Defeating Spiritual Despair

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Defeating Spiritual Despair

Kingdom Perspective

December 29, 2022 • Don Willeman

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Spiritual despair is a terrible thing. It can settle upon us like a dark cloud, obscuring our vision and leaving us feeling like a failure of a Christian. The accusations of the devil flood our conscience, and it feels like there is no way of escape. What should we do?

The great Martin Luther gives some advice in a letter to a young man who had become overwhelmed with similar feelings of despair. He counsels him:

“By all means flee solitude, for the devil watches and lies in wait for you most of all when you are alone….”

For us this may mean, we must call a friend, perhaps several friends, and ask for encouragement and prayer. But what Luther says next is most potent, for it draws its strength from the very heart of the gospel.

“[The] devil is conquered by mocking and despising…, not by resisting and arguing with him. . .
“When the devil throws our sins up to us and declares we deserve death and hell, we ought to speak thus:
‘I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it?
Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation? By no means.
For I know One who suffered and made a satisfaction in my behalf.
His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Where he is, there I shall be also.’”

My friends, the gospel is totally counter intuitive. It is when we are least deserving that Jesus is most for us. And even when your faith fails, the faithfulness of God does not.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.”

~ 2 Timothy 2:11-13 (ESV)

Seeking Reconciliation

December 22, 2022 • Don Willeman

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. Times of crisis often reveal hidden problems. Repeatedly, we have seen national crises expose and exacerbate lingering social divisions. Class, race, politics are often pressed (and even, at times, manipulated), to further divide our nation, and even the church. As Christians, we must not allow this to be so. Jesus called us to be “peacemakers” (Matthew 5). Jesus Himself accomplished peace for us on the cross, by “swallowing” the animosity that divides us (Ephesians 2). Therefore, if we do not live into that peace, in practical ways, we deny (even undermine) the peace Christ has secured for us (Ephesians 4:1-6). But how exactly do we do this? There are perhaps many things we need to do, but most critically we need to do the hard and sacrificial work of seeking understanding. We need to repent of our self-centered arrogance and become curious of other people’s perspectives—especially those that may differ from our socio-cultural experience. Don’t assume that you see it all. Don’t naively assume that your news source gives you the “objective perspective”. We need to become learners. This is exactly what Paul commands us in Philippians 2:3-4 (NASB95): “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” As Christians we are called to humble ourselves by stepping into the experience of others. And we are to do this, because this is precisely what God did for us in Jesus. Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!” ~ Philippians 2:3-8 (ESV)

Incurvatus In Se

December 8, 2022 • Don Willeman

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. We sometimes have a thin and petty understanding of sin. But sin is anything but thin and petty. The 5th century Christian leader Augustine (354-430) along with the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546) used a Latin phrase to explain the profoundly problematic nature of sin. They called sin “incurvatus in se”. Sin by its very nature is “deeply curved in on itself…. [Under the corruption of sin, our soul] wickedly, curvedly, and viciously seeks all things…for its own sake” (Luther in his Lectures on Romans, emphasis added). This means that sin is a radical self-addiction—a deep and abiding self-obsession. It is the very opposite of love as described in 1 Corinthians 13. Thus… Sin is not patient. It wants what it wants when it wants it. Sin is not kind. It is cruel, using and running over others. Sin is jealous. It always feels very insecure. Sin is arrogant. It’s always full of itself—puffed up with its own perspective and convinced of its own rightness; it is ready to explode at the slightest injustice or irritation. Sin is self-seeking. Sin is bitter, keeping track and nurturing every hurt and wrong. It is in a constant state of self-pity. Sin is easily provoked. It takes everything very personally. Sin rejoices in unrighteousness. It finds its pleasure in the pursuit of raw desire and refuses to be restrained with consideration of others, especially God. It says, “No one’s gonna tell me what to do. I live by my own rules.” Sin refuses to endure suffering. The sinful self is far too precious to be spent on anyone but itself, especially anyone who it deems to be “wrong”. Sin is obsessed with self; it’s curved in on itself. But Love is willing to suffer for others; it is willing to liquidate its life for the good of others. Indeed, this is what the embodiment of love—Jesus Christ—did for us on the cross. Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (ESV)

Knowing Who You Are Not

December 6, 2022 • Don Willeman

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. One of the most difficult things in life is having an accurate self-assessment. Knowing who you are (and who you are not) is foundational to everything in your life. However, achieving this is very difficult because we tend to have a high view of ourselves. We play a game of puffing up and polishing up our image. We do this on Facebook, and we do this face-to-face. Then, in order to maintain this image, we are in constant scramble-mode to make sure no one finds out the truth. It’s really quite miserable. Now, in his day, John the Baptist was a very popular figure. We would say, “He had a lot of followers on social media”. He was the hottest ticket in all the Jordan River valley, and people were coming from miles around. But what’s interesting is how John responded to this fame. He did not draw attention to himself but directed it to Jesus. John knew who he was; and he knew who he was not. As a matter of fact, when the religious leaders came to John and asked, “Who are you?” John basically replied, “I am not who people think I am…. I am just a voice directing people to Jesus.” In so many words, John was saying, “I’m not called to impress you with myself. I’m called to point you to Christ. Don’t look at me. Look at Him. Behold Him, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” My friends, what a relief not to have to bear the miserable burden of keeping up a false (and idolatrous!) image of oneself. John found his identity not by looking at himself but by looking at his Savior. Where do you find yours? Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’” ~ John 1:19-29 (ESV)