Category: Love

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!”

Sackcloth and Ashes

Today begins the 40 day observance of Lent, the somber season in which we Christians traditionally consider our sins as the reason Christ died. Our observance often includes wearing ashes on our foreheads (hence the name, Ash Wednesday), worship with confession and repentance, fasting, and service to others. In our liturgy, we replace the singing of the “Alleluia” with what is called the Lenten Sentence, which calls us to “Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

These Lenten practices have their basis in Scripture, especially, if surprisingly, in the Old Testament book of Jonah. We would do well to consider his story as we journey through Lent toward the Cross and the Empty Tomb.

Jonah was not happy, for he was having a bad week. It all began when God called him to go preach a warning message to the huge city of Nineveh, which happened to be the capital of Israel’s mortal enemies, the Assyrians. Then when Jonah tried to get out of the task by sailing in the opposite direction, God sent a violent storm, and he was thrown into the sea by the pagan sailors who realized Jonah’s God was angry at him for something. Jonah almost drowned, sinking down to the depths of the sea and being entangled in seaweed. But even as Jonah’s death seemed imminent, along came a great fish that swallowed him whole and kept him alive for three days and nights in its belly. Not a pleasant experience for sure: even if you like seafood, the term, “sleeping with the fishes” is not something you really want to do! Finally, the fish spit Jonah up onto land.

Again, this was not a good week for Jonah, because even though he survived that ordeal, from his perspective, things were about to get worse. God came to him a second time and repeated his command for Jonah to go preach to Nineveh. This time, Jonah obeyed: he proclaimed to the city a simple message, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” and then he sat down and waited for God to pour his wrath upon the Ninevites and destroy them.

But something dramatic happened. The people of Nineveh, from the king on down to the lowliest peasant, believed God, and turned to him in repentance for their sins and violent ways. They fasted and wore sackcloth – think burlap bag. The king himself took off his royal robes and put on sackcloth and sat down in ashes to mourn what he and his people had done and what was likely to happen to them if God did not forgive them. The king ordered that man and beast alike must fast and wear sackcloth, in hopes that God would spare them.

And then, to Jonah’s dismay, God accepted their repentance and forgave them. Jonah complained to the Lord, saying why he fled from God the first time: he didn’t want Nineveh to be spared, and was afraid they might repent and be forgiven. He said to the Lord, “For I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.”

So why did God spare Nineveh, when centuries earlier he had destroyed other wicked cities such as Sodom and Gomorrah? Jonah 3:10 tells us: “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.”

Now did you notice what was missing from that explanation for the Lord’s mercy towards Nineveh? It does not say, “When God saw what they did, how they put on sackcloth and ashes and fasted, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them.” What it says is, “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them.” It was not a change of clothing that saved them; it was a change of heart, which showed itself in their new, more righteous way of living.

The main effect of sackcloth and ashes back then, and of all the Lenten disciplines of prayer, worship, service to others, and fasting today, is not on God. He already loves us; he already is by nature gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; and we cannot manipulate him into forgiving us by what we wear or what we eat. Instead, the main effect of the Lenten disciplines is what those disciplines do to us.

We are the ones who need to be changed. We are the ones who sin and stand in danger of God’s righteous judgement; we are the ones for whom Christ died, and we are the ones called to turn to God in faith and repentance. Lenten disciplines remind us of these facts, and help us to focus on them more than we usually do in our daily lives.

Repentance is what the Lord desires from us. 2 Peter 3:9 says the Lord is patient toward us, “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Matthew 4:17 tells us that from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, his message was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Then, just before Jesus ascended to heaven, Luke 24:47 says he taught “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” And on the great day of Pentecost, Peter told the crowd, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. . .” (Acts 2:38)

God’s word clearly says so many times that he desires us to repent. But what does that actually mean? In Part 2 of this blog, I will suggest four things that are essential to true repentance. In the meantime, see what you come up with on your own.

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: Jonah chapters 1-4

This Little Piggy

As a number of you know, I was in the hospital over the weekend. I had a bad toe infection that didn’t respond to my own first aid attempts so I went to the emergency room. After numerous tests (at least I didn’t have Covid or the flu!), they admitted me to a regular room in the acute care wing. Come Saturday they removed the little toe and some adjacent bone. On Sunday they did another procedure to improve the blood flow to that foot. Both were successful.

As I lay in my hospital bed after the surgery, one of many doctors/nurses/ assistants came to check on me for something. In our small talk he asked how I was doing, then noticed my bandaged foot. He asked what happened and I replied with a line from the old children’s game: “…and this little piggy went ‘wee, wee, wee’ all the way home.”

He said, “Oh, that’s good.” Realizing he was too young to have ever heard that jingle, I explained plainly what I meant. Afterwards, for some reason I started craving some roast beef, though I had none.*

Lying in bed for several days was hard. I couldn’t get much sleep because the old cliché is true: they do wake you every couple hours to check you, feed you, bleed you, or do a myriad other things best not mentioned here. Not interested in watching the TV, I spent much of my awake time thinking and praying. Other than a few “Woe is me!” moments, I was surprisingly calm and philosophical about my ordeal.

A couple comforting verses popped into my mind as I prayed. They were:

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber. (Psalm 121:1-3)

[Jesus said] “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30).

and my long-term favorite verse of encouragement when I don’t know the way forward:

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)

Those verses were comforting. I never felt that God had abandoned me, but was thankful for getting the medical care of seemingly thousands of doctors and medical workers focused on me getting through this crisis. I was amazed at the modern medical technologies, and thankful this happened in 2022 and not 1922.  I expressed my amazement to one of the doctors, and he agreed that every year the knowledge and tools improve – so I asked if I should have waited two years to get better treatment. He said no. So I asked if I could get fitted for a prosthetic toe, but he just walked away.

Here are some other things I thought about during and since this crisis:

  1. I am mortal. Yeah, we all know this, but we usually have to live as if this were not true, or at least something in the far distant future. We couldn’t function if we just sat around, waiting to die. For the first time in my life, I had to consider that I really am getting old, and that I might not recover from this or some similar future event. It was like my body had let me down, and now I  would have to make some life adjustments. Even though I did not at all think I was going to die from this, I had to confront questions of whether I have properly prepared my earthly affairs for when I do. Images of my overflowing book cases and my rock collection came to mind. The book of Hebrews says it well: “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,” (9:27). And as for all my stuff? A rich man once wrote, “ I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me” (Ecclesiastes 2:18).
  2. I cried because I had no shoes. You probably know the old saying (why do I know so many old sayings?): “I cried because I had no shoes, but then I saw a man who had no feet.” Whenever “Woe is me” came to mind, I thought of that saying. Besides hearing two “Code Blue” emergency alerts for people whose hearts had stopped, there was my roommate, who had both feet bandaged and sounded like he had pneumonia. I also thought of my sister, and the ordeal she had suffered having both her legs amputated. Compared to her and to so many others, I was indeed fortunate.
  3. The Church is essential. Some people look at church as a social outlet; some look for entertainment; some think of it as boring and out of date; some go to earn “Brownie points” with God; and still others follow celebrity pastors in cult-like devotion. I feel sorry for all those people, because they miss the fact that the Church is the body of Christ in this world. We hear God’s Word, spoken, sung, and preached; we receive the sacraments with their visible and touchable promises of God’s forgiveness; and we pray for, serve, and comfort each other through life’s journey until life’s end. Paul wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:4). I can attest to this truth by the incredible outpouring of love and support for Karen and me from our church family. Dinners, rides, errands, and other offers have already provided so much practical help. But even more so, are the universal offering of prayers. None have prayed more fervently than my wife, Karen, but many others in our church family have joined in a spiritual chorus that God has already been answering, with peace, protection, and healing. Karen and I can’t imagine facing this without everyone’s loving prayers. The Church is alive and doing what it  is called to do.
  4. Why me? The correct answer to that question is of course, “Why not me?” Why should I be immune to life’s problems? I have lived a long (as in old) life and been relatively healthy for most of it. This was my first stay in a hospital ever. The Bible says we will all face troubles, simply by living in a fallen world. But even with this knowledge, I still wondered a little if there were a more specific reason this happened. Was God punishing me for some specific sin, as Job’s “friends” offered as an explanation for his woes? Had I done something to earn some cosmic consequence; in other words, was this just karma (which I don’t believe in)? Or more biblically put, did I reap what I had sown (Galatians 6:7)? Had God abandoned me after 70 years of protection? No, for he promised never to leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), and Christ promised to be with us to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). Finally, was this an attack from Satan to discourage or stop me from my Christian witness? Satan does attack us, looking for ways to separate us from God, but against Christ he has no power. So when that idea came to mind in the hospital, I simply prayed to Jesus to be with me and keep away any evil; I know that prayer was answered.

So there you have it: this was an ordeal, and months of healing lie ahead. But I am a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ (John 1:12), so no matter what happens, I am safe in his arms. Therefore, even though my little “piggy” was separated from me, nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39).

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

Read: Isaiah 53:4-6; Matthew 8:14-17; 1 Peter 5:6-7

*If you don’t get that reference, you’re too young, too!

Have They Come For You?

Recently, I posted a blog which spoke of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his opposition to Adolf Hitler, a stand which cost him imprisonment and finally, execution, in a Nazi concentration camp (see The Era of Stupidity, November 14).  Today, I’m going to refer to another German Lutheran pastor who likewise opposed the Nazis and who also suffered imprisonment for his stand. Also, like Bonhoeffer, this other theologian had important things to say which are as relevant today in America as they were in Germany during the 1930s and 1940s.

Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian who opposed Hitler’s Nazification of the German Church. At first, before Hitler took total power, Niemöller approved of the leader for opposing the atheistic Communists, and actually met with him. During their meeting, Hitler assured Niemöller that the Nazis would respect the freedom and autonomy of the Church. However, when Hitler became chancellor and began asserting control over the churches by appointing Nazi-approved bishops and limiting what could be preached and taught, Niemöller joined other objectors in denouncing Hitler and his party.

Of course, this didn’t sit well with the dictator, so Niemöller was arrested and imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps for seven years, from 1938 to 1945. Fortunately, he survived the ordeal.

Niemöller’s most famous quote, and the one most pertinent to today’s situation, is this one which he wrote in 1946:

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

His poem was a confession of the fact that he, and many others in the Church, did nothing when the government targeted various groups as being undesirable, a burden on society, or non-conforming to its orders. Out of cowardice or complicity, many Christian leaders kept quiet as Jews and others were arrested and persecuted, because it didn’t affect them personally. Even if they didn’t like what was happening, they justified their silence as preserving their own ministries.

What struck me in reading Niemöller’s statement about the costs of remaining silent, was its applicability to today’s “cancel culture” in our country.  We’ve watched as many people have been attacked by various social media, or fired, or “cancelled” from speaking publicly. People are shunning other people – former friends and even relatives – who voice anything they dislike. Even worse, some are attacked just because they don’t agree fervently enough with the attacker. And yet, though we don’t like what is happening, how many of us actually speak out and actively defend those who get cancelled?

This phenomenon is not new. In a sense, warfare and murder itself are forms of cancelling people (permanently). But even when people set out to shut up others peacefully, there is an inherent violence in the attitude that often comes out in actual violence against those being cancelled. Some historical examples illustrate this point of people who were once allied but suffered because they fell out of favor or were deemed not enthusiastic enough for “the cause”:

  1. Following up on the violence perpetrated by the Nazis, Hitler turned on one of his earliest fervent friends and supporters, Ernst Röhm, murdering him and disbanding his pro-Nazi militia in 1934.
  2.  In the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin denounced and executed some of his allied communist leaders, including Leon Trotsky, who had served in the Russian revolution with Lenin. He conducted what is called the Great Purge (called by the Russians, “The Great Terror”), dividing people by their class and ideology before executing literally millions of them. He then executed his leaders who had conducted the purges for him.
  3.  Another Great Terror took place in France during and following their revolution. Again, social class and fervency for the cause were criteria for whether someone lived or died. Eventually the revolutionary leader, Maximilien Robespierre himself, died on the guillotine in 1794 after being denounced by his fellow revolutionaries.
  4. Following our own revolution, numerous Americans who had remained loyal to the Crown were harassed. Some 80,000 of them fled to Canada or back to Britain for safety.
  5. Lest we find the Church faultless in this area, consider the Inquisitions conducted by the Roman Catholic Church for four hundred years, which purged the Church and its territories of people considered to be heretics or Protestants. The accused lost jobs, positions, families, and even their lives. The number of executions is estimated at some 32,000 people.

Beliefs do matter, and the impetus to ally with those of like mind and purpose is a powerful and important one. I certainly would not have called any non-believers to serve as my associate pastors. Our church body does conduct thorough reviews of all candidates to make sure they know and believe the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions. But the difference is, we don’t execute those who don’t make it!

But now, our society is tearing apart as people group themselves and others into “acceptable” and “unacceptable” categories. What race are you? How old are you? Who did you vote for? What did you post on social media? What did you tell a friend twenty years ago in private, that now became public? What belief did you espouse that was once popular, but now is considered offensive? What are your preferred pronouns? Vaccinated or unvaccinated? Which computer system do you use, Mac or PC?

As you can see, there is an almost infinite variety of categories which can divide us. Unfortunately, once divided, it becomes easy to hate the other group and rejoice at their misfortunes, or desire their cancellation. It also prevents us from seeing the other person as an individual who probably has the same needs, wants, and hopes that we do. As people whom God loves and for whom Christ died.

So, how do we react to this current “cancel culture”?

  • We speak against it, in love but forcefully. Whenever anyone is cancelled, we could be the next in line, just as Niemöller warned. Even if we aren’t targeted, we are diminished by the loss of others’ ideas and works.
  • We avoid cancelling other people we may disagree with. The French philosopher, Voltaire, famously said, “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
  • When we disagree, make sure we are hearing the other person accurately. Avoid overreacting to what we think they mean, or what their critics tell us about what they mean. Read and think for ourselves. We should follow Martin Luther’s teaching on 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.” When we give the other person a chance, we may actually learn something!
  • We obey Christ’s command to love our neighbor as ourselves (Luke 10:27), a command echoed explicitly throughout Scripture in both Old Testament “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.” (Leviticus 19:18), and New: “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’.” (Galatians 5:14). Therefore, even if we completely disagree with what another person says or does, we still treat him or her with respect and love. And if they hurt us by words or actions, we still forgive them, as we have been forgiven (Matthew 6:12-15).
  • We see other people as people, and not as representatives of groups at odds with our particular group. As I stated above, God loves that person just as he loves me, and does not desire that either of us perish. John 3:16 is our guide here: God loved the world (that’s everybody) and gave his Son that we should not perish but have eternal life. If God did that, who am I to decide otherwise?
  • Finally, I remember the poem written by Edwin Markham, who wrote:
          • He drew a circle that shut me out
            Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
            But Love and I had the wit to win:
            We drew a circle that took him in.*

This is hard to do, to take in those who insult and hate me. But I seem to have heard about Someone else who did just that, enduring the hatred, mocking, brutal beatings – and yes, even death by crucifixion – out of love for those he came to save. Our Lord had every reason to cancel all of us, but his love took us in, even when we deserved only his wrath. Let us strive, in love, to cancel the cancellations.

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 5:43; Mark 12:30-32; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9-10; and James 2:8.

*Edwin Markham, The Shoes of Happiness, and Other Poems, 1913

In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lion

As we move ahead toward the end of March, I am reminded of the old saying: “March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb.” I first heard this statement when I was a kid (Yes, the saying is that old! Or should I say, “olde”?*) I learned that it referred to the change of seasons, and the resulting change of weather, during the month of March, when winter turns to spring. The cold, blustery and stormy weather of the beginning of the month, has transformed – much like the opening of the first daffodils – to sunshine and warm and gentle breezes. March does come in, roaring and charging like a lion, but by the end of the month, it goes out like a frolicking, new-born spring lamb. How cute!

At this point, I must apologize to my Australian friends and readers for my Northern-centric observation, for as we all know, the seasons are reversed in the Southern hemisphere. There, March marks the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, so the warm, balmy weather there gives way to increasingly cool temperatures and stormy winds. To our antipodal friends, “March comes in like a lamb, but goes out like a lion.” And they are right.

But they are right in another way, too, that goes beyond any meteorological meaning, because the phrase, “In like a lamb, but out like a lion” can also speak of the two comings of Jesus Christ.

The first coming of Jesus into the world was lamblike:

The first coming of Jesus into the world was lamblike: as a helpless baby, born in a stable and then cradled in a feed trough. His family was poor, and he remained so throughout his life, having, as he himself put it, “nowhere to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). He came humbly, setting aside his divine rights and privileges, taking on human form and physicality through which he suffered hunger, thirst, torture, and even death. Philippians 2 expresses Christ’s  humbling in the beautiful words, “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” (verses 7-8).

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter

Jesus endured the taunts, derision, mocking, and outright brutality that he didn’t deserve. He refused to use his miraculous powers to feed, heal, or enrich himself; he held firm to his sacrificial servant attitude when tempted by Satan in the desert, and when urged by his own disciples not to go to the cross. His harshest criticism of Peter was when the latter rebuked Jesus for predicting his death at the hands of the chief priests and scribes: “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mark 8:33). And once arrested, Jesus refused to curse or blaspheme his accusers, or beg for their mercy; instead, he fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy: “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).

This is not to say Jesus was a wimp. Although a lamb can hardly defend itself or attack people (though a fellow church member once suffered a broken leg when one of her grown sheep smashed her into a fence!), Jesus was in no way helpless or cowering in fear. He who had power to calm storms by voice command, turn water into wine, heal the sick, cast out demons, and even raise the dead, could have easily brought judgment down on his enemies. As he told his disciples at the moment of his arrest, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions  of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). But he didn’t, so that his purpose of saving the world could be fulfilled.

This sacrificial aspect of Jesus’ first coming is summed up in the term, “Lamb of God.” As commanded by the Lord God, the Israelites put the blood of a lamb on their doorposts and lintels during the tenth plague of Egypt; when God struck down the first-born son of each household, he passed over the homes which were marked with that blood. Hence the Passover was born, celebrated to this day by Jews, and by Christians who recognize that the blood of the sacrificed lamb was a symbol of the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. We who are in Christ are marked by his blood, the blood of the Lamb, so that we are spared eternal death and judgment.

The Scriptures are clear about Christ being the Lamb whose innocent blood was shed to save us from our sins. At the outset of Jesus’ ministry, John the Baptist pointed his own disciples to Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 and 1:36). Then, in 1 Corinthians 5:7, Paul declares, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” Peter likewise proclaimed we were ransomed from judgment, not with silver or gold, “but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” And then the final book of the Bible, Revelation, calls Jesus the Lamb no fewer than twenty-four times! My favorite verse of the latter is Revelation 13:8, which speaks of those whose names are written in the “book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (KJV).

Jesus came to us like a lamb, offering himself as the innocent sacrifice for our sins, that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. Thanks to God for his great love, by which he offered up his own son that we might be reconciled to him.

Yes, Jesus came to us the first time like a lamb, but the next time, it will be very different. When Christ returns, he will be a lion.

When Christ returns, he will be a lion.

Lions are impressive animals – on the one hand majestic and beautiful, on the other, powerful and dangerous. No, “Here, kitty, kitty.” Try messing with one of her cubs, and a mother lioness will tear you to shreds – and then feed you to her cute little kitties. It’s not for no reason that lions are called, “the king of beasts.” The Lion King, indeed!

The Scriptures used this symbol of a powerful lion ravaging and destroying its enemies, as a metaphor for God bringing judgment on his enemies. The symbol was applied to the tribe of Judah when Jacob blessed his sons in Genesis 49. Jacob prophesied of Judah, saying, “Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?” The lion became a sign of the tribe of Judah, and of the king who would come from that lineage: Jesus Christ. From the first book of the Bible, we look to the last – Revelation – which calls Jesus, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5).

When God prophesied through Hosea to warn the two Israelite kingdoms about his coming vengeance, he said, “For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away;
I will carry off, and no one shall rescue” (Hosea 5:14).

Even when the term “lion” is not used, the effect is the same, that Jesus will return in power and judgment to overcome all enemies and rule the nations. 1 Corinthians 15:25-27 says, “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” 

Revelation 19:15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

The King, who fulfilled Zechariah’s prophecy by coming to us, humble and riding on a donkey (9:9) when he entered Jerusalem, won’t be riding a donkey next time. Revelation 19 says he will come riding into battle on a white horse: “The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.”

When Christ returns, he will bring judgment on the earth, and all will have to bow and give account of their lives (Romans 14:12). Jesus himself warned, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,” (Matthew 12:36).

The Good News of course, is that for those who are in Christ there is now no condemnation. Our sins are forgiven, and we stand before the throne of God as his redeemed. Thank God that we can stand before the coming of the Lion with joy and not fear!

In like a Lamb, out like a Lion. It’s a good thing he decided to do it in that order, because if he had come the first time in righteous judgment, we would all have been doomed, “for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (Joel 2:11).

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: Revelation 5; Revelation 19

* The first printed reference to this saying was in 1742 in Merry Olde England.

Jesus and Belial, Part 2

In my previous blog, I told about reading a newspaper ad for an “interfaith” prayer meeting to be held online as a way to show, in the sponsors’ words, “the kinship of all Faiths.” I commented on that assertion and request by stating that other than some idealized moral values, such as the Golden Rule, Christianity is not kin to other faiths. Nor are they kin to each other, because their beliefs are not only different, but at times, polar opposites.

In addition, by participating publicly in a joint prayer session, Christians are giving subtle approval to, and acceptance of, those other faiths. We are telling people that all faiths are basically the same, each being one of many paths to God – though the ideas of who and what God is, are so different. As Christians, we must continuously demonstrate that Christ is unique, the Only Son of God, and the One Way to the Father. As Jesus himself proclaimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, except trough me” (John 14:6).

Jesus’ claims were very exclusionary, and the rest of Scripture agrees. He said, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13). He also said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works” (John 14:9-10). He also told the crowds, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). And later, Peter said of Jesus, “And 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). Also, Paul proclaimed the exclusivity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: “As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:9). And, of course, this unique claim begins in the Old Testament, when the Lord God commands his people in the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3 and Deuteronomy 5:7).

Reminded that there is but one God, the God of the Bible, and only one way to him, how then do we live in and respond to the society around us that affirms “diversity” of belief and extols every religion except Christianity? My answer is not new, but hopefully it can encourage you to hold fast to the truth and set aside any doubts that may arise from constant anti-Christian messaging in our culture. Consider the following:

1. Know what the Bible says, and what Jesus taught. By your own study and learning of God’s Word, you can avoid and refute incorrect ideas and charges made against Christians. Did Adam and Eve eat an apple? No, the Bible just says, fruit. Is the Christian faith racist? No; Jesus commanded preaching the Gospel to all nations (Matthew 28:19-20) and Revelation tells us that heaven will have a multitude that no one can count, “from every  nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.” That’s as inclusive as you can get! Know the true Gospel, of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ apart from any works or righteousness we can personally achieve.

2. Don’t believe the movie and television trope that Christianity is a prudish, guilt-ridden group of hypocrites. Notice how many shows make Christians (especially preachers and priests!) the villains. Gangsters wear crosses and serial killers have crosses on their walls and mumble phrases like “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord!” before doing their evil deeds. Learn what Christians have done to benefit society and alleviate the natural states of poverty and suffering. It’s no accident that so many hospitals have the word “Saint” as part of their name. There’s not enough room here to even list all the blessings Christians have brought about because of their faith, such as written languages, literacy, hospitals, orphanages, disaster relief, nursing, sports (including basketball and volleyball), adult night schools, Braille and American Sign Language, the abolition of slavery, and the  recognition of human worth and dignity. As Christians we have nothing to be ashamed about when we bear the name of Christ.* Paul proclaimed, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. . . ” (Romans 1:16).

3. Remember that the Christian faith is not a fortress faith, living on an isolated island, trying to keep people out. While we are commanded to defend the faith (1 Peter 3:15 says, “. . . always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you;”), our faith is not essentially a defensive one. On the contrary, it is meant to be an assertive faith, one which seeks to reach out and proclaim the good news of what God has done for us in Christ. After all, Jesus didn’t say the gates of heaven would shield us, but that the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church (Matthew 16:18). When Jesus came, he didn’t set up a secret  monastery where he and his disciples could hide while he taught them exclusive truths; instead, he went among the people and proclaimed the truth openly. As a result, sinners repented, Pharisees such as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea converted, and even Romans believed (Acts 10). Jesus pushed back against the devil’s territory by establishing and expanding the kingdom of God, which he proclaimed had now come in him. As Christians, we must not be content in just “holding our own,” but in working to expand the kingdom into which Jesus called us, through our personal witness, evangelism and missions.

4. Remember the twin Greatest Commandment, affirmed by Jesus himself: “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” (Matthew 22:37-39). This means we must love, honor, and worship the true God and hold fast to his teachings, yet at the same time love others as much as we love ourselves – even if those neighbors don’t love us or God. This means we owe every person respect, even if we don’t think he or she deserves it. In the context of cross-faith relations, it means we respect the other person and their attempt to do what is right. We look for non-religious ways in which to cooperate, such as on sports teams, at work, or in school. We help our literal neighbors when they have a need, letting God work in their hearts and minds through our kindly witness. And we explain the true faith in loving and patient ways, so the other person knows clearly who Christ is and what he accomplished for the world. Remember Peter’s words which followed his command to defend the faith: “. . .  do it with gentleness and respect.”

One day a Sikh man with bloody bare feet came to my church office, asking to see Jesus. I spent several hours with him, talking about Christ and taking him to a church where he could see a large crucifix in the sanctuary. After that, I drove him to a nearby Sikh Temple, where he could get food and perform one of his religion’s rites. In all those things, I was bearing witness and showing him personal respect and brotherly love. I even went into his temple and met one of his fellow Sikhs near their altar. But when they offered me what was their equivalent of communion (a ball of sweet wafer material), I declined, explaining that my God is a jealous God, and would not allow me to participate in another religion’s ceremony. Years later, the man showed up again at my office, thanking me for caring for him as I did.

5. Finally, when it comes to prayer, we must absolutely pray for all people, and work for their health, well-being, and their salvation. We should never rejoice in their failures, hurts, or demise. We should never assume a haughty air of religious superiority, for that is what Jesus condemned in the Pharisees, the religious “stars” of their day. They did all the right things, said all the right words, and knew all the right Scriptures, but had no love, so they were like the “noisy gong or clanging cymbal” which Paul decried in 1 Corinthians 13:1. We must remember that it is by God’s grace alone that we have salvation in Christ. We are no less sinful than anyone else, but we are beneficiaries of God’s love and mercy through his only Son, Jesus Christ, and not by our own righteousness or membership in any group. Only because we are in Christ are we saved, and therefore we are compelled to love all for whom Christ bled and died – which is the entire world.

We must love everyone just as they are, but we must love them enough not to leave them where they are, but to show them Jesus in word and deed, that they too may rejoice in the salvation which he alone has brought the world.

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

Read: John 14:1-14; Acts 4:1-22; 10:34-43; 1 Corinthians 13; Galatians 1:6-10.

*The book, What if Jesus Had Never Been Born? by D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1994, has 275 pages telling the many ways which Christianity has benefitted the world. 

The Empty Manger

As I mentioned before, Karen and my decorating for Christmas has been pretty sparse this year. Our outside lights are up, but our main tree has just one ornament besides its built-in lights. There are one or two snowmen in view (not the melty type), and one nativity scene. Without company coming, and us still dealing with my sister’s stuff, the idea of getting out bins of decorations for a couple weeks just didn’t do much for us this year.

And then there’s the little wooden stable I made years ago for my sister. It sits in full view in our family room, but what’s left of the balsa-wood figures I made for that nativity scene are still wrapped up somewhere. So it sits empty: empty stable, empty manger.

One day, Karen looked up at it and said, “The manger is empty. Jesus isn’t in it.” To which I replied, without even thinking through what I was saying, “He’s not here; he has risen!” I hadn’t meant to quote Luke 24:6 (or its parallels in Matthew and Mark), but as soon as I said it, I realized how profound a statement that could be. Jesus is not here in the manger anymore; the manger is empty, as is the cross and the tomb. All are empty, because after they fulfilled the purposes which they played, Christ went on to fulfill his purpose, and provide us forgiveness and eternal life. Each played a part in his journey, but though he spent time in each, none could hold him forever.

Note that all three were man-made objects which were fashioned for earthly purposes: the manger as a feed trough for animals (and the stable to hold and shelter them), the cross as a brutal execution device to kill criminals and terrorize the population into obedience, and the tomb, as the burial chamber for a dead person. Man-made and -purposed, yet God took those objects and used them to fulfill his plan of salvation for you and me, and a multitude of other believers.

The manger. Do you realize that if God had wanted Jesus to be born in more comfortable surroundings, he would have made sure there was room for Mary and Joseph in the inn? But he didn’t; he chose the stable for their shelter and Jesus’ birthplace, and the manger for the newborn’s bed. It was part of God’s plan that Jesus would be of humble birth and childhood; not a social celebrity well-connected to the wealthy and influential of his day. He would be welcomed by humble, unclean shepherds in a stable, and grow up the son of a carpenter, eventually to not even have a home of his own. (Matthew 8:20 -“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”)

In addition, I think that the manger was significant because it was where food was placed for the animals to eat. Jesus said of himself, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”  (John 6:51) As in Holy Communion, Jesus offers up himself as our life-living bread from heaven – his flesh for our salvation. Again, in God’s working all things for his purposes, Bethlehem was not only the “City of David” and home to an ancestor of Jesus, who happened to start out as a humble shepherd named David; the name Bethlehem literally means, “House of Bread.” Appropriate for the first earthly home of the living bread come down from heaven to give us life.

The manger fulfilled its purpose: to cradle the Christ-child with earthly and symbolic shelter, but it couldn’t hold him forever; if that child had not grown up and gone on to die on a cross and rise from the dead, we wouldn’t be celebrating just another child born into poverty in some obscure back-water of a country, over 2020 years ago. If that manger still exists, it is now empty.

The cross. While we feel all warm and fuzzy looking on scenes of the babe lying in a manger, surrounded by Mary, Joseph, shepherds, sheep and cattle (and an angel hovering overhead), the cross hits us with horror and revulsion. Especially if we consider what happened there, and not think of the cross as a nice, symmetrical piece of shiny jewelry. Echoing what the ancient patriarch Joseph said to his brothers who had sold him into slavery in Egypt, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). So it was with the cross: something contrived to be evil, and the placing of Jesus on it an act of even greater evil; yet God intended and used that evil act for our good.

As is so often the case, people think they are in charge, and do things for their own purposes, but even their evil intentions fulfill God’s plans. They wanted to get rid of a trouble-maker; God allowed the death of his Son to atone for the sins of the world and provide us a way to forgiveness and eternal life. Without the sacrifice of the innocent Jesus, we would still be lost in our sins and doomed for eternity. But because Jesus went to the cross and willingly paid the price for our sins, we have hope – and a Church called by his name.

There has been some debate among Christians as to whether crosses should be bare, showing Christ is risen, or adorned with images of the dying Christ (in what is called a crucifix). I think both carry important messages, one a reminder that Jesus did suffer and die on the cross, and the other that Christ died once and for all time at Golgotha, and never again. I have no issue with either form, for we do not worship the cross, but the One who died on it.

One more thought about the cross: notice the differences between the birth and death of our Lord: in the one, Jesus was held and sheltered by a wooden box; in the other, he hung and died on a wooden cross. During the one, a supernatural light appeared, both with the angels and from the star; during the other, a supernatural darkness covered the land. One a celebration of joy, peace, and goodwill; the other of sadness and evil. And yet, like the manger, the cross couldn’t hold Jesus; if it had, we wouldn’t call that day, Good Friday.

The tomb. Finally, we come to consider the tomb in which Jesus was laid. It, too, had a human intention, a purpose for which it had been hewn from the rock.  Specifically, it belonged to a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea, but when Jesus was killed, Joseph offered his unused tomb for the Lord’s burial. (I wonder if he knew he was only lending it to Jesus for a couple days .  . .).

The tomb fulfilled God’s purposes as well: first, by providing visible proof that Jesus was dead; second, by providing a situation where Jesus’ enemies guarded the body under their watch to make sure the disciples didn’t steal the body; and third, to prove Jesus had bodily resurrected from the dead in a miraculous way, attended by angels and an earthquake (Matthew 28:2). When the disciples rushed to the tomb and found it empty except for Jesus’ grave clothes, they knew he had risen. (Thought: Jesus had been wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger; now he had been wrapped in burial cloths and laid in a tomb. You could say he “outgrew” both!)

Well, we know the rest of the story about the tomb: though closed by a stone, marked with a seal, and guarded by soldiers, the tomb was empty on the third day. Jesus appeared alive to the women, to the disciples, and to 500 followers at one time (not to mention to Paul, “as to one untimely born” – 1 Corinthians 15:5-8). The empty tomb was one proof of Jesus’ resurrection, and the sign that he had overcome death, our final enemy.

Because the tomb was empty, we can celebrate the empty manger and the empty cross; if the tomb had remained filled with Jesus’ lifeless body, there would be no celebration of Christmas, Good Friday, or Easter. There would be no Christian Church, no hope of life after death, and no promise of forgiveness nor proof of God’s love. And no Pastor Eddy’s blog, but that’s the least of our worries!

I hope you celebrate Christmas, keeping in mind the life journey of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came into the world, humbling himself to a manger, a cross, and a tomb, only to rise triumphantly, leaving them all empty behind him, ascending to heaven and awaiting God’s appointed time for his return. Only this time, he won’t need a manger, a cross, or a tomb.

We hope you have a very blessed and Merry Christmas!

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 ad give you peace. Amen.

Read: Luke 2:1-21; John 6:22-51; 1 Corinthians 15; Matthew 27:45-66 

 

You’ve Been Erased

Last week, I erased my sister.

In the 1996 movie, Eraser, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a US Marshal who protects people in Witness Protection by giving them new identities and “erasing” everything in their old identities that would betray them to the bad guys who are looking for them. His tag line was, “You’ve been erased!”

Well, last week I thought of that line as I went through my sister’s personal effects and finances following her death on July 18th. As I shredded old financial records, disposed of her jewelry, cookware, electronics, and furniture, I was hit with the sad thought that I was “erasing” all the things that had been part of her life. This feeling hit hardest as I came to her I.D.s, her RN nurse insignias, and photos of her with her friends and our family. By the time I was done, it was almost as if she had never lived – though I just had to hang onto a few of the most personal items.

I also thought of the passages from the Book of Ecclesiastes, in which King Solomon laments the futility of life when it ends so soon and all that our striving and gathering accomplished must be left to those who follow us.

Ecclesiastes 1:3 “What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.”

Ecclesiastes 1:11 “There is no remembrance of former things,  nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.”

Ecclesiastes 2:18-19 “I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.“

After all these thoughts, I was hardly cheered up. Added to sadness over my sister’s passing was a sense of my own mortality, in which I realized that even those few remembrances I saved of her will likely be tossed when people sort through my stuff some day. And, after the incredibly hard work my wife and I did in cleaning up my sister’s things, Karen and I began more earnest talks about doing our own house-cleaning and what the funeral home directors euphemistically call, “pre-planning.” For the day will come when someone will have to go about “erasing” our lives, too.

This would all be depressing, except for a greater reality that sees beyond our current lives here on earth. For God has revealed to us in his word that as believers in Christ (which my sister was, too) we have eternal life. What we experience here in this life is very important, but it’s just the beginning of the story. We have much, much more ahead of us. Jesus said,

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

And Jesus comforts us in John 3:16, even during times of loss, with this promise:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

In Revelation 21:4 we read,

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Romans 6:23 says,

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In other words, for those who are in Christ, death is destroyed and eternal life takes its place. Therefore, though aspects of our lives may be “erased” when we die – specifically our material belongings – we cannot be erased, for God has given us eternal life. At the deepest and most important level, who we are – our souls – will live on. For now, the spirits of those who died in the Lord are with him in heaven; one day, when Christ returns as he promised he will bring with him those who are with him and reunite them with their resurrected, perfect, and immortal bodies.

1 Corinthians 15:51-55 reads,

“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?'”

This thought was especially comforting, as my sister had lost both her legs, her teeth, and much of her vision before the final crisis which took her life. In the final days she had expressed to me that she was looking forward to the day when she would be whole again. Karen and I pictured her dancing before the Lord, and expressed it in the song about heaven we played at her burial: I Can Only Imagine. The song’s chorus goes like this:

Surrounded by You glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus
Or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine
There are those who say that a person who dies lives on in the hearts minds, and memories of those whose lives they touched. That’s a nice thought that may comfort us, and certainly, memories of my sister will continue for me. But this saying has never really resonated with me. If a person’s continued life depends on others’ memories of him or her, what happens when those people die? And by this reasoning, people like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao will live forever, while some poor, humble, and unknown saint in some little village will perish without anyone grieving or even knowing about them. That doesn’t seem right at all. And fortunately, God’s Word has told us that the key to eternal life is not that many people knew of you and your accomplishments, but rather that you knew Jesus and believed in his accomplishment: his death on the cross and the subsequent forgiveness of your sins.
The only things that are ever truly erased are sin and death. 1 Corinthians 15:25 says, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
Therefore, no matter how many papers I shredded, or what I did with my sister’s belongings, I really couldn’t erase her even if I tried; God has promised her, and us, an unending life full of love, life, and relationship, with all the inheritance that heaven can hold. And that is far greater than anything we leave behind, or any feeling of loss. Thanks to God for his gift of life, now and forevermore.
And 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: Ecclesiastes 1, 2; 1 Corinthians 15; John 3

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.

 

Blessing the Cursers

Over the past couple weeks, as social unrest has run rampant in our country, people have expressed their anger publicly through demonstrations and even riots. Triggered by the killing of an unarmed African-American man in Minneapolis by a police officer, the protests have grown and morphed into violence, fueled I believe by a combination of simmering angers, political agendas, and covid-19 consequences – such as long-term isolation and job losses. Unfortunately, much of the vitriol against injustice has been directed against people who had nothing to do with the triggering act, such as first-responders, shop owners, and complete strangers.

I received some of the hate this week myself.

It started about 3:15 one morning when my cell phone woke me with a call from a Louisiana number. When I answered, a little girl’s voice asked to speak to Stephanie. Since there is no Stephanie in our home or family, I told the girl that and said she must have the wrong number. She said okay sweetly and we said, “Bye, bye” to each other. No problem; simple error. A few seconds later the same number called, and figuring she had redialed the wrong number, I answered again. I did not expect what I heard this time: an older woman’s voice telling me, “I hope you die and go to hell!” I guess next time I should say, “This is Stephanie” in a high voice.

Over the next couple days I had several more calls and texts from Louisiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Arizona, and even British Columbia. While two were hang-ups, one voicemail was so foul and obscenity-laden I would never repeat what the young woman said. The fact that she was addressing her rant to someone named Katie only made her choice of wording that much worse. Maybe I should have said, “This is Katie” in a high voice to spare the real Katie from such abuse!

The fact other names were used makes me think the callers had the wrong number, but the number of calls and the wide range of caller locations makes me suspect a coordinated political effort.

As I heard each call or read each text message, I couldn’t help but think about how I should respond. Should I mimic voices like I joked above, just hang up, or yell and insult the caller back, telling them to “Get the —- off my phone!”?

While I did toy with playing games with such callers, such as I once did with a phone solicitor wanting to sell me solar panels – I told him no, since solar panels use up sunlight and there’s only so much sunlight to go around – I decided the best thing was to ignore the insults and just hang up.

There were practical reasons for doing so: 1. As my parents taught me, if you engage in a fight you’re only giving the bully what he or she wants: a reaction from their victim; 2. Some of the calls were aimed at others, not me; 3. “Sticks and stones, etc.”; 4. I doubt the callers were open to a calm and logical discussion seeking harmonious agreement; and 5. I don’t know enough nasty words or how to use them to hold my own in a cussing match!

But the real reason not to engage in a dispute, or to bear any grudge against the callers, is even deeper, and that is what our Lord taught us through Scripture.

1. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:43-45).

2. Likewise, in Luke 6:27-28 Jesus said, “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”

3. Paul wrote in Romans 12:14, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.”

4. Even more generally, the command of both testaments, old and new, is that God commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Therefore, if I truly love my neighbors, I will forgive them their angry outbursts, even as I would appreciate them forgiving my sins. Martin Luther picked up on this and expressed it in his Small Catechism when explaining the Eighth Commandment: “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.” Yelling back at a caller is not speaking well of that person, who, though misguided, is still my neighbor.

God’s command that we respond with love to those who harm us or curse us does not mean we sit back passively and approve of everything that anyone does. I have to admit that much of what I saw on TV was unsettling and even angering: how can I condone smashing windows, burning cars, and looting goods from stores with smiles on the looters’ faces? Or for that matter, kneeling on a person’s neck until he dies? I felt anger rising in me toward everyone involved because much of what I saw was just not right! But then, I realized I was in danger of my “righteous” anger becoming a sin and recalled Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil,” and in verses 31-32, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Therefore, I refuse to be goaded into an attitude of hate. Instead, I prayed for the people who called, that their hatred be healed and released, and that they come to know the peace which passes understanding in Christ, through whom we can endure all things (1 Corinthians 13:7) and do all things: “through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

May you and I keep that peace foremost in our hearts ad minds, and in our words and actions!

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 5, Philippians 4, Ephesians 4:26-32

Beware the Ides of March 2020

“Beware the Ides of March!” That line from Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, was uttered by a soothsayer who warned the Roman dictator about March 15 and the danger he would face that day. The year was 44 BC, and as actually happened, Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15 by a group of senators and a former friend named Brutus.

Sunday is March 15, the Ides of March according to the Roman calendar. While we probably don’t have to worry about our senators assassinating us, we have plenty to worry about if we let ourselves, given the news stories we hear every day. Particularly, the big scary news these days is about the coronavirus, or Covid-19, which as of today has spread to 142,530 confirmed cases and 5393 deaths in 135 countries. Governments and health officials are issuing warnings, areas are under quarantine, and all kinds of travel and public events are being cancelled. Some sports teams are even competing in empty stadiums! Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it to be a world-wide pandemic. Locally, we have had our first cases in Elk Grove and our first death.

My wife and I are very much aware of the effects this disease is having in the world, because we have been planning a trip to Italy and Germany this year to see the Passion Play in Oberammergau. But now, with Italy on lock-down and flights being cancelled or banned, our prospects are looking dim.

Of course, worries about epidemics, plagues, wars, and other life-threatening situation are nothing new. They have threatened and worried people throughout history. And with good reason, considering events like the 1918 flu epidemic that infected 1/3 of mankind and killed 20 to 50 million people world-wide, or the Black Death of the 14th century, which reduced the world population by 100 million and killed 30 to 60% of Europe.

So it was that the Israelites, too, faced a serious life-threatening situation while crossing the wilderness following their escape from Egypt. Exodus 17 tells us  what happened:  “All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ And Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’

But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’

When we first read this, we may look down on the Israelites as petty ingrates because we know how the story ends. We know that God will save them, as he already had in different ways. But now, faced with no water to drink, the people feared they would die of thirst in the hot desert. Their concern was legitimate: without water they would die, and there was no sign of it to be found. Their problem was not that they feared their destruction, but how they responded to a very real danger.

  1. First, they forgot those miraculous deliveries and provisions God had already shown them. They had witnessed the plagues God had rained down on Pharaoh and his people. God had saved them from the Egyptians, and brought them safely across the Red Sea, destroying the pursing Egyptian army in the process. He fed them with manna, bread from heaven. Surely they should have been grateful and expected God would take care of them. But they adopted a “What have you done for us lately?” attitude.
  2. Second, instead of praying to God and submitting to his commands, they blamed God and his servant Moses, even threatening to stone Moses to death. The passage tells us that God brought them to this place, Rephidim, so they should have known he would provide where he leads.
  3. Moses warned them about their grumbling, pointing out that they were not only complaining to him, but also were testing the Lord. Just as David admitted in Psalm 51 when confessing his sins to God, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” Moses’ warning should have calmed the people, but still they grumbled.
  4. After providing the people with the needed water, Moses named the location Massah and Meribah, which in Hebrew mean “testing” and “quarreling,” because the people of Israel tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” This showed the people questioned God’s word, his commandments, and his promises. They even doubted his presence and his love for them. They had no faith.

Their sin paralleled that of Adam and Eve, who doubted God’s commands and word, forgot all God had given them in the Garden, and wanted what they didn’t have. And the Bible tells us that all death flows from that original sin; it has caused more deaths than thirst, plagues, and wars combined. As Romans 5:12 tells us, “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.”

When we understand the Israelites’ errors at Rephidim, we recognize some of the same attitudes, or at least tendencies, in ourselves:

  1. Although blessed beyond measure in so many ways, we often forget not only to be grateful for what God has already provided for us, but also adopt that “What have you done for me lately?” attitude. Sure he’s provided all my needs, but what about those wants that I’m still lacking? Sure, he’s given me 68 years of a good life, but what if I get sick or die?
  2. When I have a fear or unmet need, do I grumble to God, blame him for what I’m facing, or do I accept his will and look for how God will bless and grow me in this situation. As Paul wrote in Romans 5: “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
  3. Do we have faith, trusting in God’s promises in Christ? Or do I doubt his existence (“A loving God wouldn’t let me go through this!”) and search elsewhere for answers? Do I believe God’s promise never to leave or forsake me, and Christ’s promise to be with me until the end of the age, taking me to be with him no matter what happens to me in this world?
  4. Do we live in a world of Massah and Meribah, or by the Spirit of God with love, joy, peace, and the other fruit of the Spirit?
  5. Do I face the dangers of this world, such as the coronavirus, with paralyzing fear, or with trust and confidence in the Lord? It’s certainly good to follow the protective procedures being urged by health professionals, but what if you get the virus anyway? Will it shatter your faith, or lead you to seek God’s will for you in the new circumstance you face?

Would you go into a dangerous area to save a stranger? How about an infected area where your chances are highly likely you’d catch whatever it is? A similar question became very real to a Catholic priest from Belgium named Damien who answered to call to missions, traveling in 1864 to the leper colony on Molokai, Hawaii. At first he failed in his work, and was ready to leave the island. Then, while waiting for the boat, he discovered his hands had lost feeling. Realizing he had caught leprosy from those he tried to serve, he stayed. Now accepted by his fellow lepers,    he ministered to them spiritually and practically, building houses, schools, roads, hospitals, and churches. He dressed residents’ ulcers, built a reservoir, made coffins, dug graves, shared pipes, and ate with them, providing both medical and emotional support. He served until he became too sick, dying at age 49 of leprosy.

Damien gave his life for those infected with a deadly illness. I don’t believe we are all called to find people sick with the coronavirus and try to catch it ourselves. But if it happens, or you are called to alleviate their suffering, remember this: no less did Christ come to be with, and die for us who were mortally ill with sin.

Paul closes Romans 5:1-9 with these amazing words of God’s love:

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

My prayer is that you all avoid getting the coronavirus, but whatever happens, don’t worry, even if it is the Ides of March, and rejoice in all the Lord has done for you and will do in all eternity to come.

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: Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-9

The Real Chief Justice

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS for short) issued some new rulings. As always, I held my breath, waiting to hear what that nine-member judiciary decided was proper and legal for our country in the particular cases they reviewed. Even though I grew up watching and enjoying old Perry Mason episodes, and generally enjoy courtroom movies (My Cousin Vinnie comes to mind as one of those movies), I find myself always nervous and a bit trepidatious when it comes to decisions reached by the “Supremes.”

For one thing, their decisions are far-reaching and the “final answer” to almost everything in our country. Without getting too political, I can say that the Court’s power has grown to such an extent that it can override laws, actions, and policies enacted by both other branches of the federal government. Not only that, it does the same for state laws and even social organizations. It can decide issues of guilt in appeals cases, and direct even social norms and practices – often by split 5-4 decisions. No one else in the country has authority to say “No” to what SCOTUS decides. It is indeed, supreme, and that makes me nervous.

Now, having a supreme arbiter is bad enough, but the problem that compounds my anxiety is that the Court so often gets it wrong. And this is not a political statement: judges appointed by presidents of both parties, judges who are black, white, and Hispanic, male and female, conservative and liberal, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish, and older and younger have together rendered some absolutely horrific decisions which have negatively affected the lives of millions of Americans. Consider the following decisions, for example:

1. Dred Scott v. Sanford, 1857. Ruled that a slave (Dred Scott) who had resided in a free state and territory where slavery was prohibited was not thereby entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; and that slaves were the property of their owners.

2. Wickard v. Filburn, 1942. Ruled that an Ohio farmer who grew wheat for his own animals, and not for sale, could still be regulated and fined for affecting interstate commerce because he wasn’t buying his feed wheat on the open market, thus reducing interstate sales.

3. Salinas v. Texas, 2013. Ruled that the Fifth Amendment does not bar using a suspect’s silence as evidence of guilt.

4. Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 2005. The Court ruled that police do not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm, even a woman who had obtained a court-issued protective order against a violent husband which made an arrest mandatory for a violation.

5. Kelo v. City of New London, 2005. SCOTUS ruled that it was a valid public use for the government to take land from one private party and give it to another for “economic development.” In this case a woman lost her home to what eventually became a barren, unused field.

6. Roe v. Wade, 1973. The ruling that legalized abortion in the US as a protected “right” has led to the legal killing of over 60 million children ever since.

7. Overgefell v. Hodges, 2015. Overriding state laws and prior SCOTUS decisions (not to mention Scripture and all human history), the Court ruled in a 5–4 decision that all states must grant and recognize same-sex marriages.

8. And last, but not least, as far as this list goes: Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana, 2019. The Court ruled that abortions are legal for any purpose, even gender selection. Where we once criticized China for aborting its girl babies, now we can do the same here.

Those with different political and social leanings than I have will doubtless compile a different list of terrible decisions than what appears here, but they would have to agree, if even for different reasons, that SCOTUS is not infallible. On the contrary, it is a flawed, human institution that is subject to the same political and social winds that blow through our country, and too often makes bad decisions regarding important matters that affect us all.

Which brings me to the point of all this: what we call “The Supreme Court” is not really supreme at all. It is not infallible, it is not all-knowing. It is subject to the same failings every person and every human institution faces. If we want to find true justice and true, perfect decisions, we have to look elsewhere.

We have to look to God.

When we do, we discover the awesome way Scripture describes him as the Righteous Judge who renders his judgments according to perfect truth and knowledge, a Judge who is just, fair, and incorruptible.  From Abraham’s plea to God in Genesis 18:25, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” to the Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20:11-15, God is the supreme and perfect judge of all mankind (and all spirit beings as well).

Psalm 9:8 proclaims, “and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.” Psalm 96:13 says, “He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.” There are many other verses extolling God’s righteous judgments, but let’s consider some reasons that make his judgments so perfect:

1. God is omniscient. He knows all things, and knows the end of a thing from its beginning. There is nothing hidden from him: he knows our actions, our thoughts, and our motives. He sees through our excuses and rationalizations.

2. God cannot be fooled. He knows not only what we do outwardly, but also sees our motives and inward thoughts. Nothing we do will be hidden from him but will be revealed in the Day of Judgment. Luke 12:2 “Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” And 1 Corinthians 4:4-5 warns us to leave judgment to God, “It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.” 

3. God is not swayed by political considerations or the social position of the ones he judges, “For God shows no partiality” (Romans 2:11). He is not swayed by the outward appearance of people, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

4. He can not be bribed or bought. Deuteronomy 10:17 proclaims, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.” 2 Chronicles 19:7 repeats this truth: “Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God, or partiality or taking bribes.” It’s amazing how often we try to bargain with God (that is, bribe him), by offering him some incentive to take our side in a matter. “If only you do this, I will tithe! If only you heal me I will never take those drugs again! If only you help me I’ll start going to church again!” and so on. God doesn’t need anything from us, and will not change his commandments based on what we offer him in exchange. Everything already belongs to God; what can we offer him Psalam 50:10-11, the Lord says, “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.” and in Haggai 2:8, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts.”

5. God’s commandments and judgments are permanent. What he says is true always was and always will be. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8). “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 12:8). “There is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). And finally, Numbers 23:19 tells us to remember, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”

God’s perfect knowledge of our sins and his awesome righteousness and power to judge and condemn us for them can scare us – and it should. Imagine standing before any human court, Supreme or otherwise, knowing that the prosecutor has every word you’ve ever spoken, every text or email sent, and video of everything you’ve ever done. You might start hoping for a plea bargain! Now imagine standing before God who has all that and more- even your most private thoughts and wishes. It should terrify us and cause us to lament and wail our lost condition. Like the congregations that cried out in despair at Jonathon Edwards preaching, we too are “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God”* and know we have no defense. The Law – God’s perfect Law – has rightly condemned us. As Jesus himself said in Matthew 10:28, we should not fear the one who can only destroy our bodies (human judges) but rather the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell (that be God). We stood condemned, awaiting our just punishment.

But thanks be to God, that he sent his Son into the world, not to condemn us, but to save us. While we were his enemies, guilty as sin and deserving his righteous judgment and condemnation, he sent his Son to save us, that we might not perish but have everlasting life, reconciled to him. His love and mercy for us triumphed over his judgment (James 2:13). By faith in Christ our sins are forgiven, and we stand justified, righteous before God in spite of all we have done. In Christ we have an advocate  (that is, attorney) before the Father.

Why would God do such a thing? How can he let us go when we are so guilty? For only one reason – his great love for us. He takes no pleasure in the death of anyone, but desires we to turn to him and live (Ezekiel 33:11). We come before God trembling, and he lifts us up, calms our fears, forgives us, and calls us to his side.

No human court, no matter what we call it, can do the same. Thanks be to God, our true and ultimate Judge, the real Chief Justice of the ultimate Supreme Court, whose rulings we need never fear. The Judge of all the earth shall do right – and not just by a 5-4 decision!

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 18, Romans 8:1-34

* Jonathan Edwards’ famous sermon from 1741 which described God dangling us over the fires of hell like a spider on its thread. Edwards was interrupted many times during the sermon by people moaning and crying out, “What shall I do to be saved?”

 

Better Than a Heart

This coming Thursday will be a special day celebrated by millions of people, seemingly the only holiday not designated a federal holiday with paid time off. That day is St. Valentine’s Day. It is a day dedicated to love, especially romantic and familial love, a day to give mushy cards, flowers, chocolate, jewelry, and if you believe advertising, Hoodie-Footie* pajamas with the feet in them.

Oh yeah: and hearts. Red hearts. Lots and lots of hearts. Big hearts, small hearts. The more hearts the better. After all, doesn’t love make the heart beat faster and go “pitty-pat, pitty-pat”? What could be more symbolic or more representative of love than a heart?

Well, actually there is something that speaks more of love than does a heart. That symbol is . . . a cross.

By itself, a physical cross, just two lines or sticks or beams that intersect at right (90 degree) angles, is hardly a representation of love. Nor was the use that such constructions were originally put to, a very loving act; you could say the opposite was true: the cross was a sign of hate, used to instill fear and terror in the minds of anyone who might “cross” a nation’s rulers. The cross saw similar but more recent use in our country when it was burned in a person’s yard, again as a sign of hatred to create fear in the victim.

So how can I say the cross is better than a heart as a sign of love? Easily, because the greatest act of love ever committed was done on a cross. You know what and Who I’m talking about: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Jesus foretold his sacrificial death on the cross when he told his disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Which is exactly what he did when he went to the cross. Romans 5:8 affirms the nature of his sacrifice, saying,”but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Galatians 2:20 and Ephesians 5:2 both speak of how Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. The cross is where he gave his life; the cross is where his love proved itself. The cross is a sign of the greatest love.

It’s not the first time God took something that was evil and used it for good. Back in Genesis we read the story of Joseph, who was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt. Thanks to God-given dreams and explanations, Joseph rose to become second in the kingdom, managing the storage and distribution of grain during a severe famine. When his brothers arrived in Egypt seeking grain, Joseph revealed himself to them. They were deathly afraid he would wreak vengeance on them for their sin against him, but his inspired response was to tell them, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20). In a way, that was a picture of the cross: man meant something evil against Christ, but Christ meant it for good that many people would live – as will his believers for all eternity.

So what about the cross today in the life of believers? What do we think of it? What do we do with it? What part does it play in our lives? I have some thoughts about these questions and others as we approach a day when the focus will be on love.

  • The shape of Christ’s Cross: There are many geometric forms a cross can take, and historically, the Romans used several different forms of crosses in the crucifixions they performed. They used T-shaped crosses, in which the crossbeam rested on top of the vertical one; X-shaped crosses (such as St. Andrew died on); and the “Roman Cross,” the one most used in portrayals of Christ’s death, in which the cross beam is fastened part way down the vertical beam, so that there is a vertical section behind and above Christ’s head. While we don’t know for sure, we generally believe it was a “Roman Cross” because of the references to Pilate’s sign, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” Both Matthew 27:37  and Luke 23:38 claim the sign was put on the cross above Jesus’ head; this requires there be the vertical section.
  • Making the sign of the cross: Is it required? What does it do? Is it too Catholic for Protestants? This is one of those things our theologians refer to as adiaphora, that is, something that is neither forbidden nor commanded by Scripture. It is not an essential doctrine such as the Resurrection. In other words, whether you cross yourself, or the pastor makes the sign for you, is not essential in itself. It does not make you more holy to do it, nor less holy if you don’t. It does not make you Roman Catholic if you do it, it does not make you a good Protestant if you don’t. Whether we do or not is a matter of Christian liberty as was fasting or dietary choices, such as the eating of meat, to St. Paul (Romans 14:1-4). The reason for crossing oneself is, according to Martin Luther, is as a reminder of one’s baptism, when the sign was made over you with the words, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”And of course, the cross is a reminder of what Christ did for us in taking the punishment for our sins upon himself. Every time we make the sign, we are remembering his death for us and the forgiveness it gave us. Personally, I made the sign as part of leading worship or when I baptized or communed people; but I don’t sign myself as part of private devotions or when sitting in the pew. I respect those who do, and those who don’t; it’s part of the wonderful freedom we have in Christ.
  • The cross as jewelry: What was said about making the sign of the cross applies to wearing a cross as jewelry. It’s fine as long as it is a symbol of our identification with Christ, a reminder of his sacrificial death for our sake, and as a silent witness to other people. I’m more comfortable with a simple, plain cross as opposed to a large, jewel encrusted show-piece that calls attention to the wealth of the wearer or the materials of the object. The value of what Christ did on his rough, rugged cross far exceeds any attempt on our part to enhance its symbol.
  • The cross as a talisman: According to the authority known as Wikipedia, a talisman is “an object that someone believes holds magical properties that bring good luck to the possessor or protect the possessor from evil or harm.” Whenever I think of such a use, I think of the movie, The Mummy (1999), in which a character gets trapped by the revived mummy. The man desperately tries to save himself by holding up numerous different religious symbols from around his neck, hoping that one of them would stave off the mummy’s expected attack. One of his “talismans” was a cross, which in the movie didn’t help him (don’t worry; a Star of David did). Obviously, this use of a cross is not theologically “approved.” Likewise, in older vampire legends and movies, crosses could be used to ward off the undead because of their holy nature; this also is the wrong use of a cross (Not that we have to worry about vampires). The cross is a symbol of Christ’s death; it has no power in and of itself – only that to which it points has power, and that is the power of God in Christ to forgive our sins by the death of the Lamb. To use it to ward off evil, to excuse a sin we commit, or to show our piety is to commit sorcery, something forbidden by God’s Word (Galatians 5:20).
  • The cross: empty or with a figure of Christ on it (crucifix)? Either form reminds us of Christ’s death for our sake. Catholics have usually used the crucifix form as a reminder that Christ suffered and died there to redeem us, and that the benefit of his death continues as if he were being crucified daily for us., which they believe happens in the Eucharist. Most Protestants use a bare cross to emphasize Jesus’ resurrection, since he is no longer on the cross or in the tomb. “He is not here, for he has risen” (Matthew 28:6; also in Mark 16:6 and Luke 24:6). I think that either is okay, because it is not the cross we worship, but the One who died on it and who was raised from the dead three days later. Both messages are part of our faith, and essential to our salvation: Christ did suffer and die; he was raised.

In closing, we should note that only the Christian faith understands and uses the sign of the cross to represent the sacrificial death of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. Other religions, and sects that have broken off of Christianity deny, forbid, or misuse this symbol – but that’s a topic for another time.

Today, and everyday, the message of the cross for us is love, not expressed in mushy sentimental cards and sweet-nothings whispered in our ears, but in the harsh realities of  a horrible death, accepted willingly by One who showed the greatest love of all, by giving his life for his friends – which are you and me. Thanks be to God, who is love!

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 50, Romans 14

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