Sabbath Archives - Pastor Rich Eddy

Fingers To the Bone, Part 2

Welcome back! Previously, I presented some of the things I have been thinking about in regards to the subject of work. I left off by saying that work is about much more than just earning a paycheck. Today, I would like to talk about five reasons why work is good (as long as you are not forced to work your fingers to the bone!). Consider these benefits that come from our work:

Our work provides financial rewards to those who work and their families. Work transforms our efforts into tangible rewards with which we can purchase goods and services we need and want. By working we are trading our time and effort for money or some other means of exchange. The Bible recognizes employment for gain. Jesus’ parable about workers in the field centers around workers being paid for their labors (Matthew 20). Luke 10:7 says, “The laborer deserves his wages.” 1 Timothy 5:18 speaks about fair pay when it says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” And 2 Timothy 3:6 says, “The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.” The Bible warns those who would cheat workers of their just pay in passages like James 5:4, “Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.” On the flip side, the Bible also warns those too lazy to work: “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Work for pay and pay for work are good things.
Our work provides goods and services to other people. As I said above, without workers, we wouldn’t be able to buy any goods or secure any services. But when we work, we produce things and services that other people need to live and enhance their lives. The farmer works hard and produces the food that many people need to sustain life. The electricians install and service lines to provide our homes and businesses with electricity. Teachers instruct our children and watch them a good part of each day so we can work to provide other people with their needs. Just as a tree produces fruit, so a person provides fruits of his or her labors to benefit others. (Ephesians 4:28 says, “. . . work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.”
Our work is spiritually and emotionally rewarding. It just feels good to work hard at something and see what you have accomplished. There are sayings about “a good day’s work” and “a job well done” that speak to the satisfaction that comes from hard work. It satisfies us to see our work do good for others, or else why would so many people volunteer to serve others without pay? We feel happier to help others without expecting any remuneration in return. (Besides, no one could afford me if I charged what I am worth!)
Our work is important for our socialization. Where do we learn how to work with other people, get along with them, handle disagreements, celebrate joint accomplishments, and learn communication skills except in places where we work? Tough bosses can frustrate and anger us, but we learn how to do our jobs while placating them. Lazy co-workers? We learn how to deal with them, too. Rude customers? We gain experience from every one of them. Even if we don’t like them, we can thank God for the “on the job training.” Ecclesiastes 4:9 commends working with other people: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.”
Our work is for the Lord. Whether we work for a company, a corporation, a school, a government, or are self-employed, our ultimate employer is God. Our good works, paid or volunteer, glorify him above all, so we are called to serve him in all our work. In the Old Testament, Proverbs 16:3 promises, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” In the New Testament, Colossians 3:23-24 tells us, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Summarizing, our Lord Jesus taught us, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

So you see, whatever work we do here on earth, it is much more important than the paycheck we may receive for doing it. Our work benefits ourselves, others, and even glorifies God. Jesus tells us that now is the time to work, “while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4). For one day our labors will cease: “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:9-10).

Until that day, work hard! But wear gloves if you have to mix any concrete!*

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

Read: Philippians 4:13; 1 Peter 4:10.

*See my previous blog for the story behind this.

Fingers To the Bone

Have you ever heard the expression, “He worked his fingers to the bone.”? I thought about that phrase once when working at a YMCA in New Jersey. It was my first day on the job, with day camp set to start two days later, but unfortunately, our swimming pool had been shut down by the state inspectors since the water was green and sections of the pool tile had come loose and fallen into the water. I immediately drove to the store, bought some chlorine and a bag of Quikrete concrete, and spent the entire next day mixing the concrete and re-attaching the tiles to the pool deck. The good news was, my work was successful, and we passed our new inspection so the camp could begin. The bad news was, I had mixed the concrete bare-handed for twelve hours, and my finger tips were raw and bleeding. I had almost literally worked my fingers to the bone.

I’ve been thinking about the subject of “work” lately. Maybe it’s all the “Help Wanted” and “Now Hiring” signs that adorn every store and restaurant in town. Maybe it’s the employment/unemployment numbers reported on the news each month. Or maybe it’s hearing people call for a guaranteed income for everyone, whether they work or not.

Whatever the reason, I have been thinking about work, its purpose and benefits, its blessings and dangers, and how it fits into God’s (and therefore our) plans. So following are some of my thoughts, not in any particular order (because it would take work to organize them!).

Work is not a curse, but the natural condition of life. Before mankind fell into sin and received God’s curse, God had already assigned work for us to do. Genesis 2:15 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Therefore, Adam and Eve didn’t just lie around all day eating grapes brought to them by monkeys; they had work to do. It was after the Fall that God made their work more difficult and dangerous. God cursed Adam, saying, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food” (Genesis 3:17-19).
The natural state of mankind is poverty. It takes work to create goods, deliver services, practice trade, and meet basic needs. People create wealth by work, transforming their labor into things of value, such as money, which can then be used to purchase the fruit of other people’s labors.
God created the world and everything in it in six days, and rested on the seventh day (Genesis2:2-3). He took his time; being all-powerful he didn’t need that long to do his work. What he did was set the pattern for us: six days of work, one day of rest. (Work. Rinse. Repeat.). While work is good, it does take a toll on our physical and mental energy, so a day off each week is a healthy way to recharge. Jesus explained the purpose of the Sabbath rest when he said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). God commanded us to take that Sabbath rest every week; because Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8), if we are in him by faith, we fulfill that commandment (though we still benefit from taking a weekly break!).
I grew up in a town that observed what were called, “Blue Laws.” This meant that stores and other businesses were closed on Sundays for the Christian Sabbath. I still remember the time in the 1960s when some pastors led protests against the first stores that opened on Sunday; nowadays, Sunday is hardly different from any other day. I admit that my wife and I do sometimes shop on Sundays, though technically, the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week: Saturday. So we’re okay . . .
As a pastor, I worked a reverse Sabbath system: I worked one day a week and rested six days. Or at least, that’s what people thought . . .
Some people believe that guaranteed income, that is a check from the government, is a good substitute for a paycheck. After all, if everyone had enough money, they wouldn’t have to work, right? Setting aside basic issues of economics for now, my question is: What good is that money going to do you if everyone else gets their check and decides not to work either? What good is your money if no one makes any goods for you to buy? What if no one is available to provide the services you want or need? What if you are hurt or sick and all the former medical people are sitting at home with their checks?

Work has more purposes to it than just earning money, as important as that is. I think we can identify five reasons why work is beneficial, but because I have already worked my fingers to the bone writing this, I will talk about the purposes of work in my next blog: “Fingers To the Bone, Part 2.” See you there!

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

Read: Deuteronomy 5:13-14; Psalm 90:17.

Sanctuary

You hear the word “sanctuary” a lot these days. It’s all over the news. Politicians talk about “sanctuary states” and “sanctuary cities” in regards to illegal aliens. Other politicians talk about “sanctuary cities” for unborn babies; some 43 cities have outlawed abortions to that end. There are even 1,200 “Second Amendment sanctuary” cities and counties that have voted not to enforce restrictive gun laws.

Obviously, the term “sanctuary” strikes a chord deep in people’s hearts and minds. The idea and practice of providing a safe space for certain people or practices appeals to many of us. Who doesn’t want to be shielded and safe somewhere? I remember as a kid playing “ditch” in our neighborhood. The person who was “it” would yell, “Ditch!” and the rest of us, maybe 20 or so, would scatter and hide. “It” would come looking for us, but if we could make it back to the starting point without being tagged, we would be safe. We called that safe place, “goal” (but we all pronounced it like “ghoul”!). That goal was, in a sense, our sanctuary.

The idea of a safe place to run to actually goes back to the Old Testament. God gave instructions to the Israelites to set aside certain cities for the tribe of Levi, who did not otherwise receive large territories like the other tribes. Then he told them that six of those cities were to be “cities of refuge” to which a person accused of killing someone could flee. That man would be safe there from retribution until his case was heard. If he were found guilty of murder, he would be turned over to the dead person’s avenger; but if the death were ruled an accident, he could live in the city and be safe. The conditions for such a refuge are found in Numbers 35:6-34.

In the modern world, national borders often provide such places of refuge, whether Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, Ukrainians fleeing to Poland, Chinese fleeing to Taiwan, or Venezuelans coming to the U.S. It’s good to have such options when political oppression or other conditions make our old home unsafe.

But why do we call such safe places “sanctuaries”? We take the term from the Latin term, “sanctum,” which means “holy place” or “sacred place.” It is used in the Latin Bible (the Vulgate) to refer to the “holy” area of the Temple, where the priests served God. In addition, the word is used to refer to the innermost area of the Temple, called the Sanctum Sanctorum, or the “Holy of Holies,” where only the high priest could enter once a year.

An example from the Old Testament which refers to the sanctuary is Psalm 134:2 which says, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.”

The New Testament continues the use of the word sanctuary, using it just five times in relation to the Jerusalem Temple (Matthew and Luke) and to the heavenly Temple (Revelation). But now that the earthly Temple has been destroyed, Christians have applied the term to the area of a church building set aside for worship. Just as the Israelites and Jews met God’s presence and worshiped him in a physical location so Christians gather to worship God, hear his word, and receive his sacraments in a special place set aside for that purpose – even though we know that God cannot be housed in a building (Acts 7:44-50).

There’s a big difference between the old Temple and a church building. For one thing, the Bible tells us that it is Christians, not buildings, that are the new Temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Peter 2:4-6 says we “like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house.” The temple had a great curtain which divided the “Holy place” from the “Holy of Holies.” But when Christ died, the curtain was torn in two, signifying the opening up of access to God by his sacrifice. No longer are we barred from approaching God in person. The third great difference is in the area of sacrifices. Until Christ, the priests were continually offering animal sacrifices to atone for sin; but Christ offered himself up as the final sacrifice, once and for all (Hebrews 10:1-12). And finally, instead of there being a cadre of priests in the Temple, now we are all priests, not needing anyone besides Christ himself to mediate between God and us (1 Peter 2:5,9).

Even with the New Testament teachings about God’s new Temple and priesthood, the use of the term “sanctuary” is still appropriate when referring to a church’s worship area. It is where we go to deliberately worship God, hear God’s Word, and receive the sacraments. It is where our focus is on God, and where we have fellowship with other believers, encouraging each other in the faith. It is not only a symbol of our faith, it is also a place where we receive the grace our faith promises. And at times, sanctuaries have actually offered a refuge from harm, from attackers who respected God and did not want to violate his sacred places.

So, how should we understand and treat our church sanctuaries today?

Recognize that because we are all priests and God is everywhere, we can worship him anywhere – in a church building, at a campground, in a stadium, in our home.
Recognize that some places are more conducive to worship. When a church sets aside a place dedicated to worship, people enter it with hearts and minds prepared to meet God in his Word and Sacrament. Symbols of our faith are evident -such as crosses, altars, and baptismal fonts. On the other hand, trying to worship in a grocery store or rock concert is a little harder.
Treat the sanctuary space reverently, respecting the other worshipers and focusing our attention on Jesus Christ. Refrain from running, gossiping, or angry speech.
Respect the space even when not worshiping. The Bible speaks of things that are common and those that are sacred. The sanctuary is not sacred in and of itself, but as a space set aside for God’s purposes, it becomes holy.
Respect the sanctuary as a place of refuge, where Christians, and those seeking God, can come and feel safe from the evils of the world. The sanctuary should be a place without prejudices, gossip, social class, feuds, anger and insults. Everyone who enters should feel safe, regardless of who they are or what they’ve done. All our pettiness and disputes should be left outside, never to taint the sanctuary with sin.
We should enter having prepared to meet God. We are to examine ourselves before receiving communion (1 Corinthians 11:28) and settle disputes with others before leaving our offering at the altar (Matthew 5:22-24). We come ready to confess our sins and be forgiven as only Christ can do.
Sing praises to God! “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord! (Psalm 134:2); “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!” (Psalm 100); “singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16); “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.” (Psalm 33:3). God is worthy of all our praise, and it is good to give him the honor he is due.
And finally, Go there. When you skip church for no good reason, are you telling others – and God – that worshiping him is not important? Are you such a spiritual giant that you don’t need to receive continuous grace from the Lord? Do you not care about your brothers and sisters that they be encouraged by your presence and service? There’s a reason the writer of Hebrews told us, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

I hope the next time you hear someone in the news talking about sanctuaries, you think on the special places of refuge, hope, and blessing which our churches provide, and recommit to meeting there with your fellow Christians to worship and fellowship joyfully.

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

Read: Psalm 100; Hebrews 10

New Year, New Names

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Are You Distancing?

“Are you distancing?” is one of the most commonly heard questions these days, though it’s more of an implied command than just curiosity in search of an answer. Various medical and governmental authorities are telling us to put distance between us and other people, from 6 feet to as much as 27 feet, depending on which “expert” is speaking. The warning is that the coronavirus is so contagious that social distancing, along with hand- washing, mask wearing, and face-touching-avoidance are required to slow down or stop its spread.

When it comes to a pandemic, maintaining social distance, that is, space between people, is probably a good idea, since the virus seems to be spread through physical contact, sneezes, and coughs (not to mention smooches). It’s something we do automatically when we enter a room and see someone who is coughing; we go and sit in a different part of the room without even thinking about it. What makes this distancing hard on us is that we are by nature social creatures, requiring interaction with other human beings. We interact with other people in our work, schools, playtime, and home life – not to mention in our churches. We were not created to be alone, but to be in fellowship with others, so this enforced distancing is hard on our spirits and psyches. The seemingly random and contradictory decisions about what is deemed to be an essential service (e.g., cannabis shops, yes; churches, no) doesn’t make it any easier to tolerate this period of shut-downs, nor does the impact on people’s livelihoods and productiveness. Add to that the heavy-handedness of some governmental entities enforcing what they consider to be proper distancing, and we, both individually and as a society, are having some serious struggles. We hope and pray this will end soon!

But as I considered the term and concept of “distancing,” I thought of it not only in the physical sense of spacing ourselves from other people, but also in the spiritual sense, pondering what would be good distancing and bad distancing when it comes to what is good or bad for our souls. Here are some of my thoughts in that regard:

1. Distancing from what is bad. There are many things that are spiritually harmful to us, from which we should distance ourselves. The principle is this: we should distance ourselves from anything, or anyone, that would lead us to disobey God in our thoughts, words, or actions.

That distancing will take place in our thoughts and desires, but also sometimes needs to be enforced physically. For example, Jesus taught us that to lust in our hearts is to commit the sin of adultery. Therefore it would not be a good idea for a man to hang around a strip club or visit certain prurient websites on his computer. It would be far healthier spiritually to distance himself from both physical and virtual proximity to such temptations and surround himself with what is good and pleasing to God.

Other times the distancing has to be from a person whose attitudes are hateful, who sows discord by gossiping and spreading rumors, who encourages dishonesty and covetousness, who breaks laws or who disrespects God, whether by outright denial of faith or by taking God’s name in vain (“OMG!”). The Apostle Paul lists a variety of such people to avoid in Romans 1:29-31, “They were filled with all manner of unrighteous-ness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” And in Romans 16:17 he warned, “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”Again, the principle is to avoid getting caught up in sinful thoughts and actions by associating with people who practice such things.

Now, some might argue against this distancing by saying, “But pastor, sinners are the very people who need me to hang around with them, showing them love and demonstrating good attitudes and behavior. After all, didn’t Jesus associate with sinners?” I would reply that, yes, I should confront people with God’s Word and commandments, and show them love and right behavior. But the danger comes when I try to be so much accepted by them that I take on their attitudes and behaviors such that there is hardly any difference between their actions and mine. Jesus, who knew no sin, “who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15), could associate without becoming soiled himself, but I am too aware of my own sins to risk putting myself in such situations. Even Paul warned against the contagious nature of sinful behavior when he spoke of rebuking a brother who sins: “Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted” (Galatians 6:1). As the old Southern proverb said, “You can’t waller with the pigs; you both get dirty.”

Ultimately, since our spiritual struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the powers of the fallen spiritual world (Ephesians 6:12), our distancing is from Satan and his lies. That’s why the first part of the rite of Christian baptism (after the invocation) is an exorcism: those being baptized are asked to renounce “all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises.” The one being baptized is separated (“distanced”) from the devil by “death” in the waters of baptism, and given new life that is joined to Christ. Just as Jesus said, “Get behind me Satan!” (Mark 8:33) when tempted through Peter to avoid the cross, so we are saying the same in our baptism, and every time we distance from sin and darkness in our lives.

But of course, in ourselves we have no such ability to reject sin and choose what is right and holy. We must be joined to Christ and operate under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.

2. Not distancing from what is good. Spiritually, we need to avoid being distanced from God in our hearts and minds. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that we humans don’t have to be taught or encouraged to distance ourselves from him; we’ve been doing it from the beginning. When we focus on our own needs and desires, and our own abilities to get what we want, we push God away. Only when we fail do we sometimes turn to God with the patronizing statement: “The only thing left to do is pray!” as if God were the last resort, rather than the One we should have been looking to from the very beginning.

Of course, it is only ourselves we are hurting by ignoring God or pushing him away. He never really goes anywhere; it is only our spiritual blindness (or nearsightedness) that keeps us from seeing him close by, ready to help.

The Book of Jonah illustrates the foolishness of a man who tried to get away from God and God’s call on his life. When God called upon Jonah to go and preach to the city of Nineveh, which required a journey by land to the east, Jonah got into a boat and sailed by sea to the west. As if he could escape God! God sent a great storm that threatened to sink the boat, and when the sailors asked their passenger who he was and whether he could be the reason for the storm, Jonah replied, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (Jonah 1:9). So . . . he thought he could distance himself from the God who made the sea . . . by sailing on it? The crew threw him overboard after that.

Psalm 139:7-12 proclaims beautifully that God is near us wherever we go:

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?
⁸If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
⁹If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
¹²even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.

Because God is indeed everywhere, any distance we experience from him is only because of our sin and failure to seek and see him. It’s on us. But God, in his great love for us, seeks closeness with us, and therefore came to us as the Son, providing a way for that closeness to be restored and for us to have eternal spiritual intimacy with him. Through Christ he provided forgiveness of our sins, made us his children (John 1:12), and opened the gates to life with him (spiritually and physically) forever.

Therefore, he calls on us to approach him, to end our “social distancing” from him: “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6), and “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8). The verse in James even goes on to say, “Cleanse your hands.” (I wonder if that refers to hand sanitizer?).

I could go on, and talk about the ways we can maintain (or regain) the closeness that God desires from us: Bible study, prayer, worship, contact with mature Christians who exhibit godly behavior and attitudes, etc. But you get the point. The closer we draw to God, the further we distance ourselves from what is harmful to our souls.

So stay safe, stay healthy, keep your distance from what can harm you; but stay close and embrace Christ, who will ultimately save both body and soul!

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, Psalm 139, Ephesians 6:11-13, Romans 1:18-32

The Dock of the Bay

One of my favorite R & B songs is Otis Redding’s 1968 hit song, “(Sitting on) The Dock of the Bay.” It’s a song from back when pop songs were easy to sing along to (even for me), even though the words were somewhat sad. The lyrics speak of someone whose life hasn’t gone very well. That person laments that he has nothing going his way, and nothing to live for, except to spend his time “sitting on the dock of the bay.” The chorus says it this way:

I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time.

I thought of this song this afternoon as I sat out on our patio, watching some birds fly around our back yard. In a way, I was sitting on the “dock of our bay,” relaxing and watching the “tides of birds” fly away. But was I wasting time by doing so?

How I spend my free time has always been an issue for me. I was raised by a father who never stopped working, either at his office or at home. He seldom watched TV (Yes, we had a TV way back when I was a kid – though it was in black and white and only got in 7 stations – four from Chicago and three from Milwaukee). Instead, he was always working to fix something around the house. If I were available, I could always hear my dad calling me to lend my “strong arms” to his tasks. On a day off school he would wake me up early with the command, “Time to get up and pay for your lodging!” My mom also would encourage me to work hard, telling me to “put some elbow grease into it!”

Later, I saw my work with youth as a calling from God, even before I became a pastor. My work demanded many hours on the job, and preparation time at home; even more, I carried its concerns with me all the time. Therefore, I would feel a bit guilty when I spent my free time doing non-work related things. Once, I met with my boss at work (who was a devout Christian and even more committed to his work than I) and talked about spending my free time doing things totally unrelated to my work (specifically, rock and mineral collecting). I told him I was feeling guilty about it. His answer was: it is good to take a break, and he wished he could relax and get away like I was doing. I took his advice, and found such play times relaxing (even if some guilt remained).

Fast forward to recent years. As many of you know, I have spent several years’ worth of time in a wheelchair, due to a broken foot and resulting ulcers. As one who was always able to do things around the house, I felt bad having to turn over much of my work to my wife. All the yard work, repairs, car maintenance, and vacation/travel prep fell on her or others. Even lifting my chair into the car was easier for her to do; we took the wheelchair with us when we traded in my manual car for an automatic so Karen could test lifting it into the new car. She is stronger than you think.

The other big life change which has caused me to look at how I spend my time is my retirement 2 1/2 years ago. As I anticipated that event, I saw it not as a chance to spend my time “sitting on the dock of the bay,” but rather as freeing me up to do other productive things. Besides catching up on projects around the house which I had put off due to a lack of free time or temporary disabilities (you know, those “I’ll set this aside until I have more time” projects), I planned to do four things:

1. Read from the Bible, classic literature, and history books every day.

2. Learn, relearn, and practice various languages an hour each day. I wanted to improve my fluency in ones I had studied, and learn new ones.

3. Exercise an hour each day.

4. Write something, such as this blog and some books.

So, how have I been doing? The results are mixed. I do read some every day (most recently a book about the Trojan War written in the third century AD). I read from my Greek New Testament – working on # 1 and # 2 above. Just recently I began reviewing my French. And as for writing, I did finish two books and am writing this blog a couple times a month. I also took up crossword puzzles which helps my vocabulary and memory. So far so good.

Now, as for exercise . . . not so much. Now that my foot has healed, I am walking again which should help, and have started using a rowing machine to strengthen my arms and legs, but both workouts have been minimal. I definitely need to do more.

As I ponder how I spend my time, now that it is almost all “free time,” I realize that I do waste a lot of it. Watching cat videos and movies online, playing video games, taking daily naps, and sitting on the patio – all take time that could be better spent – or should I say, more productively spent.

Now that I’ve laid out my present activities (other than some get-togethers with friends and too many doctor visits and procedures), I’d like to share a few observations about leisure time:

1. Work is good. God assigned work to our first parents, even before they sinned. They were commanded to maintain the Garden in which God placed them (Genesis 2:5, 15). It was after Adam and Eve sinned that the work became much more difficult, literally requiring blood, sweat and toil (Genesis 3:17-19). All work which benefits people is a holy vocation, a calling from God. Think of all the goods and services that benefit our lives and are produced by other people who faithfully carry out their work.

2. Rest is also good. God instituted the Sabbath rest, not only to honor and remember that God created all there is, but also for our benefit to provide us with needed rest. We need periods of rest to recharge our batteries, sort our thoughts and allow emotions to cool, not to mention to recover physically from bodily stresses and injuries. Jesus himself said “the Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27) and took time away from the constant press of the crowds to recover. He needed such a break when John the Baptist was executed, to get away and pray. The fact that the Bible calls eternal life our ultimate Sabbath rest shows that God’s ultimate blessing for us includes a rest from our labors (Hebrews 4:9-10: “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”).

3. We have a limited amount of time in this life. Back when I turned 13, I realized I was no longer a child, and began to calculate what percentage of my life was behind me and ahead of me. I came up with 18.5 % used and 81.5 % to go. What a cheery adolescent game. Other parents worried about their kids smoking or drinking, mine had an actuary for a son. I have to say that even before retiring, I gave up that little exercise as a bit too scary. But no matter what percentage of expected life spans we have left, all our time is limited, so the ways we spend free time can never be undone; that time is gone and we are all moving forward to the day when time no longer matters.

4. So how we spend our time is important. Scripture says that we will one day have to give an account for everything we do (Romans 14:12, Hebrews 4:13). I believe that includes our actions toward others, our stewardship of the resources God has given us, and how we use the time we are allotted on this earth. Now, I’m not saying every minute has to be spent in strenuous labor without a moment to rest; rather, I’m just saying let’s be purposeful in how we spend our limited time. There are many wonderful things we can do, and having the time to do them is a gift from God: spending time with loved ones; socializing with friends and Christian brothers and sisters; playing sports (and working out on a rowing machine); traveling; learning and teaching; volunteering to help others in the community; finishing home repairs and improvement projects; keeping the garden (as God commanded Adam and Eve to do); worshiping, praying, and studying God’s Word; and yes, even sitting on the dock of the bay. As with all our work, consider that all our time is dedicated to God and his glory. It is for him that we work, and for him that we play.

So go and enjoy your time, but be intentional about it. Don’t just let one moment slip into another, assuming you have plenty of time ahead of you to eventually “get around to it.” Don’t let the days pass by leaving you to wonder, “Where did the time go?”

As for me, now that my blog is done, I have to decide what to do next: grab a snack, apprender francais, or defend the world against space aliens. Maybe I’ll just go back to sitting on the dock of my patio and watch the birds go by. How about you?

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 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Mark 2:23-27