Are you weak? Be proud of it.

Steve Brown:
Are you weak? Be proud of it. Let’s talk about it, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
This is Key Life. We’re here to let you know that because of what Jesus has done, God will never be angry at you again. Steve invited our friend Justin Holcomb to join us in a special series about the season of Lent. Justin is a Bishop in the Episcopal Church, an author, and a seminary teacher.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. If you’ve been with us during Lent, you are aware that one of my favorite people in the world, Dr. Justin Holcomb, has been coming in on Mondays and each Monday in Lent, he’s teaching us some of the aspects of the idea and the time and the reality of Lent, as we approach the most important event in the history of mankind, the crucifixion of Christ and his resurrection. What are we going to talk about today?

Justin Holcomb:
Boasting and weakness, that’s the theme of, you talk, it just sounds so weird saying that, we never get to talk like this outside of like church and gospel conversations.

Steve Brown:
It’s true.

Justin Holcomb:
You went to a business meeting and you’re like, Hey, let’s talk about boasting and weakness. They’d be like, whatever, man, like that doesn’t make money. It’s not going to help you climb the ladder of corporate whatever.

Steve Brown:
It really is counterintuitive.

Justin Holcomb:
Well, we live in a world of scorekeeping and

Steve Brown:
yeah, we really do

Justin Holcomb:
putting your best foot forward, best side of the face to the camera. And Christianity and the teaching of the Bible keeps on saying, well, how about since God knows everything that we don’t act like God doesn’t, and actually be honest with ourselves and himself. So we’re, here we are in the middle of Lent at this point. This is the third Sunday of Lent, 40 day season of repentance, focusing on Jesus. We started with his temptation, so he was tempted for 40 days by Satan. And then he’s heading to the cross. And so, we’re looking at in between, he’s tempted, he’s righteous, he’s sinless, and he’s about to go headlong on purpose to the cross and lay his life down. And that in between time of focus, we have prayers like this. And again, this is my absolute favorite prayer in Lent. And you’ll see why.

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves. Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body. And from all evil thoughts, which may assault and hurt the soul.

That one’s good. That one.

Steve Brown:
It got to me.

Justin Holcomb:
I mean, just look at the, again, all the prayers address God using Biblical terms and other phrases.

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves.

Most, I don’t like saying that, because I like my illusion of being, having power to help myself. And so, this one’s like the splash of cold water in your face. We have no power in ourselves to help ourselves. And so, what do we need God to do? What do we ask God to do?

Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls,

So, that’s noteworthy because this isn’t just some type of ephemeral, ethereal, like oh, temptations out there. There’s like, it’s in our bodies and our souls.

that we may be defended from all adversities, which may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts, which may assault and hurt the soul.

There’s that assault language again, Lent one, we talked about assaulted by many temptations. I love how strong the language is, and this one’s just really cool.

From all evil thoughts.

Because we usually go, Oh, I had evil thoughts. I’m assaulting the holiness of God and I’m hurting God. You are, our thoughts are evil. And when we do that, we are assaulting God’s holiness and all that kind of stuff. But the other piece of that is that our evil thoughts also hurt ourselves and assault us and hurt our souls. I love the intensity of that language. And it reminds me of Psalm 121, this is verses 1 and 2, and 7 and 8.

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep you’re going out and you’re coming in from the time forth and forevermore.

Again, the writer of that prayer that we read sounds like they’ve been reading Psalm 121 and asking for the help. So, just the idea here is just, we can get into all the nuances of that prayer. But the big idea is we boast in weakness because that’s how you ask for help. That’s the big idea.

Steve Brown:
And listen, I can attest to that. I, you know, nobody has tried more than I have. I’ve got to say that. I really work at this thing. And I thought when I was young, I’m going to be like the people that have gotten it together, that are pure and walking and Christ like. And I really did try. Not in a cynical way, really trying. And I couldn’t get there. I mean, the only thing that was revealed was my total weakness before holy God. And I thought, oh God have mercy. And the angels started singing and said, you’ve got it.

Justin Holcomb:
And this is why, we’ve talked about this before. This is why understanding the law and the gospel is so important because the law is a reflection of God’s character, his desire, his will. This is the Ten Commandments summarized, the 600 commands in the Old Testament. You know, the first four about God, like God’s holy, so how do you relate to God? And the second tablet, the second half, the other six are about how we relate to one another. And then Jesus summarized those when he was asked.

What’s the greatest commandment?

He said, well.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.

He actually used Deuteronomy and Leviticus, both of those sentences that Jesus said was the Old Testament summarizing itself.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart.

That’s the first four and

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Is the second six. And the response, one person, the rich young ruler said, well, I’ve been doing all of that stuff. I’m good to go. And Jesus said, okay, then sell everything you have and give it to the poor. And Jesus used the law to flatten out our self righteousness. And so. I’m with you. I’ve tried really hard. This isn’t about trying. This is about realization that I’m not powerful enough to help myself. I’m powerful enough to do things like go on a diet and drink less alcohol and set a better rhythm for my life and be a better leader and learn how not to be domineering. Like there’s, there’s certain things I’m powerful enough to help myself in. This is talking about how you stand before a holy God.

Steve Brown:
This is a lot deeper.

Justin Holcomb:
This is we’re going for God, the law requires perfection. And so, when you look at the holiness of God and you realize no matter how hard you’ve tried, no one measures up, yeah, I’m not a murderer, I have not killed someone. Oh, by hating someone, I have that impulse in my heart. I haven’t committed adultery. I’ve not committed adultery at all, except for any lust in my heart. And so, when you have Jesus’ intensification of the law, that he does on the Sermon on the Mount, that flattens out everything. And so, that’s why I John, the whole passage about.

When you confess your sins, he’s faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you of your sin.

That’s a crazy passage. Think about that.

If we confess our sins, God’s faithful.

Okay, that’s great. We talked about that last week, God’s patient faithfulness, but he’s just.

God is just to forgive you of your sins.

That doesn’t sound like justice. It sounds like mercy. Unless, of course, he poured out his judgment on someone else, and it would be unjust of God to judge you because he already judged that sin in Jesus when he received all of the sin of the world and the consequences of that sin on the cross, God would be unjust to not forgive you. And so, that’s why, when you look at the law, and then, if that turns, if the law turns you to yourself, you haven’t read the law properly. If you look at the law and go, Ooh, I think I can do that.

Steve Brown:
You haven’t understood.

Justin Holcomb:
It turns you to Jesus to go, Woe is me. I have these evil thoughts. I need defense. I’m not righteous. And it turns your eyes to Jesus to go, Oh, you’ve taken the consequences of my sins so I can be forgiven. And you have not sinned and you’re righteous. And you’re going to give me that righteousness. That’s what this passage of boasting and weakness. And that comes straight from II Corinthians 12:9.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so the power of Christ may rest upon me.

That’s what we’re looking at in Lent.

Steve Brown:
You know, I think that self righteousness is the most dangerous thing that can happen in the church, and it’s everywhere. Everywhere you look, there’s self justification and self righteousness. And what you’ve taught us about Lent is that the purpose of Lent is to get rid of that, to be aware of our weakness, to be aware of our failures and our sins, and to be more aware of a God who is kind and merciful and gracious to us.

Justin Holcomb:
Think about what that does. So, if you had that view of repentance, it changes how you relate to God, how you relate to yourself, how you relate to people in your family, and how you relate to other Christians in your community and in your church. It changes everything, if self righteousness gets undermined.

Steve Brown:
Oh, so good stuff. We’re talking about Lent, Lent that can change your life. And each Monday, Dr. Holcomb’s coming in and teaching us. I hope you’re listening. It will change everything. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thanks guys. That was Steve Brown and Justin Holcomb continuing our Monday series on the season of Lent. Trust you’re enjoying that and hope you’ll join us again tomorrow when Steve will resume our guided tour through the Book of Philippians. So, here’s your random Matthew fact for today. Decades ago, I was a professional actor for one day, went to the audition, booked a national commercial, and that was it. I never, I never really pursued it after that. And yet, the acting does continue. Like when I act as if I’m okay and everything is fine, but it’s not. You ever do that kind of acting? Well, in Steve’s book, Hidden Agendas, he invites us to drop our masks and remember that we are forgiven, redeemed, accepted, and loved. We took sections of that book and created a special booklet. Get your free copy right now by calling us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail Steve@keylife.org to ask for that booklet. Or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for the free booklet, which is called Hidden Agendas. Last thing, if you’re blessed by Key Life, would you help share that blessing with others through your giving? Giving is easy. You can charge a gift on your credit card, or include a gift in your envelope. Or simply text Key Life to 28950. And if you can’t give right now, listen, all good. But if you would, please do pray for us, would you? Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.