Savoring the supremacy of God in all of life

"But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you in exile..."

This world is not our home, and our King is coming again! Are we getting too comfortable in Babylon? or are we trying to take things into our own hands?

We have a hope, and a reason for our hope. We have the glory of God fully revealed to us in the good news of Jesus Christ! We have the Word of God in our hands and in our hearts. what are we doing with it?

Is there a place for hobbies in a Christ-centered christian life?

I recently decided to seek out a new drum teacher to finally start learning to play progressive rock (its a genre). I started playing drums in church when I was 15 and have mainly been playing in the church environment ever since. But I eventually developed my own taste in music, and prog soon became my favourite genre with my favourite bands being Rush, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Styx, etc. However, playing prog required a very specific skill set (like double pedal, odd time, etc.), skills that I didn’t possess and were not really applicable in church music. Furthermore, it’s not really a “mainstream” genre.... so I didn’t really have people around me that played this sort of music either. Consequently, I never started learning to play prog. Perhaps they were just excuses? But deep down, every time I listened to my favourite songs, or every time i heard some kid nail a Rush song (or songs), I always wished I was able to reproduce the musical genius of the drummers, or at least have fun jamming along. You see, to me, prog is an art I deeply appreciate - one that blends complex mathematical precision with the emotional pull of music. In fact, one might say that the complexity adds soul stirring dimensions in ways that are unattainable without it. It pushes the technical boundaries of musicianship and is often incredibly physically demanding (coordination and endurance-wise). And that's what I think is most beautiful about it - how the whole self is intensely engaged in order to play it - the mind, the emotions and body. So yes, I really really wanted to learn prog. However, at my first lesson with my new drum teacher, he told me to come up with a life vision statement - something I lived by, and asked me to write down how drumming fits in that vision. Right of the bat, I knew I was going to have a problem. “To live is Christ, to die is gain” was something I was meditating over the past few days. How was learning prog going to fit in a life lived for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of my King and His Kingdom? I quickly scribbled down something superficial and moved on. But in my heart, I knew this was something I needed to revisit. 

I previously started taking drum lessons 2-3 years ago. But at that time, it was easy to convince myself that I was honing my craft to play better at church. And no doubt, I definitely did. But who was I kidding, most of what I’m gonna be learning now for prog will hardly be applicable to church music. This is hardly going to aid me in serving the Body. Perhaps this would open doors for sharing the good news? Nah. If I were to be honest with myself, this pursuit was really just a hobby. Plain and simple. “What’s wrong with that?” one might ask. Well, I asked the same thing... is there anything wrong with that? But with my current schedule, I find that I am so short of time, short of time to disciple those under me, short of time to love those around me... do I really have time for a hobby? Is there a place for hobbies in a Christ-centered Christian life? 

As I sit here at the airport waiting to board my plane to Japan, I just can't help but think about how crazy the past 24 hours has been for me. By now I should've already been roaming the streets of Hiroshima awaiting the arrival of the rest of the team. But just about 24 hours ago, as I was checking in, I was told I didn't have a ticket! Thus began the 5 hour ordeal through midnight till morning, making calls and dealing with customer care. Apparently, I was never charged for the ticket, but having missed that flight, the next flight up was in 2 days, for almost twice the price. Quite frankly, as I stood there alone at the airport facing a seemingly immovable wall that was customer care, I was exhausted - physically and emotionally. Half of me (perhaps more) wanted to give up on going for this mission trip altogether. I found myself asking, "how much did I really want to go for this trip?"

That's when the Holy Spirit gently reminded me of a passage I was meditating on just yesterday (albeit through violently shaking events).

(Disclaimer: This is going to seem like a very long post, but actually it's a lot of Bible passages and providing context for those passages so that everything will make sense.)

Isaiah 52:6-10 (ESV)

"⁶Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

⁷How beautiful upon the mountains

    are the feet of him who brings good news,

who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,

    who publishes salvation,

    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

⁸The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;

    together they sing for joy;

for eye to eye they see

    the return of the Lord to Zion.

⁹Break forth together into singing,

    you waste places of Jerusalem,

for the Lord has comforted his people;

    he has redeemed Jerusalem.

¹⁰The Lord has bared his holy arm

    before the eyes of all the nations,

and all the ends of the earth shall see

    the salvation of our God."

To help us better understand this passage, it would be helpful to look at an example of such an ocurance in their cultural context. We get a glimpse of this in 2 Sam 18.

I would highly recommend you read the preceding chapters (it's actually super exciting and so many things are happening so quickly, it's the OG korean drama... It's the Israel drama in real life), but let me give you a quick summary.

Up until this point, David's son Absolom had taken justice into his own hands and murdered David's other son Amnon. He then went into hiding for 3 years, and came back only to steal the hearts of the people through trickery and deception, in order to stage a revolt against King David. Yes, King David, his father who showed him mercy and loved him dearly to the end. As a result, King David had to run away with His mighty men, and long story short, Absolom assembled the whole of Israel to pursue David, to crush him and every one that followed him. So much did David love Absalom that despite all this, he still instructed his commanders to "deal gently" with Absalom should they meet him in battle.

It was under such circumstances that 2 Sam 18 takes place.

2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14-23 (ESV)

⁹And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. ¹⁰And a certain man saw it and told Joab... And he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak. ¹⁵And ten young men, Joab's armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him and killed him.

¹⁶Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops came back from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained them. ¹⁷And they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him a very great heap of stones. And all Israel fled every one to his own home.

¹⁹Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run and carry news to the king that the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.” ²⁰And Joab said to him, “You are not to carry news today. You may carry news another day, but today you shall carry no news, because the king's son is dead.” ²¹Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran. ²²Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “Come what may, let me also run after the Cushite.” And Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the news?” ²³“Come what may,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and outran the Cushite."

So who was Ahimaaz? Ahimaaz was the son of Zadok the Priest and Prophet (2 Sam 15:27). Zadok and his sons remained faithful to David and wanted so much to follow him, and to bringing the Ark of Covenant with him. But David instructed him to stay behind because the Ark of Covenant belonged in the promised land. Imagine his frustration having to stay behind with his father to serve a self-centred king that neither cared about God, nor his people, nor his own father. Ahimaaz was on his way to warn David of Absalom's plan to kill him one day when he was spotted by a tattletale. As a result, he too had to go into hiding with David, perhaps to his joy.

Now, imagine being in his shoes, hearing the news that Absalom has been killed! Without bloodshed on either sides (other than Absalom himself of course). There couldn't have been better news! Just like that, the entire conflict was over! David and all his people could return from camping in the wilderness, to their homes, to the throne, and most importantly, to the temple of God. This was GOOD NEWS! News so good Ahimaaz couldn't wait to run back to deliver to David! Joab however knew that David loved Absalom so dearly that he might not receive the news well (v19, 22). And apparently, so did Ahimaaz (v23), but that didn't stop him. He knew it was good news, and he believed it so much, and was so excited by it that he just had to deliver the news as soon as he could, no matter what might happen to him... He'd stop at nothing to be the herald of this good news to people he knew needed to hear it most, to people whom he loved.

What about me?

I was having lunch with a dear friend I haven't met in a while just a day before this. As I was sharing The Good News in the middle of a crowded foodcourt, I found myself bothered by the people around us who were sharing our table. I found myself speaking of this good news as if it were "okay news", as if it were true, and important, but just okay. It was as if I were a secret fanboy of Taylor Swift and was engaged in a conversation about her but too embarrassed to sound too enthusiastic. It was as if I was ashamed. It was as if I didn't really believe it was The Good News, or at least, didn't really believe it would be good news to my friend. Did I?

Do I? As I finally went to bed this morning at 6am after 4 hours on the phone with customer care, I realised that that question was not yet resolved in my heart.

2 Samuel 18:24-28, 31-32 (ESV)

²⁴Now David was sitting between the two gates, and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and when he lifted up his eyes and looked, he saw a man running alone. ²⁵The watchman called out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” And he drew nearer and nearer. ²⁶The watchman saw another man running. And the watchman called to the gate and said, “See, another man running alone!” The king said, “He also brings news.” ²⁷The watchman said, “I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” And the king said, “He is a good man and comes with good news.”

²⁸Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, “All is well.” And he bowed before the king with his face to the earth and said, “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.”... ³¹And behold, the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, “Good news for my lord the king! For the Lord has delivered you this day from the hand of all who rose up against you.” ³²The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” And the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you for evil be like that young man.”

In the day, a man running alone usually meant good news because if he was fleeing from an enemy, he would likely be in a group. As the Watchman watched from the gate (perhaps of a temporary camp), their main task was to watch for enemies, and in times of war this was a frightening task! There's a saying for situations like these - no news is good news. As a Watchman, the sight of people running would send your heart racing in an instant. It's either comrades fleeing from enemies approaching (or the enemies themselves), or a messenger bringing good news. The suspense would kill you because every second matters in times like these. Imagine that instant when they confirm it to be good news! Will not they break forth in joyful singing? Will not they shout at the top of their lungs "Good news!!" Will not they sing "how beautiful are the feet of him who brings good news!!" For the messenger had ran, and ran, but for one cause — to herald the message of the good news as of first importance.

It was indeed good news then, that their enemy had been defeated, and that Israel could now finally rest. Yet that was but a shadow of The Good News we now proclaim! The Enemy, sin and death, has been defeated! For the true light has come into this world! He has borne our sins and the wrath of God, that whoever believes in Him will have life, true life, life eternal! That we can be called children of God! That we can find true rest!

As I sit here at the airport with tears in my eyes, looking at these people of the land I am running to, to proclaim the good news, my heart breaks for them. Have they heard the good news? Do they know the King? O, it is Good News. And I believe it with all my heart. How great a privilege it is for me to be the herald of this good news! And I will go, no matter what it takes.

Thank you Lord for reminding me of this once more. May I never lose the wonder of the cross.

Romans 10:14-17 (ESV)

Isaiah 35:5 (ESV)

⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,   and the ears of the deaf unstopped; ⁶then shall the lame man leap like a deer,   and the tongue of the mute sing for joy...

If you’re familiar with the New Testament, reading through Isaiah is gonna have a lot of “I’m sure I’ve read this somewhere before...” moments... 55 times to be exact. And this is one of them, one of my favourite ones in fact. 

Luke 7:18-20 (ESV)

¹⁸The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” ²⁰And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”

At first glance, one wouldn’t think much of this. But upon further thought, this is actually very strange. Wasn’t this the same John the Baptist who often spoke of the One who would come after Him, whom he was preparing the way for? The same John the Baptist who witnessed the the heavens open and the Spirit fall when baptizing Jesus, as God declared Jesus as the chosen servant (Isa 42:1)? The same John the Baptist that actually proclaimed with full conviction, “Behold the Lamb of God!”(John 1:35) Surely, if there was anyone more sure that Jesus was the promised Messiah, it would have been John. Yet, here we find him doubting... Why?

We know from Mark 1:14, that almost as soon as he baptized Jesus, he was imprisoned. Perhaps sitting there in prison, with seemingly nothing but his execution at hand, doubt ensued. Perhaps he thought to himself, “If Jesus really is the Messiah, why are the powers of darkness still prevailing over me? Why am I still sitting here awaiting my death? Has not the Lord come to set us free?” 

And so it was under these circumstances that John’s disciples came up to Jesus, on one of his busier days, where many were coming to him for healing and deliverance of all sorts - and indeed many were being healed! (Luke 7:21) Under these circumstances in which they essentially asked on behalf of John, “Have I lived my life in vain? Are you truly the Messiah that has come to set us free?”

What comes next is probably one of my favourite things about Jesus. He is such. a. boss. You can’t make this kind of thing up! 

²²And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. ²³And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”  (Luke 7:22-23 ESV)

If it hasn’t hit you yet, this was a major throwback to the prophecies of Isaiah! 

Isaiah 35:2-6 (ESV)

²...They shall see the glory of the Lord,    the majesty of our God.

³Strengthen the weak hands,    and make firm the feeble knees. ⁴Say to those who have an anxious heart,    “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God    will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.    He will come and save you.”

⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,    and the ears of the deaf unstopped; ⁶then shall the lame man leap like a deer,    and the tongue of the mute sing for joy...

I don’t think there was ANY WAY anyone could have answered John’s question better. Jesus knew what was upon John’s heart. And in the most reassuring way possible (without even actually answering the question!), He comforted John and relinquished any lingering doubt.

You see, while we definitely don’t want to deny, nor discount that Jesus worked miracles in that day out of compassion for the people around Him, He never lost track of the greater purpose. All of the miracles that He did (in a way no other ever did) served to show one thing - He was indeed the Christ, and He has come to save. 

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Though he may heal them physically now and save them from the brink of death, unless Jesus saves their souls, they shall surely die! That’s why Jesus at several occasions had to tell people not to speak of the miracles He had done, or had to pry himself away from the hurting, because He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 4:43). 

But you see, this message wasn’t just for John...

²³And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. (Luke 7:23)

Like John, the Jews in that day were expecting a Messiah to come to free them politically, to free them physically. For them who have been waiting for their Messiah with such eager anticipation, as they endure having their dignity as a nation being stripped away again and again, how preposterous it would be for this man who is doing absolutely nothing about Rome claim to be the Messiah! But blessed is the one who is not offended by Him, for He did not come to bring judgement, but to bear it. Instead of ascending a throne, He ascended a cross. He has come to save, but not in the way the people thought. The Kingdom has come, and we enter it through repentance and faith (Mark 1:15). 

Jesus worked miracles to show that He was indeed the Christ. The Christ who has come to seek and save the lost. In Jesus, we have seen the glory of the Lord, and the majesty of our God. He will return again to put an end to the effects of sin once and for all! But until then, like the Jews of the day and like John, our earthly kingdoms are not the same as His Kingdom! There will still be sickness and death, but we have hope - for all our sins are washed away! We have hope in our King!

Isaiah 7:1-2 (ESV)

“In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. ²When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.”

As enemies encroach and surround, the hearts of Ahaz and His people shook as trees in the wind. So much so, that Ahaz, in desperation turned to every way he knew, except God’s. He worshiped Baal, sacrificed to all sorts of idols in every place, he even burned his own sons (2 Chron 28:1-4)!!

And as I cringed and shook my head at the atrocity of this evil king, I realised, isn’t this me? In the face of trials and temptations, does not my heart often shake like trees in the wind, and turn to trust my own systems, my own ability, my coping mechanisms, and yes, even to the sinful desires of my own heart?

Yet, the Lord knows the condition of our sick and feeble hearts, and He sends the remedy - His Word. 

Isaiah 7:3-4,11,14 (ESV) “³And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz... And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint... ¹¹“Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be... high as heaven.”... ¹⁴Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (God with us).”

To the people of Judah, God intervened and reached out to give hope to His people to turn the hearts of His remnant to Himself. And He continues to do so even today. God Himself has reached out to us in our sin, even while we lived in rebellion. He has intervened with a sign truly “high as heaven”, He sent His Word, the one and only Son of God, Jesus - who is literally God with us. Today, despite the trials and temptations that come our way, we have the living and abiding Word of God, Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Isaiah 29:13 (ESV)

“...this people draw near with their mouth    and honor me with their lips,    while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men”

Why? Why would this people bother to continue in proper outward acts of worship if their hearts were cold and far away? If they did not even fear God? Perhaps one might consider our own experience and think - oh, it must be to fit in! Perhaps we’ve had times where we were compelled to appear to worship passionately, to serve “sacrificially”, to give “generously” because everyone else was doing it. And this verse does speak to that too. But I don’t think that’s what “this people” experienced. You see, in the context of this passage, it was clearly the majority that had their hearts far away, the majority that didn’t actually fear the Lord. Which begs the question... why? why would this people bother to continue in their hypocritical acts of worship? 

Might I suggest, that these people were outwardly “worshiping” God, as a way of evading Him at a deeper level. The people they were putting up a front for were in fact themselves! That in outwardly checking all the boxes, in going through the motion, they could get on with life without any real consideration for God. That by keeping up their outward acts of worship, they could tell themselves, “It’s all good”, when in reality, they are cherishing sin in their hearts, and have no regard for God (v15-16). 

God desires genuine worship from His people, hearts that fear Him and are drawn to Him. There must be a change of affections!

How often have I been guilty of this myself? When I’ve tried to check QT off the list without actually getting bare before God? When I go to church as a routine, without actually anticipating to be blown away by the glory of God with His saints? Yes, it may be hypocritical worship, but even worse than that, have I been evading God, from allowing Him to reveal the ugly bits in me, and to actually turn my heart wholly to Him? It isn’t just hypocritical worship, it’s silent, sinful, selfish rebellion of the heart. 

Yet how can I change that? Why would I? What would change my heart? But there is hope...

Isaiah 29:18-19 (ESV)

¹⁸In that day the deaf shall hear    the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness    the eyes of the blind shall see. ¹⁹The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,    and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

How will this happen?

Isaiah 33:10 (ESV)

¹⁰“Now I will arise,” says the Lord,    “now I will lift myself up;    now I will be exalted.

He will cause our blind eyes to see, for then, our eyes shall behold the king in his beauty (Isa 33:17). 

To the people of Judah in that time, this was their hope - 

“²²For... the Lord is our king; he will save us.”  (Isa 33:22)

Today, this hope has come in Jesus. For we have seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ our King, who has come to save. Who has come to make blind eyes see, and deaf ears hear, who has come to draw all men to himself.