|
The Place to Hang Your Hat During the Second World War, a group of shipwrecked marines were thrilled to see land from their rubber raft. Once there, they kissed the ground and offered prayers of gratitude to God for saving them. They were now safe and secure on shore and an exuberant joy filled the beach. But as they ventured forth into the jungle, they began to see signs of life on that island—they were not alone. The island was inhabited…but by whom? Immediately, they began to wonder—Are we safe? We are hungry and weak, and with no weapons, are we really safe? Will the other people welcome us or kill us on the spot? Soon, their joy was gone and fear filled their hearts. Then one of the marines climbed a tall palm tree to see what they could expect. Suddenly, he yelled, "It's OK, fellas, it's OK—we're saved! I see a steeple with a cross on it!" What a picture of the redeeming and sanctifying influence the church is supposed to have! Now, I most certainly do not intend to infer that salvation is specifically in and through the church or its buildings, for it is not. I have even known people who thought that as long as they, or their families, were within those four walls, all would go to heaven. No way—the church is to proclaim and live the saving message of Jesus Christ and His atoning blood—He alone saves—not the church! In these past several weeks, our church has been exploring the amazing correlation between the Old Testament book of Ezra and the New Testament resurrection appearances of Jesus, focusing particularly on how the Lord intends to build His church and why. By the time we reach Ezra 9, the temple has been re-built and dedicated, and you would think all would be on track, but we find, instead, a lot of mixture—"…they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass." (vs. 2) In other words, not only have God's people, His holy seed, not remained faithful—even after being delivered from captivity—but, now we hear, that their leaders were the worst offenders. Matthew Henry, the great commentator of the 17th Century, once wrote, "There is not a surer [picture] of ruin, than turning to sin, after great judgments and great deliverances." Today, the church, which is supposed to be a safe haven of life-changing truth, is permeated with false preachers, from prosperity hucksters to authors and movie producers who will say anything about the Lord Jesus Christ in order to turn a buck. Not to mention, the thousands, both pastors and parishioners, who invite these ungodly perversions of the gospel into their churches and homes every week—and especially right now, when all of this blasphemous hoop-la is at the forefront. Ezra was grieved over the people's embracing of their own self-interests, even including himself in his prayer of confession before God. So don't think that just because he was recognizing the sin of the people, that it was his sin as well. No, he had been given a spiritual discernment to see it in order to bring it before the Lord. In the midst of this prayer, Ezra says, "And now for a little space grace hath been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in His holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage." (vs. 8) This "nail" is referring to a peg on the wall, symbolizing a constant and safe abode. Perhaps our own American euphemism is helpful here—"home is where you hang your hat." Ezra is picturing God's grace as a place of safety and security—a steeple with a cross! Grace is the home that God has prepared for His people—the only place you should desire to "hang your hat," for it is a holy place! His grace is the only place that illuminates our vision and revives our spirits. His grace mercifully calls us out of the world's philosophies and the false-church's self-interests, in order that we may see clearly that life isn't supposed to be all about us! You see, when we have our focus on self-gratification and pats-on-the-back, the true purpose of God's church becomes foggy, at best. Oswald Chambers once wrote, "If we give way to self-pity, we remove God from the thrones of our lives, replacing Him with our own self-interests. It causes us to open our mouths only to complain, and we simply become spiritual sponges—always absorbing, never giving, and never being satisfied." Haven't you noticed this? As long as life is all about you, you are never satisfied—you always want more! True peace comes when we are not self-consumed, but rather, through His Spirit, God-consumed for the sake of others. Just as Ezra came to the people to draw them away from their plans and agendas, Jesus did so with His own followers. Shortly after Jesus had appeared to all eleven disciples, including Thomas, "There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of His disciples, Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a-fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee." (John 21:2-3) Notice Peter's "I", and the other disciple's "We"—even though they had already known the presence of the resurrected Lord, they were now slipping off into their own interests—perhaps to pay some bills. And even though it may have been the "logical" thing to do, Jesus has a Godly order, and He had told them on Easter Sunday night to "tarry" in Jerusalem. When they had fished all night and caught nothing, Jesus appeared on the beach, asking them, "Children, have ye any meat." (vs. 5) In the Greek, He is calling them "infants, babies, perhaps even half-grown kids", implying that they were being immature, weak, and childish. Not exactly a pat-on-the-back! And concerning the "meat", He was not asking them if they had had any luck. On the evening of Easter Sunday, He asked them the same question, only without the reference to them being little kids. At that time, He took the food and ate it right in front of them—proving His resurrection! The "meat" is a picture of sustenance and nourishment—in a sense, He was asking them if they had grown up any in the past couple of weeks. In an effort to "grow them up," He told them where to put the net, like He had done in Luke 5. Wow!—153 huge fish—from nothing to everything! What did they do with them? Did they take them to market and pay their bills? We don't know, for the Bible does not say—and that is what matters—our eyes are illuminated by what the Bible says, not by what the media or anybody else tells us. What I can tell you is that Jesus didn't use those fish right then, for He had already prepared their breakfast. Jesus would be their sustenance. Jesus would be their nourishment. Jesus, and only Jesus, would drive the nail into the wall, and in so doing, drive His point home. Only Jesus could shape them into the evangelists He wanted them to be. Perhaps you remember the Peanuts comic strip where Lucy says, "You know, Linus, I would make a good evangelist." "What makes you think that," he responded. "Well, you know the kid who sits behind me in class? I convinced him that my religion is better than his religion." "How did you do that," asked Linus. "I hit him with my lunch box." That may be the way other world religions approach it, beating people into submission—not true Christianity. After breakfast, Jesus asked Peter, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?" (vs. 15a) LOVE is the focus! Three times Jesus asks him about his love, and three times Peter answers. Most people think that Jesus is pounding Peter for his earlier three-fold denial, kind of like Lucy with her lunch box. But He is not! In the Greek, Jesus asks him twice if he has the divine love, "agape," and Peter admits his love for Jesus is still a human one, "phileo." The third time, Jesus switches the word and asks if it really is "phileo," to which Peter admits. This is not pounding—in divine love, Jesus calls Peter away from his own interests, and into a deeper love for God. In effect, Jesus is saying, "Church, if you really do love me at all, you will let me fill you with a deeper love that will keep you out of the world and its ways and into the center of my heart and will—away from your self-interests, and into mine! Even when they haul you away, on my account, and throw you into the trash because they don't like the truth I have given you to share, I am in control. I will be with you if you will just follow me, and not the other influences that are all around you. Church, I have come, both in the Old and the New Testaments, to pull a people together and give you a holy place in which to hang your hat—a safe home at the foot of the Cross, a place of self-denial, and the fullness of my Pentecost Spirit. Well? Copyright (c)
2006 Christ Our Rock Bible Church. |
