Category: Bible

Seek Ye First

This week I took a break from listening to news and talk shows and turned my radio to a Christian program that includes in its mix old time hymns, gospel songs, and now classic praise music – you know, songs from 50 years ago that were popular back when I was becoming an adult!

I was enjoying many of the songs, when one particular tune came up that made me smile. It came out in 1971, before Karen and I were married, but was still going strong several years later in worship services and on my cassette tape player! The song was titled, “Seek Ye First.” The first verse was written by Karen Lafferty and published by Maranatha Music. Then, other anonymous writers added the other verses to it, which made the song more complete. I enjoyed the tune, but also the simple declaration of three teachings of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Very simple, very direct, (no bridges), and no endless repetitions – just the first verse repeated once as the final  verse.

Today I’d like to share the song with you (the lyrics, that is, I won’t try to actually sing it) and talk about the importance of what Jesus said.

1. Verse One:  Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you, Hallelu, Hallelujah. (Matthew 6:31-33)

The setting: Jesus spoke these words during the Sermon on the Mount. First he told the people not to worry about about their physical needs, such as food and drink and clothing. Using examples of birds, which are fed by God even though they do not sow crops, and lilies which are beautifully “clothed” by our heavenly Father though they do not toil nor spin. Because we are more valuable to God than many birds or lilies, how much more will he provide for us in our need? Jesus then concludes with the command to seek first God and his kingdom, and all these needs will be added to us.

Why I like what Jesus said: Jesus promised that our heavenly Father knows our needs, and is ready to provide all we need, if we but look to him and seek him. The rest of the world chases after pleasure and material wants and needs, but God wants us to trust in him and seek his righteousness, which is not found in obeying the law, but through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ. I may not have everything I want, but in Christ I have everything I need. I especially like what Jesus said about my earthly father giving me good things (which he did), and how much more will my heavenly Father give me the good things I need (and keeping from me the harmful things I don’t need!).

2. Verse Two: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word, that proceeds from the mouth of God. Halleju, Hallelujah. (Deuteronomy 8:3 and Matthew 4:4)

The setting: Jesus quoted this verse from Deuteronomy during the temptation in the wilderness, in response to the Tempter (Satan) telling a very hungry Jesus to turn the stones into bread so that he might eat. Considering Jesus had just fasted for forty days and nights without food, and “he was hungry” (Matthew 4:2), this seems like a reasonable suggestion. After all, God’s plan was not to have Jesus perish in the wilderness from hunger. Later, Jesus would eat plenty of bread. So why not now?

Why I like what Jesus said: When I was a kid, my focus in this passage was on the other good things I wanted to eat – ice cream, hamburgers, etc. – definitely “not bread alone.” But when I became an adult I (mostly) put aside childish things (1 Corinthians 13:11), and realized the focus here is on God’s Word. There are two things I get from this passage. First, no matter the temptation, God provides a way out through his words. Jesus rebuffed Satan’s attempt to get Jesus to use his powers for his own pleasure and benefit by quoting Scripture at him (1 Corinthians 10:13 – “No temptation. . . but God provides a way out.”). The other lesson I get is that I get to live by God’s word, that every word of God provides for me in this life by ordering how I live and by sanctifying me; and provides for my life to come by creating in me the faith through which I am saved. Truly we live by God’s Word!

3. Verse Three: Ask and it shall be given unto you, Seek and ye shall find, Knock and the door will be opened unto you. Halleju, Hallelujah. (Luke 11:9-10)

The setting: Jesus’ words here follow right after he teaches the disciples the Lord’s Prayer. This teaching therefore, is an expansion of the prayer he taught them. He wanted them to know that the Father is eager to hear from them and to ask him for what they need. He gives the example of a friend who has gone to bed, but will get up when a friend knocks to wake him and ask for something. He also said that a father will give his son a loaf of bread instead of a stone, and a fish instead of a serpent. If an earthly father knows how to give good things, how much more will our heavenly Father give what is good to us!

Why I like what Jesus said: Christ promises that our prayers will be heard – and answered! Unfortunately this verse is often misused. Some people treat the “ask” part as if God were a genie, granting us “three wishes” of whatever we want. But James 4:3 warns us, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Those same people may try to seek God in all the wrong places – through false religions, self actualization, or occult practices. But the true God is found through faith in his only Son, Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Holy Bible. That Bible tells us that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). And when it comes to knocking on the door, the gates of heaven will be opened to you by Christ himself, through faith in him. What these three promises have in common is that we are not really the actors; we are responding to God who invites and empowers us according to his will. We are the beneficiaries. And don’t forget, that it is Christ himself who promised to come to us: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

There you have it: a great song filled with Christ’s own words of promise to all who believe. How can you do better than that!

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: Luke 11:1-13; Matthew 4:1-11; Matthew 6:5-14.

The song:

The Debates Go On: #4, the Final Chapter!

As we move through the history of the Christian Church, we now come to the present day. Fortunately, since all the controversies over the doctrines of the Church have been resolved over the preceding centuries, we no longer have any debates to consider. No, wait. . . there may be one or two debates still unresolved, just a few issues that are new to modern times that divide Christians today. In this, the last of my series about debates in the Church, I will present just a few current issues. Because any one of these could take entire books to discuss fully, they will just be summarized here.

  1. The Return of Christ. Beginning in the early 1800s, people began to try to calculate when Christ will return. Using biblical prophecies about Christ’s return, a popular preacher named William Miller predicted 1844 as the time of the return. There was widespread anticipation of that date, but when it came and went with no return, it was called the Great Disappointment. Some sects interpreted Miller’s theory in news ways, leading to groups like the Seventh-Day Adventists and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Since that time there have been many date-setters, but none have been right (“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” Matthew 24:36) The various views today agree on the biblical texts, but interpret them differently in the following ways:
    • Pre-millennials: After a period of Great Tribulation, Christ will return in the future, then rule on earth a 1000 years. After 1000 years Satan will be released to deceive the nations, leading to a final battle before Christ wins and issues in the eternal reign.
    • Post-millennials: The Gospel will spread, the Church will rule over the earth in peace for 1000 years, then when Christ returns, the Church will present the world to him as his kingdom.
    • Amillennials: The 1000 years refer to the Church Age, when Christ rules over his people. Christ will return at any time to end history and rule eternally. This is the general Lutheran view.
    • Preterists: Christ already returned in judgment in 70 AD, destroying Jerusalem (by way of the Romans) and ending Israel, which had rejected him. Jesus warned the Christians to flee when they saw the battle coming; they did, and survived the destruction. There may be a second coming when the unrealized prophecies will be fulfilled.
    • Pre-tribulation: Christians will be raptured out of the world, followed by seven years of the Great Tribulation, then return with him to rule during the Millennium. During the Millennium, the Jews will accept Christ in mass. This is the popular view espoused by the Left Behind books and movies, but was only introduced in the 1830s through purported visions.
    • Mid-tribulation: Christians will be raptured out of the world half-way during the Great Tribulation, sparing them from the worst of that period. Jews will convert, and Christians will return during the Millennium.
    • Post-tribulation: Christians will go through the Great Tribulation, then be raptured to be with Christ to rule during the Millennium.
    • Pan-millennials: A made-up term meaning, “I don’t care which view is right; it will all pan out in the end.” Trust God for his timing!
  2. Liberal vs Conservative. These terms refer to views of the Bible and doctrines, not to political terms (though in practice, there is much correspondence). Conservative theologians and pastors believe  the Bible is God’s word, inspired, infallible and inerrant, and therefore the only rule for faith and life. Liberal pastors teach that the Bible records what people wrote about God, but must be interpreted by modern understanding and science to find what truth it may contain. Thus, for example, a conservative pastor teaches that God restricts sexuality between one man and one woman in marriage. A liberal will interpret that because God is love, he accepts all kinds of sexuality as long as people “love” each other. This debate has caused splits in every major denomination over “gay” marriage and ordination. To a liberal, truth is relative and may be found in all religions.
  3. Charismatic Gifts. The historical understanding of the spiritual gifts (charismata) is that the sign gifts (tongues, prophecy, and healing) ended with the death of the apostles and their immediate disciples in the first century. On the other hand, gifts like hospitality, love, and faith have always been active in Christians. This view is called cessationism. But a different view called continuationism became popular around 1900 with the start of Pentecostalism, which taught a second baptism of the Holy Spirit. In that second baptism, gifts such as tongues, prophecy, and healing miracles were said to be bestowed on all Christians; implied by this teaching was that the lack of speaking in tongues meant a person was not really saved. Since the early days of Pentecostalism, there have been several waves of charismatic revivals. Today we are in the “Third Wave” which teaches miraculous signs and wonders to reach unbelievers with powerful acts. Some in this group claim to be like the original apostles, speaking words of God with the same authority and power. Churches opposed to this, claim the power of God is in his Word, which the Holy Spirit uses to convict the heart without flashy signs and wonders. A middle view is that while the Spirit may endow a person with a supernatural gift, the Spirit gives as he wills, and no gift is required as a sign of salvation. (Hebrews 2:4 – “gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” and 1 Corinthians 12:11 – “All these [gifts] are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”)
  4. Egalitarian vs Complementarian. One controversy which has ties to the liberal/conservative dispute is the question of the roles of women in the church. While everyone agrees that men and women are both created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27 – “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”), that Jesus died to save both, and both are called to minister in various ways, the disagreement is whether women are called to be pastors in the Church.
    • Egalitarians point to Galatians 3:8 (“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”) and to the example of women in the Bible who had some leadership role (Deborah, Priscilla, and Anna). They want the Church to be in line with modern feminism.
    • Complementarians teach that while both men and women have roles in the church, their natures and roles are complimentary, and not identical. Specifically, only men are allowed to be pastors. They point to Paul’s instructions in 1 Timothy 2:12- “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man.” They also point to the instructions for elders and overseers as being male-specific (“Husband of one wife” -1 Timothy 3:2) and that the 12 Disciples were all men. They also point to once a church adopts women pastors, they soon will be open to gay ordination and marriage. The AALC holds to the complimentary view.*
  5. Creation vs. Evolution. For millennia, Jews and Christians accepted the first words of the Bible: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1 and the chapters that followed). There were occasional skeptics, but the Church taught creation ex nihilo, that God created everything in six literal days out of nothing by the power of his word (Christ) and therefore all creation belonged to him and was sustained by his will. But beginning with the publishing of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859), the theory of evolution grew to dominate the scientific world and many churches as well. Churches’ “old time religion” was rocked to its core, because it was evident that a recent, six-day creation by God could not be reconciled with the theory of millions of years of evolution of man and the animals. As Christians wrestled with the contradictions, several ideas were adopted:
    • Theistic evolution: God created everything, but did so using evolution over vast periods of times. (This was my view in junior high, when I “thought like a child” – 1 Corinthians 13:11).
    • Day-age creationism: the days of Genesis 1 are not literal 24 hour days, but are much longer periods. (But how could green plants created on Day 3 survive for ages before the sun was created on Day 4?)
    • Gap theory: there is a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, which gave the earth a long time to evolve before God intervened to create man. In Genesis 1:2 the earth was made chaotic (“without form and void”). From verse 3 everything was put in order.  God chose one hominid to be given special intelligence and spirit.
    • Apparent Age: God created everything with apparent age. If he intended for us to see the stars, for example, their light had to be created en route even if they were set at astronomically great distances.
    • Scientific Creationism: Uses information collected by creation-believing scientists to disprove evolution and confirm the biblical account. Some are new-earth creationists (the earth is really only 10,000s of years old), while some are old-age creationists (accepting millions of years as per secular scientists). I believe the new age creationism is correct, having read much of their literature and data.**
    • Finally, some churches accept the secular theories of evolution as being true, while saying “the Bible is not a scientific text” but just tells of man’s spiritual development by encounters with God. By this choice, these churches lift the current theories as the authority above the Bible; where a conflict exists, they choose evolution as the real answer.

There you have it! No more debates. Just one church, united in every way. (Not!) But Paul tells us what we have is “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,”   (Ephesians 4:4-6). Therefore, let us proclaim the one true Gospel that saves us all – “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Let us have unity where possible, and charity where we disagree. But in all things, let Christ be proclaimed!

Now may the Lord bless 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: Your choice of passages listed above!

* The complementarian view is supported by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood at CBMW.org for more information.

**The scientific creationist position is presented by several organizations, including: The Institute for Creation Research which has an awesome museum in Dallas, TX (ICR.org); and Answers in Genesis, which as a museum and a life-size replica of Noah’s Ark in Kentucky (answersingenesis.org).

 

The Debates Go On, Part 3!

The Protestant Reformation was one of the most significant events in both Church and World history. During its early years, many debates arose between the established Roman Catholic Church, and those who tried to correct what they saw as incorrect beliefs and practices in the established Church. At first, the reformers hoped to convince Church leaders, such as the pope, to make improvements, but soon it became apparent that the Church would resist their demands, even to the point of violence and excommunication. Because most political leaders were on the side of the Church, they used force to enforce the Church’s condemnations.

It wasn’t until some princes began to side with the reformers (such as Frederick the Wise in Luther’s state of Saxony), that the protestors were free from persecution and able to continue their reform movement. Eventually, the disagreements turned to full scale war between Protestants and Catholics in what was called the Thirty Years War, which lasted from 1618 to 1648, resulting in the deaths of up to 8 million people. In the end,  a treaty would allow each ruler to determine whether his realm would be Catholic or Protestant.

Pre-Reformation movements. Beginning over two hundred years prior to the Reformation, there were similar attempts to  reform the Church. One was in the 1300’s led by John Wycliffe, called the “Morning Star” of the Reformation, who translated the Bible into English. He said the Scriptures held authority over the Pope and the Church, and that the elements in Holy Communion remained bread and wine.  He was condemned as a heretic, and after he died, his bones were dug up and burned.

A second attempt in the 1400’s was by a Bohemian (Czech) named Jan Hus. Hus agreed with John Wycliffe about the authority of Scripture, argued against the sale of indulgences, the appointment of Church officials based on payment of money (called simony), and the Church’s political ambitions rather than the preaching of the Gospel. He denied that the Pope was head of the Church, claiming that only Christ was the head. He established worship services in Czech instead of Latin. Finally, he was commanded to appear at the Council of Constance (Germany) in 1415 to answer charges of heresy. Though given a safe conduct pass, when he got there he was arrested and burned at the stake. His followers, called Hussites, continued to resist the authorities, until they were defeated by Catholic armies in 1434. But the spirit of Reformation continued.

The Protestant Reformation. October 31, 1517 is the date given as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, as this was the date when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Saxony (Germany). His questions (which he offered up for debate – maybe he read my blogs?) were critiques of the Church’s sale of indulgences. Almost immediately, copies of his theses were printed and distributed across Europe. While a lot could be said about Martin Luther and the other Protestant reformers, we’re only going to look at the issues which came up for debate between the Catholic Church and the reformers, and between the reformers themselves.

  1.  Justification: by faith or works or papal decree? The Catholic Church taught that when God gave grace to people, it enabled them to do good works which in turn saved them. The Pope also claimed the power to forgive sins here and in the hereafter, thus allowing people to go to heaven. As holder of the keys to the kingdom, the Pope claimed authority over forgiveness and condemnation. Against this doctrine, the reformers claimed that we are justified by God’s grace through faith alone. The Lutheran confessions call this “the chief article of the Church,” and they appeal to Paul’s words in Romans 3:28 – “For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law,” and Romans 1:17 – “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.””
  2.  Baptism. The meaning and practice of Baptism was hotly debated. Both Catholics and Lutherans agreed that baptism was a sacrament, by which God bestowed saving grace on his people. But to the Catholics, baptism only forgave a person’s original sin (what they were born with); subsequent sins required communion or a priest’s absolution for their forgiveness. On the other hand, Lutherans said all of a person’s sins were  forgiven in baptism. Contrary to both of these were the other Protestants (called Reformed) who denied the sacraments and just said baptism was just an “ordinance,” done to show one’s faith by obedience to Christ’s command. Many of the Reformed churches refused to baptize infants, calling their practices “believers’ baptisms”, even re-baptizing their members who had been baptized as children. During the Reformation, such churches were called “anabaptists,” where the prefix “ana” meant “again.” These distinctions continue to this day.
  3. Holy Communion.   This period saw major debates over the meaning and practice of the Lord’s Supper. To the Catholic Church, during Communion, the priest would call down Christ into the elements and sacrifice him all over again. Only the priest drank the wine to prevent the lay from spilling Christ’s blood (although the first time Luther served communion as a priest, he shook so hard he spilled the wine himself!). They also taught transubstantiation, the turning of the bread and wine into flesh and blood. They also “reserved” the leftover elements as the transformed body of Christ. The Lutherans rejected the re-sacrifice of Christ, distributed both elements to everyone, and though treating the unused bread and wine with respect, denied that Christ was in them apart from when they were given out in Communion. Lutherans and other Protestants also rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation; Lutherans teaching that we receive the true body and blood supernaturally “in, with, and under” the bread and wine, while Reformed saying it is just symbolic, an ordinance and not a means of grace.
  4. Other Sacraments. How many sacraments (means of grace) are there? The Catholic Church claims there are 7: baptism, communion, confirmation, absolution, marriage, ordination, and last rites. Lutherans and some protestants say there are only two: baptism and communion. Other protestants call those two sacraments, ordinances, that is done by obedience to Christ but not conferring any grace.
  5. Purgatory. The Catholic Church taught the existence of Purgatory, a place after death between heaven and hell, where a person would pay the consequences of their sins by having them burned out of them (purged) so they could then go to heaven. Only the pope could shorten a person’s time of “purging.” This unbiblical doctrine was rejected by all the protestant reformers, since Christ declared on the cross that his work was “finished.”
  6. Indulgences. A real argument was whether the Pope could forgive sins (and let people who died out of purgatory) in return for a person’s payment of money or doing some worthy work. This was a great fundraiser for the Church, which at the times was building St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican and funding a war against the Turks in eastern Europe. Protestants rejected such a practice.
  7. Authority. The question was, who had the final authority for Christians: the Bible, the Pope, or Church Councils (controlled by the pope). The Catholic Church said that the Pope stood in the place of Christ, and could decree what was true based on “oral traditions” passed down from Christ but not written in the Scriptures. Luther and the other reformers claimed that only the Scriptures had that authority (Sola Scriptura).
  8. Celibacy of Priests. The Catholic Church demanded that priests could not marry, in that they were “married” to the Church (the Bride of Christ). Luther disagreed and married a former nun to prove his point.
  9. Ordination of Clergy. According to the Catholic, Anglican, and Episcopal churches today, communion cannot be real unless a duly ordained priest “confects” the mass by his words calling down Christ into the elements.  (The magicians’ phrase, “hocus pocus” is a corruption of the priest’s words when he blesses the communion bread: “Hoc est corpus meaum.” Say it aloud!) These churches believed in Apostolic Succession, the idea that only men who were ordained in an unbroken line from Peter to the popes to bishops, could be priests. The reformers said that the local congregations had the power to ordain, based on the “succession” of the apostles’ teachings (the Bible).
  10. Election. No time to go into it here, but the major protestant churches divided over the question of God’s election of who will be saved. On one side were the Calvinists, who held to double predestination (that Jesus died only for the Elect, whom God chose to be saved, while God also predetermined that everyone else will be damned); and the Arminians, who taught that Jesus died for everyone’s sins, so all people could be saved through faith. (1 John 2:2 – “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.“).  Lutherans believe a middle position, saying that man cannot save himself, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel. Luther put it this way in the Small Catechism: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel.”

We need to stop here. As you can see, many of these debates that began during the Reformation continue until today. In addition, there are a number of new debates that have arisen in the “modern Church.” We will look at those new debates in the final blog of this series: “The Debates Go On: The Final Chapter!”

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: Ephesians1:11-14; Ephesians 2:1-11; 1 John 2:1-2.

The Debates Go On, Part 2!

The recent Presidential debate so inspired me, that I decided to look into famous debates that have happened over the centuries in the Christian Church. My previous blog began that study, looking at issues the Church faced in its first few centuries, deciding a number of doctrines in the light of various heresies which cropped up and threatened to destroy the Gospel. For example, the debate whether Jesus was just a divine being that only had the appearance of man (the Docetists) or a mere human who had been endowed with some divine attributes (Arianism). The Church rejected both ideas, affirming that Jesus was both true God and true man, as stated in the Nicene Creed.

Coincidentally, the Christian satire site, The Babylon Bee, just posted an article with the headline, “Scholars Now Believe Apostle Paul Spent Five Hours Per Day Arguing Online With Other Christians.” Considering all the problems his letters to the churches address, if the internet existed back then, he could well have spent that much time trying to correct them!

Before we consider the Church in the Middle Ages, there is one more ancient debate to consider: the Donatist Controversy. The question here was what happens when a priest is forced by the Roman Emperor to make a “donation” to a pagan god under punishment of law: does that render the acts of that priest (baptism and communion) invalid? The Church decided that no, the Christian sacraments are still valid, regardless of the priest’s sins or even lack of faith. This means that even today, the means of grace are still valid, even if the pastor is a fraud and an unbeliever. It is God who makes the sacraments valid, not the man.

But, now we leave the ancient church and move into medieval times, to see what debates the Church had to resolve. Unfortunately, some debates were not resolved in universally accepted manners, leading to church splits and the rise of new denominations that are still with us today.

1. First, there was the debate over the preeminence of the Roman Pope.  When the Bishop of Rome tried to assert his authority over the entire Christian Church, his claim was rejected by many bishops in other regions of Christendom, such as in the areas which came to be known as the Eastern Orthodox Church, and in the Northern African Churches, all of which had their own bishops. The split was formalized in the Great Schism of 1054, when East (Greek) and West (Latin) churches condemned each other and broke communion. This condemnation was not removed until the Catholic-Orthodox Joint Declaration of 1965. The split, however, continues to this day.

2. The debate over predestination.  Most theologians of the medieval Church  believed in predestination, the doctrine that God determines ahead of time who will be saved (Ephesians 1:11, “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. . .”). The debate arose over what came to be called double predestination, whether God had also predestined certain people to damnation. According to this, a person’s faith was irrelevant, other than God determining whether that person would have faith. This debate arose as early as the 800’s, but continued through the Reformation (which we will consider in the next blog).

3. The debate over Holy Communion. What do we receive during Holy Communion? Do we eat bread and wine, or the actual flesh and blood of Jesus? Do the elements miraculously transform on the altar by the priests’ words? Or is what we eat merely symbolic of Christ’s body? This became an important debate in the Church. One view was called the “realistic” view, which said the bread and wine turned miraculously into actual flesh and blood (transubstantiation); the other, the “symbolic view,” said that the elements remained bread and wine and gave spiritual benefits when eaten.  This debate arose in the 850’s, and continues to this day, even though the Roman Church decided on transubstantiation.

4. The debate between Faith versus Reason. As a result of the Crusades beginning in the 1o00’s, the works of ancient Greek philosophers became known through the Arabs who had preserved them. One that had an enormous impact was Aristotle and his call to reason. The impact this had was on the question reason played in our faith. Eventually this would give rise to the Enlightenment (1700’s), and to humanism, which made man the source of knowledge and truth, but for centuries before that, there was a huge conflict between truths learned through reason (including science and philosophy), and God’s revealed knowledge through the Scriptures. That’s why Galileo could be imprisoned for his scientific discoveries as being “opposed to faith.”

In the Catholic Church, St. Thomas Aquinas formed what became known as “Scholasticism” that employed a critical method of philosophical analysis predicated upon Aristotle’s teachings. By doing so, scholars sought to learn all attainable truth, whether revealed or not. Many of the universities of this time were founded on such teachings and philosophical methods. One of the products of this school of thought was the theory of transubstantiation, which used the Aristotelian categories of “essence” and “accidents” to describe the mass. In that view, the elements, when blessed, retained their accidents -(their physical form) but changed their essence (their actual nature). Luther argued against this view, saying that the Church should not base its doctrine on a pagan philosopher, but on the words of Christ in Scripture. Luther recited Jesus’s words at the Last Supper, when Jesus said, “This is my body, this is my blood,” as proof we receive Christ’s true body and blood.

5. The debate between Church and State. The Christian Church went from being persecuted, to tolerated (Constantine’s Edict of Milan in 313 AD), to become the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 AD with the decree of the Edict of Thessalonica. But when the Roman empire was sacked by the barbarians, the Christian Church became the default unifying force in Europe. For one thing, it was a Pope (Leo I) who saved Rome from Attila the Hun in 451 AD, not by force of arms, but by prayer and persuasion. Also, when Europe was united under the Emperor Charlemagne, it was another pope, Pope Leo III, who crowned him Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day in 800 AD. That set the pattern for the church as supreme over state.

However, throughout this period, tensions and struggles for power between kings and Popes continued. Part of this was philosophical/theological, but much had to do with money and political control. For example, German bishops of the period had castles and lands, and could enforce taxes and river tolls on boats.

Problems occurred when the Church tried to enforce allegiance to the faith or to religious authority by the power of the State, such as through various Inquisitions,  and when the State claimed power over the Church, such as when Henry VIII of England formed the Church of England and declared himself as the head of that Church (and disbanded Catholic convents and monasteries in England, Wales, and Ireland, and seized their wealth and assets).

One doctrine which arose was the idea of God’s two hands: his right hand the church, and his left hand the state. Each had its own God-ordained roles to play in the affairs of men. One to proclaim the Gospel, the other to use the Law to refrain evil. Luther called this division the “proper” work of God (by the Church’s proclaiming salvation through the Gospel), and the “alien” work of God, restraining evil by the power of governments. This is also called the “Two kingdoms” theory. Both are instituted by God to do his works and must be respected. (Romans 13:1  “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.“)

These and other debates continued through the medieval period, and affect us even today. Our First Amendment addresses the Church/State debate by establishing freedom of religion, saying: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” However, most recently, the State ordered churches to be shut down for the COVID pandemic, citing public health reasons. Some churches refused to do so, claiming freedom of religion, which is in keeping with the “Two kingdoms” doctrine.

We have now come to the end of medieval times. Before us now are the debates of the Reformation, which we will consider in the next blog, known, to no surprise, as Part 3 of The Debates Go On!

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 13:1-7; 1 Corinthians 11:22-24; Ephesians 1:11-14.

 

 

 

 

 

High King of Heaven

I have always enjoyed hymns and spiritual songs that come from Celtic lands such as Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Songs like Praise and Thanksgiving, Lord of All Hopefulness, The King of Love My Shepherd Is, Sent Forth by God’s Blessing, Immortal Invisible God Only Wise, Let All Things Now Living, and especially, Be Thou My Vision.

Maybe my enjoyment stems from some inherited memory of ancient times when my ancestors in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales sang similar folk tunes and hymns. Maybe it comes from my own finely-tuned appreciation of the vocal arts. Or maybe, it’s the lilting tunes themselves, tied to words which proclaim God and his blessings. Whatever  the reasons, these songs resonate with me in powerful ways, and I always enjoy trying to sing them.

Recently, while listening and croaking to the old Irish song, Be Thou My Vision, I came to what is my favorite part. It comes at the end of verse 4, and is repeated at the beginning of verse 5. See if you can spot what I mean:

4 Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
be Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
be Thou and Thou only the first in my heart,
O High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

5 High King of heaven, Thou heaven’s bright Sun,
O grant me its joys, after vict’ry is won;
Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be Thou my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Given that the title of this blog is “High King of Heaven,”  you probably guessed the words I mean. For some reason, those words just thrill me and fill me with a vision of God’s glory..

One reason they appeal so much has to do with the ancient Irish custom of having one king, the High King, ruling over all of Ireland; the various tribes had their own chieftains or  kings, but over them all was the High King. The tradition dates back to 1500 B.C., with various legendary kings, but the first historical record is of a High King who served between 846–860 A.D. The last High King was Ruaidhrí Ó Conchobhair (Rory O’Connor) whose reign lasted until 1166. Comparing God to the sovereign Irish High Kings is a special honor.

The second reason I love those words is that they portray the truth that the God of the Bible is the true High King, the great King over all kings, “God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,” (1 Timothy 6:15), and “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5).

As Americans, we read those accolades of God our King (our High King) but often dismiss it as archaic language. After all, except for a few foreign kings who have little effect on our lives, the concept of being ruled by a king is as foreign to us as are those kings. But in reality, even as Americans, we have many kings who try to assert their authority or control over our lives, and unfortunately, too often we submit to them as we would to a king.

Consider the following “kings”:

1. Our government (Federal, state, and local). The federal government alone has 53 volumes containing some 4,500 criminal statutes, spelled out in over 10 million words, regulating every aspect of our lives. And should you think that compliance is a voluntary matter, there are 708,000 officers ready to enforce those laws. In addition to laws actually passed by Congress, there are “executive orders” declared by presidents and myriad regulations decreed by government agencies.

2. Our employers. Sure, our association with employers is on a mostly voluntary basis – we could tell them “No” and walk away. But given they hold the purse-strings that provide us with our livelihoods, they have a great deal to say regarding our time and behavior. We may not like all they tell us to do, but for the sake of income and reputation, we often have to toe the line and jump when they say “Jump!”.

3.  Cell phones. Admit it. . . when our cell phones call, we answer. And even if they don’t call, they hold us in bondage, promising us connections, social networking, information, and entertainment.  We check them constantly, hoping for some emotional “hit”. Go to any event, or to any restaurant, (or to any traffic intersection!), and you will see everybody checking their phones constantly. The phones command, and we obey!

4. Commercial advertisements. “Go ahead! Buy it! You deserve it!” Such are the messages that try to control us by controlling our behaviors and our spending. Companies buy and sell data about our spending (and our giving), our online browsing history, and our personal demographics. And now, with advanced artificial intelligence, companies can predict and direct everything we do.

5. Bullies. There are all kinds of bullies, but basically they all have one thing in common: they want to control you and force you to do what they say. They could be at school, at work, in the government, in the neighborhood, among your “friends,” or even in your family. They think they know what is best for you, or best for them, and they dominate you by their aggressive behavior or threats (voiced or implied). As a kid, I used to live near a couple cemeteries; one day a neighborhood bully threatened to put me in one of them. So far, he hasn’t succeeded!

6. Our own passions. Probably the most difficult to deal with. Pride, greed, lust, anger. How often do we go against what we know is right for the sake of satisfying one of our urges – only to be totally unsatisfied with the aftermath of giving in. All temptations promise much, but deliver nothing but emptiness and regret. And yet, their power is great and they seek to rule over us.

Whatever the person or thing that would seek to rule us, that would crown itself as king over us, we need to remember there is a High King above all other real or self-proclaimed kings. That High King is the true King of all creation, over every power and authority. That High King is our God.

So how do we deal with our lesser kings? By following Scripture.

  1. Government? “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good” (1 Peter 2:13-14). But at the same time, “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God, what is God’s” (Jesus’ words in Mark 12:17). God’s commandments overrule man’s laws.
  2. Employers? “Bond-servants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 2:22-23).
  3. Cell phones? Not in  the Bible. But . . . in Acts 12, an angel freed Peter from his cell, and in Acts 16:24-46, God used an earthquake to free Paul and Silas from their prison cells, so if your are in bondage to your cell, God can set you free!
  4. Commercial advertisements? Once you recognize the manipulative tactics of such ads, you are much less likely to be influenced and directed by them. As Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Yes, I know Jesus was not talking about ads, but what he said still applies. The ads will rule you only if you let them.
  5. Bullies? If they insult you, remember that “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). Similarly, Jesus said to turn the other cheek if someone slaps you on one cheek (Matthew 5:39). Remember and pray the psalms, especially ones like Psalm 18:48, which proclaims, “who rescued me from my enemies; yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from the man of violence.”
  6. Our own passions? Our society praises people who follow their “passions,” but the Bible connects passions to our old, sinful flesh, and calls on Christians to subdue those passions for Christ’s sake. Galatians 5:24 tells us, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” 2 Timothy 2:22 says, “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” And if the temptation of those passions is strong, remember: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

To sum it all up: the High King of heaven is ruler over all, and it is to him we owe our allegiance, above all earthly rulers and powers. Ultimately, all other rulers will submit and bow the knee to the One who allowed them to rule, to the One to whom they must give account of how they used their authority.

Today, I close with a two-fold blessing. First, as usual, the Aaronic blessing from Numbers 6:24, and then a video of people from 300 Irish churches singing, “Be Thou My Vision.”

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.

 

 

 

 

Three centuries later, a monk named Dallan Forgaill wrote the Irish poem, “Rop tú mo Baile” (“Be Thou my Vision), to remember and honor the faith of St. Patrick. Forgaill was martyred by pirates, but his poetry lived on as a part of the Irish monastic tradition for centuries until, in the early 20th century, Mary Elizabeth Byrne translated the poem into English, and in 1912, Eleanor Hull versified the text into what is now a well-loved hymn and prayer that at every moment of our lives, God would be our vision above all else.

Leaving mythology behind, Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid (Malachy MacMulrooney) is recognised as the first historical High King of Ireland. He served as king between 846–860 AD and died two years later. After King Máel there would be another 16 other High Kings in Ireland until the last serving King in 1166.

 

Of Groundhogs and Other Superstitions, Part 2 – Reprise

Yesterday was Groundhog Day, which got me thinking about the part that superstitions play in our “modern” and “enlightened” times. Even though we use the term “superstitious” in a derogatory sense, we still have many superstitions today.

In Part One of my musings on that topic, I wrote that there are, generally speaking, two kinds of superstitions. The first, which I called “omens,” are those things we believe will give us special knowledge that is otherwise unknowable; such methods seem to inform us through some occult or supernatural activity. I suggested that believing a groundhog (especially one in Punxatawney, Pennsylvania) can forecast the next six weeks of weather for us is a mild example of an “omen.” I also wrote that seeking hidden knowledge through Ouija boards and seances is a much more dangerous – and biblically forbidden – activity. (The Ouija board was popular during World War I, as families sought to learn how their soldier sons and husbands were doing in far-away France. The name was invented by combining the French and German words for “yes” – oui and ja. It was believed that spirits would relay the information – definitely forbidden by God!)

But besides the superstitions that people have which purport to give them information which they can then use in some normal manner, there are also those superstitions which claim to control or exert some influence upon reality. It is this second category of superstition to which we will now turn our attention.

2. The second  type of superstition  is what I would call, the “magic” type. Of course, by “magic” I don’t mean the amazing illusions or tricks you see “magicians” perform. I mean more like the, “If you step on a crack, you’ll break your mother’s back” kind of superstition my grade-school friends and I repeated aloud while we stepped from one sidewalk section to the next. Somehow, we were afraid that our action would actually cause our moms some harm; or at least, we weren’t taking any chances!

Magic superstitions can be intended to protect someone, such as by avoiding stepping on cracks, or intended to cause harm,  such as by sticking pins in voodoo dolls. But mostly, people follow them in order to gain some benefit or advantage for themselves. Gamblers blow on their dice and recite a certain “good luck” phrase before casting them, believing it will cause the right number to come up; a high school friend of mine swore you could get rid of warts by cutting a potato in half and burying it during a full moon; and even I sometimes think I can keep it from raining by carrying my umbrella with me (though there may be some truth to this last example . . .)

But the “Super Bowl” of people following magic superstitions can be found surrounding, well, the Super Bowl. By next Sunday, I predict great numbers of Americans will have pulled out all the stops when it comes to acting superstitiously. They will: wear special victory clothing such as team shirts and caps; they will sit in their favorite chair for reasons other than comfort or handy cup-holders; they will invite over certain good luck friends and avoid the others; they will eat certain foods and drinks in a certain order; they will try to avoid jinxing their team by saying things like, “We’ve got this won!”; and they will either clutch their Brock Purdy bobble-head to their bosom, or rip its head off. All done to somehow actually influence the course of the game. As I asked yesterday, do opposing superstitions cancel each other out? If the fans of both teams do or avoid the same things, then who wins?

Logical paradoxes are not the worst thing about magic superstitions. The worst thing is that they are attempts to play God, or to force God to do what we want him to do. This was the religion of the Baal worshipers in ancient Israel (and actually of all pagans). They sought to influence the “gods” of nature by their actions, doing things like what they wanted to make happen, as if by doing them their gods would have to use their powers to effect a good outcome. Fertility cults existed to increase crops, livestock, and children; war gods like Mars were worshiped by purifying soldiers’ weapons and trumpets; and children were offered in sacrifices as “seeds” for Molech to give more children in return. In magic, people sought – and still seek – to be God, giving in again to the first temptation made by the devil to our first ancestors in the Garden.

The biblical faith, the faith which the true God desires from us, is a submission to him and to his will. It is about trusting God alone for all our provision and for all good things. While he does invite us to pray to him and bring our needs to him, we recognize that he is not some genie in a lamp that we can command to obey us, but rather the all- powerful and sovereign God of the universe who has all authority. He is not bound by our superstitious actions, nor by the eloquence of our prayers. He does not have to grant our wishes because we make the sign of the cross when we ask him. He gives us good things because he loves us and desires good for us. Jesus himself taught us about our heavenly Father, saying,

“Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)

Martin Luther addressed this in his Large Catechism when he explained the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Luther wrote that we must recognize that all good things come from God, and that to attribute them to anyone or anything else is to break that commandment. This accords with James 1:7, which says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Ultimately, the greatest gift which God has given us is his own Son, Jesus Christ, through whom we receive forgiveness of our sins and eternal life.

What does this all mean for a Christian? It means we look to God alone for what we need to know. He has given us the mental abilities to understand and appreciate much of the world he created, and in his Word he has revealed to us many precious things about himself and his plan for our salvation. But some things are hidden, mostly for our own good. In those areas, such as the future, we must just trust God and not seek to supplement what he has revealed by seeking other forbidden sources for answers. It also means that we recognize that he is God and we are not. We are not to play God by trying to manipulate reality by magical means. Instead, we pray to God repeatedly in every circumstance, but then we have to trust him and say, as our Lord said in Gethsemane,

“Not my will, but yours be done.” (Matthew 26:39)

So when it comes to the Super Bowl, will I go through some magical ritual to help one team win? No. Will I pray about the game? Yes – but only that no one is injured. (After all, my team didn’t make it!)

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Matthew 7:1-11

Of Groundhogs and Other Superstitions – Reprise

In anticipation of today being Groundhog Day, I began writing a blog about the superstitions people hold. I formed an outline, ordered the supporting points, and began researching the appropriate Scriptures. But then, a discordant thought intruded into my mind. Didn’t I already write about this? So I went back seven years and found a two-part blog I wrote in February of 2017 on this very topic. When I read it, I realized it was exactly what I wanted to say. So, hoping that most of my readers have come aboard more recently than that, and that the other readers won’t remember a 7 year-old post, I present once again (with a few appropriate updates): “Of Groundhogs and Other Superstitions.”

Happy Groundhog Day . . . or not . . . depending on how much credence you give to Punxatawney Phil, the famous groundhog who did not see his shadow this morning (2024). As happens every year, crowds gather on Gobbler’s Knob in the town of Punxatawney, Pennsylvania, to watch the rodent come out of his burrow. And, as the tradition goes, if he sees his shadow on February 2nd, it means we’re in for another six weeks of winter. Or at least, Punxatawney, Pennsylvania is. How accurate is he? According to NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, (seriously?) he’s been right only 21% of the time. Not that good for an enduring superstition, considering the odds are 50/50.

But Phil is not the only superstition that people are dealing with right now; it is after all, almost Super Bowl week. Talk about superstitions! It seems everyone has a certain ritual to perform, a certain shirt or outfit to wear, certain foods to eat or a special chair to sit upon to ensure their team wins. They’re afraid to say certain things that might “jinx” their team. And that’s just the players we’re talking about! When it comes to fans watching the game (or not, if watching might jinx your team) the rituals and traditions are all over the place. Of course, I always wonder how it works: if all the superstitions are true, who wins, given that fans and players on both sides are doing them?

I’m glad to say I’m above such things (though I may have jinxed the Packers this year by checking their playoff score against the 49ers online).

In some cases, such superstitions are harmless fun. In Punxatawney, for example, it’s a tourist draw and a matter of civic pride for which the leaders play dress-up with top hats and long coats. I think hardly anyone actually believes the groundhog is a real prognosticator. But, unfortunately, many people are caught up in other superstitions which affect their lives, their decision-making, their finances, their families, and even their relationship with God.

This is especially surprising to see in today’s Western world, which supposedly left its superstitious beliefs back in the Dark Ages. People refuse to believe in God because “it isn’t scientific” to put faith in what we cannot see, yet they buy lottery tickets or read horoscopes or give offerings to “earth spirits.”

Superstitions come in two broad categories.

  1. First, there is what I call, the “omen” type. This includes attempts to discern knowledge in ways beyond our senses and reason, such as with horoscopes, Ouija boards, I Ching sticks, Tarot cards, fortune tellers, seances, and yes, even groundhogs. It’s not that wanting to know things is bad; after all, we study the Bible to learn about God and science to learn about what he has created. The former is commanded by Scripture itself: (Psalm 111:12, Acts 17:11) and the latter reveals God’s power and divine nature through what he has made (Romans 1:20). The problem comes when we seek knowledge in ways which God has forbidden us to use. And God has clearly commanded us to avoid such occult sources: “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)

While the things which God forbids sound extreme compared with something seemingly harmless like reading a daily horoscope, the two are actually of a similar nature. In either case, a person is seeking answers and directions for life decisions by putting some other authority above God. He wants us instead to look to him in prayer. Notice that it doesn’t matter if the forbidden source happens to yield information that is true; we are still to avoid seeking knowledge in that way. In fact, it can be especially dangerous when a forbidden source comes through with accurate answers, because then we trust it even more and can put ourselves into its bondage.

There is a classic episode of the Twilight Zone called “Nick of Time” in which a young couple’s car breaks down in a small town. While they wait for it to be repaired, they hang out in the local diner where the booth has a penny-operated “fortune-telling” machine that spits out cards with answers to the couple’s questions. The fact that there was a devil’s head on the machine should have been their first clue not to get involved! But they do, at first for entertainment, but then in growing fear and dependency on the machine as the answers it gives prove to be true, one right after another. Finally they realize the machine was coming to control them and they break away from its bondage and escape the town. On their way out, they pass an elderly couple who are coming into the diner with a handful of pennies, obviously still in such bondage.

Isaiah 8:19 says, “And when they say to you, ‘Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,’ should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?”

It’s not that God cannot use various means to make his will known for us. The Bible does tell us that he has done so, such as when the apostles selected a replacement for the deceased Judas Iscariot: they cast lots and prayed for God to reveal his choice between two qualified candidates. We believe God did answer their prayer. But that was before the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and before the writing of the New Testament Scriptures; now we seek answers in God’s Word through the guidance of his Spirit.

The second type of superstition is what I would call the “magic” type. It includes all attempts to influence or control the outcome of events and things by rituals that we do. This is the kind of superstition which will be rampant around the Super Bowl, and it is the kind of superstition which I will address tomorrow in my next post, “Of Groundhogs and Other Superstitions: Part Two”.

Until then, may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Deuteronomy 13:1-3

Are You a Bibliophobe?

While having lunch with a good friend, I invented a new word. During our discussion of the problems facing society today, we agreed that the rejection of the Christian faith and the Scriptures is at the root of our problems. I said, people are not just ignorant of the Scriptures, they distrust, disbelieve, and even hate what the Scriptures teach. They are, I said, “bibliophobes.” We looked at each other, and agreed that the term said exactly what we meant. Now, I say I invented the word, but I later looked it up in the dictionary and found the word “bibliophobe” already existed. There goes my claim to fame! Of course, the dictionary meaning is “a person who hates, fears, or distrusts books,” but I meant it specifically to refer to the Bible.

In what way are many people Bibliophobes?

  1. They don’t believe the Bible is God’s Word. To them, the Bible is just a collection of writings by people who wrote down their own ideas or beliefs about God. They experienced some event or felt some kind of spiritual feeling, and attributed it to God. But the Bible is clear that it is God’s word and not human ideas or imaginings. Over 130 times it attributes what it says to “the word of God” and almost 350 times to “the word of the Lord.” In 2 Peter 1:20-21 it says, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Paul concurs, writing in 2 Timothy3:16, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” And in case there should remain any doubt of how seriously God takes how we treat  his written word, check out Revelation  22:18-19 – “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.”
  2. They believe the Bible has been corrupted, that books have been removed or added over time, and the original texts have been changed by the Roman church. Interestingly, both Mormons and Muslims assert this. But, in the case of the Old Testament, the painstaking rules of the Hebrew copyists kept the texts consistent for over a thousand years; the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed texts a thousand years older than what we had before their discovery, and they were the same. For the New Testament, the  canon (the list of accepted books) was established before the Roman church gathered what it had into its collection of books. False gospels like Thomas and Judas were late fictions and were never accepted into the Bible. Today, we have over 5,000 manuscripts from around the ancient Mediterranean that testify to the accuracy of what is in our Bibles today.
  3. They don’t believe what the Bible says is true. The Bible, they say, is full of pre-scientific myths and fables. “The science is wrong and the history is wrong. We are more advanced and knowledgeable as people these days!” The evidence for the Bible’s truthfulness and accuracy fills books and has been validated by archaeological and historical finds. For centuries, historians slammed the Bible for talking about Hittites, saying they never existed; then in 1886, archaeologists announced that ruins found in Turkey were the Hittite capital of Hattusa. Then there are several stone pillars (stelae) of neighboring nations referring to kings of Israel and Judah reported in the Bible. And, as far as Noah’s flood, not only is there geological evidence for a great flood, almost every nation and people around the world has a similar story from its past, of an angry god who destroys all mankind except for a small group who survive in a boat to repopulate the earth.
  4. They don’t believe the Bible applies today. Even those who concede that some of Bible history is true, will say, “Fine. The Bible may have some good things to say, but it is so out of date. Today, we are more enlightened in our views of things like sexual freedom. Don’t try to apply Jewish rules from three thousand years ago to modern times.” While it is true that some of the Jewish cultural regulations no longer apply (such as kosher foods and Sabbath practices*) due to their fulfillment in Christ, Christ himself said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18). In addition, Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but  the word of our God endures forever.” What God commanded “way back when” still applies today. The morals of how people are to treat each other still apply, and we see daily the devastation that results from disobeying God’s commandments today.
  5. They don’t believe the Bible applies to them. Here is where many people are actually Bible-phobes. They are afraid of what the Bible labels as sin. They are afraid of the Bible’s prohibitions. Sure, they might agree with the “Do not kill” and “Do not steal” parts when applied to them being the victims, but don’t talk to them about the “Do not commit adultery” command, especially when their eyes are filled with lust. They think they are more enlightened about moral issues, yet they are the same human beings now as they were in ancient days. The same rules apply, and the same personal and societal consequences follow bad behavior: diseases. unwanted pregnancies and abortions, broken hearts and suicides, hatred and violence, theft and destruction, and the breakdown of society. Things the Bible prohibited are still rampant today, and so are the bitter fruits of such disobedience. Yet people think their lives will be better if they follow their own sinful impulses.
  6. They refuse to submit to God and his word. This is the attitude that led directly to mankind’s first sin. Tempted by the devil, Adam and Eve disbelieved God’s warning and disobeyed God’s one prohibition. The devil pooh-poohed the command not to eat of the forbidden tree “lest you die,” saying “you won’t die!” so our first parents disobeyed, and death and the desire to be our own gods, has been with us ever since. Ultimately, this is what Bibliophobia is all about – wanting to be our own gods. We don’t want to submit to anyone or any authority, let alone a God we cannot see, who doesn’t seem to punish those who rebel against him. We join the Psalmist’s lament: “Why do the wicked prosper?” and conclude there is no god, or he is unloving or impotent to intervene in human affairs. But such people disobey God’s first and greatest commandment, to love God with all their heart and mind and soul and strength (Matthew 22:27-28). They also forget that the wickedness they see will not go unpunished. Galatians 6:7 reminds us, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” Popular society calls this “karma.” The Bible calls it what it is, and that’s what sinners don’t want to submit to.

It’s unfortunate that our society has largely silenced the Bible, through ridicule, slander (that it’s old-fashioned, irrelevant, and oppressive), and hatred. It’s unfortunate because the Bible is a wonderful gift, given to us by our Creator and Redeemer for our benefit and blessing, for this life and the next. Joel Osteen wrote a book called, “Your Best Life Now,” but God gave us the real way to our best life now, thousands of years ago. His book is called the Holy Bible. It is true, God-breathed, unchanging, relevant, and able to save beyond all measure. Let us honor, read, and follow its precepts. Let us be Bibliophiles, and not Bibliophobes!

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 1; Psalm 119:105.

*The relaxing of these laws was approved by Jesus and the Apostolic writings. For the elimination of the kosher food laws, see Matthew 15:10 and Acts 10:9-18. And for the freedom from Sabbath rules, see Colossians 2:16-17.

 

How Did I Do?

The start of a new year is a time when people like to take stock of how they did over the past year, as they prepare for the year ahead. Did they keep their resolutions? Did they lose weight? Get healthier? Get engaged or married? Get a job promotion (or a new job)? For me, as I look back, I realize that I made a number of predictions for the year 2023 in my first blog of the year.

I wonder, how well did I do? Did my predictions come true? Am I a true prophet, or a non-prophet pretender? Check out the predictions I made (in bold letters) and what actually happened:

1. There will be at least one war between two countries, and some people will be killed. Were there any wars in 2023? Yes there absolutely were.

The Russia/Ukraine War continues unabated. In addition, there is now war between Israel and Hamas. Connected to that latter war, Iran’s allies have been firing missiles at US ships in the region. And now, Venezuela is threatening to invade Guyana and seize a province from them.

2. We will see TV reports of earthquakes . . .

2023 saw  earthquakes in Nepal, Afghanistan, Morocco, Turkey, and Syria for a total of 60,000 lives lost.

. . . and other natural catastrophes.

The Maui fire, heavy rain and flooding in Rwanda, Cyclone Mocha in Myanmar, floods in the Congo, Cyclone Freddy in Malawi, and Storm Daniel in Libya for another 1,800 lives lost.

3. And there will be outbreaks of disease, and maybe pronouncements of a new pandemic.

There are outbreaks of new strains of Covid-19, Monkey Pox (aka Mpox), dengue, measles, polio, diphtheria, cholera, typhoid, and influenza; all were reported in 2023 by the World Health Org.

4. Sexual perversions will increase to unknown levels.

I hardly need to document the fulfillment of this prediction. Do drag queens at the White House and in children’s story hours, and the neutering of children qualify?

5. Christians will be mocked, marginalized, and persecuted, even to death in some places.

Besides the cultural animosity to Christians in this country, over 300 million Christians are being persecuted, harassed, or killed for their faith in many other countries, including Nigeria, Libya, Mozambique, Afghanistan, India, and North Korea.

6. There will be fake televangelists, spouting heresies and bilking people for money with false promises.

While I am not aware of any new scandals toppling current televangelists, there are many who need to be toppled. The airwaves still hum with the likes of Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Bill Johnson, Joel Osteen, etc.

7. People will becomes even more selfish, self-centered, “selfied,” and nasty to each other as they turn further away from God.

Obsession over social media, being liked, conforming to peer pressure, and preferring current values over biblical teachings. Touting of self identity, what feels good, and subjective feeling over objective truth.

8. An evil person will shoot, stab, or run over a random group of people.

In the US, there were 30 mass shootings in December alone! There were 20 shootings in 2023 where five or more people died. Included were Lewiston, Maine, where 19 died, and Monterey Park, California, where 12 died. Also, a man in China ran over pedestrians in 2023, killing five people.

Pretty impressive track record, isn’t it? I was 100% right! Does that make me a prophet? Well, actually, no. God inspired true prophets to speak his word to his people; my only claim is that I read the words his prophets spoke as recorded in the Bible. Scripture has told us what to expect in this world, and while the names and places and dates will change, the stories stay the same. That’s why my predictions were accurate:

  • Prediction 1: (Matthew 24:6) Wars and rumors of wars.
  • Prediction 2: (Luke 21:11) Earthquakes in many places.
  • Prediction 3. (Luke 21:11 again) Famines and pestilences.
  • Prediction 4: (Romans 1:26-27) Dishonorable passions and shameless acts.
  • Prediction 5: (Matthew 24:9) Delivered to death and hated by all nations.
  • Prediction 6: (Matthew 24:11 and Luke 20:47) False teachers and bilkers.
  • Prediction 7: (2 Timothy 3:2-3) Lovers of self and money, heartless.
  • Prediction 8: (Matthew 15:19) From the heart comes murder.

The only major changes in history since the creation and fall of mankind were the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  And the only great future event that will be truly unique will be Christ’s return. Since Christ did not return in 2023, let us pray for him to come back in 2024. If he doesn’t return this year, I will repeat my 2023 predictions for 2024. But, whenever he does return, I boldly predict that we will join him in the air, and be with him forever! (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

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: Deuteronomy 13:1-5; Deuteronomy 18:22; 2 Peter 1:20.

To Tell the Truth

There used to be a TV game show called, “To Tell the Truth.” In it, the host would read the biography of someone with interesting experiences or an interesting job. Then, three contestants would appear, each claiming to be the person described. The celebrity panel would then ask questions of the contestants, trying to discern which were faking it, and which one was telling the truth. The more the panel got wrong, the more money the contestants would win.

It’s a good thing “to tell the truth.” The Bible commands it, whether in the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament (Exodus 20:16), or the New Testament’s admonition to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). To lie is to do the work of the devil, whom Jesus called, “a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44).

Truthfulness to a Christian should be like breathing, a natural part of living. After all, our lives are based in the Ultimate Truth, Jesus Christ (“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” [John 14:6]).

Unfortunately, when it comes to the world today, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Christians, and everyone else, to distinguish between what is true and what is false in the massive amounts of information we take in daily. We hear terms like “disinformation,” misinformation,” and “fake news.” For a long time we have had “photo-shopped” pictures, and now we have artificial intelligence (AI) generating phony audio and video of political leaders saying things they never said or did. It has become scary-easy to be fooled by such doctored media.

Having heard about one such AI engine, ChatGPT, I went to the site and asked it to write a story about Karen at Christmas (her favorite holiday). In just 2 seconds, it spit out a 525 word story that began with:

Karen was a whirlwind of festive energy when it came to Christmas. Her passion for the holiday season was infectious, and she was known as the neighborhood’s very own Mrs. Claus. Every year, Karen transformed her home into a winter wonderland, adorning It with twinkling lights, cheerful ornaments, and an array of decorations that would make the North Pole jealous.

Scary. I also asked it to write a 500 word essay on the theme of this blog. Again, 2 seconds later, came the reply, starting with:

In an era saturated with information and inundated by opinions, discerning truth has become an intricate task, demanding a thoughtful, multifaceted approach. The quest for truth is foundational to human progress, societal harmony, and personal growth. However, today’s landscape, with its digital advancements, diverse narratives, and rampant misinformation, presents a labyrinthine challenge in identifying what is genuinely true.

Yikes! I’ve been replaced! (And from now on, whenever you read one of my blogs, you’ll be asking yourself, “Did Rich write this blog, or was it AI?”)

So, why is it so hard to discern the truth in today’s society? What is about today’s “landscape” (as ChatGPT calls it) that presents such a challenge?

1. Our propensity to lie. From an early age, we lie to avoid blame and punishment, or to gain an advantage over other people. Children with chocolate all over their face deny getting into the candy. Dads tell their kids that the good Halloween candy got spoiled and he had to throw it away. Spouses cheat on each other, athletes take performance-enhancing drugs and lie about it, and politicians take bribes and deny it. We even lie to ourselves: “I’ll start exercising . . . tomorrow for sure!” Scripture says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

2. The schemes of the devil. The one who first lied to Eve, denying God’s warning about the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:4-5), continues to lie to us today. His temptations are lies – showing us a tasty apple while hiding the worm inside. He lies about our salvation filling us with hopeless guilt, or puffing us up with destructive pride. He turns people against each other with hateful lies, and against God with the lies of pseudo-scientific philosophies. (Acts 5:3 and 1 Thessalonians 3:5).

3. Advertising. From the 1949 ad that “More doctors smoke Camels” to the 1965 Brylcreem commercial’s promise: “The gals will all pursue ya,— They’ll love to put their fingers through your hair.” advertisers have said almost anything to get you to buy their product. And did you ever win a “free weekend” at some resort, subject to a “45 minute” presentation for some “exciting opportunity?”

4. Propaganda. Similar to false advertising, propaganda seeks to mold opinions and actions to suit some political agenda. Fabricated stories against political opponents, trumped up legal charges, fabricated videos and emails that put your opponent in a bad light, and false witnesses are just a few of the lies used toward a desired end. A recent example concerns the horrific attack by Hamas against Israel: some pro-Palestinian supporters claim it never happened. Then Hamas claimed that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza and killed 500 people, including children. Later, we learned that the hospital was not bombed, and the only rocket to come close was fired by a Hamas ally. Media are so filled with self-serving political claims that it’s hard to know what to believe.

5. Human error. “To err is human, to forgive divine.” So goes the 1711 quote by Alexander Pope. It is certainly one of the truer truisms about life. We don’t need to have evil intentions when we tell someone something that is false: we may ourselves believe it to be true. For example, in school we learned that George Washington had false teeth made of wood. We repeated it to others, thinking it was a fact (a certain cherry tree comes to mind, as well). Now we know his teeth were made of actual teeth. Another example: one Thanksgiving we were visiting family and were having dinner at their church. It was a fun event until the pastor announced that the Soviets had launched missiles at the US and our missiles were responding. The mood turned somber, until I realized his description of events matched a TV show I had just been watching before the dinner; he had seen part of the show and thought it was really happening. Fortunately, no one took any drastic actions before the mistake was cleared up!

6. Computer errors. “To err is human, to really mess up takes a computer.” So says Rich Eddy in 2023. Another truthful truism, I kid you not. We trust computers and their output for all kinds of information, from weather patterns to predictions of eclipses. Unfortunately, computers have sometimes made horrible mistakes, and fortunately, people were in the loop and doubted what the computers were saying.

  • October 5, 1960 – NORAD computers alerted that a massive Soviet missile strike was coming at the U.S. When people checked it out, they found sensors had misread a sunrise as missile launches, and a counter strike was averted.
  • December 26, 1983 – Soviet Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov was on duty at a Soviet early-warning base outside Moscow. He found himself staring at a red screen reading “START” as an alert siren wailed. The computer deemed that a single missile was incoming, followed by a salvo of five. Lt. Col. Petrov had a hunch the warning was a computer error, so he shut things down instead of launching -and saved the world from catastrophe.
  • January 13 2018 – Sirens and alerts on radio, TV, and cell phones warned Hawaiians that the islands were under nuclear attack, with the words, “Emergency alert – this is not a drill!” Fortunately, it was another computer error, and nobody died.For all these reasons – and more – we need to read, view, and hear information with a skeptical attitude that is ready to compare what we are told with what we know to be true. Just as Secret Service agents compare suspected counterfeit bills with authentic ones to determine they are bogus, so we need to compare the counterfeit claims of our culture, and the people in it, to what we know to be true.And how do we know what is true? We begin with the Word of God. We believe that it is infallible and inerrant, meaning it is without errors or deceptions. 1 Peter 1:24-25 tell us that the word of the Lord remains forever, and Numbers 23:19 says that God is not a man, that he should lie, or a son of man that he should change his mind. God’s word is true, eternal and unchangeable; what better standard of truth could there be? Jesus himself said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, and Luke 21:33).

    It is to Jesus, the Truth, to whom the Scriptures testify. The closer we get to him, and the more immersed we are in his Word, the more brightly shines the truth and the more obvious the world’s lies become. He and his word are our touchstone. True, the Bible doesn’t expose every lie out there – such as whether the gals really will love to put their fingers through my hair – but it will reveal the ones that threaten my soul. And to tell the truth, that is what really matters!

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: John 1:14-17; John 4:23-24; John 8:31-32.

P.S. Except for the two examples I included, I did not use ChatGPT to write this blog!

 

 

There’s No Debate

This week witnessed a so-called “debate” in which seven candidates for the Presidency answered questions and traded barbs at each other, all hoping to gain popular support for their candidacies. I say, “so-called” not to insult the participants, but to point out that neither the format nor the results conformed to what I had learned in school about how debates are to work. In a classical debate, there is a proposition, which one side affirms and the other side denies. Then the two sides take turns arguing for their side and against the other. There are rebuttals and counter-arguments, until all the points are made. Finally, the judges, or the audience, declares which side won the debate.

While pondering this week’s debate, another debate came to mind, one which I instituted a number of years ago. For my sermon one Sunday, I pitted my two associate pastors against each other over the question, “Which is more important in Christianity: faith or love?” Defending the former was Reverend Faith, a.k.a. Pastor Salge, and the other, Brother Love, i.e., Pastor Brokenshire. (Of course, neither had a chance, since I provided them with scripts to follow.) In a key exchange, Brother Love claimed to be “another Abraham,” to which the (much) older  Reverend Faith retorted, “I knew Abraham, and you’re no Abraham!”*

It was a lighthearted recap of a very real controversy fought between two major branches of Christianity, over what was necessary for salvation. The Roman Catholic position was that God gave faith to people which enabled them to do works of love, which in turn saved them (salvation by works). But following Martin Luther, Protestants claimed that it was faith alone, apart from works, which saves (sola  fide). Both sides recognize that without God’s grace and Christ’s death and resurrection, there would be no salvation. They differed on how to receive that salvation.

When it came to my faux debate, neither side argued for salvation by works. Both insisted on salvation by God’s grace alone through faith alone as exemplified in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Their debate was therefore about which was more important in the life of a Christian. 

Brother Love had a wealth of passages to draw from. Key passages included the following:

  1. Jesus himself taught us that the greatest commandment is love. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40).
  2. The Apostle Paul elevated love over faith when he said in 1 Corinthians 13, “and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing,” (v.2) and “so now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (v. 13).
  3. Even the Old Testament, with its many laws which commanded works, also demanded  love: Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
  4. At the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34).
  5. The Apostle John repeated this command in his 2nd Epistle: “the [commandment] we have had from the beginning—that we love one another” (v. 5).
  6. John also said in his 1st Epistle, 4:8, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
  7. And finally, we read in James 2:17, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

Brother Love made a strong case, but as Proverbs 18:17 says, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” Now we hear from Reverend Faith:

  1. The very beginning of God’s relationship to a people was when he made a promise to Abraham, and Abraham believed him. Genesis 15:6 says, “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.“
  2. Paul quotes that verse in Romans 4:3, and in verse 5 adds: “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”
  3. In Galatians 3:7, Paul says, “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.”
  4. Even James speaks of Abraham’s faith: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness—and he was called a friend of God.”
  5. Numerous times when Jesus healed someone, he credited their faith as having saved them: a paralytic, an ill woman, a leper, blind men, etc.
  6. Hebrews 11 recounts many faithful heroes. It begins with the statement, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” It speaks of faith’s power: “who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.” Hebrews then praises those who believed God’s promises, yet died before seeing their fulfillment in Christ.
  7. In Matthew 17:20, Jesus said, “For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
  8. Finally, the importance of faith is given in Mark 16:16, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

So, which is it? Faith or love? Which is more important? Of course, when all is said and done, “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35), so one must take all of what the Bible says about both faith and love. They are both vital in the life of a Christian. It’s like a coin with two faces: which is more important? They are both important; if one face is missing the coin is incomplete. Without either faith or love, the Christian life is incomplete.  Our faith receives God’s love and compels our response to love God back, to love those whom he created in his image, and to love the creation which he made. Our faith demands works of love, not just feelings of love which are cheap and transitory. Love is costly; it is risky. But if we trust God through faith, we will act, and our love will draw others to the faith which will save them.

After all is said and done, there is no debate. Faith and love. What a powerful combination of two of God’s greatest gifts. May they both be active blessings in your life!

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

Read: 1 Corinthians 13; Hebrews 11.

*An allusion to a famous remark during the 1988 Vice-Presidential debate, when Dan Quayle claimed to be another JFK, and his opponent, Lloyd Bentsen, snapped, “I knew Jack Kennedy, and you’re no Jack Kennedy!”

The Implant You Need

Next week, I am going to receive a dental implant. It not being my first such implant, I think the word “receive” is a bit mild and misleading.  I will not just walk up to the receptionist at the oral surgeon’s office and pick  up the implant, thank the receptionist, and walk out with the implant. No, it’s more like this: first, the assistant will x-ray my jaw to make sure the powdered cow bone they packed into the empty tooth socket four months ago has formed a strong bone structure. Since I have been craving grass lately,  I am sure it has taken hold properly.  Second, the surgeon will numb my gum/jaw, my first clue that something traumatic is about to occur. Third, the surgeon will pull out his mechanic’s toolbox and select an electric drill. He will rev up the device, and with a grin on his face, he will proceed to drill a hole deep into my jaw. Next, he will place the implant into the top of the hole. Is he done now? Oh, no. Now he grabs a new tool: a socket wrench, and begins to ratchet the implant down into the bone. Finally, I have “received” the implant, and I crawl out of the office with gauze pads packed in my mouth to stop the bleeding, drool coming from my unfeeling lips, and a prescription in my hand for a Schedule II federally- controlled narcotic pain medication.*

The other kind of implant I have is known as an intraocular lens. After being diagnosed with cataracts, I underwent removal of my original lenses and replacement with these artificial, soft plastic lenses. They really are remarkable; years ago a person had to wear what were called “coke-bottle” eyeglasses in order to see after such surgery. Now, the implanted lenses, formed to give a person their desired acuity close up or far away, allow that person to see clearly without glasses. The fact  that I was awake during both of my cataract replacements and could see what they are doing, did nothing to diminish my joy at having improved eyesight.

Yes, implants can be a wonderful thing. I’m waiting for them to invent kidney implants so I can give up dialysis,  but for now, I will just enjoy the benefits of the implants I do have.

But there is one more implant I have not yet mentioned, and that is one that I received without medical intervention. It is truly the greatest implant of all, the one that changed my life forever. And it was given to me apart from anything I have done or deserved. I am speaking of the Holy Spirit, planted in my heart by the Word of God at my baptism.

The Bible is clear that Christians carry the implanted Holy Spirit.

  1.  At the Last Supper, Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit to take his place in the world, to comfort his followers, to empower them, and to lead them in all truth:  “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him” (John 14:16). But note that he promised them the Spirit in a new way, beyond how the Spirit had been with the disciples already. Jesus said, “You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). Note the change from “with you” to “in you.” The Holy Spirit is not something we put on and take off as it suits us, but a person who takes up residence within us.

2. Paul picks up this teaching and includes it in his epistles. Romans 8:9 says, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.” 1 Corinthians 3:16 reminds us, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”confirmed in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” Again, Paul writes to Timothy, saying, “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (2 Timothy 1:16).

3. The Apostle Peter also speaks of the Holy Spirit indwelling the prophets: “ Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories” (1 Peter 1:10-11).

4.  And finally, James tells us how the Spirit comes to us: by God’s Word. He says, “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21).

My physical implants confer certain benefits: better chewing and better vision. Likewise, our spiritual implant, the Holy Spirit, confers all kinds of benefits to those who have received him.

  1. He teaches us and brings to remembrance all that Christ has taught us (John 14:26). This requires that we read God’s Word first, so the Spirit can remind us of what we read.
  2. He pours God’s love into our hearts (Romans 5:5).
  3. Romans 8:11 says, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” The Spirit gives life, now and eternally.
  4. The Spirit gives us gifts according to his will. Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 give us lists of such gifts, including faith and love, prophecy and tongues. He also grows spiritual fruit in us, such as peace and patience (see Galatians 5:22-23).
  5. The Holy Spirit is our direct connection to God. He helps us to pray. Romans 8:26 says,  “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Not bad, having a divine advocate speaking on our behalf!
  6. The Holy Spirit is God’s seal, his guarantee, that we are his and will be his forever (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

So, where does this leave us? It means we are not alone in the world; we have God’s own Spirit within us to strengthen, guide, comfort, and at times rebuke us, to convict us of our sins, and keep us in step with the righteous-ness which Christ has bestowed on us. It is our calling as Christians to walk in the Spirit, believe in the Savior to whom he points, and follow the Holy Scriptures which he inspired – all of which he enables and empowers.

Not bad for a painless implant!

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 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Galatians 5:16-25.

* Actually, my oral surgeon is excellent, and I have not had to take more than a Tylenol or two following the surgery.

 

 

 

 

Light In the Darkness

We live in dark times. Not only are sins openly allowed, they are celebrated. Movies, TV, and social media are filled with words and images that just a short time ago would have never appeared in public places. On top of that, anyone speaking against them or calling for constraint or decorum is called a hater of some kind and is then canceled or outright attacked.

Christians are portrayed as villains in movies and TV shows. A man plays Satan in a televised award show. A pro baseball team gives an award to a group that mocks Christ and those who believe in him. A movie exposing the horrors of child sex trafficking is demeaned as “right-wing propaganda,” while others call for unlimited abortions up to and after  birth. Our government, charged by God with restraining evil (Romans 13:4), instead condones and even promotes evil.

It is indeed a very dark time.

Sort of like the time into which Jesus was born.

In those days, the prevailing Greek and Roman societies promoted the worship of idols, that is, demons (1 Corinthians 10:20). Women practiced abortions, primarily by throwing their newborn babies onto the city dump. Pirates and highwaymen waylaid travelers, and human trafficking into slavery was so common that Paul had to address how slaves and their masters were to act toward each other (1 Timothy 6:1-2). Even among the religious Jews of the time there was corruption in business practices (“wicked scales and deceitful weights” – Micah 6:11) and ethnic bias. People were sinful then, just like now. It was a dark world then, just like now. As the French would say, “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” (“The more things change, the more they are the same.”).

The good news was that something was about to change – drastically. Not the nature of the world, but the solution to that darkened condition. Light was about to shine in the world. The Apostle John opened his Gospel with the Good News that “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9). Who or what was that light? The light was Jesus Christ, who in John 8:12 said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

So, what does light, especially the light of the world, do? What good is it?

  1. The first thing light does is reveal our path. Without light, we stumble in the dark; with it, we avoid obstacles and find our way safely. Twice this year, severe wind storms knocked out our power, leaving us without our computers (Oh, no!) or any lights. We dug out a couple flashlights and candles, allowing us to walk safely around the house until the power returned. In a world beset by spiritual darkness, we stumble from one false teaching or belief to another, ending up totally confused and lost. But spiritual light, in the person of Jesus Christ, shows us the way to salvation and eternal life with our heavenly Father. His coming fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah that “the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light” (Matthew 4:16). He who announced that he is the light of the world also said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus not only lights the way to salvation, he is the lighted path himself.
  2. Another thing that light does is reveal things hidden in the dark. This especially applies to evil deeds, which try to hide unseen in obscurity.  That’s why most crimes happen at night, when the perpetrators can hide their identity, or cover up their misdeeds. That’s why political figures try to hide their crimes and moral failures by weasel words and cover-ups. The Bible proclaims that all such evil deeds will be brought to light in the day of judgment. 1 Corinthians 4:5 says when the Lord comes, he will “bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.”

Unfortunately, many who dwell in darkness – and even love it – don’t want the light or the One who brings it into the world. John 1:9-11 tells us, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” Why doesn’t everyone want the light of Christ in their lives? 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” They have been spiritually blinded to the glory of Christ, not wanting to acknowledge their wickedness nor give up the sins which make them happy. Better to “turn a blind eye” to God’s commandments than to feel any obligation to obey them!  

But what about us? What part does Christ’s light play in our lives?

1. We trust that the true light will ultimately triumph, even if the darkness around us is so strong. John 1:4-5 says about Christ, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Similarly, the warning that the light will reveal the deeds of darkness shows the triumph of good over evil. In the words of the song, “This Is My Father’s World,” we hear, “For though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.”*

2. Like moths, we should flock to the light and avoid the darkness. The Bible warns us as Christians to no longer live in the darkness nor associate with it. This may mean dropping certain activities or friends that would tempt us to continue dark and destructive paths. 2 Corinthians 6:14 warns us, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” And Jesus himself said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 1:12).

3. At his Transfiguration, Jesus shone like the sun (Matthew 17:2). If he is like the sun, we are like the moon, reflecting his light into the world around us. That is why Jesus could say to us, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). When we shine Christ’s light into the world, we reveal both its lost condition and the one way to its salvation. The world may not like to hear the first part, but it needs to hear the second. According to Romans 2, we are “a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness.” We take to heart the words of the old Sunday School song: “Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m gonna let it shine!”** Our duty as Christians is to walk in the light. Paul called us to be “blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). Our shining is a testimony to Christ and a call to follow the light to eternal life in Christ.

In Ephesians 6:12, Paul called the world, “this present darkness,” and said it is under the influence of spiritual, cosmic powers of evil. We should remember that when we face the evil words and actions of people around us, we are not to hate them, but to enlighten them to the light of Christ, that they too, like us, may be called out of darkness and into God’s marvelous  light (1 Peter 2:9).  Ultimately, it is only the light of Christ that will chase away the shadows of spiritual darkness.

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: John 1:1-14; Ephesians 6:11-13;

*”This Is My Father’s World”, by Maltie D. Babcock, 1901, public domain.

**”This Little Light of Mine”, by Harold Dixon Loes, public domain.

Alone But Not Afraid

While recently surfing the Internet (a favorite pastime during dialysis), I encountered some ads for a book titled, Alone and Unafraid. Ostensibly written by a former CIA officer, the book purports to teach the reader all kinds of secrets from the spy world about surviving various dangerous situations. Even if a person finds himself alone during a catastrophe, he need not be afraid; the book will teach him what he needs to know to endure safely.

Sounds like a deal. Who wouldn’t want to face life and whatever it dishes out without being afraid? It’s like Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar, “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.” (Act 2, Scene 2). How much more enjoyable is life when we don’t fear all kinds of things that may or may not happen to us?

The above referenced book title certainly appeals to one of people’s greatest fears: being alone. There’s something especially intimidating about facing problems on our own, without someone there to protect us, share our burdens, comfort us in our pain, and console us in our losses. There are many such tough situations:

1. You lose a loved one to death or other loss, especially a parent or spouse who loved us and provided financial support and handled daily practical needs. Maybe they paid the bills, drove us to school, work, or appointments. Or maybe they just provided companionship (“It is not good that the man should be alone” – Genesis 2:18), a listening ear, and a ready smile. Suddenly there is a void in life, a space that cannot be filled.

2. You are facing a challenge. Maybe it’s a test at school, or a job interview, or a public speech, or “the big game” you’ve been training for. Whatever it is, it is up to you and you alone to take it on. No one can do it for you. (Reminds me of preaching! Talk of feeling “Alone and Afraid” on a Sunday morning!)

3. You are dealing with a serious medical condition. No matter how many people encourage you, the bad news is about you alone, and you are the one who has to undergo whatever procedure or treatment is required. It’s hard not to feel alone and afraid when the doctor looks at your test results and frowns or says, “Oh, oh . . .”

4. You are physically alone due to some disaster. A flood, fire, earthquake, or riot separates you from your normal network of support, supplies, or caregivers. No outside people or providers are available to you as you hunker down or flee the situation. Imagine losing touch with family and friends as you become a refugee.

5. You are at the end of your days. As the words of the song, Ten Thousand Reasons**, put it: “And on that day when my strength is failing, the end draws near and my time has come. . .” During the covid lock downs, too many people in hospitals and nursing homes had to die alone due to bans on visitors. Even Karen’s mother, though she lived another year, had to spend her 90th birthday alone due to restrictions. But even if you are surrounded by your whole family when the time comes, you have to make that final journey by yourself.

These situations can be very discouraging and potentially fear-inducing. But no matter how threatening they may be, with no other human being anywhere near us, we need not fear them, because our powerful and loving God promises to be with us, no matter what happens. Whether we see him or not, he knew what would happen to us long before it did, knows our fears and struggles, and will answer our prayers for help. God promises this to us many times in his Word.

1. When the mantle of leadership passed from Moses to Joshua, God told the new leader not to be afraid of the challenges ahead in conquering the promised land. He said, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). This promise was not only for Joshua, but for all believers, because Hebrews 13:5 applies it to us: “for [God] has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

2. The Psalms are full of celebration that God is with us in good times and bad. Psalm 3:6 rejoices, saying, “I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” Likewise, Psalm 27:1 says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” And Psalm 56:11 claims, “in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?” The psalmist even addresses loneliness in Psalm 25:16 by calling on God: “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.”

3. The basis of our courage and sense of togetherness with God is based on his love for us. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” And 1 John 4:18 tells us, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” God’s perfect love for us guarantees his presence and comfort. We love our family even when we don’t see them. whether in the next room or across the country; likewise we know God loves us as his own children (John 1:12) even when we feel most alone.

4. God has come to be with us and in us, so we are never alone. Not only did Jesus promise to be with us: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age“(Matthew 28:20); he also said. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). Jesus continues in verse 27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Why are we not afraid? Because God’s own Spirit is now in us, so we are never alone.

5. Finally, God does not promise to spare us all the problems of this  life, but does promise to be with us and strengthen us through them all.  Proverbs 16:4 says, “The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” That God is sovereign and allows suffering is plain in the Scriptures: “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Romans 9:14-16). But even if the problem we face is the ultimate one of death, even then God is with us. The Apostle Paul asked what can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus; and he concluded that neither “life nor death” nor anything else can do that (Romans 8:38).

Alone and afraid? Not so much. We don’t need a spy-master’s book to tell us that, for we have a better book, the Good Book, through which our God, who promises to be with us always in this life, also promises that we will be with him in the life to come.

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 46

*Alone and Unafraid, by Scott Hanson, Laissez Faire Press, c. 2018.

**Ten Thousand Reasons, by Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin, released on Kingsway Music, 2011.

The Good Book in the Pew

Recently, the editor of The Evangel, the national magazine of The American Association of Lutheran Churches (TAALC), asked me to write an article for their May/June edition. The edition was to address one of two topics: the Holy Scriptures, or the congregational life of the Church. I accepted the assignment, immediately knowing I would combine the two topics into one about the Scriptures in the life of the congregation. The article was accepted, and appeared this month in the magazine. For those who don’t get The Evangel, I thought I would include it here in my blog. Therefore, I give you the following:

The Good Book in the Pew

I am sure you have seen, either in a church you visited, or in your own church, a rack on the back of the pew in front of you. That rack may hold a hymnal, some offering envelopes, an old bulletin covered with kids’ scribbles, or most likely, a Bible.

Certainly, a church that places the Bible there does so to honor God’s Word and benefit the worshipers. But does that Bible actually get used, or is it just a symbol of the faith, another churchy decoration like the paraments and candles? Does it play a part in the service, or does it just gather dust?

I ask these questions, not to denigrate the use of pew Bibles. They should be there. But if we are to be faithful Christians who believe and follow what Scripture teaches, then the Bible needs to play a much bigger role in the life of our congregations. Scripture cannot be just for show, or something we add to our other church activities, but must exist at the very core of who we are and all that we do.

By definition, “The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.”* But how are we to rightly preach or administer the Sacraments, or even know what the Gospel is, or those Sacraments are, without the Scriptures? Indeed, how do we know who are the saints, unless the Bible tells us so? Therefore, the absolute requirement for any church is to teach those things to its people.

Another core necessity for continued biblical understanding flows from our doctrine that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, the only infallible rule for faith and life. As Paul wrote, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, ESV). If Scripture is going to guide our lives, both as a congregation and as individuals, we need to know what it teaches and treat it as our authority.

So, how do we make sure the Bible does more in our churches than just fill some pew racks? Let me suggest the following:

  1. Begin with a firm commitment by the pastor and church leaders that Scripture will be an integral part and guide for the congregation. They must agree to use Scripture as their guide for all decisions they make and all ministries they conduct.
  2. Preach and teach from Scripture. Contemporary illustrations can help people relate to God’s Word, but sermons must not be about the latest theories or self-improvement fads. Preaching should both challenge with the Law and comfort with the Gospel.
  3. Teach and encourage a love for God’s Word, so that the people will want to hear it and read it on their own, in addition to at church. Think of Psalm 1, which speaks of the blessed person delighting in God’s Law and meditating on it day and night. If we treat Bible reading as a chore, people won’t take the time and effort to read it.
  4. Regularly conduct Bible studies throughout the week as able, expanding the teaching to include Scriptures beyond the lectionary. There are many rich and edifying stories not covered in the usual preaching cycles, such as Noah’s Flood and Daniel in the lions’ den. If all Scripture is God-inspired, we should not ignore any of it.
  5. Provide opportunities for members to share their favorite Bible passages with each other, maybe in newsletters or during church gatherings. Hearing others tell why certain Scriptures mean so much to them blesses us as well.

During his time as a monk, Martin Luther had access to only one Bible. It was in Latin and chained to a desk in the monastery’s library. Its precious teachings and words of hope and life were not available to the common believers in the churches. One of the greatest things Luther did was to free the Bible from its shackles by translating it into the language of the people, and thus making it available and understandable. He knew the power of God’s Word for salvation and life, and the important role it must play in the life of the congregation. Let us not leave our Bibles shackled to our pews, but use them freely in every aspect of church life, that the Word of Christ may dwell richly in us (Colossians 3:16).

End of article

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 1; Colossians 3:16; 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

*Article VII of the Augsburg Confession

You can read this and other articles online at taalc.org. Click on the Resources tab and you will see The Evangel as the first selection.

Good Night, Sleep Tight

Did you ever hear the little ditty my parents would say to me when it was time for me to go to bed? It went like this: “Good night, sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite!” Which I always thought was a weird way to send your kid to bed; instead of drifting off to sleep with various pleasant thoughts, the poor children would see “visions of creepy-crawlies dance in their heads.” Not especially conducive to blissful rest! The other restful line kids were told to say included the words, “If I should die before I wake . . .” which though theologically correct, was also somewhat anxiety-producing.

Perhaps it was one of those lines going through my head, or maybe a mess of unresolved thoughts about the current state of our country and world, or, whatever movie I watched before bedtime, or most likely, my own personal health issues. Whatever the mix of those thoughts recently, I couldn’t get any sleep. After tossing and turning most of the night, even after praying for relief, I finally decided I needed to fill my mind with more restful thoughts.

I got up and staggered to my computer. First, I found a video of “sleep- inducing” nature sounds: a good old Midwestern rainstorm. I blanked the screen and listened to the sounds of rain and far-off thunder. The video was said to run for three hours, but I didn’t make it that long; It turns out the sound of running water called forth sympathetic urges in myself that interfered with any thought of sleep.

After that experiment, I tried sitting in the dark while imagining a more benign fantasy of lecturing at some college. I have no idea why I thought that would work, because before long I had created an entire course syllabus in my mind, along with fleshed-out talks, illustrations drawn from current events, and book citations that went back to a book I read in high school! Then came imaginary exchanges with the students and I knew this plan was not working. My mind was just too hyper-active.

That was when I decided I needed to read Scripture. But I knew that the choice of what to read would be important: nothing too exciting (like Joshua) or too theologically complicated (like Romans or Revelation). Nothing to arouse me to ponder ongoing denominational debates. No, maybe something like Leviticus or the genealogical lists of Genesis 10  (“The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The sons of  Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. . .  etc.”)

But then my choice became obvious: the Psalms. I remembered that many of them contained the cries of God’s people asking for relief, and I knew that applied to me.  So I began reading, right at Psalm 1 “Blessed is the man . . .” From that, I skipped around, looking for the words that seemed most relevant to my pressing need.

I found some very helpful passages. Psalm 86 spoke more generally where it said “Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.” (verses 6, 7). And Psalm 127:2 addressed my need directly: “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” Amen!

But what I discovered as I read these and other psalms was more important than verses about helping me to sleep. The thing that all these psalms had in common, besides whatever specific need they expressed, was that they praised God for who he was and what he has done. Even those psalms that complained to God about injustices, or celebrated his creation, or shared the wisdom of fearing God, all concluded by praising God.

As I pondered that, I realized that my own prayers had been weak in that area. Sure, God does call on us to bring all our needs to him. Christ himself taught us that the Father wants us to bring our petitions to him, that he knows our needs and will give us what we need (Matthew 6:8). But too often we treat God like a genie from Aladdin’s lamp; we summon him when we want something, and then put him away until next time. That’s actually a pagan way of treating God, as a servant we can control by saying the right magical incantations, making the right promises, giving the right offering, or performing the correct rituals.

Our right to call on our heavenly Father is not based on our actions, however sincere, but on our relationship to him; and that is based on his love and what he has done for us through Christ his Son. John 1:12 says, “to those who received him, who believed on his name, he gave the power to become the children of God.” Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. . .” Jesus reminded us that if our earthly fathers knew how to give good gifts to us, how much more will our heavenly Father do so (Luke 11:11-13).

Even if God had not made us his children and given us salvation,we should still praise and worship him for who he is. It is here that the psalms excel, and here where I had a lesson to relearn.

  • “At all times I will bless him; his praise will be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1)
  •  “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.” (Psalm 57:9)
  • “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.” (Psalm 96:4)
  • “From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!” (Psalm 113:3)
  • “My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.” (Psalm 145:21)
  • plus another 65 psalms that likewise praise the Lord.

After my reading, I listened to a couple hymns – “When Peace Like a River” and “Nearer My God to Thee” before lying back down and trying to sleep. I’d like to say I immediately fell asleep, but it still took a while. Again, it’s not magic. But I can say that all those other thoughts that had robbed me of my sleep had gone away, and I felt comforted to finally drift off in my Father’s arms.

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: Psalms 34, 57, 96, 150.

 

 

 

A Marked Man or Woman

This past Sunday I had the privilege of baptizing a young child. As part of the traditional ritual accompanying this sacrament, I made the sign of the cross on his forehead with my finger, and pronounced, “Child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, and marked with the cross forever.”

That statement is both a promise of  the current reality of being welcomed into God’s kingdom (John 1:12) and the promise of eternal salvation to come (1 Peter 3:21). But of course, although making the sign of the cross has strong spiritual reality, it does not physically appear like a tattoo, visible for all to see. But what if it did?

I once read about a nurse who participated in a baptism in her hospital’s neonatal ward. The newborn infant had a condition called “dermographia” or “skin-writing,” in which the skin welts up, forming red marks and lines when it is touched. As the nurse watched the baptizer make a sign of the cross on the child’s forehead, suddenly red lines appeared leaving a sign of the cross on the skin. The nurse was moved by the visible sign of an eternal reality. Eventually, of course. the welts subsided and the cross went away. But what if they had remained? What if the cross had remained permanently visible?

And what if that were true of every Christian, that at our baptism or at the moment of our conversion, a permanent cross appeared on our foreheads for all the world to see, and for us to be reminded of our faith every time we looked in the mirror? It would be awesome to know our true brothers and sisters in Christ at first sight, and to know who were phonies. We could separate the true sheep from those wolves in sheep’s clothing, the true pastors from those out to fleece the flock, and the politicians who claim religious faith and say, “God bless you!”, from those who say it and actually mean it. It would be awesome if we could become men and women marked for Christ.

The Bible say that believers on earth now receive such a spiritual mark: “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13), and that eventually those in  heaven “will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4). Such Scriptures provide the basis for our statement that in baptism we are “sealed by the Holy Spirit” and marked with the cross of Christ forever.”

But unseen spiritual realities and future manifestations of those realities don’t show themselves visibly now, so how can we see that someone is a true Christian in today’s world?

Some people think they can identify Christians (or show they are ones themselves) by looking holy:

  1. By wearing Christian jewelry, such as crosses. That may be true, but some gang members wear crosses, and some people like wearing pretty “bling” no matter what it represents. Besides, you can remove the jewelry when it is dangerous or unacceptable to wear it.
  2. By wearing message T-shirts that bear Bible verses or clever sayings. Not bad, but anyone can wear a shirt and then take it off. And some messages are not so biblical.
  3. By wearing Christian symbols as tattoos. But Leviticus 19:28 says, “You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.” Does that still apply to Christians,or just to the Israelites?
  4. By dressing nice for church. I appreciate that, but looking nice may depend more on one’s finances than on the treasures of their heart. Besides, 1 Samuel 16:7 says that “man looks on the outside appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
  5. By becoming a pastor, missionary, or other leader in the church. Those are good and holy professions, but don’t guarantee a true faith or  holy life.
  6. By charitable good works. Even rank unbelievers or adherents of other religions can do good and laudable things, and we should commend them for doing so, but their motivations may have nothing to do with Christ. For example, Muslims make alms-giving a pillar of their beliefs.
  7. By memorizing or quoting Scripture, but even Satan quoted Scripture when tempting Jesus. And how many activists quote the Bible when it seems to support their cause?

So, it is not by dress or appearance or social positions in a church that we prove our identity as Christians, because anyone can mimic Christian behavior and seem good in a moral sense. Instead, consider the following clues, not as absolute proof of the true faith, but when taken together, can be visible signs that people are marked with the cross of Christ:

  1. They love God in Christ (Matthew 22:37), and proclaim it gladly to others.
  2. They seek to love their neighbors (Leviticus 19:18 and Matthew 19:19) and their enemies (Luke 6:27) as themselves.
  3. They confess that Jesus is Lord, that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9), and that he has come in the flesh (1 John 4:2).
  4. They continue to profess Christ even under persecution, when to do so is costly or deadly (James 1:12).
  5. They worship God regularly and seek fellowship with other believers (Hebrews 10:25 and Acts  5:42).
  6. They turn the other cheek and return good for the evil done to them Matthew 5:39).
  7. They seek to keep God’s commandments because they love and fear God (John 15:14).
  8. They delight in God’s Word, even when challenging (2 Peter 3:16).
  9. They  meditate on God’s law, day and night (Psalm 1:2).
  10. They recognize their own sinfulness, while forgiving others (Matthew 6:12-15).
  11. They put the best construction on what others do and say (Luke 7:37-50).
  12. They don’t judge people (Luke 6:37), but extend mercy to them (Matthew 5:7).
  13. They pray always (Luke 18:1).
  14. They seek what is best for others (Romans 12:10).
  15. They give thanks in all things (Philippians 4:6).
  16. They think on things that are good and holy (Philippians 4:8).
  17. They are reconcilers and peacemakers (Matthew 5:9).
  18. They are cheerful givers, to God and to those in need (2 Corinthians 9:7).
  19. They are humble (Psalm 51:17).
  20. They abhor and avoid the fruit of the flesh – “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” (Galatians 5:19-51)
  21. They exhibit the fruit of the Spirit – “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Whew! What a list! But I offer it with four caveats: First, it is not a complete list; I’m sure you could think of other signs of true Christians. Second, this list is impossible to follow perfectly. Third, doing these things does not save us; they are works which follow salvation and are empowered by the Holy Spirit. And finally they are not a checklist for us to evaluate others, but rather to examine our own hearts before God, asking whether we truly love God and others as ourselves – the greatest commandments.

If we do show such love for God and our neighbor, then we won’t need a cross etched on our foreheads, for we will bear the true marks of one who is “marked by the cross of Christ forever.”

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: Galatians 5, and all the verses cited above!

P.S. In reference to point 11 above, Luther’s Small Catechism explains the Eighth Commandment as follows: “We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.”

Humble Yourself

After going through my recent foot surgery and hospitalization, an old praise song from the 1970s started going through my head. The song*, based on James 4:10, begins with the words:

“Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord . . .”

The song’s message seems appropriate for a number of reasons, all centered on how my recent hospital experience has humbled me.

  1. I was humbled by the nature of hospital life. It began with what they euphemistically call “a hospital gown.” As far as I can tell, they must have bought them at a half-off sale,  because they were, well, half off. The backs were missing, as were the supposed ties to hold my gown together. As a result, my backside was visible to all who unfortunately looked in my direction. Not that I was embarrassed, but I’m sure the staff ran to eyewash stations after every visit to my room. Add to that the times the staff would come  in while I was using my bedside “jug,” and you get the idea.  The ultimate was when they had to shave a hitherto unshaved area of my body for my angiogram. I gave up my last shred of privacy, and pride, as the trimmer went to work. Hospital stays are humbling because there is no privacy whatsoever. You are at your worst, and the least presentable possible. Any illusion of pride gets carried out in the first bed pan.

2. I was humbled by losing control of the situation. Normally, we control what happens to us. We decide on something, act on it,  arrange our surroundings to please us,  dress as we wish, eat what we wish, and go where we want. We are in charge of our lives (right?). Although I kept control of how I reacted to what was happening, I lost control of everything else that was happening to me. I was told where to go, what to wear, what to eat, when to wake up (every two hours for blood work or shots), what was done to my foot, what medicines to take, when I could go home, etc. I was totally dependent on a team of other people who made decisions for me. I depended on them to know and do what was best for me, and depended on them to tell me what I now need to do to heal. Considering what can happen to any of us at any time, I was reminded that our idea that we control our own lives is an illusion. Things happen to us that we do not control; we do the best we can to manage what is in our control, but we cannot boast in our health, prosperity, or life situation. Ultimately, God is the one who is sovereign over our lives. He brings down and lifts up; he heals and sets the number of our days, and he redeems us beyond any ability of ours to add or subtract. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:27, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” It is humbling to give up control to other people, and humbling, but proper, to relinquish control to God.

3. I was humbled by the change in roles. As a pastor, I was the one visiting people in the hospital, hearing about their illnesses, praying with them, and hopefully giving them comfort and encouragement. I was the hero, the rescuer, who rode in on my mighty steed (sometimes my wheelchair) to bring them the Church’s loving concern and God’s blessings. Though I truly cared for each person, I felt good to walk in as their pastor, usually in my collar, doing the work that God had called me to do. Then, after each visit, I could leave and go back home. But now, things were different. Now, I was the one in the hospital bed undergoing surgery. I was the one suffering a physical ailment, lying there, hoping to heal. Only now, there were no visitors allowed, even Karen or my pastors. I lay there, understanding better how many of our members had felt over the years, feeling fear for their health and hoping someone would come to visit them. Over the years, I  should have done more.

Though humility is not our desired condition, nor natural for us human beings, humility – the condition of being humble – pleases God. Scripture is full of passages teaching that we should be humble before God and toward our fellow human beings.

Toward God:

      1. As above: James 4: 10, “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord . . .”
      2. In Daniel 10:12, an angel who appears to Daniel  says to him, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.”
      3. In 2 Kings 22:19 and 2 Chronicles 34:27, God hears the king of Judah’s prayers because “your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord.”
      4. Proverbs 16:18 warns, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
      5. “For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.” (Psalm 138:6).
      6. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
      7. Psalm 147:6 says, “The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.”
      8. In Isaiah 66:2,God proclaims, “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

Toward each other:

      1. Jesus told a parable that we should not seek places of prestige over others, but approach them humbly: “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:8-11).
      2. Paul wrote in Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
      3. 1 Peter 5:5 says, “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'”

Humility before God and each other is only right, because the greatest and most exalted person of all eternity, the One whose Name is now exalted above every name, humbled himself by coming into the world as one of us, to die on a cross and save us from our sins (Philippians 2:5-8). So how can we be prideful? Who are we compared to him? What have we done, compared to him? What teachings should we follow regarding our attitude except those in God’s Word?

Humility is right, and it shouldn’t take a stay in the hospital or half of a hospital gown to check our pride and bring us back into line with what God desires. And when we do humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, James 4:10 concludes with the promise found in the rest of that 70’s song: “and he will lift you higher and higher.”

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:  Philippians 2:3-11; James 4:6-9; Matthew 8:4; Matthew 23:12.

*Humble Thyself in the Sight of the Lord, (c) 1978 CCCM Music (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.).

Male and Female

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27 ESV)

Quick quiz: What do “ze, ne, ve, xe, zir, hir, nirs and eir” have in common? Answer: they are pronouns invented to refer to people who no longer want to be classified in the traditional and so-called “restrictive binary” designations of “he and she.” After all, if your gender identity is fluid, and you can be whatever you want to be on any given day regardless of your physical attributes (and thereby have the right to choose which bathroom you use), why not make up a word to go along with your self-understanding?

When I read articles and hear stories about such developments in our society, and about governmental units threatening fines and lawsuits against those who don’t go along with the most extreme attacks against traditional gender identity and sexuality, I have to ask, “What is our world coming to?”, “Are people crazy to take this seriously?”, and “What do I do about this . . . get angry or learn some new vocabulary?”

The answers begin with setting aside my own feelings and attitudes, because they can be flawed, culturally influenced, and sin-tainted. Instead, I need to go to the Scriptures to see what God has to say on this subject, and let His Word guide both my attitudes and my response. While a full exegetical study of everything the Bible says is beyond the scope and space limitations of this blog, there are a few key passages that are very helpful.

We begin in the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. His final act of creation is summarized in Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” This one verse is loaded with important lessons. First, God is the Creator, and he determines what we are. Second, God made us male and female – the “restrictive binary” categories are from God; he did not make us with the 56 different gender options used by Facebook. His design was for intimate, complimentary companionship  (Genesis 2:18, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I shall make a helper fit for him.”), and for making babies (Genesis 1:28 “Be fruitful and multiply.”).

Third, God made us, whether male or female, equally in His image: “in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” This is important to remember, for no matter how flawed we become through sin and the curse, we still retain some of that image. All people, male and female, have been made in God’s image even if they deny God and His creation categories.

Other biblical passages make it clear that God’s male/female designations are important to Him and are not to be confused: He prohibits cross-dressing (Deuteronomy 22:5); detests homosexuality (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13, Romans 1:26-27); and limits certain roles in the church to men (1 Timothy 2:12). We do well to hear what God has to say about what it means to be a man or a woman, and about how we express our God-given identity.

But having considered aspects of the Law – that God expects us to uphold his sexual standards – I would like to consider what the Gospel teaches us about what God has done for us in this area. First, inasmuch as we are in God’s image and God did send His Son to die for all of us, we will extend His grace to those who disagree with us. Therefore, even gender-benders are to be treated with love and respect. As Luther said in the Small Catechism, the Eighth Commandment’s prohibition against false witness means: “We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, think and speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.” Christ came to call sinners to repentance, and he died for all of us because we are all sinners; none of us can boast in our own righteousness.

Second, rather than feeling upset and angry with what the world is doing, let us rejoice and proclaim the gift which God has given us in making us male and female. Let us celebrate every biblical wedding, every marriage, every anniversary, and every birth as fulfilments of God’s loving plan for our lives here on earth. And let us agree with God who pronounced as he looked upon his finished creation, which included his “restrictive binary” man and woman, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

There remains one more question regarding gender, and that is: what gender is God? This question was first posed to me back in the late 1970’s when one of my camp counselors questioned our calling God “he.” In her view, that made women second class by identifying God as male. Her assertion shocked me, because everything I had learned about God was that he was our Father, not our “Mother and Father” as the counselor preferred.

As I’ve considered this question over the years (decades) since then, I have come to two basic conclusions. First, God is above and beyond our human concepts of sexuality, and embodies in his person all the good attributes that we normally associate with both men and women. He is strong and powerful, a warrior and a judge (Psalm 7:11). He is also compassionate and nurturing, one who would gather the children of Jerusalem as a mother hen would gather her children (Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34).  God is love, which knows no gender, but is true of both make and female identities. No person, male or female, should feel in the least inferior because God is our Father.

Second, the main reason we use male pronouns and titles for God is because that is what God says about himself. God’s own Word refers to himself as “he, him, and his.” Gender is a grammatical term, and in both Hebrew and Greek grammar, God’s pronouns and titles are male. It is the way he wants us to speak of him. Unlike many pagan religions, our Godhead is one (Deuteronomy 6:4), and not a gathering of male and female deities who give birth to people and more gods and goddesses. He creates outside of himself like a father, not birthing us as a mother. Add to that the fact that Jesus was born literally a male, and you can see that God wanted no confusion about the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all spoken of as male in their gender, though again, their qualities embody both male and female goodness.

Amidst our present day confusion and conflict over “gender issues,” we can take comfort and assurance that with God, there is no confusion. Let us rejoice in who God is, and in the fact that he loves and died for all of us, male and female alike.

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: Genesis 1 and 2; Romans 1

My Wife Is a Karen

My wife is a Karen, my father was a Dick, and one of my best friends is a John. No, I’m not insulting them – those are their real names. Contrary to some current memes and connotations, my wife is not a self-centered, privileged woman who treats people condescendingly; my father was not a jerk (nor a private detective nor something else); nor does my friend frequent practitioners of the “world’s oldest profession.”*

How is it that perfectly good names take on such offensive meanings? How is it that a name such as Karen, which comes from a Greek word meaning “Pure,” came to be used as a put-down?

Sometimes, it happens because a certain person who bore that name did something bad, causing people to forever associate that name with wrong-doing. For example, if you call someone a Judas, a Benedict Arnold, or a Quisling (Norwegian traitor in World War II), you are calling them a traitor who has betrayed someone’s trust. There is even something called a “Judas goat,” a goat trained to lead sheep to the slaughter while not itself being killed. And would anyone name their newborn son, “Hitler”? (Actually, a couple in New Jersey did just that, and lost custody of their child for it!)

Sometimes, characters in books or movies are so stereotyped that their names become synonymous with certain characteristics. Someone (especially a girl) who is always cheerful and sees only the good in everyone and everything is a “Pollyanna.” Someone who is good at everything without training or experience, such as the character Rey in the Star Wars sequels, is a “Peggy Sue.” An African-American who relates well with whites gets called an “Uncle Tom” after the elderly slave in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 anti-slavery novel of the same name. And would you buy a dog whose name was Cujo?

Whatever the reason for using names as insults, I think we need to stop doing it. A person’s name is tied to their identity: to who they are and where they came from. They may be named for a beloved relative, for an honored historical figure, for the parents’ favorite place, or just because the name sounds good. They may bear biblical names, such as David, Mary, Adam, Martha, or yes, even Jesus (or do you say, “hay-soos”?). Whatever the name given to the child, they grow up with that name as part of who they are. For example, I was always proud of the name, Richard, as my dad’s namesake and for sharing the name with three kings of England – especially Richard the Lion-hearted, hero of the Robin Hood movies.

Last names especially point to a person’s ethnic heritage or family history, of which no one should be ashamed.  Whatever national clues show up in a person’s name, such as O’, Mc, -son or -sen, -ov or -ova, de- or d’, or ki-, we should treasure them as indicative of the journeys our families took.**

When I was the leader for local Y-Indian Guides programs, I told the new recruits to select “Indian” names for themselves and their sons. Yes, this is horribly not politically correct these days, but I instructed them to choose, carefully and respectfully, names that honored Native Americans. I told them that while they had no choice in naming themselves at their birth, they now had a chance to pick a name to be proud of. I reflected on how my dad had chosen Indian Guide names for us when I was a child: Apalachee (Helper) for himself, and Neekanah (Friend) for me.

There is no greater argument for the value of a person’s name than the examples we find in the Bible. There, names are indicators of people’s natures and importance, especially to God. Virtually every name has special meaning, for example: Adam=”man,” Eve=”mother of all living,” David= “beloved,” Abimelech=”my father is king,” Daniel=”God is my judge,” and Elijah=”my God is Yahweh.” Names were so important that God actually changed certain people’s names to reflect his interaction with them, or his new purpose for them. Some of those changes were when he renamed Abram “high father” to Abraham “father of many” (Genesis 15:5); Sarai “my princess” to Sarah “princess of Yah[weh]” (Genesis 17:15); and Jacob “grasper of the heel” to Israel “striver, contender” (Genesis 32:28).

In the New Testament, there were two significant name changes: Jesus called his disciple, Simon “he has heard” by the name, Peter “stone” when the latter professed the faith on which Christ would build his Church. (Matthew 16:18); and another great apostle, Saul “prayed for,” became known as Paul “small, humble.” Interestingly, when Paul wrote his letter to Philemon, he asked him to welcome home graciously his former slave, Onesimus, a name which means “useful.” Paul actually told Philemon that Onesimus was formerly “useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me” (Philemon 1:11).

But of all names, in the Bible or elsewhere, the ultimate significant naming was when God told Joseph and Mary to name her spirit-conceived Son, “Jesus.” Why? “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Jesus, or Yeshua, mean “the Lord saves” or “Savior.” It was the same name belonging to Joshua of the Old Testament, who led the Israelites into the Promised Land, a foreshadowing of what Jesus does for those he has redeemed. How important is Jesus’ name? Philippians 2:9-11 tells us, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” I rest my case.

God has told us to treat his name – and obviously, the name of his Son – with respect and reverence. The Second Commandment tells us , “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). It grates on my spirit, and saddens me, when so many people today use the name of Jesus as a curse word, or flippantly say OMG when they are not actually calling on God in prayer. As Christians, those who will one day receive new names in heaven (Revelation 2:17), let us honor God by using his holy name with the love and reverence he deserves.

Shakespeare once wrote, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” But he was wrong, at least as far as the importance a name has for the person who bears it. So let’s treat each other’s names with respect, and by doing so, bring honor to the One who calls us to himself by name (John 10:3).

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: Luke 1:31 and 2:21; Philippians 2:5-11; Revelation 2: 17 and 3:11-12

* Actually, the oldest profession was gardening, because, in the beginning, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Genesis 2:15

** Can you identify the origins of the indicated national name clues? Hint: one of them is Zulu for “son of.”

Word!

Words are important. Without them, we would not have any dictionaries. Nor any crossword puzzles. Nor t-shirts. Nor politicians’ flowery speeches. Nor insightful, challenging, encouraging, and enlightening pastors’ sermons . . . Nor blogs, for that matter.

While you may think that we could do fine without at least one of the previous, word-dependent items, (I shudder to think of which one . . .), the fact is that words are essential to both communication, and human thought itself. We need words to identify and categorize everything, whether in our environment, our feelings, or our imaginations. If we try to communicate without written or spoken words, such as with sign-language or drawings, our messages are framed from words and received in words of some kind. Even if we talk with people who speak a foreign language, words and mental translations are involved. Yes, words are important, even vital, to human life and interaction. Word!

All of this leads us into a consideration of some changes in our language over the past “Year of Covid” which came as a result of the pandemic and our response to it.  In order to make sure we understand what is being said, and to enhance our communication, I offer the following short glossary of new words and/or definitions for 2021:

Covid 19: originally meant Corona Virus Disease from 2019. Now it refers to the number of years we’ll be shut down.

Face masks – what used to get you arrested if you wore them into a bank, but are now required to get in to that same bank. Karen’s alternative definition: face-warmers.

Flatten the curve: what I tried to do by tugging on a girdle.

Herd immunity: what prosecutors offer defendants if they testify about what they “heard” their mob bosses say.

Quarantine: what they used to do to sick people, but now do to healthy people.

Social distancing: dropping Facebook, Twitter, and all other social media. Former definition: anti-social behavior, standoffishness.

Stimulus checks: money the government gives us to stimulate our grandchildren to work 60-hour weeks to pay for it.

Uncertain times: 1. A meaningless term, since every time is uncertain. 2. Your watch/clock/phone batteries are dead.

Unprecedented times: times when both sides alternately say, “He’s not my president!” Also spelled, “unpresidented.”

Vaccine: Hopefully, a shot in the arm for the economy.

Well, as you can see, words and their definitions can get pretty messed up, especially in the hands of certain bloggers. New words are created, old words take on new meanings, and different words are used to mean the same thing. For example, in my lifetime there have been over 400 words used to express the idea of “good.” These include: cool, awesome, boss, sweet, righteous, bodacious, the bomb, epic, legit, far-out, choice, rocking, slamming, to-die-for, dope, fly, and bad – just to name a few of the more neat-o terms.

If we try to keep up with the latest words and meanings, we are sure to get confused, especially if we try to base our view of reality and truth on them. We need to find something whose meanings are true and unchanging, able to weather the storms of change. Is there such a thing?

Yes, there is. It is the Word of God.

The Holy Scriptures are God’s eternal Word to us, revealing himself, our broken nature, our purpose in life, and the way of salvation through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ. It is true and unchanging, as it testifies about itself:

  • “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)
  • “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, and Luke 21:33)
  • “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
  • “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
  • “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

There are many wonderful things about God’s Word: the beauty of the writing, the relevance of its teachings to our daily – and eternal – lives, its utter dependability in all it teaches, the history of mankind and God’s dealings with us, and of course, God’s love revealed in the gift and sacrifice of his own Son for our sakes. And because it comes from the very mouth of God, when we read and hear it we are not alone, for the Holy Spirit comes to us in those words to convict, heal, to inspire us, and to move us to works of love. The Word itself is a means of grace, through which God calls us to him.

Our response to God’s love and grace, revealed in his Word, is to love his Word and cherish it in our hearts. Psalm 1:2 declares of the righteous person, “his delight is in the law of the Lord.”

When I speak of the unchanging nature of the Scriptures, I am not saying we must read it in the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Just as there is a need to translate the Bible into other languages so that the Word may spread to all nations and be understood by the people of those nations, so also we need new English translations as our language changes. We can’t just say, “The King James Version was good enough for Moses, so it’s good enough for me.” Although it may be the most beautifully written of all English versions, there have been enough changes in our common language that readers may miss the important meanings that God intended for us to know. One of the most well-known changes, for example, is the word, “suffer.” In King James’ day (the early 1600s) it meant “to allow”; today it means “to endure, especially pain or anguish.” So in the King James Version, when Jesus tells his disciples to “Suffer the little children to come unto me,” he is not endorsing child abuse. He is telling them to “Let the kids come to me.” To avoid misunderstanding and keep up with language changes, the King James Version was revised multiple times by the 1700s, the first being just 18 years after the original translation.

This updating of translations is no way undermines the authority and unchanging nature of God’s Word as recorded in our Bible. It is our language, not God’s revelation, which has changed. Likewise, when we speak to people about our faith, and explain what God has done for us in Christ, we may need to use new words and phrases to properly express the truth. But the truth we express is unchanging.

To that, we say, “Amen!” Or as you might hear these days, “Word!”

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. Word!

Read: Psalm 119, a hymn of praise for God’s Word.

New Year, New Names

Happy New Year to you, my readers, as we begin what we all hope will be, in so many ways, a better year. As for me, after waiting up until midnight on New Years Eve to welcome in the new year, I didn’t notice any dramatic changes in anything: in fact, if I hadn’t known the date, I wouldn’t have known the new day was any different from the previous one, except that my wife and I toasted the arrival of the new year with glasses of sparkling apple cider.

And yet, we have a new name for these new days: we call them 2021 and give their new name some significance because, well, the number comes after 2020. And yet, it doesn’t feel any different. There’s still a pandemic, still a shutdown, and we’re still here. And I’m still retired*, something for which I am grateful, seeing all the restrictions and hoops my former pastoral colleagues have to go through to continue their ministry.

But in the culture around us, much is changing, based on new social attitudes, growing secularization, and political polarization. And much of the change has to do with language. Certain words are created, others are banned, and new meanings are given to old terms to agree with new sensitivities. What was perfectly acceptable speech when you said it can now get you fired, shunned, or even attacked, no matter what good you have done with your life.

One example of such changes came in the mail as a questionnaire from a health care provider. There were two questions on it that caught my attention (other than the usual ones about whether I ever had leprosy, bubonic plague, or Ebola). The first question was, what sex was I assigned at birth, and the second: what are my preferred pronouns?

I haven’t answered those questions yet, because I really want to give some crazy answers as a protest against using those terms. For example, I wanted to cross out “at birth” and change it to “at conception” because that is when I received the chromosomes that determined my sex (gender is a grammatical term – or at least used to be until it was redefined). I also thought of putting down, “Other,” or “Hermaphrodite” but that sounded like an answer a junior high boy might give. (And I am far too mature and serious to stoop to that level!)

As for the second question about my preferred pronouns, I’m thinking of answering: “Me, myself, and I” and let them wonder whether I’m really that self-centered. Or, “thou, thy, and thine,” and tell them that’s from my days as a pastor in case they question it.

Yes, I considered such shenanigans, but I’m worried that if I ever need medical attention, the health professionals will read my answers and take appropriate measures in retribution. So I’ll probably skip them or play it safe with standard answers.

But there’s another area where some renaming is long overdue, though I realize my ideas will have little or no impact, nor cause any change whatsoever. This idea came with the turn of the calendar page last Friday to the month of January. I stared at the page, and asked, “Why do we call it January? January is named for Janus, a Roman god with two faces, one looking back at the old year, and one looking forward to the new. Is that what we, especially as Christians, actually believe? If not, then why do we keep repeating the name of a Roman god every time we speak of this month?

Consider that all our names of months through August come from Roman gods, leaders, or celebrations:

  1. January – Janus (Roman god of beginnings and endings);
  2. February – Februalia (festival of purification)
  3. March – Mars (Roman god of war – the month when armies went to war) [See 2 Samuel 11:1 – “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle. . .]
  4. April -Aperio (Latin word for opening or budding)
  5. May – Maia (Roman earth goddess of plants)
  6. June – Juno (Roman goddess of women and marriage)
  7.  July – Julius Caesar (Roman dictator who named it after himself!)
  8. August – Caesar Augustus (Roman emperor who decreed all the world should be taxed [Luke 2:1])

And then there are the numbered months: September (7th), October (8th), November (9th), and December (10th), Which would be fine, except those numbers are all wrong in our current order, since September is actually month number 9, and so on with the others. We could put them back in their right place, and call the eleventh month “undecember” and the twelfth month “duodecember” in keeping with the Latin numbering.

We could, but I have a better idea. There are twelve months in the year (based on twelve cycles of the moon), and we Christians have no shortage of twelves to work with that are not based on Roman gods or rulers. How about, naming the months after the twelve apostles? After all, the Book of Revelation 21:14 says that their names will be inscribed on the twelve foundations of the New Jerusalem. So the least we can do is honor them now**:

  1. January becomes Johnsmonth
  2. February becomes Philipsmonth
  3. March becomes Matthewsmonth
  4. April becomes Andrewsmonth
  5. May becomes Matthiasmonth (who replaced Judas Iscariot – Acts 1:26)
  6. June becomes Judesmonth
  7. July becomes Jamesmonth
  8. August becomes Alphaeussonsmonth (James, son of Alphaeus)
  9. September becomes SimontheZealotsmonth
  10. October becomes Thomasmonth
  11. November becomes Bartholomewsmonth
  12. December becomes Petersmonth (because “the first shall be last” -Matthew 19:30)

Notice that when possible, I kept the first letter of each name the same, to help people learn the new format. I will expect my readers to begin the trend beginning this Johnsmonth!

Or, if you want to “go Old Testament” on me, you could name the months after the twelve tribes of Israel, since Revelation 21:12 says their names will be inscribed on the twelve gates entering into the walls of the New Jerusalem. The months could be named: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Dan, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin. So, June could become Judahsmonth and July Josephsmonth!

But I’m not done with renaming, since we have the same problem when it comes to the days of the weeks. Unlike the languages that follow the biblical naming of the seventh day of the week the Sabbath, such as sabato in Italian and sábado in Spanish, and shabat in Hebrew, English names that day after Saturn – not the planet, but the Roman god. So, whenever we use the standard English days of the week, we are honoring the following:

  1. Sunday – after the sun and the Norse goddess Sunna
  2. Monday – after the moon
  3. Tuesday – after the Germanic god of war – Tiu, son of Odin
  4. Wednesday – after the Germanic supreme deity – Woden (or Odin)
  5. Thursday – after the Norse god of thunder – Thor (not the movie guy)
  6. Friday – after the Norse goddess of love and beauty – Frigga (or Fria)
  7. Saturday – after Roman god of agriculture – Saturn

Even under the atheistic Soviet Union, the Russian name for Sunday remained Christian: voskresen’ye (Воскресенье) which literally means, “Resurrection Day.” How awesome is that! Soviet commissars would greet each other with, “I’ll see you next Resurrection Day!” But we say, I’ll see you next sun’s day? What’s wrong with this picture?

Again, we Christians have no shortage of 7’s to work with in renaming the days of the week. I think we should keep Sabbath for Saturday and Lord’s Day for Sunday, but otherwise, we can draw from other biblical sevens:

  1. The seven last words from the cross (“Forgive Them Day” sounds good)
  2. The seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2 (Ephesus, Smyrna, etc.)
  3. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (such as wisdom, understanding, might, fear of the Lord, etc. from Isaiah 11:2)
  4. The seven virtues (such as patience, kindness, humility, etc.)
  5. The seven deadly sins (actually, not a good idea: we shouldn’t have a greed-day, a lust-day, an envy-day, etc. Though a gluttony-day is worth considering . . .)
  6. The seven seals, trumpets, and bowls in Revelation 6, 8, 11, and 16
  7. The seven miracles in which Jesus healed on the Sabbath (7th day):  a man with a deformed hand (Matthew 12:9-13); a man possessed by an unclean spirit (Mark 1:23-26); Peter’s mother-in-law with fever (Mark 1:29-31); a woman crippled by a spirit (Luke 13:10-13); a man with abnormal swelling of the body (Luke 14:1-4); a lame man by the pool of Bethesda (John 5:5-9); and a man born blind (John 9:1-7).

There you have it: seven possible lists of seven which would be an improvement on our current names of the days of the week. (After reading the seven bowls of wrath in Revelation 16, I’m starting to wonder whether we’re already somewhere on that list!)

Now that I’ve solved the naming of the months and days quandary, I’m ready to take on even more linguistic challenges. But that’s enough for now. After all, tomorrow’s a new day, and I have plenty to do to be ready for – Wisdom Day, or is it Patience Day, or is it Giving Sight Day, or . . . .  ..

Whatever you call it, may God bless you in the days, weeks, months, and year ahead!

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 12:9-13; Isaiah 11:1-3; Acts 1; Revelation 21

*Yep, I began my fifth year of retirement on Friday, and this is the anniversary month of starting my blog, and the 142nd article since I began! And to think my second blog expressed my concern that I wouldn’t have anything else to say!

** For the final list of the Apostles from Scripture, see: Acts 1:13.

For All the Aints

In 1980, the New Orleans Saints football team had a bad season. They lost game after game, playing horribly, until their record after 14 games was: zero wins and 14 losses. In frustration, a local sports announcer started calling them the “Aints” instead of the “Saints.” And the name stuck as the hapless team went on to finish the season with only one win.

I thought about that name during the church service on November 1st. In keeping with the long-standing tradition (since the Third Century!) we celebrated All Saints Day. On that day, the Church celebrates the lives of all believers in Jesus Christ, especially those who have died before us. My favorite hymn for the day (and one of my favorites for any day) is called, For All the Saints Who From Their Labors Rest*; its strains rise triumphantly in honor of the saints who down through the ages have endured to the end, and even suffered, for their faith, dying without having seen the fulfillment of their hope for Christ’s return. As the hymn declares, they will rise gloriously to be with their Lord in his eternal victory. The first verse proclaims,

For all the saints who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Then, after several verses extolling the faithful struggles of the saints, verse 7 rejoices:

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
the saints triumphant rise in bright array;
the King of glory passes on his way.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

With such a stirring and triumphant hymn, why would I ever think about a football team that fared so badly 40 years ago? Why? Because my warped mind started imagining, “What if there were a song called, For All the Aints?”

Now, let me be clear: by “Aints” I don’t mean those believers who “aint” with us anymore because they died. Nor do I mean those Christians who don’t live up to what I believe are biblical standards of conduct. What I mean is, those who “aint” among the saints, because they don’t, or didn’t, believe in Jesus Christ.

Saints are those who, by their faith in Christ and by his righteousness and grace, are declared to be saints. Although some special individuals are known by the title of Saint because of their special devotion and lives of service to Christ and his kingdom, every believer is also a saint, as witnessed by Saint Paul’s use of the term when addressing the believers in the various churches. For example, when writing to the believers in Corinth, Paul greets them by saying, “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. . . “(1 Corinthians 1:2). Likewise, he addresses the church in Ephesus with the words, “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus . . .” (Ephesians 1:1). He repeats such greetings to the believers in Rome, Colossae, and Philippi. In other words, he calls all Christians, saints.

Aints are, by contrast, non-believers. They may be “good” and moral people. We may respect them and enjoy their company. They may make great neighbors. They may even live saintly lives. But when it comes to counting the vast multitude of the saved from every nation, tribe, and language (Revelation 7:9 and 19:1), they aint among them.

So, once again, you may wonder why I would think of a song title that extols non-believers. The answer is, I’m not extoling them; rather, I’m extoling Jesus Christ, who came to earth to save the aints, among whom every one of us was numbered. Why did Jesus die? For All the Aints.

That this was indeed Christ’s mission is clear by multiple passages of Scripture, not to mention the entire grand sweep of the entire Bible. In Luke 19:10, Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Saint Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:15, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost,” and in Romans 5:8, he wrote, “ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Saint Peter affirmed God’s love for the lost, writing that God is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). It’s clear: Jesus came and died “for all the aints.”

Jesus’ mission, made possible and anchored in his death and resurrection, continues today, because the world is still full of aints. Jesus’ mission is now the primary work of his Church, which by the power of the Holy Spirit enables aints to become saints through God’s Word and the Sacraments. This is the Great Commandment which Jesus gave his followers after his resurrection and before ascending to heaven: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). Likewise, in Mark 13:10, Jesus predicated his return on the Gospel first being preached throughout the world to every nation. His command to us is clear: leaving aints as aints just aint acceptable.

I could go on and on with the evidence from Scripture’s commands and the examples of saints who have gone before, but I’ll finish by focusing on what the result of proclaiming the Gospel will be, according to my new song, For All the Aints:

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
those who were aints will rise in bright array;
now they’re saints, their faith is on display.
Alleluia! 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 lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Hebrews 11, Revelation 7, Mark 13

*For All the Saints, written by William W. How, 1823-1897.

More Than Just Halloween

Today is October 31st, known everywhere as Halloween. But this day is much more than a day for kids to dress up and go out to gather candy and other goodies while yelling, “Trick or treat!” Much more. For today is the 503rd anniversary of one of the most important days in Church history and in the history of Western civilization: the day that Martin Luther posted a notice on the door of his church in Wittenberg, Germany, challenging the teachings and practices of the Church (and government) of his day and starting the Protestant Reformation. But what happened, and just as importantly, why did it happen? Rather than me trying to tell you, let’s hear from Martin Luther himself . . .

Guten Morgen! Meine Name ist Martin Luther, ja? You may know me as a monk, a priest, a doctor of theology, a professor, or a pastor . . . but did you know that I am now also known as a “wild boar?” It’s true; according to this proclamation of the Pope  I am . . . well, hear for yourself: “Exsurge Domine . . .” oops, sorry, it’s in Latin. Let me translate: “Arise, O Lord, protect your church, the vineyard which the wild boar from the forest seeks to destroy.”

How is it that the Pope himself wrote a proclamation against me, with the title, “Condemning the Errors of Martin Luther?” What happened that I should be so condemned? To explain, we must go back to another October 31, in the Year of Our Lord 1517, when I nailed my own proclamation to the door of a Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

Like today, it was All-Hallowed Eve, and I knew that the next day, All Saints Day, many people would be in church to remember all those believers who have gone before us into heaven. I wanted to be sure that many would see this poster, because I hoped the 95 questions, or theses, which I had written on it would cause serious discussion about some of the beliefs and practices of the Christian church of my day

Well, I got my wish – and then some! But, let me explain how it all came to pass, and what happened because of it . . .

I was born in Eisleben, Germany, in the year of our Lord 1483. My parents, especially my father, Hans, were very strict with me, but they made sure I got a good education. And so at the age of 5 I learned Latin. I also learned about God  and Jesus Christ, but mostly I learned about God’s punishment of sinners. Because  I knew I too was a sinner, I feared God greatly. If you would say Jesus’ name, I would shake and tremble, for I knew that Jesus was an angry Judge, just waiting to punish me for my sins.

As I grew, it came time for me to go to the university in Erfurt, where I studied law, as my father wanted me to do. But though I was a good student and advanced very quickly, I still was not happy, because I had no peace with God. For though I was now educated, I was just an educated sinner, waiting for God’s judgment.

Then came the day that everything changed, when I thought my time of judgment had arrived.

I was walking to Erfurt one day, when a terrible storm arose, more terrifying than any I had ever experienced. I hurried along, looking for shelter, but found myself out in a field as the wind and rain hammered against me. Finally, in the midst of peals of thunder, a bolt of lightning struck me to the ground. At that instant, I thought I was about to die, and all my fears of death and judgment and God filled me with horror!

I cried out for God to save me, “If you let me live, I will become a monk!”  The seconds went by, I got up and felt myself to see if I was still alive, and I was! So I hurried on to Erfurt, quit my law studies, gave away all my possessions, and joined the nearby monastery. I became a monk. Now, I thought, I shall certainly lead a far more God-pleasing life than I ever did at the university.

Of all the professions in my day the monk was considered the most pleasing to God. Certainly a man who gave up the world and its pleasures and wealth, to live a life of prayer, worship, poverty, and self-denial would earn salvation! And if anyone could have been saved by his monkery, it was I! I worked hard all day long. I fasted by going without meals; I slept on a cot in the winter with no heat or blanket, I whipped myself with ropes whenever I had sinful thoughts, I prayed and attended services every day, but still I could not find peace with God. Had I done enough? Were my motives good enough? I went to confession many times a day, searching my heart and mind for every sinful thought and action, until I wore out the abbot from hearing me. Finally he told me, “Martin, go out and sin so you have something to confess!” But he did not know how I felt inside, that I was a sinner standing in judgment because I might have missed confessing even one sin. And had I confessed my sins fervently enough, or had my mind wandered? Was I really sorry I had sinned?

Soon, I was ordained a priest, able to celebrate Holy Communion. But for me, it was not much of a celebration, because I so feared touching God with my sinful hands that the first time I held the cup, I shook with fear and spilled the wine.

Even as I wrestled with my sins before a holy God, I was given the chance  to go on a trip to the holy city, to Rome, the home and throne of the Pope. I thought, surely, this would be the one place I would find forgiveness and peace with God, at the center of his church.

When I got there, I did all the things a good Christian pilgrim is supposed to do – I attended many masses, visited shrines and looked upon the bones of saints, and I climbed the Sancta Scalia – the Holy Stairway – brought to Rome from Jerusalem, and the very stairs upon which Jesus climbed to be tried by Pilate. It was said that you could assure salvation for someone if you crawled up the steps and kissed each one, while reciting the Lord’s Prayer. And so I did – but when I got to the top, I looked down and asked, “Who knows if it is true?”

When I finally left Rome, it was with a heavy heart. After seeing the riches and corruption of the church, and failing to find the assurance of forgiveness I needed,   I despaired. My works had failed me, my church had failed me, what was left? I had nowhere left to turn, but to the Bibel, the Holy Scriptures. And there I found what I had been seeking. I was appointed as a professor of the Bible to the new university in Wittenberg. But to teach the scriptures, I had to study them more carefully.

The more I studied God’s word, the more convinced I became that we are forgiven and saved, that is justified, by God’s grace alone through faith alone, totally apart from our works. Only in this way can we be sure of our salvation, because Christ’s death on the cross for us is totally sufficient to pay for all our sins. When I trust in him and in his forgiveness, freely given, then I am saved. I read Ephesians 2 which says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and not by works…” and in Romans 1, I read, “The righteous shall live by faith.” When the truth of this finally sunk in,  I felt as if I had been born again, and entered that moment into paradise through gates which were flung wide open!  The burden of salvation was off of me – I could not be perfect enough to be accepted by God – but I was accepted by the merits of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ!

When I realized this great truth of the Gospel, I began to look more closely at what we were doing and teaching in the Church, and I saw that we had strayed from the Bible’s teaching into the traditions of men. The Holy Bibel must be our only source of faith and life. If the Pope and church say Ja, but the Bibel says “Nein”, then the answer is “Nein – no.” And as for popes and councils, they can err, but as for scripture, it can never err. It is the trustworthy word of God himself; it is the cradle in which Jesus is found.  It is also important that everyone be able to read the Bibel, so I have been laboring to translate it into the language of the people – German – so you can all read it for yourselves.

But what led me to write these 95 Theses was the church’s practice of selling indulgences. Let me explain – the church has taught that there is a special place of punishment called purgatory. We were taught that when Christians die, we don’t go straight to heaven, but rather must spend time in purgatory being tortured for our sins. Of course, no one wants to be tortured, so the church offered a solution – buy an indulgence. To get one, you pay money to the church. An indulgence promises the pope will forgive you of the need to go to purgatory. You, or a loved one. So, when I crawled up the steps in Rome, and paid my fee, I was given an indulgence for my dead grandfather, to get him out of purgatory. At the time I was sorry my father wasn’t dead yet, or I would have gotten him out of purgatory too!

The church uses relics of the saints – their bones or something belonging to them – which it puts on display, and then charges people to see them, in exchange for an indulgence. People are told they will be forgiven by their good works of looking at the relics, whether they repent of their sins or not. But what lies are told! One church claims to have a feather from the angel Gabriel, another has flame from Moses’ burning bush, and how is it that there are 18 apostles buried in Germany, when Jesus had only 12?

There was even a priest named Johann Tetzel going around germany with a large money chest, collecting payments for indulgences. He announced to the crowds, “Sowie das Geld im Kasten klingt, die Seele aus dem Fegfeuer springt.” Which means,  “As in the box the money rings,  the soul from purgatory springs.”

Das ist nicht gut! The Bibel says nothing about purgatory; it does say that our sins – and the punishment for them – are taken away completely by Jesus Christ, that his death is sufficient for all our sins. Nothing I can pay, or look at, or obtain from the church can add to what Christ has already done for me.

That was when I decided I had to raise questions about indulgences to the church, so I wrote out 95 questions on a poster, and on October 31, 1517, I nailed them to the door of the Castle Church. And you now what happened next? Boy did they get mad! Ach, I was called a traitor and a heretic! My books were burned! The pope called me a wild boar in the vineyard of the church – and then he excommunicated me – twice! So I excommunicated him back!

Later, I was put on trial before the Emperor himself, at the Diet of Worms. When I entered the hall I saw a table with my books spread out on it. I was asked if I had written them, and I said yes. Then I was ordered to take back what I had written. But how could I deny the grace of God and the truth of the Gospel? How could I take back what the Bibel says? My answer was, “If you can show me by reason and the scriptures where I am wrong, then I will recant. But if not, then here I stand! I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen!” After that, I had to flee from the city of Worms, and hide out in the Wartburg castle for almost a year. Many are those who would destroy me, but God’s protective hand has been around me – and a mighty fortress is our God!

Since then, much has happened. There was my return to Wittenberg as pastor and leader of what has now been called the Reformation. There was my marriage to a former nun named Katherine von Bora – my dear Katie I call her – and the birth of six children – I called them our little heathens! I have finished the Bibel translation into German, and have written many other books.

But the Reformation is not my work, any more than salvation is a human work. Both are works of God, though God does use sinful people like the apostles (all 18 of them!) and me to spread the good news of what Christ has done for all of us. In my day, the church had lost its way, and had forgotten the truth that sets us free from the law of sin and death. God used me to reform his church, but in every age he uses his faithful people – like you – to keep the truth alive and spreading.

So stand firm in the faith, and never give up no matter what the difficulties. Never forget that you have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.  The church does not belong to us. The good works we do are not for our glory. It is all God’s doing, and therefore we can trust in him and in the final outcome, according to his timing.

Speaking of timing: my time is up. I must follow the advice I give to young preachers – “Tritt’s frisch auf, offn’ Maul auf, hoer bald auf.” – “step up lively, open your trap, and close it again soon!”

So for now, Auf Wiedersehen, from the wild boar in the vineyard!

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

Read: Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 1:16-17 and 3:21-31                 

The Rescue Mission

Looking around at everything going on, especially in California, with numerous deadly wildfires, a pandemic, and social unrest, I thought the following sermon I first preached in 2011 was appropriate for today in 2020:

First a powerful earthquake, one of the most powerful ever recorded, slams the country and shatters buildings and infrastructure, trapping people in the rubble. Then comes a devastating wave of water as a tsunami crashes across the coastal lands, obliterating entire villages and sweeping thousands of people into the ocean. But that’s not all: the double blow damages a series of nuclear reactors and disables safety systems – causing the release of some radiation and the likelihood of much more to come. It is a disaster.

But now imagine you are one of the survivors of that catastrophe; you are buried under the rubble of your house, trapped by a beam and unable to pull yourself out. You are cold, hungry, and very thirsty. You’ve been buried for days, waiting desperately for someone to save you.

It seems like you are alone and abandoned. Will no one come to save you? But then, just before you’re ready to give up, you hear someone coming: a team of firefighters, guided by a rescue dog, has found you and has begun pulling away the debris over your head. You are excited; help has finally arrived! It won’t be long now and you’ll finally be safe!

Only . . . your rescuers suddenly stop in mid-rescue. The beam has been left pinning you down; “Come on! Don’t stop!” you cry out. But then you hear the rescuer’s voice amplified by a bullhorn:

“Before we rescue you, there are a few questions we need to ask you:

  • Are you a good person?
  • Have you paid your taxes? These rescues are expensive, you know!
  • When was the last time you rescued someone else who was in trouble?
  • Are you polite and friendly to other people? Are you honest?
  • Have you ever committed a crime, been arrested or parked illegally?
  • Are you the right age, gender, social class, ethnicity, or citizenship?

You see, we need to make sure you are worthy of being rescued.”

The voice continues: “If you meet these criteria, there’s one more thing we require of you and that is that you participate in this rescue. After all, we can only help those who help themselves. So, you under the rubble: push harder and lift the beam yourself. It isn’t too much to expect that you exert some effort if you really want to be saved! And one more thing: you’re looking pretty dirty and wet right now; better get yourself cleaned up first.” As the voice fades, you are left dumbfounded; what kind of a rescue is this?

Well, the answer of course is that it isn’t very much of a rescue at all. I think we would be shocked to hear of any rescue team acting in this way; we would demand an investigation and make sure it didn’t happen again.

And yet, though we wouldn’t put up with that kind of rescue from flawed, sinful human beings, we seem perfectly happy to attribute that same kind of rescue to the perfect, loving, and sinless Savior of mankind, Jesus Christ. If so, we are slandering him.

Understand clearly that Jesus came to earth on a rescue mission. Humankind, the highest of God’s creation, made in the image of God to know God and have eternal fellowship with him, had suffered a disaster, a catastrophe unparalleled in history. This disaster has led to the death of every man, woman, and child ever born, not only in this world and life but also for the world and life to come. This disaster was the rebellion of mankind against God, our disobedience and fall into sin. Ever since that day when our first parents broke God’s one commandment, all mankind has suffered the consequences and penalties to which our just and holy God sentenced them. You and I are no less affected by sin’s consequences – suffering and death – than are the people of northern Japan by the natural and man-made catastrophes that hit them.

It was into this disaster-affected world that the Rescuer, Jesus, came. It was because of the disaster that Jesus came, for only by him coming and suffering in his body and soul the full effects of our great disaster, could Jesus rescue us from its deadly consequences. But it’s one thing to accept that Jesus came to save us; it’s another to understand how we receive that salvation.

For some reason, many people believe that Jesus acts like the horrible rescue team I described earlier: that Jesus has come to make sure we get ourselves cleaned up so that God can accept us. If only we wear the right clothes, eat the right foods, join the right churches or think happy and loving thoughts; if only we keep the Ten Commandments perfectly – then we are worthy to be saved. And of course, since “God helps those who help themselves,” we must participate with God in our rescue from sin and death. Don’t we have to do something to show we’re worthy to be saved? He saves good guys, right?

Even if they accept that Jesus died so others would be freely forgiven, they still believe that the free forgiveness somehow doesn’t apply to them. Their sins are too great; or they think they have to get their lives cleaned up before Jesus would accept them. But that’s the whole point of Jesus coming to save us: we could not save ourselves or get cleaned up enough for God. “Just as I am without one plea” is a true statement. “God helps those who help themselves” is not – which is why it’s not in the Bible!

Listen to what the Bible does say about Christ’s rescue mission:

  • Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
  • Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
  • Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
  • And there’s the last two verses from today’s Gospel, John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Those verses are full of rescue language. Jesus Christ did not come to lay down another set of laws for us to follow, or to ensure we kept all of God’s commandments. Christ did not come as a policeman to enforce the law, but as a rescuer to save us from the law’s judgment and condemnation. He came to fulfill those commandments perfectly himself, and then to offer freely that perfect gift of righteousness to every person who would believe in him and trust him for their salvation. If you are in Christ through faith, then you have already fulfilled God’s laws perfectly.  He has rescued you!

This gift is given by grace – that is the undeserved love and mercy of God – apart from anything we could do. As John 1:17 says, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” And Paul sums it up in Romans 3:22-24 “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Imagine once again that you are pinned under the rubble of your home. The bogus rescue team has gone away; the beam is still pinning you down. You are no better off than you were when they first showed up; in fact you are hungrier and thirstier than before and more discouraged. What you thought would save you has proven to be a false hope. And as for your own strength, there is no way you can lift the beam and free yourself. Is this it? Is this the end? You close your eyes and begin to weep silently, whispering almost without knowing it, “Dear Jesus, help me!”

Suddenly, the air around you seems brighter. You look up to see one set of scarred hands grab a hold of the beam and begin to pull its weight off of you. You cry out to this new rescuer, “Are you sure you want to rescue me? Others are more worthy to be saved, and I’m all filthy and worn out!” In reply you hear a firm but kind voice: “Hush; I’ll have you out soon. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it!”

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: John 3:17; Luke 19:10; Romans 3: 22-24; Romans 8:1

In This Together

“We’re all in this together” is one of the most common mantras you see and hear these days. Newscasts, government health officials, many company websites, and other media remind us that there’s a pandemic going on (in case we forgot) and that it is affecting all of us in one way or another. This statement is meant to urge us to do what we can individually to help where we can because, “We’re all in this together.” It’s a good sentiment, but in many ways, it’s really just wishful thinking. That’s because the truth is, our society/country is so fractured right now that even the word, “together,” seems foreign or out-of-date.

Just name the category, and you’ll find that “we the people” are split into opposing, and even warring, camps. Race, ethnicity, political party, religion (or anti-religion), political philosophy (liberal/conservative/radical/etc.), attitudes toward police, and even sports teams (49ers vs Packers, for example), become defining markers of our identity. Those who agree with us are “in”; anyone else is not only “out,” but even evil for disagreeing. It’s become so bad that communities, friends, and even families are split over these issues. All in this together? Not so much.

So what do we do about it, before we tear each other, and our society/nation completely apart? It won’t be easy, since a lot of damage has already been done to our relationships and unity, but there is a way out, and no surprise, the solution goes back to what God has told us in his Word. Consider:

1. Remember that we are all related. While the events and movements of people throughout history have produced many ethnicities (from the biblical Greek word, έθνος [ethnos]), ultimately, there is only one race: the human race. Every one of us is descended from the same original parents: Adam and Eve. We are told about this common origin, not only in the events of Genesis 1 and 2, but also in specific statements such as,  1 Corinthians 15:45, “Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being'”; Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”; and Genesis 3:20, “The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” Not only are we all descended from the original human beings, but even more recently, we are also all descended from Noah and Mrs. Noah and their sons and daughters-in-law, thanks to the Great Flood. So if we look down on anyone because of their origin, we are actually despising ourselves because our origin is the same. Sure, we may have issues with certain relatives for their attitudes or actions, but we share the same identity with them: they are still family.

2. Remove the log from our own eye. I seem to remember Jesus saying something about this . . . oh yeah: “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5). Before criticizing someone else, look at yourself and ask if there is any wrong attitude that needs correcting first. Are you being impatient with the other person (note Jesus calls that person your “brother”: see point #1 above!), overly sensitive to the point that the other person can’t help but offend you, or hypocritical for judging him or her for the very same things you are doing wrong? Your critique of someone else doesn’t carry much weight if that person sees the very same fault in you that you are complaining about. Also, as Jesus pointed out so plainly, our own faults can blind us to reality, distorting our perceptions and causing us to misjudge other people.

3. Don’t judge the heart or motives. We may well see people do things that we find offensive or disturbing. Their actions or even attitudes may upset us, and we may have good, solid, moral reasons for criticizing what they have done. But there is a difference between judging actions and judging motives or character. In his wisdom, God did not create us with mental telepathy or the ability to read minds (though our mothers come pretty close to it), but we try to do it all the time. We don’t understand how someone could say or do something we disagree with, so we jump right away to the conclusion that the person must be crazy, evil, or a mixture of the two. Maybe, if we took a moment and actually ask why he or she did it, we may find that the motive was a good one, and that if we knew all that that person knew, we would do the same.

Years ago, I was driving one night and saw a racoon that had been injured after being hit by a car. I pulled off the road, and stood there trying to decide what to do to help the poor animal (Yes, I’m a sentimental softy.) Suddenly, another car approached, and as I watched horrified, the car swerved toward the racoon and ran over it, killing it immediately. I was outraged and angry at the driver: “How could he do such a horrible thing??!!” If I could have called fire down from heaven (Luke 9:54) on that driver, I would have! Later, when I told my boss about it, he said the driver did a good thing, putting the animal out of its misery. In perspective, he was right, since the animal was too damaged and I would have been injured trying to retrieve it, but even if I could have saved it, I wrongly judged the driver’s motives.

As Martin Luther said in his explanation to the Eighth Commandment: “We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, think and speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.” We don’t know all the reasons someone does something; how can we? Our duty is to begin by assuming the best motives. Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1).

4. Speak the truth in love. We may attribute the best motives to someone, and try our best to sympathize with them, but we may come to the conclusion that they were just plain wrong. (Or as one Far Side cartoon showed it, a psychiatrist is listening to the patient talk and writes in his notebook, “Just plain nuts.”) Then it is our duty to confront what is wrong and state clearly why it is wrong. Being understanding does not mean being okay with wrongdoing. But even as we correct someone, we need to do it in a loving way, not angry or hateful. That person may just be ignorant, or confused. Even if that person’s intent is bad, we can’t win him or her over by attacking or using nasty words.

Paul comes to our rescue in Ephesians 4:15, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”

Our intent in making such corrections is to win over the wrongdoers, not only to stop what they were doing, but also to help them personally be a better person for their own benefit. 2 Timothy 2:24-26 “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”   Galatians 6:1 “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”

And now, once again it’s time to take an break and bump the last three points to the next blog. (I guess once I start, I can’t stop and the blog keeps going and going like the Energizer bunny!*) So, tune in next time to read more ways to overcome our social fracturing! In the meantime,

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 7:1-5; Ephesians 4:13-16; Luke 9:51-56

*No compensation received for mentioning the Energizer brand. Duracell needs to come up with their own mascot.

 

In These Certain Times

There are two disciplines of study that are important to us as we continue to face the current pandemic and the consequent shut-down of our society and economy. The first of these is the study of history –  what has happened in the past. The second is the study of theology – specifically what the Bible says about what has happened in the past and what will happen now and in the future. To these could be added a third: the viewing of funny cat and dog videos to keep us from taking everything, including ourselves, so seriously.

Why do I say these are so important? I say that because I think history and theology help us to keep our current situation in a proper perspective, especially when just about every media story, government decree, and commercial advertisement uses phrases like, “these uncertain times” and “these unprecedented times” as part of their pronouncements. But are the times in which we are now living really uncertain and unprecedented?

No, they are not.

While our current situation in America is unprecedented in our lifetimes, and there is a degree of uncertainty regarding the virus’ final medical and economic impacts, history and theology teach us that there is nothing new (or unprecedented) in what is happening. Instead, we learn that disease and social disruption have been the norm, and that mankind has suffered war, pestilence, famine, and death (the Four Horsemen of Revelation 6:1-8), as far more certain than peace and prosperity. It seems, rather, that our recent past has been a “bubble” of prosperity, a condition which itself has been unprecedented when compared to the historical reality of human struggle.

So let’s look briefly at what history and theology teach us about today’s difficult times:

1. Pandemics are not unprecedented. The corona virus is nasty and has killed lots of people so far, and will certainly continue to claim lives. But, it’s not the first, nor the worst, of widespread and deadly plagues throughout history which have killed millions and devastated entire nations. The most famous are the bubonic plague outbreaks of the 1300’s that killed up to 200 million people, including one-third of Europe; London’s Great Plague of 1665 that killed 20% of the city; the  Spanish Flu of 1918-20, which killed 50 million worldwide and 675,000 in the US; the Asian Flu of 1957 (1.1 million globally and 110,000 in the US); the 1968 Hong Kong Flu (1 million worldwide and 100,000 in the US); the H1N1 “Swine Flu” of 2009 (500,000 total and 18,000 in the US); and HIV/AIDS which has infected 65 million people and killed 25 million worldwide. And these don’t count seasonal flu epidemics or  unrecorded diseases from ancient and prehistoric times. Simply put, contagious diseases have always been a threat to mankind, and likely always will be, in spite of medical advances and victories over certain threats, such as smallpox.

2. Economic hardships are not unprecedented. This point seems hardly even necessary to state, let alone elaborate. Again, while we’ve become accustomed to being financially strong as a society, the opposite has been almost universally the case until the last century in the West. Only recently have Third World countries been able to rise out of poverty, and even so, many have much further to go. And in our own country, as wealthy as we have been, we have faced multiple recessions and depressions, including the Great Depression (1929-1939); the Savings and Loan crisis of the mid- 1980s; the dot-com bubble; the stock market crash of 2000; the Great Recession (2007-2009); and the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2008-10. Of course, for most people throughout history, the idea of investment losses is irrelevant, since they had little or nothing to spend and nothing to invest.

3. Shortages of food and supplies are not unprecedented. Right now, stores are posting signs at their entrances saying which in-demand supplies are out, or limiting the number of each item which may be purchased. Some say, “Out of toilet paper” or “Out of hand sanitizer,”  and others, “Limit one gallon of milk per customer.” That’s a new thing for us, but I remember seeing my parents’ ration books from World War II, in which there were tear-out coupons for purchasing such basics as flour, sugar, and butter. Other situations have been worse: consider the Irish Potato Famine of 1845 to 1852, in which at least one million Irish starved to death (and another million emigrated to the US). Even more tragic (and recent: 1959-61) was the Great Famine of China, which saw the starvation deaths of 45 million people, due to the communist government’s enforced policies. So far, at least, we still have plenty of food and other supplies during this pandemic (except for the Charmin*).

4. Uncertainty is not unprecedented. As Ben Franklin once said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Beyond those two things, just about everything else carries with it uncertainty: our health, our jobs, our friends, families, financial situations, and even our marriages. Our longevity, our safety, and our security cannot be surely established, as much as we try. Our reliance on institutions, including our governments and leaders, can be misplaced. Even churches with familiar names on the door can betray our trust that they will teach and preach scriptural truths.

Once again, history shows us the folly of thinking we have a certain future. From villages being overrun by enemy tribes, to droughts and floods, to storms, volcanoes, and tornadoes, to fickle and oppressive rulers, to attacks by animals, to plagues and the depletion of arable lands, people have always faced uncertain futures. Add to those crises the problems caused by greed, theft, adultery, violence, and other sinful behaviors, and mankind has always lived on the brink of survival – and never with a certain future. Besides death and taxes, the other certainty is change, which by its nature ensures uncertainty. Therefore, everything we now consider as being uncertain, have always been uncertain; that uncertainty itself is all that has been certain.

5. So then, where can we find answers to the uncertainties of life and the cycles of danger, disease, destitution, and death? The answer is the Word of God, the Scriptures, and what they reveal about the world: past, present, and future. The good news is that God has made known to us what we need to know about all this.

The Bible is not some magic talisman that we can wave around us to banish all life’s problems. But it does teach us what we need to know to rightly understand what we’re going through: that we were born into a world which is cursed because of sin, both from our first parents and ourselves. God told Adam and Eve that their sin brought a curse upon the world:

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
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.” (Genesis 3:17-19)

The New Testament affirms this: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12), and “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). And “just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). As our buddy Ben Franklin told us, death is a certainty – whether from Covid-19 or some other cause.

Because of sin’s curse, we should expect the problems that hit us in life, and find comfort that they are not new to us individually, nor a sign that we are being punished for some specific thing that we have done. We might just be experiencing what is common to mankind: the bad along with the good.

Now, I’m not saying we should ignore the coronavirus or accept life’s harms fatalistically; God’s word compels believers to ease suffering and help bring healing to all who suffer. Christ compels us to feed the poor, bind the wounds of the injured, and clothe the naked. Therefore, we should fight this illness with medicines, smart lifestyle behaviors, and hopefully, vaccines. What we learn now will help us fight the next disease that comes along.

But there is something else we learn from the Scriptures, that there are other things, wonderful things, that are even more certain than death and taxes: God’s love, God’s promises, God’s forgiveness, and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Because “there is no variation or shadow due to change” in God (James 1:17), and “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (Lamentations 3:22), his promises will not change nor end. “God is not a man that he should lie” (Numbers 23:19), so we can trust what he has promised.

Therefore, though mankind has endured tribulations in the past, though we go through tribulations now, and though people will face some horrible tribulations to come in the future, God’s promises will not change. The prophet Isaiah tells us, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Thanks to our Lord, Jesus Christ, and to his birth, death, and resurrection, God’s greatest promise has already been fulfilled, and we can look forward to eternal life, when God 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 21:4).

So then, what’s this about our living in unprecedented and uncertain times? Not so much, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end he will stand upon the earth!” (Job 19:25).  Of that, I am certain! Amen, come Lord Jesus!

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: Revelation 21; Genesis 3; Lamentations 3:1-24

 

* No endorsement of this particular brand is intended, nor money received.

Letters From Prison, Part 3

Yep, I’m still in prison. At least, in the sheltering-at-home version of it, thanks to the rampant coronavirus. Now that the “shelter-in-place” orders have been extended through April 30, I thought I would address a couple points I didn’t get to in the previous two blogs by writing another “letter from prison” about the situation. Here goes:

1. Is this the end of the world? Several people have contacted me and asked whether I believe this pandemic is a sign of the end times. They rightly understand that there are biblical prophecies which speak of pestilence (diseases, plagues, epidemics) as one of the signs of the end times, and wonder if this is the one prophesied. Consider:

Revelation 6:8  “And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.”

Luke 21:11  [Jesus said,] “There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.”

I would answer this legitimate question as follows: First, I don’t know the answer. Scripture does not lay out the date; Jesus said, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” It could be now, or it could be later. Either way, God’s Word tells us to be faithful and prepared, praying and looking forward to that day. When the end comes, everybody will know it.

Second, the end times began when Jesus came and died for us. Everything changed as a result of that. Regarding what had to be done to fulfill God’s plan of salvation for sinful mankind, Jesus completed that by his death and resurrection. “It is finished” as Christ proclaimed from the Cross. In Acts 2, Peter announced that the coming of the Holy Spirit fulfilled God’s promise to send his Spirit “in the last days.” Hebrews 1 tells us that “in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son.”

Third, I would say that all the clearly understood signs of the end have been seen repeatedly throughout history. When have we not seen “wars and rumors of wars,” pestilences, scoffers, false teachers, and persecutions? When has knowledge not increased, or people not fall away from the faith? Some of the historical example have been so terrible that Christians living in those times were certain the end had come. Consider the Black Death of the 1400s which killed some 30 million Europeans (1/3 of the population), and reduced the world population by an estimated 100 million. Coming while Turks were attacking at the gates of the Christian nations of Europe, who would not believe the end was at hand? Or what about the Influenza Pandemic of 1918, which infected 500 million people worldwide and killed at least 50 million? As Americans, we tend to define biblical predictions in terms of our own lives in this country, but God’s perspective is the world. Therefore, though millions worldwide have experienced genocides and great disasters (such as the tsunami of 2004 which killed 228,000 people), we don’t consider them as biblical fulfillment; let something like them happen here, and we would be convinced the end had come.

Now, some believers counter by saying that per Jesus’ words, the Gospel needs to be preached to every nation before the end comes (Matthew 24:14), and since there are people groups still unreached, the end is not here. But I would reply that we don’t know how God defines “nation.” Based on the  Table of Nations in Genesis 10, then the task is complete; Paul agrees when he writes that the Gospel has gone into all the world (Romans 1:8 and 10:18). We just don’t know how God decides that prophecy will be fulfilled.

Fourth, I would just say one thing. Even though many people are fearful of the last day when Christ returns and the world as we know it ends, what is more fearful is if Christ didn’t return, for in his return all sickness and death will end, all sin banished, and true justice established. For that wonderful day all creation waits in joyful anticipation!

2. The second question people ask, is how to face this epidemic without giving in to fear and discouragement. My answer is to let “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). How do we do that? By remembering the hope in which we stand: the eternal life bought for us by Jesus through his death and resurrection. And by letting the Holy Spirit comfort us as we bring to mind those special passages of Scripture which give us hope.

For myself, I find hope in every  circumstance from the following:

“The earth is the LORD‘s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.”  Psalm 24:1

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10

“It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8

“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” Genesis 18:25

“Even though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” Psalm 46:1-6

“. . . I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”   Philippians 4:11-13

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.’

For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.”  Psalm 91:1-3

 

There are so many other Scripture passages that give peace and comfort, I might as well print a whole Bible here! I’m sure you have other verses that speak to you. Read them, meditate on them, and look to the Lord for your comfort and strength.

Finally, if you want to hear something to encourage you in this difficult time, check out this awesome video that demonstrates the power of 176 people from 34 countries coming together – remotely – to lift their voices to God:

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: Everything above!

Letters From Prison

I am in prison.

Well, not actually locked up in a jail cell with bars on the windows and a cell mate with a tattoo on one arm saying, “Mother” and a tattoo on the other arm of a skull and crossbones. I’m at home, my wife is with me, my cat follows me around, and I have food, drink, the internet, and plenty of books and games. Not only that, but I’m basically an introvert, so being at home almost all the time is not that hard on me. Not yet, anyway.

Other than to make pastoral calls on a few men who were in local jails, I’ve never actually been “in prison.” However, now that I am under “house arrest” by order of the Governor of California and other, more local officials due to the coronavirus pandemic, I consider that I am now “in prison.”

But prison, even one more punitive and spartan than mine, is not the end of the world. Some of the most famous and impactful writings are those that are known as “Letters from Prison,” because they were, well, written while their authors were in jail or prison.

Among such writings are, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. about confronting racism non-violently; “Letters and Papers from Prison” by the Lutheran pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (who was executed in a Nazi prison); “The Prison Letters” by Nelson Mandela against apartheid; and Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler (no, scratch that last one – he and his writings were more infamous than famous. To borrow a phrase from Franklin Roosevelt, Hitler and his book “will live in infamy!”)

A better example would be our old friend, Martin Luther, who during a ten month span under protective custody in the Wartburg Castle, translated the New Testament into German and corresponded with friends and fellow reformers back in Wittenberg, including Philipp Melanchthon. He wrote letters of encouragement for those carrying on in his absence, and spoke on matters affecting the churches. He complained of himself being idle and “drunk with leisure,” yet at the same time he told of what he was doing, such as reading Scripture in Greek and Hebrew, and writing sermons and commentaries. He said, “I am both very idle and very busy here; I am studying Hebrew and Greek, and am writing without interruption.” So much for sitting around idly!

An even better example is the Apostle Paul, whose Prison Epistles are part of the inspired Holy Scriptures. Paul was held in various jails when arrested by local authorities for disturbing the peace by stirring up opposition to his preaching. One was in Ephesus, when the local silversmiths rose up against him for ruining their business of selling silver idols. Another was in the Greek city of Philippi, where Paul and Silas were beaten with rods and imprisoned for disturbing the peace and promoting non-Roman customs (Acts 16:20-21). But those confinements were short term; his long-term, final imprisonment began when he was falsely accused of taking a Gentile into the Jerusalem Temple (Acts 21). He was arrested and held in jail the rest of his life, first in Caesarea in Judea (Acts 24-25) and then in Rome (Acts 28). It was during his lengthy imprisonment in Rome that Paul wrote some of his “letters from prison,” specifically Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. The first three were written to churches which Paul had founded or visited, laying out important doctrines to help those believers counter false teachers who were contradicting the true Gospel which he had taught them. The final one was to a friend, Philemon, asking him to take back a slave, Onesimus, who had run away, and accept him as a brother in Christ. Included in these Prison Epistles are some of the most beloved and important passages of Scripture, such as:

Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Ephesians 6:12-13 “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. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (followed by the description of the whole armor)

Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Philippians 2:5-10 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Colossians 1:15-20 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

Colossians 3:18 “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” (This passage continues with instructions to the husbands, but I think I’ll stop here to keep this blog short . . .)

Yes, indeed, Paul made good use of his time in jail, not to mention that he converted some of his jailers and guards to the faith, too!

As for me, while sitting eating bonbons and watching TV and cat videos for several hours yesterday, I thought about making good use of this enforced leisure by writing my own, soon-to-be-famous, “Letters from Prison.” So let me share a few thoughts with you, most of whom are “fellow prisoners,” about this current situation we all are in, thanks to the coronavirus.

But, because this blog is long enough, I’m going to present my “Letters from Prison” in Part 2 of this blog (cliffhanger!). So, until next time,

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: Acts 16; Philippians 4; Ephesians 6

P.S. Teaser for Part 2: What about church gatherings vs stay-at-home orders?

 

 

Unimpeachable

Impeachment. That word has been spoken, written, and debated more during this past month than it was in the previous twenty years put together. The reason, of course, is the attempt by one political party to remove the current President of the United States from office, or at least to discredit and damage him politically. This process was established in the US Constitution as a check and balance on the Executive Branch of the federal government, to remove a president (or other civil officer) in case of treason, bribery, or other “high crimes and misdemeanors.” As I’m sure you’re well aware, this has happened only three times before, against presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and William Clinton. None of them was actually removed by the established process, though Nixon resigned before the House could actually vote on his impeachment. Where the current attempt goes, or what its merits might be, I will leave to others to decide.

As I heard various reporters and office-holders talking about impeachment, I thought about the word itself, and what it means, besides referring to the current political scene. I knew, for example, that the word is used in other contexts, such as referring in court to a solid witness’s testimony as being “unimpeachable.” To “impeach” is by definition, to call into question the integrity or validity of someone or something. Synonyms are: to discredit, to charge, and to accuse. Therefore, if the above-mentioned witness were to give questionable evidence, the opposing attorney would certainly try to impeach what he or she had to say. Testimony which is “unimpeachable,” therefore, is rock-solid and truthful beyond a doubt: what people used to call, “the Gospel truth.”

The Gospel truth. I like the sound of that. Something that you can believe without a doubt, that is trustworthy, that you can hang your hat on, that you can take to the bank (plus any other old-timey sayings I can come up with). The saying that something is the Gospel truth came about because people believed that the Gospel is true; it was a testimony that what the Bible says about God and his Christ is absolutely trustworthy, as the Church has believed over the centuries. It was the highest designation of truth one could give, because God’s Word was, well, unimpeachable.

Unfortunately, that “old-timey” view of Scripture has become less and less prevalent today. Powerful forces are at work in the world, and in our own society, to impeach the written Word. There are the relativists, who deny objective truth, and might say your Bible may be true for you, but not for them.  There are the so-called “social justice warriors” who charge the Bible with being patriarchal propaganda that has kept (name the group) in submission. There are the atheists, who view the Bible as the human creation of creative writers who were scientifically ignorant. And there are many people who just want to be masters of their own lives, and will try to discredit anything that would impose moral restrictions on their activities and lifestyles. Even more unfortunately, there are many in the Church, even respected leaders, who compromise with these anti-Christian attitudes for the sake of cultural relevancy and acceptance.

But God’s Word cannot be impeached. It is the Gospel truth. It is the one standard by which all other truth is to be measured. It is the sure foundation of life itself, both now and forever. It is the source of hope, the mirror of our lives, and the revelation of our Creator and Redeemer. It is the unchanging truth that we need in a changing and fickle world. It is, as the Church as often declared, “the only norm of faith and life.”

Scripture declares this about itself. Isaiah 40:8 proclaims, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” 1st Peter 1:24 repeats this verse, adding, “And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” Paul wrote, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). He praised the church in Thessalonica: “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Acts 17:11 commends the Bereans for checking the scriptures to see if what Paul was preaching to them was true. And Paul reminded Timothy that he had grown up with the Scriptures which were able to make him wise to salvation through Christ (2 Timothy 3:15). Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” There are many other scriptures which proclaim the truth and power of God’s written Word, but we’ll look at just one more, a testimony by Jesus himself: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39). There’s no way anyone can take the Bible seriously and claim it is just a human writing.

Of course, non-believers might argue, “Of course the Bible claims it’s true. But if you compare it with what we know about history and science, it falls short.” Fortunately the Bible can stand on its own in spite of such charges. Even though the Bible is neither a history book nor a scientific treatise, what is says in those areas is true, and has been proven to be true time and time again in spite of Herculean efforts by skeptics to discredit it. There are entire books written to defend the veracity of the Scriptures, but let me share just a couple right now, as examples of “the Gospel truth.”

1. People used to charge that biblical references to the “Hittites” were fictional, because no such people were known in history. Then the archaeologists discovered the capital city of the Hittites, along with thousands of written records of their history, which meshed with the biblical accounts.

2. Others charged the Bible with ancient beliefs in a flat earth, but Job, Isaiah, and the Psalms speak of the circle of the earth, and nowhere does it claim a flat earth. Likewise, the Church has believed and taught a round earth as did most people even of ancient times; it eas only in the late 1800s that two skeptics, John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White, charged the Church with teaching a flat earth, and too many people have uncritically accepted their criticism.

3. Daniel 5 describes a feast in Babylon thrown by King Balshazzar, during which a hand is seen writing a message on the wall. The king becomes terrified, and calls on the aged Daniel to come interpret the vision. Daniel does, and proclaims the message is from God, saying that the king has been weighed and found wanting, and will lose his kingdom that very night. The king offers Daniel the 3rd highest place in the kingdom as a reward. The chapter closes with the terse statement, “That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom” (Daniel 5:30-31). But the critics have tried to impeach that account, claiming that the last king of Babylon was not Belshazzar, but Nabonidas, and that supernatural handwriting shows it was a fanciful story. But archaeology has shown that King Nabonidas did not like living in Babylon, so he moved out to a city named Tema, leaving his son, Belshazzar, as king in the city. In fact, an inscription from Nabonidas to his son has been found. And then there’s the account of the ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, which told how the Medes and Persians conquered the city of Babylon during the night while a great feast was taking place. As in so many other cases, what was thought to be an error in Scripture has been shown to be true once all the facts are in.

4. One more example of biblical validation. During World War I, a British general named Allenby was leading troops against the Turkish army that was holding Palestine. He came to a pass which was heavily defended by the Turks, which would be very costly to assault head-on. But as he thought about the name of the location, he remembered something he had read in the Bible. That night, he took out his Bible and read the account in 1 Samuel 14 about how King Saul’s son, Jonathan, had defeated the Philistines at the same place by going around and flanking them. The next day, Allenby’s men found the path around the Turks, and likewise flanked and defeated them.

The Bible is unimpeachable, not just for its archaeological, historical, or scientific accuracy, but more importantly, for what it says about God and about us. Its spiritual lessons are helpful, even for those who just view it as a moral or ethical system. But for those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and trust that he truly rose from the dead after bearing our sins to the cross, the Bible’s truths are life-changing and life-giving (Romans 10:9 – “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.”).

It takes faith to believe in an ancient book as the key to life, especially when so many forces are arrayed against it. But faith is what God desires from us. For when we believe, we become his children, and as children, inheritors of eternal life and all the joys and riches of heaven. As the Apostle John said in his Gospel: “but these [things] are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). And that life which God gives you will be unending, unimaginable, and . . . unimpeachable.

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: Daniel 5, Matthew 5:18, 2 Timothy 3, Revelation 22:18-19