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Why Does God Ask Us To Praise Him?

07 Dec

The twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” Revelation 4:10-11 (ESV)

Have you ever wondered why God asks us to worship Him? After all, you and I don’t ask for one another’s praise. And it would see inappropriate to do so. C.S. Lewis wondered about this very thing, and gave the most insightful answer in his book on the Psalms in a chapter entitled, The Problem of Praising. (The full essay is well worth your time and is found here.)

“When I first began to draw near to belief in God…I found a stumbling block in the demand so clamorously made by all religious people that we should “praise” God; still more in the suggestion that God Himself demanded it.  We all despise the man who demands continued assurance of his own virtue, intelligence, or delightfulness; we despise still more the crowd of people round every dictator, every millionaire, every celebrity, who gratify that demand.  Thus a picture, at once ludicrous and horrible, both of God and of His worshipers, threatened to appear in my mind…”

But he began to realize that God was much different than a human being seeking compliments…

“The miserable idea that God should in any sense need, or crave for, our worship like a vain woman wanting compliments, or a vain author presenting his new books to people who never met or heard of him, is implicitly answered by the words, “If I be hungry I will not tell thee (Psalm 50:12).  Even if such an absurd Deity could be conceived, He would hardly come to us, the lowest of rational creatures, to gratify His appetite.  I don’t want my dog to bark approval of my books…”

Here is the secret for why we love to praise – because we praise everything that we value…

“I had not noticed, either, that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely?  Wasn’t it glorious?  Don’t you think that magnificent?”  The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about.  My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value.”

Some years ago, I had a friend who went to see a movie, loved it, and then wanted to go back and see it with me…because she wanted to watch me enjoy it. So what did she do as she talked with me about the movie? She praised it! She told me how great it was so that I would want to see it too. When we love something, we can only be happy when others love it too. It is not too great dependence on parents when a young person brings home a new boyfriend/girlfriend and wants parental approval. It is only natural. When Mom and Dad say, “She’s great!” it completes the young man’s enjoyment of his new girl.

“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.  It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.  It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with (the perfect hearer died a year ago*)…”

To see what the doctrine really means, we must suppose ourselves to be in perfect love with God — drunk with, drowned in, dissolved by, that delight which, far from remaining pent up within ourselves as incommunicable, hence hardly tolerable, bliss, flows out from us incessantly again in effortless and perfect expression, our joy no more separable from the praise in which it liberates and utters itself than the brightness a mirror receives is separable from the brightness it sheds.  The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”  But we shall then know that these are the same thing.  Fully to enjoy is to glorify.  In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.

So do you see? You and I, like everyone else, want joy, and joy is found in praise. In fact, joy = praise. God is the ultimate One worthy of praise, so God is where we find ultimate joy. He commands us to praise Him because He loves us, and He knows that it is in praising Him that we will find true joy.

 

For Tuesday, December 8: Revelation 5

 
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Posted by on December 7, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

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Planned Parenthood and the Second Coming

24 Aug

Anyone who considers himself a sinner should be glad for the many pictures of Gentle Jesus in Scripture. For instance…

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)

“Come to Jesus!” It is the most wonderful and happy command. And above, in the Lord’s own words, we see a picture of the “soft” Jesus, for when He came the first time, He came in kindness. He only asks that in response to His great kindness displayed on the cross, we repent and trust in Him. He is the Jesus who dies for sinners.

Jesus coming to slay sinners

But there is an expiration date on this offer, for this same Jesus is coming again…to slay sinners.

2 Thessalonians chapter 2 has one of many pictures of Jesus the sin-slaying and sinner-slaying God…

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:8 (ESV)

Oh my. Read it again. He will “kill with the breath of his mouth.” When He appears, how gloriously and easily He will wipe out the putrid Anti-Christ. And His hot breath will not only evaporate the wicked one, but also all who have followed him, in other words, all those who have delayed in receiving His kind and generous offer, as the Apostle wrote in chapter 1…

When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 (ESV)

Planned Parenthood and other wicked ones

My mind turns to those Planned Parenthood workers who have casually crushed the skulls of countless human beings, and I also think of all those who have rushed to their support in congress and the media.

Jesus is not pleased. And when He comes, His breath will be fire on them.

But why stop with these wicked men and women? For I myself was just like them, and I too would have melted for my sin under Christ’s hot breath had I refused his offer of mercy in the gospel.

This is our God. This is the Glorious One we worship, and we should not trifle with Him or seek to figuratively pat “Gentle Jesus” on the head. For as C.S. Lewis reminds us regarding the Christ figure Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe…

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

So wherever you are today, whatever your sin, come humbly in repentance to the “unsafe” King, who is good…and do it now, before it is too late.

For Tuesday, August 25th: 2 Thessalonians 3

 

 
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Posted by on August 24, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

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Longing For Another World

19 Aug

A slight melancholy fills the Knowlton home lately. Last Wednesday we drove to Three Lakes and dropped off Elisabeth at Honey Rock camp for “Passage”, Wheaton College’s adventure-based orientation program for first year students. After camp on Thursday, a bus will take her to campus where we will meet again and unload the paraphernalia for her new dorm home. She will start classes next Wednesday.

And now two of our happy band of five are missing.

We should have known this would happen; we saw it happen to others. We even saw it happen with our own when Josh left two years ago, but going from 5 to 4 still leaves a slightly noisy house. From 4 to 3 is…different. As I write, nobody’s home now. Diane is working. Annie is at Bible study. It’s just me, and I keep playing a song over and over again.

And then we said goodbye to Jeff Thompson and family on Sunday. For you who don’t attend Edgewood, Jeff has been our Worship Arts Leader for the last 8 or 9 years. He is so very gifted, and we will miss him.

If I sound depressed, I’m not really. Not really. I’m just feeling…sehnsucht, the German word which Wikipedia translates as “longing”, “yearning”, “craving”, or “intensely missing”. Maybe you could put it like this – sometimes I find myself more cognizant that I was not made for this world. And I think I know why this is…you see, there is an “impermanence” here…that doesn’t quite feel right.  I’m aware of that this evening.

We feel impermanence when our children leave the home, but of course, there is another…greater impermanence: my friend Jon Van Houten’s mom Gretchen died Friday, and her funeral was today. She was elderly…and godly, but we all know something is out of place.

We know that things should be more lasting than they are. Something within us knows that is the case. But when I step back and consider it, I’m really thinking about the other world…the one I was truly made for. C.S. Lewis first taught me about sehnsucht, and he elaborated on the phenomenon in his book, Mere Christianity…

“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”

Yes, that’s it…and as I feel those desires more acutely in recent days, my eyes are being lifted to another world, and thus to that time when this world will begin…

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (ESV)

Paul closes these beautiful thoughts with a command…

Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:18 (ESV)

Maybe this song that’s been on my heart this evening, Even so Come, by Kristian Stanfill will be such an encouragement to you…

 

For tomorrow, Thursday, August 20th: 1 Thessalonians 5

 
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Posted by on August 19, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

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Where are the Commands for Personal Evangelism?

02 Jun

Some people are under the impression that the Bible does not tell us to do personal evangelism. Have you ever considered it? It’s interesting – try to think of a biblical command that says something like this: “Be sure to tell your family and your co-workers and your neighbors about Christ,” and you’ll get the idea. You don’t see as much urging in this area as you might otherwise think.

Of course, there’s Peter’s command to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15). And more importantly, there is the Great Commission in Matthew 28. Actually, I think those few verses that close out the end of the first book in the New Testament are enough. Go make disciples and teach others to do the same. From these verses (not to mention the counterparts in the other gospels and Acts), we have enough direction to start talking until Jesus returns.

But generally the idea of talking to your co-workers and friends is simply assumed in the New Testament. But, that said, it is assumed powerfully.

Powerfully.

Take Paul’s word to the Corinthians in chapter 5 of his second letter. He begins by telling us that he doesn’t see people like he used to see them:

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 2 Corinthians 5:16 (ESV)

When Paul was still Saul and only a Jewish religious leader, he thought of people as very ordinary, just as he considered that rabble-rouser from Nazareth: Jesus was just a guy; nothing more. But now, just as Paul had come to know the Carpenter as God in the flesh, so the Apostle came to realize that there was more to all people than met the eye. Men and women, boys and girls, he now knew, were truly spiritual beings…and eternal.

And therefore, since God had made a way of reconciliation through Jesus, Paul took the task of evangelism with dead earnestness:

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20 (ESV)

Paul said, “Eternity is forever. Hell is real. And God has made a way, so we implore. We beg. Be reconciled to God.”

And although the Apostle does not explicitly say that all Christians should take such an approach, surely we should. He had already urged his followers in Corinth to follow him as he followed Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1), and evangelism was Paul’s life.  And we know why – for there are no ordinary people, as C.S. Lewis once said so wonderfully:

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

-C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

For Wednesday, June 3rd: 2 Corinthians 6

 
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Posted by on June 2, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

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Why Does God Want Us To Appreciate One Another?

26 May

IMG_1186He does, you know. But why?

It was on an ordinary Friday evening a few weeks back that Edgewood Community Church organized its first volunteer appreciation night. What a great time.

There were gifts and prizes (waterparks and a kindle and gift cards and even a prime parking spot). There was tasty food served by handsome, well-dressed waiters (wink, wink). There were even shoulder rubs all night by three professional masseuses (Do you doubt me? I looked it up – indeed, that is the official plural of masseuse). We wanted to say thank you…and I think we accomplished it.

Honestly, the night didn’t come from my impetus but some of the other staff (who, of course, I should publicly acknowledge now but I fear I would miss someone).  Anyway, now I’m only sorry we waited so long to have such a night, but I’m thankful for the staff that brought it to pass. If you don’t live here in Wisconsin, you now have a reason to move to our fair state and this fair city of Waupun. If you’re an Edgewood servant and you missed the night, well, fear not because we hope to do it up again next year. And if you’re an Edgewood attendee but not serving – well, get busy so you’ll get an invitation next year (not to mention for a host of other even better reasons).

But I digress – did you know that our night was very biblical? I mention this because there is a tendency on the part of some to think that volunteer appreciation is a construct of worldly thinkers who are just trying to run the church like a business. Not so. Of course we know that it’s biblical to say thank you. The one appreciative leper – whose momma taught him well – convinced us of that (And by the way, where were the other nine? See Luke 17). But more than that, it’s right to publicly appreciate excellence in God’s servants, as Paul teaches the Corinthians:

Now I urge you, brothers– you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints— be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people. 1 Corinthians 16:15-18 (ESV)

The NLT spells that last thought out quite nicely:

…You must show your appreciation to all who serve so well. 1 Corinthians 16:18 (NLT)

You get the idea: Offer a public acknowledgement to faithful servants. And when you think about it, Paul was doing just that in this letter, not to mention in Romans 16 and other places. He practiced what he preached.

But…are you curious as to why?

Okay, well, let me try my hand at channeling C.S. Lewis for a few sentences, and then I will relieve you by simply quoting him.

IMG_1187Do you remember the time your mom or dad took you to the park as a child? If you do, that is if you were blessed enough to have such an experience once or twice, then remember what you said when you were swinging high and their attention was elsewhere: “Mom, Mom, Mom…Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!”  In that moment, what did you desperately want? Didn’t you want what all of us want…ultimately? Don’t all of us want to one day hear, not ultimately, “Good job, Suzy, I see you in the swing,” but instead, a far greater appreciation…coming from a far Greater One.

So…we are commanded to praise and acknowledge one another, because ultimately we were all created to please. And therefore, when we are appreciated, it completes the circuit. But of course, we are truly created to please God, not one another, and yet there is great pleasure in hearing today what we ultimately only be satisfied hearing from Him.

And now Lewis…

“The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible and only possible by the work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who really chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God. To please God…to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness…to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son – it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is.”

C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

And so our volunteer appreciation night a few weeks ago was right and good because God wanted to give us a foretaste, but a mere foretaste, a blessed hint giving an ever so slight sense of what we will see and hear on that day, when we, because of Christ…see the Father’s smile and hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of thy Master.”

 

For Wednesday, May 27th: 2 Corinthians 1

 
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Posted by on May 26, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

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The Popular Jesus

12 Jan

Everybody loves Jesus nowadays.  Have you noticed?  Christians aren’t too well liked in many quarters, but Jesus retains His popularity.  And in light of that, everyone wants Him on their side.

The debate about marriage is a modern day example of this: Much is made about the fact that the Lord never said anything overtly about homosexuality, so LGBT folks and their supporters are proud to call Him one of theirs.  (Though of course He did assume marriage was between one man and one woman. [Matthew 19:4 – 6])

But, leaving that topic behind, my point was that everyone likes Jesus.

Muslims like Jesus…Hindus like Jesus…Buddhists like Jesus.

I suppose that most everyone in most every religion feels warmly about Jesus of Nazareth.  Liberals have left behind almost everything He said of any consequence, so that what they believe is mostly unrecognizable from the Bible, and yet…they still like to sprinkle their Jesus dust around.

Everyone loves Jesus.

And then we read the story of what happened one day in the country of the Gadarenes, and it makes me wonder if the world would love Jesus so much if they knew Him the way the people of that region knew Him.  Matthew tells the story of the demon-possessed men from that area who met the Lord coming out of the tombs.  And the demons who possessed them begged to be set free to…go into the pigs. And after He grants this wish, they rush down and the pigs drown in the sea.  The herdsmen take off and tell everyone.  And then there’s this…

And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

Matthew 8:34

The Gadarenes begged Him to leave, yet everyone today is…begging Him to stay.  You see, I think this strange story of demons and drowning pigs illustrates a significant truth: in general, people today have absolutely no clue who the Lord Jesus Christ is.

Mr. Beaver, though, of C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe…he knew, and he related to Lucy about the Christ-figure Aslan. Do you remember the story?

“Is – is he a man?” asked Lucy.

“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion, the Lion, the great Lion.”

“Ooh,” said Susan, “I thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and make no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king I tell you.”

If most people of the world truly knew Jesus, I think they might not be so excited about having Him around. I think they might join the folks of Gadarene.  They would beg Him to leave their region.

After all, He is not a tame lion.

 

Tuesday, January 13: Matthew 9

 

 
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Posted by on January 12, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

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