Pastor Rich Eddy

Of course, as soon as I said that, I realized my error, for Peeps have nothing to do with the meaning of Easter, nor with anyone’s ability to celebrate it. Nor do many of the other things that have crept into the holiday. Just as many Winter traditions have accreted to the holiday of Christmas, often obscuring its true meaning, so the celebration of Spring has become attached to Easter.

Think of our Spring/Easter customs:

1. 1. Easter eggs? A sign of Spring and new life being hatched. (Also indirectly a sign of Jesus coming out of the tomb – with new life).
   2. Bunny rabbits? Also a sign of Spring with “prolific” new births. (Also, a sign of many new lives in Christ.)
   3. Butterflies? Also Spring, when cocoons open and beautiful butterflies come out. (And Jesus emerging from the tomb with a new, glorified body.)
   4. Chocolate candy? It just tastes good.

The original Easter event took place in Spring, because that was when the Jewish celebration of Passover took place, and Christ’s sacrifice of himself was tied directly to the ritual sacrifice of the unblemished lamb at Passover, and to his institution of Holy Communion in the Passover feast. That is why the annual date for Easter is determined by a formula: the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox (the start of Spring).

But though intimately tied to Spring, Easter is not a celebration of Spring. It is not a pagan holiday marking the return of Spring and the new emergence of life as plants bud and new bunnies are born. It is instead the commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to eternal life. It marks the victory of God’s Anointed over death, and with it proof that Christ’s sacrifice was accepted as payment for the sins of the world. Because of Easter, all people will also experience their own resurrection – “those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment”  (John 5:29). And, since all people have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23) those who believe in Christ and throw themselves on his mercy, will receive forgiveness and be counted among the righteous (Romans 3:24).

The actual significance of Easter is so overwhelming as to make any other event in history fade away in comparison. It provides meaning to life here and now, it answers the question of life after death, it proves the existence of God and gives proof of his love for us: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Without it, there is no Christianity; without it there is no hope. Without it, as Paul wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinth-ians 15:17-19).

So, if chocolate eggs, plush bunnies, and marshmallow Peeps are hardly appropriate ways to celebrate such an important and awesome event as the resurrection of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, then how should we honor it?

1. Honor Christ’s Resurrection in your heart. Before you try to outwardly show honor, make sure you manifest your honor inwardly. By this I mean that you make sure you understand what God did in the life, death, and resurrection of his Son. Then once you understand, believe it, and trust that your eternal life depends on it – for it does. Then feel the assurance that he gives, knowing that he has made you his child through faith (John 1:12). Remember that God sees the heart: “but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

2. Honor Christ’s Resurrection by reading what God’s word says about it. When was the last time you read all the Gospel accounts of the Resurrection? Set aside time to read Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20. And read what Paul said about Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8.

3. Honor Christ’s Resurrection by worshiping God in church. Your worship is a direct glorifying of God for what he has accomplished through his Son. It is a way to receive his blessing through his Word and Sacrament. It is a testimony to others that you believe, and an encouragement to them to believe and hold fast to their faith. And, it is an act of obedience to God’s word which tells us to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). Remember that in church, every Sunday is a miniature Easter, so you honor God every Sunday you attend!

4. Honor Christ’s Resurrection by telling people about it. Don’t assume that everyone knows the story of Christ’s death and resurrection nor what it all means. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us, “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” What greater reason is there for our hope than Christ’s resurrection? Remember that faith in the resurrection of Christ is more than just believing it happened as an historical event; it also requires spiritual acceptance of what Christ did for us. Only by the work of the Holy Spirit will a person truly believe and become a follower of Christ, be forgiven, and inherit eternal life. “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” (Romans 10:13-14).

5. Honor Christ’s Resurrection by eating Peeps. Okay, scratch this one . . . 

Even as we honor Christ’s resurrection with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, we receive the benefit and blessing of the Easter event. For if we believe in the resurrection, God’s word teaches us that we receive the promises it brings: “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

You may have your own special traditions for celebrating Easter, and that is fine. Dinners, family gatherings, special clothes, and baskets to gather hidden eggs around the house can be fun ways to make the holiday special and memorable. Just include activities which honor the “reason for the season,” the resurrection on our Lord, Jesus Christ!

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord life up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8.

*Peeps are a product and trademark of Just Born, a candy manufacturer founded in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, by an immigrant from Russia (in what is now Ukraine), named Sam Born (1891–1959). They were first sold in 1953, originally for Easter, now for many holidays.

A couple weeks ago, I had several days that brought home to me that I am, in fact, a mere mortal. Which is a bit unsettling, considering that for the past 73 years I have pretty much considered myself to be immortal and invincible. However, as I was getting ready to leave the hospital after five days following a minor stroke (TIA), implantation of a leadless pacemaker, and every medical test known to modern science, (and a few medieval ones, excepting leeches and maggots), I told Karen that I never felt so mortal in my life. When I said that, she immediately thought of the hymn, “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise.”*

The Bible affirms God’s unique immortality in many passages. Some important ones are these:

• • In 1 Timothy 6:15-16, the Apostle Paul writes, “He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”
  • In Exodus 3:14,, God reveals Himself to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM,” indicating His eternal and self-sustaining nature. God is the source of His own life and because he is not dependent on anything else, he always is.
  • 1 Timothy 1:17 says, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
  • And because Jesus is God, Hebrews 13:8 can proclaim, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Karen bringing up God’s immortality was a good contrast to my mortality. Before, whenever I had any medical issues, they were minor, such as a bruise or scrape, or peripheral, such as feet or ankles, or fixable, such as teeth or cataracts or near-sightedness. They were things an “immortal” could live with. Even when I lost a couple toes a few years ago, they were my “little toes” and I expected to be normal once my feet healed up. And when I had to begin dialysis (due to kidney failure), I still didn’t think of my mortality because I was undergoing treatment and I felt fine. Forget the warning that without that artificial procedure I would learn how mortal I am very quickly! (I also noted how when I told people I was in dialysis, everyone told me they used to have a relative who was in dialysis.)

But this time, my brain and my heart had problems. Even my last morning in the hospital, they ran me through a stress test because an early morning (read, 2:30 am) CT scan had revealed deposits in my cardiac arteries that could need angioplasty to improve the blood flow. Fortunately I passed the test, so for now they left the arteries alone. As I said, I left the hospital feeling all too mortal.

Of course, if humans are to function in this world, and carry out the many activities life requires, we pretty much have to think we will be around in the future. We have faith we will be able to work, play, love, travel, and fight, and come out alive at the end of those activities. We set aside money for retirement planning to be alive to need it. Even if we buy life insurance, we don’t intend to really need it. . .

But if we take the Scriptures seriously, we have to take our mortality seriously, too. The very first death sentence was pronounced against the first humans, Adam and Eve, when they sinned and broke God’s one prohibition. In Genesis 2:17, God warned Adam, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat^[d] of it you shall surely die.” Then, in Genesis 3, God gave his judgment: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

The reality of God’s judgment is echoed throughout all mankind through all the ages. The Psalms declare it: “You turn man back into dust and say, ‘Return, O children of men.”’ (Psalm 90:3);  “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10); and “What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?” (Psalm 89:48).

There are many other passages that speak of death and the shortness of life. For example, Isaiah 40:7 says, “The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.”

The New Testament also emphasizes the shortness of human life. 1 Peter 1:24  says, “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls.” Hebrews 9:27 adds, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” James 1:10 says, “and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.” James 4:14 is even more direct: “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

Romans 5:12 declares the reason for our mortality: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”

Fortunately, our story does not end there, for even though this life is limited for all humanity, our immortal God provides us with the chance of new life, of resurrection to eternal life – in a renewed body that will be raised immortal. Listen to what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:53-55 “For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

The final book of the Bible ends with the promise of eternal life and joy for those who die in Christ. There, the voice from the throne of God proclaims: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-5).

In fact, the whole Bible tells the story of an immortal God creating humans to be immortal like him, only for them to lose their immortality due to sin, then for the immortal Son of God to give up his immortality to become mortal like us and to give his life for our sake that we may regain our immortality through him.

So, in light of God’s word, I don’t have to worry about feeling mortal, because in this life I have always been mortal even if I didn’t recognize that fact. The point, and it is a most reassuring point, is that thanks to Christ, I am also destined to be immortal!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give your peace. Amen.

Read:   Job 38                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          *Hymn by Walter C. Smith, 1867. Listen below:

In my last blog, I stated that there are forces working against God’s plan to bless the world with children, and gave current examples of what they are doing. I then asked: What are those forces? Where do they come from, and what do we do about them?

The forces opposing children are the three named in our confessions: the world, the flesh, and the devil.*  These three are also named in the Scriptures, specifically in Ephesians 2:1-3, which reads, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

We could say a lot about the influence of the world and its culture that promotes abortion as a “reproductive right,” or of the flesh, which puts personal material comfort, career, and goals ahead of having children. But, what I want to write about is what inspired me to write this blog: the realization that behind all this hatred of children is the devil himself.

Why does the devil hate children?

1. Because they are people, created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27).
2. Because as God’s people they are the “apple of [God’s] eye.” (Psalm 17:8).
3. Because unlike the devil and his angels, the Son of God became one to redeem them from sin and death (2 Peter 2:4).
4. And, because the devil “was a murderer from the beginning,” (John 8:44). He hates them because, as Jesus said, “for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14).

The devil’s influence has been seen throughout history. Whenever he has been worshiped, either directly or through the pagan worship of idols, children have been considered disposable.

1. We see the example of the Egyptian pharaoh who ordered the killing of all the Hebrew baby boys (Exodus 1:15-16).
2. God’s condemnation of Israel for killing their children according to pagan customs. He said, “They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind” (2 Kings 17:31).
3. God condemned Israel’s King Ahaz: “He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his children in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites” (2 Chronicles 28:3).
4. The Canaanites and others offered their children as burnt offerings to a god named Molech. God’s word calls such practices abominations and forbids doing so. Leviticus 18:13 commands, “You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.” Likewise, Leviticus 20:2, “Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.” God even prophesied that the Babylonians would conquer Judah because his people had sinned by worshiping idols. His complaint against them included the following: “They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.”
5. One more biblical example was when King Herod heard that a “King of the Jews” had been born in Bethlehem, he sent his soldiers to kill all the infant boys of the age of two or younger.  (Matthew 2:16). Known as The Massacre of the Innocents, these boys have been considered the first Christian martyrs.
6. In the First Century, Romans who didn’t want their newborns, would abandon them on the city dumps. But Christians would find them there, and raise them instead – of course teaching them the faith as they grew.

These are all examples from times past, but today the war against children goes on with new organizations and new slogans to justify the murder of babies. So what do we, who are concerned Christians, do to defend the lives of children, both born and as yet unborn?

1. Support those organizations and churches already in the fight for children. As in the days of Rome, it is Christians who are at the forefront of speaking out and defending the rights of children. Charities such as Alternatives Pregnancy Center** and Preborn*** offer counseling and other free services to pregnant mothers in crisis.
2. Refuse to participate in any activity or organization that promotes anti-child actions such as abuse, pornography, or abortion. Speak out against such practices in your public discourse, social media, public hearings, and by the way you vote.
3. When possible, adopt a child or foster one as an alternative to abortion. Provide a loving home where the child will be raised as a Christian.
4. Support new laws, and the enforcement of laws already on the books, which protect children from neglect, abuse and trafficking.
5. Follow biblical guidelines for how you raise your children. Be sure they are baptized and raised in the faith. Model church-going by taking them to church and Sunday school. Be Christian in your speech and practice.
   • “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).
   • “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
   • Teach the Scriptures to your children: “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:6–7).
   • Do not withhold discipline, but use it to correct, not punish. “For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Hebrews 12:7).
6. Pray. Pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Pray for the children who are suffering abuse and neglect of any kind. Pray for the mothers considering abortion, that they find new love for their unborn children and will save them. Pray for parents, foster parents, and adoptive parents for the challenges they will face. Pray for the church and organizations that work to protect children, both born and not yet born. Pray against the forces which promote child sacrifice, while also praying that the people involve to come to repentance and faith. As the Apostle Peter said, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8); let us pray that he has no one to devour!
7. Finally, remember: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Our enemy is the devil, not the people caught up in his deceptions. After all, those people were once children, too, created in God’s image. And by the grace of God, Christ died for them too, that they might be saved. Pray for their salvation. And take heart, for we know the devil’s fate: to be thrown into the lake of fire to be “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).

May our ultimate hope be in Christ Jesus, our Savior. For in him, all who believe are children of God. John 1:12 (my confirmation verse!) tells us: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Matthew 19:13-14; John 8:44; Revelation 20:7-10.

*Martin Luther, Large Catechism, “The Lord’s Prayer.”

**Alternative Pregnancy Center: 8689 Folsom Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95826. https://alternativespc.org (not a link; type into your browser)

***Preborn offers ultrasound pictures to a mother of her child, reducing the number of abortions: https://preborn.com (not a link; type into your browser)

If you have ever read or watched a movie review, you have come across the disclaimer, “Spoiler alert!” It is meant to warn the reader/viewer that the reviewer is about to reveal a plot twist or surprise ending that will “spoil” the experience for someone who has not yet seen the movie.

This happened to me years ago when a group of high school buddies and I went to see a movie that one of our group had already seen and raved about. We were all enjoying the movie until it came to a dramatic scene. Just as we became engrossed in the suspense, our (former) friend blurted out, “Oh, I hate this scene! The bad guy wins!” We almost did to him what the bad guy did on the screen.

Well, today, I am going to follow in his footsteps. I am going to spoil the ending to what appears to be a tragic story. For today is Good Friday, the commemoration of a horrible event. On this day, the holy and sinless Son of the living God was arrested, tried, flogged, and crucified. Before the sun set, his lifeless body was sealed in a tomb and guarded by  soldiers to make sure no one stole his corpse.

His followers scattered, fearing they would be next. One of his twelve closest disciples had betrayed him, another denied him three times. The betrayer hanged himself, and the rest hid out of fear. Their hopes and dreams seemed to be over; the man they had followed as the long-promised Messiah was dead. Like other pretenders before him, Jesus and his kingdom were dead and buried.

“Good riddance!” said the religious leaders, who could brook no rival to their religious monopoly. “Good riddance!” said the Roman occupiers, who could brook no rival to Caesar. “Good riddance!” said the spiritual powers in dark places, who thought their enemy was defeated, leaving them free to tempt, torment, and destroy the creatures which God made in his image. Jesus was dead and gone, a joy for evil, but a devastation for those who hoped in the Lord.

So, that was that. End of story, right? Well, SPOILER ALERT! It’s not over! There’s more to the story. That well-guarded tomb, filled with the dead body of Jesus of Nazareth, would soon be empty, and the Occupant would be seen alive! He would appear to his  followers, men and women, eat with them, and invite them to  touch his healed wounds. He would teach them from the Scriptures about himself, and would ascend bodily into heaven. And because of that, his timid followers would boldly take the good news into the world, even at the cost of almost all of them being martyred for their faith and proclamation.

Yes, this has been a spoiler alert – but not as you might think. The real spoiling has been to those who thought they could destroy the Son of God and his mission to save us from our sins. For by killing him, they enabled his redemptive work to be done, and brought about their own defeat. Death could not hold him. Instead, Hebrews 2:14 tells us, “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.”

As Tony Campolo, a Christian writer and speaker put it: “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s comin’.”* That’s one spoiler I don’t mind hearing!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Mark 15.

*Campolo, Tony. It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Comin’. Contemporary Classics. 2002.

P.S. Watch for a new blog on Sunday!

Something big and earth-shattering happened since my previous blog. On August 31st I had a birthday – number 72, by the way. The earth shook, the stars fell, and the people cried out in agony. Okay, maybe that was a bit too dramatic, but my wife did bake me a German chocolate cake. And I spent half the day in dialysis. That was dramatic enough for me. Oh, and some of you sent me birthday cards, which was very thoughtful. Thank you!

As I contemplated my new age, I felt the dichotomy of recognizing the effects of aging on my body, while feeling like I’m still in my 20’s. I’m not in pain, am able to think and remember things (except for a few senior moments), and can handle daily activities as before. But thanks to my diabetes, foot problems, and kidney disease, I am only too aware that my body is showing its age. You might include my gray/white hair as evidence, except both my parents, younger sister, and I all turned gray at early ages.

The old folk song came to mind:

The old gray mare,
She ain’t what she used to be
Ain’t what she used to be,
Ain’t what she used to be
The old gray mare,
She ain’t what she used to be
Many long years ago.

My folks used to sing it to me; now it’s my turn.

In today’s youth-centered culture, old age is something to be looked down on. Youth and vigor is lauded, advertisers direct their efforts at young adults (their prime demographic), and young 20-somethings grace our media. The only place I regularly see 60+ people featured is in my doctor’s office (and for some reason they are all shown smiling, though they would smile more if they weren’t in their doctors’ offices.) Yes, youth is in great demand, and the oldsters are pushed to the side, sometimes with patronizing comments like, “Let’s put them out to pasture.” Some actually advocate withholding treatments for the elderly or “assisting” their passage from this life. The only place where old people are welcomed is in our government: Congress and the Presidency. (Am I old enough to run for office now?)

As Christians, our attitudes toward seniors should come from what God says in his Word, rather than from the culture around us, especially since much of that culture is under the direction of non-and anti-Christians. So, what does God say?

1. All life is precious, because God created us in his image. There is no age limit or restriction on that declaration (Genesis 1:26-27). Child in the womb? Included. Aged seniors unable to care for themselves? Yep. Any color? Absolutely. Any size or physical or mental condition? Ditto. When God instituted capital punishment in Genesis 9, he said whatever animal or man took the life of another person, would pay with their own life, “for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6).
2. When God commanded, “honor your father and your mother,” (Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16), he gave that commandment to adults who were to honor their older parents. Unlike the practice they had known in Egypt, where the elderly were taken out into the desert to die, the Israelites were to care for their aged parents and honor them. Interestingly, this commandment was linked to a blessing for those who obeyed it: they would see long life in the land where they were going. In other words, if they cared for their old parents, they would get to grow old, too!
3. The Scriptures say that long life is a blessing from God. Besides the blessing attached to the Fourth Commandment above, Psalm 34:12 connects fear of the Lord with longevity. It says, ” What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?” Moses was blessed with 120 years, Joshua with 110. (Not to mention the ancients who lived 900 or more years.) In Deuteronomy 6:2, God says to obey his commandments “that your days may be long.” Psalm 91:16 promises that for those who love the Lord, “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” In the Book of Proverbs, where Wisdom is personified as a woman, it says that there is a blessing for those who find her: “Long life is in her right hand;” (Proverbs 3:16). Another proverb speaks of old age as a blessing: Proverbs 16:31 declares: “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.”
4. Old people have the wisdom of life experience and the knowledge gained over many years. They have lived history and dealt with many of life’s challenges over their many years. That’s why many societies honored their “elders”, turning to them for advice and decisions that would affect the tribe or community.  Deuteronomy 32:7 says, “Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you.” The key verse that affirms this point is Job 12:12, “Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?”
5. Finally, the ultimate “Senior” is the One who lived before the earth began: the One the Bible calls “The Ancient of Days” (Daniel 7:9). In both Daniel and  Revelation 1:14 the Lord is described as having hair “white as snow” (snow white?). Jesus himself proclaimed, “Before Abraham was, I am,” (John 8:58), by which he announced his divinity and his eternal nature.

So there you have it. Now I don’t feel so bad, turning 72. Not only am I close to the US male life expectancy of 73.5 years, I also have the Bible on my side. Therefore, whenever I think of dying my hair, I recall the comforting words of Proverbs 20:29 which say, “The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.” Amen, brother!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Isaiah 46:2-4

Our nation is about to observe its newest federal holiday: Juneteenth. Although the federal holiday is only two years old, various states and localities have celebrated Juneteenth since 1866. The celebration commemorates the day, June 19th (=June-teenth), 1865, when Union Major General Gordon Granger proclaimed freedom for the slaves in Texas, just two months after the end of the Civil War. Although Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863) had already announced the end of slavery in the rebellious states, it was up to the Union army to conquer those states and enforce the proclamation. General Granger’s declaration is considered the final step in that process.

At first, the commemorations took place in churches, especially in Texas, but then they spread to other locales and other venues. In 1980 it became a state holiday in Texas, and in 2021 a federal holiday.

It is right to celebrate freedom.  We celebrate our freedom from Great Britain every July 4th. We sing it in our national anthem in the closing words, “the land of the free, and the home of the brave.” We often say, “It’s a free country, isn’t it?” (Not to be confused with the phrase, “Buy one, get one free!”) Our Constitution’s Bill of Rights enshrines our God-given freedoms of religion, speech, press, etc. and Franklin Roosevelt is remembered for his speech in 1941 that announced his desire for four universal freedoms: of speech, of religion, from fear, and from want. There is something innate within us that yearns to be free from oppression, coercion, and control. We want to be free to “do our own thing,” whatever that thing may be.

Unfortunately, the same impulse for political freedom can also be our undoing, when it leads us to do things harmful to ourselves and others by breaking the laws of nature, society, and God.

1. Nature’s laws are equal-opportunity restrictions. Everyone is bound by gravity and the necessities of air, food, and water. I may be free to do so, but if I use drugs, jump from a tall building, or crash my car into  a tree, I will suffer the natural consequences of my actions.  Wisdom is knowing how and when to exercise my freedom in ways that do no harm to anyone, myself included.

2. Society’s laws. Because people don’t always use good judgment in using their freedoms, or outright misuse them, society has to regulate our actions to protect us from each other. Traffic regulations, contract law, and laws against abuse, assault, theft and murder are examples of rules that limit our actions for the benefit of everyone. Although these days we are being over-regulated by an ever-increasing bureaucracy, government has a God-given responsibility to restrain evil (Romans 13:4).

3. God’s laws. These are the most important laws of all, yet the ones we have broken from the very beginning. The first law God gave Adam and Eve was not to eat from one forbidden tree, but their desire to be free from any such rule brought sin into the world, resulting in the punishment of pain and death. Mankind’s rebellion did not end there, but has continued on in every person of every generation ever since. Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned. . .”

No one would desire to be a slave, owned and controlled by someone else, but when we sin, we become slaves to sin. This is obvious when we indulge our desires with alcohol, drugs, pornography, or gambling, because addictions are a form of slavery. But it is just as true for every sin which binds us to the world. The Apostle Paul warns in Romans 6 that Christians are not to become slaves to sin by submitting to it, for they have been freed from that bondage by their baptism into Christ. Ultimately, we will either be slaves to sin, or slaves to righteousness.  As Romans 6:18 says, “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”

Slaves to righteousness? We humans rebel against those words. Why would we exchange one f0rm of slavery for another? Didn’t Jesus promise us freedom from oppression (Luke 4:18)? Didn’t he say, “. . .  you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32)? Yes, he did. But note the context for his promises:  In Luke 4 he promised freedom from oppression, which is release from sin’s bondage. And in John 8, his promise of freedom is contingent on us knowing the truth. And how do we know the truth? He gives us the answer in verse 31: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth . . .”  So being set free means to be obedient to Christ.

I once heard an analogy about freedom and slavery. Think of a train. It is a powerful machine, capable of great speeds and strength, able to pull heavy loads from one place to another. The train is “free” to perform as it was designed to do – as long as it remains on the tracks. But, if you remove the train from its tracks, the train will just bog down in the dirt and not go anywhere. It loses its freedom. Likewise, when people are on the tracks of God’s commandments, they are free to live as God designed them to live; but when they try to live off the seemingly confining “tracks” laid down by our Creator, they become mired in sin.

The Jewish leaders who confronted Jesus in John 8 were offended when he promised to set them free. They objected, claiming to never having been slaves. They forgot that as a nation, they had been enslaved numerous times before, and had to be liberated by God. They were enslaved in Egypt until the Exodus; they were imprisoned by the Babylonians who destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple; the Greeks conquered them and oppressed them under Antiochus Epiphanes; and in Jesus’ day, they chafed under Roman rule. Now, their ultimate Deliverer stood before them, offering them the greatest freedom of all – from sin and death – yet they failed to recognize their bondage.

That’s the same problem people face today. Thinking themselves to be wise, they become fools (Romans 1:22); thinking themselves to be free from God’s moral restraints, they become even more enslaved. Let us recognize those areas of our lives where we have allowed sin to enslave us, and pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us in all truth (John 16:13) and thereby set us free to be the people of God he wants us to be.

Ultimately, Christ will raise us to new life unshackled to a mortal body bound by the curse of sin and death. No more slavery to sin or to the oppressors of this world.

Then, we can join in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who ended his famous “I Have a Dream” speech with the exultation: “Free at last! Free at Last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”*

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Romans 6

*Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream”, August 28,1963 at the Mall in Washington, D.C.

During a recent Sunday worship, I enjoyed hearing – and singing – one of my all-time favorite hymns: Holy, Holy, Holy. You are probably familiar with the words, which begin with:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty
Early in the morning my song shall rise to thee
Holy. holy, holy, Merciful and mighty
God in three persons, blessed Trinity*

After singing, I asked myself why I found that hymn so satisfying. Part of the reason is that I’ve been hearing it my whole life; it just says, “Church” to me (especially with words like “thee” in it). Part is the tune, which is melodious and easy to sing – even for me. But what I really find satisfying is its theology; it speaks of God’s greatness and his nature. Unlike many contemporary songs which dwell on my feelings and problems, which are changeable and self-focused, this great hymn lifts up the eternal, unchanging nature of God. It is about him.

It’s in a group of classic hymns which praise God for who he is, including: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise; Praise to the Lord, the Almighty; Crown Him With Many Crowns; and of course, How Great Thou Art.

As the next verse of Holy, Holy, Holy proclaims: “Lord, only Thou art holy.” But that raises two questions: First, what does it mean to be holy?  And second, what is it about God that makes him holy?

First, what is holiness? The basic meaning of holiness is to be sacred and separate from the world. It means to be above any commonness or crudeness. It means to be righteous, pure, perfect, separate and set apart; and therefore to be worthy of awe, reverence and fear.

In the Bible, there are two words that convey God’s holiness. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for holy is kavod, which carries the meaning of “heavy, weighty,” and therefore, importance. It demands awe and respect, as well as beauty, radiance, and glory. The New Testament Greek word is hagios, denoting separateness from the world, and sacredness.

God is holy, not a part of creation, but above and beyond it. Before anything is, he was. He is all-important and righteous in all he does and is.  And when we say God is holy, we are talking about the entire Trinity being holy: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This three-fold holiness of God is reflected in both Old and New Testaments, where revelations of heaven show the heavenly beings praising God with three-fold blessings:

Old Testament: “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!'” (Isaiah 6:1-3).

New Testament: “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!'” (Revelation 4:8).

Hence the three-fold praise of our hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy. When we sing that, we are joining the eternal, heavenly praises of our God.

Only God is truly holy, but there are things we call holy which are associated with him and therefore derive their holiness from God and their service to him. For example, the Scriptures speak of the holy Temple (Psalm 5:7), the holy place (1 Kings 7:50), holy angels (Mark 8:38), God’s holy words (Jeremiah 23:9), and the holy church (Ephesians 5:27). And in that holy church, we speak of the Holy Gospel, Holy Baptism, and Holy Communion; all holy because they come from God.

We even speak of holiness in people, meaning they act or live in obedience to God, reflecting his holy image. But such holiness is derived only from God, as the moon’s light reflects more dimly the light of the sun. It is not from some innate goodness in ourselves. It is possible only by the Holy Spirit working in a person. Only by such working can Paul say, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).

When I was in Bible Study Fellowship, we had group prayer times which followed a specific order. Before offering petitions for healing, etc., and even before thanking God for all he has done, we would always begin with prayers of praise to God for who he was, for his awesomeness, love, power, and holiness. May we remember to do the same in our prayers. For God is God, greater than we can even imagine. Truly we should join the eternal chorus of heaven itself, crying out,

Holy, Holy, Holy!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Psalm 30:4; Psalm 99:2-5; Luke 1:49.

*by Reginald Heber, 1826, in the Public Domain 

“Dear Lord, give me patience, and I want it NOW!”

Yes, it’s an old joke, but its message is still true: we are impatient creatures who want things and want them right now, when we want them. Our parents told us, “Good things come to those who wait,” but our culture tells us, “Eat dessert first!” As individuals and as a nation, we have record-low savings and record-high amounts of debt because we want instant gratification. Rather than saving up for something, we charge it and worry about paying for it sometime in the future. Of course, new wants and needs will come along in that future, too.

We all experience feelings of impatience for certain things and milestones in life. Kids can’t wait until Christmas or until summer vacation; grade schoolers can’t wait till they grow up to be high schoolers; high schoolers can’t wait until they’re adults; a couple can’t wait to get married; workers can’t wait until the weekend or until retirement; if we’re sick or injured, we can’t wait until we heal.

This last test of patience has been, and still is, my experience this year. Ever since foot surgery in January, I have been riding a wheelchair and enduring almost-daily wound treatments. And just when that wound was healing up, a new surgery on the other foot “reset the clock” in a sense, meaning more months ahead of waiting patiently for that wound to heal. I can’t wait to be healed and back on my feet again!

Of course, there are times to be patient, and times not to be. When there is a problem that we can help correct, then we shouldn’t just sit around patiently, hoping things get better. We may need to act right away to prevent the problem from getting worse. As Ben Franklin once put it, “A stitch in time saves nine.” If we experience medical symptoms, or hurt someone’s feelings, or need gas for the car, then prompt action may be called for. If we see injustice, we may need to speak up or seek relief rather than watching it continue.

As one starving buzzard said to another, “Forget patience! I’m going to kill something!”

Although there are times to act instead of waiting, the majority of times we will have to wait patiently, especially when we cannot change what is making us wait, such as time or space.  For example, when my wife and I drove cross country, we “couldn’t wait” to get to our destination, but had to, because of the time it took to cover the distance we had to go.

Because patience is so difficult for us, God’s word addresses this as a virtue, and calls on us to be patient in three different, yet related, ways.

First, be patient with each other.  Part of loving other people is to be patient with them. We don’t now what they are going through, what hurts they have experienced previously, or what factors are keeping them from doing what we want according to our timetable. Or we don’t know why they just don’t straighten up like we think they should. Maybe they’re slow, or have different understandings, or see dangers we don’t see. Regardless, we are called to be patient with them. Scripture  commands our patience: “Love is patent and kind . . .” (1 Corinthians 13:4), and “. . . we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all” (1 Thessalonians 5:14).

Just this week I heard from an elderly woman who told how she had been praying for decades for a son who had misspent most of his life. Through one scrape after another, through a wild, sinful life, through a time spent in prison – she kept praying patiently for her son to get right with God. She never gave up, and now, as her life is drawing to an end, she learned that he did find Christ, and is now serving as a minister. Hers was a patience born of love.

Second, be patient with God. One of the hardest things for Christians is to pray and not see immediate answers to our prayers. We pray for a job, for a relationship, for healing – and we wonder if God hears us. He has promised to answer our prayers and give us the desire of our hearts, yet so often heaven seems silent. We join the psalmist is crying out, “Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!” (Psalm 27:7), but then we lament, “O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest” (Psalm 22:2).

When we don’t see immediate answers to our prayers, we must remember: God is not a magic genie who has to obey our commands. He is the sovereign Lord of all, who sets the seasons, who gives life and takes it, who works all things for the purpose of his will (Ephesians 1:9). He has his own timetable of what he will or will not do, and when he will do it. He who knows all things and loves us beyond measure, will act in ways that are best. Just because we don’t see an answer doesn’t mean God isn’t working behind the scenes to bring about the best results. After all, God is a loving Father who knows what we need even before we ask; shall he give us a serpent when we ask for a fish, or a stone when we ask for bread? (Matthew 7:9-11).

Being patient with God is a matter of faith. It means we trust his promises, and trust him as our heavenly Father who provides for us in this life, and has provided for us for the life to come. Even if we must wait patiently for answers to prayer, we still pray for our daily bread and deliverance from evil. We still believe in Jesus’s promise to “ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock when it will be opened to you,” even when our eyes deny that truth.

It is a matter of faith. It was such faith that Scripture lauds in the saints who endured lifetimes of waiting and suffering for God’s sake. Hebrews 6:15 tells of Abraham, who, “having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” And in Revelation 2, Christ praises the saints in Ephesus, saying, “for  I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.” Likewise, James 5:7 tells us all to, “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord,” as a farmer plants seed and has to wait for the crop to grow.

Third, remember that God is patient with you. I confess that at times I want to see God’s righteous judgment and destruction of evil-doers. So many horrible things happen by so many wicked people, that it seems like it’s time for another world-cleansing flood to take them all away. (Too bad God promised never to do that again!) But then I realize: if God acted to kill every one who sins as soon as he or she did something, the world would end right now and I would be among the casualties. So why does God delay in sending judgment? Because God loves us and love calls for patience.

This wonderful truth is declared definitively in 2 Peter 3:9, which says to those who think the Lord’s judgment is delayed, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

Finally, when it comes to being patient, we have help. Fortunately, we are not left to our own imperfect strength of character to summon up patience toward God, other people, or  difficult situations. Though our wills are involved (we choose to be patient), patience is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit, given to believers whom the Spirit indwells. Galatians 5:22-23 spells out the fruit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Patience is a God-given ability that will bless us as we employ it. For with it come the other fruits of peace and joy.  May you find such peace in your life as you practice patience!

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Psalm 37:7; 2 Timothy 2:24; James 5:7-8;  Revelation 2:2-3, 19.

Once upon a time, in the side of a mountain far away, there was a huge cave. Now this was not just any normal cave in any normal mountain, but a very special cave. It was called, “The Cave of Joy.” The cavern was huge, rising up with a vaulted ceiling like some great cathedral, with light streaming in through overhead holes like skylights. Inside this huge cave there were large basins of stone, arranged in a large circle, each filled with what looked like sparkling, pure water. Before each basin was a sign, carved in all the languages of the world, telling what was inside that basin. In the very center of the room was a single stalagmite, on which rested a dove.

Most of the animals didn’t even know that the Cave of Joy existed, let alone know the way to get there. Most just spent their lives wandering around the mountain or flying past it, unaware of the cave or the joys it held. Only when the dove cooed would some hear its call, and respond to the invitation to come to the cave.

And so it happened one day, that the dove sang out its invitation, and its call was heard by a sparrow flying by. The sparrow had never heard any call so sweet, so it turned in the air and followed the beckoning call straight to the cave’s entrance, landed, and walked inside. It went right to the center to stand before the dove, marveling at the peacefulness of the cave and the ring of basins surrounding it. The dove welcomed the sparrow and said, “We’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Around you are basins filled with all the joys the heavens can offer. Help yourself and drink deeply of them.”

The sparrow turned and hopped over to the first basin, and read the sign before it, and since it was in all the languages of the world, including Sparrow, that bird could understand. The sign read, “The Joy of Forgiveness.” The sparrow drank, and was filled with joy at knowing its sins were all forgiven. The next basin was “The Joy of Eternal Life”, and drinking from that, the sparrow rejoiced at knowing that it would live forever. Next, “The Joy of Fellowship” with those who had already come to the cave, then “The Joy of Praise” and the sparrow sang out with a song louder and cheerier than it had ever sung, joined by the cooing of the dove.

And so it went, the sparrow drinking from the various basins the sweet waters of joy, until it came to the final basin, and there it stopped. The sparrow read the sign out loud: “The Joy Nobody Wants,” and then turned with a puzzled look on its beak, and asked the dove, “What is this?” The dove replied, “Just what it says. The Joy Nobody Wants is the Joy of Suffering.”

The sparrow asked, “Does anyone ever drink from it?” “Oh yes,” said the dove. “Eventually, everyone does. But most hesitate, like you; only a certain Lamb came and drank fully of it without hesitation.”

The sparrow considered the dove’s words, and though it couldn’t understand how joy could come from suffering, it reasoned that the sign “Joy” must be true, and so the sparrow landed on the rim of the basin and drank of the water of “The Joy of Suffering.”

What a mistake! The water was bitter and burned in the mouth, and at once the bird’s little stomach began to hurt. It couldn’t understand how the sign had promised joy, when there was nothing enjoyable about it. The sparrow hopped off the basin, bid the dove goodbye, and took off flying for the cave’s entrance. But instead of flying straight and clean through the air, the sparrow somehow veered off to one side and smashed into the cave wall, breaking one wing. Now it couldn’t fly! So instead of soaring out into the sky, the injured bird had to hop and walk slowly and painfully down the mountain.

And so it did, looking up occasionally to see other birds flying overhead, soaring effortlessly in the sky. “Why me?” the sparrow asked, “Those birds don’t even know about the Cave of Joy! How come they’re flying free and happily while I’m down here, hurting and broken?” But even as it asked those questions, the other Joys came to mind, and the sparrow felt less and less sorry for itself, and more sorry for the birds who didn’t know about the Cave of Joy.

After a couple long, painful hours of hopping down the mountain, the sparrow came upon a nest of chickadees – or what had been a nest; the nest had been raided by blue-jays and most of the sticks and grasses had been taken by the jays for their own nest. The two chickadees sat despairing, until the sparrow came up and offered to help. “What can you do? Your wing is broken! And why do you want to help us when you’ve got your own problems?” The sparrow replied, “Because I’ve learned about the Joy of Serving Others.” And with that, the sparrow told them about the Cave of Joy, and urged them to follow the call of the dove when they heard it. The chickadees rebuilt their nest with the help of the sparrow who couldn’t fly but could pull up grass and weeds for them to use. The job finished, the sparrow continued on

Further down the mountain, the sparrow came upon a crow, sitting by the path. It too had a broken wing, having been shot by a near-sighted duck hunter. The crow had its head in its one good wing, crying over its fate. “Why me? What did I do to deserve this? Now, I’ll never fly again!” The sparrow spoke gently to the crow, “Don’t take it so hard! There is hope you know, and you’re still alive!” Without looking, the crow complained, “That’s easy for you to say!” But the sparrow answered, “Yes it’s easy, but not for the reason you think.” The crow looked up and was astonished to see the broken wing of the sparrow, and for the next hour the crow listened attentively to the sparrow’s story of the cave, even as the sparrow helped to patch its wound. “Do you think I can go there, too?” asked the crow. “I’m sure you can; every language was there, even crow! Just listen for the call of the dove.” And with that, the sparrow continued its journey, filled with the Joys of Witnessing and Friendship.

By now, the sparrow was very hungry. It hadn’t eaten all day, and its stomach growled with pain. So what should the sparrow encounter next but a mother robin standing next to a pile of delicious, writhing worms. I don’t know if sparrows really drool, but if they do, this one did! But then the robin asked it, “Please kind sparrow, guard these worms for me while I fly one to my babies in the nest! If I leave them unguarded they might get away or be snatched by someone else.” The sparrow considered its own hunger, but then thought, “I’ve endured the pain in my wing all day, certainly I can suffer hunger for the sake of those baby birds.” So the sparrow agreed and stood watch, and not one of those delicious, wiggling worms got away – nor did any end up in the sparrow’s hungry belly. Yet, through the pain of the hunger, the sparrow felt the Joy of Giving, and knew it was sweeter than the Joy of Receiving.

Finally, as the sun was about to set, the sparrow arrived at a rock from which it could see its home valley just before it. It would be good to get home, and what an adventure it had to tell to its family and friends. What joys it had learned in that Cave! But even as it pondered what had happened, it realized that if it had not drunk from the Joy of Suffering, it would not have broken its wing, and therefore would have flown out of the cave and into the sky, high above those other birds who were struggling on the ground. It would never have known them or the Joy of Serving Others. They would not have heard about the Cave of Joy and the Dove’s call, or might not have believed it, unless one sparrow with a broken wing had endured its own suffering to reach out to them. And so the sparrow knew deep in its heart, the “Joy that Nobody Wanted,” was the “Joy of Suffering.”

What happened next? I don’t really know. Some say the wing healed miraculously at that moment, and the sparrow returned to the air with the “Joy of the Creator’s Power.” Others say the sparrow just hopped on home and lived a life of quiet testimony. But others say the sparrow came upon a nest of baby killdeer in danger of a hungry fox, and that it gave its life, using its broken wing to lure the fox away, and showed the Joy of No Greater Love.

——–

Of course, this story is not about a bird – it’s about you and me. You and I are called out of the world by the Holy Spirit to believe in Jesus Christ and receive the joy and the reality of forgiveness, fellowship with other believers, and eternal life. We do live a life of joy, because we know God through his Son, and have the assurance of unending joy to come in the presence of our Creator.

But as the dove warned, all of us drink of the Joy of Suffering sooner or later. In fact, the Bible says that it is a characteristic of the Christian life that we suffer. We suffer from illness, accident, and evil actions by other people; we suffer from our own mistakes; and because of love, we suffer for other people as we grieve with them, share their burdens, and sacrifice ourselves to show the love of Jesus Christ.

Yet though we do suffer, we are not defeated. Instead, we are called to rejoice in our sufferings for what the Lord can do through them. In Romans 5:3 the Apostle Paul says that we rejoice and even boast in our sufferings, because the Lord will use our suffering to produce perseverance in us, and from perseverance, character, and from character, hope. As we endure hardships and pain, the strength of our faith and character is revealed, to us as well as to others. We all know people who have endured suffering far greater than we can imagine – yet they gave testimony to the love of Christ and the power of God through their suffering: a woman who on her deathbed praised God for allowing her family to see her faith through her suffering; a man who died of cancer, yet at peace, while his family was amazed at the new, loving and peaceful man he had become after receiving Christ just weeks before his death; and the modern day martyrs imprisoned and murdered for Christ.

Whatever suffering you are experiencing now, or may in the future, remember the apostle Paul. Consider everything he went through – we heard the list from 2 Corinthians – floggings, beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, imprisonment, hunger and thirst, and finally, being beheaded for his faith – and then remember what he said about suffering: that we rejoice in them.

Remember too our Savior, the Lamb who drank deeply from the Joy of Suffering, who took upon himself incredible suffering for your sake and mine, that we might have the Joy of Eternal Life.

And about that sparrow – Jesus taught us that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father knowing it, and that you and I are worth much more to God than any sparrow! No grief, no pain, no suffering escapes our Lord. Nor does he allow us to go through it alone.

Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Job 2:1-10; Romans 5:1-5; 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

The other day I came across a video about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran theologian and pastor who was executed by the Nazis in 1945. I have always been interested in his story and in his writings, such as his famous quote about discipleship: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” (From The Cost of Discipleship, 1937).

What intrigued me was the subject of the video, which was Bonhoeffer’s views on stupidity. Having had some experience in that area, I decided to watch to learn what he said about it – written in one of his final Letters From Prison (1945), shortly before his execution.

Bonhoeffer’s purpose in the letter was to answer the question which so puzzled him, which was how a country so advanced in science, art, literature, and religion as Germany certainly was, could perpetrate the horrors he was witnessing firsthand. His answer was: stupidity. Not so sure of his conclusion, I watched intently. What I saw was not just a critique of Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, but a warning to America in the 2020’s, because much of what he wrote applies to what’s happening here today. So let’s consider what he said, and see if I’m right about the parallels.

First, he was appalled by what he saw in society: an authoritarian regime that allowed no opposition, incited mobs that rioted and destroyed shops and businesses, and the persecution and murder of targeted groups. He wondered how the people had turned into cowards, crooks, and criminals.

Second, his answer was that the people had become stupid. By stupid he didn’t mean mentally deficient or uneducated; he meant people who closed their eyes and ears to the truth around them, closing their minds, and yielding their independence and autonomy to those who took power.

Third, stupidity is not a psychological problem, but a sociological one, which is fostered by social group interactions. You don’t inherit it from your parents, but you “catch” it from other people around you. Also, it is not an intellectual problem, but a moral one – the equivalent to what the Bible calls “foolishness.”

Fourth, he said that you cannot reason with or argue with a stupid person. Stupid people are secure and self-satisfied with their prejudices; they are willfully stupid. They speak in slogans and catch-phrases, as if under a spell. If you disagree with them, they become irritated and go on the attack. They are dangerous.

When I got to this point in the video, I sat back and said, “Wow!” It was like watching the news: government mandates, mobs smashing and looting stores, angry people shouting at each other, absence of any civil discourse, public shaming of certain groups, mindless slogans, and moral failures everywhere. Like Bonhoeffer, I found myself asking, “How can a country so blessed as we have been, with our freedoms, prosperity, and resources, have fallen into what Bonhoeffer called, stupidity?”

The core problem predates our situation, or even Nazi Germany. It was known back in biblical times, when the nation of Israel turned away from the true God to worship idols, even when God gave them every gift, creating and preserving a people out of them. The image that comes to my mind is when the newly liberated nation built a golden calf and worshiped it, saying,  “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32:4,8).

The problem then, and now, is that people turn their backs on God and become fools. The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10), and that “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God'” (Psalm 14:1). Foolishness is a moral issue, not an intellectual one, and the Bible equates it with stupidity. In typical Hebrew poetry, the prophet Jeremiah puts foolishness and stupidity together: “For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children;” (Jeremiah 42:2).  And the basis of their foolishness/stupidity? They don’t know God.

As a nation, we have gone from at least a common set of biblical teachings and references, so that disagreements could be settled by appeal to the one Higher Authority, to a situation where “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6). In Israel’s case, God allowed other nations to enslave them for their disobedience; is he now doing the same regarding the U.S.?

Scripture supports Bonhoeffer’s view of national stupidity., that people won’t listen and cannot be reasoned with:

1. Proverbs 12:15 “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.”
2. Psalm 92:6 “The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this:”
3. Proverbs 23:9 “Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.”
4. Proverbs 26:4 “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.”
5. And finally, Proverbs 29:9, “If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.”

Seeing so many parallels between what Bonhoeffer (and Scripture) said about moral foolishness/stupidity, I was eager to see what solution he might offer for the problem we face today. Unfortunately, here I was disappointed. I was expecting our Lenten call to “Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Joel 2:13). Or maybe a fire and brimstone warning to unbelievers to “seek the Lord while he may be found.” (Isaiah 55:6). But Bonhoeffer’s solution was “liberation,” of the soul certainly, but beginning with external liberation.

I can understand that he would have wanted himself and the other prisoners to be freed from their prison, but Christian history is filled with people who were imprisoned physically for their faith, yet thrived spiritually, holding to the faith and accepting their persecution as a testimony to Jesus Christ. I think of other prisoners who did not become stupid or foolish against God: Paul, Peter, William Tyndale, Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others, including Bonhoeffer himself.

But I do agree with his assertion that there must be an internal liberation, through which a person becomes free of the social and cultural bondage which keeps him or her in a state of stupidity. How is that liberation achieved? The same way that all of us are called out of darkness into the marvelous light of God: by the power of the Holy Spirit working though God’s Word. Only when we love and fear God are we wise; only by his Word do we believe in God and accept his Truth. And it is that Truth of which Jesus spoke when he said, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

So how do we combat the rampant moral stupidity that has infected our country? By holding fast to and proclaiming God’s Word, for it is more than just an argument or point of view; it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe (Romans 1:16), sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). It is a spiritual weapon that brings inward freedom, which we pray will also bring wisdom and external freedom back to our nation, which sorely needs it, for we are in an era of moral stupidity.

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Psalm 92; Proverbs 29; Hebrews 4:11-13; 

P.S. The video is available at https://youtu.be/ww47bR86wSc  It was posted by Sprouts (not the grocery), www.sproutsschools.com

From time to time, I have posted a blog under the title, “Odds & Ends,” deviating from the usual mini-sermon/essay format to share news, do some “house-keeping,” or explain some things that don’t rise to the level of full blog material. This is the sixth such posting. Some of the comments may be familiar to you, but given that there are a number of new readers, I thought it wise to iterate the new and reiterate the old.

1. The blog address originally began with http:// but now starts with https://. The added letter “s” signifies “secure,” which is a security improvement to the website, provided by the host company. This is to the benefit of both the writer (me) and the reader (you).
2. Many, if not most, websites include paid advertising that pops up alongside or beneath the writers’ articles. This is very common, and is one way for the “bloggist” (Is there such a word? If not, there should be – “blogger” sounds so mundane. . . ) to pay for his or her site, or even to make money, based on the number of views they get. I have decided not to use paid ads, for three reasons. First, because I’m not doing this site to make money, and I can afford the low cost the web hosting company charges. Second, I can write what I believe without looking over my shoulder at sponsors, being afraid to run afoul of their editorial policies. I already have one very special Editor looking over my shoulder regarding my writing – and He is the only one I am accountable to. Third, in most cases the bloggist, er, blogger, does not get to choose which ads appear on the site. I have seen Christian blogs with some very questionable ads, and my immediate reaction has been to ask why the bloggers chose those ads – and then I remember they didn’t have a choice. So, to avoid those mixed messages, I chose not to take ads.
3. Likewise, I do not “harvest” data, either names or email, from my readers to sell to anyone. If you know someone who might like to read my blog, I will be glad to add them to my notification list, but only with their permission.  People can also subscribe on my site to receive notices directly from the blog as soon as I post each new article. This might help if you find my notices getting sent to your spam folder.
4. I find that I’m blogging about twice a month on average (160 blogs so far!), so if you don’t hear from me in over a month, check your spam/junk folders for my notices, or go directly to the blog to catch up.
5. A couple reminders on format: I usually use the English Standard Version (ESV) for my biblical quotations, but occasionally use other versions when useful – such as when a key word is in a version I memorized. In those cases I signify which translation I’m quoting, such as KJV or NIV. Also, I usually don’t capitalize pronouns used for God, using “he, him, and his” instead of “He, Him, and His.” This is not to lessen reverence for God, but to follow the lead of the original biblical languages, which did not capitalize such pronouns, either. At least I don’t use “s/he, ze, or them”! I do capitalize titles used of God, such as Creator, Savior, etc.
6. A few of my articles have been picked up and published in our church’s national bimonthly magazine, The Evangel, such as in the March-April of 2021 issue (#198). That and other back issues of the magazine are available on the website at https://www.taalc.org/the-evangel-magazine.
7. The Bibles pictured in the heading on my blog pages are from my own library. While I was looking online for stock images of books to place in the header and portray my interest in reading, my wife asked me why I didn’t just take a picture of my own books since I had so many to choose from. It was one of those “duh!” moments. She was right of course, so I got out the camera and took the picture you see. We like how it turned out, and besides . . . no royalties! (Unless you want to use it, then let’s talk . . .)

As always, I close with what is called the Aaronic Blessing, a benediction which, in Numbers 6:24-26, the Lord told Moses’ brother, Aaron, to say to the people : The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Ecclesiastes 12:12; Numbers 6:22-27