We looked around the room last night. One had gone through her father's passing, but she was now with us again full of her quiet and thoughtful presence. One had just gone through three surgeries for cancer and now, cancer free, remains her upbeat self.
One couple – understandably not with us last night -- had just returned, the night before from picking up their adopted infant from faraway. Two weeks ago to the night, we were praying about a closer adoption, but it was filled with concerns. Some 36 hours later that same weekend, this adoption came through, as it were, out of the blue many states away.
One had gone through two years of being unable to see clearly; last night I saw her for the first time with her shades off. (But we still had to dim the lights; it added atmosphere to our gathering).
Then my neighbor recounted the comfort of how, after her husband passed, new neighbors moved in. She had never been in this house for the past ten years; now this house was like home for her … “I even have my own key,” she said …
… which prompted me to recount how we moved here. Just prior to our move, we were on the verge of adding on to our previous home. The day we were to write the check for the down payment, our builder did not show. He had never been late for a meeting. When he finally arrived, he said he had to pull off the road to pray: somehow he just did not feel right about going through with it… So that addition was never built. A few months later we were in this home, unsought for by us.
Another – also understandably not with us – was at home packing because, today, he flies off with his son (the son’s first time) on a medical mission.
With another one I had exchanged letters this week, he thanking me for being a role model; me thanking him for the immense practical help he had been to me.
Then we began our Bible study. The theme had to do with having a righteousness exceeding the righteousness of the Pharisees. We shook our heads. Just how can this be possible? We all agreed it was not. Unless there is a Life in us, filled with the righteousness of Another, that can actually live through us, and powerfully change not only circumstances on the outside, but clean things on the inside as well.
Logos2Go
Luke 7.19, 22-23 (And John) calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" … And he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. "And blessed is the one who is not offended by me."
Matthew 5.20 "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 23.25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
Colossians 2.19-23 … holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations-- "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" (referring to things that all perish as they are used)--according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
John Piper, "Clean the Inside of the Cup," in What Jesus Demands from the World (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2006), 196-204.
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