A Call to Self-Death

Exodus 33:18-20

I am tired of doing church. I am tired of routine Christianity. I am tired of standing to sing songs that are not meaningful to me. I am tired of sitting down to listen to sermons that offer very small spiritual nourishment. I am tired of preaching the Word Sunday after Sunday and seeing no visible spiritual growth among the people. I am tired of seeing dry worship. I am tired of seeing people at church talking with their seatmates while the service is going on. I am tired of all these things. I am tired of doing church.

But this does not mean that I want to give up. I am tired of less because I want more. I am tired of less when I can experience more. I am tired of dead Christianity when it is possible to have a lively church. I am tired of picking up breadcrumbs in the church, when a whole loaf of bread is available. I am tired of dry services when it is possible for the Holy Spirit to descend upon His church and sweep us all. I am tired of nominal Sunday Christianity where people’s level of spiritual satisfaction is so shallow. I am tired of routines that does not bear fruit.

My heart aches for more. This has to be more than these. Jesus told His disciples that they would see greater things (John 14:12). Where are these greater things? Jesus told Peter that the gates of hell will not prevail over the church (Matt 16:18). What happened? Jesus promised power to the disciples when the Spirit comes on His disciples (Acts 1:8). Where is this power?

Has the church become too complacent? Have we settled for what we have? Have we no desire for greater things? Are we okay with empty seats? Are we satisfied with mediocre spiritual life?

Well, I am not. I want more. I want more of God in my life. I want more of God in your lives. I want more of God in our church. I want all of us to be like Moses, who, when he was in the presence of God, made a request: “Please show me your glory” (Exo 33:18). I want to have Moses’ discontentment. He was already conversing with God. He already saw how the mighty hand of God worked wonders. He already had a glimpse of God’s glory. But his request is still, “Please show me your glory.” Moses wanted to experience God more. Moses wanted to experience God in a way he has never experienced before.

This is my prayer too: “Lord, show us our glory.” Your glory is so hidden from us. Your glory is hardly felt inside that nothing is really overflowing from this place to the outside. Sometimes I feel like the glory of the Lord is limited only in the platform. Song leaders seem to feel the glory of God while they at the platform, but the people in the other areas of the sanctuary do not feel any of God’s presence. If the glory of the Lord is hardly felt by people in the sanctuary, then how much more will other people feel God’s glory when they are outside of our building?

But there is a problem. God’s response to Moses’s request was not very encouraging. God said, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exo 33:20). The problem is this: If we really want to see God’s glory revealed and manifested in our midst, we must be ready and willing to die. The only way to see God’s face is to face death. What does this mean?

First, this can mean physical death, because this was the case of the high priests. They can only enter the Holy of Holies if they were ready to die. In fact, a rope was tied on their waist so that in case they did die in the Holy of Holies, they could just be pulled out. The day they are supposed to enter the Holy of Holies, they leave their families without the assurance of ever coming back alive to them. The day they enter the Holy of Holies, they are dead men walking. One of their feet is already in the grave. But they would still go through. They would still enter the Holy of Holies. It would be their great opportunity to be in the presence of God. They tremble at the thought of dying, but they still enter the Holy of Holies, because it is where God’s glory dwells. If we really want to be in the presence of God and to experience His glory, we need to have the resolve like that of the high priests. 

Second, this can mean death to self. Paul was very clear that God wants us to offer ourselves as “a living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1), but these living sacrifices must also be willing to die to themselves. Paul told the Romans: “consider yourselves to be dead to sin” (Rom 6:11). Jesus Himself taught that the only way we can fully experience and follow Him is if we die to ourselves: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). There is no gain apart from dying first: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).

Thirdly, this can mean death of our pride and glory. The only way to see God’s glory is when we put our egos to death. John the Baptist said: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). We must bury our glory. The birth of God’s glory coincides with the death of humanity’s glory.

In all of these, the argument is simple: Until we are ready to let go of ourselves, we will not see God’s glory. Until we are ready to die, we will not see God’s glory. Only dead humans see God. Only dead humans are worthy of seeing God. Only those who are willing to let go of everything can see God.  If we are not willing to kill the sinful flesh and murder our own glory, we should not expect God to descend upon us. As in the story of Elijah at Mount Carmel, fire from heaven only visibly descended when dead sacrifices were laid at the altar.

Throughout the Bible, there were many who desired to see God’s face, even if they knew that only dead men see God. Psalm 24:6 even records a “generation of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.” Imagine a whole generation of people seeking after God, even though they know that it would cost them their lives. John Wesley once said, “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth.” Wesley is correct. If the church is composed of people who desire God so much and fear nothing—including death—then the kingdom of heaven will also be on earth (see Matt 6:10).

The problem, however, is that there are very few Moseses in the church who have the desire to see God’s glory and the tenacity to approach God even if it is dangerous. In fact, even in the time of Moses, he was quite unique and different from the rest of the Israelites. We read in Exodus 20:18-21 a disturbing story:

When all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

In this story, the people could almost touch God’s glory. God was right there, just ahead of them. He was present at Mount Sinai. Exodus 19:9-11 narrates that God descended from heaven precisely for them: “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.’ When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord,  the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people’.”

But what did the people do? On the day that God descended from heaven to be at Mount Sinai, the Israelites “were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die’…  The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was (Exo 20:18-21). The people were invited to God’s presence, but they were afraid. They were afraid because they thought they would die. They did not want to take risks. And so they sent Moses on their behalf. They were comfortable being in the boundaries of God’s presence and just get a whiff of the glory of God. They were content with a small experience of God if it meant that they would continue to live.

This is the problem of modern Christianity. There is so much more of God’s presence, and there is so much more in God’s presence, but we choose to stay at the outskirts where it is safe. We are content to be on the outskirts of God’s presence. We are satisfied with the seeping glory outside the fence when we are actually invited to come in. We do not care or dare to venture where God’s glory dwells. We do not want to go there because we love our selves more than we love God. We would rather live a life far away from God and His glory than bask in God’s presence if it entails dying to ourselves. Then we wonder and ask stupid questions like: Why do I feel dry in my life? Why is the church without power? Why is the church struggling? The answer to this question is that we choose a life far away from God than a death closer to Him. Quite simply, if we want to see God’s face and if we want God’s glory to be revealed on earth, then we must be willing to die to ourselves.

Water from the Altar

Ezekiel 47:1-12

Ezekiel 47 is a part of the visions God enabled the prophet Ezekiel to see, which started in chapter 40 through the guidance of “a man whose appearance was like bronze” (40:2-3). The man took Ezekiel to different places and gave instructions to him about the east gate (40:5-16), the outer court (40:17-19), the north gate (40:20-23), the south gate (40:24-27), gates to the inner court (40:28-37), rooms for preparing sacrifices (40:38-43), rooms for the priests (40:44-47; 42:1-20), and the altar (43:13-27). Ezekiel says that he was brought back to the entrance of the temple (47:1), because he already came to the temple before (40:48-41:26). But this time, what Ezekiel was made to see was way more exciting. In his first visit, he only saw measurements of doorframes, jambs, and other parts of the temple. But in his return, the man showed him the contents of the heart of God.

Now he brought me back to the entrance to the Temple. I saw water pouring out from under the Temple porch to the east (the Temple faced east). The water poured from the south side of the Temple, south of the altar. He then took me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the gate complex on the east. The water was gushing from under the south front of the Temple.

He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured off fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water waist-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet. By now it was a river over my head, water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through.

He said, “Son of man, have you had a good look?” Then he took me back to the riverbank. While sitting on the bank, I noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river. ^8-10 He told me, “This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh. Wherever the river flows, life will flourish—great schools of fish—because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds. Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the shore from En-gedi all the way north to En-eglaim, casting their nets. The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of the Great Mediterranean (Ezekiel 47:1-10, MSG)

In the vision, Ezekiel saw water flowing from under the Temple, most probably right from the Holy of Holies, to outside the Temple down to the valleys. The water was gushing forth, and quite strongly, because the water from the Temple has formed a river 2 kilometers away from the temple, where its waters are over Ezekiel’s head: “water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through.”

This is an amazing picture of what happens when the glory of God descends upon the church, because the church will not be able to contain the Holy Spirit’s presence and power. If the church is filled with God’s glory, an overflow is to be expected. The temple is situated in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem was on a mountain. Jerusalem is neither situated on a great river nor is it beside a river. So where did the water come from? The answer is… I don’t know. But the Bible is clear that water can come out of rocks (Exo 17:1-5; Num 20:1-11). When the glory of the Lord is in the church, nothing is impossible. The vision of Ezekiel tells us that God plans for water to gush out of the mountain where God dwells down to the valleys where life need to grow.

Outpouring for the World

It must also be noted that the water did not come to the temple, as if the temple needed to be cleansed. The water goes out from the temple. Although it is necessary that the church experiences the cleansing and transforming power of the Holy Spirit, that is not all there is for the life of the church. We can all be occupied with the need to be cleansed and sanctified, and we can spend all our lives pursuing these desires—and this is good. But we must remember that we are called not solely to focus on our own spiritual needs. There must come a point when the church is a water-giving station, and not just a bottle that wants to be filled over and over again.

Sometimes we can be too concerned about our own filth and needs that we only pray for water for ourselves. As we mature in our Christian lives, we must learn to get rid of the mentality that Christ died for me and that the Holy Spirit is sent for me. The Bible is clear: Christ died for all and the Spirit is poured out on all flesh (Acts 2:17). The vision of Ezekiel is very refreshing. He envisioned a moment when the church becomes the source of water, when the church is the one that gives, not asks. The church is not a pool that gathers all the water to fill itself; the church is an irrigation system that supplies water to fields. We must go beyond the act of asking, and proceed to the act of giving.

Transforming Effects of Water

Ezekiel’s vision tells us what happens when water overflows from the temple. First, wherever the water from the temple goes, there is healing and transformation. Ezekiel wrote: “This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh” (47:8).

This is a beautiful picture. The Dead Sea is very salty. When my wife and I went to Israel in 2009, we went for a dip in the Dead Sea. Because of the density of salt in the sea, you would literally float. No matter how much you want to stay underwater, the water will push you upward. The Dead Sea is very salty. When you step on the seabed, you feel as if you are stepping on big rocks, but they are actually big chunks of salt. But because it is also very salty, no marine life is capable of surviving there. It is literally a Dead Sea. But the vision that God gave Ezekiel was that even the worst and most useless sea in the world is transformed when water from the temple flows to it. This is the transforming power of God.

In Isaiah 44:3, God said, “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground.” If in Isaiah what is transformed by water is dry ground, the water in Ezekiel transforms an entire sea. But the core thought is simple: a barangay or town or country pervaded by death and lack of life can be healed and transformed by the blessings overflowing from the church. We are all aware that we live in a world of death, poverty, injustice, and everything that is anti-life. This does not need to lead us to despair, because no matter how dead the world can be, water from the temple is sufficient to bring healing to it.

The Lord heals.   

Life-giving Water

The man who accompanied Ezekiel went on to say that “swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large number of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live… the fish will be of many kinds” (47:9-10). The picture again is stunning. The overflow of God’s work in the church brings life to everything it touches. Out of the church comes the power to bring life into a once lifeless barangay or city. Where previously there was only sin and death, when the Spirit overflows from the church, these areas are transformed as an oasis of life. The same vision was given to John: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Rev 22:1-2).

The vision of Ezekiel teaches us that the church has a lot to give to the world. The church is meant to give. We cannot just release trickles of water and be satisfied. We cannot be content with ankle-deep results. We must pray that our ministry drowns the world with abundant grace. The church is not like a sprinkler, but is like a dam, which needs to open its floodgates wide.

When the floodgates of heaven open up and transforming water erupts from our church, we will not only see knee-deep and waist-deep spiritual floods around us. The vision of Ezekiel teaches us that when God makes His move, a mighty river is formed.

Christian Plumbing

Ezekiel’s vision was extraordinary, and the church must ask herself if this is happening and is true to her experience today. If not yet, when will it ever happen? Is the church an instrument of radical transformation, healing, and life to the world? Is our local church a source of living water flowing from our sanctuary to the outside world?

If we want these things to happen, then we must do something first. If God’s transforming, healing, and life-giving water is not yet flowing through us and our church in a magnificent way, then it is probably because our lives are clogged. It is probably because we are like wells filled with dirt, stones, trash, and vines that hinder the water from gushing out. The water wants to erupt, but there is so much garbage in our lives that the water simply cannot pass through.

This is something that I do not understand with God. I am a theologian, but I could not understand why God would need to rely on me to accomplish something that He wants. Why do I need to be clean to be a vessel of grace? He is God, and He can do anything He wants to do, regardless of my obedience or disobedience, or my strength or my weakness, or my existence or non-existence. But the mystery of the gospel is that God requires willing and sanctified people to be His vessels. He requires people to be His channels of grace. He requires holy people to be the irrigation through which His transforming, healing, and life-giving work flow.

This is a lot of pressure. This is a lot of responsibility. But the truth will never change no matter how much we ask or no matter how much we disagree: God’s cleansing, transforming, healing, and life-giving water flows out of the church. The world needs the church to do the right thing, otherwise the world will remain a Dead Sea. The church needs to be unclogged because it has been waiting the world for years for its healing and renewal.

Clean Heart

Psalm 51:10-12

We all make blunders in life. Some of them are funny (in the long run). Some of these misfortunes actually make other people laugh. Some of them, however, are so bad that they completely destroy lives. The reality is that we all sin, stumble, and fall. We commit blunders on a daily basis. The question we should ask is not “Do we commit blunders?” because we really do. The question is: “How should we respond to our own blunders?” (We must forget about the blunders of others. Let them deal with their own sins. Sometimes we are better in solving other people’s problems than dealing with our own inconsistencies.)

One of the best things about the Bible is its honesty. It does not conceal the faults of even its greatest characters.  The Bible admits and even celebrates the human-ness of those who follow God. Abraham, immediately after receiving the call from God, went to Egypt and prostituted his wife Sarah to Pharaoh for the sake of self-preservation. Noah who survived the flood was a drunk. Saul, the anointed king, had a great inferiority complex and was full of envy. Samson was a playboy. Even the disciples of Jesus Christ were portrayed to be arrogant self-exalting cowards. The Bible narrates several shameful and ugly stories of how great men and women of God fall. One of the most tragic of these stories is David’s.

David was described in Acts 13:22 as “a man after God’s own heart.” This does not mean that David was perfect from the moment he was born up to when he died. In fact, the Bible records that he actually fell into many temptations. It is not like he committed only one sin. No. He committed several. His sins were very grievous – sins that would completely destroy anyone’s reputation today.

• He was self-indulgent and lazy. The Israelites were waging war against the Ammonites, but “David remained at Jerusalem” (2 Sam 11:1). He should be leading his army in battle, but he stayed home. What did he do at home? Verse 2 explains: “It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house.” (11:2).
• He saw Bathsheba bathing, and slept with her, even though he knew that she was married to a soldier in the battlefield (11:2-4).
• When Bathsheba got pregnant, he wanted to frame Uriah to be the father of the child. When this planned failed, he arranged for Uriah to die in battle (11:14-15).
• When Uriah died, David took Bathsheba as his wife
• The result of his actions is clear: “the thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (11:27).

 David composed Psalm 51, as a reflection and response to the prophet Nathan’s rebukes. Thus, Psalm 51 reveals the heart of a sorrowful sinner who wants to be restored. The psalm reveals the contents of David’s heart.

In Psalm 51, we read David’s confession of his sins:

•   “I know my transgressions” (51:3a)
•   “my sin is ever before me” (51:3b)
•   “Against you… I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (51:4)
•   “I was brought forth in iniquity” (51:5a)

 Secondly, he sought God’s forgiveness:

•   “blot out my transgressions” (51:1) – to transgress is to go against a code of conduct
•   “wash me thoroughly from my iniquity” (51:2a)
•   “cleanse me from my sin” (51:2b)
•   “purify me with hyssop” (51:7a)
•   “wash me” (51:7b)
•   “blot out my iniquities” (51:9b)

 And he continued to ask from God:

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit (Ps 51:10-12)

For someone who committed many grievous sins, David had the nerve to ask a lot from God. He had the face to say “give me this” and “grant me that.” His prayers do not make sense to us. Most of the time, we think that when we commit sin against God or against someone, the best thing to do is to stay away. We think that God is so angry with us that He does not wish to see us at all. In fact, many Christians who have sinned against God choose to take a week or a month off from church. They do not wish to open their Bibles or even pray because they feel unworthy to come before God with requests. They stop their ministries, because they feel unworthy to serve God.

But David shows us a different way. He had the audacity to ask from God, even if he knew He sinned. What we need is boldness of hope in the midst of despair and sin. David’s prayer teaches us what we should aspire for when we fall.

David showed us the right attitude when we sin against Him. Instead of hiding away from God or taking a break, we must be more pro-active in seeking Him. Why is this so? Because the good news of the kingdom is that every human being who sinned has the right to ask for forgiveness. Every human being who has fallen low has the right to ask God to lift him up. Every human being who is tarnished by sin has the right to aim for purity. Every human being who has gone astray has the right to return to God. Every human being who is filled with sorrow has the right to ask for the joy of the Spirit. Every human being who sinned has the right to repent. Every human being who feels empty has the right to be filled again. Every human being who is lost has the right to return to the right track.

Every human being who has a sinful heart can ask God for a new heart. David prayed, “create in me a clean heart, O God.” Jesus proclaimed that “Out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matt 15:19). Yahweh Himself also proclaimed: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jer 17:9). The Hebrew word used for “create” in Psalm 51:10 is bara, which is the term used in Genesis 1 to describe God’s action when He created the world. The prayer, therefore, is not to just to cleanse a heart that is dirty or to cure a diseased heart. The prayer is for God to provide him a new heart, which God will create out of nothing—a previous non-existing heart. It involves like a heart transplant, in which the existing one needs to be discarded and replaced with a new one. We can ask God for this. We have the right to ask and plead before God.

Every human being whose spirit is thoroughly soaked in darkness can ask God for a right spirit. David prayed, “renew a right spirit within me.” We must learn to admit that we are not perfect. Our spirits are easily influenced by our preferences. We can have a bitter and envious spirit because others are better than us. We can have a proud spirit, just because we are doing this and that. We can have an apathetic spirit that simply does not care about God and other people. We can have a consumerist spirit. We can have a narcissistic spirit. But when we have these things, we have the right to ask God to give us a right spirit.

Every human being who is guilty of sin can ask God’s presence to remain in Him. David prayed, “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” We live in a chaotic world, and we need God’s hand to hold us. When we sin, we might feel that God would let us go and we would be alone in the world. This is scary because the moment we are alone, we are lost. But this does not need to be the case. We can ask God to remain with us.

Finally, every human being who is bombarded by guilt and shame because of sin can ask God for the joy of salvation. David prayed, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” When we sin, we are filled with guilt and shame. Satan also bombards us with lies and accusations that snuff our joy out. It is true that God brings sorrow upon us when we sin, but this godly sorrow should not remain with us forever. Sorrow leads to repentance, which leads to restoration. We must believe in God’s grace to forgive. 

Grace is available for all of us. It is a terrible lie of the devil that we do not have the right to ask from God because we have sinned against Him. It is a terrible deception to think that we are unworthy before God and present our requests to Him. The truth is that God is always waiting for us. He has a cellphone that He always looks at, and our number is in there. He is just a text away. He is just a prayer away. What we need is the audacity and the thickest face ever to come to God and make our requests.

Awakening

Ephesians 5:8-14

The Apostle Paul was a great missionary, but the churches that he established during his missionary journeys were somewhat problematic. One such problematic church was at Ephesus. Paul spent two or three years in Ephesus (Acts 19:10; 20:31), probably the years AD 52-54, and he was successful in establishing a Christian community there, especially among the Gentiles (Acts 19:17–2-0, 26; 1 Cor 16:9). After he left, he lost contact and communication with the believers there. In fact, he had been gone for more than seven years when he wrote the letter. It was probably written towards the end of his two-year imprisonment in Rome, along with the writing of Colossians and Philemon, in AD 62 (Eph 3:1, 13; 4:1; 6:20), and he may have been awaiting a judicial hearing. He called himself “an ambassador in chains” (6:20).

The epistle reveals some of Paul’s concerns for the Ephesians: (1) that they might have a better understanding of what God has done for them in Christ (1:18-23), (2) that Christ might dwell in their hearts (3:17), and (3) that they might understand the massive size of Christ’s love for them (3:18-19). Paul heard that the Ephesian Christians who knew him were discouraged by his suffering and their lack of contact with him (3:13), so he also wanted to encourage them.

So Paul’s letter can be said to be a letter of encouragements and admonitions. So today, we will look at one of his most important admonitions to the church. Let us read Ephesians 5:8-14,

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
    rise from the dead,
    and Christ will shine on you.”

The phrase “you were once darkness” is interesting because it is used as a description of the non-Christian life. It does not say “you were once in darkness.” Being in the dark means that you are surrounded by evil, and because of this, your life is influenced by the darkness that surrounds you. There is a lot of sense in which this is the description of our world today. We are surrounded by dark agenda. Television shows promote promiscuity, and turns evil things into funny comedies. Even movies that are supposedly for general audience and for children contain violence, dishonesty, non-submission to parents, and other rebellious attitudes. Things are so bad that my 5-year old child is learning bad manners by watching children reality shows on YouTube. Being in the darkness means that the world around you influences you.

But the passage does not say “you were once in darkness.” Paul actually said: “you were once darkness.” It was not the world that surrounded them that was dark. It was them. Paul was basically saying that they were the bringer of darkness. Their society was dark because of them. There was evil in society, in their families, in their homes, in their schools, and wherever they went because they were the ones bringing darkness and vile deeds wherever they went. They were the cause of the darkness of the world.

This is a shocking description of their previous lives. And we may be able to resonate with what Paul was saying to them. When we were in sin, we were the cause of many evils. People were hurt—physically, emotionally, psychologically—because of us. Our families suffered because of us. Our parents and teachers cried because of us. Innocent people experienced discomfort because of us. Our communities were not orderly because of us. The darkness of our hearts brought upon evil the world and to those around us. Our choices were the ones that really contributed to the darkness of the world. We were not victims of the darkness; we were the heralds of darkness.

But these are all in the past. Paul says that “they were once darkness.” Paul describes what happened to them in Ephesians 2:1-5,

You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

And again in Ephesians 4:22-24, Paul speaks about the fact that they are no longer the same: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

It would seem that all is well. They have been made new already. In the first two chapters of Ephesians, Paul celebrates the spiritual gifts that they have received. But it seems that something is still wrong with the Ephesian believers. Ephesians 5:14 admonishes the Ephesians to wake up!

Here is the common problem of Christians: We have already been saved. We have been set free from darkness and have joined the light. We are a new creation, where the old is gone and the new has come (2 Cor 5:17). We have already put off our old selves and identities, and have put on Christ (Eph 4:22-24). But we are dormant and sleeping. Many Christians are professional nappers. They do not sleep at church, and in fact it is when they are at church that they appear to be most alive. But the moment they are outside the church, they are asleep in their faith.

Growing up in the church, I do not remember any moment in my life when I did not love God. But there were countless moments when my love for God was really hibernating. It was there, but it did not make much difference with how I lived, how I made decisions, how I made plans, how I worked, or how I interacted with other people. I know in my head that I love God, but I was not really bothered by what this meant.

  

As Filipinos, we are familiar with the saying, “it is hard to awaken someone who is already awake: mahirap gisingin ang gising.” This applies to sleeping Christians too. I am sure that we are already half awake. It is not as if we are clueless about our own situations in life. It is not as if we have no idea about the very needs of our souls. But even when we know that we need to rise up, we choose to stay down. Paul was aware of this human tendency, which was why in 5:14, Paul was not pleading with admonishing tears. Paul was commanding the Ephesians to wake up and rise from their dead state. He was calling them, or commanding them to rise from the dead. The picture is that of Jesus commanding Lazarus, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43) or commanding the little girl, “Talitha koum” (Little girl, I say to you, get up! Mark 5:41). The dead hear the voice of God, and they respond. They truly rise from the dead in obedience to God’s command. The promise is clear for us: “Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live” (John 5:25).

The consequences of our slumber as Christians is quite drastic. Let me present you some statistics. According to a speaker during the Manila Missions Conference in 2015, there are approximately 180,000 people saved in the world per day. There are 7.3 billion people alive in the world. If the global church reaches out to 180,000 people per day, then there are 65,700,000 people saved every year. If this continues, it will take 111.111 years for 7.3 billion people in the world to become a Christian. This will be achieved in 2127.

The problem is that by 2127, world population will not remain as 7.3 billion. By 2127, the projected world population, according to the UN, is about 19 billion. Thus, if we want the people of the whole world to be Christians by 2127, we need to reach out to 171,000,171 people every year during the next 111 years. This means reaching out to 468,493 people per day for the next 111 years. So, if we are reaching out to 180,000 people per day, then there are an estimated 288,493 who are lost per day for the next 111 years.

Of the 7.3 billion people in the world, 2,173,180,000 are Christians. If there are 180,000 people reached out every day, it means that it takes 12,073 Christians to reach out to one non-believer per day or there is only one in every 12,073 Christians around the world who bears witness to Christ to one person.

These numbers present a stark reality. If we, for a moment, think that Christians around the world are not sleeping, we are terribly wrong. This is why Paul’s admonition is very important. In fact, Paul commands us to awaken from our slumber not really for our own sakes. The purpose of awakening is not so that we gain blessings or gifts from God. Awakening is not an end in itself and for our sakes; it is for the sake of others. If we awaken from our moral slumber, the result is that “Christ will shine on us” (Eph 5:14).

If in the past we were once darkness, and we brought darkness into the world, now we should be light who bear the fruits of goodness, righteousness and truth (Eph 5:9). But we can only be the light of the world if we awaken. More than we care to admit, the church can be like the valley of dry bones pictured in Ezekiel 37. We are a group of dead bodies. We are there. We exist, but we exist in the form of scattered bones. We deceive ourselves by thinking that it is alright to be lying down, so long as we are Christians. But the fact is this: the church of Christ must not be composed of dry bones. We need to wake and rise up and become a living army (Ezek 10:10).

The prophet Isaiah paints a wonderful picture that we must all aspire.

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
² See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.
³ Nations will come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn

(Isa 60:1-3; cf 2 Cor 3:18)

“Thick darkness is over the people,” says Isaiah. This is the picture of the world as it is today. But there is hope. If we awaken from our slumber, God’s glory will appear upon us. If we “arise, shine, for your light has come,” “nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” We are the light of the word, Jesus said (Matt 5:14), and if we allow our light to shine, peoples and nations will know God.

Awaken. As in the valley of the dry bones, the only way to become alive is through the enlivening power of the Holy Spirit. Maybe what we need today is a fresh touch of the Spirit. 

Streams on Dry Ground

Isaiah 43:34, 22-24; 44:1-3

How many of us like travelling? If you are like me who is quite organized, before going anywhere, I would make a list of things I need to prepare. While I am making my list, I would sit down and imagine what the travel would be like and what the situation would be in my destination. I go so far as to pack a medical kit, which includes things that would alleviate tummy problems, paracetamol, ibuprofen, band aid, hydration packets, and Salon Pas. But here’s the thing: no matter how much I prepare for my travels, things do not always proceed as I have planned or expected. I went to Korea in 2007 for a 10-day stay, and I forgot to bring a single underwear. On the way to England in 2008, I left my passport at the table where I had a meal at the airport. I went to South Africa in 2013, and I forgot to bring a toothbrush. Travels are always exciting and scary at the same time.

The Christian life is like this. It is a journey. We start out with great expectations. But the journey is more dynamic than we thought it would be. Variables that we did not foresee pop up here and there. In a minute we are smelling the fragrance of flowers along the road, then strong wind and rain come out of nowhere. We are happily whistling when we suddenly step on a muddy puddle. Or we are very tired from walking and then we see an ice cream vendor up ahead. The Christian journey has its ups and downs.

Today, our reflections will be on where we are now in our Christian lives. Some of us have started the journey earlier than others. But our starting point does not really matter much. What matters right now is where we are. Our reflections will be from the Isaiah 43-44, but we will only emphasize some verses from these two chapters.

Loved and Saved

Our Christian journey begins with the God who loves. We would not even enter the journey if not for God’s lavish grace in delivering us from sin and death. The words of the Lord in Isaiah 43:3-4 perfectly describes God’s grace for us:

For I am the Lord your God,

    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I give Egypt as your ransom,

    Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

Because you are precious in my eyes,

    and honored, and I love you.

This passage spells at least two things. First, the passage tells us who God is to us: the Lord is your God and your Savior (43:3). Here God wanted to remind the Israelites that they were nothing but slaves until God showed His favor upon them and saved them from their miseries. He is their Savior. But secondly, the passage also speaks about who we are to God (43:4). Yahweh tells the Israelites that they are precious in His eyes, are honored in His presence, and that God loves them. This is one of the best passages of the Scripture you can ever read where God expresses His affection for Israel. This is precisely what God wants to tell us today: “You are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you” (43:4). This is definitely good news!

We are where we are right now—saved from sin and death and freed from the bondage of sin—is all because we are precious in God’s eyes and He loves us so much. He values each one of us. Regardless of our past and the many shortcomings we have had, we are God’s beloved children.

Cold Lover

But the God who loved the Israelites dearly issued complaints against them. He enumerated His grievances against them in Isaiah 43:22-24

 Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;

    but you have been weary of me, O Israel!

You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,

    or honored me with your sacrifices.

You have not bought me sweet cane with money,

    or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.

But you have burdened me with your sins;

    you have wearied me with your iniquities.

These verses give us a sudden jolt. These verses seem to be anti-climactic. Chapter 43 began with beautiful notes, only to end with these horrible complaints. Yahweh’s criticisms, if we look at them closely, are related to the worship at the temple. God’s complaints can be divided into two categories: things that they should do but did not do, and things they did but should not do.

John Oswalt commented that the Israelites did not really stop offering sacrifices at the temple. During the time of Isaiah, there were two other prophets: Amos and Hosea, although Amos was a bit older than the other two. In Amos 5:21-22, we hear God’s complaints:

I hate, I despise your feasts,

    and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,

    I will not accept them;

and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,

    I will not look upon them.

This means that the problem was not that the Israelites were no longer offering sacrifices to God. Rather, the problem was that they were offering the sacrifices only in obedience to a prescribed ritual. They were offering sacrifices only as a religious routine. And because they were doing the external actions empty of inward intention, they went to the temple to pray, but none of their hearts truly prayed (43:22a). They closed their eyes in prayer and mumbled words that were not meant. They brought sacrifices to the temple, but none of these sacrifices reached God’s throne (43:23a, 24a). They brought sacrifices but their offerings did not honor God (43:23b). They may have brought the best offerings—the fats—but God was not satisfied (43:24b).[1]

We may be like the Israelites in the passage. We go to church but we do not really encounter God. We attend the services but we are actually absent in mind and spirit. We close our eyes in prayer, but we are not really praying. We mumble words in prayer, but none of our statements reach God. We read our Bible but gain nothing. We perform Christian rituals of Bible-reading, prayer, devotions, and going to church on Sundays, but because we are doing them for the sake of doing them, we feel empty. The truth is this: performing all these things and not achieving our desired end brings upon us great doubts and deep feelings of guilt.

Renewal

But the good news is that even if the situation of the Israelites was quite bad, chapter 43 is followed by chapter 44, which begins with a good note:

But now hear, O Jacob my servant,

    Israel whom I have chosen!

Thus says the Lord who made you,

    who formed you from the womb and will help you:

Fear not, O Jacob my servant,

    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

For I will pour water on the thirsty land,

    and streams on the dry ground;

I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,

    and my blessing on your descendants (Isa 44:1-3)

The passages that we read exemplifies what Dr. Grant Zweigle called “sandwich approach.” The rebuke is sandwiched between two words of grace. After God spoke about His love for the Israelites in 43:3-4, He went on to enumerate His grievances, but goes back in chapter 44 to remind them of His love.

Chapter 44 begins with a “but now” (44:1), signifying a contrast between what was happening and what would happen. These two words are actually very important, because they express the fact that wherever we are in our Christian journey, we must acknowledge the reality of past sins but also live in the reality of present grace.[2] Every day and every second of our lives is a “but now” moment.

Even when God felt offended and abandoned because the Israelites were not doing things right, as we have read in 43:22-24, notice how He still calls the Israelites: my servant and chosen (44:1). God has not given up on them. Amidst all their failures and the bad records on folders with their names on them, God still considered them his covenanted servants and his beloved chosen.

It is because God still loves them that He tells them His blessings in 44:3. In this verse, He likens them to a thirsty land and a dry ground. They are parched. These descriptions are very appropriate. The result of routinal religious life and observance of rituals is ultimately a dry religious life. We may go to church. We may give our tithes and offerings. We may attend a cell group. We may read our Bibles. We may have our own prayer time. We may have our many ministries. But if these spiritual exercises are done in order to have a check in a checklist, they do not do anything for us. In fact, doing these things in this way actually trains our hearts to be calloused and unaffected by grace. Also, doing these things without the heart for them leads us to think that they are wearisome and a huge burden. This was precisely what God told the Israelites in 43:22, “You have been weary of me, O Israel.”

We must also remember that a dry land is a cracked land. It represents the fact that we are broken into pieces. This is just to be expected. A dry land is fragile and brittle. A soul that is empty of spiritual nourishment can easily shatter to pieces under very small pressure.

But God says to us today: “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground” (44:3). I love this verse, because the picture is that of rain pouring down from heaven, and the once dry ground, empty of life and cracked with ugliness, receives the rain of God’s mercy and the ground begins to mend into wholeness again. Then soon, life springs from the same once dry ground. This is what God promised.

[1] John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah Chapters 40-66 (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 159-60.

[2] Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, 164.