Living in Vanity Fair of Life
One of my favorite stories of all time is Pilgrim’s Progress written by John Bunyan published in 1678. The Pilgrim’s Progress is the 2nd most popular book in World History, after the Bible, and has been translated into more than 200 languages.
It is the story of a man named Christian, who is an allegorical story of heading to the Celestial City, which is heaven. Christian leaves behind the City of Destruction to find relief from his burden.
As the story unfolds, what Christian realizes as he progresses through life in search of salvation that anything that this world offers is truly empty and meaningless. Why? For the world is broken, sinful and hopeless.
Halfway through the story comes to a place called “Vanity Fair” Here, Faithful and Christian are mocked, smeared with dirt, and thrown in a cage. They are condemned to death for belittling Vanity’s false religion.
Have you ever felt like a Christian wandering through a Vanity Fair? Scripture says, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” (Ecc 1:2). There are many valuable lessons we will learn from Christian’s journey.
We live in a broken world, don’t we? Why is that? Because there is sin.
How can we live on in a world that is empty, broken, sinful hopeless? What does this mean for Christians today? How does “emptiness” have affected upon our lives?
1. Empty World
We are broken people living in a broken world. Full of hurting people and hurting each other. Because of that, we see “Brokenness” all around us.
It is tempting today to give up and live with dead hope for our faith in a compromising way. Sin never satisfies our hearts. This wasn’t always the case though. Prior to Genesis 3, there was a world without sin. There was a world without pain, suffering, and hurt.
This is not to minimizes the amount of pain, and the great trials they are walking through, but points them to the new life in Christ.
In John 4 we witness, there was something new: Cana of Galilee.
- (1) Jesus turns water into wine.
- (2) Jesus cleanses the new temple.
- (3) Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus.
- (4) Jesus’ conversation with a Samaritan woman.
- (5) Jesus heals the sick.
The cure to this is Christ! We have not been abandoned simply because difficult times have assaulted us. Our future in Christ is not in jeopardy. The difficulties we experience cannot undermine the certainty of our coming inheritance.
C.S. Lewis said it well, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
I think of the old hymn, “Deep Deep Love of Jesus”. Oh, the deep deep love of Jesus. Vast unmeasured boundless free. Rolling as a mighty ocean. In its fullness over me. Underneath me all around me. Is the current of Your love. Leading onward leading homeward. To Your glorious rest above.
I would not understand the thought or the great deep deep love of Jesus. All the languages and words in the world do not suffice to define that love. But we do have an example, and that is Jesus’ crucifixion upon the cross.
2. Empty Cross
The crucifixion of Jesus is the historical foundation of a Christian worldview. Events that took place in History: It is not mythology, truth that has been decorated with historical facts. What we read of Jesus being crucified, ought to solidify our conviction!
When we take a close look at the unimaginable suffering Jesus endured on that wooden tree, this troubles my heart. Unlike when we have people wear a necklace, have a lovely wooden tree with flowers on Easter Sunday, or have it tattooed on our arm, the cross was not something someone takes pride in.
The cross was an instrument of torture. The cross was one of the most gruesome and humiliating acts that a man can ever go through. Jesus endured the most violent, brutal, and agonizing death that man could ever imagine.
Sometimes in a liturgical setting, you even see a cross with Jesus on it with a cloth around it, but 2000 years ago most likely people did not have anything to cover, which made it a public humiliation that even mentally wrapped someone’s dignity away.
I often try to put myself in the shoes of the narrative account with the characters. How must it feel for Mary to see her own son on the cross? What were the thoughts of the Roman soldiers mocking the King of the Jews? Above all, what were the thoughts of Jesus on the final days as he prepared to go upon the wooden tree, and he must drink the cup of the wrath of God?
I would never understand. What love he has for us, for even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many? (Mark 10:45).
But thanks be to God, the story doesn’t end at the cross. Because Jesus’ story did not end on the cross, we have hope for the future.
“Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.” (Mark 15:46).
3. Empty Tomb
All four gospel accounts share different perspectives of the stories of the resurrection.
The gospel of Mark 16:1-8 describes the empty tomb as an announcement by the angels that Jesus was alive. “He is Risen!” which makes it unique as it is the shortest.
The gospel of Matthew 28:1-20 describes the empty tomb, and the ladies went to describe what has taken place! Matthew describes the stolen body. The final 5 verses tie in the resurrection with the Great Commission. The book of Mark’s section on the resurrection is 4 times longer than Mark’s.
The gospel of Luke 24:1-12 described the empty tomb with the stone that was rolled, when they went into the tomb, there was no body of Jesus in the tomb. Ladies told the people during this time what had happened, and people are perplexed at what has happened here.
In the gospel of John, we find two full chapters covered (56 verses given to the resurrection). Unlike the gospel account, Jesus appears in Jerusalem and in Galilee as well. In John 20:1-10, the woman found the tomb empty, which Mary Magdalene is the first one to find out.
Jesus makes the statement earlier in the gospel account of the great I AM statement, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).
The resurrection should lead believers to have further faith in God! We often have faith as a static concept. Is our faith diminishing or something? True believers will never lose their faith. The faith can be weak and small faith at times. “Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith.” (1 Thess 3:10).
How can one grow practically in faith?
- (1) Read the Bible: Most people don’t read the bible regularly, as a result, most people will not have strong faith. We must read to grow in faith
- (2) Pray for God: Pray that God will increase our faith!
- (3) Act in faith: We must exercise our faith! That is called, “obedience”
The Cruciform Life in the Christian Life
Discipleship includes crucifixion. Implication for the death of Jesus Christ: Passions and desires…. be willing to go to death for the sake of following Jesus. We must have the thought of even death.
True greatness is in the willingness to DIE. True greatness consists not in the position of power but in humble service.
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20). We must crucify ourselves all day every day.
How to respond to that hostility? It is easy for us to respond in the same way. Jesus did not write us off, continue to pray and minister to those people with opportunity. How are we to respond? Here are 3 practical pieces of advice.
- (1) Fear God and not man.
- (2) Fear not for those who can kill the body.
- (3) Fear not for you are more valuable.
God is the judge; God is our father. He cares about us more than the sparrows, not men. When we speak of “fear” that is not like a cringing way of a child being abused by the parents. We are to revere God. (Prov 1:7). We are not to be men-pleasers, but God-pleasers.
The point is not about how they hid, as Jesus was raised from the dead, the disciples went from cowards to courageous preachers! Disciples fearing for their lives are willing to give their lives to martyrdom.