WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY?

Be ready at any time to give a quiet and reverent answer to any man who wants a reason for the hope that you have within you.  1 Peter 3:15, Phillips.

Responsibility.  The word itself brings a sense of weight to most people, perhaps because of the way it is usually used.  "It's your responsibility!" comes the directive--to clean up the garage, to walk the dog, to mow the lawn.  "Who's responsible for this?"someone asks tersely.  You get sweaty palms, hoping it's not you.

I like words.  Many people tend to run through conversation like someone running to catch a bus.  Their main objective is to "get there," not to notice, as it were, the little flowers peeking through the grass.  Take our word, responsibility.  It legitimately could be spelled response-ability, suggesting the ability to respond properly.  Viewed in this light, it suddenly seems like a very desirable quality to possess.  I think that is exactly what God has in mind for each of us.

Our Father intends for us to become wonderfully able to respond to every individual with whom we come in contact.  Not in order that the record books in heaven will be filled with good marks, but so that the people in our lives can be surrounded continuously by the same healing love that has made us whole.

With this in mind, let's take a fresh look at today's text.  We are told, "Be ready at any time to give a quiet and reverent answer to any man who wants a reason for the hope that you have within you."  If you have felt uneasy and trapped by these words, if you have felt inadequate and condemned because you don't think you have enough "proof texts" in your mind to meet the requirements of such an encounter, take heart!  Your Father's biddings are His enablings.  Built right into this scripture is the key to how it is to be accomplished. 


Only when our hearts are filled with hope do we have anything to say to anyone.  The hope we have is in God--more specifically, in who He is and in the friendship we share with Him.  Having such hope gives us not only confidence but the ability and the desire to respond when we are asked about it, because it gives us an opportunity to share the most wonderful experience of our lives: knowing and loving our loving Father!

WHO NEEDS THE LAW?

We also know that law is made not for good men but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious.  1 Tim. 1:9, N.I.V.

Do you think you might ever walk into an elementary school classroom and find a large poster in front of the children that reads, "It is a law that you must like ice cream"?  Who needs a prominent law to tell someone to do something that already is the natural longing of one's heart?

By the same token, can you imagine large posters attached to the walls of the New Jerusalem warning the inhabitants that stealing gold from each other's mansions is strictly forbidden?  Paul's letter to Timothy stirs our minds to remember that in our original condition (as well as in our restored condition) God didn't need to tell His people what to do or how to behave.  It was written on our hearts.

But when human hearts went astray from their Lord, and thus from His wise will, it became necessary for Him to warn us, to guide us, even to command us, to live in certain responsible and healthful ways--to protect ourselves and others from pain and destruction.  It was no longer natural for our hearts to do the loving and wise thing.  Paul clearly identifies just who it is that needs the law: It is people who wouldn't otherwise live by its principles.  Not that the law can change one's inner values, but it can point out the need for a Christ-wrought inner change.

Many Christians have believed that the law serves only to pass condemnation on us, and that once Jesus has given us a legal covering of "declared righteousness," the need for the law vanishes.  But in reality the law changes its posture, its means of working.  It moves from external to internal, from a statement of what one must do to a description of what a loving person will do when bonded to Jesus through faith.  As Paul says: "Are we then undermining the Law by this insistence on faith?  Not a bit of it!  We put the Law in its proper place" (Rom. 3:31, Phillips).

That proper place, of course, is written in the heart.  For the law is an expression of God's character, a restatement of His values.  Those who adoringly behold Him will become like Him--in their hearts.

WHEN YOU FEEL ALARMED

In my alarm I said, "I am cut off from your sight!"  Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.  Ps. 31:22, N.I.V.

Little Suzy had wandered away from Mommy's side at the large department store!  Suddenly noticing that Mommy was nowhere in sight, she began running down one aisle after another crying, "Mommy!  Mommy, where are you?"  Hearing her little daughter in distress, Mother began calling back to her.  Full of alarm, Suzy pleaded, "Find me!"--which Mommy did in short order.  Soothingly, Mother inquired, "Why were you so afraid?"  "You couldn't see me!" answered Suzy.

Young children often feel safe as long as we can see them.  Their dependency is touching; they believe we will keep them from all harm.  If we can't see them, however, they fear we might miss the danger that threatens them.  Maybe that's part of the reason some like a light left on in the bedroom at night.

There is a little of a child left in all of us.  Becoming a Christian does not instantly remove these latent feelings of vulnerability.  We sometimes feel a need for God to reassure us that He's looking.  Appreciating our feelings, God comforts us through His Word with texts such as "The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love" (Ps. 33:18, N.I.V.) and "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him" (2 Chron. 16:9, N.I.V.).

Yet occasionally times come in our experience that are as dark as a moonless night.  We become alarmed and, in our despair, wonder if we have done something to make Him turn away.  "God has forsaken me!" we cry.  We begin to expend all our energies trying to figure out what we did and how to get God to turn back to us.  But it is a misconception to think that when we do wrong God quits watching out for us.  That's what Job's friends believed.  And God plainly said they were wrong (Job 42:7)!

Whatever the reasons for our becoming alarmed--whether we've really done something wrong or just feel that we are "cut off from [God's] sight"--we may trust that God will always hear our cry when we call to Him.  As with Suzy's mother, anger is never the issue.  He will "find" us and take us into His arms of love.

BEING ASHAMED OF JESUS

If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in the Father's glory with the holy angels around him.  Mark 8:38, Phillips.


I will never forget the burning tears that flowed down my red cheeks as my teacher spoke to me.  As an impulsive fifth grader I had shoved or otherwise annoyed a classmate, who had yelled at me in retaliation.  My teacher probably didn't know that I practically worshiped her.  So when she spoke words of discipline she never sensed how deeply they cut.  "I am so ashamed of you," she said.

Some of those same feelings want to surface when I read that, under certain circumstances, Jesus would be ashamed of me.  It seems somehow out of character for Him to employ such a crushing approach in an attempt to draw me upward.  If He would die for me while I am still a sinner; if He would offer me the robe, ring, and sandals of sonship while I still smelled of the pig farm, then why would He ever turn toward me and say "I am ashamed of you"?

The feelings of being ashamed often arise when two value systems are in conflict.  For example, I have declared myself to be a Christian.  But in my heart I am not really sold on Jesus, not fully persuaded of His lifestyle.  Among my more worldly friends I will be ashamed to act as a Christian.  Among my Christian friends I will be ashamed of my worldly leanings.

Shame vanishes when I am proud of Jesus.  There is no occasion when all my actions are in perfect harmony with my spiritual values and when I am comfortable in His presence with my present actions.  And since Jesus is also a thinking, valuing Person, this flows both ways.  For Jesus to be "ashamed" of me is to acknowledge that we are out of phase with each other--that we are not at peace in each other's presence.

When Jesus comes in the clouds of glory to take people home to live with Him forever, He who always tells the truth must take a position about who is really ready to live at peace with Him.  He who felt no personal embarrassment at eating dinner with prostitutes does not have His personal identity at stake.  Rather, He has the happiness of the eternally redeemed at stake.

LIFELONG WATCHCARE

The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands.  He has watched over your journey through this vast desert.  These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.  Deut. 2:7, N.I.V.


They had gone into the wilderness forty years ago.  The Promised Land seemed a lifetime away.  For many it was.  Children had grown up and had children of their own.  They traveled continually over dusty and barren terrain, yet daily tasks of living had to be performed.  Despite the apparent futility of it all, they had kept busy tending flocks.

There had been a lot of complaining, a lot of despair.  To the majority it seemed as if God were just biding His time before He disposed of them.  In the meantime, He demanded their worship.  Many of these people died, but their distorted picture of God lives on.  Now it was again time to enter Canaan.  Surely the memory of what had happened before was on their minds.  So God did what He always does.  He tried to calm their fears by telling them the truth about His attitude toward them.

What He said should have convinced them that He never had intended to dispose of them.  He had given them tasks that would enable them to experience success, which they considered "blessings."  Though they did not perceive it, He had done this to rebuild their damaged self-image.  He told them that He's been with them every step of the way and that they had lacked nothing.  In essence, He told them that they mattered very much to Him and that they could trust Him to take excellent care of them.

Are you experiencing a wilderness journey?  Does heaven seem more than a lifetime away?  Does it sometimes appear futile to go on?  Then today's text is especially for you!  Though you may not feel it, you matter very much to your heavenly Father.  He knows and marks each of your steps; you shall lack nothing that is essential to your well-being.  There will always be tasks at hand at which you can succeed.  God wants you to know that He sees in you great potential.  If you allow Him to, He will so heal your life that you will never again know poverty of spirit.

To know God is to know lifelong watchcare, in a desert wilderness or upon entering Canaan.

UNDERSTANDABLY SELFISH

His purpose in dying for all was that men, while still in life, should cease to live for themselves, and should live for him who for their sake died and was raised to life.  2 Cor. 5:15, N.E.B.


Imagine that you have not had anything to drink for more than a day.  A hot day, at that.  Your mouth feels like it is full of cotton.  How would you feel if I were to say to you, "You ought to be ashamed of yourself for being so thirsty"?

Or what if you had been cut off from all of your close friends for some length of time, isolated from all companionship of the heart and meaningful conversation, and I were to say, "You really shouldn't be so lonesome; that's very immature"?

You would wonder about my putting a negative judgment on what seems such an understandable feeling of need or desire.  In the same vein, sense yourself as being cut off from the great Lover of your soul, distant from the One who created you for the high purpose of enjoying fellowship with Himself.  Feel the consequences of being alienated from Him who is the center of your being, the focus of your living, the source of life itself.  How would this affect you?  Would it leave you groping in fearful confusion, wondering about your whole reason for living, and the possibility of a future?

What if I were again to accost you: "You really shouldn't be so selfish, so preoccupied with yourself and your problems.  You ought to be completely unselfish"?

We need to recognize that what we often think of as selfishness is not the result of a deliberate, perverse choice.  Rather, it is the inevitable result of being out of relationship with our Father.  Conversely, the problem cannot be solved by a simple choice to become unselfish.  If it is caused by being alienated, it can be cured only by being reconciled.

Sometimes we feel guilty for coming to Christ out of selfish motives.  But the facts are that we have no choice, because that's exactly how sin has damaged us.  We are guilty and long to be forgiven.  We are lonesome and long to be loved.  We are confused and need to be guided.  We are hurting and need to be healed.  Jesus' promise is that He can meet every last one of those needs so fully that we need live no longer for ourselves, but for Him.

SPEAK TO ME!


Be happy in your faith at all times.  Never stop praying.  1 Thess. 5:16, 17, Phillips.

I was telephoning the academy boys' dorm.  On the second ring, a young man answered.  "Speak to me!" he said passionately.  Though I had to laugh, the incident made me think.

For several months now we have been looking at Scripture pictures of the Father.  We have found Him to be fair, loving, reasonable, and relevant.  He is also intensely interesting and thoroughly personable.  We've learned that He calls us His friends and wants us to live with Him forever.  Has this knowledge led us into communion with Him?

God calls passionately, "Speak to Me!" promising to hear and answer us.  Yet we draw back, hindered by prayer habits that do not promote confidence that we are holding fresh, two-way conversation with the great God of the universe.

Our text today encourages us never to stop praying.  However, this cannot happen without our first being delighted with our relationship with the Father.  You are never delighted in someone you fear.  You never easily enter into conversation with someone who is critical of everything you do, who probably doesn't even like you very much and has the power to make you crawl or to set you up as king.  With these leftover Satan-induced perceptions boiling in your heart, speaking to God can never be pleasant, let alone ongoing.  Especially when you think you have to pray, or lose eternal life if you don't!

Unavoidably, prayer of this nature is not spontaneous or enjoyable.  Using "acceptable" wordage, you kneel, keep your eyes closed, and never forget to end "in Jesus' name."  Having learned these standard prayer habits, deviating from them seems terrifying--until you realize how unflavorful it is to God too.  Then you start thinking about change.

May I suggest that there are no particular "acceptable" words that make prayer viable?  Just talk to God--while driving in your car, reading a book or anything else that makes your mind active.  Ask Him questions and expect interested answers.  He will discourse with you!  Maybe then, by sparking thoughts in your mind.  Maybe not until you are singing out of the hymnal and a particular phrase jumps out at you.  Often it is in the course of your daily devotional reading.  As specific as you are, He will be.  And once you discover this wonderful process of friendship with the Almighty, you'll never want to stop!

WHEN NOT TO BELIEVE JESUS

If I am not acting as my Father would, do not believe me.  John 10:37, N.E.B.

Imagine the setting: Jesus is speaking to a very religious people, but He keeps saying things that seem to contradict much of their religious practice and beliefs.  They don't know how to evaluate what He tells them.  For example, they have believed that they must not do anything on the Sabbath that could even be thought of as work--not even healing sick people.  They hold this conviction because they do not wish to displease God, who is the authority behind the Sabbath command.

But Jesus, who also claims to hold God and His law in very high regard, seems almost deliberately to flaunt His freedom from these traditional Sabbath constraints.  He goes out of His way to heal people on the Sabbath, even asking one to carry his bedroll across town as joyous evidence of his healing.  How does the common person process these conflicts?  The religious leaders say Jesus is wrong.  Tradition says He is wrong.  Those who interpret the fine points of Scripture say He is wrong.  Most other authoritative religious documents pronounce Him to be wrong.  Yet something powerful that cannot be ignored is happening through Him.  What is the reference point for deciding?

Jesus offers a single criterion, a universal reference point, that is equally powerful in our own time.  He says simply, "What would My Father do?"  Measure every teaching, every behavior, every attitude, by the values and attitudes of the Father.  Is this the kind of thing the Father would do?  Does He love people enough to heal them on the day He designed to spend with them?

Of course, in order for a person to use this as the final guide for his life, he must know to some degree who the Father is.  He must know the difference between God as portrayed in Scripture, and the "God" often portrayed by religious leaders, and "folklore theology" drifting around among church people.  Jesus knew about this problem.  He knew that many of the very people He was talking to didn't understand their Father.  But in challenging them to weigh His teaching against the character of God, He was pulling their attention to where it belonged in the first place.  And we today need to become skilled in weighing all that we are by our growing understanding of the character of the Father.  He is Himself the truth.

AFTER ALL THIS!

After all this, O Lord, will you hold yourself back?  Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?  Isa. 64:12, N.I.V.

No matter how bad they behave, they are still your children.  They may trample your gardens, insult your reputation, and thanklessly eat all the food in your refrigerator, but you still love them.  And in loving them you allow them to experience the consequences of their actions.  When they trample your gardens, there are no roses for their vases.  When they insult your reputation, they cannot use your name to their gain.

The Israelites were wayward children.  Because God loved them, He allowed them to reap the consequences of their actions.  Their sacred cities had become a desert, their holy Temple had been burned with fire.  All that they treasured lay in ruins (Isa. 64:10, 11).  Yet God was their Father (verse 8)!  And so they cried, "After all this, O Lord, will you hold yourself back?  Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?"

The punishment spoken of here may be understood in terms of cause and effect.  The question was really "Will You let us bear the effects of our actions beyond the point of profitableness?"  Though many in Israel still defied God, others had been educated by their mistakes.  To these, reassurance was given in verse 8 of chapter 65.  "This is what the Lord says; 'As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes and men say, "Don't destroy it, there is yet some good in it," so will I do in behalf of my servants; I will not destroy them all.' "

Parental love longs to uplift and restore.  But wise parents know that unless their children come to accept accountability for their actions, any intervention on their behalf would be counterproductive.  Once learning occurs, however, it is unnatural for loving parents to want their children to experience prolonged suffering.  When the principle of accountability is internalized, personal growth can be achieved.  As far as possible, hindrances should be removed so that positive affirmation of such newly acquired attitudes can issue.

God has never held Himself back from those who seek Him.  Throughout earth's history He has acted the part of a loving father, eager to uplift and sustain His children.  Even when it becomes necessary to allow us to experience the consequences of sin, His attitude toward us is unchanging.

Then let us learn quickly!

UNIQUENESS WITH A PURPOSE

John was dressed in a rough coat of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he fed on locusts and wild honey.  Mark 1:6, N.E.B.


Scholars have argued for many centuries and through volumes of research whether the locusts that comprised a part of John's diet were the beans of the carob tree or whether they were indeed a small crunchy insect.  In any case, his manner of dress and his peculiar dietary pattern were worthy of note by both Matthew and Mark.  No doubt these interesting features also drew the attention of the populace, for they came out in vast numbers to hear what he had to say.

But when they walked away after listening to him, their memories were not full of vision of a strange man with unique dress.  They were full of excited expectancy for the coming Messiah, whom John had described in appealing terms.  Jesus Himself bore testimony that no greater than John had walked among men.  Yet He said this, not about John's personal traits, but about that spirit in him that cried, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).

Virtually every Christian denomination or persuasion has at least one unique feature that marks it as distinctive from the others.  That unique feature--which may relate to a doctrine, to the manner of worship, or to the individual member's lifestyle--came into being out of conscientious conviction.  As such, it is not to be despised by others who may not appreciate it.  However, it would be well for every Christian continually to ask, "How does this special aspect of my life help to present a more attractive picture of Jesus Christ?"

For example, some Christians have--as did John--some dietary preferences and convictions that set them apart from the masses.  They choose to eat some special foods and avoid others.  Too often, entire denominations become known for what they won't eat!  But if those dietary convictions become in themselves the focus of attention, and others do not see in them something sensible about God, they are more than a wasted uniqueness; they are a stumbling block.

Our Father does not hand down strange menus to us, simply to test our submission or to make us peculiar for peculiarity's own sake.  As a loving God, committed to our happiness, He offers us what He knows will lead to optimum health.  When we express our uniqueness in this way, we let Jesus increase.