Lord, Teach Us to Pray

We humans have a tendency to turn our religious beliefs and practices into something about us. Things meant to be God-focused and God-exalting, we make self-centered and self-serving.

This is sometimes true of prayer. Something meant to nurture relationship with God, we turn into a laundry list of requests. Something meant to change our hearts, we use to try to change God’s plan.

Jesus’ disciples saw something different about the way he prayed. It was not about him. In Luke 11, they asked him to teach them to pray. Why? They had seen amazing things happen when Jesus prayed. While praying at his baptism, the heavens opened, the Spirit descended and God affirmed Jesus messianic identity. While praying on the mountain, Jesus inner circle of disciples saw him transfigured and God spoke confirming Jesus as his Son. The disciples saw Jesus pray before miraculously multiplying bread and fish. They knew that when he prayed, God acted. They knew Jesus’ prayers were about his God-given mission, not his self-driven program. They wanted to learn. So Jesus taught them to pray.

To teach them, he gave them what we now know as the Lord’s Prayer. The longer and more familiar version is in Matthew 6:9-13. It starts with God, intimate (Father) yet transcendent (in the heavens). It’s about God’s reputation, God’s name being sanctified, that is, cleansed of all the grime smeared upon it by fallen people. It’s about seeing God as he truly is: holy and glorious. It’s about God’s kingdom, his rule and reign over his creation. Implication: we are dethroned and we submit. It’s about God’s will, not ours. How often we pray for our own will “in Jesus’ name,” and give no thought to whether our agenda has any resemblance to his. We say things like:

Please heal

No complications

Relieve his stress, pain

Fast recovery

Return to what she loves

And so on

There is rarely any acknowledgment in prayer of what we know to be true upon reflection: God has a purpose in our pain and does his best character-forming work during our toughest tests and darkest days.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t pray for help, relief or provision. Indeed, the Lord’s Prayer goes on to request daily bread, forgiveness, preservation from trial and salvation from evil. But all these requests come from the position of humility established by the former, God-focused lines of the prayer.

Jesus is again our example. In his darkest hour, alone and in anguish, he prayed, “Father, take this cup from me. Yet not my will, but yours be done.” And in that act of submission – and suffering – God’s kingdom came.

Let’s learn from our Lord’s life and his prayer. Let’s praise first. Let’s make it about God more than us. Let’s follow Jesus in denying our self-sovereignty and praying, “May your kingdom to come and your will be done.”

Doing Good for Goodness Sake

Why do we do good? So often it’s to get something, some reward. This is the way the world works. From the age of two, we are persuaded (or not, as the case may be) to do what others want us to do by means of a carrot and a stick. At home, in school, on sports teams, even in church. It’s not rocket science to figure out why people do this: it works. People respond to rewards and punishments.

But the question haunts me: does it work in the long run? What kind of people does it create? How do we become people who do the right thing, just because it’s the right thing, even when the reward is neither immediate nor tangible

Jesus encourages us to righteousness because it will lead to “reward” or “treasure” in heaven. I have neither space nor expertise to deal with the theological question about heavenly rewards. But Jesus is clearly not thinking about a piece of candy I can eat right now nor a gold star I can put on today’s behavior board nor a good grade on an assignment. (Nor, when Jesus speaks about punishment, is he thinking of losing my cell phone or being grounded for the next week.) The reward (and punishment) is out there in the uncertain future, and, although I have some scripturally-informed ideas about what it is, Jesus never comes right out and tells us precisely what “treasure in heaven” is. So we don’t know exactly what reward we’re working for or when we’ll receive it. Very different from all those years at home and in school. 

The question for me is: How do I raise my children to desire and pursue that reward even when it means forgoing some more instant gratification? Where’s the balance between using carrots and sticks sometimes to motivate my kids, and other times saying, just do this because it’s right. The question for you is: Will you trust Jesus when he tells you the kingdom is worth selling all you have and righteousness is worth seeking as your highest goal? Even when there’s no immediate or tangible reward, will you be good for goodness sake? Isn’t that, after all, a reward in itself?

Chris Wright on A Holistic Theology of the Cross

I’m on a bit of a Chris Wright kick right now. He’s been one of my most valued scholar-mentors, through his writing, for some years now. Last week I finished his The Mission of God’s People, and I also recently dipped back in to his outstanding larger work, The Mission of God, while preparing to teach on the Jubilee. I came across a compelling passage that gives a savory taste of his skill and passion as a biblical scholar and missional author. See what you think.

A full biblical understanding of the atoning work of Christ on the cross goes far beyond (though of course it includes) the matter of personal guilt and individual forgiveness. That Jesus died in my place, bearing the guilt of my sin, as my voluntary substitute, is the most gloriously liberating truth to which we cling in glad and grateful worship with tears of wonder. That I should long for others to know this truth and be saved and forgiven by casting their sins on the crucified savior in repentance and faith is the most energizing motive for evangelism. All of this must be maintained with total commitment and personal conviction.

But there is more in the biblical theology of the cross than individual salvation, and there is more to biblical mission than evangelism. The gospel is good news for the whole creation (to whom, according to the longer ending of Mark, it is to be preached [Mk 16:15; cf. Eph 3:10]). To point out these wider dimensions of God’s redemptive mission (and therefore of our committed participation in God’s mission) is not watering down the gospel of personal salvation (as is sometimes alleged). Rather, we set that most precious personal good news for the individual firmly and affirmatively within its full biblical context of all that God has achieved and will finally complete through the cross of Christ.

…

The fact is that sin and evil constitute bad news in every area of life on this planet. The redemptive work of God through the cross of Christ is good news for every area of life on earth that has been touched by sin, which means every area of life. Bluntly, we need a holistic gospel because the world is in a holistic mess. And by God’s incredible grace we have a gospel big enough to redeem all that sin and evil has touched. And every dimension of that good news is good news utterly and only because of the blood of Christ on the cross.

Ultimately, all that will be there in the new, redeemed creation will be there because of the cross. And conversely, all that will not be there (suffering, tears, sin, Satan, sickness, oppression, corruption, decay and death) will not be there because they will have been defeated and destroyed by the cross. That is the length, breadth, height and depth of God’s idea of redemption. It is exceedingly good news. It is the font of all our mission.

So it is my passionate conviction that holistic mission must have a holistic theology of the cross. That includes the conviction that the cross must be as central to our social engagement as it is to our evangelism. There is no other power, no other resource and no other name through which we can offer the whole Gospel to the whole person and the whole world than Jesus Christ crucified and risen.

-- Chris Wright,  The Mission of God (Downers Grove: IVP, 2006), 314-16.

John Oswalt on the legacy of the Enlightenment

My mother-in-law just picked up John Oswalt’s The Bible Among the Myths. Since it dovetails with my current study in worldviews, and since she urged me to have a look, I’ve started reading it while we vacation at her home. The first chapter is a densely-packed overview of the Greek and Hebrew worldviews and how they intersected with both the dominant worldview of the surrounding culture and with each other. Oswalt concludes the chapter with this insightful gem:

 

The unique linkage of Greek and Israelite thought led to several characteristic features of Western Civilization. Included among these are: the validity of reason, the importance of history, the worth of the individual, and the reality of nature. But in the revolt of the Enlightenment against what it saw as the stultifying strictures of Christian dogma, these and other results were made ultimate values.

What has happened? Rationality has become rationalism. We have made the human mind the measure of all things and the result was a century in which two of the chief accomplishments were Buchenwald and Hiroshima. Rationalism has taught us that there is nothing worth thinking about. History has become historicism, in which we assert that finally we can know nothing about the past except what we make up to serve our own historical fictions. Individuality has become individualism, in which we assert that individual rights come before everything else, with the result that we are each locked in lonely isolation. Nature has become naturalism, in which the cosmos becomes and end in itself serving its own implacable, mindless, and deterministic ends. . . . We can no longer answer the “so what” questions. Reason for what? History for what? Individuality for what? Nature for what? In the absence of these answers we fall back into the pursuit of survival, dominance, comfort, and pleasure.

Jubilant Economics

Israel’s Jubilee laws in Leviticus 25 are some of my favorite in the Torah. By contemporary capitalist standards, they are just plain ridiculous. In in any context, not least a fragile ancient near eastern economy, their call for radical and sacrificial generosity toward the poor is challenging. If the foundational principle of God’s ownership is taken seriously, the legislation makes sense, but obedience is still costly. If Western Christians would live out the implications of these biblical truths, the world would stand in shocked awe and amazement; our stewardship would bear witness to the Lord who proclaimed liberty, and millions would be released from crushing poverty.

The foundational principles of Jubilee

Two truths form the basis of Jubilee commands. God explains it like this:

The land must never be sold on a permanent basis, for the land belongs to me. You are only foreigners and tenant farmers working for me (Leviticus 25:23 NLT).

The people of Israel are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, so they must never be sold as slaves (Leviticus 25:42 NLT).

From these statements, we conclude:

1. God owns everything, including the Israelites and their land. Therefore, land and people are not personal property; neither can be bought and sold.
2. The Israelites are redeemed servants and dependent residents in God’s land. Therefore, all they think they have is really God’s; their security comes from him, and their service belongs to him.

These principles are the basis of all Israelite economics, especially the Jubilee. In the Year of Jubilee, both land and people are “released.”

Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom [or “release”] throughout the land for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan (Leviticus 25:10 NLT).

Every fiftieth year, those in debt slavery were to be released and those forced to sell property were to regain title to any family land so they could return and start fresh. For the debtor, this is a great deal (some might say too great, an undeserved “free lunch”). For the creditor or landowner (or for anyone chasing anything like the American Dream of personal prosperity), it’s a significant asset loss. Why would god command something so financially foolish (for the rich)? Because he has different values. 

Reasons for the Jubilee

1. It keeps families together
2. It keeps family land in the family
3. It prevents a perpetually rich upper class who can keep the poor poor.

When families fell into poverty they were often forced to sell their land (Lev 25:25-28), take on debt (25:35-38), or sell themselves into bonded service (25:39-43; 47-55) in order to survive. The Jubilee provided an opportunity, every generation, for struggling families to get back on their feet. It was not a free ride, but a chance to regain freedom and family land so they could support themselves.

In this way, the Jubilee aimed to prevent the rise of a wealthy elite class who maintained power over the poor and kept them in a perpetual and inescapable cycle of poverty. Even if difficult circumstances or financial foolishness left someone poor, their children would have a chance to start over.

The Jubilee, then, is about liberty and return, release and restoration. “Liberty from the burden of debt and the bondage it may have entailed; return both to the ancestral property if it had been mortgaged to a creditor and to the family, which may have been split up through debt servitude.”[1]

How the Jubilee worked

If God owns everything, it follows that:

• You don’t sell land; you sell the produce of the land (25:14-17).
• You don’t sell slaves; you sell their labor (25:50-52).

Therefore, the price of “land” and “slaves” changes based on the number of years you will profit from them (how long you will reap harvests or benefit from a person’s labor).

More harvests/years of service                                            Fewer harvests/years of service

- - > Time Line - - >                                                         Year of Jubilee

Land and slaves are worth more                                         Land and slaves are worth less

• Every fiftieth year, debts are cancelled and everyone gets fresh start on their family land!

Did it ever happen?

The Bible doesn’t tell us. If it did, it was probably on a small scale and early in Israel’s history. The Jubilee assumes that families technically own their land. But when kings began to reign, they took much of the land and made people slaves or tenant farmers. Royal lands were neither redeemed nor returned to families. Despite this, the prophet Isaiah hoped for a day when Jubilee ideals would become reality.

Isaiah’s Vision of Jubilee

Isaiah envisions a time when the redeemed people of God will return to their own land singing songs of everlasting joy (35:9-10). This is Jubilee on a grand scale, release from the bondage for the whole nation!

Isaiah also declares that the Servant, whom God chooses to save his people, will bring justice, be gentle with the weak, and release captives (debtors?) who waste away in dark dungeons. This Servant will proclaim good news to the poor, comfort the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty (same word as “release” in Lev 25:10) for captives and freedom for prisoners (Isa 61:1-2; cf. 42:1-7; 58:6-7).

Jesus and Jubilee

When Jesus begins his ministry, he declares himself to be God’s anointed Servant and makes Isaiah 61 his Messianic Mission Statement (Luke 4:18-19). Jesus enlarges the meaning of the Jubilee; he fills it with spiritual significance but does not eliminate the social and economic aspects. In fact, he calls the poor blessed (Luke 6:20; Matt 5:3), releases people from physical and spiritual bondage (Luke 4:31-44; 5:12-26), and tells his disciples to lend freely (Luke 6:34-36) and forgive (relational and financial?) debts just as God forgives them (Luke 11:4; Matt 6:12; 18:21-35). All this is “good news to the poor” (Luke 7:18-22)!

If Jesus’ physical and spiritual liberation began the Jubilee that Isaiah hoped for, his followers continued that same liberating mission.  They did not preach only about future blessing in heaven. Like Jesus, they made the reign of heaven real on earth. They shared all they had so that “there were no needy people among them” (Acts 4:34; cf. 2:42-47; Dt 15:4, 11)! In the community of Jesus, Jubilee had begun.

Applying Jubilee Principles

Few of us own slaves or have ancestral lands like those in Israel. And our economic system is different from both ancient Israel and first century Palestine. So how do we follow Jesus in proclaiming release to captives and the year of the Lord’s favor in the twenty-first century? Here are five suggestions:

1. First, we should recognize that even though slavery is history in America and personal property rights are well protected here, such is not the case in most of the world. Gross injustices, such as debt slavery and land seizure, still happen in the developing world, and they trap families in cycles of inescapable poverty – inescapable unless, of course, someone comes to their rescue (see ijm.org).
2. Our Christian ministry and missionary work should be as holistic as that of Jesus and his disciples. In other words, our evangelism should not be limited to sharing a message, although that message is crucial. It should also meet practical needs of the poor and secure justice for the oppressed. The kingdom has come, and is coming to earth now! The gospel is good news for life in this world: it propels us to meet practical needs in the present.
3. God wants all people to have access to resources instead of all wealth being stockpiled by the rich (Luke 12:13-21). Stockpiling only leads to oppression and destruction of the powerless. Distribution of resources does not mean a handout for the poor, but a release from bondage and restoration of opportunity.
4. God cares about families. The Jubilee kept families together and gave them the dignity and opportunity to prosper by their own efforts and to avoid the social ills that come from debt.
5. It’s a spiritual issue. What did/would it take to make the Jubilee work? Recognition of God’s ownership. Reliance on his provision. Obedience to his will. Economic obedience grows out of faith that he will provide, as he promises, to those who submit to him. It also grows out of gratitude for God’s redemption and forgiveness (that’s why Jubilee was announced on the Day of Atonement – Lev 25:9). Our experience of extravagant redemption should lead us extravagant grace and generosity toward others (Matt 18:21-35).

What do you think of Israel's Jubilee laws? How might you personally to proclaim liberty?

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[1] Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2006), 294.