Hiddur Mitzvah

My wife just called me and gave me some awesome news. She told me that a woman that is new to our church, and brand spanking new to this whole "Jesus-Loving" thing, came to our Christmas Eve worship service. If you remember that night, the weather outside was frightful - sleeting ice and snow had put many folks, brave enough to drive in it, in ditches and worse. However, we were all warm and toasty inside the Worship Center, and we worshipped our guts out to the One Who deserves it most. Afterwards, this new-Believer went out to her car, only to find another D.C. lady scraping her windshield for her. Apparently, this unknown "angel" had done this for every car in the parking lot. Again, it was FREEZING cold and absolutely miserable conditions outside!

My wife asked me if I knew who this was. I do not.

Exodus 15:2 - NLT
The LORD is my strength and my song; He has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise Him - my father’s God, and I will exalt Him!

From this line, rabbinic thinkers saw the words "I will exalt him", and asked the question,
"How can mere mortals hope to exalt God, the Creator of the entire universe?"

In the same way we could ask,
“How can we bring more glory to Someone as infinitely wonderful as God's own Son, Jesus?”

The rabbis had a wonderful answer. They said humans can bring more glory to God,… Who had all the glory in the heavens,… by doing His will on earth in the absolute best and most beautiful way possible. They called this "hiddur mitzvah", meaning to beautify God's commands. In the same way, we can do what Jesus commands in the absolute best way possible.

Christians may be surprised that the word mitzvah, meaning "command" or "commandment", is positive rather than negative in Jewish culture. The word is found in many verses, like the following: >"Keep my commands >(mitzvot, pl.) and follow them. I am the LORD." (Lev. 22:31) We tend to assume it refers to burdensome regulations, but the usual Jewish usage of mitzvah is that it is an opportunity to do something good that God told you to do. People say things like, "I had a chance to do a mitzvah today when the elderly woman asked for my help." The word is always used in a positive way, suggesting that doing what God has asked is a joy and a spiritual opportunity, not a burden.

The idea of hiddur mitzvah (beautifying the command) goes even beyond this - that if God tells us to do something, we shouldn't just do the minimum, but to perform it in the best way possible, sparing no expense or trouble.

Even if it's freezing outside.

We can see Jesus describing this behavior of hiddur mitzvah, going far beyond the minimum, in His story about the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan man obeyed God's command to love his neighbor by personally caring for the wounded traveler, carrying him to the inn on his own donkey, and investing a large sum of his own money to care for him. Because he was a Samaritan in Israel he even risked his own life, because as an enemy of the Jews, he could have been accused of being the attacker (Luke 10:33-35).

There are so many of Jesus’ commands that have to do with physically showing love to someone: Whether it’s giving water (Mark 9:41), giving away your clothes (Matt. 5:40), visiting the sick or imprisoned (Matt. 25:36), or just carrying their bag a bit further than they originally had asked (Matt. 5:41). May you and I be those that scrape windshields and ‘beautify the commands’ of Jesus, by going far beyond the minimum, and thus, may we bring our Lord massive amounts of glory!

And to the unknown, ice-scraping 'angel'... I want to say that you were Jesus to a brand new Believer, her two-week-old-in-Jesus husband, their small children... and their appreciative, humbled, and blown-away pastor.

A big 'thank you' to Lois Tverberg, who's book I'm reading currently. Her insight into the Hebrew Scriptures has been so exciting to me. Most of this information comes from her book, "Sitting At The Feet Of Our Rabbi Jesus".

Who's Rich?

Have you been to the mall recently? How about Wal-Mart? Or Target? Or anywhere that seems to be flooded with tired-looking people carrying bags stuffed full of presents or grumpy folks pushing squeaky shopping carts filled with Christmas crap? Have you, like me, come to the realization that once again you’ve allowed yourself to get way too caught up in the materialness of this season?

"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Philippians 4:11-13

Right now as we are in this season of Christmas, as we are doing our pre-Christmas and soon our post-Christmas shopping, it is easy to focus on new things we wish we could have. We live in a culture where TV shows and commercials revolve around having more "stuff," where our status is based on money, and we are expected to dedicate all our time to achieving financial success. Our culture's god is Mammon (a big word that means money and stuff), and at Christmas, we are bombarded by messages to bow down to this god, when we should be worshipping the God who cared so little for money that He came to earth to lay in an animal’s feed trough.

This is probably a pretty good time to reflect on a wonderful saying of the rabbis. They asked the simple question, "Who is rich?" And, they answered it with a profound, yet simple answer: "He who is satisfied with what he has."

Certainly there are many in need, but many more of us don't see the amazing prosperity that we do have. For much of the world's people, and much of human history, people have known regular hunger, have had only one or two changes of clothes, and have worked hard to just make ends meet with little or no safety net of savings. Nowadays people have large retirement savings, buy pricey vacations and entertainment items, and grow obese eating in restaurants. What if we saw our homes as palaces that even kings and queens of former generations would feel comfortable in, do you think we'd feel satisfied with what we have then?

Sure, it’s going to be a ‘smaller’ Christmas for me and my family this year. And from what I hear, it’s going to be that way for many of my close friends as well. However, as we celebrate God's radical gift to us in Jesus, may we seek first His Kingdom, rather than worrying about the things we have or don't have. And may we learn to be content in every circumstance, knowing that God abundantly supplies all our needs. Then we will see how rich we really are.

Merry Christmas everyone!

A big 'thank you' to Lois Tverberg, who's book I'm reading currently. Her insight into the Hebrew Scriptures has been so exciting to me. Most of this information comes from her book, "Sitting At The Feet Of Our Rabbi Jesus".

When It's Not "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year"

I ran into someone yesterday while eating lunch at a local hamburger joint. He is a brother in the Lord who I've not seen in many months. I thought he'd fallen off the face of the planet... or simply decided to go to another church. What I found out was that he recently had gotten some bad news. Scary news. News that had sent him into a season of depression, isolation, and questioning.

The news: Cancer.

"Though the cherry trees don't blossom and the strawberries don't ripen, Though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, Though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty, I'm singing joyful praise to God. I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on God's Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I'm king of the mountain!" - Habakkuk 3:17-19 (The Message)

This guy with the funny name, Habakkuk, is saying all this on the eve of his country's destruction. In our context, he is basically saying, "Even though my country is going down the toilet, my stocks are all crashing, my bank account is empty, my house is being taken away - even though everything around me sucks... I'm singing joyful praise to God". The Hebrew word that is used here literally means "to jump up and down". Does that strike you as odd? What's up?

In the New Testament part of the Bible, a God-lover named Paul says, "In everything give thanks" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Notice he doesn't say, "FOR everything", he says "IN everything". You see, I can give thanks in everything because I know that God can change, fix, redeem, totally turn around the situation and can work out the problem whatever it might be if it is His will. However, I don't have to be fake. I don't have to pretend that the problem is a blessing,... or that it is not scaring the you-know-what out of me. I don't have to rejoice in the problem, but I can always rejoice in the Lord. I can always "sing joyful praise to God".

I think that God wants me to seek His face, to hear His voice, to see His vision, to hang out with Him no matter what is happening around me. No matter how bad the news might be, He wants me to rejoice in Him. Why? Because He is my strength and my joy.

Guess what I'm discovering? When I seek the Lord about a problem, by the time I'm finished talking it over with Him, as I worship Him and spend time with Him, I have usually forgotten what I came to Him for in the first place. His friendship is so awesome! His company is so sweet!

No matter what happens, He is our joy. He's the One that makes us actually feel like doing cartwheels. It is in seeking Him, that we find what we longed for all along. It is only when I'm Counting on God's Rule to prevail, that I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I'm king of the mountain. It's all about hanging with Him,... loving Him,... praising Him in the midst of ANY storm we're currently living through.

A big 'thank you' to Lois Tverberg, who's book I'm reading currently. Her insight into the Hebrew Scriptures has been so exciting to me. Most of this information comes from her book, "Sitting At The Feet Of Our Rabbi Jesus".

Christmas Trees are pagan tools of Satan?

I was recently asked what my feelings were on Christmas trees. We have several in our church's Worship Center, one in the foyer, and one in the Children's Church. I also have one in my living room at home. I said I felt like they were great. Then I was asked if I knew of the pagan history of Christmas trees. I replied that I did and then I bored my questioning friend with a brief summary of why I still think they are great. Here is what we discussed:


"You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the LORD your God hates." Deut. 16:22

At Gezer there is a group of ancient standing stones (matzebot in Hebrew) that date from 1500 BC, when the Canaanites were in the land of Israel. In theory, they shouldn't still be standing, because Israelites were given instructions to destroy all of the pagan standing stones in Israel (Deut. 12:3). But Gezer was a very strategic city and only rarely were Israelite kings in control of it (Judges 1:29, 1 Kings 9:16), so during very little of Israel's ancient history could they have knocked down the stones of Gezer.

The standing stones there were part of the ancient practice of setting up stone pillars at pagan worship sites. The practice dates from at least 5000 BC, and many sacred stone sites from 3000 BC and older can still be found in the Negev and Sinai desert, as well as around Europe and elsewhere. They often seemed to be involved in worship of heavenly bodies.

Interestingly, Jacob uses this practice when he erects a stone, anoints it, dedicates it to God and calls it Bethel, where he had the vision of the heavenly staircase. (Genesis 28:18-28). Later, when the Israelites cross the Jordan, God commands them to set up twelve stones to be a memorial to the great miracle God did there. The text says,

"When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, `What are these stones?' then you shall inform your children, saying, `Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.' "For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever." (Joshua 4:21-24)

It is ironic that God could use the same practice usually meant for idolatry to show His glory to the world, so that through the generations people would stop and remember what God did there. Otherwise, God forbade standing stones when he said, >"You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates." (Deuteronomy 16:22) The difference was the motivation - whether the stones were set up to point people toward God, or to worship idols.

A related example is the bronze serpent that God commanded to be made in the wilderness. The people who had been bitten by the snakes who looked at it in faith would live (Numbers 21:9). But later in their history, the same symbol that had helped people have faith in God had become an idol, so it had to be destroyed (2 Kings 18:4). The fact that God created it didn't sanctify it when it was being misused. Once again, the motivation of the people, not the origins, determined whether a thing was idolatrous or God-honoring.

These biblical examples can give us wisdom about the holidays of Christmas and Easter. These holidays began as Christians decided to worship the true God on days when pagan gods used to be worshipped. Some of the traditions (like the Christmas tree and the Easter egg) once had pagan meanings that are now lost as they have become Christian celebrations. So,... should we avoid these observances?

There are some people who have rejected these celebrations entirely because of their origins. But it seems that the critical thing is not what their origins are, but whether we are worshipping the one true God. To most Christians, these holidays glorify God like the standing stones by the Jordan did -- they are a continual reminder of the wonderful thing God has done by sending the promised Messiah, who saved us by suffering and dying for our sins.

My family goes out each year and we chop down a tree. We play hide-&-seek at the tree farm, we jump out and scare each other, we drink hot apple cidar. We basically have a great time. Then we go home and as we decorate the tree... we talk. We talk about how the trunk of the tree reminds us of the Cross of Jesus. We discuss how the lights remind us that Jesus is the Light of the world, and the star we place on top of the tree is like the star of Bethlehem that lit up the sky the night Jesus was born. We even place a wooden crown (it's more like a wreath) around the top of the tree, under the star, and talk about the crown of thorns that Jesus was made to wear. In other words, the tree for the Craft family is a major reminder of the Person of Jesus Christ and all He has done for us. If at one time the tree was a pagan 'thing', it has been redeemed and is now a thing that points us to the Christ of Christmas. I too, along with my family, have been redeemed and desire to be one that points others to the Christ of Christmas.

A big 'thank you' to Lois Tverberg, who's book I'm reading currently. Her insight into the Hebrew Scriptures has been so exciting to me. Most of this information comes from her book, "Sitting At The Feet Of Our Rabbi Jesus".