A Faith Analogy

A stranger showed up one day at the home of two sisters.  He was a charming fellow who offered to do the housework for the ladies.  He would do this free of charges as long as they were willing to wear two little propeller beanies that he gave to them. 

They felt awkward at first because propeller beanies seemed so Calvin (as in Hobbs not Institutes).  But each day the housework was done immaculately.  One of the sisters, a very conscientious soul, began to feel self-conscious about having this stranger do all their housework.  The other seemed to show little concern for the man’s workload.  The more she loved the freedom she had the more she loved the servant who provided it for her.  The more conscientious sister began secretly do little jobs while still wearing the beanie as a way to say thank you to the stranger.  Her love for the stranger grew but she began to resent her sister’s laziness.  The more she resented her sister the harder she worked around the house to show the servant how much she appreciated and loved him.  The beanie soon became a part of her wardrobe and had little significance because she was doing all the work.  The house was clean but she was so tired at the end of the day that she just collapsed in her bed from exhaustion.

One evening the stranger stopped by to sit and fellowship with the sisters.  The conscientious one was sure that her idle sister would finally be reprimanded for her laziness.  With grace and respect she approached the servant with her complaint.

The servant answered, “Martha Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

“Guard your steps as you go to the house of God”

This verse in Ecclesiastes 5:1 goes on to say “and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know that they doing evil.”  We need to be aware that being religious is not enough.  Many think that if they attend church or give the right percentage of their income to the Lord that they can think and feel the way they want.  God is concerned about what we think.  He is concerned about what we feel.  The “feeling” is often the prelude to sin.  If we are to ever be the people that God wants us to be, we need to get control of our thinking and our feelings.  In this case He speaks of a person coming to the house of the Lord to complain.  When He says to guard our steps He is warning us that we must not even begin to think that God has not given us a fair shake.  We come to God to listen.  To listen to His instructions as to how the situation He has placed us in is the exact one He wants for us.  We are not unhappy because of the things that have occurred in our lives, we are unhappy because we do not trust God and are not willing to listen to His solutions for our problems. 

God’s solutions are always the same.  Think right and do right.  We think that we cannot possibly accept the lot that God has given to us.  The fact is we do not want to accept the plan that God has for us.  That plan is always a perfect plan.  It is always a beautiful plan.  The reason we do not realize this is that we are too busy fighting God and His plan.

 “Who will free me from this body of sin?”

I am sometimes tempted to think that as long as I do not act upon my sinful urges that they are not a problem.  In Roman 7 Paul addresses the major problem with behavior based sanctification.  It was not his behavior that was killing his spiritual vitality, it was a response—coveting.  He was able to handle the other commands because they involved outward actions.  He didn’t kill.  He didn’t steal. He didn’t bear false witness, etc.  It was not until he came to this tenth and final command that he was crushed.  It is wrong to let the birds fly over your head.  Christ never had a sinful thought and it is our goal to be like Him.  The measure of a man is not what he does, but what he “thinketh in his heart.”  It was that realization (guided by the Spirit of God) that drove Paul to write the things he did in Romans 7.

He was happy with his life.  He was content with his relationship with God.  He was doing, doing, doing.  Then God’s Spirit got involved.  Paul realized that the “flesh” was not just some green-eyed monster.  It could just as easily be religious zealotry to do right.  Furthermore he realized that this “flesh” or “sin-principle” was not his to command.  It was out of control.  The more he tried not to covet, the more he did the very thing he was trying not to do.  He was living in Mudville and Casey, mighty Casey, kept striking out.

The question then is simply this, Who will free me from this body of sin?  Seeing that I cannot free myself, I am forced to turn to God.  No one can live the genuine article of the Christian life on their own.  Outward conformity can never produce the inward reality? The Pharisees were clear demonstration of that.  The real thing must be lived by faith.  The tools of faith for the believer are confession (1 John 1) and presentation (Romans 6).  We must recognize wrong attitudes and thoughts for what they are.  We must confess them before the throne of grace.  Then we must present ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness to be used as He sees fit.  Without total surrender there can be no victory.  Paul never viewed himself as having arrived, but he did find the true path to Spirit-empowered living.  It was not by the flesh but in the Spirit.

“Blessed are they that mourn”

The word “blessed” speaks of happiness and contentment.  It is almost a contradiction to say that those who mourn are blessed.  We usually associate mourning with suffering.  Jesus does say a few verses later that we are to leap for joy when persecuted but the meaning here is a bit different.  God has always meant for us to be content.  He has offered genuine happiness to us.  This joy however is only available to those who desire to change.  We need to be unhappy with our sinful condition.  If we are content with our present condition, we will never seek to improve our relationship with God.  In modern terms we might say, “Blessed is the man who always seeks an upgrade.”

"Serpents and doves"

When Jesus told the disciples to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves it must have confused them as much as it confuses us.  They we looking for a physical kingdom in which they would sit on literal thrones and rule the world.  Jesus had another kind of program in mind.  Jesus was not crucified because He was asking the Jews to become world rulers.  Her was crucified because His gospel was one in which the meek inherit the earth.

The serpent was considered to be a cunning animal.  This goes back to the garden and the deception that took place there.  Wisdom is very desirable.  Wisdom however can be used for different purposes.  Knowledge is power.  How we use the gift of wisdom is just as important as the amount of wisdom we acquire. 

The dove is known for its gentle behavior.  It more than any other of the birds is associated with peace.  The Holy Spirit Himself was symbolized by a dove. James tells us that the “wisdom that comes from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated . . .” As we grow in the knowledge of Scriptures and especially as we develop convictions we need to take care that we do not look down upon or despise others.  If our wisdom is real it will make us gentle.  Without humility even great knowledge is like that of the Pharisees.  Let’s ask ourselves how harmless we are just as frequently as we ask ourselves how wise we are.