Month: May 2019

In the Blood

Today I gave blood.

Well, it’s more like, they took blood. I can’t say I did something as noble as donate blood to a blood bank, when what really happened was that I went to a medical lab to have blood drawn for a round of routine tests. The blood-taker (technical name: phlebotomist) jabbed a needle in my right arm and drew blood from one of my veins.

Some blood-takers have a sense of humor. Others do not. One asked me, “Spell your first and last name for me.” I replied, “Y-o-u-r  f-i-r-s-t  a-n-d  l-a-s-t  n-a-m-e.” The needle stick hurt a bit worse that day. Another time, I asked if the phlebotomist’s work was “in vein.” Not a word in reply. And when I asked why they took so many vials of blood from someone who was supposed to be anemic, since that would leave me more so, the needle-sticker just said it’s surprising how little blood I need to get by. I asked her where I could go to make a withdrawal instead of a deposit.

Some blood-takers have a sense of humor.Others do not.

It’s amazing how much information the medical people can learn from a quart of blood (okay, it only seemed like a quart. It was more like a couple teaspoons. No, make that, a lot of teaspoons). They count the quantity of cells and platelets, and their condition. They detect and measure all kinds of proteins, fats, and sugars, from which they can detect one’s overall health and many different diseases. They can tell how well you’re taking care of yourself, and what problems you’re likely to have. In fact, they can tell all kinds of things from the DNA in your blood, including your ancestry and how suitable you are for blood or organ donations or transplants. It’s almost as if one’s entire life is in his or her blood.

The life is in the blood.

Which sounds almost biblical, because it is. The Old Testament law prohibits drinking the blood of animals (I’m sure humans are included in that law, too) along with their meat, because “the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood” (Leviticus 17:14). Deuteronomy 12:23 repeats the command: “Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.” Both passages are consistent with the command God gave Noah after the Flood, “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood” (Genesis 9:4). For that reason, keeping a kosher kitchen has always required that the animal to be eaten was killed by being cut and drained of blood, not strangled.

Now, on the one hand, stating that one’s life is in the blood seems obvious. Blood is required for life – to provide oxygen and nutrients to the body’s cells and remove their waste products. If we get cut and “bleed out,” we die. If we lose blood from an injury or surgery, we may need a transfusion, or we die. Whether hunting food or fighting enemies in combat, one attempts to prevail by making the target bleed and die. In that way, the life is in the blood.

the teaching that “the life is on the blood” used to confuse me a bit.

But, on the other hand, the teaching that “the life is on the blood” used to confuse me a bit. I thought how we are body, mind, and spirit, and therefore our life is much more complicated than just what’s flowing through our veins. What if I do happen to eat some blood with my meat, such as with a rare steak? Am I taking the cow’s life into mine when I do? And what about transfusions – if I receive blood, am I absorbing another person’s being into my soul, like a vampire from an old horror movie? Since over my lifetime, I have eaten chicken, turkey, game hens, eels, tuna, sardines, perch, trout, pike, bass, crabs, lobsters, clams, oysters, shrimp, alligators, cows, pigs, lambs, elk, and even reindeer, have I become a veritable zoo? And what about my DNA-proven English ancestors and their penchant for blood pudding? I’m glad to say that’s one tradition I have not embraced!

Now that I have seen all the information one can glean from blood tests, I better understand how true the biblical teaching really is. For not only can the blood reveal underlying physical conditions, it can also show drug use, drinking, and sexual contact – in other words, social behaviors as well. (Note to readers: my blood work today was not for any of those reasons!)

But there’s an even more important way the the biblical teaching about blood and life is true and relevant to us.

But there’s an even more important way the the biblical teaching about blood and life is true and relevant to us. By the genius of God’s Word, this Old Testament truth is affirmed in the New Testament, only with a twist: for now the command is to receive new life through a different blood, the blood of Jesus Christ. John 6:53-55 spells it out in Jesus’ own words: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.“

Now, if I had some questions about what the Bible said about life being in the blood, the people who heard Jesus’ pronouncement that day were scandalized. Verse 60 tells us that even many disciples said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” And then we read in verse 66, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” This seems to refer to people other than the Twelve closest disciples, but still, these were followers and not enemies of the Lord. But though Jesus’ words form what is called one of the “hard sayings” of the Bible, his promise of life through his blood is our hope.

For it is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ that we have hope of forgiveness of our sins. Hebrews 9:22 says that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins,” and explains that whereas the priests used to sacrifice the blood of animals for our sins, Christ poured out his own shed blood as the sin-forgiving sacrifice for us. And while the priests had to continually offer the blood of many animals, Christ, our High Priest, offered his blood, once and done, as the final perfect sacrifice for our sins.

we receive new life in his blood.

By faith in him and his atoning sacrifice, we receive the forgiveness that his blood purchased for us – in other words, we receive new life in his blood. The New Testament is full of such promises related to Christ’s blood, affirmed by the Apostles’ writings:

  • When discussing the Lord’s Supper. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:16 “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?”
  • Paul writes also in Ephesians 2:13 to Gentile readers, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
  • Peter says, “you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
  • And the Apostle John praises Christ “who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Revelation 1:5).

So it appears that the most important blood is the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, bled and shed for you and me, for it is in that blood, his blood, that we truly receive life – eternal life. Our life is in his blood.

Maybe I’ll mention that to my phlebotomist the next time I give blood . . .

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: Hebrews 9, John 6

 

Kate, How Could You?!

Until a couple weeks ago, I always had the greatest respect for Kate Smith. The fact she could sing and I cannot had something to do with it. So did my mother’s admiration for her; my mother was a singer and a larger woman, as was Kate, and mom always respected people who were larger than average and excelled in their craft.

But the main reason I respected Kate Smith was her famous and inspiring rendition of Irving Berlin’s 1938 classic, God Bless America. As someone who always loved both God and country, I found that song to be a thrilling tribute to both. The words are simple but stirring:

God Bless America, land that I love.
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam.
God Bless America, my home sweet home.
God Bless America, my home sweet home.

Recordings of Kate Smith singing this song have inspired literally millions of Americans, from the darkest days of the Great Depression, through World War Two, and even up to the present. Famously, her recording was played by the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team instead of the National Anthem to start many of their games – especially the ones where a lot hung on the outcome of those games. The Flyers compiled an impressive win-loss-tie record of 100-29-5 whenever they played her singing God Bless America (she also sang it live for them four times).

The game I remember most was when the Flyers played the Soviet’s Red Army team in January of 1976. The Red Army had beaten most of the NHL teams in a series of exhibition games before coming to Philadelphia. I lived in the area at the time, and watched on TV when the teams took to the ice. They lined up for the playing of the National Anthem, when over the speakers came the unmistakable voice of Kate Smith singing her song. The stands went crazy as the crowd of thousands started cheering and belting out the song. I remember seeing the puzzled and shaken looks on the Soviet players faces during the song. Kate’s magic worked once again, as the Flyers went on to win the game 4-1.

But then, just about a month ago, there surfaced a recording of Kate singing a much less inspiring song. In fact, it was a terrible song, filled with the most offensive lyrics against blacks – referring to them in derogatory terms and saying they were made to serve as slaves. It was so bad, that I actually laughed, not because the lyrics were funny – they weren’t – but because the song was so over-the-top terrible. It was almost a parody of such songs, but sadly, it was not. Kate . . . how could you?

Since the publicizing of that awful song, Kate’s recording of God Bless America has been removed from the Flyers’ playlist, and a statue of her which stood outside their arena has been removed, after first being covered in protest of the racist song. Since then, arguments have raged about race, political correctness, and what response we should make regarding our heroes’ failures. Does a bad act disqualify the good acts a person does?

I remembered a line from Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar. After Caesar was assassinated, those contending for power attended the public funeral. Marc Antony addressed the crowd, beginning with these words:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
How true that is for Kate Smith, at least at this point in time: the good she did for so many people by singing what has virtually become our second national anthem, will likely be “interred with her bones,” while the evil of that other song lives after her. It’s really a shame to see her fall from grace.
But the best understanding of her failure, and ours, comes not from William Shakespeare, but as always from Scripture, which teaches that even among the “best” of us, we are still sinners, who mix the bad with the good we do. We confess this each Sunday at the start of our church services when we say the words of 1 John 1:8, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Romans 3:10 (quoting Ecclesiastes 7:20) proclaims that no one is righteous, not even one. Even as forgiven Christians – as the people the Bible calls saints – this is true; we still sin. The most perfect and righteous person you know (Jesus excluded) stumbles. Search long enough and you will find some sin that needs confessing.
This is because we are all sinners, ruined by the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden. We who were created in God’s image became corrupted by sin, so that we act in ways which are commendable (our good deeds) or are condemnable (our sinful deeds). Usually, the two are mixed, so that our good actions may be motivated by selfish desires.
Martin Luther and his followers taught this truth, calling it by a Latin term: simul iustice et peccator, meaning “at the same time saint and sinner.” By this he taught that you and I are enduringly sinful and cannot summon up righteousness by our own actions, yet also completely forgiven because Christ’s righteousness is imputed, or reckoned, to our account by God’s grace through faith. A forgiven believer will still sin.
Now, not knowing anything about Kate Smith’s faith or standing with God, I cannot say she was both saint and sinner, but her life reflected what all our lives demonstrate, which is a mixture of good and bad. As with her, so with all our national heroes – Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, etc. – unpleasant truths about them come out and statues are toppled, history books get  rewritten, and school names are changed. Maybe the problem is not that they were all flesh-and-blood people who shared in the sins of their eras, but that our public adulation of them was unrealistic. If we are now taking their statues down from their pedestals, it’s because we put them up there in the first place.
While we do thank God for the good actions of our heroes (living and dead) we must be careful not to make idols of them, which is a form of idolatry, but rather to honor their often selfless actions and accomplishments which have made our country and our world, a better place. It’s good to thank them for the good they do and encourage them and others to strive for such good works; at the same time it’s right to criticize and discourage the bad things they have done. The hard part is not to condemn the sinner for their sins, nor idolize the saint for their good deeds, but to see in each person both saint and sinner, who stands in need of God’s grace and forgiveness, just as you and I do.
So let us not be quick to condemn people, for though sinners, they were made in God’s image. God loved them enough to send his Son to redeem them while they were still sinners (Romans 5:8). Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), and commanded us not to judge them for the specks in their eyes without first removing the logs from our own eyes (Matthew 7:3-6). This in no way excuses their mistakes, but it gives us the right perspective on life – and on ourselves.
Thus, while we can still be grateful for the inspiration Kate Smith gave us for so many decades, we can also hope that her other song be buried in the dustbin of history. As for her statue: aren’t we commanded not to make any graven images (Exodus 20:4)?
Kate, how could you? Maybe because you’re too much like us . . .
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 7:1-6, Exodus 20:4-6, 1 John 1.