The Trappings of Death

Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

John 5:24

We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Romans 6:2-4

There's a certain irony to Halloween in that a lot of very attractive and successful people, who regularly spend lots of time and money trying to make themselves look younger and prettier, for one night spend lots of time and money trying to make themselves look more dead and ugly. You can imagine how confusing this would be to someone who was completely unfamiliar with our culture. Why would living people wanting to dress up as zombies and the like?

Now, I am not making a point about whether or not believers should celebrate Halloween. Rather, I realized that this aspect of Halloween poignantly illustrates how so many believers live their everyday lives. Though they have "crossed over from death to life," they continue to live as though they haven't, walking around in the trappings of death every day.

Allow me to explain. Scripture teaches that anyone who believes in Jesus has been given eternal life. This life is not just something in the far off distant future but is actually given to the believer right now. Jesus says anyone who believes has "crossed over from death to life." Another Scripture puts it this way, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

So then we ought to walk through this world as those who truly are spiritually alive. Far too many believers live in hatred, unforgiveness, arrogance, selfishness, and all the sinful ways they walked in before they came to know Christ. These are the trappings of death! And it simply makes no sense for someone who has crossed over from death to life to go on living as the dead do. You were baptized into Jesus' death, so that you might die to sin and put the things of the world behind you. So put off the old sinful ways you used to walk in. Live a new life! In fact, start living like someone who has eternal life right now.

They'll Make You Out to be the Devil

“You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered.

John 7:20

How quickly man's opinion of you can change! In verse fifteen of John 7, the crowd is amazed at Jesus' biblical knowledge and wisdom. Only four verses later, they think He's possessed.

In Matthew 10:24-25 Jesus tells us to expect the same kind of treatment.

The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

So, don't be surprised if unbelievers accuse you of doing the Devil's work. The world loves attributing the things of God to the Devil. If you live like Jesus did, men will make you out to be the worst devil that ever lived. When you shine the light of Jesus into their life, it seems painfully bright to them. And when you speak the truth from the double-edged sword of God's Word to them, you cut them deeply. They cannot conceive of something that seems so painful to them being a good thing. So, they slander and accuse and malign what they do not understand. They have forgotten that some things must cause pain and discomfort before they bring healing. 

So, ignore all the hatred they spew at you and continue living for Jesus no matter what. But keep watch over yourself. Don't be arrogant or harsh. Guard your heart and your speech to make sure you are speaking the truth in love. Guard your steps to make sure you are walking in the light, living a holy life that is seasoned with grace. 

But after having taken every precaution to ensure you imitate Christ, don't be surprised if you find that you are praised one minute and cursed the next. Don't let it bother you. They treated Jesus the same way.

To that end, here's a portion of an Old Puritan prayer that I am making my own today.

Father,

Raise me above the smiles and frowns of the world,

   regarding it as a light thing to be judged by men;

May your approbation be my only aim,

   your Word my only rule.

(The Valley of Vision. p.58 in "Living for Jesus")

God of Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

Baal was worshiped as a god of fertility. Asherah was worshiped as a goddess of love and war. Judaism and Christianity have always held that God is the God not only of a few things but of all things. Yet, occasionally in Scripture, He is designated as the God of something in particular. Romans 15:13, for example, designates Him as the God of hope. This should not be understood in exclusion to other things as though God being the God of hope means that He is not the God of the Highest Heaven, but rather should be understood as a literary device used to give special emphasis to this certain thing that is unique to God.

But why hope? Many elements of the Christian faith trace their origin back 2,000 years to the time of Christ. This is impressive in itself, but the Christian heritage of hope extends much farther back in history. Hope has been a cornerstone of our faith since God first promised that "the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent" (Gen 3:15) as He cast Adam and Eve out of the garden.  This hope of a future Messiah always pointed forward to the great Cornerstone of our faith who would fulfill it: Christ. Now that He has come, now that our debt has been paid and our salvation is sure, how could any believer lose hope? In any situation, no matter how grim, Christians ought never lose hope! 

Provided that our hope has been placed in the right person, we have a supernatural supply of hope. One that is never ending and fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit. We bring it to remembrance by reading God's Word (Romans 15:4). So, no matter what your circumstances are today, make sure you are placing your hope in Jesus and never in the things of this world. Remind yourself of the precious promises of God found in His Word and of the examples who have gone before us. And place your hope in Christ once more. We ought to be the most hopeful of all people for we alone have a sure hope that can never prove untrue.

House of Mercy

Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

John 5:2-7

Our world is very much like this scene at the Pool of Bethesda. There were broken, hurting people everywhere. But Jesus didn't avert his eyes or walk on by. No. Instead, like a child that is drawn to the runt of the litter, Jesus instinctively approached the man who must have been the most desperate case there that day and He helped him.

This man had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Think about that. That's longer than most people in antiquity lived. Though we don't know the exact nature of his disability, it is clear from John 5 that he was unable to walk. He and others at that time believed that these pools were periodically stirred by an angel of God, and that when stirred were able to heal the first person who stepped down into them. He complains that he has no friend to help him and he is, of course, unable to drag himself into the pool quickly enough to be healed. How extremely sad it is to think of a man bearing so great a burden for so very long and having no friend to help him. 

Bethesda means "House of Mercy" but this man found no mercy there apart from Jesus. No one else was willing to put his need above their own. There is a lesson here for our churches. We are called to be houses of mercy. That means bearing the burdens of others, placing their needs above our own. May no one within our reach ever be able to say what this man said, that he had no friend to help him. Let this be our church’s mission. Let it be our personal mission. Those in crisis and those in great need are often more open to hearing about Jesus. So, tell them the good news. Offer them help. Be a friend. Carry their burdens.

Carry Your Mat

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

John 5:8-12

On two separate occasions, when our Lord healed paralyzed men, He commanded them to pick up their mat and take it with them as they left (here and in Matthew 9:6). Have you ever wondered why? It hardly seems like something that needed to be said. Jesus certainly didn't have to say it. He chose to, so there must be a reason. Was Jesus concerned that their mat would be a tripping hazard for the crowds? Was He discouraging litter? I don't think so. I think Jesus' reason was far greater than this. Put simply, the sight of a man walking down the street in full health and strength carrying a beggar's mat was a sign of the great miracle that Jesus had done in his life.

I can imagine people saying to themselves. "Is that Simon the beggar? No! It can't be. He is walking. But yes, it is Simon, for there is his mat. He is carrying it!" Had the man simply walked away without his mat then he could have blended into the crowd, but Jesus didn't want them to blend in. He wanted them to stand out as a testament to God's glory. God had done a miraculous thing and there it was on display for any who cared to look in the profoundly simple act of a healthy man carrying his mat.

In a way we all carry our mats with us. The lives we led before we came to know Christ left their marks on us. The sin and hurt and brokenness that we walked in left scars. Each of us bear these in different ways. Sometimes these are clearly seen on our bodies (i.e. literal scars, track marks or tattoos). Sometimes they show up in our personalities, our quirks or our worldviews (i.e. the way we prefer to dress or talk, our abnormally shy or aggressive personality, etc...). At other times they become apparent not by what is there but by what is lacking (i.e. our spouse, our children, our health).

While we should always strive to be free of lingering sin in our lives, in many ways we can never be completely rid of these lingering effects and marks of our former sin. And for good reason! Though we may wish to cast them aside, in many cases Jesus still bids us to take up our mats and carry them because they bear witness to the amazing work of God in our lives. Yes, sometimes they draw the judgment of religious people. Just as the man in John 5 was attacked by the Pharisees. But even in these moments, they give us an opportunity to bear witness, to give a testimony of what God has done for us. "Yes, I used to be broken in that way," we say. "But then I met Jesus!"

In fact, just like the scars in Jesus' hands and His side, the marks of sin in our lives can become the proof, the evidence, of God's miracle! They add credibility to our testimony. So even in this, God receives the glory! It is okay to be ashamed of the way you lived before you knew Jesus. In fact, it is good to be ashamed of your sin. But don't try to hide it. Instead, carry your mat and use it to illustrate the miracle Jesus has worked in your life.