I haven’t written a gardening post in a while, but it doesn’t mean that I haven’t been gardening this year.  My body’s been in the garden every day, but my mind has been forever elsewhere. 

You see, even while I’m gardening, I’m thinking theology.  Take the other morning, for example.  I went out to edge the beds and realized I needed to sharpen the tools.  Without sharp tools that have a clean edge, the work is much harder.  As one of my bosses used to say, “Work smarter, not harder.”

We need to sharpen our theological tools if we’re going to work smarter, not harder at Overcoming.  Let’s review what we’ve seen in Overcoming thus far and sharpen the tools by which we’ll work through this week’s topics as “case studies.”

Remember that in John 16:33 Jesus told us,

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

We concluded that Overcoming always results in resumption of forward progress and with Christian overcoming, it also grows our faith, exhibits grace, and offers forgiveness.  Overcoming doesn’t always take away the pain of the memory.  It doesn’t necessarily remove the consequence of the hurtful action.  But we can always make peace with the pain to where it won’t torment us anymore.   Overcoming is not exactly the same as “getting over” something.  It’s more like getting through to victory.  It’s a pilgrimage where we’re ever on the path to our destination.  We may crawl and hobble across the finish line some day, but by Overcoming, we’ll cross it.

So let’s make a chart.  I like charts—it’s my Type A nature and logical side to like charts. 

Consider it our sharpened tool box.

Maybe you’re not the kind of person who likes summary charts.  Let’s translate them into the 10 Commandments for Dealing with Suffering God’s Way:

1. Thou Shalt Expect Suffering
2. Thou Shalt Renounce Thy Lifetime Membership in the Pity Party for Perpetual Victims
3. Thou Shalt Understand God’s Big Picture that “It’s All Connected”
4. Thou Shalt Follow Jesus Because Human Vision is Limited, But God’s is Not
5. Thou Shalt Holster Thy Human Weapons
6. Thou Shalt Be Lovingly Honest in All Thy Dealings with God, Self, and Others
7. Thou Shalt Exhibit Patience
8. Thou Shalt Not Take Revenge or Even Zing Others While Waiting
9. Thou Shalt Live Knowing that Not Every Action Requires a Reaction
10. Thou Shalt Persevere in Doing Good, Trusting that It’s Not Over ‘Til the Lamb Opens the Book

Better yet, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words to the Overcomer.  Besides, you’ve probably already figured it out: I like pictures too.  We’ll use these as we look at “case studies” tomorrow beginning with Overcoming Changes in Employment.

Today we conclude our Scriptural basis for Overcoming in our series on 5 Kingdom Principles in Jesus’ Example for Suffering Christians.  Next week, we will explore how these principles apply to everyday issues.  These Scriptural principles apply in every situation.  You see, Overcoming isn’t passé or old-fashioned.  It is every bit as relevant today as it was when God told Cain,

“Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”  (Genesis 4:6-7)

Sin still crouches.  It waits to pounce and devour.  It wants us to yield to human ways and secure our desires for a heavenly existence by human effort.  We can master sin (or God wouldn’t have told Cain he needed to master it), but it takes doing that God’s way–Jesus’ way, with the example He set in 1 Peter 2:21-23 which have been our theme verses on Overcoming.

By faith, Christians have a grand heritage—as have God’s people throughout the ages—to be Overcomers.

The words of today’s hymn (written by Richard Mant in 1824) forcefully proclaim this great heritage of victory by Kingdom Power.   You can listen on the cyberhymnal or at this link for those of you who have been wondering when I’m going to include a hymn played on the most beloved music instrument of the traditional church, the instrument created for playing hymns: the organ.

God My King Thy Might Confessing

God, my King, Thy might confessing,
Ever will I bless Thy Name;
Day by day Thy throne addressing,
Still will I Thy praise proclaim.

Honor great our God befitteth;
Who His majesty can reach?
Age to age His works transmitteth,
Age to age His power shall teach.

They shall talk of all Thy glory,
On Thy might and greatness dwell,
Speak of Thy dread acts the story,
And Thy deeds of wonder tell.

Nor shall fail from memory’s treasure
Works by love and mercy wrought;
Works of love surpassing measure,
Works of mercy passing thought.

Full of kindness and compassion,
Slow to anger, vast in love,
God is good to all creation;
All His works His goodness prove.

All Thy works, O Lord, shall bless Thee;
Thee shall all Thy saints adore:
King supreme shall they confess Thee,
And proclaim Thy sovereign power.

We’re concluding our look at 5 Kingdom Principles in Jesus’ Example for Suffering Christians (found in 1 Peter 2:21-23) with the fifth principle: Kingdom Power.

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. (1 Peter 2: 23)

Human power would have fought back.  Insult for insult.  Prove yourself by returning strike for strike. Plot your revenge. Develop a human plan to save yourself.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,   but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Human ways and human views are unimpressed with the Cross and with its power.  But Kingdom Power is not foolishness at all.  “Fear this!” takes on a whole new meaning.  Jesus was different in His life and He modeled for us an expectation that we, too, will be different.

That’s because Kingdom Power is different.  It takes the long view…the eternally long view.

There’s power enough to vindicate us when we’re wronged.  There’s power enough to make it all right.  It’s the power of life and death.  And Jesus has that power because of what He did on the Cross.

John 5:22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. 24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

Jesus, the Judge, has power enough to judge each of us based upon what we did in our lives.

Revelation 20:. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

This is the power Scripture says will be exerted in the Judgment.  There will be no saving ourselves.  But Jesus said to the Church at Smyrna what He says to us today,

Revelation 2:10 “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.”

Jesus has Kingdom power enough to grant overcomers the crown of life.

In one masterful moment,

in one supreme act of sacrificial love,

in one climax of redemptive history,

the Alpha and the Omega,

the beginning and the end,

Jesus Christ

who was fully God and fully man,

went to the Cross.

It is there that He died

because

God’s justice

and His love

are eternally

inseparable.

I’m going to jump ahead a bit to talk about the Just War, mainly because of the present danger and horrible decision facing the United States and the world.

Within the past 48 hours, the Pope prayed with the faithful from around the world on a day he set aside for prayer and fasting.  The faithful prayed for a peaceful solution to the situation in Syria.  On the other side of the world, the President of the United States has been making a plea for limited military intervention to keep Assad from further use of chemical weapons against his own people.  President Obama has been interviewed on major news networks and will appear tonight in an address to the nation.

What is the right thing to do in this situation?  Jesus showed us by His example from 1 Peter 2:21-23 that suffering exists in this world, but that Christians entrust ourselves to the One who Judges Justly.  

1 Peter 2: 23 “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

Tough questions abound.  How does not intervening differ from letting evil go unchecked?  Does entrusting oneself to God mean pacifism is the only way?  Is war ever right?  Is there such a thing as a Just War?

• Just War.  For some there is no such thing.  It’s an oxymoron.
• Just War.  For some hawkish types, it’s the answer to every problem.  What’s our solution?  Just War.
• Just War.  But for those who look at the world with Kingdom vision, it’s not an individual or even a national interest that compels the Just War.  The Just War is a moral instrument of God to preserve life and good and truth over against death and evil and falsehood.

I really appreciate Jean Bethke Elshtain’s perspective that I discovered when I read her obituary and all the tributes to her life and teachings.  She was a Divinity School professor and theological scholar at the University of Chicago and wrote about the Just War. According to the University of Chicago Magazine,  

As Elshtain wrote in that book, although just-war tradition never regards armed conflict as “desirable, or as any kind of social ‘good,’” it nevertheless “acknowledges that it may be better than the alternative.”

Just War Against Terror enumerated the complex criteria to determine whether force is justified and to keep its use within necessary limits: a war must prevent harm to innocents and be openly declared by a legitimate authority. It must be a response to unjust aggression against one’s own people or an innocent third party. It must be the last resort after all other options are exhausted. It must be embarked upon only with a reasonable chance of success and conducted in a fashion that protects noncombatants.

Sad as it is for us to admit, an “innocent third party” is not the same as “civilian.”  The Jews in the Holocaust were an “innocent third party” caught in the cross-hairs of Hitler who sought their extermination.  Many civilian casualties have happened in every war and are a function of a decision to enter into war by the governments representing the civilians.

I am troubled by the Syrian government, military, the Syrian rebels and indeed our own US government parading the dead bodies of children and other civilians all over TV as a means of swaying public opinion.  There is a blurring occurring—a declaration of those non-combatants to be innocent third parties in need of our intervention when, in fact, they are civilian casualties of a civil war.  They are not the same thing.

Death of non-combatants is awful to be sure.  Every death is awful.  But wars kill people  Wars will persist until Jesus returns.

Matthew 24: 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ, ‘and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Wars will happen.  Nation will rise against nation, but sometimes a Just War is necessary.

This photo is from http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/The-Kings-Speech/ and shows the transcript of King George VI’s wartime speech as Great Britain entered into WWII.  Note the principles on which Great Britain entered into war…all the way to reverently commending their cause to God.

Standing firm and entrusting our cause to God is what Jesus modeled for us in 1 Peter 2:23.  We trust God to deal with whatever is facing us.  God will take up our case, defend our cause, minister to our pain, and vindicate us in the end. 

Ultimately a Just War protects and preserves.  Anything else is just war.

Is God a Just God?  As I was looking at a variety of hymns for the topic of entrusting one’s cause to Christ (the final principle in our series on Overcoming), I discovered that many of the hymns on standing firm in the Christian battle– trusting in a Just God–arose out of war protests or are from poems written by Christian pacifists.  I find this quite interesting, especially considering the potentially historic choice facing the United States at present.

In any circumstance and any decision we might face, there are 5 Kingdom Principles for Overcoming Suffering that Jesus showed us by His example from 1 Peter 2:21-23.

1. Kingdom expectations; 1 Peter 2:21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you,
2. Kingdom perspective; leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
3. Kingdom actions; 22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
4. Kingdom time frame; 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate;
5. Kingdom power; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

Let’s finish verse 23 and see that when we have Kingdom expectations, a Kingdom perspective, demonstrate Kingdom actions, adopt a Kingdom time frame, we will embrace Kingdom power and become genuine Overcomers.

The hymn God of Grace and God of Glory was written by the controversial Baptist pastor Harry Emerson Fosdick.  Perhaps I’ll talk about his controversial writings some day with regard to the Christian Fundamentals I hold to, but for now, I won’t let my disagreement with his modernist views detract from what is, frankly, a great hymn.  After all, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

About this hymn, Richard Niell Donovan is cited as saying,

This hymn is a prayer — a prayer for God to bestow power upon the church — and wisdom — and courage “for the facing of this hour.”  The hour that they were facing at that time was the Great Depression — an economic disaster that drained the nation of life and hope.  “For the facing of this hour,” however, is a timeless phrase, because there is never a time when we do not need God’s help “for the facing of this hour.”

“Save us from weak resignation” is an important part of the prayer.  “Save us from weak resignation to the evils we deplore.”  We are always tempted to believe that the evils that we face far outstrip our resources to deal with them — tempted to retreat into a safe place and wait for the storm to blow over — but evil unopposed doesn’t blow over.  It takes the sacrifices of dedicated men and women to build a better world.

“Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this hour.”  That was a good prayer when Fosdick first wrote this hymn in 1930.  It is a good prayer today.

I agree.  Enjoy listening to this version of God of Grace and God of Glory with a septet of horns or on the cyberhymnal.

God of grace and God of glory,
On Thy people pour Thy power.
Crown Thine ancient church’s story,
Bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the facing of this hour,
For the facing of this hour.

Lo! the hosts of evil ’round us,
Scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways.
From the fears that long have bound us,
Free our hearts to faith and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the living of these days,
For the living of these days.

Cure Thy children’s warring madness,
Bend our pride to Thy control.
Shame our wanton selfish gladness,
Rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.

Set our feet on lofty places,
Gird our lives that they may be,
Armored with all Christ-like graces,
In the fight to set men free.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
That we fail not man nor Thee,
That we fail not man nor Thee.

Save us from weak resignation,
To the evils we deplore.
Let the search for Thy salvation,
Be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Serving Thee Whom we adore,
Serving Thee Whom we adore.

 1 Peter 2:23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate;

This week, we will begin talking about the Kingdom Time Frame as we continue our look at the 5 Kingdom Principles for the Overcomer found in 1 Peter 2:21-23.

From what I can tell, there are no hymns written specifically for this verse.  It’s a shame because there are amazing truths contained here which would be particularly helpful for the culture in which we live.

In an age known for flaming emails of anger, tweets that bite, Facebook status updates that give instant life to something best left silent, verse 23 of our passage whispers a gentle admonition to let it go.  Adopt a Kingdom Time Frame.  Press on in the way Jesus did.

One hymn that expresses this well is I’m Pressing on the Upward Way.  You can listen here on the cyberhymnal  or watch a segment from the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music concert (a medley for strings and piano beginning and ending with I’m Pressing on the Upward Way).

Suite 101 describes the hymn writer Johnson Oatman, Jr. this way:

American hymn writer Johnson Oatman, Jr. was born near Medford, New Jersey, on April 21, 1856. He became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church when he was 19 years of age. Although he never pastored a church, he was licensed to preach and was ordained by his denomination. Early on in life, he was involved in the family’s mercantile business, but when his father died, he entered the insurance business.

In 1892, he was 36 years old, he started writing gospel songs, and, from then until his death in 1922, he wrote about 3,000 gospel hymn texts. Reportedly, he generally averaged 4 to 5 new texts each week, all through his life from this period. Notably, he received no more than a dollar for each of his songs. His texts were always in great demand by the leading gospel musicians of his day, including Charles Gabriel, William James Kirkpatrick and Edwin Excell.

I’m Pressing on the Upward Way (Higher Ground)

I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

Refrain

Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith, on Heaven’s table land,
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where those abound,
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.

Refrain

I want to live above the world,
Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled;
For faith has caught the joyful sound,
The song of saints on higher ground.

Refrain

I want to scale the utmost height
And catch a gleam of glory bright;
But still I’ll pray till Heav’n I’ve found,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”