Fragrance or Stench?

. . . if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land (2 Chron. 7:14).

I had never thought about this Scripture in the way that Shirley—a fellow church member—expressed it last night in prayer meeting. She said that when we share the gospel with someone or stand against corruption in our community, but have ungodly attitudes or behavior in ourselves, we hinder our listeners from accepting what we say and what we stand for. Of course! Why would a person take seriously our message that they need to change if there are obvious ways in which we haven’t allowed the Lord to change us?

Shirley further pointed out that this verse lists several things that God requires of us if we want him to heal our land: 1) humbling ourselves, 2) praying, 3) seeking God’s face, and 4) turning from our wicked ways. We tend to concentrate on #2, she said, and ignore the others. No wonder we don’t see more answers to our prayers!

As I have considered these four mandates, it becomes clearer and clearer to me why all four are essential. If we are not seeking God’s face—really getting to know him, learning how he sees things, and letting his attitudes rub off on us—we won’t even pray the right prayers. For example, we might very well be praying for God to destroy “those wicked people” who are perverting our community. But the Lord is not willing that any should perish. He wants us to pray that they will be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Or we might pray the right thing out of a wrong motive. For example, have you ever prayed for someone to be saved so that they will not be so hard to get along with? If so, do you really love them in a way that will draw them to the Lord?

Also, when praying about the wickedness of others, what about the humility to recognize that we ourselves are not perfect? Is that not critical? Have you or I ever lied to smooth a situation over instead of solving it? Have we ever looked out for our own interests and ignored those of others? Have we ever struggled with moral issues? Then are we so different from lying politicians, self-serving bosses, and immoral people? If we do not remember that we too are captive to sinfulness without the grace of God—if we are not willing to confess and leave behind every bad habit and wrong motive of our own, we will not give off the sweet aroma of the nature of Jesus. Instead, we will give off the stench of hypocrisy.

Shirley’s final insight was this: If all we see in 2 Chron. 7:14 is that WE SHOULD PRAY for revival in our land, then we are thinking that OUR efforts (our prayers) are the most important factor in bringing change. But this verse says that GOD will heal our land. What is our part in this? Well, we don’t really have a part unless we recognize that we too need to turn from our wicked ways, to be forgiven and healed! When we humbly remember what God has had to redeem us from in the past and admit that we still fall far short of what honors him, then he can forgive us and continue the transformation into his likeness. Then we will know how he wants us to pray, and we will be a help, instead of a hindrance, in changing the world around us. In short, it’s not about our herculean efforts to help God save the world. It’s not even about realizing our own sins and trying to be better. It’s all about looking to his great grace*—to transform us, and then to change the world.
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*The best definition of grace, in this instance, is:

“Grace is the divine influence upon the heart, enabling us to do the will of God.”

As the hymn title “Grace Greater Than Our Sin” implies, God’s influence on our hearts is more powerful than the stranglehold of our sinful habits and attitudes. Let's quit hanging on to them. Let's quit struggling to improve ourselves. Let's put ourselves into his hands, trust and cooperate with him, and let him complete the work he started when we first believed in him.

I Can

The best-known definition of “grace” is undeserved favor. This thought opens the mind's eyes to the oceans of love, mercy, and kindness that have been expressed by God toward mankind. It is the door by which we may enter into a saving relationship with him. But this grace is much more than a willingness to receive us and to pay for our salvation. It is also the divine influence upon the heart to enable one to do the will of God. This is the kind of grace that is spoken of in the greeting or closing of 18 out of 22 epistles to the early churches. "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ." These people needed the enabling power of grace to walk out their new-found faith in the face of hostility from their ungodly cultures.

An encouraging glimpse of the power of grace is seen in Voyage of the Exiles by Patricia Hickman, the first in a series of novels based on the deportation of English prisoners to Australia to found the first English colony there. Subtly, a story of grace unfolds in the lives of the principle characters. One of the convicts, George Prentice had been arrested as a pickpocket. He had resorted to that lifestyle when the bottom had dropped out of his livelihood. In the extremity of life on a prison ship, and intensely longing to be reunited with his wife and daughter, George tentatively turned to God. When—to his wonderment—his prayers were met with a sense of God’s presence and peace, he continued to speak to God and began to take delight in reading the Bible. Humbly grateful for God’s love and help, George desired to be a better man than he had been—to be strong enough to do what was right even when the odds seemed to be stacked against him. A series of encounters with ruthless elements on board the ship was the crucible in which George grew to be a man of integrity, courage, and forgiveness.

Rachel, a young woman whose life had been marked by misfortune and degradation, was cast into a holding cell in one of the prison ships with Becky, a political prisoner who believed in God. Over time, Rachel became convinced there was something to her companion’s faith and became a believer as well. As the influence of the Word and the Spirit of God grew in her heart, her character and perspectives on life changed. A moment of truth in her new life came during a violent storm. As her cell mates in the bowels of the ship wailed and screamed for God’s help, Rachel’s heart overflowed with thankfulness and joy as she recognized the absence of fear and sense of well-being that God had worked in her.*

By the enablement of the grace of God, George, Rachel, and others on the voyage were becoming heroes of the faith. Perhaps it was the horror of their lives that caused them to avoid the trap of becoming “bless me” babies.** They did not think that their new relationship with God entitled them to nothing but blessings. Instead, they responded humbly to his call upon their hearts to please him and to bless others.

Perhaps experiences such as theirs are what prompted James to make the stunning statement

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James :2-4).

Apparently, it is not being shielded from trouble that brings the greatest joy to the Christian. It is the developing of one’s faith and character to the point of becoming able to meet whatever life brings with love, confidence, and joy.

I want to be like them. I want to “take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil. 3:12). And I CAN, regardless of who I used to be—because GRACE enables me.
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*Patricia Hickman, Voyage of the Exiles (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1995). To learn more, visit http://www.patriciahickman.com/.

**We could not live--or thrive--physically or spiritually without God's blessings. Confidently expecting our Father to abundantly care for us is one of the foundations of our walk with God. It is perhaps part of what Jesus meant when he said that one must be like a little child in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. However, only a spiritual infant believes that main focus of their relationship with God is "me" or "blessings."

Serving with Joy

If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you (Deut. 28L47-48a NLT).

Today, I see something entirely different in this passage. It speaks to me about the way in which we are to serve the Lord. I see in this short statement the attitude and equipping for serving God. We can (and should) serve him with joy and enthusiasm because he has abundantly gifted us with the ability to do everything he asks us to do. That is, God does not call us to struggle, with our limited resources, to serve him. He loads us with "abundant benefits" (natural and spiritual). Among these benefits are the very tools for serving him.

We don’t have to serve him with fear of not knowing how, because he said he would teach us.

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men" (Matt. 4:19).

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me . . .” (Matt. 11:29a).

We don’t have to shrink back from serving him because of feelings of inadequacy—we are merely “jars of clay,” but the power of God works through us anyway.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Cor. 4:7).

We should not allow ourselves to be immobilized by the memory of our latest failure, but step back into the light and allow the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from the tendency to sin.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7).

Jesus encapsulated what it is like to serve him when he said:

“[M]y yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:30 NIV).

I like the Message version of this verse and the two verses before it. This passage is a good summary of all of today’s thoughts.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly" (Matt. 11:28-30 MSG).