From Sampler to Sower

Late last month, I attended a Holiness Summit on the campus of my alma mater Olivet Nazarene University.  I began blogging about the different presentations at the Summit, as well as my reactions to them.  I returned home to my wonderful family, and much to my chagrin, my 4 year old daughter who loves notebooks took a shying to the Moleskine Ruled Reporter Notebook in which I had taken such careful notes of each of the sessions.  It soon disappeared and was only unearthed recently by by loving wife.

My notebook now restored to me, I return to the Summit, already in progress . . .

On Tuesday morning, March 24, 2009 we returned to the sanctuary of College Church of the Nazarene for the final day of the Summit.  After the mixed bag of presentations the previous day, I was unsure what to expect.  But I was looking forward to hearing Dr. Frank Moore, a theologian whose writings I have enjoyed in the past.  Little did I know the best sermon of the day would come from Michael Benson, Olivet’s chaplain.

In his introductory remarks, Benson noted that Jesus is the person who defines who God is.  As God-incarnate, Jesus is the kind of God that God is.  In light of that fact, Benson suggested the best 3 point, 8 word sermon he had ever heard read thus:

See Jesus.

See Jesus run.

Run like Jesus.

Perhaps the best holiness sermon of the entire summit.

Especially meaningful to me during the worship time were the words of the classic/modern hymn “Adoration”.

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Bow down before Him, His glory proclaim.
With gold of obedience and incense of lowliness,
Kneel and adore Him the Lord is His name!

Fear not to enter His presence in poverty,
Bearing no gifts to present as your own.
Bring forth in its beauty and love in its purity
These are the offerings to lay at His throne. (Verse One by John Monsell, Verse 2 by Ken Bible)

Dr. Moore began his sermon with a clip from the 1999 TNT adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. In it, the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Ebenezer Scrooge back to revisit a scene from earlier in his life when he was confronted by his then fiance Belle.  She notes that when they were first engaged they were happy just to be together, but now Scrooge keeps putting off their actual marriage, claiming to be waiting to be more financially secure.  Belle argues that it is time for a deeper level in their relationship, but Scrooge is not yet ready to make that full commitment, and in the end, Belle walks away from their relationship.

Moore noted that this scene was a message of warning and hope about keeping our priorities straight.  Belle was calling Scrooge to a point of decision.  Would he move beyond his own work and pursuit for wealth and take her as his bride?

But Scrooge felt that their relationship was just fine as it was.  Why should he commit more deeply?

Moore then introduced us to another story, another love story, though this one featured real people.

In Numbers chapter 13, two years after leaving Egypt, the people of Israel arrive at the town of Kadesh.  They find themselves quite literally at the front door of God’s promise.  Moses sends out twelve spies to reconnoiter the land.  The report comes back that the land really is as good as God promised, but . . .

. . . but the people are powerful.

. . . but the cities are fortified.

. . . but the citizens are giants.

Of the twelve spies, only two, Joshua and Caleb, saw not only the obstacles but also the hope and promise of God.

This story, said Moore, was not just a physical but also a spiritual journey.  In Numbers chapter 13, the people are at the point of decision.  Will they commit at a deeper level and really trust in God’s promise.

From here, Moore went on to Hebrews 4:1-10.  This passage picks up right where Numbers 13 left off.  The people of Israel in Numbers 13 failed to enter the promised rest.  But the author of Hebrews points out that promise remains for us.  And we must act now if we want to avoid missing it as well.

Regarding this rest, Moore noted:

1) It is a rest from a reliance on works. Too many Christians, said Moore, keep themselves busy doing spiritual exercises because they believe the HAVE to in order to keep God’s favor.  We know we are saved by grace.  But we assume we must preserve that salvation by works.  In the words of Paul, Moore asked “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? (Galatians 3:3, NIV)”  Now, Moore was quick to point out that this does not imply that having believed we need not do anything.  Rather it is that we do not put our trust in what we do.  Salvation inspires obedience.  But it is grounded in the work of Jesus Christ to which we can add nothing.

2) It is a rest from worry and stress about the future. The ten spies were so stressed with worry they were paralyzed on the very doorstep of promise.  But we need not fear.

3) It is a rest from inward conflict and the pull of a nature bent inwardly toward self. Nothing is more destructive than a civil war.  And too many of us live at war with ourselves, locked in the conflict described by Paul in Romans 7.  That’s why the promise of rest is so important.  This rest is an end to the war within.  Too many Christians are making excuses for their carnal natures.  Too many are making peace with that carnal nature.  And still too many others are trying to suppress it “like a misbehaving junkyard dog.”  What we need is to stop making excuses, concessions and attempts at suppression.  What we need is to be set free from the self bent inward.

And the promise of holiness is just that.  The promise of entering God’s rest.  But the invitation to rest is a call for decision.  Like Belle, God is calling us to move beyond our own work and pursuit and step into a deeper level of trust and commitment.  The question is, having come so far, will we turn back now.

Moore closed by pointing out that the name for the place this all happened in Numbers 13, Kadesh, comes from the same root as kadash the Hebrew word for being holy.  It is as if the Hebrews arrived at the place called “Holiness” and decided they were not ready for the deeper commitment that entering God’s rest required, and turned back there.

We were warned to be careful that we too did not turn back at the place called Holiness.

This was, along with Dr. Quanstrom, Dr. Gunter, and Dr. Warrick, probably one of my favorite sermons of the Summit.  (I know, I know, choosing four out of nine hardly seems like the word “favorite” means anything.)  It was refreshing in that it was a return to Biblical preaching.  I’m not arguing that some of the others were unbiblical in what they said, but rather that they lacked the firm ground of a text.  I prefer sermons to be textual rather than topical.

Of course, when it came to defining what exactly God’s rest entailed, Moore moved away from the texts he had chosen and improvised on Scriptural themes.  And it’s not surprising that herein I worry some at his words.  I was especially concerned at his choice of words when he talked about this rest being a rest from inward conflict.  Somehow a promised rest must be understood in light also of the call to press on and strain ahead (Philippians 3) and to run with perseverance in our struggle against sin (Hebrews 12).

I understand the difference.  Moore is talking about a inward conflict, of being at war with ourselves, not necessarily a promise of an end to the war with temptation and sin.  There is a wholly different dynamic at work in struggle a believer’s struggle with temptation when he or she has settled the question of complete consecration.  As such the promise of holiness is the promise of an end to a war on two fronts.

I also know that there is a deeper rest possible than even complete consecration.  There are those who have testified to not only the wholehearted consecration that we Nazarenes call Entire Sanctification but also of the love made perfect that John Wesley called Entire Sanctification.  I wonder how much deeper that rest must be when the love of God is so fully shed abroad in the Christian’s heart that there is no longer any room for any other competing motive.  I imagine the dynamic at work in such a struggle is again radically transformed, but surely even then there is a degree of struggle and a need for perseverance.

This is a reality that I’m sure Moore recognizes.  And it’s a reality that his message did not specifically deny.  But likewise, I don’t know that it is one his message acknowledged and in fact, perhaps obscured.