At least not all the time. Check out this amazing prayer at the end of chapter one of Communion with God:
…I pray that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has, by the riches of his grace, brought us from a state of enmity into this glorious fellowship with himself, may give you such a taste of his sweetness and excellence in this communion as to be stirred up to a greater longing for that eternal enjoyment of him in eternal glory.
Maybe that was a tad wordy. Owen’s prayer is that we may taste so much of Jesus in our present relationship with Him that it may cause us to long for that day when sin will no longer taint our experience of Christ.
35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. (Luke 18:35-43)
The water in the shower is cold. My son is whining. The car refuse to start. When it does start I get stuck in traffic. I finally get to work and my day is horrible. The weight of the world is on my shoulders. I receive sad news about a former student. News from home is troubling. News around the globe is even more troubling. My day is horrible. “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by”.
How often have I focused on my “suffering” or my bad day instead of the fact that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by? It takes the eyes of faith to see the face of Jesus in a bed-ridden grandmother; the wheel-chair bound teenager; the autistic child. Yet in the midst of heartache and brokenness is often where Jesus is found.
For some silly reason I assume that where Jesus is it must be neat and tidy. There must be sunshine and rays of light, not clouds and storms. Trumpets are playing instead of the moans of suffering. Pleasant odors abound, not body odor that smells like moldy French cheese. We forget that Nazareth was the moldy French cheese capital of the world. “Nothing good can come from Nazareth…can it…?”
Yet it is Jesus the Nazarene that is passing by. Perhaps this is why the blind guy has such confidence. He not only believes that Jesus has the power to dispense mercy, He also has the gumption to think that He will.
And this is where I show up with my hardened cynicism and lack of faith. The blind guy has no qualms about shouting out the name of Jesus and begging for healing. He is not ashamed. He is not afraid to tell Jesus what He wants and needs. But that annoys me. I want people that are neatly put together that quietly make their requests on tiny little index cards. I don’t like shouting. I certainly don’t like desperation. When faced with such desperation I respond with rebuke and a big fat shhhhh…!!! “Jesus is trying to speak, idiot, shut up with all your suffering and just listen you might learn something”.
The blind man is not deterred. He MUST have Jesus. He is ridiculously desperate and he is not ashamed of that fact. He is screaming for the help of Jesus.
I wonder what Jesus was like at this moment. What did his face look like? What was in His heart? Was He reluctantly healing the guy so that he would shut up and let Him get back to teaching? Is He annoyed by his request? Is Jesus uncomfortable with such desperate emotion?
Be honest do you really expect this to be His answer: “What do you want me to do for you”? I want to see Jesus like this blind man saw Him. The blind man was not “blinded” by his inability to see. He was not lost in the midst of his suffering. The blind man saw Jesus. Jesus was passing by and the blind man caught a glimpse. He was so desperate and filled with unabashed hope that he could not shut up.
I want to be that guy. I am not that guy but I want to be him. I am not yet fully convinced of my desperation. I would wait until the crowd settled down and try to ask Jesus at a better time. I would mail in a prayer card. I would never risk being annoying in my asking of Jesus. But that is precisely what Jesus wants—annoying, desperate, persistent prayers that expect healing. It’s not wrong to expect Jesus to meet your needs—it’s wrong NOT to.
I have always felt a little uneasy seeing slideshows with pictures of Jesus washing disciples feet combined with US soldiers loading missiles. And even though I believe America is a great country, founded upon good ideas, and certainly used by God for great good—I also believe that America is not the kingdom of heaven on earth. That is why I agree with this post by Frank Turk: Ethel Merman-esque. But I also agree, mostly, with Bob Hyatt: Be Careful What You Worship on July 4.
Before I express why I am not big on celebrating the 4th of July in a church gathering I want to give a couple disclaimers. I want you to know exactly what I am against and what I am not against. I am not against acknowledging that it is the 4th (or Memorial Day, or Veterans Day, etc.). I am not against pointing out the picture of those fighting for freedom and how that is often a symbol of what Christ has done. I am not against thanking those that have served in the military (though perhaps at times it should be balanced by thanking others that just as faithfully serve). I think it is great to honor those that have displayed love by laying down their life for their friends.
What I do not celebrate is the waving of the American flag (only), reciting the pledge of allegiance, singing battle songs, and anything else that exalts America. And this is not just some silly little anti-patriotic pet peeve. My conviction comes straight from Scripture, Ephesians 2 among others.
Ephesians and America
Consider the big picture of Ephesians. Ephesians is the unwrapping of God’s plan to “unite all things in [Jesus], thing in heaven and things on earth”. It is the story of God drawing broken people to Himself. Ephesians is about God redeeming and reconciling a once alienated people. And people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation are in this story. As God draws disparate peoples to Himself, He is at the same time redeeming our broken relationships and reconciling us to one another. So, this cosmic plan is not God calling individual people to himself as much as it is calling individual people into His church for Himself.
This is pictured in Ephesians 2:11-22. He broke down the dividing wall of hostility and has created one new man from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. And he does this by annihilating all racial, social, economical, and gender divisions. Yes, we still remain different. But our identity is not found in these things. We are now the church. We are united around the person and work of Jesus. And we ALL have access to the Father through Jesus Christ.
What does this mean? It means that I am more united with my brother in Christ that lives in Iraq than I am with my fellow American that fights for American freedom but refuses to bow a knee to King Jesus.
So even if you say that we are not worshipping America by celebrating the 4th on Sunday morning at least consider this. Are we presenting an accurate picture of the global plan of God? God loves the nations. He shed his blood for the nations. So, if you have to display a flag—display them all. If you have to sing God Bless America add a new line and pray that He blesses the nations.
Please know that I am not anti-American. I love many of the principles that this country was founded upon. Freedom is a beautiful thing, and I never want to take it for granted. But at the same time my freedom ultimately comes from Christ, and that same thing is true of the peoples of every nation.
For a far better explanation of my position (though not on this particular topic) consider this 68 minute sermon from T4G by Thabiti Anywabile:
John Newton answers a question about 1 John 5:10. This is his conclusion:
…the hope of a believer is built upon a foundation that cannot be shaken, though it may and will be assaulted. It does not depend upon occasional and changeable frames, upon any that is precarious and questionable, but upon a correspondence and agreement with the written word. Nor does this agreement depend upon a train of labored arguments and deductions, but is self-evident, as light is to the eye, to every person who has a real participation of the grace of God. It is equally suited to all capacities. By this the unlearned are enabled to know their election of God, and "to rejoice with a joy unspeakable and full of glory." And the wisest, if destitute of this perception, though they may be masters of all the external evidences of Christianity, and able to combat the cavils of infidels, can see no real beauty in the truths of the Gospel, nor derive any solid comfort from them.
Tim Keller recently brought forth a few gems from Martin Lloyd-Jones concerning doctrine and living. This is one particular quote I found challenging and yet refreshing:
It seems to me that we have a right to be fairly happy about ourselves as long as we have criticism from both sides… For myself, as long as I am charged by certain people with being nothing but a Pentecostalist and on the other hand charged by others with being an intellectual, a man who is always preaching doctrine, as long as the two criticisms come, I am very happy. But if one or the other of the two criticisms should ever cease, then, I say, is the time to be careful and to begin to examine the very foundations.
Before I express why I am not big on celebrating the 4th of July in a church gathering I want to give a couple disclaimers. I want you to know exactly what I am against and what I am not against. I am not against acknowledging that it is the 4th (or Memorial Day, or Veterans Day, etc.). I am not against pointing out the picture of those fighting for freedom and how that is often a symbol of what Christ has done. I am not against thanking those that have served in the military (though perhaps at times it should be balanced by thanking others that just as faithfully serve). I think it is great to honor those that have displayed love by laying down their life for their friends. 