detrimental to true religion. It has allowed every man with an opinion to broadcast that opinion far and wide. It has allowed every profiteering ‘pastor’ access to a limitless supply of folks who know even less of the True Word of God than themselves, and the thieves in pastoral clothing grow richer.
The sum of it is that vast swaths of what still claims to be a Christian society have been convinced of the validity of this Samaritan admixture. Vast portions of society still claim to be Christians and yet deny the Christ. True, many of these deluded millions still call whatever it is they are worshiping by that name, but it is not He who bears the title of Christ that they worship. Whatever their words may say, their beliefs, their actions, their lives say it is not He Who was and Is and Is to come.
What was true of the so-called place of worship in Samaria is largely true in many so-called ministries today. They may have started off with their eyes still on God in some degree. They my have gone on for years still echoing the truth from which they departed. But, in the end we find that they have bowed down to profit. In Samaria, the prevailing worship of profit was so great that it became a recurring theme amongst the prophets God sent to correct those He still hadn’t given up on. Right into the ministry of Jesus, that warning continues to resound. You cannot serve God and mammon (Mt 6:24). If your eyes are on the prize of a bit of cash, your heart cannot possibly be focused on the God who Provides. If you have bowed down to the profit motive, thought it tarries, you can know that the time will come to you when all sense of charity is gone. It is the inevitable result of continued worship at that altar. Oh, you may still manage to do the occasional good deed, but it will come to be seen that those deeds were only done when there was something to be gained in doing so. What seemed good will be seen to have been only that same self-centered profit motive in action, and no real good was in it.
Yes, the story of Samaria must stand as a warning to us today, for we have so very much in common with that place. We are more than ever a nation of mixed belief. Even amongst the Christians, we are of mixed belief. Whether there are any who hold to a pure faith seems debatable, but I know that God preserves Himself a remnant even here in this land. Yet, there is hope. There is hope in this: Though the lineage from Godly heritage seems to be thinned out with each passing year, though it seems that the lights are dimming in the land of the righteous (if, indeed, this has ever truly been such a land) yet there remains this sign of the possibilities inherent in God’s people. Jacob’s well was there. Whatever we may have slipped into being, whatever garbage we may have gotten into, however far we may have fallen from where God had placed us at the start, Jacob’s well remains. It is still there. It still waters the land for those who care to draw. We can still see it, and in the day that our eyes are opened, we will understand once more what Jacob’s well means. It stands as a sign of our true heritage. It is a reminder of who we are, of Whose we are.
Now, consider Him who sits upon that well. The very Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ of God’s own choosing has come into this forsaken place. He sits there upon this reminder of a glorious heritage. Though the place seems hopeless, He has not given up hope. Though it seems that even the most faithful, those who still remember the God of Israel, have been led off into false worship, have wandered so far from Truth that return appears all but impossible; still He has come. He had to come. It was imperative that He do so, a moral obligation for it was the Father’s purpose that He come, that He be hear, at this well, at this reminder of the True God and His promise, at this time. One would soon be coming by who, in the eyes of those who knew of her, even in her own eyes, was beyond hope, beyond redemption. Yet, she was one chosen by God. Today was the day for her to recall who she is, a daughter of Israel.
That same hope remains for us today. To Son of God continues to wait for those who are His own. He abides until they pass His way, that He may remind them of Whose they are. The call still goes forth to the must unsuspecting, the most unexpected of people, “Come, and follow Me.” Don’t look for Him in the expected places! Don’t look for Him to be in those who are proclaiming most loudly that they are His spokesmen. The Pharisees broadcast their standing as the separated ones, the ones most fully committed to the righteousness God demanded. They made sure that everybody knew about them, made every effort to convince their neighbors to be like them. But, they were not the ones God had called. They were imposters, a worse admixture and pollution upon true religion than were the Samaritans they so despised. Looking upon true holiness, they sneered with derision. Looking upon real repentance, they were merely appalled at the ignorance of the masses. But, it was those masses who would find their way to the kingdom of God!
No, I suggest that you be very wary of the louder mouthpieces of God today. Too many of them call upon a god who is no God. Too many of them seek only their own aggrandizement. Far from concern for your soul, they are concerned for your wallet. It appears a bit too thick to be good for you, and they will gladly help correct that little problem. To much of what is being preached in God’s name has nothing to do with the God whose endorsement is called down upon the message. A prosperity gospel? Where did they find it? The rich young ruler would have loved to hear about it, but that wasn’t the message he received. The healing gospel? God wants you fit and hale? Perhaps. Yet, there are so many who know God so much better in their weakness. Who will depend more upon God, the one who stands on his own, or the one who must have a shoulder to lean on? What of these who insist on twisting the Scriptures out of all recognition so that they can present the world with a God that looks just like them? Such poison to the soul! They present the world a god who doesn’t care, and paste the name of Jesus upon him. So many go on to believe in this god who isn’t, and think themselves secure.
And all the while, Jesus is sitting at the well, waiting for that one who in spite of it all continues to seek something better, something real. The woman who would meet Him there, she seemed a lost cause. She had nothing in her to recommend herself to His consideration. Yet she understood, somewhere deep inside, that what passed for true religion in Sychar wasn’t going to cut it. What passed for true religion in the streets of Jerusalem wasn’t going to cut it either. There was nothing in either of those systems for her. Indeed, I’m not sure that we could say she was actively seeking God in any real fashion. More likely, she was seeking a way to hide away. Yet, God came seeking her. “He had to pass through Samaria.” And now, He was sitting at the well, at noontime, when nobody much could be expected to be coming by. It was the heat of the day, and it was not the usual well for people to come to. It was just a relic from an earlier time. But, she would be here, so He had to be here.
Now, I noted that the roots of this region were sunk deep in rebellion. But, it must also be recognized that there was another root planted. When Jacob first acquired the land outside the walls of Shechem, one of his first acts, even before digging the well at which Jesus sits, was to erect an altar in honor of the God who Is. As he honored God at that altar, he declared that God is the Mighty God of Israel. Obviously, we can look upon this as Jacob declaring God to be his God, for God had given him that very name of Israel. Yes, and there is truth in this. He was, as it were, saying, “God, my God, is Mighty.” But, he could as well have called Him the Mighty God of Abraham, of Isaac, even of Jacob. He chose, however, to declare Him God over this new creation, this one who wrestles with God.
What had he said? He had declared that he knew most personally how mighty was His God. He had wrestled with Him, after all, and lost. God had made Himself known, and in His victory over the wrestling Jacob, He had established His lordship over Jacob. Jacob had been subjugated in that contest, and become God’s own servant. God had become the Mighty God of Him who wrestles with God.
He has been so ever since. We don’t generally find God to be a comfortable companion. We will not find that His commands for us, His plans for us, are convenient to our own ideas. He will require of us things that we don’t really want to do. We all of us wrestle with Him over these matters. We want our way, even when He says no. But, He is the Mighty God of those who wrestle with Him. He remains in command, and He will prevail. We hear a lot about what a gentleman God is. He would never force Himself upon His subjects. Oh! How wrong we are in that thinking! He is our Father. He is our King. He is, by our own declaration, our Master. Of course He will have His will done. It is His prerogative by every right. By every declaration we make of Him in truth we declare that it is His right. If God needed your permission to work in your life, you would be as lost today as you ever were. Until He forced His way in, you were too blind in your captivity to even consider calling upon Him. Face it. You were utterly convinced that He wasn’t real, and nothing anybody could have said to you would change that opinion. He began that good work in you by force, and as it becomes necessary for your growth, He will force the issue again. He will not lose those He has claimed for Himself.
Consider what Jacob was doing when God introduced Himself. He was a man on the run. He was running away from the mess he had made, trying to stay a step or two ahead of the vengeance his brother surely planned against him. He wasn’t looking for God. He hadn’t even given God a thought. He was the trickster, and he was trying to figure out a way to connive his way into safety for a time. The only thing on his mind was his own skin. I am so glad that God saw fit to show us this part of our ancestry, though! For, I am little different from Jacob in this regard. I, too, was heading in the opposite direction when He came to me. I, too, wrestled for a long time against the idea that He had any claim on me. I, too, was vanquished in the end by His power and His love.
I rejoice, as well, to see the change in Jacob as the years progressed. There are surely any number of failures we can point to in his character right up to the end of his days, yet there was an evident change. I see that change in the words he spoke to his family as they prepared to vacate his property to head for Bethel. He told his family to remove all the foreign gods from their possessions, to purify themselves, and change their clothes (Ge 35:2-3). Why was this so necessary all of the sudden? Well, Jacob intended to establish an altar in Bethel when they arrived, but this could not be the reason. After all, he had established an altar in this place, and yet his family was in need of eliminating all these things from their presence. Apparently, there was something more in mind. I think it had to be the fact that they were going to encamp in the very house of God – Beth-El.
When I look at it in that light, I suddenly see a great parable of our own existence in this move. We who have been saved by His hand have not been removed all that far from the gates of our enemy’s camp. We have, as it were, purchased our little plot out here, and we have foolishly thought to somehow keep the peace with the enemy around us by not asking too much from them. Jacob dug a well to keep peace with these enemies without. We could view our typical church-life today in similar fashion. The church is our well, and we go there to draw. In larger part today than ever before, we draw our entertainments from that place, we draw much of our merchandise from that place. When we have the option, we draw our labor and services from that place. Why? So we can avoid any conflict with the enemy over such provisions.
Ooh! Rather than confront the evil nature of the industries that produce today’s media, we have become satisfied to simply avoid it and pursue our own. Rather than convict the world of its sins when it comes to business practices, we’ve been satisfied to buy only from our Christian fellows inasmuch as it is possible to do so. That said, one doesn’t have to look too far to realize that this has failed. It has failed to keep the enemy complacent with our presence, and it has failed to purify our own lines of supply. Just look at the situation in the music industry. So disillusioned had we become with what the national industry was pumping out in the name of entertainment that good-hearted Christian musicians took it upon themselves to offer an alternative. They would create music that was of a style that people could enjoy, yet of a nature that would glorify God. We can debate about their success in that regard, and in fact such debate has raged throughout the history of the effort.
What strikes me at present is how this effort has unfolded. At first, separate companies arose to handle the production and distribution of this new music. Those companies who did this on behalf of the world weren’t interested in touching the new stuff, because the market was expected to be small. They could only anticipate a loss if they tried. So, new companies arose and took on the job. Over time, however, the world began to notice that these Christians were starting to account for a larger and larger part of the sales figures. What had seemed like an inevitable loser was apparently worth something after all. Well, what happened when the world woke up? They didn’t just go over and congratulate these competitors. Well, they may have, but only as a prelude. The real reaction was to buy out these independents, to bring them into the corporate fold. In large part, the Christian buying public has gone blithely on, never noticing that things have changed. Yet, instead of supporting a Christian industry, they are no supporting the very industries against which those early Christian producers were fighting.
Worse yet, other industries have noticed what happened. I know it’s a recurring rant for me, but it needs constant reminding, so far as I can tell. Look what has happened in the world of Christian bookstores. It is bordering on sinful to even call them bookstores any longer. Books are an after thought in these establishments. I know that if I go to our local representative of the genre, I will find that at least half of the space has been given over to gift-shop kitsch. Trinkets! Why, you can buy just about anything you like in that place and have it emblazoned with the name of Jesus. Yes, you can buy your Christian breath mints, your Christian #2 pencils, your Christian scented candles. How is this different from the worst tourist trap gift shop? We need to recognize that Christianity has become a major marketing sector in this land of ours. How many wolves have slipped into the folds to take advantage of the sales boom? How many bands have taken to throwing in an occasional God reference that they may or may not believe in just so they can attract that Christian market segment to buy their CD? How many pop psychologists are throwing an occasional reference to prayer and church into their favorite pet theories so that Christians will come buy their book? How many churches have fallen into the habit of marketing and selling Jesus rather than teaching Him?
Before I stop, I want to turn my attention inward once again, for there is one other thing that is noted about Jacob’s preparations for going to God’s house. See, his family heeded his instructions. All that was foreign to the way God had taught them they took off from themselves and out of their tents and possessions, and they gave it all to Jacob. But, what did Jacob do? Did he destroy these evils from their midst? No! He simply hid them under the oak tree (Ge 35:4). Let me put it in present day terms. The family, and Jacob as their head, did cleanse themselves in preparation for going to the house of God. They would be careful to maintain their cleanliness as they went, and whilst they remained there. Yet, they had every intention of picking all that garbage back up when they returned home.
Here was the beginning of the Pharisaic tradition! Look holy while anybody who would care is looking. Take ever so much care to clean up as we go into the Temple. But, once we’re back home and in private, well, we can let our hair down and return to our old habits. It’s not just the Pharisees, folks. This is the traditional mark of dead religion throughout the years. I saw it in that church I attended in my youth. Folks would go through the motions. The farmers would wash up nice and clean to come to church on Sunday. They would stand and sing together. Some would even stay awake to listen to the sermon, and all would be sure to commend the pastor on his efforts on the way out. But, the infighting and the backstabbing and every vile habit they had would reassert itself just as soon as they had cleared that front door.
Look, I am not a fool. I know that those same tendencies are in me. They are a latent defect in my spiritual being. These are the very things that God is working on in me. I have no cause to judge others who are in the same boat. I am calling myself to recognize the danger I am in. I am calling myself to stop hiding. It doesn’t work anyway, and I ought to know that by now. I teach it often enough. The Light of Truth has promised that all those things done in secret will be exposed. I know I am in no way ready for such a thing. My consolation, as I struggle however feebly to overcome this foolishness in myself, is that I know my Redeemer is working as well. It is no longer I that lives, it is Christ who lives in me (Gal 2:20). I am a man as much at war with himself as with any larger enemy. I have the habits of a lifetime to shed, and they don’t shed easily. But, I know my God, who has begun this work of renewal in me is faithful to complete what He has begun. I know beyond all doubting that He has called me out of the darkness in which I was walking. He has pulled me forcefully from the midst of the danger I had set myself in, and He will see to it that every last change and reconstruction that is needed in this man shall be complete. He seeks a pure and spotless bride, and He shall find her, for He shall purify her and wash her clean. No longer will those things simply be hidden away for later retrieval. No! What He has cleansed is clean indeed. What He has purified is pure indeed, for it is His own purity that has come.
Thank You, Lord, for the assurance of Your continual working in my life. It has been a season of discouragement, as You well know, but I take courage in knowing that You remain with me through every last bit of it. I come yet again asking forgiveness for my foolish ways, for the offenses it seems I commit against You so constantly. I know, at least I think I know, that these failures are improving, that I am at least not quite so constant in offense as once I was, yet there remain those places where You have allowed me to taste victory, and yet I’ve come back to the oak tree and retrieved those things You freed me from. Why, Lord? How long shall I continue in this agony of half-measures? Yet, I have heard You singing to me throughout this last week, Holy One. There has been that almost constant refrain, reminding me, reminding the spirit within me that nothing can separate me from Your love. That alone, Lord, is all the cause I could ever need to rejoice. Thank You. Let my offering in Your house today be a blessing to Your heart, Lord, as an expression of the love I feel for You Who have loved me so.
