You are on page 1of 8

I have been thinking about all of you and had the topic of "Beauty for Ashes" on my mind.

The effects of
shame on christians and intercessors in particular have come up consistently this week. So I thought
perhaps we could open up a dialogue about this issue. This is such a painful weapon of accusation
that I cringe every time I think of it. Love to all t
Beauty for Ashes
Isaiah !"#$
and provide for those who grieve in %ion& to bestow on them a crown of
beauty instead of ashes the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a
garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of
righteousness a planting of the L'() for the display of his splendor.
The Divine Pathos
Love is more than pity, greater than compassion, deeper than understanding and more positive than self-
denial. It is the agape love of 1Corinthians 13; the love that originates in the heart of od; the love that
cannot stop !hen the love o"#ect ceases to please.$ %ohn &hite ' (ros )efiled
If we were to set our minds upon things above *Colossians 3+,- wed eventually come around
to a startling realization. God allows Himself to be affected by His creation. We cannot
completely separate God as Wholly Other or we would miss His attribute as the Holy
One of Israel. He is wholly other and wholly us. !esus is both fully God and fully
man. !esus holds all things together. In !esus" the #reator and His creation become one.
What a remar$able thought that is. We affect God. We have meaning in Gods life.
%an was created in His image. We are His image bearers. !esus restores that image to its
full glory. In view of our original pattern we need to embrace the magnificent personhood
of the Holy One& understanding that our emotional ma$e up 'dim and bro$en as it may
presently be( is a reflection of God" the )ather" God" the *on and God" the Holy *pirits.
Our #reator is the +uthor of emotion. His emotions are deep" powerful and far e,ceed
our limited framewor$ of human emotions. -verything He feels and does and is . is
H/G-& -ternal. *o" when He loves" He 0-+112 loves. 3he same thing applies to His
other emotions. He really hates wic$edness& He deeply weeps over our pain" He truly
re4oices" leaps" sings" and is powerfully moved with compassion. He e,ults over
4ustice5righteousness. He flares His nostrils with fleeting anger. He tears us and wounds
us" and He heals us and binds up our wounds. He delights in Himself" in His *on and in
us. He brings us to His breast li$e a mother. He is a zealous" 4ealous lover. He is
magnificent. He is wildly good. He is the prodigal 'e,travagantly generous( )ather. He is
1ove.
Love created us and love motivates us. +s we loo$ at God" contemplate Him" and share
with Him 'i.e." prayer(" we fall in love with Him and care about what He feels and thin$s.
He shares so much of His emotion in the scriptures that it is actually 6uite easy to e,plore
His heart. One of the more apparent things we learn is this7 how deeply we grieve His
heart when we cut Him out of our lives and how deeply we bless His heart when we turn
to Him in faith and invite Him in.
I so love His sweetness. We are invited to taste and see that the Lord is good .salm 3/+0 He is
such a good )ather. He is such a good mediator. He is all powerful& all $nowing and ever
present. He $nows the truth because He is the 3ruth. He can sort out our lives in an
infinitely wise manner. He $nows when to move and when a delay would serve us better.
He is the ultimate communicator and He loves to communicate with us. 8rayer is
communication. He created with it" modeled it and taught us to engage in it because He
desires relationship with us and He wants to be with us right in the full mi, of things.
!esus told us that when two or three of us come in a prayer5re6uest of agreement" He is
there in our midst For where two or three have come together in my name, I am there among them.
1atthe! 10+,2
. . . so if there should "e "ut t!o or three, that !ill attract 3imself do!n into the midst of them;
and related as 3e is to "oth the parties, the petitioners and the .etitioned - to the one on earth "y
the tie of 3is assumed flesh, and to the other in heaven "y the tie of 3is eternal 4pirit - their
symphonious prayers on earth !ould thrill up!ard through 3im to heaven, "e carried "y 3im
into the holiest of all, and so reach the 5hrone. 5hus !ill 3e "e the living Conductor of the
prayer up!ard, and the ans!er do!n!ard.$ %amieson, 6ausset and 7ro!n Commentary on 1atthe! 10+,2
3his passage in %atthew 9: was relayed in the conte,t of becoming li$e a child before
the )ather. !esus was basically tal$ing to His disciples 'including us( about posturing
ourselves to en4oy our relationship with the )ather by7 fleeing from sin . particularly
causing others to do so& see$ing the redemption of one another in the midst of dispute&
and freely releasing forgiveness to our brothers and sisters. +greement in prayer& in love
with 1ove Himself is the $ey to all of this. How wonderful that we can always have our
;ad in the mi,. He $nows us and en4oys us. In prayer" we can invite Him in to our day to
en4oy Him" play with Him" rest and wor$ with Him and even help us sort things out when
we are hurt so that we can actually end up li$ing and loving each other.
<nowing this then why would we still bypass it= 8erhaps it is because we are more
familiar with the afflicting bondage of shame and accusations against ourselves and
others rather than the redemptive freedom of grace based upon Gods love for us and
others.
From gory to Glory
3here is an odd beauty about humanity& something tragic that reveals a lost grandeur. 3he
>ible tells us that in our genesis" we were glorious beings that were the meeting point of
Heaven and earth& the intercessors where God and His creation would interrelate. We
were innocent" but we were not mature in love. In our immaturity& li$e a child who runs
away because they thin$ they can do better than their parents" we bro$e away because we
believed a lie about the intentions of our )ather& our #reator. +s a result" we became
shadows of what we once were& bro$en" disparaging creatures who are more inclined to
loo$ away from God in our shame than run to Him with any confidence. ';o you $now
that the antonym of glory is shameful= 3hat is the garment that we clothed ourselves
in& fig leaves to cover our shame . the absence of glory.(
3han$fully" from that terrible moment on" God pursued us with grace. He encouraged us
with hope that one day we would again be clothed in glory and it would be an even richer
garment. *enesis 3, Isaiah 81+12- He comforted us with covenants" with revelations of His
%ight" with messengers that revealed His heart and ultimately <ing !esus came Himself
and adorned us with salvation& securing us with the gift and company of the Holy *pirit.
He has not stopped pursuing us even to this very day. He is relentless. 3han$ God.
3he fact that He is so tenacious about having a relationship with us is mind?boggling. He
is the prodigal )ather . the e,travagant" rec$lessly merciful One who runs to embrace us
when we come to the end of our very limited strength and instead lean into the infinite
might of His.
*till" the world is caught in a web of deception" pride and rebellion as it struggles to ma$e
the same choices day after day& life or the $nowledge of good and evil. -ven the #hurch
struggles with this dilemma. -specially the #hurch.
Heres why Im hitting that point hard. 3here is a subtle pattern of shame?filled thought
that" when e,ploited" will cripple us in our wal$ and in turn" will employ us to cripple
others.
Back to Life, Back to Reality
On the day that we received #hrist !esus as our 1ord and *avior" we were born again. We
received a new life. We $new intuitively that we had been given a fresh start. Innocence
was regained. We were still immature in love" but at least we felt clean. 3hen" to our
dismay" we learned that our sin nature was" for now at least" still present and in conflict
with our new identity& the *pirit led nature wed been given in #hrist. How devastating.
Within this tension lies a place of great torment7 there is still an underlying bent 'ini6uity(
toward operating from the tree of the $nowledge of good and evil and not the tree of life.
We want to be good and we are not. >ecause weve been forgiven" we really want to
ma$e !esus investment in us pay off" but we often stumble and fail to do so. *o we try
even harder to live on the good side and we inflict that very same e,pectation on those
who we relate with.
In some areas we ma$e some !esus li$e decisions or have victory over our bent toward
sin and that ma$es us feel good about ourselves. >ut when we fail to be good" and we
inevitably do right now" we crawl bac$ under the identity of failure and shame and when
someone else . especially another #hristian ? fails to be good to us we inadvertently want
them to do the same.
Gods answer to this is mercy and forgiveness. If we are merciful" we receive mercy. If
we forgive" we receive forgiveness. On the other hand" if we 4udge" we receive 4udgment.
We are interconnected.
@ow" what does this have to do with prayer= God responds to our prayers based upon
how we respond to one another. 3he one another also includes our perception of
ourselves. When we cover ourselves and others in shame and accusation" we can not
approach God with any confidence. +nd where there is no confidence" there is no faith.
When there is no faith" we can not please God and pray. +nd when we can not pray" we
cover ourselves with shame and accusation. + vicious cycle really.
*o" 4ust for now" lets loo$ at our own propensity for sin and shame and perhaps it will
influence how we then treat ourselves and one another. In transparent honesty" I cant
thin$ of anyone I $now 'especially myself( who doesnt sin. )orget about getting others
to stop sinning. We sin. !esus was clear that we needed to remove the plan$ in our own
eye first. When we ta$e a good loo$ at our own sin" this can be the most debilitating
struggle we encounter. -specially when we try to eradicate it on our own" only to find it
rearing its ugly head later on or showing up in an entirely new form. 3hats partly due to
perspective. 3he plan$ of sin is actually a splinter in our eye" but from our own eyes
perspective loo$ing outward" a splinter will loo$ as large as a plan$. It will loom so large
that it bloc$s our vision and we need help to remove it from the only one who actually
has a clear eye& !esus. !esus is the O@12 one who wrestled with sin and won. When we
approach sin with !esus& loo$ at it s6uarely with Him" we are reintroduced to the cross
and to the 0esurrection. . . . +nd OH the loveA We get loved& our glory is restored in His
and He empowers and e6uips us to overcome it. 3hen we start thin$ing sanely with the
mind of #hrist and value mercy because we $now how badly we need it.
In contrast& when we attempt to deal with sin without God" it leads to a form of insanity
because were trying to get it right on our own& comparing ourselves with others and their
seeming victory or defeat. Within that pattern of behavior" we are still eating from a tree
that leads to death and covering ourselves with fig leaves. In this cycle" we either abhor
ourselves or others& ma$ing a resolution that we wont sin again that way or ma$e that
mista$e again . . . and then" inevitably" we do. +s this continues" we increasingly feel
defeated and the shame becomes overwhelming& resulting in agreement with the father of
lies about who we are or who our brothers and sisters are. He whispers that we really only
have a one more time savior" a three stri$es and youre out God and because we $eep
blowing it we are all hopeless hypocrites. We somewhat understood the fresh start of
our born again e,perience. We ma$e a concession for some slip ups" but deep down we
entertain the end to His riches in mercy and therefore an end to ours. 3he 6uestion is this7
did He die only for the sins we committed prior to the day we embraced our salvation=
+fter that" are we on our own= 3his dilemma becomes a crucible where we must choose
either faith of fear7
+re we responsible for our dilemma= 2es. >ut our pride in trying to get it right in our
own strength is called self?righteousness and it conceals the $ey to our freedom& the
wonderful truth that we are not the source of our righteousness or our salvation.
#onfidence in our own ability to con6uer sin is a delusion. !esus is our victory. 3he
problem is" we dont truly believe in His goodness" His power and His desire to help us.
We are so afraid to trust Him and to fall on His mercy in humble transparency. We dont
understand His heart. We do not $now what His 4ustice and mercy loo$ li$e now that we
are in #hrist and we need this revelation badly.
Heres the gospel really. God" in his great love" can and will corral us bac$ into right
relationship& into the humility of being $nown. +nd that is a saving grace. He is not a
wea$ God who vacillates between 4ustice and mercy. In #hrist" both come together. He is
the fullness of power and strength& filled with love and very intentional in fathering us.
He wants us to discover more about ourselves and Him in this wrestling match. He wants
us to $now Him and be $nown . in a very intimate" emotional" transparent sort of way.
Heart to Heart
Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden parts You teach me wisdom. .salm91+8
3his verse is tuc$ed away in the middle of a psalm that ;avid wrote when he came to the
realization that He had lost his own battle with sin. *o" lets consider ;avid for a few
moments.
+s a whole" we tend to li$e <ing ;avid. He represented us pretty well. He had a
significant capacity for failure which he and God e,posed with great candidness yet
somehow" He also had a wonderful capacity for greatness and that inspires hope for all of
us. He was painfully aware that God $new his frailties and capacity for sin" yet he had
ine,plicable confidence that God was still interested in him& that God li$ed him" loved
him and would wash away his shame in the honesty of repentance. ;avid $new that God
cared for him. In ridiculous boldness" when ;avid sinned he approached God in full
disclosure and true humility& understanding that God delighted to reveal Himself in that
place of transparent honesty. It was the meeting place for mutual disclosure and
revelation. 3a$e a loo$ at 8salm B97
Be gracious to me, O od, according to Your loving!"indness, according to the multitude o# Your tender
mercies; $lot out my transgressions. %ash me completely #rom my ini&uity, and cleanse me #rom my sin.
For I "now my transgressions; and my sin is ever $e#ore me. 'gainst You, You only, I have sinned, and
done evil in Your eyes; that You might $e (usti#ied in Your spea"ing and $e clear when You (udge.
Behold, I was $rought #orth in ini&uity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in
the inward parts; and in the hidden parts You teach me wisdom. )urge me with hyssop, and I shall $e
clean; wash me, and I shall $e whiter than snow. *ause me to hear (oy and gladness; the $ones You
have crushed will re(oice. +ide Your #ace #rom my sins, and $lot out all my ini&uities. *reate in me a
clean heart, O od; and renew a stead#ast spirit within me. ,o not cast me out #rom Your presence, and
do not ta"e Your +oly -pirit #rom me. .estore to me the (oy o# Your salvation, and uphold me with a
willing spirit. /hen I will teach transgressors Your ways; and sinners will turn $ac" to You. ,eliver me
#rom the guilt o# shedding $lood, O od, O od o# my salvation; my tongue shall sing aloud o# Your
righteousness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare Your praise. 8salm B979?9C
@ow thats a prayer. It is an eschatological prayer. ;avid reached into Gods heart and
prayed in a reality that e,isted outside of the restraints of time and space. He grabbed
onto the God of His *alvation" !esus" and apprehended redemption. He had a revelation
of God and appropriated the truth for himself" his family and his $ingdom.
How did ;avid get so smart= How did he enter into the revelation of Gods heart for
4ustice and mercy=
;avid cultivated a defining characteristic in his heart& a deep" abiding desire that God
really" really li$ed& he was set on $nowing Gods heart and truly believing in Him. ;avid
went hard after unveiling the mystery of $nowing God and God loved it.
Mystery Date
God" for all of His disclosure" is clothed in mystery and as much as we say that we li$e
mystery and suspense" I dont thin$ thats entirely true. We do not truly en4oy
mystery . . . unless it leads to revelation. 3hats at least one reason why we need to $now
how to cure diseases" solve murders and find missing persons. 3hats why we drive
ourselves 'and others( crazy when we cant find something we misplaced" whether we
need it or not. +nd thats also sometimes why we 4udge each other and form conclusions
to answer the big whys of choices and actions. We need answers. >ut here is the $ic$er
? God made us that way. He made us to be revelation hunters. It is the glory o# od to
conceal a thing; But the glory o# "ings is to search out a matter. 8roverbs DB7D. He wants us to
$now Him. In !eremiah" He declares that if we will search for Him with all of our hearts"
we will find Him. 'nd you shall see" and #ind 0e when you search #or 0e with all your heart.
%eremiah ,:+ 13 +s we increase in the revelatory understanding of His heart" we grow in
confidence in His love and 4ust li$e ;avid or even better . . . 4ust li$e !esus" we pray from
true relationship with God in transparency and freedom from shame.
's #or od, his way is per#ect1 the word o# the LO., is tried; he is a shield unto all them that trust in
him. For who is od, save the LO.,2 'nd who is a roc", $eside our od2 /he od that girds me with
strength, and ma"es my way per#ect. +e ma"es my #eet li"e hinds3 #eet1 and sets me upon my high
places, +e teaches my hands to war; so that mine arms do $end a $ow o# $rass. /hou hast also given me
the shield o# thy salvation1 and thy right hand upholds me, and Your gentleness has made me great.
.salm 10+31-39
0ercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace "issed each other. .salm 09+12
In His mercy" He resists us and brings us to the end of our own strength. +nd then" li$e
the son returning from the pig sty" we can hope again in the revelation of the )ather& the
)ather who runs to us. We rediscover our need for an all the time" every millisecond of
the day *avior. In that process" we gain the humility of a child& realizing that we still
need and want our parents and were glad for the safety of love" a warm bath and rest in
the arms of the One who really does $now us and truly does love us. In that place" where
we have been forgiven much" we love much and forgive much as well. +nd in that place"
we begin to mature in love& we learn about humility" honesty" intercession" mercy and
4ustice.
;o!, in the !ider teaching of Christ the meaning is made clear enough. 4alvation is for the
poor in spirit, for those !ho hunger and thirst after righteousness, for the prodigal <no!ing his
!retchedness. It is for the penitent pu"lican, !hile the self-satisfied .harisee is re#ected. = sense
of need and a desire that od !ill give are the characteristics. = child does not argue that it has
earned its father>s "enefits "ut loo<s to him in a feeling of dependence, !ith a readiness to do his
"idding. 4o it is the soul that desires all of righteousness, strives to!ard it, <no!s that it falls
short, and trusts in its 6ather for the rest; that is the sava"le soul.$ International *tandard >ible
-ncyclopedia" notes on salvation
In that place we learn that He is always the God of our *alvation. 3hin$ about that title7
the God of our *alvation. It is His revealed nature. 'nd he saw that there was no man, and
wondered that there was no intercessor1 there#ore his own arm $rought salvation unto him; and his
righteousness, it upheld him. Isaiah BE7 9F
O my od, in thee have I trusted, let me not $e ashamed; let not mine enemies triumph over me. 4one
that wait on thee shall $e ashamed1 they shall $e ashamed that deal treacherously without cause. -how
me thy ways, O LO.,; teach me thy paths. uide me in thy truth, and teach me; #or thou art the od o#
my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. 8salm DB7D?B
I will greatly re(oice in the LO.,, my soul shall $e (oy#ul in my od; #or he hath clothed me with the
garments o# salvation, he hath covered me with the ro$e o# righteousness, as a $ridegroom dec"s himsel#
with a garland, and as a $ride adorns hersel# with her (ewels. For as the earth $rings #orth her $ud, and
as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring #orth; so the Lord od will cause
righteousness and praise to spring #orth $e#ore all the nations. Isaiah F979G?99
He shows Himself to be 6uite stunning and absolutely" outrageously" rec$lessly merciful
to those who have the humility to repent and wal$ transparently before Him& for those
who are willing to forgive generously because they have been generously forgiven. We
need a *avior . all the time& every day. It is the Holy *pirit within us that gives us the
power to overcome sin. We cant do it on our own. Im not saying that we dont need to
embrace that power in our lives. >ut it is His power that accomplishes it and it is our
drawing from His power& turning and returning to Him that pleases Him. It reveals faith.
/here#ore, having so vast a cloud o# witnesses surrounding us, and throwing o## everything that hinders
us and especially the sin that so easily entangles us, let us "eep running with endurance the race set
$e#ore us, loo"ing o## to 5esus, the pioneer and per#ecter o# the #aith, who, in view o# the (oy set $e#ore
him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand o# the throne o# od.
/hin" a$out the one who endured such hostility #rom sinners, so that you may not $ecome tired and give
up. Hebrews 9D79?H
*o" contrary to the voice of our afflictions" we dont belong to shame. We belong to our
)ather who $nows us and loves us deeply and is fully capable of leading us further into
love and the obedience our hearts desire. When we function from that revelation" we
lavish others in the same freedom" love and mercy. +nd" we can confidently and
effectively engage in prayer with Him and with each other.
The Divine Collision
+s a final emphasis on this point" lets really contemplate !esus. We have an all the
time High 8riest who is an eternal intercessor. He never abdicates this role and place of
honor. He is stunningly powerful. He alone can hold the realities of Heaven and earth
together. He alone can mediate between God and man. +nd He alone can provide the
covering of shame with a better covenant of glory through grace. He has restored our
hope& embraced our identity& forever wal$ing in the image of man so that He can embrace
us and dwell with us and conform us to His image. We are the image bearers.
3his is a High 8riest that has fully e,perienced our wea$nesses and willingly embraced
the full on" terrible assault of the wrath of Holiness encountering sin" in order to destroy
the wor$s of *atan and set us free. His voluntary wea$ness provided emancipation from
our worst fear" death. !esus victory was complete& overwhelmingly comprehensive. How
precious and wonderful that we are no longer estranged from 3he >eautiful One. >ecause
of Him we are now the beautiful ones and we can boldly approach the 3hrone of Grace.
In fact" because of Him& because we are in Him" we are forever seated with Him at the
right hand of the )ather. '!ohn" Hebrews and 8auls letter to the -phesians(
;avid #rowder wrote When His ;ivinity meets with our depravity" its a ;ivine
#ollision. I absolutely love the statement. It elicits awe and wonder& a true power
encounter with all the displays of romance and adventure we could ever hope to be
delighted in. God came to our rescue& paying our ransom with love.
%hen I loo" upon Your heavens, the wor" o# Your #ingers1 the moon and the stars which You have
#i6ed; what is man that You are mind#ul o# him, and the son o# man, that You visit him2 For You have
made him lac" a little #rom od; and have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him rule over
the wor"s o# Your hands; You have put all under his #eet1 8salm :7H?F 1I3I
Who can understand this= Out of sheer desire" and because of His own Glory and delight"
He did the most amazing thing ever . . . He fully identified with man and too$ great
pleasure in redeeming us. -ven more" He calls Himself Husband and all of us . . . His
>ride. God is truly >eautiful" Hes wildly good" rec$lessly merciful and He is still saving
us. He is the God of our *alvation. He is also the 1ord our 0ighteousness. %eremiah ,3+8
We are clothed in Him. We are in the bundle of the living. 7ven though someone is
pursuing you to ta"e your li#e, the li#e o# my master will $e $ound securely in the $undle o# the living $y
the LO., your od. But the lives o# your enemies he will hurl away as #rom the poc"et o# a sling.
14amuel ,9+,: +s we grow to understand this" we can move in confidence in prayer
because we have confidence that God is in love with us. We begin to believe in the true
power of 1ove. 3hen" we can wal$ in our true identity& apprehending His mercy and
grace for us and e,tending mercy and grace to others. )rom that posture we can begin to
intercede with Him for our )athers <ingdom to come on earth and ma$e all things right.
?7ut no!, su"dued "y sovereign grace,
@ur spirit longs for his em"race;
@ur "eauty this our glorious dress,
%esus the Lord our righteousness.?
=nd this shall "e our glory here, and our song foreverA?5he Lord our righteousness.?-
Charles 4purgeon
6or further reading on 4purgeon>s thoughts on this topic see %ehovah 5sid<enu ?5he
Lord @ur Bighteousness? http+CC!!!.spurgeon.orgCsermonsC23:9.htm

You might also like