NAMED!

That’s a 1-month-old calf at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. And seeing the little one (over 200 lbs!) was the highlight of my visit to that animal assemblage this summer.

The Zoo set up a competition to name the baby. Out of over 30,000 entries, the keepers went with “Luk Chai.” You see, the entire herd of elephants in Taronga hails from Thailand, so it was appropriate to give the latest arrival a Thai name. Protective Mama, the other pachyderm in the picture, is Thong Dee (“Golden”); proud Papa is Gung (“Prawn”).

“Luk Chai” means “son,” and that’s right and proper, for he is the only other male in the entire herd besides father Gung.

The other day, I preached on a dude in the Bible who, too, was given an appropriate name—twice!

This guy’s story began even before he was born. For the first time in biblical history, a woman had conceived twins! Uh-oh! Who’s gonna be firstborn and thus get the patriarchal blessing? Apparently the kids in utero were aware of this dilemma.

But the children
struggled together within her ….
Genesis 25:22

This was no brotherly tussle. The word connotes a serious street fight, brass knuckles, knives, and all. They’d already begun fighting for the blessing. Anyhow, Esau is born first.

Afterward his brother came forth
with his hand holding on to Esau's heel.
Genesis 25:26

The younger guy came out fighting. Chasing his older brother, Esau. Fighting to be the firstborn. Chasing the blessing. So they find the perfect name for him.

His name was called Jacob.
Genesis 25:26

“Yakov” = “heel.” From the outset Jacob is a heel-grabber. Fighting. Running. Chasing. Chasing in the womb. Chasing coming from the womb. And for the next 10-odd chapters in Genesis, chasing outside the womb. Chasing for blessing. Chasing for recognition. Chasing for significance. Life was one loooong chase for the heel-grabber.

To cut a long story short, years later, the heel-grabber comes to his senses and returns home, risking life and limb at the hands of his older brother, Esau, whom he had cheated long time ago. Desperate and fearful, the night before he meets his brother, he encounters God Himself.

He [Jacob] said,
“I will not let you go
unless you bless me.”
Genesis 32:26

I won’t let you go unless you bless me. Finally, finally, the heel-grabber realizes who can really bless him. Finally, he realizes the folly of his deceiving, and defrauding, and duping. Now he realizes that only one person can bless him—God.

And he [God] blessed him there.
Genesis 32:29

From heel-grabbing to God-grabbing! And at last, Jacob had found blessing at its true source, its only source.

Have you come to that recognition? Have we reached the point of realizing that only God, only God, can bless us? Nothing else will satisfy. Nothing else will fulfill. Nothing else will delight. Only God. God alone! God alone can bless us. And to Him we must cling!

And, BTW, Yakov gets named … again.

He [God] said,
“Your name
shall no longer be Jacob,
but Israel.”
Genesis 32:28

No more the grabbing of heels, snatching of dreams, clutching at straws, chasing of wind. No more Yakov. No more chasing. Henceforth “Israel.” Yisra-El = God fights. No more will you grab heels. No more will you need to grab heels. Because God fights for you.

You don’t have to fight any more. You don’t have to chase anything anymore. You don’t have to run after anything anymore.

“Israel”—God fights. He does! For us too. Grab Him!

PROCLAIM!

The Evangelical Homiletics Society (EHS) had its annual meeting last week. This is an academic society promoting the cultivation, exchange, and development of ideas related to preaching and the teaching of preaching.

That’s the Executive Committee of the Society for 2009-2010 pictured at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, the location of this year’s gathering. From left to right: Communications Coordinator, Member-at-Large, Vice President (yours faithfully), Site Host (for the meeting in 2010, at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Chicago), and President (our Secretary–Treasurer is not in the picture).

The first item in our Statement of Faith reads: “We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.”

It is on that foundation that our burden for preaching rests. As the Word of God, the Bible is meant to be applied. Divine revelation, God’s Word, is not intended to remain simply as black marks on white pages in a book. It is intended to be lived out.

All Scripture is inspired by God
and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction,
for training in righteousness;
so that the man and woman of God
may be adequate,
equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16–17

Because the Bible is held to be authoritative and intended for practice, we preach.

Preach the word; be ready in season
and out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort,
with great patience and instruction.
2 Timothy 4:2

For we grow by the Word into conformity to the image of Christ, becoming more like Him daily.

Like newborn babies,
long for the pure milk of the word,
so that by it you may grow ….
1 Peter 2:2

Therefore we preach, therefore we proclaim.

… for whoever will call
on the name of the Lord
will be saved.
How then will they call on Him
in whom they have not believed?
How will they believe in Him
whom they have not heard?
And how will they hear
without a preacher?
How will they preach
unless they are sent?
Just as it is written,
“How beautiful are the feet of those
who bring good news of good things!”
Romans 10:13–15

But these proud owners of beautiful feet are not only the members of the EHS; they are not only seminary profs, or pastors, or Bible study teachers, or small-group leaders, ….

No, God intends for all who would follow Christ as disciples to be proclaimers.

And He appointed twelve,
so that they would be with Him and
that He could send them out to preach,
Mark 3:14

Throughout, in Mark, the Twelve are portrayed as models (often negative). Christ would have us be what He wanted them to be when He called them—to be with Him and to be sent. What a paradox! To be with Him and be sent from Him. Perhaps to be with Him means to be sent from Him to preach and proclaim. We have our commission—we have been sent.

I solemnly charge you
in the presence of God
and of Christ Jesus, …
preach the word ….
2 Timothy 4:1–2

Never forgetting, of course, that we don’t just preach and proclaim in word alone. The Word of God has to impact our own lives—we have to preach and proclaim in deed as well.

But prove yourselves
doers of the word,
and not merely hearers ….
But one who … abides by it,
not having become a forgetful hearer
but an effectual doer,
this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:22, 25

Proclaim … and be blessed!

STRENGTH!

That’s the Sydney Tower, aka Centrepoint Tower, the second tallest structure in Australia, and, apparently, the tallest observation tower south of the equator. At over 1,000 feet, it is #38 in the list of the world’s tallest towers. This one is a prominent Sydney landmark visible from all points of its various suburbs. Standing next to the harbor, it boasts a magnificent 360-degree view of its environs. If one is brave enough, one can also embark upon the Skywalk that takes you to an open-air platform 50 feet above the observation deck. (I wasn’t brave enough! The potential loss of heartbeats was a significant factor in my decision.)

Notice the lacy structure of the tower. I did wonder if it was strong enough. But it is. Remarkably strong. Vladimir Shukhov (1853–1939) conclusively demonstrated the strength of such structures, known, in technical jargon, as hyperbolic lattices (or, as he called it, azhurnaia bashnia = “lace tower”). Hyperboloid geometry makes it possible to use lattice work to support objects high off the ground. Who would have thought that, looking at the seemingly flimsy creation? These hyperboloids are said to be of greater strength than any other kind of “straight” building. The individual elements of the lattice are so structured (with a “negative Gaussian curvature”—whatever that means!) that they end up being much stronger than edifices constructed otherwise. Together the discrete parts of the lattice confer strength upon each other.

Together! Unity is strength.

So also for the community of believers in Christ, the church. Unity is strength. While, to be sure, the decision to believe and become a part of the community of Christians is an act of faith and trust that each of us has to make, the body we are placed in is just that—a body. Community.

… you are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people for God’s own possession ….
1 Peter 2:9

Race, priesthood, nation, people. All collectives. Community. And in commUnity, there is strength. Life is hard, no question. And messy. We need community to sustain us, strengthen us, support us. Individuality, on the other hand, is weak. No one can stand alone. There is no one without blind spots. No one gifted enough, capable enough, adequate enough. Individuality is weak; commUnity is strong.

No wonder the author of Hebrews exhorts Christians:

… let us consider
how to stimulate one another
to love and good deeds,
not forsaking
our own assembling together,
as is the habit of some,
but encouraging one another ….
Hebrews 10:24–25

In commUnity, is strength.

Indeed, those who stand by with us, and run with us, and even those who have gone on before us, strengthen us to keep going.

Therefore, since we have so great
a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
let us also lay aside
every encumbrance and the sin
which so easily entangles us,
and let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us.
Hebrews 12:1

In commUnity is strength. Care and concern, service and sacrifice, one for one another. Indeed, “one another” echoes frequently in the Bible. Here are a few instances:

Give preference to one another
in honor.
Romans 12:10

Be kind to one another ….
Ephesians 4:32

… comfort one another ….
1 Thessalonians 4:18

… confess your sins to one another,
and pray for one another ….
James 5:16

In commUnity is strength. And that community is, of course, bonded in love.

Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:11

And that is no hyperbole!

INCONGRUITY!

Nope. Not Photoshopped in. Not cut-and-pasted. No manipulation of any kind, manual or computerized (except, of course, for the superimposition of the honorable and honest visage of yours faithfully). That was a picture I took at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney a few months ago. This idyllic animal house, home to over 2,500 denizens on 50 acres, is one of the largest zoos in the world. It’s only a few deep puddles (in the Sydney Harbor) away from downtown Sydney; the “shells” of the Opera House are visible behind the camelopard’s neck—in fact, one pleasant way to get to the Zoo is by boat (see here). So if you are in the right place in the Zoo at the right time, camera poised and ready, many an incongruous shot is yours for the taking.

A giraffe in downtown!

Or as they might say here in Texas, “a turtle on a fencepost.”

Incongruity! No way either beast could have gotten to its destination on its own—not those destinations anyway. Impossible. Downtown or on top of a fencepost. Out of place. Totally. Somebody must have done it to them.

Me, too—incongruity par excellence!

For believers in Jesus Christ also are an incongruous bunch. Indeed, the Bible says they no longer are in the kingdom of darkness but dwell in the kingdom of light.

For He rescued us
from the domain of darkness,
and transferred us to the
kingdom of His beloved Son.
Colossians 1:13

Because—simply because—we have been forgiven:

… in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:14

Why incongruous? Because once …

… you were dead
in your trespasses and sins,
in which you formerly walked …,
and were by nature
children of wrath ….
Ephesians 2:1–3

Destined, then, for the wrath of a holy God who cannot look upon sin. That was once. But now …

… God, being rich in mercy,
because of His great love
with which He loved us,
even when we were dead
in our transgressions,
made us alive ….
Ephesians 2:4–5

The incongruity of it all! How could this happen? Why did this happen? What prompted God to do what He did?

For by grace you have been saved
through faith;
and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8

God’s grace alone—nothing we thought, nothing we said, nothing we did.

… not as a result of works ….
Ephesians 2:9

God’s amazing grace in the giving of His Son to pay the price for our sins.

But God demonstrates
His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

And those who have believed in the life, death, resurrection, and atoning work of Jesus Christ, are now these incongruous ones, the result of God’s love, God’s grace, God’s sovereign choice.

But you are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
… so that you may proclaim
the excellencies of Him
who has called you
out of darkness
into His marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9

Incongruous, indeed.

What is man
that You take thought of him,
and the son of man
that You care for him?
Yet …You crown him
with glory and majesty!
Psalm 8:4–5

Yes, upon, and through, these incongruous ones, God has demonstrated His love, His grace, His choice.

I, for one, am thankful.

We, the incongruous, can only say in praise …

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is Your name
in all the earth!
Psalm 8:9

Amen!