Klauslis in Korntal

A bottle full of words?

(Note: this is a devotional that appeared [in German] in the March 31 edition of the Campus News here at the AWM).

Germans drink a lot bottled water. In fact, bottled water is so valued here that it is almost an offense to offer someone water from a tap. The favorite by far the favorite is sparkling mineral water that often comes from some local well. The varieties of water are almost endless and a trip through the supermarket usually reveals an entire row devoted just to this one product. My observation was confirmed by the website: www.mineralwasser.com (roughly translated!):

"Germany is mineral water land. Contained within its indigenous land is a treasure of water from which more than 500 mineral and 60 "healing" water brands are drawn from over 220 mineral water sources."

What this  tells me, is that when someone in Germany finds a good source of water, it is well worth it to bottle it. There is always a market here for good water!

When James asks his readers in 3:11 (ESV): "Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?" he demonstrates his understanding for what every producer of mineral water knows very well: the quality of water is based on its  source. Good water only comes from good sources, bad water from bad sources.

In this passage, however, James is not especially concerned about sources of water. Rather, he is occupied with sources of words. His concern is that Christians are capable of allowing two extreme types of speech out of their mouths. On the one the one hand "we bless our Lord and Father." On the other, "we curse people who are made in the likeness of God."  He continues:  " From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so." (3:9-10)

Especially troubling with the duality of speech described in this passage is the source that James attributes to evil: namely the devil. (3:6) Speaking evil of others fits well with what James describes  wisdom "from below" that is "earthly, unspiritual, demonic." (3:15)

For Christians, however, the source and content of speech should be understandably different. Rathat then leading to "quarrels" and "fights" (4:1), it should come from the "wisdom from above" is "first peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere." (3:17) Christian speech should only come from one good source!

The admonition of this passage is applicable for today. We need to always ask what is the source behind our countless words so that they don't result in destruction both in and outside the church. How many lives have been damaged by words that don't have their source in God's wisdom. But just as this passage provides a warning, it also provides an encouragement. For just as words have the power to destroy if their source is not from God, when their source is from God, they have an incredible potential for good. The have the potential to encourage, build up others, and even give life.

Depending on their source, our words are worth much more than the entire mineral water treasure of Germany! If our speech was water, would it be worth bottling?

Amazed at the Birth of Jesus

Note: This was a devotional for chapel that I delivered on the 12/20/07

Sometimes as we approach Christmas I have heard the Christmas story so many times that I almost become numb to its message. It’s not that I want this to happen, but I think the continuous focus on the historical event of Christ birth, while extremely important, often leaves little time to reflect on the mystery of it all: how is it that the second person of the Trinity became a man?

This morning I want to consider this question from the perspective of eight verses in the NT. And while in the process we will be doing some theology, my goal is not a theological study. Rather, I want to gives us all a chance to hear the Scripture and be amazed again at the mystery of the incarnation of Jesus.

The first three verses are some general statements that emphasize the fact that God became a man.
The first is 1 Tim 3:16.

“And admittedly, great is the mystery of godliness:
He was revealed in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit
proclaimed among the Gentiles,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.”

By the “mystery of godliness” Paul is speaking of the revelation of the gospel that now makes people “godly,” and at the foundation lies the incarnation of Jesus: “He was revealed in the flesh,” that is, he took on a body.

In John 1:14 we find a further explanation that the “one revealed in the flesh” is none other than God:
“Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us.”

Jesus’ deity is seen in 1:1-5 where John speaks of Jesus in terms of the “Word” or Logos who is by nature “fully God” (1:1) and through whom God made the world (1:3).” The idea is mindboggling. As some have put it, the Creator Himself becomes a creature.

In Phil 2:6-7 we are given a bit more background to Jesus’ incarnation, especially the choice He made to humble Himself in this way and what exactly it cost Him:

“who though he existed in the form of God
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
but emptied Himself
by taking the form of a slave
by looking like other men
and by sharing human nature.”

Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, does not give up His divinity, but for a while, its position in order to be a servant who would die on a cross.

These three general questions have given us the “fact” of Jesus’ incarnation. We now turn to three more that give us a bit more of the “how”. The first is in Gal 4:4

“But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights.”

The statement “born of a woman, born under the law” tells us two important things about Jesus’ birth. That it was “under the law” tells us it took place in human history, that He was born of a woman” tells us that the incarnation is not something estoric or metaphysical, but that He had a normal birth. Although all three of our children were born by C-section, I had the opportunity to be present. While the miracle of birth is wonderful, it is terribly messy process—one which our Lord did not shy away from.

The mystery that God could be born of a human is heightened in the next verse. In Matt 1:20-23 the angel explains to Joseph that his pregnant wife-to-be is still a virgin since,

“the child conceived in here is from the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus’ virgin birth, Matthew explains, is the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isa 7:14. The fact of Jesus’ birth is something that I accept from the Scriptures and as something theologically necessary for God to bring about salvation. But that does not mean that I understand it!

Luke’s gospel also takes up the virgin birth and attempts to explain it more through the explanation of angel to Mary when she asks: “how can these things be (Luke 1:34)?” While I am grateful that we have more information, the answer only further deepens the mystery:

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born will be holy;
He will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)”

This Christmas, take time to contemplate the mystery of the incarnation: and just be amazed.

Thoughts on the "Parable of the Sower"

This coming weekend I will have the opportunity to give the message at Zion Congregational Church in Cheyenne, WY. The message that I have been working on has been on the "Parable of the Sower" from Luke 8:4-15 (//Matt 13:2-23; Mark 4:1-20). In general, I have understood this passage as an explanation by Jesus to His disciples of the mixed response to His message of the kingdom. On the one hand some, like the disciples, respond with faith to what Jesus says, while on the other hand, others, like many of the religious rulers (Mark 3) or even Jesus' home town (Luke 4), do not. Thus for me, the parable was essentially "negative"--a warning to the hearer to avoid being part of the "failed crop" but instead, to belong to the harvest of the "good soil."

After reading William L. Lane's commentary on Mark this week, I wonder if my usual take on this parable misses the bigger picture of what Jesus wants to say. From all three gospels we see that Jesus' explanation of the parable was given only to His disciples--those who had responded by faith to His message. Thus, the point of the parable is not to focus on those who do not respond, but to highlight the miracle that any actually do. We would expect a fallen world to reject God's Son. What is not expected is that some respond in faith and, as  Luke's version states, bear a crop "a hundred times as great" (8:8).

While I will leave the theological implications of this to my Calvinist and Armenian friends, Jesus' observation should greatly increase the joy of any one who "has ears to hear." This is the miracle of salvation, the miracle of faith. The Parable of the Sower is not primarily about a failed crop. Rather, about a harvest, one that is sure to take place.

The beginning of fall: A covenantal sign?

Just last Sunday we who live in the northern hemisphere left summer behind and began the slow march through fall toward winter. For us here in Dallas it’s hard to appreciate the significance of the change. It’s still in the 90’s during the day and nights cool off only to the 70’s. Yet, the slight change in the air and shortening of the days will only become more acute in the coming weeks.

While the change from summer to fall is generally not something that generates too much interest, it would be wrong to say that it is ignored. Already the stores are pushing Halloween candy as well as fall and winter clothing. People have put up season specific yard decorations, and the football season and baseball playoffs are in full swing. Yet there is nothing dramatic about these changes. We expected them. They are so normal and so automatic that we don’t give any thought that things could be any different. Herein, however, lies the significance. In the covenant that God made with Noah following the flood, He not only promised not to destroy the earth again with a flood (Gen 8:21) but also to maintain the stability of the world order:

“While the earth remains,
seedtime and harvest,
and cold and heat,
and summer and winter,
and day and night shall not cease” (Gen 8:22).

According to this passage, the predictable change of the seasons and even the rising and setting of the sun each day affirms that God keeps His covenant with humankind—withholding for a while longer His judgment and extending His grace.
The fact that we take the dependability of the change of seasons for granted seems to only underscore the extent of that grace.

While some want to find religious significance in the changing of the seasons, I suggest that Christians should find covenantal significance. God keeps His promises. The stability of the world order confirms that. Yet, if He keeps this promise, He will also keep the promise to judge the world again. This makes the change of seasons another opportunity to assess our priorities and lives before him, not unlike the admonishment from 2 Pet 3:11-12a:

“Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God . . . .”