I recently had a conversation with a church pastor. I was speaking with him about the deep work of the soul, from which all of the issues of life proceed. I indicated that I believed that the soul was the epicenter of our being. It is the place in which our identity is formed, from which all impulses, ideas, and actions are birthed, and the primary location where we, as human beings, are joined with God. He then startled me with this question:  “How do you access your soul?” I was astounded that a person who is a spiritual shepherd to human souls would have not the first clue how to access even his own soul let alone how to aid others in accessing theirs. However, I should not be too surprised; I was a pastor for decades and was equally clueless. It is not taught in most churches, is not something that one is taught in seminary, nor is it the standard fare on the agendas of denominational meetings.

     The answer to how we can access our souls is best approached by looking at why we cannot.  There are three primary reasons why we have as a human race lost touch with ourselves. The first is simple:  pride, vanity, envy, lust, greed, addiction, the desire for power, the desire for comfort, and attachment to this world. These sins simply overwhelm the soul, separate us from God, separate us from others, and cause endless malice, anger, confusion, fear, and shame.

     The second reason concerns a theme which I often address here and that is the long term progressive effects of Enlightenment thinking. What happened in the Enlightenment was that center of being was artificially moved to the mind; human intellect fraudulently became the ultimate authority for truth. Human thought then took on a life of its own and has since dominated all human activity. (Most people, even many Christians, have no idea what it means to be led by God.) We now find ourselves in the midst of the “information age.” Most of our work is done from the neck up, at least in Western societies. Work and worship are largely cerebral exercises. We have lost touch with the land, with seasons, and with the movement of nature. We have come to believe that education is the answer to everything. Christian faith has largely become a theological idea – something you think about, talk about, and study.

     Let’s be clear. No one would advocate going back to the Dark Ages where people were not allowed to think for themselves and whole societies labored under the oppression of ignorance. Governments and churches were equally guilty of exploiting human ignorance for their own gain and power. So it is a good thing that people can hope to walk in freedom, opportunity, and self-determination. It is a good thing that children no longer die at alarming rates from diseases that can be easily treated. There are countless numbers of examples of how human industry and creativity have made the world better. But we are seeing now that we cannot “think” our way to wholeness as individuals nor as a human race; neither can educating the mind bring virtue and peace to our souls or set us right before God.

     The third reason why we cannot access our souls is that we simply do not take the necessary time to do so. We live at such a frantic pace that the life of the soul has virtually drowned in a sea of activity and manic thinking. Even when some brave individual decides to try to seek quiet communion with God in a search for his soul, he finds his mind racing at a frenetic pace and must fill the space with reading, writing, or some other devotional activity. Otherwise, he is thinking about work, children, money, responsibilities, or any number of other things. So my first advice to someone who is searching for themselves is this:  you must first learn to be still and quiet. At first it will be excruciating because you are so far removed from it. You have for so long been under the dominion of your mind and you have vainly tried to purchase your worth through activity. You have tried to stay busy so that the cries of your inner self are muffled. Those cries, unfortunately, will not be silenced and if not properly tended to will surface in some very unwholesome and destructive words, thoughts, and actions.

     You will undoubtedly say, “Who has time for it?” And therein lays the root of the disease. The reality is this:  you will either try to shape your walk with Christ to fit your lifestyle or you will shape your lifestyle to fit your walk with Christ.

     How very silly it must seem to some that I would advocate quiet and still communion with God as a means of beginning to access your soul. There are so many human problems out there that cry out for an answer. Why waste time with “touchy-feely” introspection? There is poverty to be eradicated, injustice to be confronted, diseases to be cured, and populations to be educated and evangelized. Human need is mounting at a staggering rate. Are we not called to respond? Indeed we are, but consider that it is possible to gain the whole would, even in your service to humanity, and still lose your own soul. Consider also that your time in this life is frighteningly temporary. Your soul is eternal. One day, we will stand before Christ to give an account of our lives. Recounting our noble service will be of little help. The question will be, “Did I know you? Did I know the real you – the self that lies within the inner chambers of your soul?

     I believe it is important to have some ultimate guiding principle that shapes your life such as a goal, vision, or purpose. If I asked you, “What is your goal in life,” how would you answer? Most of us want many things so our list of “wants” would be quite long. But the singular goal of your life should shape your every thought, impulse, and action. Corporations, churches, and other organizations have all learned the importance of developing and articulating a particular vision that guides their enterprise and we should do the same as individuals. All successful corporate entities develop a unique shared focus and an ultimate principle that permeates the organization, shapes their culture, constructs their relationships, and motivates all their initiatives. The most effective organizations do not mire themselves in trying to do a million things but seek to do the one thing that they are called, positioned, and equipped to do. Therefore, anything that does not contribute to that central focus is jettisoned. Their ultimate guiding principle tells them what they should do and what they should not do. For churches, one of the most difficult tasks is having the courage to determine what they will not do; it is easy to fall into the trap of being compelled to do everything that seems Christian, charitable, and good. Organizations that try to do everything often find themselves good at nothing.

     Like organizations, individuals must go through intensive focused times of discerning their calling and purpose. It is a deeper process than hammering out a mission statement to tack up on the wall. Organizations often have carefully worded mission and value statements which may or may not be truly reflective of the association’s ideals and guiding principles. For individuals the process is even more important. The guiding principle of your life might change as you mature, but at some level, a single most important motivation has to eventually emerge. Otherwise your activities will become random, chaotic, and dictated by outside forces. It is important to remember that the guiding principle of your life is not governed by your circumstances. Your core motivation is that which shapes your response and actions regardless of the particular state in which you find yourself. What is most important to you? When all is said and done, what one thing motivates you from the depth of your being and accurately reflects what you believe to be the reason for your existence? Whereas there might be many responsibilities that occupy your life, eventually it is vital that you courageously pare them down to what contributes to your reason for living. Martha was encumbered by many things; Mary found the one thing. (Luke 10:39-42)

     It is evident that Christ Himself went through the same process of defining His purpose. As a student of the Scriptures, He not only became profoundly aware of the nature of His Heavenly Father, He also saw His own identity begin to emerge through the Sacred Writings. His identity was confirmed at His Baptism: “You are My Son whom I love. With You I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22) Knowing who He was, His attention then turned to His purpose which was solidified on the Mount of Temptation. There, He determined what He would not do so that He might be clearer and more focused on what He would do. Christ’s power was in knowing who He was, whose He was, and what He was called to do. That same power is available to all of us. This is not to imply that Christ was engaged in only one activity since it is clear that He went about doing many things. But all of these endeavors in some way contributed to the ultimate principle that guided, focused, shaped, and empowered His life:  “I always do what pleases Him (the Father).” (John 8:29) “’My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.’” (John 4:34) Ultimately, Christ was singularly devoted to the will of the Father. He sought to do only that which was pleasing to God and nothing that might displease Him. That might be a good guiding principle for us all.

     I am convinced that we are far too attached to this world and eventually this will prove deadly to our souls. Our attachment to the world shapes how we portray God, how we relate with Him, how we live, and how we proclaim the Christian faith. We know that the Kingdom of God is counter-cultural but are we also able to grasp that it may differ from the prevailing Christian culture as well? For example, nowadays we tend to see God’s purpose to be primarily focused on making our lives better, more comfortable, more meaningful, and more bearable. Because of this prevailing view, we tend to run from suffering and are completely bewildered by the suffering we do experience. Remember God’s call on the life of St. Paul the Apostle, “I will show him how much he must suffer for My Name’s sake.” (Acts 9:16) We should not flee from suffering nor go to great lengths to avoid it. We should seek it, pray for it, and embrace it. (How utterly preposterous such a statement sounds to our modern ears!)

     See how far we have drifted from the way of the Cross. The saints of old were diligent in their self-discipline so as not to fall into any sin, be it venial or mortal. Today, we have so mitigated the Christian life that it is difficult to tell those who are Christ’s from those who are not. The original apostles rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the Name. (Acts 5:41) Today, we wonder why God would allow us to encounter even the slightest inconvenience. Do you not know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? (James 4:4) Do you also know that suffering not only enhances our character, it makes us one with Christ? To share in Christ’s sufferings is fundamental to sharing Christ’s glory. (Philippians 3:10-11) The way of the Cross is the way of life. Anything else is a lie, a shadow, a counterfeit form of true righteousness. What does it profit a person to gain the whole world and to forfeit their soul? (Matthew 16:26) If we really understood the Day that is coming, we would live our temporal lives in this world in a vastly different way. Life in this world is fleeting like smoke in the wind. And yet we find ourselves tied to this life as if it was our life-preserver in the midst of the ocean. Why would we invest one farthing in something that will soon pass away? One thing that will work in our favor is that as wickedness is multiplied in the world (Matthew 24:12) we will find it easier to detach ourselves from it.

     How often we pray like this:  “Lord, deliver me from this hardship, suffering, and persecution which I am now forced to endure. You have promised deliverance and blessing to those who seek You. I do not understand why I have to go through this hardship and I understand even less why You do not lift Your Hand to deliver me.”

     We should pray like this:  “Lord, I thank you for the suffering in which I now find myself. Help me to embrace the way of the Cross as the way of life. Let hardship, affliction, persecution, and rejection unite me more with the One who suffered for me. Cut me asunder from every worldly affection. Make me blind to the world’s allure and immune from its seductive ways. Let me be deaf to the world’s vain philosophies. Let me care not one iota for my own reputation, station, or comfort. Let me care only for the state of my soul and that of others. Let me not fret one minute regarding my future in this world. My future is in the hands of the One into whose hands I have committed all things. I pray that You would do all in Your power to cultivate true virtue in my inner soul and let it permeate all of my thoughts, impulses, actions, decisions, relationships, and behavior. Increase my love for You and for all people and grant me grace to do only that which pleases You. May I never do anything that displeases You or anything that brings shame to Your Holy Name. I am astounded and grateful for the ways in which you avail Yourself for me with a constant supply of grace and yet it is me who is supposed to serve You. My purpose is to live for Your glory and not for my comfort. In the end, may I be counted among those who are worthy to receive eternal life with You.”

     The Gospel is by definition good news. It is good news for those who desperately need good news. The fact that it is good news shapes my approach to ministry.  We are representative of a new way of life embodied in Christ and providing freedom for all who come to it. Christ came to set people free and to enable them to become everything that the Father intended. As Tim Keller puts it in King’s Cross, the Gospel is news; it is not advice. We do not celebrate the revelation of an idea. We were not redeemed by a philosophy. Therefore, my approach to ministry is not confined to the conveyance of religious information but it the revelation of a living Lord. We proclaim and teach truth but we do so with the power and love of God. We proclaim through our words, attitudes, and actions the reality of Jesus Christ. It is not enough for the Gospel to be information for people to think about. It must carry with it His power to heal, transform, and empower people to become new creations and to serve God in their particular calling. People do not need more information; they desperately need the power of new life.

     Furthermore, the Gospel is not merely a statement of faith; it is a statement of fact. I do not approach this with audacious arrogance like a “know it all” but neither do I treat it as a myth, fable, or one of the myriad of life philosophies on the world scene. I believe in the Gospel in its context within the whole spectrum of God’s wisdom and purpose as revealed in Scripture and in Jesus Christ. Human history is not random and chaotic but is headed toward a clearly defined goal. That goal is defined by Christ, enacted through Christ, and fulfilled in Christ. “With all wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment —to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” (Ephesians 1:8-10) Ultimately, goal of our ministry is to bring people to union with the Son of God. “He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.” (Colossians 1:28)

     One of the key verses that shape my understanding of ministry is Genesis 12:1-3. This is the promise God made to Abraham: “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” So began God’s plan of salvation and Kingdom purpose. Abraham was not simply called to go out and bless people. He was called to become a blessing – to personify the blessing of God. That promise is fulfilled in Christ. In Jesus Christ, we receive and participate in that blessing. As Paul says, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:29) This shapes my understanding of the Kingdom:  we are called to personify the blessing of God, to participate in the purposes of God, and to conform ourselves to the nature of God. All people on earth (from every nation, race, language, and culture) will be blessed through us. We are called to embody the Kingdom and to be the vehicle through which God blesses the world and calls it to repentance. Ideally, to see the Church is to see the Kingdom of God in its many facets

     Another key verse is in Exodus 3, “The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them.’” (Exodus 3:7-8) This verse is the cornerstone of incarnational theology. God is not uncaring and aloof; neither is He removed from the realities of life. He is the God who comes. He is the God who answers when we call. He is the God who came to earth in the person of Christ to rescue us. Therefore, I believe in incarnational ministry. Christ was not only incarnated as the Word made flesh, He is incarnated in us. I believe in real ministry to real people in the real world. I believe that unity with Christ begins now and that we must not only place our faith in Christ, we must be as Christ is in the world – individually and collectively. “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John14:12) The redemptive presence of Christ in us empowers us to be like Christ in love, purity, and truth, and also to do what He did, to proclaim His death until He comes again, and to continue and multiply His ministry on the earth in very real, tangible ways. This is good news indeed!

     The most corrupting influences in the human experience are vanity, the pride of man, thinking we are something when we are nothing, and of exalting ourselves beyond measure. This was the sin of the “covering cherub” spoken of in Ezekiel 28 (KJV). He was wiser than Daniel and perfect in beauty. He walked in the Garden of Eden and upon the Mountain of God amidst the stones of fire. He was the anointed cherub, covered in many precious stones, and was the epitome of all that is desirable. But iniquity was found in him. His heart was lifted up because of his attractiveness and his wisdom was corrupted by his brightness. He used his wisdom to increase his personal wealth and eventually exalted himself to the place of God. Has God any option other than to bring him down?

     Ezekiel refers to him as a “covering cherub.” When the Hebrew speaks of this kind of covering, it uses a root word that can produce three meanings. The first refers to a covering that is like some beautiful apparel (Ezekiel 28:13). Secondly, there is the covering that refers to a disguise, a mask, or something that hides ones’ full identity (Job 22:14). The third, which is used to refer to this “covering cherub” is one in which the covering is entwined as a protective shield. The only other time this term is used in the Bible is in reference to the cherubim above the Ark of the Covenant whereby their wings enfolded together to cover the Mercy Seat (Exodus 25:20).

     As God opens this small window into the heavenly court and its history, we receive it as a solemn warning. It is a warning against vanity. The wisdom, beauty, and power of humanity will, if left unchecked, exalt itself into the place of God. It will eventually say, “I have no need of God” and then as it gains more dominion, “There is no God.” Finally it produces the most rebellious sin of all:  “I am god of my own life.” In the Garden of Eden the Tempter laid this same ruse before Adam and Eve as he subtly offered, “You can be like God.”

     God has clearly given certain gifts and abilities to men and women. We have wisdom, creativity, intelligence, and the ability to accomplish great things within the limited sphere of our earthly existence. Our progress as a human community testifies to these abilities. There is nothing intrinsically evil about our beauty, aptitude, or capability. Under the authority and blessing of God, we could most likely accomplish even greater things (John 14:12). With God, nothing is impossible (Matthew 19:26). But our God-given gifts must be continually tempered by humility and subdued by the fear of the Lord. Otherwise, we will build monuments to our own pride and erect Babel’s Tower anew. Left unto ourselves we will make idols of our beauty; we will place no limits on the accumulation of wealth. We will seek to control people and situations by power and oppression. The areas to be most watchful are these:  beauty, accomplishment, wisdom, power, possessions, and praise. These are the areas of our greatest vulnerability. The greater and stronger these gifts rest in us, the greater the danger of self-exaltation and the more vital is genuine humility in the fear of the Lord.

     Those who are wise among us will always hold their gifts and abilities at arm’s length with an open hand. While they give the best of their creative ability to their occupation and calling, they live continuously under the dominion and fear of the Lord; all of their focus is upon the cultivation of genuine humility and the glorification of the One who gave them these gifts. Those who are wise always realize that beauty is fleeting as are fame and praise. They are continually aware that the lofty pride of human beings will always be brought down to earth. They have learned to number their days (Psalm 90:12) and one day all that they have accumulated will either be devoured or left to others. Their gifts, abilities, accomplishments, and possessions are always given to God to be used as He wills in accordance with His pleasure and purpose.

     John the Baptist wore a coat of camel hair and ate locust and wild honey. He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness. John lived a very austere life, far away from the pleasures, distractions, and temptations of modern society. He was apparently heavily influenced by the Essenes, a sect of Second Temple Judaism that were extreme in their obedience to the sacred laws and who separated themselves from the rest of society so that they might be more strictly observant. Although the Essenes lived throughout Roman Judea, we know most about them from the discovery of one of their communities called Qumran, a place near the Dead Sea where they lived in separation, voluntary poverty, and religious piety. In addition to their lifestyle of separation and devotion, they wrote prolifically, mostly producing copies of the Hebrew Bible as well as other sacred texts which were not subsequently canonized into the Bible we have today. When word got to them around 70 AD that the Romans had sacked Jerusalem, they took their sacred parchments and papyrus, stored them in jars, and hid them in the hills around the Dead Sea. There they remained until they were discovered in 1946. These writings have been called the Dead Sea Scrolls.

     Jesus observed John’s devotion and admired him very much. Among men, there was not one greater than John. However, as much as He respected the rather monastic lifestyle of John, Christ knew it was not for Him. He was sent into the world; He was not called to separate Himself from it. Jesus went to the where the sinners were and planted His Cross in the ground amidst the perversity, depravity, and hostility of the human condition.

“I simply argue that the Cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town’s garbage heap; at a cross road  so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek, at the kind of a place where cynics talk smut and thieves curse and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. That is what He died for. That is what He died about. That is where the church ought to be and what the church ought to be about.”

                                                George Macleod of Iona

     In the centuries since the origins of Christianity, there have been many who have aligned their lives with John’s example of self-denial. The monastics and mystics have always stood apart from those who are called to serve in the midst of the world. For those who are called to monastic self-denial, separation, and contemplation, mystical union with Christ is their goal. In their view, oneness with Christ cannot be accomplished when we are attached to other things, distracted by other desires, and engaged in other activities. As in the past, the monastic Christians of today spend endless hours in prayer and contemplation – primarily of Christ Himself, His Sacred Humanity, or His Passion. Most of these continue to give of themselves in charity to the needy but their primary occupation is communion with the Lord. While some mystics are not Christian, many are, and the writings of the Christian mystics throughout history are invaluable in instructing us about the life of prayer, the call to self-denial and separation from the world, of deep and profound communion with God, and unity with Christ. Many monastic mystics testify to having received incredible supernatural visions of the Lord. What we tout as visions are often not visions at all but an enflamed sacred imagination. A true revelation of Jesus, or “rapture” as St. Teresa called it, occurs deep in the soul while all other faculties, including the mind and senses, are suspended. The dark chamber of the soul is illuminated by the Glory of Christ Himself.  In describing such experiences, they often refer to brightness and light quite different from what can be experienced through the natural senses. They speak of an illumination that transcends normal physical description. These faithful and committed believers were not chasing an experience to titillate their senses. They wanted desperately to strip away from themselves anything that was not sanctified in the image of Christ.

     And so we find ourselves caught between two worlds. Many of us yearn for mystical union with Christ; we long to separate ourselves, to commune only with the Lover of Our Souls, and to have our sullied lives beautified by His Royal Presence. But we are called to the world. As the Father sent the Son into the World, so has God’s Son sent us into the world to be light in the darkness and to continue His work until He returns. But how can we be in the world but not be of the world? That challenge lies at the heart of our calling and purpose.

     Perhaps the inner chamber of our being can become a monastery of its own. Perhaps we can cultivate the ability to live in the monastery of our souls, communing continuously with our Crucified Lord while at the same time engaging in the activity and ministry to which we are called. In such a state we will not longer live exclusively within the realm of our minds and senses. We will live and love out of the depth and profound holiness of the inner monastery where Christ Himself dwells.

     What does the resurrected life look like? Toward what goal does the operative grace of God work in us? As we respond to the unmerited favor of the Lord toward us, what kind of life are we seeking?  Amazed by the grace of God, we are moved in our hearts to do that which pleases Him and to be the kind of people He wants us to be. No, we are not little children trying to earn the favor of a detached father. No, we are not trying to cover up our manifold sins with the fresh paint of religion. We have come to know that God loves us as we are, with the good and the bad. And yet, our state is not static. We are moving forward in the grace of God. Having matured beyond our self-centered sins, is it not our desire to do that which is right? Did not the Prodigal, having arrived home, live forever as a faithful and thankful son? While continuously celebrating the Resurrection, it is incumbent upon us to live as resurrected people.

     The resurrected life is a comprehensive pattern of being and living that emerges through the entire scope of Scripture and was exemplified by Christ Himself. It is not a checklist to feed our perfectionism. It materializes in our hearts and minds as we live in God’s Word over time. It is not self-help information. It is the vision of goodness that carries with it the power of God to forgive, heal, and transform. The resurrected life begins deep within us and works outward until the whole of our desires, impulses, attitudes, actions, and relationships flow with the righteousness and love of God. The foundation of the resurrected life is the fear of the Lord. Blessed is the one who walks in the fear of the Lord and who takes great delight in His commands. The fear of the Lord has been imparted into our souls through the trials we have faced. It is crucial that our souls have been subdued under God’s Almighty Hand and that our enflamed egos, willfulness, and rebellion have been humbled through the fire of affliction. The resurrected life is characterized first by humility. While we do not wallow in self-loathing, we never leave our knees before God, continually crying, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.” As Thomas Merton said, we never forget our nothingness before God. And yet, we have come to know and experience true forgiveness. The burden is lifted; shame is vanquished. We never forget what we were, but we gratefully acknowledge that we are not like that any more. Mary Magdalene never forgot what she used to be; neither did Paul. But Christ did not define them by what they used to be. He saw them, and trusted them, as what they were becoming.

     In the very core of our being, joy and peace reign; humility and thankfulness flow freely and continuously. The soul is purified, having been purged of all impurity, malice, pride, envy, and slander. Gone are the days when we reacted in anger, impatience, and self-protection. The soul has become a garden where the Lord may come and take His delight, having cultivated the beauty of genuine virtue there. Forgiveness is no longer a frustrating work of the will but has come down from heaven as a precious gift. This forgiveness, once received in our inner soul, is now freely given to those who have hurt, betrayed, and offended us. At long last, having received forgiveness, we are able to freely give it to others. Such a sanctified soul does not retaliate or seek vengeance. It loves mercy and is a friend to sinners. It rejoices in the transforming work of God in the lives of even the vilest offenders. It is gracious and full of compassion.

    
     The resurrected life is permeated by unwavering trust in the Lord, being fully persuaded that God is willing and able to do all that He has promised. It does not rely on logic or human understanding but casts itself fully on the greater wisdom and endless mercy of God despite the challenge of immediate circumstances. As it says in Psalm 112, “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”

     The sanctified life is forever tethered to the Presence of Christ through continuous prayer and regular worship. We are seeking to be connected to the Source of all Life and our labor is always focused on abiding in Him, drawing our life from Him and being nurtured and formed by Him. Becoming one with Christ occupies more of our attention and effort than any work or mission to which we have been called. We are careful not to allow the work to which God has called us to become god to us. He is more to us than air, food, and water. We are inextricably joined to the Body of Believers that form the community of the saints all over the world from every tribe, culture and nation. We are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. The stench of religion, control, and judgment have given way to a more genuine flow of God’s love which is supple, peaceful, filled with mercy and which brings people to a place where they desire to amend their lives according to the same pattern which frames our own. It calls people to repentance while under-girding them with the love of the Creator.

    
     The deep and profound grace of God in the inner being then works outward to shape attitudes, perspectives, actions, behavior, and relationships. Inner virtue produces outward righteousness. The righteous life is not an occasional attempt at dong the right thing but is a lifestyle whereby we walk uprightly before the Lord. We are not proud and puffed up but neither are we ashamed. We walk in humility, generosity, and honor. The righteous man and woman give generously, expecting nothing in return. He does not defraud; she does not pervert justice. He does not oppress the poor; she does not oppress her workers. We do not lend our money at interest. We do not slander our neighbor. We honor all people as eternal souls for whom Jesus has died. We are honest and just in all of our dealings. We have effectively separated ourselves from the allure and seduction of the world and we do not fight our battles with the world’s strategies. We are not greedy, idolatrous, or materialistic. We give our bread to the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, and visit the sick and incarcerated. We are sexually pure; we are celibate in singleness and faithful in marriage. We do nothing to entice the lust of our neighbor through our actions, speech, or dress.

     The resurrected life is abundantly fruitful. God’s investment is expected to produce a return. We are not trophies to adorn His mantle nor are we His worker-bees. We are sons and daughters who will inherit the Kingdom and therefore we are expected to be productive and faithful offspring. God’s purpose is to develop a righteous nation who will produce the fruits of His Kingdom. Oddly enough, however, our focus is not on being fruitful. Our focus is on becoming one with Him and doing what is right. Fruitfulness is the inevitable by-product of the resurrected life.

     The day between Good Friday and Easter has been traditionally referred to as Holy Saturday. It is the day in between. It is the day between tragedy and triumph – between the darkest day in human history and its brightest. Imagine yourself in the shoes of those first disciples on the day in between. You are a member of a small band of people who encountered an extraordinary human being. He spoke to you in ways no one else ever had. He had an intrinsic strength of authority within Him that transcended human personality and charisma. He called you out from the life you had known and invited you to dream about the Kingdom of God being manifested on earth. So you took a shot, left your old life behind, and embarked on a remarkable journey. You saw miracles performed. You heard teaching that was vastly different than the mundane rhetoric to which you had become accustomed.

     What made this man different was that He did not claim the glory for Himself. He claimed that He could only do what He saw His Father doing; He could only say what He heard His Father saying. He only did what was pleasing to His Father. He did not hoard His power and authority but seemed anxious to share it with whoever was willing to receive it and implement it in the manner for which it was intended. He empowered you in the same way. Demonic spirits fled from your command. Miraculous healing and transformation occurred in response to your prayers. Crowds of people swarmed about you, trying to get to the One they called, “Master.”

     But then, things began to shift. It started with grave warnings about rejection, crucifixion, and death. He said that if it happened to Him, it would happen to you as well. But you were so caught up in the moment and the thrill of it all that it never really sank in. Then the opposition began to grow. Religious leaders began to oppose what you were doing. They seemed so irrational about it all like they couldn’t rest until all of you were gone – especially your Leader. He seemed to change as well. He was more serious; sometimes He was even morose. It was like He knew what was coming and it saddened Him terribly.

     The night they arrested Him, the night before last actually, was like a bad dream. Looking back on it, it seems surreal. They came for Him in the garden and then – just like that – He was gone and you all scattered. No one knew what to do. As if that night was not bad enough, the next day was horrific. You watched as the glory you had dared to dream turned into the worst possible human suffering. The worst part was watching Him humiliated. The One who had made such grand claims was now naked, bleeding, hung on a cross, and publically displayed like a common thief. At least when He died the nightmare was ended.

     And now here you are on the day in between. Your heart feels like a lead weight in your chest and it’s hard to breathe. You can’t speak, you can’t think, you can’t pray. Occasionally you shake your head in bewilderment as you stare off into the distance and wonder how something so great could turn out so bad. You feel like a fool for daring to dream in the first place. All that self-confidence has now faded and you feel guilty and stupid. And God? Who knows where God is in all this. It was God who prompted you to do all this in the first place – at least you thought it was God. Now where is He? Your prayers that had at one time raised the dead now seem to fall to the ground like empty words.

     What you do not seem to realize, as you stand in this no-man’s-land of the day in between, is that the morning is coming. It’s hard for you to hope right now; everything seems so dark, but it’s coming. All those promises that seem like distant echoes in your memory will suddenly become ablaze with life. They will burst forth before you and you will realize that you were not wrong. You didn’t loose. Your trust was not misplaced. And the One in whom you hoped – the One who called you from the beginning – to Him you will exclaim:

My Lord and My Rock

The Glory of My Salvation

My Strong Tower and My Deliverer

Holy is He and Mighty

He is the One who is Faithful

For His every promise has been fulfilled before our very eyes

And I will glorify His Name forever!

     When Israel came out of Egypt and entered into the land of Canaan, it was for the most part a loose confederacy of tribes that eventually occupied different geographical regions. Years later, it was David’s strength of leadership that forged them into a united country. That union lasted through his tenure as king and into his son, Solomon’s. A strong leader’s legacy only lasts so long. Solomon was able to hold it together because of the focus on building the temple and also the general prosperity enjoyed throughout the region. However, Solomon’s son Rehoboam was a weak and misguided leader and under his watch the nation fractured. The northern kingdom, Israel, was made up of the ten northern and eastern tribes while Judah stood alone with tiny Benjamin to make up the southern kingdom, Judah.

     The first king of the northern kingdom, Israel, was Jeroboam. The problem for him was that the center of worship was in Jerusalem which was nestled firmly in the territory of Judah. He couldn’t very well have people crossing the border to make their sacrifices so he created his own center of worship and his own gods in the north. It was the beginning of the abominable idolatry that would eventually infect all of Israel and Judah as one king after another failed to provide the kind of strong spiritual and political leadership required for guiding the two respective nations. God warned them over and over through the voices of the prophets but they paid no heed.

     Eventually, God’s patience reached its end and He raised up the Assyrians to invade and conquer the northern kingdom in 722 BC. It was quite difficult for God to relinquish Judah and Jerusalem because of David’s faithfulness and because God had said of Jerusalem, “I will put my Name there.” However, Judah refused to repent and continued in its idolatry until God had had enough. In 586 BC Jerusalem was sacked by Babylon and the people were taken into exile.

     Some of the historical books of the Old Testament and many of the prophets chronicle this time of devastation and loss. For instance, Jeremiah laments the total destruction of the nation and all that was sacred to them. Imagine this faithful prophet whose heart loved the sacred temple and the honor of God more than he did his own life. Now he sees it all in ruins. Foreign invaders have besieged the city and burned it, the temple has been utterly destroyed, and the best of the people taken as slaves to a foreign land. Jeremiah did not do anything wrong; he had been faithful to his calling, even though at first he had been quite reluctant. And yet, the faithful Jeremiah sits among the ruins. The prophet cannot remain neutral. He must identify with the people and be willing to share their fate. He was not spared the harsh judgment of God thus his lament is both for the nation and for his own personal suffering.

“I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.”

He then goes on the recount the ways God has taken him into judgment and loss through the Might of His Hand.

“He has bent His bow and set me as the mark for the arrow. He has filled me with bitterness.

You have removed my soul far from peace;

I forgot prosperity.”

But then the narrative pivots sharply and this we find is the fulcrum that turns the lament into a song of hope.

“Remembering my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall my soul has them still in remembrance and is humbled in me.

This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.”

At the lowest point of Jeremiah’s affliction, his soul is humbled before the Lord and this is the turning point of his life. His hope arose when he humbled himself before God. This was not an humility of personality and temperament but a deep and comprehensive contrition of his soul. To humble one’s self before God is the groundwork of hope and is the example of Our Lord.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who . . . being found in the fashion as a man He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death.”

     When your faith is based exclusively on an intellectual process, you will eventually fall into rebellion or madness. The intellectual process of faith must be grounded in the enlightened soul, the profound awareness of the living reality of Almighty God, and the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; unity with Christ is its end. You must be able to know when Christ has moved in your soul as distinct from when your heart has been warmed or your emotions touched. The work of the soul is much deeper then the mind, emotions, or senses. The soul is the core of our being and the place where the essential work of faith is formed.

     The intellect must always be held captive to the fear of the Lord. Intellectual assent to doctrine, theology, precepts, and ideas is not faith, even if they are based in the Scriptures. While faith is always formed and shaped by the Word of the Lord, true faith arises in the soul as it is on its knees before the Creator of the Universe and continually cries, “Lord have mercy.” Intellectual faith alone is willful, selfish, rebellious, and overly certain of itself; it is a slave to logic. God is not random, chaotic, and wildly irrational but neither is He a slave to logic. Intellectual faith is a slave to logic, preferring to figure things our rather than wait for revelation that comes from God. The intellect is not absent from the process of revelation, it is simply not lord. Faith that arises in the soul and knows the living reality of God understands that the ways of God are beyond searching out. Beneath the Shadow of the Almighty, the soul cries out, “The Lord, He is God!” The soul under God’s Hand knows that the ways of God are higher than our ways. True wisdom is found as the intellect pays homage to the Son of God and kneels at His feet as the Spirit of God convicts, informs, heals, humbles, teaches, empowers, assures, and inspires.

     The soul, body, and mind are bondservants to the Lord Jesus Christ, having been purchased, delivered, and redeemed by the Eternal Son of God. As such, the mind still functions in its strength and creativity but only under the auspices of and to the honor of the Holy One. The intellect that does not inextricably tie itself to the soul and continually bow the knee to the Lord will inevitably be led into rebellion or madness because it does not receive its nurture from heaven nor is it subdued by the Hand of God.  Logic will run amuck and bring confusion and madness. Willfulness will exalt itself and bring become idolatrous.

     Martin Luther is an example of a man who began in true faith and was eagerly determined to right the wrongs he saw so clearly manifested in the Church. But somewhere along the line, he apparently allowed his intellect to become his lord and began to speak, write, and act like a man who was no longer guided by the Lord. It seems that his faith became nothing more than an intellectual assent to the Scriptures and was not tempered and humbled by the fear of the Lord. His mission became an obsession; the battle against Rome became his lord. Thus, while he had many good and courageous ideas, he fell into warfare, hurling insults, hatred, and revilings. In the end, his mind apparently fell into darkness, and anti-Semitism. It is reported that Adolf Hitler’s genocide of the Jews was fed somewhat by Luther’s writings. How could one so intellectually strong like Luther be blinded to the truth of the very Scriptures he so boldly defended? It is because his intellect was not tied to his soul where the Lord Himself appears in glory, bringing soul, mind, and body to its knees.

    
     The Jews themselves, who were and are beloved in the eyes of God, were also blinded to the reality of the Messiah when He was presented to them because their knowledge of the Torah and the Prophets was not humbled and informed by the fear of the Lord. Did not the thief on the Cross condemn his fellow convict by proclaiming, “Do you not fear God?” Denominations and churches, when they depend on intellectual faith alone will similarly fall into rebellion and madness because their faith is not overlaid with the tempering, subduing, humbling reality of God Most High. Is this not how people who begin with sincere faith eventually find themselves enflamed with extremism and terror? Is this not how atrocities are committed in the name of faith? Men and women in authority must also subdue their power under the Hand of God and serve with fear and trembling. Otherwise, they also will fall into despotism.