Kick against the goads…and it’ll kill you!

Steve Brown:
Hey, kick against the goads…and it’ll kill you! Let’s talk about it on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
If you’ve suffered too long under a do more, try harder religion, Key Life is here to proclaim that Jesus sets the captives free. Steve invited Justin Holcomb to join us every Monday throughout the Lenten season. Justin is a Bishop, a teacher, and the author of God With Us: 365 Devotions on the Life and Work of Christ.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. If you’ve been joining us during Lent, I’ve invited Dr. Justin Holcomb. And you need to Google his name. He’s written more, every time he burps, they publish it. And there’s so many great books. I’ve been using his devotional book this past year, and it’s been a life changing kind of experience. But at any rate, I’ve invited Justin to come in on Mondays during Lent. And we’re looking, on Mondays, at some Lenten thoughts, some Lenten themes. What’s up this time?

Justin Holcomb:
We’re going right back to our weakness and our unruly wills. So, in Lent, the big theme is repentance and humility. We are in the fifth week of Lent, weeks one, two, and three, we were praying to Almighty God because of something off with us. And we kind of explored in each one of those first three weeks. Last week, in week four, we really fixed our eyes, focused on Jesus as the bread of life. And kind of said, okay, you know what, in the middle of this week, instead of focusing on our failure to live up. We’re talking about divine hospitality and Jesus being the bread of life from heaven. This week, we’re going right back to the human condition. And I said, week three is one of my favorite prayers. This one is my second favorite. So, here we go.

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners. Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise, that among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely be fixed where true joys are to be found.

Steve Brown:
Oh man.

Justin Holcomb:
Again, I love, all prayers address God. And so, what I like about the Book of Common Prayer and liturgical prayers is it gets me off my default. So, when I pray with my daughters or pray as a family, I kind of default to like, Dear God, like I’m writing him a letter, which is fine. I mean, I’m not here to criticize people’s prayers. But I like, Almighty God, this O Almighty God. So, already you’re already starting out kind of like, Ooh.

You alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners.

I kind of wonder if I believe that.

You alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners.

By saying that, we’re saying, I can’t. At least,

Steve Brown:
and nobody else can

Justin Holcomb:
and nobody else. And we, and I mean, just this illusion. I mean, this in marriage and parenting and leading and working and organizing your own life. I mean, so I can’t and other people can’t. You will, so, that right there changes how we think about how we relate to ourselves and how we relate to other people. Like I, I can’t bring into order your, Steve, unruly will, or your affections. That’s a really powerful thing, so what do we ask this Almighty God to do?

Steve Brown:
fix us

Justin Holcomb:

Grant your people

again

Come quickly to save us.

Bring us with penitent hearts.

This one says.

Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise.

That’s an amazing line right there. What do we want God to do? Grant grace to change my affections, so.

Grant us grace to love.

That’s affection, I have an unruly love and a distorted love. And so, when I’m worshiping anything else, it’s a distorted love. It’s usually about me or something in the world or I’m trying to get to a certain goal on my terms. And so, grant your people grace to love what you command. This is what makes sense of Psalm 119, where David is just talking about the law. The reason he’s doing that is because that’s part of the Christian life. You look at the law and repent, but after you’ve received mercy and grace, you look at the law and go, hey, that scares me to death. But that’s also a reflection of the God who saved me, and that’s your holiness. And so, there’s a way that God changes you to love what he commands. And not just love it, but then to desire your promise. So, you have unruly wills and affections. And when God changes you, that you love what he commands and you desire what he promises. Those are, that’s affection language. And that gets to the heart of our issue, cause that’s where the problem is. Sin is not just an external thing about deeds that I do. I’m sinful by my deeds, but I’m also sinful in my nature. We sin by nature and deed. And so, before I did anything, I was already sinful. And the prayer goes on and says.

That among the swift and varied changes of the world,

the swirl of temptation inside, outside

our hearts may surely be fixed where true joys are to be found.

This is about stability and the promises of God.

Steve Brown:
Where true joys may be found is a powerful statement. We don’t think that.

Justin Holcomb:
We don’t.

Steve Brown:
We think that if you’re going to be religious, you’ve got to be really serious and really sad, cause it’s really hard, and you’re not going to like it. That’s a lie. And it’s from the pit of hell. It’s not true. The place we get our laughter is desiring what he desires, of having affection that is sanctified by him. It is, that’s why there’s laughter at funerals.

Justin Holcomb:
Yes.

Steve Brown:
And that’s why there’s laughter in church.

Justin Holcomb:
Yeah. Absolutely. And just as a side note, almost, but not a side note, but Christian funerals are fascinating because we don’t only wallow and grieve, be angry and sad, but we also don’t do denial and just do a celebration of life and talk about the happy stuff. It’s I Thessalonians four says.

Grieve like those who have hope.

And so, for Christians it’s, in our tradition, we wear white, everything’s white, because that’s an Easter color, and we’re talking about the resurrection. And so, we mourn, we grieve, we’re angry, and we cry, and we sing with hope at the same time because of the resurrection. So it is, it’s a different way of existing in the world, which is a great testimony of Christian hope.

Steve Brown:
Oh, it really is, and it’s a place of great joy and freedom. And they’ve told you that it’s not, that you’ve got to, this is, you’re not going to like this, this is going to be really hard. Have got to sacrifice everything, have got to be kinder and more merciful and give and give and give. And then all of a sudden you find out that’s where you want to live because you feel comfortable and joyful when you’re there.

Justin Holcomb:
And this is what I think Paul was getting to in Colossians 3:2. I mean, so listen to this.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

I’ve heard that passage a lot. You usually hear that passage like, okay, get your thinking right, and all that kind of stuff. You’re like, okay, I guess that’s true. But if you talk about it, this other sense of like eternal joy can be found. Colossians 3:2 is getting to this fixed where true joys are to be found.

On the eternal promises of God rather than fleeting circumstances of the world.

The whole point of that is not just think about God thoughts. It’s like, you’re in the swirl. Don’t let that define you. Don’t let that stumble you. Don’t let that tempt you. It’s going to, but fix your eyes where real joy is. And then you think about Ezekiel 36, which resonates with this prayer of transformation.

I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh. And give you a heart of flesh.

This goes back to that unruly wills and affections. So, you can either be miserable with your unruly wills and affections, and it is misery. There’s no fun. You either have to just somehow be in denial or get overwhelmed by the unruly wills and affections. And the other option is.

To have your heart and mind fixed where true joys are actually found.

And then how do you do that? Philippians 4:7 is something that God does.

In the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding

which is talking about the swirl of the world and in our hearts

will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

That is some strong language.

Steve Brown:
It really is.

Justin Holcomb:
Guarding your heart and mind. Those are the two places where all the problems are coming from. And he doesn’t just transform your heart and mind.

Then his grace and mercy and peace, the peace of God, the peace of God will guard your heart.

You have peace with God, and the peace that God brings will guard your heart and mind in the swirl where it just doesn’t make any sense. How can the peace of God do that when it doesn’t make sense because of the swirl of the very changes of the world?

Steve Brown:
You know, that means that if you want to go to a real party, go with Christians. When you go to the other parties, it’s like having a party on the Titanic. I mean, it’s the wrong place and the wrong time, and it’s not going to end well. But for the Christian, and I’m looking at Justin now, and he’s almost giggling. And I’m thinking exactly the same thing, that’s from him, at Lent, isn’t it?

Justin Holcomb:
Yeah, it is. I mean, think about that. You talk with a Christian, you start putting your, you don’t put your best foot forward, you say the truth. And a Christian goes, man, I get it. Thanks be to God for his grace and patience and mercy and that he will actually, he’s going to sustain us through all of this.

Steve Brown:
Oh man. That works for me. I hope it works for you. Lent, a time of joy and laughter. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thanks guys. That was Steve Brown and Justin Holcomb continuing our Monday series on the season of Lent. And now, just one more Monday to go before we celebrate Easter. Steve resumes our guided tour through the Book of Philippians tomorrow. Don’t miss it. So, you know about anxiety. I know about anxiety. But Kimberly Iverson really knows about anxiety. Why? Well, in part because she is the mother of eleven kids, and that’s just part of her story. We spoke with her recently on Steve Brown Etc. about her book called Memoir from the Manic Years: Discovering Humility as the Antidote to Anxiety. I really think that conversation is going to bless you. We put the whole thing on a CD and we’d love to send it to you for free. So, call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail Steve@keylife.org to ask for that CD. Or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for your free copy of the CD featuring Kimberly Iverson. Finally, if you’re blessed by Key Life, would you share that blessing with others through your giving? Just charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or simply text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word or two. It doesn’t matter. Just text that to 28950. And of course, if you can’t give right now, or maybe you’re not called to, all good. But if you think about it, do pray for us, would you? Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.