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The Husbandry of the Heart

2/29/2012

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A Medley of Lenten Reflections
Rending the Heart: Joel 2:13 – Rend your heart and not your garments.

An Israelite would wrap himself in sackcloth to signify mourning over loss or disaster, or grief for sin. Sackcloth was the garb for those humiliated by sadness or circumstance and often an expression of repentance. When the sense of grief and guilt was strong an individual would tear off their normal clothing to wear a band or skirt of rough, cheap, goat’s hair close to the body. Intense feeling could result in violent disrobing. External action, especially in matters of religion, is not always indicative of the attitude of the heart, and before God it is the intent of the heart that matters most. Sacraments, rites, symbols are divinely ordained means to guide the informed mind more closely towards God in candour or confidence. They assist the realization and confession of sin and impress upon us the way to forgiveness and reconciliation. Repentance is at once painful in the sense of personal shame and the awareness of wounding the love of God in the evil we have done, but joyful also in the anticipation of restored relationship.

Penitence is the inward posture of the awakened and contrite sinner, a sincere sorrow and regret for the waywardness of the heart and the wicked ways, works, and words that inevitably ensue from the corruption of our nature. The removal of “outer garments” as it were, or the performance of formal acts and rituals, is meaningless without the genuine inclination and cleansing of the heart. A heart void of lamentation for sin and love for the Lord voids sacramental or symbolic observance. Faith is of the essence in our dealings with God and without it, all is futile.

The emphasis on the external may be an expression of being earnest but can also be a token of spiritual emptiness which seeks compensation in frequent and scrupulous outward practices and material embellishments, conformity to custom and ceremony. The scrutiny of the Lord penetrates beyond appearances and searches at a depth beyond the surface of our lives. The attire of the believer is in renewal of character rather than styles of clothing (Colossians 3: 12-14), which means to say that true religion is not a fashion parade of pretended virtues for others to see and admire (hypocrisy) but a genuine holiness of heart that creates a compliance and compatibility with God. The cultivation of the Christian life and the keeping of the soul begins in “those who truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel” (BCP). The incentive to repent and believe is well spoken by Joel: “Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity (2:13b).

Humility of the Heart: Matthew 6:16-18 – When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

“Piety” is a word that that popularly bears the connotation of criticism precisely because of the practices of the Pharisees and their kind who loved to display their religious rectitude and ritual correctness. They were given more to social display than sincere devotion to their unseen God who loves to share the secret life of his people (comforting and convicting). True godliness does not seek to be ostentatious but revels in the righteousness of everyday ordinariness. “Show-offs” in religion cause the grace of God to “shut-off”. Piety is to be actual in the heart and not an act before human eyes. Fasting was not among the first and most frequent requirements of the law. Whilst Jesus did not forbid it he did not overplay it and actually delayed it in the practice of his disciples: “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?” (Mark 2:19).

Fasting has its benefits at certain times but it also lends itself to a sense of spiritual achievement, and superiority, and gives opportunity to self advertisement. Among the religious it can almost qualify as one of the works of supererogation of which our Article 14 speaks, something surplus to requirement in gaining the approval of God. The folk Jesus had in mind in this passage exuded smugness, self –satisfaction, and a love for recognition. Praise was their motive for piety and such motivation downgrades the beauty of the pure heart’s possession. Piety is the pleasant duty of those devoted to God. It emerges from the honour we ascribe to the Lord, the homage we render, the love that we have for his Name, and the obedience we give to his will. It sums up the whole disposition, and all the deeds, of our life as affectionately dedicated to him. “Only to your Father” (v18) indicates that piety is an exclusive expression of love and loyalty to our Supreme Desire and Attraction – God himself, who is “jealous” for our for our reverent and adoring attention and companionship as the Lover of our soul.

To debase worship of him to performance for the sake of praise of self is robbery of his glory and denial of his grace. His glory draws our attention to him and his grace draws and enables our affection to him, and false piety is an obnoxious lie. Our personal trysts with him are concealed from public gaze lest we become swollen with boastfulness and pride – in which case the trysts would cease.

Treasure of the Heart: Matthew 6: 19-21 – Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Treasure consists of that which is most valued by us. There are legitimate earthly treasures – persons, possessions, and various kinds of knowledge and experience. They are not despised, but gifts from God. But they are not “stored up “ as of ultimate and eternal worth. They may be taken away, lost, or surrendered, and we are certainly severed from them through death, as dear as they may be. The ultimate and eternal treasure is Jesus Christ in whom we have and retain all good things in our everlasting life with him. We cherish the Lord Jesus in and for himself and from God’s hand, through him, we receive the incalculable wealth of God’s goodness and generosity. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32). The triune God is our infinite Treasure and our knowledge and enjoyment of him our richest pleasure.

 The final judgement is simply the opening of every human heart where every individual will be awarded with what he values most – the Living God as his closest Companion which entails complete bliss, or the prize of Self  alone as one’s supreme possession and pursuit, which results in eternal emptiness, lostness and loneliness. Where our treasure is there will our heart be also – the place of happiness in the Lord, or hopelessness without him.
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TEST THE SPIRITS – 1 John 4:1

2/19/2012

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John’s exhortation arises from the fact that, “many false prophets have gone out into the world”. They claim divine inspiration but deny the essential truths of the Gospel. Their influence is pervasive and perilous. Their novel teachings and theories are plausible and seductive. They offer excitement and a sense of well being. They flatter adherents with the notion of spiritual elitism. John warns believers that their proponents are counterfeit and enemies of the truth. The Spirit of Truth will grant the children of God, in whom he dwells, discernment to detect doctrine that is deceitful. The telling touchstone for the identification of error is the fundamental fact of the Incarnation. Jesus Christ was not some ethereal, phantom-like figure, but a flesh and blood person in whose form God came to dwell among us and deliver us. Christ was the “hard copy” of God – the Word – in our midst, a physical entity abroad in our material world. God took upon himself our flesh, our human nature and in that nature he died to redeem our nature. This is objective reality that cannot be meddled with or fashioned according to human fancy. It disallows imaginative invention and speculation. Dreamers, false prophets, in order to indulge themselves in flights of fictional speculation and codes of dubious morality must deny the truth of Christ “come in the flesh” in order to gratify the sinful flesh. The boundaries of righteousness and holiness confine their proud and profligate urges and so the core truths concerning Jesus Christ have to be discarded as naïve and primitive tenets too foolish for the intellect to embrace or too mundane for spiritual highfliers to enjoy and improvise upon.
 The message of the false prophets presented in varying guises was a tantalizing brew. It afforded the right to become a “free spirit” untrammelled by fixed principles. It gave free reign to emotion, sentimentality, excitability, and the cultivation of pleasurable inner experience culminating in ecstasy and private revelations, always directed toward the attainment of high self esteem and  maximum  self satisfaction. Man, not God, was at the heart of the vile religion that travelled the world so rapidly and sought to invade the church, and there was no sense of the need for a real Redeemer who would deliver men from their illusions, iniquity, or personal defilement. Indeed this innate defilement was “sanctified” by the deification of man and his natural desires. In its more gross expressions it was driven by the demonic. He who has ears to ear let him hear the siren songs of our day. Let him see the sight of many the popular entertainers of our time in the choreography, costume, and cosmetics that debase our humanity and suggest the influence of the dark and cruel one who devises our ruin.

 The spirits we are to test are those influences that animate our drives and affections in every area of our lives, those flashes of insight or seeming enlightenment that govern our minds and determine the goals we pursue. We are subject to the spirit of the natural self corrupt but controlled more or less by the common grace of God. We are susceptible to the spirit of the world, an affinity with humanity in a corporate sense with whom we share common tendencies and sensibilities. We may come under the influences, impressions, and illumination of the Spirit of God. We may even feel pressure and persuasion from the inhabitants of the realm of darkness. The spirits approach us for our acquiescence and compliance and we need to be aware of their sources.

 We need to be acquainted with and examine our own spirit and its leanings. This is the essence of our own personality, its type, temperament, taste, and trends of behaviour,  The things we want and wish for at a subliminal level can come to us in acceptable dress and  powerful impact and we can rationalize their legitimacy. What pleases us may become permissible and receive the sanction of our conscience. We are willing to endorse the suggestions of our own desires and identify them with the promptings of the Spirit of God. We must test our spirits by the commandments of God in order to certify their purity and motivation. Are the spirits we heed consonant with love for God and inward obedience to him?

 The spirit of the world allures us as best it can. Vanity Fair  tempts us with its wares and amusements. We were born in its tents, besieged by its messages, schooled in its customs. It never occurred to us to try the spirit of the world. It was always there from the moment we arrived, and ingrained in our nature through observation and imitation. It was natural to get caught up in the world, hold its values, and pursue its aims until the gospel enlightened us to the awful and startling fact that the love of the world was enmity with God. Yet how often are we still accommodating to the spirit of the world in ways we do not suspect, and have adjusted them to the practice of religion?  Do we interrogate our accustomed outlook and readily adopted stance on so many issues? Are they simply the expression of the “old Adam” who remains within?

 The spirit of falsehood loves to haunt the place of religion in the heart, the religious organization, or informal affiliation. Religion is ostensibly some sort of move toward  God, or substitution for God. It is the sphere that Satan meddles in most in case we are in danger of stumbling upon truth. It is here that he weaves his fabric of lies, mystification, and confusion. Here his inventiveness is prolific and overwhelming in the options he has on offer. His catalogue has something for every customer. His is the greatest variety store in the universe. The most effective diversion from God is religion ranging from primitive paganism to the closest possible counterfeits of Christianity. An abundance of ritual and mystery entrances some as if the charm of music, aesthetics, and architecture actually elevates the soul to heaven. For others encounter with the depths of one’s self and its subjective motions equates with the experience of God. Without the realization that the substance of our nature is suffused with depravity and deceit we fail to see that self cosseting and self justification govern the operations of the inner life. Functioning by feeling is like floating over a hazardous ocean without compass and rudder.

 The Spirit of God guides us through principles that engage the mind he has given us. He has endowed us with the gift of his revelation recorded in Holy Scripture and from the light of his word we are directed by the lamp of righteousness. While the mind weighs any matter the Spirit purifies and persuades the heart to follow his leading in a manner, perhaps mainly, of which we are not made conscious with tingling sensations and an air of elation, lest like Paul we become puffed up. When the grasp of an issue is too high for us, or a solution beyond our reach, we resort to prayer and patient faith waiting for the answer to occur, or for God to overrule.

 Testing the spirits is a divine work wrought within and for us. We are given the anointing of the Spirit to exercise discernment. We are given the word to teach us. The twofold illumination of the cleansed conscience helps us to detect sin and deceit. The regenerate (“born again” is, unfortunately, a much debased term) listen to God and judge by revealed and rehearsed truth which attunes us to his mind and trains perception. We may not be endowed with infallibility but we are preserved or retrieved from gullibility, and we are called upon to be diligently probing.
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