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Communion Lesson

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us …

Hebrews 12:1, ESV

Back in college and for a short time after, I worked as a hotel doorman. A big part of the job, especially weeknights, was standing on the sidewalk in the dark and in the cold. Not much happens at a downtown hotel on a late weeknight in the winter.

Part of the uniform was a long, thick wool coat. It went down past my knees and had a big poncho like rain collar on it. The wool was nearly ¼” thick. It was a pretty cool coat in a way and it was pretty warm too. But it was heavy; I think one of the guys weighed it at something like 8-10 pounds. It really weighed you down standing there on concrete with that coat hanging on you for several hours a night.

I think of that coat when I read this scripture. There are times, when my sin is particularly real to me, that it hangs on me like that old coat, weighing me down and bringing me to a standstill. But the writer tells us that, since we are surrounded by these great, but flawed, heroes of faith, we should throw off the sin that clings to us and run the race God has for us to run.

What a refreshing thought. I know that ant the end of the shift, when I took that coat off it was liberating. And when I decide not to be bogged down by sin it is as well. It can be really hard to do that, the sin is still with us, it will happen again, but that’s what Jesus came for, so we could be set free from the burden of carrying that sin around. That’s what he meant, I believe, when he said his burden is light. Light compared to thte burden of our own sin.

What has helped me recently to believe that it’s possible to drop the burden of my own sin are these scriptures:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Romans 8:31-34, ESV

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

1 John 2:1

I was reminded last week in our preteen lesson that God gave Jesus the authority to judge (John 5:22) but that Jesus did not exercise it on Earth. Instead, he left his word to be our ultimate judge (John 12:47-48). So, while Jesus did not judge while he was here, he, through his word, will ultimately be our judge. But Jesus is on our side, as it says in Romans 8:34 and speaks in our defense according to 1 John 2:1.

Who will condemn at judgment? Jesus’ words will. But Jesus is our advocate, he's on our side, putting in the good word to God on our behalf. The cross is almost like a plea bargain with generous terms, offered by the prosecution, without being asked for by the defense. I’ll reduce your sentence to zero, but you must be completely devoted to me.

As we take communion this morning, think about the offer that Jesus made on our behalf.

Yeah, What He Said

Rod Dreher, author of Crunchy Cons and blogger over at beliefnet, had an editorial on NPR's All Things Considered this afternoon that was excellent. He and I are the same age (he's got me by 6 months actually) and he relates his experience growing up as a Conservative, his first awareness of politics being Carter and the Iranian hostage crisis, Reagan as his political hero of sorts, his lack of understanding the hippies of the 60's and more.

I can totally relate to his experience, from being a full blown conservative believer all the way up to Bush's election (well, almost) to the (ironic) disillusionment with the administration and the war in Iraq. I can't do it justice, go give it a listen (the button at the top of the page).

Hebrews 11:32 - 12

Well, here I am again, back to my QT journal after another 3 month absence. I am always surprised and disappointed by these lapses in my reading, but I don't know why. It's a pattern i fall into repeatedly, besides, look at the roller coaster that was Israel in the OT. Thankfully, even that harsh God of the OT didn't' abandon them, so there's hope for me too. :-)

Hebrews 11:32 - If I could travel back and ask the writer of Hebrews (assuming I knew who it was) some questions, one of them would be "Why is Samson listed here?"

Hebrews 12:1 - Maybe the writer answers the question for me here: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us ..." Look at the list - Samson was a fool, Rahab a prostitute, David a murderer - yet they were honored by God for their faith. Since they were, what should hold me back from the race God has set before me?

I can certainly relate to the phrase "[the] sin which clings so closely". It seems my sin sticks to me closer than my own skin, and heavier than a heavy wool coat saturated with water. It bogs me down, dragging me to my knees and even farther, preventing me from moving. By Hebrews tells me, look at the great knuckleheads of the Bible, heroes of faith and heavy with sin, just like you. Throw off that weight, shed the skin of sin, and run as Go meant for you to run. What a mental picture. If David could, and Rahab could maybe I can too.

There's a Casting Crowns song called Set Me Free about the man possessed by a legion of demons with lyrics that haunt me:

As the God man passes by
He looks straight through my eyes
And darkness cannot hide

Do you want to be free?
Lift your chains
I hold the key
All power on Heaven and Earth belong to me
I can feel, at times, Jesus look straight through my eyes and see my darkness. I wonder, do I believe that he is "the One they say will set the captives free" and I wonder if I am really willing to lift my chains of sin and be free. It seems easier at times to wallow.

Hebrews 12:3-11 - There have been some dark times in my heart the past year or two. I've written about some if this. God has been disciplining me, allowing to see the sin (pride, judgemental ism, anger) that has been there for so, so long. This passage has been my encouragement. God is disciplining me because he loves me. Moreover, he believes in me enough to show my this part of my character. Sometimes I wish he didn't, but ultimately it's encouraging that he does. I'm looking forward to "the peaceful fruit of righteousness", though.

Hebrews 12:15 - This verse has been used to challenge those with issues with others in the church, but in this context, is that what he's talking about? Maybe it's just my mental state or the flow of this post, but given the urging to drop the weight of sin and lift drooping hands and strengthen weak knees, I wonder if this is not an urging to see that no one is bitter towards God rather than man? If so, that would demand a very different kind of response, wouldn't it? It's a call to stand by those being disciplined by God, the weak and the discouraged, and make sure they are cared for, encouraged and pointed back to a God who cares. I don't know, certainly both kinds of bitterness are unhealthy and destructive.

Oh, The Irony

Watching the OSU/Florida game yesterday, I paid attention to the band at halftime. Me and 4 other people watched the 30 seconds each that Fox showed of the Gator and OSU bands. I was in marching band in High School and college and loved it, so I try to watch but they usually don't show much. 30 seconds apiece was a treat, actually.

As I commented on in my last post, it seemed like the OSU band was playing the theme from Titanic and actually had formed a sinking ship on the field. Actually, there was no doubt about the music, my wife pointed it out and I recognized it as soon as she said so, what was unclear was the formation. The camera shots were simply too close. With OSU getting pummeled and down 34-14 at the half, I thought there's no way this was really happening.

Well, thanks to YouTube, there is now no doubt. The video at right was shot at the U of M game, I think, here in Columbus. Unfortunately, there's no sound, but there is clearly (about 2 minutes in) the Titanic, breaking apart, and sinking into a blue tarp sea.

Going into this game, OSU was widely regarded as unbeatable. Leaving port, the Titanic was widely regarded as unsinkable.

To be fair to the OSU band, this show is amazing, but the irony of seeing the Titanic go down as OSU went down was very, very sad. And very, very funny.

Ouch.

OSU-14
Gators-34

Halftime.

Uh, did OSU get lost on the way to the stadium?

Is this the same team that only allowed 10 points per game in the regular season?

Tessel goes for 4th and 1 at your own 29?

Smith fumbles in the backfield?

Come on Tressel, work you magic with these guys in the locker room.

UPDATE:
Was it my imagination, or did the OSU band just do the Titanic theme complete with a sinking ship formation on the field? Tell me they didn't. Please.

Who chose that theme for the championship game?!?

UPDATE 2:
It's over. OSU-14, Gators-41. Yikes.

OSU may not have brought their game, but the Florida defense just shut OSU down. Period.

I jokes with a Michigan fan at church that USC had put on a clinic against tehm, well Florida did the same fro OSU.

I feel especially bad for Troy Smith. He deserved to go out on top, but it wasn't to be.

Oh, one more thing. You there, just off campus. Yeah, you. Please, don't burn anything. Seriously. Please.