When Those Who Oppose Jesus Fall Down

^{Revelation.7.9} I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.

Today we are back again with Stanley J. Groothof who blogs at The 4th Point.  Why is his blog called that?

I’m a husband, dad, friend, and pastor. In connection with that last role, you may know that traditionally sermons often have 3 points. When I research and reflect on Sunday’s messages, often I find more material than can fit in my message for the day. Here is a place for some “fourth points” that, while not showing up in a message, I feel still should see the light of day.

As usual click the header below to read this at source. Scriptures referenced in today’s devotional are included in full after today’s reading.

Falling down with my enemies

To the church in Philadelphia, Jesus gives the encouragement to keep holding on. They have little strength left from enduring rejection and persecution from the leaders of the local synagogue who deny Jesus is Lord. But they can indeed hold on knowing their current situation will not last forever. Jesus promises He is coming soon, giving the church hope that the time is coming when wrongs will be righted.

More than that, Jesus tells the Philadelphian church they can look forward to the day when those who hurt them will “come and fall down at [their] feet.” Those opposed to God and His people will one day experience the return and victory of King Jesus. At that time they will hear Him say He is on the side of His people and He loves them.

But as Lou Lotz once noted, this talk of enemies groveling at one’s feet smacks of triumphalism and vengeance, and seems to be out of character with Christ’s command to love our enemies. True, but the picture of poor souls who have always resisted Jesus and harmed the church bowing down to Jesus’ followers helps me in two ways:

1. I’m given hope: Ungodliness will not endure forever. One day, to quote Pastor Lotz, “the tables will be turned, and God’s people will be vindicated.”

2. This picture also offers inspiration: Christians desire to love their enemies, to love their enemies to Christ. The more Christ’s reconciling grace is in me, the more I want no one being punished at my feet. I’m not saying there won’t be anyone; I’m just saying Christians love their enemies and the church’s enemies with the dream that all of them will change and love Jesus today and in eternity.

I’m fascinated by the actual words used in Jesus’ letter to Philadelphia, that those who oppose Jesus and His church will one day “fall down.” This is the same language used elsewhere in the Bible (in Revelation 4, as one example) for falling down in worship! I think I’m supposed to love my enemies, praying that they’ll fall down in worship with me and all God’s people.

LOVE
YOUR ENEMIES
DO GOOD
TO THOSE WHO HATE YOU
BLESS
THOSE WHO CURSE YOU
PRAY FOR
THOSE WHO MISTREAT YOU

~ Jesus

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Scriptures in today’s devotional:

^{Revelation.7.9} I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.

^Matthew.5.44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

^{Revelation.4.9-11} Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

We Live Our Lives Both as Offended and Offender

This is our third time visiting The Serener Bright written by Ian Graham, pastor of the church Ecclesia, located in West Trenton, New Jersey. As always, bless our contributors with some traffic by clicking the headers which appear below these introductions to read at source.

Psalm 35: Enemy Intelligence

If you’ve ever felt like the world is aligned in a conspiracy against you, Psalm 35 is for you. David doesn’t so much write as he shouts protests:

They hid their net for me without cause
    and without cause dug a pit for me,
may ruin overtake them by surprise—
    may the net they hid entangle them,
    may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.   (7-8)

For many of us, we read Psalm 35 and feel like telling David, “Look, man, you’re just having a bad day, the lady who told you you need two forms of verified ID at the DMV is not a cosmic enemy plotting alongside Satan to ruin your life.” Our modern way of naming enemies is by establishing who’s in our camp and who’s not. The people on the other side of the spectrum are the bad, nefarious people while those within our state borders are given the benefit of good faith and good intentions.

Psalm 35 affirms our suspicions that enemies are a part of life. David doesn’t call role, naming these individuals but he identifies them by their injustice and their glee when troubles befall him:

Ruthless witnesses come forward;
    they question me on things I know nothing about.
 They repay me evil for good
    and leave me like one bereaved.   (11-12)

David promises that he will delight in the Lord and rejoice in his salvation (v. 9), but these unnamed enemies glean their joy from sorrow in David’s life (v. 15). They are mockers, slanderers, engaging in the verbal pornography of gossip and secretly fist-pumping when they get a report that something ill or painful has befallen David (vv.15-16).

You may or may not be able to name people in your life who fit this description. Psalm 35 is acknowledging that this is the way of the world, a way of conflict and alienation. This leads us to the second way that Psalm 35 bears witness to us in how we are to live and move in a world fraught with enemies.

Notice how David responds to the presence of his enemies. He does not lash out in anger and righteous retribution. He goes to great length to describe his own innocence, even noting how when he got updates on those who now mock him, when he heard that they were in anguish, he mourned alongside them, as if he were grieving the loss of his own mother (vv. 13-14). We love nothing more in our society and in our stories than when a person, a people, or an entity get what’s coming to them. We say yes and amen to vindicating vengeance either by the law or other means. But David doesn’t become a vigilante for his own victimhood.

Rather, David prays to God. He acknowledges that God is his judge and deliverer. David opens with the plea:

Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me;
    fight against those who fight against me. 
Take up shield and armor;
    arise and come to my aid. 
Brandish spear and javelin
    against those who pursue me.
Say to me,
    “I am your salvation.”   (1-3)

David knows that he is imperiled because of his enemies but he also knows that only the Lord can release him from their snares. He foreshadows what the apostle Paul will instruct the Roman church to do in Romans 12vv17-19:

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

Jesus will tell those listening that they are not simply to refrain from vengeance, they are to love their enemies. Psalm 35 is a long way from the way Jesus will unmask our true enemies (sin and death) but it gives us a way to live in the world that is often contentious, where people wittingly and unwittingly often live as our enemies.

But in light of Jesus’ teachings, Psalm 35 leaves us with a much more haunting question. Jesus says, don’t look at the speck of sawdust in your neighbor’s eye while ignoring that there is a 2 X 4 sticking out of your own eye (Matthew 7). Jesus compels us to reread Psalm 35 asking ourselves not simply how have we been wronged by others, but how have we, ourselves, been an enemy to others? You see, we live our lives as both offended and offender, and the witness of Jesus declares to all, there is grace for both—forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us (also, providentially, Matthew 7).

“Kick in the Head” Psalms

This is an interesting study in how we sometimes might misunderstand or mis-apply some of the more violent verses in Psalms. The writer is our weekly contributor, Clarke Dixon, and you can click the title to read at source. In today’s devotional, he suggests some of these verses call for a “boot to the head” to the enemy, but I would also argue that, surprising as they are when we encounter them, they’re almost like a kick in the head to us. So what’s really going on these verses?

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When Prayers Are Not Pretty – Reflections on “Boot to the Head” Psalms

What happens when as a spiritual exercise you commit to praying though the Psalms and very early on you get to a verse like Psalm 3, verse 7?

Rise up, O Lord!
Deliver me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.
Psalm 3:7 NRSV

This verse is calling out for what I would call a “boot to the head” of the enemy. Whatever happened to turning the other cheek?

In visiting the elderly or the sick I often like to read Psalm 139 with all its comforting thoughts but sometimes I forget to stop at verse 18 and read:

19 O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
20 those who speak of you maliciously,
and lift themselves up against you for evil!
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
Psalm 139:19-22 NRSV

Note how the one praying is not just filled with hatred, but “perfect hatred.” How nice! Or how about the time that I opened worship using Psalm 149 as a call to worship but forgot to end at verse 5:

6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters
and their nobles with chains of iron,
9 to execute on them the judgement decreed.
This is glory for all his faithful ones.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 149:6-9 NRSV

As a Christian I have to ask how can this fit with the words of Jesus when he says “bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” in Luke 6:28 (NRSV). Or as Paul commends the teaching of Jesus to the Christians in Rome: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them” (Romans 12:14 NRSV). Reading the not-so-pretty parts of the Psalms makes me feel less like a Jesus follower and more like an extremist jihadist. How can I love the enemy as Jesus taught while praying for their destruction as the Psalmists do?

Here are four thoughts to help us:

First, recognize the circumstances of the writer. Psalm 3, for example,  was written by David when his son Absalom took the throne from him and was seeking to end his life, chasing after him with an army no less. You can read about this in 2 Samuel chapters 15-18. We each go through troubles, but how many of us as comfy Canadians have ever faced a situation quite like that? Put yourself in the Psalmist’s shoes for a moment, and rather than expressing hatred along with the Psalmist you just might find yourself expressing gratitude for having it so good.

Second, recognize that the Psalms are sometimes not as personal as we might tend to read them. When we read of the Psalmist’s desire for a “boot to the head” of the enemy, our minds may go straight to thinking of individuals that have offended us in some way. The Psalmist, on the other hand, may rather be asking God for a military victory against a vicious army. Indeed when you read the background story to Psalm 3, David does not want his enemy, his son, Absalom to die. When he hears of his son’s death, far from celebrating an answered prayer, he mourns.

Third, we can think of the enemies all around us that are threatening to crush and/or kill us. As Canadians we may not be able to think of anyone out to kill us, but can we think of anything? Cancer? Boot to the head Lord! Addictions? Boot to the head Lord! Gossip? Boot to the head of gossip Lord! Lies? Boot to the head of lies! Satan himself? Dear God, boot to the head!

Fourth, when the name or a face of someone who has wounded you cannot help but come to mind, then go ahead and let God’s Word help you express your pain and anger. “This is how I really feel, Lord” is a valid and valuable prayer, “I wish you would give a boot to the head of my enemy. That is how I feel.” This fourth point deserves a little more attention . . .

It is interesting at how we might feel that we sin by being angry, but scripture does not condemn anger as sin by itself: “Be angry but do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26 NRSV). We sin, not by being angry, but by what we do with our anger. Far better to express our anger to God in prayer, than to another person with our fists, words, or manipulations.

This is where we can see that prayer is a conversation that moves, and moves us over time. We may think that we cannot pray until we have a well thought out and tidied up prayer, a “finished product” worthy of an “A” from an English teacher. Forget that, just pray. Pray when you are too upset to get your words together. Pray when your prayers are too ugly for the church prayer meeting or even your best friend. Pray an honest prayer like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane:

33 He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. 34 And he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.’ 35 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 He said, ‘Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; Mark 14:33-36a NRSV

This was not a pretty well thought out prayer. But Jesus’ prayer moved into: “yet, not what I want, but what you want” (Mark 14:36b NRSV). Basically Jesus went from “Dad, this sucks” to “You are love and grace, and I will join with you as you pour out your love and grace.” And not only did the prayer of Jesus change, but also his expression; from distressed and agitated in the garden, to calm, cool, and collected before the High Priest, before Herod, and before Pilate. Prayer does stuff like that.

When there is someone in your life you find yourself truly loathing, let the Psalms lead you into prayer. But then let the Holy Spirit move you through prayer so that you can move from “Boot to the head of that person Lord, and that is how I feel about it” to “You Lord, are love and grace and I will join you as you pour out your love and grace. Yes, even on that person.”