What a "hot mess"

I don't know who says it on TV (I think it's the woman who helps hoarders) but my sister has taken the term "hot mess" and it makes me laugh when she uses it. A "hot mess," as I understand it, is a regular mess that has just gone plain crazy, gotten out of hand or gone beyond normal parameters.

Josiah, one of the greatest kings of Judah (and there weren't many great kings), found himself in the middle of a true-to-life "hot mess." Josiah became king when he was just 8 years old. The nation of Judah had, at the poor leadership of previous kings, become about as pagan as the nation of Israel who had abandoned their allegiance to Yahweh years before. For Josiah, unfortunately, he suffered a great deal from ignorance. The scriptures had long been forgotten and, in fact, were lost in some back closet of the Temple. When Josiah was about 26 he recognized that the Temple in Jerusalem was in bad need of repair and he commanded that it be fixed. As they started the repair the priest discovered "The Book of the Law of God." When Josiah heard what God's word said he tore his clothes as a sign of deep regret and sorrow of how disobedient his people had become. He heard the truth and responded appropriately.

After hearing God's word he commanded that the priests go to a prophet who could communicate with God on his behalf. God told the prophet that he was very angry with his people and that he fully intended to bring strong judgment on the nation for their disobedience but because Josiah had genuinely humbled himself, God would withhold his judgment until after Josiah was dead. Great news for Josiah (and Judah). But the king refused to leave it at that. He commanded the people to gather and hear God's word and he re instituted the Passover Feast which had been abandoned years before. He also let the people know in no uncertain terms that they were going to realign themselves with God's word and the worship of Yahweh alone. However, to get to that point was going to take a whole lot of work. Read 2 Kings 23:4-25. There were altars and shrines to pagan gods all over the place in Judah. They were even in the Temple at Jerusalem. They had partitioned areas in God's Temple for male and female ritual prostitutes. Can you imagine that? Judah was indeed a "hot mess." Josiah had quite an elephant to eat (metaphorically of course) but he ate every bite. He broke altars, burned shrines, tore down monuments, killed pagan priests and set his nation in order. Verse 25 of chapter 23 says that there was never a king before Josiah who "turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses, and there has never been a king like him since." Good job Josiah.

The spiritual "hot mess" that Judah had been reduced to had become....normal. Given enough time, the most spectacular structure will become overgrown and deteriorate. If you had asked king David if his beloved Judah would have ever become a place where multiple gods were worshiped he would have probably ordered your death. But that's exactly what happened.

Why is it that so many Christians find themselves in their own spiritual "hot mess?" Well, it doesn't happen overnight. It comes slowly but given enough time, every believer is capable of becoming a wasteland in their walk with God. I know this from personal experience. It's much easier to not read God's word, not to pray, not to really connect with other believers and strive for a closer walk with God. But if one disconnects, even for a little while, it's easier to stay disconnected and even harder to get going again. It's easier to not cut my grass each week. But in Florida, if you don't cut it this week it'll be tough to do next week and if you take 2 weeks off, it'll be a monster the week after that. It's not an impossible task but it's not necessary for it to get so out of hand. I'm a part of a Crown Financial small group here at Haven. If you've never heard of Crown click here and if you are in financial trouble they can help you. We going through the training in order to understand God's design of true financial freedom and we are hoping to make the Crown study a normal part of our discipleship plan at Haven. One of the things we are learning is that when people find themselves in a financial "hot mess" it is usually because of bad spending habits that have continued over a long period of time. The good news is that God will lift folks out of the mess that they are in but it takes time and commitment. King Josiah knew that Judah could be singular in their worship again but it took a lot of work. I guess what I'm trying to say is that believers can avoid "hot messes" in their lives by staying focused on God's word and his purposes. But at the same time, should you right now sense that you are living in the middle of a spiritual "hot mess," there is a way out. It's simple but it won't be easy. The first step is to hear what God has said and respond appropriately. If you don't know what God has said about your mess, grab a Bible and find out. If you don't know where to look, ask someone you trust to help you. If you don't have anyone you trust, give me a call. Then once you know what God wants, it's only a matter of picking a corner and getting started. It might take some time but it will be well worth it in the end.

Kenosis (Phil. 2. 7)

In our study two Sundays ago we dealt with the truth known as "the kenosis." Kenosis is from the Greek verb kenoo found in Philippians 2:7 which is translated as follows:

• "made himself nothing" (NIV)
• "made himself of no reputation" (KJV)
• "emptied himself" (NASB & NET)
• "he gave up his divine privileges" (NLT)

As we tried to make clear in the lesson, Philippians 2:5-11 is not a theological announcement so much as it is an illustration or bench mark for the disciples see how they were to live selflessly following the example of their Lord, Jesus Christ. However, in doing so (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit), Paul gives the church one of the most theologically rich nuggets in the entire New Testament. The key is to properly understand what is being said about God the Son in this passage.

In order to be as brief as possible, let's first look at what the "kenosis" can't mean. Some theologians in the 19th century proposed that the "self emptying" of Phil. 2:7 meant that God the Son gave up some of his divine attributes when he became flesh. While that might seem a logical understanding, it opens the door to a major problem of Christian orthodoxy. If God the Son gave up any of his divine attributes at any time then he would (at least for that time) cease to be God. The church has always maintained the eternal deity of God the Son. Jesus, himself, claimed deity during his earthly ministry which, if he were not fully God, was bold face lie. The "kenosis" therefore, can't mean that Jesus Christ gave up any divine attributes.

So then, what was Paul trying to describe about God the Son in this passage? The latter context, I believe, explains his meaning. He qualifies how God the Son emptied himself - "by taking the nature of a servant, by being made in human likeness, by humbling himself and by becoming obedient to death." I like the way one author put it when he said that the kenosis is not about subtraction (Jesus losing something) but about addition (Jesus taking on a human nature). God the Son left his place of glory and subjected himself to the limitations of the human nature. Yet in doing so, he never ceased to possess any of his divine attributes or essence (this is the foundational concept of the God/man - 100% God & 100% man). Like a king who voluntarily leaves his castle & throne to live within the poverty of his people, so God the Son voluntarily left his place of glory so that he might walk with his creation. The difference in this illustration is that the earthly king simply changes location while our heavenly king actually took on our human nature. Awesome!

So the bottom line is that God the Son (in the incarnation) never ceased to be God in any way.

Click here for another explanation.