When Life Totters and Leans

In contrast to his own vulnerability and the nothingness of his enemies, stands the tall, strong, stable rock: God himself. That vision of God, the source of our strength should be what keeps us moving forward.
Life can be sometimes very cruel. The psalmists who penned the 150 psalms of the Old Testament expressed their pain and anguish in metaphorical language. How does one express the vulnerability and instability of ones life in times of opposition? The psalmist who composed Psalm 62 compares it with a leaning wall and a tottering fence. His life is like a wall that is about to collapse or a fence that is about to fall (Ps 62:3). He is unable to stand the winds and currents that are against his life. To add to his misery he has enemies who are trying to take advantage of his vulnerability. These are people who are trying to usurp him. Probably, the psalmist could be a ruler who is loosing popular support among his own people. His position is too vulnerable. The people close to him may betray him. Though they say good words (bless), they may not mean it. They may betray him because they find him as a liability. There are instances in the past where people have betrayed their ruler in order to find favor with their political enemies. They may think that it is better to give their ruler in the hands of their enemies and escape destruction instead of fight the enemy under the leadership of a weak ruler who may not be able to protect them from the enemy. The ruler is anyway a leaning fence, may fall and it is not wise to lean on such a leaning wall!

When he asks his enemies the question how far will they try to take advantage of his vulnerability and weakness, he is not appealing to them for sympathy. Instead he will turn to God for strength. The metaphor he uses for God is a powerful one. He would describe himself as a leaning wall, but for him God is a rock: stable, dependable and unmovable in times of crisis. "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone: my hope comes from him. // He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. //My Salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my rock, my refuge" (Ps 62:6-7).
He also has a vision about his enemies. He would see human beings (whether commoners or royalty) as mere breath. The whole council of ministers may turn against him. However, he would consider him as a mere breath (Ps 62:9).
Then how does he resolve his worry? There is nothing in himself that gives him strength in times of trouble. At the same time he doesn't have to worry about his opponents since they are nothing to be reckoned with. In contrast to his own vulnerability and the nothingness of his enemies, stands the tall, strong, stable rock: God himself. That vision of God, the source of our strength should be what keeps us moving forward.

What is Jesus Praying?

None of us can promise those who are requesting prayers for them that we are praying for them constantly. In fact, people may not expect us to pray for them forever. However, the intercessory ministry of Jesus is very different. He is a priest for ever, thus he intercedes for us continually. His intercession is something that I can count on. For this I am grateful to him!

In an earlier blog (What happened to my unanswered prayers?), we were talking about our prayers being carried to the presence of God and offered in golden bowls. God does not consider any of our prayers as spam; he has no spam filter. Even those prayers of us that do not make sense to us, God considers them valuable. In this devotion, I would like to focus another aspect of prayer: the continuing intercessory ministry of Jesus.
The Book of Hebrews presents Jesus as an eternal high priest who continues his work beyond the cross in the heavenly realms. Chapter 7 verse 25 particularly focuses on the intercessory ministry of Jesus where we read: "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." Jesus is constantly interceding for us in the heavenly places. Now the question is, what is Jesus praying? For this we have to a similar posture that Jesus took while he was on earth. John 17 records the lengthiest prayer of Jesus, which is also known as the high priestly prayer of Jesus. In this passage, Jesus prays for himself (verses 1-5), for his disciples whom he is going to leave behind (6-19) and then for those who will believe in Jesus through the ministry of Jesus' disciples (20-26).
If this is a model of the high priestly prayer of Jesus, then there are two important aspects in this prayer. I think we can very confidently conclude that this would be what Jesus is still praying for us.
The first concern that Jesus presents before the God the Father has to do with our security. In his prayer for the disciples (verses 6-19), Jesus used the word "protect" three times (17:11, 12, 15). He is concerned about the safety of his disciples. They are in the world, which is hostile (See, 16:33). They have to face the hostility of those who oppose the gospel. This truth that Jesus is concerned about my security brings a lot of comfort to us; especially to those who are facing opposition in their life and ministry.
Second concern that Jesus expressed in his prayer is that we be sanctified by God (17:17-19). Sanctification is setting apart: separating some ordinary things for special use, particularly for God's use. For example, the vessels of the tabernacle where sanctified because they were ordinary vessels set apart for use in the Lord's house. They are now owned by God and used by God. That is what sanctification in the simplest sense. Jesus prayer is that his disciples be fully set apart for God's use and owned by Him. Each of us needs to realize that we are owned by God. We may be working for various organizations, which may not be explicitly religious/Christian. Jesus expects us to have realize that whatever walks of life we belong we belong to God in order to fulfill the purposes of God. In fact, we are lent to the places of our work by God. We need to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel (Phil 1:27).
None of us can promise those who are requesting prayers for them that we are praying for them constantly. In fact, people may not expect us to pray for them forever. However, the intercessory ministry of Jesus is very different. He is a priest for ever, thus he intercedes for us continually. His intercession is something that I can count on. For this I am grateful to him!

What Happened to My Unanswered Prayers?

Some time back, I sent an email to my friend’s Gmail account. However, for many weeks there was no response from my friend. Then I wrote another email to him to the other email ID of his that I had. He promptly replied. Later we discovered that the mail I sent was sitting in the Spam folder of his Gmail account. My mail was automatically filtered to the spam folder!
This made me contemplate on the prayers. I have been praying ever since my childhood. From short bed-time prayers to long intercessory prayers, pastoral prayers, prayers for the sick, in desperate need, etc. God answered some prayers but many are yet to be answered. What is happening to those prayers of mine that are not answered? God did not get it, or are they sitting in his spam folder?
I wish I could just visit heaven and see what is happening to those prayers of mine that are not ever attended to. For that, I will have to wait. However, God has specially favored John the Apostle with some special privileges. One such privilege is that he had an opportunity to peep into heaven and the throne room of God.
In Revelation chapter 8, John reports from heaven what is happening to our prayers. I draw a lot of encouragement from those words. In verse 4, we see that the angel who stands in the throne room of God offers the prayers of the saints to God along with incense. Verse 3 clarifies that the prayers are held in a golden censer. A similar picture is found in the fifth chapter also. Here the twenty-four elders are offering the prayers in golden censers before the Lamb who is our risen Savior. In this picture the incense are the prayers of the saints held in golden censers. They have harps in one hand (symbolizing praise) and censers in the other (symbolizing our prayers).
With this assurance, I still pray though all my prayers are not answered. I pray because I am assured that my prayers are not going to the trash bin, nor are they deleted my mistake. They are offered to God. They are valuable to God: the cries of anguish and questions that I presented in my prayers are so valuable to God so that they are offered in a golden bowl before him.

No Exit from God's Will

God expects us to be fully submitted to his will. Sometimes, we will have to go through difficult times. We cannot get out of this before God's time and by our own means. This is what we learn from the life of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah.
Babylonians who defeated Judah in 597 BC had made him king. In fact he was their puppet king. Usually the reign of kings in the Bible mentions their achievements and failures, in the case of Zedekiah, there is no mention of anything that he did. The account in 2 Kings (Chapter 24-25) only mentions only one thing he did. "Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon" (2 Kings 24:20). Then there is a long description of how the Babylonians retaliated to this rebellion by their vassal kingdom, how they besieged the city of Jerusalem, Zedekiah's flight, capture, punishment, imprisonment, the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem and the city, second exile.
This king could not anything for his people. Only complete the destruction of a nation by making the Babylonians destroy the temple.
What was Zedekiah's mistake?
His mistake was to rebel against the will of God. Prophets of his day, particularly Jeremiah had made it very clear that God's punishment is upon his people. He has sent the Babylonians to attack them and take them exiles to Babylonians. It happened in 597 BC. Then Zedekiah was made king over the Judah. The Babylonians were happy as long as Zedekiah paid the tribute that they demanded. The prophets also had prophesied that God will certainly bring those who were taken to Babylon after 70 years. Zedekiah was supposed accept God's will and lead his people. However, he was not. He probably was swayed by the loyalist party and rebelled with the help of Egyptians who were the enemies of Babylon. If he had not rebelled Babylonians would have let them live! In fact Zedekiah and his people were rebelling against the will of God.
A Second mistake he did was to trust in human power. Historians say that Pharaoh Apries encouraged Zedekiah to rebel against the Babylonians. He must have offered him military help also to do it. Zedekiah and his people thought by the help and support of the Egyptians they will be able to get out of the punishment that God has brought upon them. They took the sovereignty of God very lightly.

Maintaining a heart of gratitude

Maintaining a heart of gratitude
Though they have to start their lives again from scratches they are happy that God has brought them back. Maintaining a heart of gratitude even in difficult times is important to please God.
Psalm 126 illustrates the importance of maintaining a grateful heart even in difficult times. The psalmist(s) is excited about what God has done and hope that God will continue to be with them. Though what God has done for them actually has landed them in difficulties, they are still thankful; they believe that eventually everything will work out for their good.
The God of Israel had done a great thing by bringing his people back to their land from where they were exiled. However, it took more than sixty-five years for the first exile to return. Leaders like Zerubabbel, Nehemiah, Ezra and others led people back in different waves of return. The man who was captured and sent to exile when he was thirty is now 95 years old at least. The baby who was just born is now 65 and his parents are already dead. Some people have stayed behind in Israel and Judah. They had built houses and cultivated the lands of those who were taken captives. It has been theirs for about two generations now. In fact, those who came back are losers in one sense. They were nostalgic about the return, but they are now aliens in their own land.
Psalm 126, probably reflects such a historical situation. The sorrows and the struggles of the returnees are reflected in this psalm. It is good to be in ones own land. It is a sign that God has forgiven them and is faithful to the promises and covenants that he has made with their ancestors. However, now they are strangers in the land that was their home.
However, they will not complain about it. They look back to their coming back with great enthusiasm. It was so exciting to be real. They thought it was all a dream (Psalm 126:1). They were so joyful and happy (Psalm 126:2). However, they are in a situation now where they are in tears and have to go about weeping. Still they will not complain. They will just make a quick prayer to God to "restore our fortunes" (verse 4) and go to work hoping in him. Their hope is that God will trade their sorrows for joy. The imagery of farmers who in their desperate attempt to produce some food in times of famine, throw their last seeds to their ground and return home singing carrying a good harvest motivates every returnee. They won't waste complaining to God for landing them in such an unsettled situation while they were leading much more settled lives with houses and vineyards, etc in Babylon. Though they have to start their lives again from scratches they are happy that God has brought them back. Maintaining a heart of gratitude even in difficult times is important to please God.

Taming Power

"Power corrupts." This is a famous saying. To this we may add saying, "absolute power corrupts absolutely." David's sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) is a typical illustration from the Bible on the corrupting influence of power.
David happens to see Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and he wants to make her his wife. But it is not easy even for the king in Israel to take the wife of another person. So, he devises a plan. He was the king and Uriah one of his employees, the best way to possess Uriah's wife is to get him killed. So the king sends Uriah to battle. David also tells his commander to position Uriah in the most vulnerable place where death is sure. And thus he manages to get him killed in the battle! And when the news of Uriah's death was brought to David the king, he makes a stoic comment: "It's Okay, the sword kills both sides." It is natural. David then sends for Bathsheba and she became his wife. The story goes on to say that her son became the next king in Israel after David. A perfect plan: but David would not have done this a few years ago when he had no power.

The David without power was a different person. He was a fugitive for a while; running away from king Saul who was chasing him. One day he had a golden opportunity. He and his enemy who seeks his life happened to be in the same cave. He could have drawn the sword and killed his enemy who was sleeping right in front of him. Instead, he said, "I will not lay hands on the Lord's anointed" and left him there. However, he just cut a piece from Saul's garment to prove that he was very close to him and could have slit his throat open. The Bible says that even that action, that is cutting a piece of his cloth hurt David's conscience. Then he was a fugitive; he had no kingdom, no power and no army. Now the same person who became king would devise a plan to kill an innocent person so that he can possess his wife. In the process he would risk the lives of many other soldiers involved in the battle. In the process he would bring shame upon his countrymen by choosing to lose a battle. It was a match fixing of a sort. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
How can those who are in leadership protect themselves from the corrupting influence of power? First of all, by realizing that none of us have absolute power. God is ultimate. Secondly, power has corrupting influence on us only when we are too conscious of power. Finally, take power as an opportunity to serve and not to control. Then there would be so much freedom and purity in the use of power.

Knowing Christ....

The knowledge of Christ that strives to make him known as Paul did by his life is possible only when we are willing to move on beyond ourselves.

In Philippians 3:10, when Paul talks about knowing Christ, he is not talking about a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. By this time (almost towards the end of ministry and life) Paul have had that knowledge. Nevertheless, he is talking about knowing Christ as a continuing process that culminates in attaining resurrection from the dead. I am even tempted to think that the expression "to know Christ" is a synonym for Christian life. Christian spirituality is a process of knowing Christ in increasing measure each day until we see him face to face in eternity.
This knowing of Jesus requires rejecting everything that stands on the way of intimacy with Jesus. Raimondo Panikkar, a leading Christian theologian once remarked: "To arrive at God, we should not stop at us." That means if we are on a journey to know Christ, we should explore beyond ourselves. Paul seems to be doing that. He wrote: "I Consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish..." (Phil. 3:8). This knowledge of Christ is at a cost. That is to lose everything that stands on the way of that knowledge.
Egoism is the greatest enemy of this knowledge. Egoism is the pre-occupation with oneself. In this thinking, the self become paramount in ones thinking. This is when I am at the centre of my thinking, and I strive to become the focus of attention. Such a pre-occupation with one's self hinders knowing Christ. That is why Panikkar's words become meaningful: "To arrive at God we should not stop at us." The knowledge of Christ that strives to make him known as Paul did by his life is possible only when we are willing to move on beyond ourselves.