Feb 9, 2009

The Book 3 - Sitting at the Lord's feet

The bible is a compendium of 66 books; 39 in the Old Testament with 27 in the New Testament.

In the canonized bible, we have only 4 Gospel records. The words recorded as spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ in the bible is therefore not quite so numerous. Perusing His interaction with the people, would show that He is, of few words. With people He healed, His remarks were usually clipped; never a long lecture. With the woman caught in adultery, there was no tongue-lashing. With Nicodemus, a teacher of the law, a short discourse that was found difficult to understand. Only the self-righteous Pharisees and Scribes got more than the usual. To the general population, He spoke in short parables. His longest teaching record would be His Sermon on the Mount. And yet He taught as no one before Him, or after Him. He said however that He is to be found to say a great more in the book of Psalms. We are more familiar with the words of Paul, Moses, Isaiah, Peter or John; not quite with the Lord’s, possibly because there were not so many to start with. But what would be the effect of dwelling on His words?

In the episode where Martha complained about Mary’s lack, in helping with work, the Lord could have either chided or commended Martha, but confirmed that Mary had chosen the better part. So we now, all profess to want to be Mary and not Martha. We promulgate the desire to sit at the Lord’s feet. We have so warped an understanding that we have missed the boat entirely or gotten into the “wrong” one. We certainly do not know what we have propositioned for. Sitting at the Lord’s feet is not a demure, relaxing, taking it easy, basking in His glory excursion. It is definitely most unwise to use the notion as a convenient prop for not being in His service.

Sitting at His feet necessitates putting ourselves at His feet (a footstool for starters?), coming under His all-searching eyes, His impeccable scrutiny, and His transcendent all-knowing. Sitting with the Light will allow no room for darkness, blemishes, creases, denials, excuses, indiscretions, complicities; just complete nakedness. Which is the more severe, sitting before a Consuming Fire or before an open-door to a smelting furnace? We have opted for a sitting, not quite a quick pass. Staying at His feet and listening to Him would summon our complete being. No mitigations whatsoever; no distractions, no detractions, no tiredness, nothing whatsoever besides. And if He should speak, this is no negotiation. He is our Redeemer; He has bought and owns us. He is our Lord; we are His “servants” properly translated; slaves. He is the LORD; His word is our command, not a request. We have so translated “servants” in place of “slaves” to make the relationship more palatable and inoffensive to our sensitive self-images. The day has not dawned when it would be high-fashion to acknowledge oneself to be nothing but a slave. And with presumptuous debonair, we continue to propose, negotiate, vary, defer, delay, choose, and even ignore. We have really forgotten our standing, our positions before Him. We do not recognize the Risen Lord, sitting at the right hand of the Father, crowned with absolutes, at whose feet, every knee shall bow or shall be made to bend, and tongue confess that He is the Lord, to the glory of the Father. Without reducing or impinging on the significance of His manhood, His cross, His death, His burial, we do have a tendency to be fixated on who He was, and not who He now is; the Risen Lord seated at the right hand of the Father. Is He truly the Lord we worship, or some cuddly imagination we made up, of our own? Idolatry in motion?

Sitting at His feet, puts us in the Potter’s hand. It is when the Potter can express His will. He can alter, break down or make over, whatever and however, He wishes. He can make a vessel for honor, another for common use, but all holy, set aside and dedicated only for His own purpose, for His own glory, according to His will. And for those vessels that do not, who will not submit to the Potter’s designs; of what use will they be? Who would keep broken cisterns? Will a potter be satisfied with a deformed cistern? Which potter will use clay that will not be molded? Will the perfect Creator-Lord of the universe become stagnated with His designs for a mere vessel? Can a vessel ask the Potter “what doest Thou?” But we do.

But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. (Isa 64:8)


Will the Lord continue sitting with a group of blind, or deaf, or lame or bed-ridden fellows and not be able to heal them? It is probably we, who are more comfortable to “have” some disability, to excuse having to even come near Him. Do we really want full restoration? He will heal and clean us up, with water or with fire, and, we will be cleaned. He may choose to refine 7 times over, His vessels of silver. He will smelt and beat out His vessels of gold. We have forgotten the era of the master-craftsman. Time was when the craftsman was renown for his work. The value of a masterpiece depended on who the master-workman was. Its value appreciated by who the owner is. Works of art, inspired by the Spirit, worked by the Son to the glory of the Father. And after His handiwork, what new tasks, challenges and testing await us? Is it not written, that every work will be tested by fire, to see if it will last? Further trials by fire? Further gifts and talents to work and account for? To be the greater slave? He will prune His branches also so that they will bear more fruit. And fruit meant for others’ edification.

But still we would gloss over those words; that branches that do not bear fruit are cut down and cast into the fire, that all dross will be removed, that we shall be holy because He is holy and that without holiness, no one can see Him. In the presence of the Consuming Fire, fine gold will never tarnish. Drawing nearer to His presence is already awesome; care to sit at His feet?

Compare the writings of Paul, James, John, Peter and all the rest put together, with the Sermon. Which texts really leave us stumped? Can all the combined knowledge of the world scratch the surface of Logos? Envisage a personal session, 101, with the Lord. Will we walk away untouched? Will we be able to walk at all? The Psalms declare that before His presence, mountains will wax, that trees and all creation will sing, hills will fall down and valleys will rise up, the sun and moon will bow down! Moses spent some time getting the two tablets of the Law. His face remained aglow after his conference. They had to cover the afterglow! Does our interaction cause us to come away with anything resembling a glow or a tremor? Is there, the dimmest of glows, even in the deepest recesses of our hearts? So the earth did not move, but was there any movement in our hearts? Can one come away from a meeting with the LORD and not be affected in the slightest? If Jehovah was in the room, would we not have known it? On seeing Him, Ezekiel fell on his face, John as if dead! If there was not the presence, then it could never have been the LORD.

Solitude does not exist in our dictionary. The appropriation of time, alone with the LORD, in His word, in prayer or in silence, has become a rarity, if not extinct. The Lord himself dedicated to much time seeking solitude, seeking His Father. He needed to spend more time with the Father than sleep. His food was to do His Father’s will. We know nothing about the need for solitude. And yet, it was at these times, and away from all else, that He communed with His Father, re-energized Himself with power to do His will, sought out His Father’s will. Our ignorance of solitude premises also that we know so little about communion, power and seeking the Father’s will. When shall we begin to learn, what it is, to seek the LORD, alone in solitude? Do we know of secret places, of secret times, of “coming away” as in the Song of Solomon?

And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. (Jer 32:38-41)



A Mary or a Martha? My human spirit tells me; it’s safer staying busy in the kitchen.

Had your quiet-time? With the LORD? Sitting at His feet?

God bless.


/ckh

p.s. At the morning watch, Uncle Hing Lai prayed an interesting prayer line; perhaps the Lord does not show Himself to us, in our present conditions, because He knows it would literally kill us. He has to hide Himself, to prevent and protect us. Still, we need to seek Him.

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