Good morning. It is Friday, May 1, 2015. I guess it’s time to change the calendars.
Today’s Word of the Day is pelf. From the OED, this is a noun, with several meanings.
“1. Stolen goods; booty, spoil.”
“2. Property, material possessions; objects of value.”
“3. Chiefly depreciative. Money, riches (esp. viewed as a corrupting influence); lucre.”
“4. a. A worthless person, a good-for-nothing.”
“b. Junk, trash, rubbish; frippery.”
“c. Dust; fluff.”
” d. Refuse, detritus; spec. plant refuse, weeds.”
I like this word, pelf.
Today is No Pants Day. Oh, if only . . . but I don’t think my work associates would appreciate it.
It is also Batman Day! I mention this in honor of my son-in-law, Justin!
Christi got home last night! She walked in the door somewhere between 9:30 and 10:00. And, as an added bonus, she doesn’t have to go to work today! This is really good, as she started feeling sick on Wednesday afternoon. She needs a day to rest from all the activity of the past few weeks.
In all honesty, I remain on an emotional roller-coaster. I’m still in a fog. And I wouldn’t expect anything else. I’m sure this is all very normal. We’re still planning to go to my mother’s, on Sunday, unless Christi doesn’t get to feeling better, in which case we will just wait until next Sunday, which is Mother’s Day. We would probably be going there, anyway, on that day. We’ll just have to play it by ear.
Tomorrow, we should make it to church. We’ve been out for several weeks, so it will be good to be in the company of our brothers and sisters again. I also have a Pastoral Assist Team meeting afterward, which, I’m sure, will be held, as always, at Rosa’s Tortilla Factory.
TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL
O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old:
you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free;
for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.
You are my King, O God; ordain salvation for Jacob!
Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.
But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us.
In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah.
Psalm 44:1-8
“Certainly, the source and origin of the Church is the free love of God; and whatever benefits he bestows upon his Church, they all proceed from the same source.” (John Calvin, Heart Aflame)
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 16:11
(From Solid Joys)
Today’s reading is “Dirty Rags No More.”
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Isaiah 64:6
John Piper brings an interesting perspective to this verse, today, one that I had not previously considered.
“It is true that any shortcoming of God’s law offends against his perfect holiness and makes us liable to judgment, since God cannot look with favor on any sin.” Consider Habakkuk 1:13, You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? Consider, as well, James 2:10-11, For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
But grace has not changed. The Old Testament issue was the same as the issue today. People failed to “trust in the merciful promises of God, especially the hope that he would one day provide a redeemer who would be a perfect righteousness for his people.” The problem has never been that people failed to achieve “sinless perfection.” That has never been possible, and that was never the idea! The saints of old were saved by grace through faith, just as we are. This faith “was the key to obedience, and that obedience was the evidence of this faith.”
We are guilty, at times (and I have been right there, too), of saying that the only righteousness that matters is “the imputed righteousness of Christ.” But is this really true? Is it fair and right for us to speak so “disparagingly of all human righteousness, as if there were no such thing that pleased God?” Our favorite verse to quote, in this matter, is the one quoted above, Isaiah 64:6. “All of our righteousness is as filthy rags,” says one translation, while the ESV uses the phrase, “a polluted garment.”
But, as is frequently the case, we take the verse out of context when we imply that there is no human righteousness that can be acceptable to God. Isaiah was writing to people whose righteousness had become hypocritical. It was no longer “righteousness.” What if we consider the verse before verse 6 (which we should always do, when quoting Scripture, right)? You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Now, how could it be said, in one breath, that God meets us joyfully when we do righteous deeds, and in the next, that all of our righteousness is filthy rags?
It is true that none of us would be acceptable to God with the imputation of the perfect righteousness of Christ. “But that does not mean God does not produce in those ‘justified’ people an experiential righteousness that is not a ‘polluted garment.'”
Here is the key: “In fact, he does, and this righteousness is precious to God and is, in fact, required — not as the ground of our justification (which is the righteousness of Christ only), but as an evidence of our being truly justified children of God.”
So the righteous deeds that we do, in the Holy Spirit’s power, are not “polluted garments,” or “pelf” (see what I did there?), but evidence of our justification.
Father, thank you for this clarifying word regarding a verse that is frequently used out of context. We struggle so much with this “crime” against your Word! We find a verse that supports what we already believe, and then take it out of context to continue to argue our case. May we look at your Word in its wholeness, taking all relevant verses together, to get the true meaning. I thank you for the imputed righteousness of Christ, but let me not fall into the trap of believing that is the only thing that matters in my life. The faith that brings me to the grace that saves me also produces obedience, which is evidence of the faith, rather like a large circle. Help us to understand that our righteousness is, indeed, pleasing to you when it is produced by our faith in you.
I pray for today, Father, that Christi will rest well and feel better by the end of the day. I pray for safe passage to and from work today. I thank you that Christi was brought home safely, last night. I also thank you for how well my mother is doing, and for the friends that will not allow her to be lonely in her grief. Keep her safe as she enjoys her life with her friends and sisters in Christ. Thank you for our beautiful daughters, Lord, and I pray that they both feel your great and overwhelming love for them, today.
Your grace is ever sufficient.
May we all produce the righteousness that is evidence of our faith in Christ.
Grace and peace, friends.
Spaces of Beauty, Grace, Prayer, and Mercy 