The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray. – Samuel Chadwick

Why does the Church need to pray? The following is only the briefest sketch of a subject that is worth several books.

Jesus' ministry was founded on prayer

Luke 5:15-16
15 However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

Mark 1:35
35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

Luke 9:18
18 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"

Luke 11:1
 1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."

The early Church was devoted to prayer

Acts 1:14
14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication…

Acts 2:42
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Acts 4:31
31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

Jesus commanded His disciples to pray

Luke 18:1
 1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart…

Matthew 6:5-8
5 "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

Paul commanded persistent prayer

Ephesians 6:18
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Colossians 4:2
2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;

1 Thessalonians 5:17
17 pray without ceasing,

Romans 12:12
12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;

The testimony of Church history resounds with the prayers of the saints. Men and women who prayed became saints, martyrs, missionaries. In story after story, the biography of a hero of the faith begins with a passionate prayer life. Sometimes the calling of God came before the life of prayer; sometimes the calling of God came in the midst of prayer; but in story after story, they were men and women of prayer.

Prayer changes the world, because we serve a God who answers prayer and actually does things in His creation in response to the requests of His creatures. He defines Himself as the God "who acts for the one who waits for Him." (Isaiah 64:4)

Prayer changes us, because no creature can come and linger in the presence of his or her Creator for long without being transformed. Sin cannot abide the presence of the Holy One. Lies cannot abide the presence of Truth. Depression and discouragement cannot abide the presence of the Source of all Joy. When we pray, we make ourselves conscious of the One who loves us with an everlasting love, who has paid the ultimate price so that we could be with Him. Will that love not restore us and make us new?

When we pray, we encounter the heart of the Bridegroom God – the God who is jealous for His inheritance in every tribe and tongue and nation. The God who has promised that the Lamb who was slain will receive the reward of His suffering. The God who so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son to deliver the world from sin and destruction. Will this jealousy not propel us into passionate mission and ministry for the sake of His glory?

Consider the throne room of Heaven, revealed in Isaiah chapter 6 and Revelation chapter 4. Angelic beings circle the Throne of God day and night crying out to one another,

"Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Hosts,
the whole earth is full of His glory!"

"Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!"

Isaiah calls them "Seraphim" – which simply means "burning ones" in Hebrew. These angelic creatures behold the beauty of YHWH Sabaoth with unveiled faces, and they are set on fire. They experience forever what the apostles felt on the road to Emmaus – "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32)

For whose benefit do these beings cry out day and night? Does the One seated on the Throne require assurance of His otherness, of His separateness from His creation and His utter purity? No. It is for their own benefit that these creatures cry out. It is for their own benefit that they are "full of eyes around and within." (Revelation 4:8) Their Creator has made them for His own presence, to experience the wonder and the joy of dwelling perpetually before Him.

And we are invited into the same thing!

Psalm 27:4
 4 One thing I have desired of the LORD,
         That will I seek:
         That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
         All the days of my life,
         To behold the beauty of the LORD,
         And to inquire in His temple.

JESUS: Now, how can you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye, when all the time there's this great plank in your own?
JUDAS: I don't know. How can you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye when all the time there's this great plank in your own?
JESUS: Or, how can you take the speck of sawdust out of your brother's eye when all the time there's this great plank in your own?
JUDAS: I don't know. How can you take the speck of sawdust out of your brother's eye when all the time there's this great plank in your own?
JESUS: You hypocrite! (Full stage freeze) First take the plank out of your own eye so you can see clearly enough to take the speck of sawdust out of your brother's.
JUDAS: Wait a minute! That's no answer to the question!
JESUS: Did I promise an answer to the question?

- "All for the Best", from Godspell

The musical Godspell has the strangest portrayal of the Sermon on the Mount that I've come across anywhere. Pretty good chunks of the Sermon are presented as a duet for Jesus and Judas, and this particular section (Matthew 7:3-5) is a vaudeville-style standup comedy routine, a la Laurel and Hardy.

Strange. But rather fun. And much more to the point, not entirely untrue to the character of Jesus as He is described in the Gospels (which is a radical difference from Jesus Christ Superstar, to which Godspell is often compared… but that's for another day).

It's true that Jesus didn't exactly answer the questions He posed in Matthew 7:3-4. Of course, it does seem pretty clear that Jesus intended those questions rhetorically.

But there are many times in the Gospels when Jesus is asked a question that He does not give a direct answer to – or gives an answer that no one could possibly have predicted. This particular one really caught my attention a few months ago:

Luke 17:5-10
5 And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
6 So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. 7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'? 8 But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'"

We do a great deal of damage to the story of the Gospels when we extract verses from their context. Many of us may have heard verse 6 as an affirmation of the importance and power of faith in God. Certainly it is that, but in its context it is also "no answer to the question" of verse 5. The Apostles had said "Increase our faith." The idea that even small faith is incredibly powerful sets the stage for Jesus' answer – in other words, "you don't even realize how little faith you have!" – but the answer is the next verse.

The New King James translation helpfully groups verses 5-10 as a single paragraph, implying that the verses all fit together, and the word "And" that begins verse 7 clearly confirms this reading. Verses 7 through 10 are the real answer to the request of verse 5. And what an answer it is!

If I can attempt to paraphrase, Jesus responds to the Apostles' request by saying, "You will believe when you obey."

Jesus looks right past the superficial question which is presented to Him and addresses the heart of the issue*. The apostles want to have more faith so they can obey. Of course, they would never admit that they want to "find out what God is going to do so they can decide if they'll follow Him" – what they really want is to be comfortable. To not have to take risks for God. Jesus' response to this hidden issue is painfully direct. You've got it backwards! Is God your servant? Do you tell Him what to do? No. The way that you will grow in faith is by the simple but sometimes painful process of doing what God has already told you to do.

What Jesus again calls His apostles to in these verses is the overwhelming reality of the presence of God which changes everything. For Jesus, walking on the water is easy to understand. What is hard to understand is why Peter, after having received a command and an invitation from God in the flesh, would believe that he could not walk on water. What is hard to understand is why the apostles would believe that they were about to drown after God in the flesh had told them "We are going to the other side." What God says is going to happen, will happen. Period. But God is not compassionate to our unbelief. Unbelief, which is really pride, but sometimes appears as fear, insists on seeing where we are going before we go there. If we want to believe, we must first reject unbelief – and the concrete way we do it is simply by doing what God has said.

And then we will see the power of God displayed. And our response will be, "We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do!"

*Jesus did this kind of thing all the time! Some examples: Matthew 22:16-22, Luke 12:13-15, Matthew 21:23-27

Since I've recently published the address of this blog to a lot more people, I thought perhaps I should welcome those of you who are visiting it for the first time.

"Today and That Day" is not really a theme for this blog as much as it is a reminder for me of what really matters. The Martin Luther quote in the tagline of the blog is as much for me as for my visitors. The only two days that matter are these:

1. Today – the only time any of us experience the freedom of choice. The future is unreality – hopes, fears, dreams and fantasies. The past is gone, and can no longer be changed. Only in the present do I have freedom to make choices that really matter, and only in the present will God relate to me. He does not re-write my memories nor does He show me my whole life story before it happens.
   
   It is a continual challenge for me to be "present in the present." Am I – in this moment right now, the only one I have – offering my body to God as a living and holy sacrifice? (Rom 12:1) Am I giving thanks in all things? Am I praying without ceasing? Am I rejoicing right now? (1 Thes 5:16-18)
   
   

   Jesus said it this way:
   "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matt 6:34)
   
   

2. That Day – A day is coming when I will give an account of myself to God. In that day, He will know everything about me. He will know every one of my hidden motives; He will have seen everything I did in secret and the things that I thought I "got away with." He will remember every prayer I prayed, every act of obedience I did. Nothing that I say to Him on that day will make a bit of difference in His evaluation.
   
   The only thing He will not remember are my sins. Those have been nailed to the Cross with Jesus Christ, and He has taken them as far from me as "the east is from the west." (Ps 103:12)
   
   

   For a long time I believed that God was never going to judge me as a believer in Jesus. But the Bible makes it very clear that this is not true:
   
   "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." (2 Cor 5:10)
   

   
    

I want to live my life Today in light of That Day. I want to live before the eyes of a God who loves me, who delights in me, who is perfectly sovereign and perfectly wise, knowing that no matter what happens to me, it is ultimately is about my relationship with Him. And all the better because this God who is jealous for me has become the great Passion of my life as well.

I'm in love with God and God's in love with me
This is who I am and this is who I'll be
And that settles it.
Completely.
- Misty Edwards

I enjoy Facebook. I have reconnected with a lot of friends from many phases of my life, and it's neat to see what they're doing (and thinking and talking about) now, even if I don't necessarily communicate with them often. I enjoy the inside jokes, the sense of camaraderie (e.g. You know you are an IHOPer if…), and just generally having fun with friends in a relaxed online environment.

However, Facebook is still a product of our culture. And there are some aspects of our culture that are really sick. [unhealthy; ill; diseased; broken] One of these things is a prideful fascination with how we "rate" as people. I received the following message the other day (I've replaced the name of my actual friend with a pseudonym):

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Compare People
Date: Sep 16, 2007 9:37 AM
Subject: You've been rated

Joe Facebook sent you this message: I've been rating your intellect, wit, drive, sense of humor, and other attributes. See where you stand, and rate me too with Compare People.

---

This email was sent on behalf of Joe Facebook while using Compare People.
To learn more or to stop receiving these emails, click here.

Here is my response:

1. How important are my "intellect, wit, drive, sense of humor, and other attributes?" Do they determine my value as a person? Do they make me more lovable? Will I be "last picked for the team" if I score low?
   
   If none of the above, then why should I care? If Joe Facebook says that I'm really smart, then should I be proud of myself? If he says that I'm dumb, should I be upset? Neither response is useful. In fact, virtually every thought that I have of how I "rate" or "compare" or "stack up" against other people is a fundamentally prideful thought that either serves to increase my arrogance or create self-hatred in me.
   
   
2. Why should I care what Joe Facebook thinks of me? Is Joe Facebook omniscient? Does he know me inside and out and understand me completely?
   
   Of course not. But wait, says the "Compare People" Application-from-Hell, if enough people all say the same thing about me, then it must be true! Right? If 15 of my friends all say that I'm smart, then I really must be smart. Right?
   
   Except that in practice, all the comments that I remember most about myself are the negatives. All the people who complimented my singing voice over the years paled in comparison to the one overheard comment by a person that I didn't even know who said I "sounded like a cow."
   
   Judging myself on the basis of what the crowd thinks about me is even worse than judging myself on the basis of what some individual thinks about me. It simply pushes me into the realm of image management – trying to make sure everybody else knows how "intellectual, witty, driven and humorous" I am. It is an invitation to wear a mask, to project an image, to be anxious over a thousand things I can't control.
   
   
3. If I rate higher in some attribute than all my friends, does that mean that I am truly superlative in that area? If I am the funniest person in my circle of friends, then should I be a stand-up comedian and start making movies?
   
   Maybe. But most likely not. The standard of comparison of the people who happen to be around me is a fundamentally unreliable one.
   
   And it's worse than that. The fact of the matter is that the entire human race is the wrong circle for me to compare myself with. If I base my perception of whether or not I am a holy person on any other human being I meet (with the exception of One who lived in Judea 2000 years ago), I will come to a false conclusion. The entire human race is a false measuring stick.
   

I'm not joking or using hyperbole when I say that "Compare People" is an application from Hell. That is quite literally where the idea for comparing ourselves with other human beings comes from. Here's what the Bible has to say about "Compare People":

2 Corinthians 10:12
12 For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

1 Corinthians 4:3-5
3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God.

Jeremiah 9:23-24
23 Thus says the LORD:
"Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
24 But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight," says the LORD.

Here it's You and me alone, God
Here it's You and me alone

You've hedged me in
With skin all around me
And I'm a garden enclosed
A locked garden for You, for You and You alone

And life takes place behind the face
where it's You and me and me and You alone
- Misty Edwards, "Come into Your Garden"

I recently listened to the following debate from the Veritas Forum, which happened last year at Columbia. I obtained this talk through a Veritas Forum podcast at ChristianAudio.com (now broken, unfortunately).

People Suffer - Who Cares? A Secular Humanist and Christian Dialogue, Part 2/2

Summary: [Discussion portion of event] We dwell in a world in which millions have been touched by tragedy. Why do we care? Why should we? Is there any purpose to it all? Prof. Philip Kitcher, chair of Contemporary Civilization, is among the most influential philosophers of science in our generation. Dr. Vinoth Ramachandra, a theologian from Sri Lanka, has worked for decades among the destitute of his war-torn island.

I had the following reactions to the debate:

1. It's a lot easier to shoot down "secular humanism" when your idea of it is a straw man rather than a real person. Whenever Dr. Kitcher was talking, I found that his arguments were not trivial to dismiss. He did not persuade me of "the intrinsic infinite lovability of all human beings" apart from God, but I did end up feeling that his view was not blatantly self-contradictory.
   
   
2. Dr. Ramachandra took a fairly standard line in approaching Dr. Kitcher's worldview – "You say that all human beings are intrinsically lovable and worth preserving. Why do so few people agree with you if this is the case?" Try telling a Hindu Brahmin that Dalit untouchables are "infinitely lovable" and that all human beings have "intrinsic equal worth." Or tell a Wahhabi Muslim that women have the same "intrinsic rights" as men. Dr. Kitcher's response to this was heavily ironic, I thought. He essentially said that the West had figured out a better way, and that it was our job to teach the rest of the world to follow our example. Wow. In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, that was called "the white man's burden" I believe...
   
   Dr. Ramachandra's final point that was the secular humanist idea of "infinite worth" for all human beings was a Christian idea. Secular humanism has attempted to steal it and prop it up with a philosophy that could never have created it. The only way you get a doctrine of "infinite worth" for all human beings is if you have a God who created human beings in His own image and became one in order to redeem them.
   
   
3. I thought the debate ended on an unfortunate note. In response to Dr. Kitcher's comment that everyone has a "pick and choose" approach to interpreting their holy books, Dr. Ramachandra presented a very reasonable interpretive approach to the scriptures. (In essence, "You have to read each part of the book in light of the whole story. So you can't say, for example, that because God commanded genocide for the Amorites in the book of Joshua, that genocide is morally acceptable. The genocide in Canaan has to be understood in light of God using Israel to judge the Amorites. Ethical choices today need to be made in light of the New Testament.")
   
   But when Dr. Kitcher responded that he felt the most horrible part of the Bible was the very end – the book of Revelation, and the judgments of God against a world united in rebellion against Him – Dr. Ramachandra's only answer was that he believed most of the book of Revelation was symbolic. Dr. Kitcher replied that Vinoth had just proved his point – he was using an interpretive method that omitted the parts that didn't fit.
   
   Ultimately, I have to agree. I think evangelical intellectuals need to stop taking a hands-off approach to eschatology. If it's possible that God was just in judging the Amorites by genocide in Joshua's time, as long as you understand the whole story, then it should be equally possible that God can be just in judging the whole world at the time of His Son's return – again, as long as you understand the whole story.
   

The main thing I want to focus on in this post, however, is something that Philip Kitcher said several times: Secular humanists should be free to take the good from the Sermon on the Mount, as well as any other place that they find good ideas, to build a rational ethic without any God to back it up.

This kind of thing seems to be said frequently about the Sermon on the Mount. There seems to be a popular caricature of Jesus' teaching which reduces the Sermon to the following:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:9)
But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. (Matthew 5:39)
Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

But if you actually read the Sermon on the Mount through, this is nothing like what Jesus said. Reducing the Sermon on the Mount to the above is like summarizing the Gettysburg address as "Lincoln said 'all men are created equal.'" He did say that, and it was important, but it was clearly not the main point.

I once summarized the Sermon on the Mount in a Bible study by saying "God is present. And His presence makes a difference." This, to me, is the foundation for the Sermon on the Mount. The words which resound throughout the Sermon, like a drumbeat, are these: "Your Father in Heaven."

• Why rejoice in persecution? Because "great is your reward in heaven." (Matt 5:12)
  
• Why "let our light shine" before people? So that they may see the good works and "glorify your Father in heaven." (Matt 5:16)
  
• Why love our enemies? "So that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matt 5:45)
  
• Why strive for perfection in our conduct of life? "just as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:48)
  
• Why not practice our righteousness for show? "Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven." (Matt 6:1)
  
• Why give in secret, pray in secret, fast in secret? "your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly." (Matt 6:4, 6:6, 6:18)
  
• Why forgive others? "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." (Matt 6:14)
  
• Why not worry about food or clothing? "your heavenly Father feeds [the birds]. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matt 6:26)
  
• Why persevere in prayer? "how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matt 7:11)
  

Father, Father, Father… reward, reward, reward… heaven, heaven, heaven. Practically every verse in the Sermon on the Mount appeals to divine consequences for our actions. Jesus holds out the promise of divine reward and the threat of divine rebuke as the whole reason for what He commands. There is no appeal to "universal principles." There is no appeal to "common sense." There is no appeal to "human nature." The only reason that Jesus gives for obeying His word is because the Father rewards holiness and the Father punishes wickedness.

The perfect love and the perfect sovereignty of the Father commend perfect obedience to us as the most practical and logical of choices. It is not "radical" to love your enemies, give more of your possessions to a thief, or turn the other cheek when slapped. It is simply the smartest way to live before a loving, sovereign God who delights to reward His children.

The clearest example of this that I have heard is the testimony of Dr. Josef Tson, which I heard him share on two occasions. Dr. Tson described the scene when he was taken before a panel of officers intending to interrogate him for preaching the Gospel in communist Romania. There were five men sitting behind an imposing table looking at him with very stern faces. They said something to him about the seriousness of the charges against him and the danger that he was in. In that moment, he envisioned these men as five puppets on strings, and the Puppet-master who held the strings was God the Father. He replied to them, "The reason I am here is because my Father has some dealings with me in this place. I don't know what He is going to do with me, but I can tell you this – you will not go one inch beyond His purpose for me."

The Sermon on the Mount calls us to a vertical life. A life lived before an all-powerful God who loves us. Every person that we encounter – whether wise or foolish, whether evil or good, whether lovable or contemptible – is an opportunity that our heavenly Father has given us to choose to obey Him or not. Perhaps secular humanists can have some temporary success in getting rich, post-Christian westerners to be nice to each other on the grounds that it's good for the human race. But whether they do or not is irrelevant to the message of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says of them, "everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand…"