Mystery of Godliness

1 Timothy 3.14-16

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.  Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:

He was manifested in the flesh,

  vindicated by the spirit,

    seen by angels,

proclaimed among the nations,

  believed on in the world,

    taken up in glory.

 Verse 16 captures in a song or poem the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Paul is writing to Timothy and has charged him to build up the church of the “living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”  The song that follows the charge is a summary of the true gospel.

The first three and last lines are covered in the Apostles’ Creed and the fourth and fifth lines are the continuing outworking of the Great Commission.

“The word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1.13).  Jesus, wholly God and wholly man,  was crucified, dead, and buried but then rose from the dead on the third day. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  The kingdom continues to grow as witnesses proclaim what they have learned and the Holy Spirit moves to provide a second birth to the elect.

The song is like 1 Corinthians 15.3-8 in that it is a very early creed / psalm / song, most likely used by the church within the first few years after Jesus’ death.  The tune is lost but the words ring clearly 2000 years later.

Elder Qualifications

Most elders will admit to an persistent low level of guilt that they are not doing enough or doing it well enough in their leadership role.  The list of qualifications given in 1 Timothy 3.2-7 is indeed daunting; an overseer must be:

–          Above reproach

–          The husband of one wife

–          Sober-minded

–          Self-controlled

–          Respectable

–          Hospitable

–          Able to teach

–          Not a drunkard

–          Not violent but gentle

–          Not quarrelsome

–          Not a lover of money

–          Able to manage his own household well

–          Able to keep his children submissive

–          Not a recent convert

–          Well thought of by outsiders

Just before the list, Paul says that the aspiration to the office is noble.  Even though it is impossible to be perfect at any of the qualifications (except maybe having just one wife), it is a joy to see God give grace for service.   

Horse Sense

A farmer tried for years to tell his two horses apart.  He cut off one’s tail, which worked for a while but then grew back.  He cut off one’s mane, but the same problem occurred.  Finally he found an answer – he measured them, and determined that the black one was an inch taller than the white one.

 

The same farmer tried training his horse to eat less.  “I gave him a little less feed every week and things were going well.  But just when I got him to the point where he wasn’t needing any grain, he up and died on me.”

Lane Dead

I had always known there were two kinds of drivers to avoid:

Lane Dead – Driving along slowly in the interstate left lane, not paying attention to cars riding right on their bumper or passing on the right.

Light Sleepers – Distracted and oblivious, they notice that the red light has turned green just in time to get through themselves but prevent those behind from proceeding.

On our drive home last Monday from Chicago (we enjoyed a weekend with daughter Linnea), Diane and I were identifying multiple variations of the Lane Dead:

On I-94 in Indiana and for many miles into Michigan, the highway has three lanes.  The lady in the Honda Odyssey who is gripping the steering wheel tightly and going exactly the speed limit in the middle lane, ignoring the cars roaring past on the right and the left, is Lane Righteous. She is not breaking the law like all these speeders, although she is ignoring the rule of the road to stay right unless passing.

The Lane Righteous are most dangerous when moving into the left lane to pass the person who is driving just below the speed limit.  They creep along together, usually while passing a truck in the right lane and earn the title Lane Dim.

Some drivers see the signs that the left lane is closing ahead and speed up to get around as many vehicles as possible. The ones who cut others off just at the last minute are Lane Cheetahs (Cheaters…)

Some will jump over in the left lane as soon as they merge onto the highway, especially when they are behind a truck.  If they cut off the current person in the left lane, they qualify as Lane Bullies.

It is amazing how many people drive just over the speed limit in the left lane of a two-lane freeway.

-The original Lane Dead are those talking to the passengers, not paying attention, and are Lane Oblivious, much like the aforementioned Light Sleepers.

-Some stay too long in the left lane because they have previously been caught behind an even slower driver in the right lane and struggled to get back into the left lane to pass.  These are the Lane Paranoid.

-Some, usually in a Mercedes-Benz, don’t move over because they feel they belong in the left lane.  They are Lane Snobs.

The hardest case to name is the person who does not like to pass trucks.  They don’t have cruise control, slow way down when going around big vehicles and then speed up like crazy once they get past.  We first thought of Lane Timid, but that does not fit the maddening surge that means everyone behind them will slow down again at the next truck. The best we have so far is Lane Twitted. 

The last category is best seen on Mt Hope Avenue, headed west from East Lansing to Lansing, where it goes from two lanes down to one. The right lane has the right-of-way, but many drivers cruise along in the left lane and expect everyone to let them in when the lane changes.  Perhaps they have never seen the signs and so are Lane Assumers, which is appropriate because we know what happens when you assume.

Feel free to comment with descriptions of any other Lane Dead drivers you have encountered.

Lighthouse Prayer

In 2000 or 2001, our youth group tried the Lighthouse Prayer Method (it would be accurate but weird to say “at the turn of the century”).

The prayer activity was explained simply as “Pray a blessing on five neighbors five times a week for five weeks.”  The ongoing work was summarized in the phrase “Prayer, Care, Share”, with the end goal of sharing the gospel after establishing a relationship with your neighbors.

The document we used was a booklet, Make Your Home A Light-House, written by Alvin J. Vander Griend, Director of Houses of Prayer Everywhere (HOPE) in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  I can’t find the booklet in a quick Google search, but there are other similar possibilities and some monographs from the booklet available.

This is more of a long term commitment than a one-time Group Prayer activity, but the ideas can be helpful.

The first question we ran into was “What is a prayer of blessing?”  The booklet gives a list of generic topics using the letters of BLESS – Body, Labor, Emotional, Social, Spiritual. But the kids wanted to know more about how to pray for these things when you might not know the people very well.  Providentially, we looked at Numbers 6.22 – the High priestly prayer, combined with our understanding that we are a royal priesthood of believers (1 Peter 2.9), made that a natural “blessing.”  We also used several of the prayers in Paul’s epistles as models, particularly the doxologies.

The results and excitement varied.  Some had immediate answers to prayer, like the girl who asked if she could go to church with our youth group student.  Most started well but thistles and thorns got in the way.  We could have done a better job of follow up on the prayer requests and alerting the kids to upcoming events they could invite their friends to.

The concept is straightforward.  As the title of Chapter 9 states, it’s not a program, it’s people.  It requires persistence; maybe this is how the widow was praying for the unrighteous judge in Luke 18!

Walk Around The Block

During the New Members classes at our church, Associate Pastor Ben describes a structured daily prayer discipline – name a category for each day of the week, and concentrate supplications in that category that day.  The list is flexible; right now I am using Sunday – Missionaries; Monday – School and Government officials (including teachers!); Tuesday – Church ministries; Wednesday – Neighbors and Friends; Thursday – Church Elder District; Friday – Extended Family; Saturday – My Personal Character and Scheduling.

On Wednesdays, I try to walk around the block, using the Lighthouse Ministry idea of praying a blessing on each household (See a bit more about Lighthouse in tomorrow’s post).  The simplicity and combination of physical and spiritual exercise appealed to me, but  I was convicted recently that rather than being a Lone Ranger Prayer, I should be willing to share the concept with people I encounter on the walk, and maybe ask some to join me. 

Accordingly, I set out one day ready to explain what I was doing.  I immediately choked with the lady across the street; she was just beginning her own walk with her two small yappy dogs and we talked about the pets.  My resolve increased at the corner, when another neighbor driving by slowed and rolled down the passenger side window. Here’s my chance!

He asked jokingly, “Are you lost, little boy?” And he immediately followed with “You look like an Alzheimer’s patient wandering back and forth on the sidewalk.” (Note to self – DO keep your eyes open, and walk with a little more purpose.)

I replied that I was strolling the block praying for people as I walk by their houses.  He jumped to, “Isn’t it awful how some are so rundown?”

“The people or the houses?”

“The houses!”  And he launched into a series of complaints on how people were not taking care of their lawns and what he had been doing recently to beautify the neighborhood.   This was NOT what I expected.

But then, in the last part of the circuit, another neighbor was coming down the driveway as I went by.  I knew she had some church background, so I just blurted out that I was finishing my walk around the block, praying for people as I went.  I explained about praying a blessing on people because I don’t know what people need, but God does.  She asked for two at her house, please.  Nice. That was more what I was hoping for.  I will continue to share and expect God to lead to further conversations.

The King’s Appearance Was Unexpected

The Jews of Jerusalem certainly did not have the real Jesus in mind when they were thinking Messiah.  The Messiah was the King of Glory, and the Jews had shown an unfortunate stubborn streak when asking for their first king in 1 Samuel 8.  Samuel had done his best to discourage having a king. “Watch out! Kings will take all your best people into their service as soldiers, serfs, and slaves.  Kings will tax away all your grain, grapes and flocks. Kings are into perfumers; they value people who can trick out their latest chariot models; they will make you a curious status symbol as you run in front of their chariots.  Kings will take all your stuff and give it to their friends.”

But the Israelites did not hear Samuel.  They really, really wanted a king!  “Everyone else has one, and we don’t want to look bad to all the neighbors.” To their credit, the people did recognize that even though Samuel, Eli and other named judges had been good guys, it seemed that most of the judges’ heirs sank quickly to the depths of bribery and perverted justice. We can give them the benefit of the doubt that they were looking for something better; they did not recognize that having God as their King was the best it could be. Unfortunately, most of the kings they got turned out to be as described by Samuel. And foreign kings were even worse, especially the Romans.

So the first century Jews still had an idea of a powerful redeemer with swords and chariots who would overthrow the Romans, and Jesus did not look like much.  HIS kingdom was full of mustard seeds, fertile soil, lamps under baskets, and unrighteous judges.  He did not have a sword; he went around healing people!  His main claim to fame was dying on a cross and being raised from the dead. What kind of king is that? 

Fortunately, the One True God was working his plan even back in the day when the Israelites whined for a king. The good king David was eventually placed on the throne, and his heir would be the true Messiah.  It is good to remember that Samuel was surprised with the choice of David; he thought David’s older brothers looked the part of a monarch. Ruddy-faced shepherd boy David had beautiful eyes but did not yet look much like a king (1 Samuel 16.6-13).