Month: November 2019

Friendsgiving?

I learned a new word this week – which proves you can teach an old dog new tricks. The word is “friendsgiving.” I first heard it on the radio, then found it online. And not just the word, but numerous applications of it: greeting cards, party games, and snacks. While the last application – snacks – did draw my interest, it was the meaning and concept of the term that got me thinking.

So, just what is friendsgiving? As I understand it, it’s meant to be an alternative to Thanksgiving: instead of gathering with all your relatives to eat a big turkey dinner (and then fall asleep on the couch while watching football), you get together with your friends – hence the name. It’s become popular among Millennials as a way to spend time with friends you want to spend time with, rather than with family you are expected to be with. As a negative, it’s opting out of what to many has become an old-fashioned, meaningless expectation; as a positive, it’s an affirmation of one’s friends. Besides, there’s that old “politically incorrect” thing with Pilgrims and Indians.

So what do I think of “friendsgiving?” other than, “There go those Millennials again!”?

1. First of all, let’s talk about friends and friendship. I think it’s great to affirm one’s friends – if they really are true friends. I doubt that everyone who “friends” you on social media can really be counted in that category. As Charles Schulz expressed it in a Peanuts cartoon, “A friend is someone who says nice things about you when you’re not around.” (Thanks to reader and friend Dave for sending me that note!)

Or, better put, the Bible calls a friend someone “who is as your own soul” (Deuteronomy 13:6). The prime example it gives is the relationship between David and King Saul’s son, Jonathan: 1 Samuel 18:1 says “the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” Now, that’s friendship! Certainly, friendship is marked by enjoyment of another person’s company, but to me the test of friendship is how much one is willing to give up for the sake of the other person. Would you give up your time, your money, your opportunities, for a friend? Jesus put it in ultimate terms: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Of course, it’s important to choose one’s friends carefully. Hanging around with the wrong crowd can get you into trouble, as peer pressure can get a person to do just about anything, even knowing it’s wrong. We know this is true from experience – ours and others’ – and from Scripture, which warns repeatedly against falling in with the wrong friends. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.'” and in Proverbs 13:20 we read, “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” Then there’s that warning in James 4:4 against making friends with the world:  “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have friends while we live in this world; it means we should not put acceptance by and conformity with the world ahead of our love for God.

The Bible calls the very special relationship we have with God, friendship. Jesus spoke of it immediately after speaking of dying for one’s friends. His next sentence (John 15:14) was, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” He also called his disciples, “friends,” when teaching them. We understand that it is in Christ that we become friends with God, but even the Old Testament speaks of such a special friendship: Psalm 25:14 says, “The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him.” It’s wonderful for God to consider us as his friends, just as it’s wonderful that he calls us his children (John 1:12)! The difference is that as followers of Christ, our friendship with God is not between two equals, as it is between two earthly friends, but between an all-powerful Creator and his subjects. We never become gods, but the image of God in us is restored, and friendship is now possible. We now can enjoy a special bond with our Lord, a relationship such as God had with Moses: “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11).

All told, friends are good to have, and to celebrate. Earthly friends are a joy, especially true friends, and it’s good to treasure those relationships, but the greatest friendship we can have is with God himself. Earthly friends come and go, and can sometimes let us down or turn against us. But our special friendship with God will be an eternal one. As the gospel song proclaims, “What a friend we have in Jesus!”*

2. Second, what about the “giving thanks” part? My major issue with the whole “friendsgiving” thing is that it substitutes having fun with friends (which one can do any day of the year) for a special time set aside for thanking God for his blessings. From:

    • the inception of a day of thanksgiving in 1621 observed by those un-P.C. Pilgrims who thanked God for getting them through a brutal and deadly winter,
    • to George Washington proclaiming a national day of thanksgiving in 1789 (“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor . . .),
    • to Lincoln’s proclamation in 1863 even in the midst of the Civil War,
    • to the current observance established by Congress in 1942,

the focus of the Thanksgiving holiday has always been to thank God for his blessings: for harvest, for peace, for protection of our nation, for family, for friends (yes), and especially for the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Thanksgiving has morphed into a secular holiday filled with food and football and family – all good things – and preparation for Black Friday sales, but along the way, the reason for the season has been set aside (sound familiar?). God has blessed us with such bounty that we have come to focus on the blessings rather than the Blesser:

      • We fill our plates with so much to eat, forgetting “the mighty power of God that filled the earth with food.”**
      • We enjoy watching football, ignoring the One who washed his disciples’ feet just hours before his death.
      • We fall asleep on the couch as did the disciples in Gethsemane, who could not stay awake one hour to pray with their Lord (Mark 14:37).
      • We (usually) enjoy friends and family, forgetting that we are called to be God’s friends and have been adopted into his family. As Jesus said in Matthew 12:48-49, “’Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers!'”
      • We get excited about spending money on Black Friday sales, ignoring the One who was sold for pieces of silver to die on Good Friday, by which he purchased our forgiveness and eternal life.
      • We stay home for “more important” things, skipping Thanksgiving Day worship services; when we could focus our vague ideas of thankfulness onto the God to whom we must surely give thanks, who has given us the life, the bounty, and the ability to enjoy such a holiday.

It’s because of what God has done for us, and because of our need to recognize the source of all our blessings, that I would never want to give up Thanksgiving Day for “friendsgiving” or anything similar. We owe it to God to thank him every day, so why give up the one day we make a point of doing just that? To God be the glory, and our thankfulness, forever and ever! Amen.

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: Matthew 12:46-50, 1 Samuel 18:1-5

*”What a Friend We Have in Jesus” by Joseph M. Scriven, 1855

**”I Sing the Mighty Power of God” by Isaac Watts, 1715

 

Say to the People

If you’ve been reading my blog for any time at all, you’ve certainly noticed that I close each time with a benediction that starts with, “May the Lord bless you and keep you . . . ” And if you attend church, you’re familiar with that benediction, because we always close our worship services with the pastor saying those same words.

But why those words, and not something else, like “Y’all take care now,” or “See you later, alligator!” or “That’s all, folks!” or even some other actual biblical parting phrases, such as, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other” (Genesis 31:49)?

That’s the question a pastor named Mal, who was visiting from Australia, asked me one Sunday morning after the service. He knew the answer, of course, but was curious what I would say. I could have told him, “Because that’s what’s written in our book of worship for us to say,” but I knew he was probing deeper: he wanted to know what I thought about why we use that particular benediction. I answered, “Because that’s what God told us to say,” and he smiled in agreement.

God indeed did give his people that blessing. In the book of Numbers, we read,

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,”Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, “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.”‘ So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:22-27).

n 1979, archaeologists excavating a tomb near Jerusalem discovered two small silver scrolls that recorded this priestly blessing. The scrolls were dated to the 7th century B.C., making them the oldest written Scriptures found so far.

Because the Lord commanded that Aaron and his sons give that blessing, it is called “The Aaronic Benediction.” That’s its origin; but why do I choose to use it, other than by force of habit from 22 years of pastoral ministry? I’ll get to that in a moment, but first, let me share some thoughts I have about the benediction itself.

1. What is a benediction? The word comes from two Latin words bene (good) and dictio (speaking), so a benediction is a good saying, or speaking something good, a blessing, to someone. The opposite is malediction (bad speaking = curse). This use of these words can be seen in Luke 6:28 where Jesus tells us to “Bless those who curse you”; the Latin version reads, “Benedicite maledicentibus vobis.” Or, as I would translate it, “Benedictize those who maledictize you.”

2. Second, notice who created that blessing: God himself. It was not just some nice-sounding greeting that Moses or Aaron thought up to score points with the people; rather, God himself composed and commanded the  actual words of the blessing. This makes it a “God-authorized” blessing.

3. The text says that “the LORD” gave the command and included “the LORD” in each part of the blessing. When the word, “LORD” is written in all capital letters in English, it signifies that the original Hebrew word was YHWH (Yahweh), the four-letter word which signifies the revealed and personal name for God. Modern translators follow the Jewish tradition, which substituted LORD for Yahweh in the reading of the text, to avoid the possibility of using God’s name in vain. But the text shows us that God is putting his personal identity into his blessing. It’s not some vague, impersonal “May the Force be with you” kind of well-wishing; God has invested himself and given his personal promise of good for his people.

4. The command was given to Aaron who was Israel’s first high priest, the one authorized to offer sacrifices to God for the people, and to proclaim God’s forgiveness in turn back to the people. Therefore, he was the one to properly proclaim God’s blessing on his people. The Book of Hebrews in the New Testament teaches that Jesus Christ is the new and final high priest forever, the one who offered himself as the sacrifice for our sins, and who proclaims to us forgiveness of our sins and eternal life. In Christ we become God’s people (whether Jew or Gentile) and receive God’s own benediction. By faith, all believers become God’s priests, and therefore we are authorized to pass on this special benediction to each other.

5. The blessing proclaims that God will bless you and keep you. To bless is to pronounce and deliver good for someone; to keep is to watch over, protect, and save from bad or evil. When we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “deliver us from evil,” we are basically asking God to protect and keep us from danger, from death, and from “the evil one,” or Satan himself. While everyone is susceptible to earthly dangers, hardships, and death, God’s promise and blessing is eternal, for he will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).

6. To make one’s “face” to “shine upon you” is to be present with you, to look upon and see what you are going through, and to be favorably disposed toward you. It denotes power applied in your favor and to your benefit: for example, in Deuteronomy 4:37, Moses tells the people that God’s face brought them out of Egypt. The phrase is paralleled later in the benediction when it says, “The Lord lift up his countenance upon you” (or “look upon you with favor”). Hebrew often uses parallel statements for emphasis, as we do in our mealtime prayer, “God is great, God is good . . .”

7. God says he will be gracious, which in ancient times meant be will be protective and will include you “in the camp,” that is, where food, shelter, and the tabernacle (God’s presence) were found. As Christians we recognize that we too were lost in the desert until God, by his grace, delivered us, and brought us by faith “into the camp,” that is, into Christ. In him we have provision, safety, and God’s presence. As Lutherans, we understand the distinction between God’s Law (what he commands and what we must do, and what the consequences of our sin will be), and Gospel (what God has done for us to benefit us); in fact, the entire benediction is a Gospel message. There is nothing in it that requires anything from us nor that warns anything against us. It is pure blessing that announces from start to finish what God will do for us. Even the act of giving this benediction to Aaron was a sign of God’s grace. Sure, God gave plenty of laws in other places, but here he tempers it with merciful grace (as per Habakkuk 3:2).

8. The benediction concludes with, “and give you peace.” Most Christians and Jews recognize that the word here translated “peace” is shalom. While the Hebrew word can be a pleasant word of greeting or parting (sort of like aloha in Hawaiian or wassup? in American slang), and mean the opposite of war (milchamah in Hebrew), its full meaning is much deeper. To wish someone shalom is more than hoping they don’t get drafted. It means absence of strife, but also contentment, joy, well-being, wholeness, and so on. You are wishing them safety, security, soundness and health. All told, shalom is a powerful blessing that extends to every area of life, including one’s relations with other people and with God himself. The wonderful blessing here, is that the God of the universe wants all this for you!

Earlier in this blog I said I would tell you why I use Aaron’s benediction at the end of my articles. There are several reasons. First, it is a God-ordained way of blessing his people. Second, it was something I said thousands of times as a parish pastor, and I felt the connection with what the Church has proclaimed in God’s name ever since it was given some 3500 years ago. Third, it keeps me from having to come up with my own ending each time! But fourth, primarily, it is because I am actually praying and asking God to extend his blessings to you, for your benefit. As a priest of God (by faith, rather than by official ordination), I am reminding all believers who read my blogs of the gracious promises of God fulfilled in Jesus Christ for them. And for non-believers who may happen across one of my articles, I want them to know there is a God who has done everything for them, that they may have the joy of knowing true shalom through faith in the only one who can make it possible, Jesus Christ, or Lord. I want to say to the people, what God wants them to hear.

For all these reasons, I therefore pray for you:

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: Numbers 6, Hebrews 4:14-5:10, 7:23-26, Isaiah 9:6, Romans 15:13

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a Chance!

A little over a week ago, I had a wonderful chance encounter. Or was it . . . ?

I was sitting in the waiting area for a gate at Minneapolis/St. Paul’s airport, waiting for my two-legged flight home to Sacramento via Phoenix, Arizona. I had been attending our church’s national Pastors Conference, which for several of us had included interviewing seven candidates for ministry in our church body. Now we were done, and it was time to head home.

Having arrived early for my flight, most of the seats in the area were empty, but soon other passengers started filling in. Among them were two ladies who sat down a couple seats to my left. I would say they were “older ladies” but won’t, just in case they read this blog. Besides, it’s getting harder all the time for me to call anyone “older.” Let’s just say at least one was in her eighties. One came in a wheelchair, and the other was using a walker.

After a while, the younger of the two headed off with the walker to pick up some food for the flight. The remaining lady and I started a conversation which began when she told me her friend/relative really liked the walker since she had trouble getting up from chairs, or from the pew “at church.” When she said that, my ears perked up, and I knew what I had to ask her: “Oh, do you mind me asking which church you go to?” Her answer, of course, was: “Lutheran.” I smiled and replied: “Of course.” Then I told her, “I’m a retired Lutheran pastor.”

The woman using the walker returned, and after the older lady informed her about my being a pastor, we all had a very nice conversation about their church (now filled with former local Roman Catholics who left their church because the new priest was not fluent in English and they couldn’t understand him) and about mine. The younger woman, named Doris, told me she goes to the casino to gamble (was this a confession? I wondered), but told me she goes with a fixed amount of cash, and whatever she wins she puts away to give to charity. So she goes for the fun and then helps others with her proceeds. I commended her generosity. Then she told me she makes quilts which she sells or gives, again for charity.

I replied that my wife was at home, helping with our church’s craft fair where they put quilts up for raffle prizes, all to benefit our church’s school. Doris asked me how big the school was, and I told her we had about 200 students. She asked for my address, and said she would send me a quilt, though since she makes them thick for Minnesota winters, it might be too heavy for the Sacramento area.

Finally, we boarded the plane, and were separated for the duration of the flight. Upon arriving in Phoenix, we “de-planed” and as we were getting ready to move on, Doris came over and asked me again how many students were at the school. Again I said 200, which pleased her. She gave me a hug, and we went on our separate ways.

This was all a pleasant encounter, which would have been fine if it had ended there; imagine my pleasant surprise when just a few days later a card arrived in the mail from Doris containing cash for the school children (from, you guessed it, her casino winnings). She apologized for not sending a quilt, saying again that it would have been too heavy for our climate.

I had thoroughly enjoyed our conversation at the airport, initiated by a “chance” reference to a pew in church. It was a great ending to a very good week focused on God and his Church. As we say at our Christian Passover service, “Dayenu,” (it would have been enough), but the arrival of Doris’ card sent it over the top. What a blessing our “chance encounter” had been!

But was it chance? Was it just a coincidence? Was the likelihood of my sitting next to two Lutherans at that airport just a function of the large number of Lutherans in the Twin Cities? Or was it somehow arranged (by you-know-Who), a divine appointment for the mutual blessing of the ladies, our school kids, and me? And who knows whether other people heard us talking, in which case we were a witness to our faith? Why did the lady even mention her church pew, when just saying “chair” would have conveyed information about Doris’s use of a walker? And why did I feel compelled to ask which church, when such a prying question from a total stranger might not be welcome these days?

You can tell by my questions where I am going with this. I do not believe it was a random, chance encounter. I believe God orchestrated it, putting us together, prompting what we shared, and moving Doris to give generously. As we confess in the Creed, I do believe in the “communion of saints,” that believers are bound together by the Holy Spirit, and if we listen to what he says, we can truly bless others and receive blessings, just by the fellowship we share. This was one of those cases. But just how often do such divine appointments occur, and when are they just coincidences?

Leading theologians (such as myself) have pondered and debated the question of how much does God ordain, and how much does he just let “happen.” Given there are volumes written about this topic – generally referred to as the “sovereignty” of God – I cannot cover all the issues in this one blog. Instead, let me share some of my thinking on this question.

First, Scripture gives us some indications about the element of “chance” in life. When, in Acts 1, the surviving apostles select a replacement for Judas, they decide between two qualified candidates by “casting lots” (basically, throwing dice). The lot falls on Matthias, and he becomes the twelfth apostle. I referred to this event during my week in the Twin Cities, when I gave a short devotion to open one day of our interviews. I said we could save a lot of time in our interviews by just rolling some dice to determine yes or no for each candidate. I tried to calm my alarmed colleagues by saying it was biblical: not only did the apostles do it, but according to Proverbs 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” In other words, God determines the outcome of “random” events. So, I said, we could rely on the outcome of our dice rolls to make the right decisions. My colleagues did not go along with that. Of course, I added that there were two other considerations in the apostles’ action: first, they had thoroughly vetted the candidates to make sure either one was duly qualified for the important role of apostle; and second, the Holy Spirit had not yet descended in power on the Church. Now that we have the Holy Spirit, we decide by prayer, trusting God to make known to us his choices – before and after doing due diligence in examining the candidates.

The Bible speaks of chance rarely; besides the Proverbs passage, Ecclesiastes 9:11 speaks of time and chance happening to everyone as factors in their success, and Jesus speaks of the Good Samaritan coming upon the injured man “by chance.” Also, in 2 Samuel 1:6, the young man who killed King Saul said, ““By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear. . .” One says that our fate results from factors outside us, and not just our own abilities; the second is a device in a parable; and the third is spoken by a man and not a prophet or apostle. None of these passages denies God’s sovereign power over what happens to us. When the Bible speaks directly on the subject, it affirms God’s power over his creation. Nothing can happen unless he allows it to happen, from its creation to its destruction to its redemption.

Psalm 135:6 says, “The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.” Proverbs 16:4 says, “The LORD works out everything to its proper end—even the wicked for a day of disaster.” Ephesians 1:11 says, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” Romans 11:36 adds, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. ” I could add more verses, but I’ll stop with Lamentations 3:37: “Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?”

We could go on and discuss further ideas about how much God determines and how much is chance. Maybe I’ll get into them another time. But I’d rather close this blog with one thought about how this all affects us in our walk each day.

I believe that our faith calls on us to consider God and his purposes in everything we do and in everything that happens to us. In a sense we don’t have to determine whether God caused something, or it was an accident or a coincidence. The question really is: “What does God want me to do about it?” Even if God did not cause the event, he allowed it to happen; therefore, he has a purpose in it. Therefore, how should I respond? What is God’s purpose for me in this?  What does he want me to say or do? Is he showing me his mercy or his disapproval? Is there someone he wants me to tell about Jesus Christ? Is there someone I am to comfort or help? Or, does he just want me to marvel at his glory and power?

In my airport encounter, though I firmly believe it was God’s doing, even if it had been a coincidence, it would have still called for my same response. I still needed to ask myself, “What does God want me to do about this?”

In every event, we need to recognize God’s presence and power over the situation, and look to him in prayer for what our response should be. We need to ask him his purpose, and what part he wants us to play. If we act according to Scriptural teachings and the foundations of our faith, then we are doing right, even if he doesn’t give us a clear direction in the moment. If we are faithful to him in our response, he will be faithful to us and use our obedience to accomplish his will (2 Timothy 2:13).

And can anything be better than that? Not a chance!

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 8:26-30, 2 Timothy 2:8-13)