Wrestling with Leadership

I am reading Barna's newest book, Master Leaders because I wrestle with being a leader.  What I mean is that I really struggle with what it means to be a leader, a good leader who serves the Lord well.  I struggle with my own belief that leadership necessitates charisma, being a great motivational speaker and somehow magically being able to get others to go where you want them to go - all of which I know I am lacking or unable to do.  I struggle with believing that leadership is militaristic - top down and positional, and since I am a pastor of a church, people should follow me by default.  In short, I am a mess in terms of leadership.  I know it and I pray for God to guide me and lead me, change me and conform me, even that he would give me the spiritual gift of leadership.  I am reading about leadership because I am truly in need of help, and while I understand Jesus' ideas of servant leadership, I don't know what that practically looks like since I have never served under a servant leader.

Praying for those who struggle - Romans 15:30-31 and Eph 3:14-21

When people are struggling what is it that we pray for?  We pray for the struggle to be removed, we pray for their rescue and for their return to great prosperity.  Is that not the case?  Consider the marriage, which is in trouble, we pray for the item causing the struggle to be lifted, whether that is financial trouble or an addiction or a cantankerous spirit.  We pray for redemption.  Or Consider the illness plaguing another, even ourselves, we pray for the disease, the infection or the virus to be taken from us.  When difficult people are in our lives we pray for them to be removed from our sphere of interaction.  And rightly so, for we all know what happens when you pray for patience in the midst of dealing with difficult people.  They come around more often and we get to interact with them more, all while wondering why God isn’t giving us what we asked for – yet not recognizing that he is giving us precisely what we asked for, the opportunity to exercise patience and grow in it. 

Is it wrong to pray such prayers?  Is it wrong to request relief from the discomforts of life, the difficult people and the broken relationships?  It would be easy after all these weeks to say, one should never pray these kinds of prayers, but our text this morning would testify to the contrary.  There is a place to pray for relief. 

Paul begs his fellow believers in Rome to pray for him, to join with him in calling out to God for relief.  He says, “I urge you brothers…to join me in my struggle…that I may be rescued.”  He is using forceful language here, it is as if he is saying, “If Christ is really God, If you have tasted him, if you have experienced him, If he is your king and his will is central to your life, then pray for me and my ministry.  Pray that the obstacles and the struggles will be removed and lifted.  Pray that I may be saved. 

Paul invites them into a life of wrestling in prayer, a life of sharing in the struggle of prayer.  Join me in what is on my mind, my heart, and my burden.  Wrestle with me.  Those words, join me in my struggle are all one word in the Greek. It is the word used in Col. 4:12 “Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.”

Isn’t it true that some prayers are wrestling matches?  Some prayers feel like great matches with God trying to understand his purposes and plans in our lives, why hardship or pain is upon our loved ones and us.  Some prayers feel like we are going at it with Mr. T or Hulk Hogan.  Are there any wrestlers here?  I wrestled in High School.  I was pitiful, never won a match, but after high school, I remember ending up in a wrestling match as part of an IV student conference, where I the little 150# guy was put up against a 230# guy for the students to watch.  Amazingly enough all those wrestling moves I learned came back to me and the two of us spent 15 minutes in total gridlock, neither one able to move the other, every muscle straining, sweat spilling and the feeling running through both of our minds, “I can’t loose, but this has to end.” 

That is what Paul is talking about here, praying with such fervent appeal, such struggle that everything we have is being used up and we need reinforcements, we need partners and we need relief from the trial and tribulation.  Join me, Paul pleads.  Join me.  So what is it that you need rescue from, what is it that is eating up your energy, your time, your prayer life?  Will you plead with others to join you in those prayers; will you invite others into your wrestling match with God?  The goal isn’t to win, or twist God around, but to come to terms with his will for you.  That may mean that some of your prayers, some of your struggles will not be answered, and others will.

Paul prayed two requests: 1) to be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and 2) that his service in Jerusalem would be acceptable.  The first one, we know didn’t happen.  His struggle was answered but only in an ultimate sense as he stood trial ultimately in Rome and according to church tradition died a martyr there begin beheaded by Nero.  He wrestled and so did many wrestle for him to be released, they struggled with God to understand his plans and purposes and yet their prayer wasn’t answered as they expected, but they prayed it nevertheless. 

The second prayer was a struggle that his service in Jerusalem be acceptable.  Paul was carrying the Macedonian offering to the poor of Jerusalem.  Imagine the scene if you will, Jews, a proud race, God’s elect people needing to be helped by Gentiles and Greeks.  Would they accept this gift of hospitality and family love?  Would they be able to see God’s provision in the midst of their xenophobia?  We might be able to understand Paul’s apprehension about his ministry but we can probably get a good idea of why he was wrestling if we take ourselves back to the 1860’s.

Imagine if you will the plight of the average southern white family in 1870.  They weren’t landed, they had fought a brutal war where 18% of the males age 18-43 died, Every family lost at least one loved one in the war, many lost 2 or more and those who did return, a lot of them were maimed.  Now imagine a Northern black church in Chicago hearing about their struggling brothers and sisters in Mississippi and choosing to take a collection to send to their white brothers in Christ in the south.  Now imagine that you are the white man from the North sent to deliver this offering of mercy.  Do you get the picture?  Do you understand why Paul is struggling in prayer?  This was a huge task and one that could very easily fail for lack of God’s intervention.  He struggled; he wanted to be rescued from those who could derail the process.  And praise God, this prayer was answered.

So as we struggle through our prayers and call out for rescue from our trials, what can we pray for which God is pleased to answer in addition to our normal requests for mercy and deliverance?  For that let’s turn to Ephesians 3:14-21.  Let me read it to you:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Here Paul gives us a great lesson in how to pray for those who struggle, or what to pray for anyone we desire freedom for.  There are two prayers here.  The first one is for a strengthening with power and second one is for the power to grasp the love of Christ.  Aren’t these two requests really at the root of our struggles with God in prayer, aren’t we really uneasy with our apparent powerlessness and don’t we question the love of God in the midst of the foreboding danger?

If you agree with me in these two premises, then what follows will be an encouragement to you.  Paul begins his prayer by hearkening backwards in the letter, for this reason – for what reason?  To find out we need to return to the first 2 chapters of the letter.  Because God has made one body, reconciling Jew and Gentile to the Father in Christ, Paul is able to pray for others in their struggles and difficulties, even in their life in general.

His prayer is founded on God’s indescribable wealth, his unimaginable riches. And based on God’s bounty and gigantic storehouse of all good things, he prays for strengthening.  But not just any kind of strengthening, a strengthening with power, but not any kind of power, a strengthening with power through his Spirit.   Paul isn’t asking for worldly power, or for that matter worldly relief, he is asking for spiritual power to persevere and he wants this power to be evident not in the external life but in the inner being.  He wants God to strengthen those in need with an internal fortitude, which makes applesauce out of rotten apples. 

Paul wants the inner man to be renewed in the midst of the outward decay, which is going on.  That would be like in our initial passage, when the situation is bad and trouble is around the corner, or the possibility of it, Pray for God’s strengthening in your inner life and the life of those around you.  In fact that is exactly how Paul says it in 2Cor. 4:16-18

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

He asks this so that Christ may take us permanent residence in our lives.  But you say, Christ already resides there.  True enough, true enough.  But imagine with me again, an old house in need of repair, the walls are covered with gaudy floral wallpaper, the countertops are chipped and worn, the carpet is stained, the roof has leaks.  But you buy the house and move in.  Sure you reside there, but is it your dwelling?  In one sense it is, in another sense it isn’t, for the demeanor and décor is that of the previous residents.  Now fast forward 25 years, you have redecorated, the landscaping is distinctly yours; the colors and flooring have been updated.  Now it is truly your home, not to mention the fact that the mortgage is paid off as well. 

So it is in this passage.  Paul is praying for an indwelling, for a transforming in the inner being so that the struggles of life aren’t our struggles any longer, for we are looking to God and blind to the assaults around us and we are in love with the God who loves us.  He is praying for the power to be at work in us so that we are formed into Christ, inhabited by Christ, and that will take some real power, just like the renovation in our fictitious house took some real power to bring about.  Send the Spirit Paul says.  Do the renovation, he cries.

But his second prayer is equally as powerful, He prays that as we are renovated and our foundation and footing is established, as our roots are set interiorly, we will hold onto the Love of Christ.  He wants us to know that which surpasses knowing.  That is an oxymoron, if I may say so, but Paul is praying that our knowledge surpasses mere knowledge.  He wants his people to know and experience the Love of God fully and completely, from length and breadth to depth and height. 

For truly these two things are the prayers that the one who struggles truly needs – a reorienting and reordering of the house so that our eyes are fixed on Jesus, and a growing, experiential knowledge of the love of God in Christ for his people.  For as these grow, the struggle will fade away and not seem so large.  For truly we serve a God who is Eph. 3:20-21 able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Christians and the Muslim Fast of Ramadan

There are some interesting posts floating around the blog-o-sphere related to the recent Christianity Today article on whether Christians should celebrate the Muslim Fast of Ramadan. People seem clearly divided on the issue, however, I am most aligned with McDermott's response. He says,

"Christians may fast alongside Muslim friends, either as a gesture of friendship or in order to open dialogue, but not as part of Ramadan itself. Christian fasting is fundamentally different from Muslim fasting. Christians must make clear that their view of God, God's approach to us, and therefore fasting as part of our relationship to God, are each different from Muslim views." - Gerald McDermott, Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion, Roanoke College

Unlike Wilson who believes it is an expression of serving a false god or engaging in false worship, I would argue it is a point of connection, however like Joel Hunter, a point of connection is not a spiritual discipline, rather it is a social contact. If engaging in the fast opens up social contact that allows the truth of the gospel to be shared, then by all means do it. That said, I have some reservations that I am still working out in my own mind, based on my time as a missionary in Africa.

Many of the Mbunda people we worked with rose early each morning and prayed circling a tree, dropping flour as they walked. Over time I came to learn that this act was a ritual which left an offering for the spirits and the ancestor to whom they were praying. Would it then be appropriate to engage in this act from a desire to make social connection? Would I truly be able to share the gospel truth with my Mbunda brothers and sisters, or would I be setting the stage for a severe form of syncretism? These are the deeper questions that must be wrestled with and each individual believer must seek God's leading in the Word and in the Spirit.

I personally do not see a problem with engaging in the Fast, as part of making the connections, Jesus calls us to fast, but he doesn't call us to walk around trees and sprinkle meal offerings for spirits. Others may disagree, and I respect their conviction. Yet all must be sure that the gospel which is preached is the pure Gospel of God's complete forgiveness of sin and acceptance as his children apart from any spiritual discipline we engage or fail to engage. I think what is being hinted at in all the answers and posts is the deeper question of "What will Christianity look like in a Muslim culture?" of maybe better "Is arabic culture different from islamic religion?" These two questions are huge and there is alot of scholarly work out there on these problems. We would do well to wrestle with a corollary in our context "How much has american culture become associated with christian religion?"

The Tragedy of Syncretism - 2 Kings 17

I have been reflecting on 2 Kings 17 for about a week or two, and their are two verses that continue to jump out at me. The first is the final half of verse 15, "They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they did the things the Lord had forbidden them to." The second is the concluding verse of the chapter, "To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did."

These two verses, though seperated by the exiling of Israel and the Assyrian policy of resettling conquered lands are connected more deeply than we might care to believe. These verses expound the tragedy of syncretism, the tragedy of individuals, families and cultures that refuse to submit to God's ways, and ultimately God's Son. Everyone of us is hopelessly syncretistic, we try to meld the worship of God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth, with our worship of the gods of the land: money, power, sex, beauty, success, violence, death...

National Healthcare - a different view

Many of us are eagerly following the healthcare reform play out on Capitol Hill.  Here is one piece articulating opposition based not on economic argument but on the oath of office to uphold the constitution.  I found it interesting, for Brad Green argues that in supporting the nationalization of healthcare, proponents are
"calling for their elected federal officials to violate the law of the land, and to violate their oath of office, by clearly and unabashedly taking one more step in the destruction of the very Constitution they have sworn to uphold."

The very statement charges that support of the measure is an encouragement to sin and violate Jesus teaching on honesty and truth. Whether or not you agree with his logic, or argument, I encourage you to read the piece. It is a distinctly different approach than I have seen on either side of the issue to date.

Brad Green teaches theology at Union University in Jackson. He is a co-founder of Augustine School in Jackson

Read the original article

A Short Course in Praying for Spiritual Maturity - 2 Thes 3:1-5

We have been looking at Paul's prayer life for 10 weeks now and today we get to ask the question, what did Paul need prayer for?  What did the great missionary apostle ask others to pray for in his life?  There are three requests that Paul specifically made of the Thessalonians, followed by 2 prayers he prayed for them and one overarching motivational reason for all this prayer.  I couldn't have planned it better if I had tried, 3-2-1.  This is like a basic short course in prayer.

 

So what are the 3 requests for prayer that Paul asks?  First, he wants them to pray that the message of the Lord runs in our life and the life of others.  Those words, spread rapidly, are the words of the Olympic races.  They are the words used of athletes running in the stadium before the crowd for the prize.  Paul needs, wants and desires their prayer for his and his companions' Christian marathon.  Let us speed onward to Christ-likeness.  Pray that we run as though running a 100m dash, giving everything we have and allowing the gospel to spread throughout our lives and the lives of those we minister too.  Pray that the Gospel is extraordinarily successful.

 

In fact this continues to be Paul's prayer and instruction up to the end of his life.  In Acts as he is headed towards Rome, he says,

 

Acts 20:24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me — the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

 

The author of Hebrews instructs us all to let the message to spread rapidly in our life

 

Heb. 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

 

And it is not until the end of his life, when the verdict is clear and death is imminent that Paul changes his request to a statement that I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2Tim. 4:7).

 

So our first prayer request of others, if we are to learn from Paul would be to ask others to pray that the gospel takes us over like a racer bearing down on the finish line or a semi bearing down on your bumper.  And then ask them to pray that it overtakes you so that it overtakes others.  Ask for men and women and children to pray for the Gospel to spread rapidly.

 

Secondly, Paul requests that the Gospel be honored.  He asks for others to pray that the message of Christ may spread and be worshipped or glorified.  In fact, glorified would be a better translation of the word in our present day usage because honor is a word we use for showing esteem towards someone or something but we generally don't use it in the sense of exalting something, or lifting it up to the highest position.  But that is exactly what Paul is asking, pray that the message not only spreads in my life and the lives of others, but that as it spreads, it is also lifted up and exalted, that it is worshipped as good news.  Not only does Paul need prayers to hear the message and speak it but he also asks for prayers to receive it and have it received favorably. 

 

Paul had already thanked God for the Thessalonians acceptance of the message in his first letter to them:

"And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe." (1 Thessalonians 2:13).  Not only had the gospel truth spread to them, but also they had honored it by properly receiving it as God's truth to humanity.  He wants this reality to continue in his own life and the life of those to whom he will minister. 

 

Thirdly, Paul requests prayers for deliverance from those who would hinder the rapid spread of the gospel.  Paul recognized that there is a war going on around the gospel.  That is why he uses a military term, deliverance.  Princes delivered cities under siege or in bondage.  It is the story of God's people and his revelation to be under siege.  Recall Daniel and the Lion's den, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Remember the Exodus, Noah and Lot – all men under attack for the Word of God, and all men in need of deliverance. 

 

This is a battle we are living.  There are those with faith and those without, Paul makes it clear and those without are opposed to the rapid spread and honoring of the gospel.  It is clear, there is no middle ground in the Scriptural world, and we are either for Christ or against.  And those against us, we need to pray for deliverance from their evil plans.  And that necessarily means we need to pray for their deliverance, for we were once opponents of the Gospel too – intent on doing life our own way and refusing to see the message honored and exalted in our lives.  In fact, some of us may still have such tendencies.  Seek men and women to pray for you, ask them to pray these three requests of Paul: 1) for the gospel to take over your life, 2)for the gospel to be exalted and glorified in your life and 3)for any area of your life that is under siege, whether internally or externally, to be delivered.

 

I want to make an observation about reformed church-persons, our tradition tells us that we can approach God directly through Christ and therefore we have no need of sharing our personal lives with others, especially not in prayer.  But that is false, sure my prayer is no more effective than yours, his prayer no more effective than hers, we all approach Christ equally and evenly, but there is necessity to share our lives with one another and seek God's control over every area of our lives corporately, one for another.  When I am weak in prayer, I need others praying for me and when you are weak in prayer you need others praying for you too.  If Paul needed prayer for the Gospel to race in his life and his ministry and to be honored, If Paul needed prayer for deliverance from the evil forces coming against him, then you and I need the same kind of prayers and we need to ask for them and pray them for others.

 

So we have seen the 3 requests of Paul: Gospel to spread rapidly, Message to be received appropriately and for the deliverance of those obstacles standing in the way of the first two.  Now we can turn our attention to the 2 prayers Paul pray for his brothers and sisters.  First he prays for the Lord to direct their hearts into God's love, and Secondly for the Lord to direct their hearts into Christ's perseverance.  The first is a prayer for their internal life to be directed to "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things" (Philippians 4:8). 

 

If the heart, if the inside of a person is directed to the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable and praiseworthy things, then they are directed to love for God and his created world and everything in it.  This is a large overarching prayer for those same things he has asked for himself and his traveling troupe.  But he takes it a step further and also asks for their heart to be directed to Christ's perseverance, not just perseverance but Christ's perseverance.  A perseverance, which goes to the bitter end and completes all that the Father requires.  A perseverance that never sways, or gives up, a perseverance that accomplishes all that the gospel demands – total, unconditional surrender to the victorious King. 

 

Why would Paul pray this for the Church of Thessalonica?  The gospel demands a radical break with all idolatry and sinful action in society.  This would mean stopping worshipping in the temples of Zeus, Apollo and Aphrodite in the cities, it would mean avoiding the cultic sacrifices of the trade unions, it would mean integrity in sexuality, very uncommon in the Roman period.  But that gospel also demands that believers testify to the Lord Jesus Christ in life and deed, and live a life of dependence upon the Father caring for family and friends, and the outcasts of society.  But in Thessalonica, the people have been persecuted and the natural human proclivity is to flee persecution and seek the easier life of compromise and luke-warm Christianity.  We wouldn't know anything about that in our society would we? 

 

But Paul prays for them to persevere amidst the hardship, persevere and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away (1Pet. 5:4); that is how Peter puts it.  James says it another way, Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him (James 1:12).  Paul recognizes the dangers inherent in their context and life and he prays for their ability to sustain the trials and tribulations of life, so that the Gospel will have spread rapidly and been honored fully in their life.

 

3 requests, 2 prayers echoing those requests, and finally, 1 reason for all of them The Lord is faithful.  The Lord is faithful – he strengthens his people, he protects his people, he delivers his people.  He is faithful never to abandon his people or forsake them. Jesus promises in John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 

 

In fact this is a promise God has been making to his people since the beginning of the Scriptures.  In Gen. 28:15 He tells Jacob, "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

 

God is faithful,

1Cor. 1:9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

1Cor. 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

 

And what has he promised us?  He has promised to deliver us from sin and death, he has promised to make us his brothers and sisters in Christ.  He has promised to feed us and clothe us and provide for us.  He has promised us eternal life, to dwell in a city without sin, tears and opposition to the rule of God.  He has promised us forgiveness in Christ.  He has promised to sustain us under trial and give us words to speak during persecution.  In short God has promised us everything – just listen

 

 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

(Philippians 4:19 NIV-G/K)

 

And it gets even better, when we are obedient to the words of God – to care for the poor and distressed, then  "then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." (Isaiah 58:10-11 NIV-G/K)

 

""If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the Lord has spoken." (Isaiah 58:13-14 NIV-G/K)

 

People of God, the Lord is faithful, he has provided all we need in Christ – from obedience to the Law to acceptance before the throne to the giving of the holy Spirit to empower us to obedience in this present life, that is why we pray to him for all we need and for all he desires:  The overpowering of the Gospel in this world.  So let us stand and pray as a corporate body for the 3-2-1's of Paul's prayer life:

 

Requests

1. God Runs in our life and the life of others
2. Gospel is received and accepted and exalted
3. Deliverance from all which seeks to stop 1 and 2 above

 

Pray

1. God to direct our hearts in love
2. God to direct our hearts in perseverance

 

Thank God

1. God is faithful
1. Strengthens his people
2. Protects his people

 

BENEDICTION

 

"May the Lord bless you and keep you, may his face shine upon you and be gracious to you, may the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace…

 

"…at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you."  (2 Thessalonians 3:16 NIV-G/K)

Jesus our Great Intercessor - 2 Chronicles 30:1-27

This passage presents such a beautiful picture of the life and
ministry of Jesus Christ. Hezekiah calls out to a people who have
long forgotten how to worship God properly and appropriately. In
fact his father, Ahaz, had actually closed the temple doors,
effectively preventing the right worship of God from being taught or
practiced. Yet upon ascending the throne, Hezekiah calls to the
people of Israel and Judah to return to the Lord. Specifically, he
invites them to return to Jerusalem and worship the Lord through the
Celebration of the Passover. Many refuse, as do many today, but many
also respond by arriving in Jerusalem. But there is one problem,
they are unprepared. The Word says they were "not consecrated" and
"had not purified themselves". In fact they aren't even able to kill
their own sacrifices and the priests are insufficient in number to do
the task either. Furthermore, they fail to eat the meal in the
prescribed manner. To you or I, that may sound ludicrous, you are
apostate, you return to the temple and you still don't do it right.
(Isn't this why your forefathers were carried into exile?) Yet
Hezekiah realizes something profound - the heart is more important
than the liturgical action being performed properly. We see it in
his prayer, "Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim,
Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they
ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed
for them, saying, "May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who
sets his heart on seeking God — the Lord, the God of his fathers —
even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary."" (2
Chronicles 30:18–19 NIV)

Such is the ministry of Christ on our behalf, we are summoned by the
King Almighty to come and worship. The edict goes out through the
ministry of the Word and He sends His Spirit into the world to
convict us and some respond, though not all. However, like these rag-
tag worshippers, we too arrive unsanctified, unclean and ill-
prepared. In fact, we are sinners but like Hezekiah, Jesus
intercedes for us and calls upon God to see our hearts, new hearts of
flesh which have been indwelt by His Holy Spirit. Jesus calls on God
to overlook our inabilities and to allow himself to not only perform
the sacrifice, but also to be our Paschal Lamb. And just as God
responds favorably to Hezekiah's intercession - "And the Lord heard
Hezekiah and healed the people."(2 Chronicles 30:20 NIV)-, so too he
responds favorably to us. And it is because of this that we can join
in the worship and rejoice in the presence of the King, for Jesus is
the door that reopens worship in the heavenly temple. Jesus is our
priest, and our kingly intercessor, He brings mercy and compassion,
provision and sustenance. Jesus is the way, and the truth and the
Life and no one enters God's temple, except through him.

May you be greatly encouraged at this picture of Jesus in the life of
Hezekiah.